Vetta had been awake for several hours, tending the fire, writing in her diary, and nursing the baby, who was now sound asleep against her breast.
Seltie lifted herself on one elbow and had a look around. “Ain’t you the early bird! I think I overslept.” She checked the position of the sun. “Yes, it’s midmorning already.”
“You had a big day yesterday,” Vetta said. “You needed the extra sleep. I would have slept in myself, but the baby had other ideas. Of course, now that I’m up, the baby has gone back to sleep.”
“I had a dog like that once,” Seltie said. “Got everyone in the house up before the crack of dawn, then went back to sleep. She always looked so pleased with herself. Is that toast I smell? Where did you find toast that wasn’t waterlogged?”
“I had some in my pack, wrapped in oilskin. It was mostly dry. I made tea, too.” She pulled the baby from her breast, buttoned her blouse, then laid the baby on a folded blanket. “Blanket dried out overnight; so did our clothes.” She poured Seltie a cup of tea from a small pot by the fire. “The butter was ruined, I’m afraid, but here’s a bit of fruit leather to go with your toast. It might be just a bit salty.”
“Tastes fine to me,” Seltie replied through a mouthful of tea and toast. “We’re going to need more food before long.”
“How far is Feyar City from here, do you think?”
“Couple hundred miles, maybe. I don’t know for sure, but Cal said he heard it was that far.” When she saw Vetta’s face fall, Seltie hastily added, “But don’t you worry none, Vett. We’ll take it one day at a time. We’ll just go until you need rest, then we’ll camp for the day. If we walk a couple of hours in the mornings, then rest, then walk another couple of hours in the afternoons, we’ll be there in a week or two. We’re not in any kind of hurry, are we?”
“Unless that Noddak is following us. What about food?”
“Oh, that won’t be no problem, either, Vett. There’ll be plenty of apples and nuts all the way there. I know all about herbs and such—we’ll eat just fine. Here, let me show you. I’ll be right back.”
Seltie foraged in the stream and along its banks. A few minutes later she was back with a small load of roots, herbs, some celery, and some blackberries, all carefully rinsed clean. “Didn’t find any apples or peaches, not just yet anyway, but we will. There’s fish and crawdads in the stream—I know how to coax them out of there. We can look for eggs, too.”
They ate as much of what Seltie had gathered as they could, then packed the rest for travel, along with their clothes and other belongings, all nicely dried and no worse for their dip in the sea.
Seltie stopped packing to watch Vetta writing in her diary. Vetta would write a paragraph, then lay the medallion of her necklace on the page. She would position the medallion, make marks using the gaps in the medallion for reference, then move the medallion to a new location on the page. After a few minutes, Seltie asked, “Are you about done writing for now? We really ought to get moving. It’s almost noon.”
Vetta packed the necklace and diary into their oilcloth pouch and tucked it safely inside her blouse. “I’m ready when you are.” She scooped up the sleeping baby and put her in the baby carrier. “Off we go!”
After finding a pair of long, stout branches to use as walking sticks, they left the pleasant campsite behind and made their way back to the main road, where they turned north. They walked in companionable silence for a while, enjoying the warm sunshine and the sounds of the forest.
“Can I ask you something?” Seltie asked. “I won’t mind if you don’t answer.”
“Sure, Tee, go ahead.”
“When we were packing to leave, back at Lone Island, I mean, you were saying something about someone chasing your family for a long time. Is that Noddak person part of all that?”
“I’m sure he was. Just another in a long line of strangers poking around trying to find our family. The army appears to have targeted our particular family and they sometimes send spies after us. It’s been going on for a very long time—generations.”
“What are they after your family for?”
“It’s not something I can talk about, Tee. If I told you, or if they even thought I had told you, they’d be chasing after you, too. It’s a family secret and needs to remain a secret. I’m sure you’ll understand.”
“Not really, Vett, but whatever you say is okay with me.”
“It’s the reason Telnar and I came to Lone Island—we never thought they’d come looking for us there. I’m afraid they won’t stop until they find me. And now, thanks to that Noddak, they’ll be looking for my daughter, too.”