Falling in Love by Dusty Miller Page A

to be pointed.
    She shrieked when one ran up beside
them, yelling and grabbing at her and brandishing a wooden club
with short wicked spikes in the end, drools of some gooey substance
visible all over it…
    The big man drew his sword in a sudden
motion, shrugging off her grip and she scrabbled for his belt
again, her nails, short as they were, scraping flesh. Whether he
noticed or cared; he made no sign and on a word the horse
side-stepped. With one quick swipe going past, standing up now at
full height in the primitive rope stirrups made for just this
purpose, he took the arm holding the club right off at the
shoulder. The tip of the horrid thing missed her right eye by
inches or so it seemed and then they were past the last half-dozen
of them.
    The shriek of the pursuer, still
running but now clutching a bloody stump and spewing an amazing
amount of bluish-green gore, was awful to hear and then the
creature tripped and fell face-down in the dust. She tore her eyes
from the sight.
    Their rabid cries faded off somewhere
behind them. She took another look back and saw them, slowing now,
but still coming on with determination.
    Her benefactor gave a triumphant shout
as he twisted to look behind, and then he dropped down onto the
horse’s neck again, with Jayne sobbing and cursing and trying to
get some breath back in her body as she wondered what in the hell
had just happened here.
    A spear landed to her left, sticking
in the ground with the butt end pointing up right at her as the
horse cantered by. She didn’t see that one coming.
    It must have missed her back by less
than two feet, and so she stayed down until Kenn’karr sat up, took
a quick look back, and then made a serious assault on the narrowing
gorge ahead of them.
    He held the mane with both hands now,
after she helped guide the dripping sword back into its case. She
wiped the blood from her fingers on the bottom of her dress. A bit
of a stain was the least of her problems.
    When they got to the top, ten or
twelve minutes later, he whirled the animal aside from the trail,
and the pair sat looking back down into the valley.
    There was not a sign of life, and from
up here she couldn’t even see their horse’s tracks.
    “ Mogg-loks.” It sounded
like a curse.
    He spat on the ground and said
something more, which sounded like it boded evil for someone. She
quietly panted and tried to work up some spit. She grabbed at his
arm and on a look from Kenn’karr, indicated the water bottles. He
nodded reluctantly and took a drink from her. Shit, he’d earned it
after that little episode, and so had she.
    He said something and she gave him a
squeeze on the left deltoid to show she understood. She pulled the
strings under the saddle belt and tied it on securely again. He
nodded approval and gave her a smile of relief over his
shoulder.
    He casually wiped his bloody right
hand on his bare upper leg. Turning the horse, they set off again,
still going at a good pace and with much of the day still before
them. Their mount seemed inexhaustible, yet sweat coursed down its
flanks after a while, and there was foam on the muzzle. She felt a
moment of pity for working animals everywhere at the sight. Her
life was sheltered in many ways. This was raw—very raw, and yet
fascinating. Something weird was coming over her. It was like it
was all meant to be. She’d never felt like this before, at least
not in a very long time. It was to be born anew—the words echoed
inside of her and she wondered just exactly what that would imply.
Everything worthwhile in life had a price tag attached.
    The really valuable things couldn’t be
bought at any price, not in mere money.
    She knew that much, but her guts
trembled inside at the notion that she was a grown woman and
finally free…she could do what she wanted. No one back home would
ever know.
    Under her hands his stomach rumbled,
but then so did hers. For no good reason at all, she felt
incredibly lucky to be alive and to have such a