The Luck Of The Wheels by Megan Lindholm

fold it up.
    'Most things are,' Ki agreed. 'But not all.'
    He knew what she meant. 'They're young, both of them. It's easy to forget that.'
    'Especially when they nearly kill you because of it. Vandien, I am full of an evil feeling. A foreboding.'
    He nodded slowly. 'This Duke of Loveran ... This doesn't seem a good place for folk like us, does it?'
    'My mother was a full-blooded Romni, even if Aethan wasn't. It shows in my face. The next patrol won't be so easily fooled.'
    He sighed. 'Maybe not. What do you want to do? Take Willow and Goat back to Keddi, give the money back, and get away from Loveran and its Duke?'
    'And go where?' She squared her shoulders, took the quilt from him. 'No. We'll go on. There can't be many patrols, or there'd be no Tamshin at all. Maybe we won't meet any more. And if we do ... well, the Tamshin survive. We will, too.'
    'Maybe,' he said. He touched her, but she pulled away, too upset to share her fears. He sighed and let her go. Still cradling his ribs, he turned, to find Willow and Goat staring at them. The scrutiny suddenly annoyed him.
    'Can't you see there's work to do?' he demanded. 'Willow, go in the wagon and put together something we can eat. Goat, tidy up the camp. I'm going for the horses. The sooner we're on the road, the better.'
    Both young faces clouded with rebellion, but they grudgingly moved to their chores. Vandien ignored them as he got the grain sack and went after the team. Sigmund stopped cropping the grasses and lifted his great head as soon as Vandien appeared. Sigurd only swung his body so that his broad rump was toward him. Vandien wasn't fooled. He shook the grain sack once. Sigmund came eagerly, his muzzle nudging Vandien's shoulder, and Sigurd trailed reluctantly behind him.
    A new quarrel had already broken out at the wagon. Willow's face was pink, while Goat glowed with satisfaction. Ki stood between them, fists on hips. 'The wagon seat holds three people. Someone has to ride inside. That's all. You two work it out.'
    Vandien skirted the group, moving the horses into their traces. Ki turned her back on Willow as she indignantly exclaimed, 'But why should I have to ride inside the stuffy old wagon all day? Why can't we take turns, or Goat walk beside the wagon or something?'
    'My father paid for me to travel comfortably,' Goat was saying at the same time.
    Vandien parceled out grain to the team as Ki lifted the heavy harness into place. 'Maybe,' Vandien said softly, 'we could put them both into the wagon, and shut the door behind the seat so we didn't have to listen to them.'
    'Somehow I think we'd still hear them.' Ki tightened the last strap. 'But I know someone who'd better ride inside. You.'
    'Me?'
    'Yes. You look green. Does it hurt much?'
    'Enough to make me want to puke, but I know that would hurt even more.'
    Ki started to laugh, stopped abruptly. He knew what she was thinking. 'Not a damn thing we could do for them. The rousters' horses are twice as fast as Sigurd and Sigmund. And even if you could have warned them, where could they hide? Don't let it poison you.'
    Ki shook her head, not looking at him. He put his hand on her shoulder and leaned on her as they went to the wagon's door.
    Goat sat firmly on the wagon seat. Willow glowered up at him. Neither Vandien nor Ki said a word as they passed.
    'It's not fair!' Willow burst out suddenly, and then fell silent as she watched Vandien clamber slowly up the wagon step and inside. 'Is he going to ride in there?' she suddenly demanded.
    'Yes,' Ki admitted. 'So I suppose you can both ride up front with me. I'll sit in the middle so you don't have to look at one another.'
    'No. I'll keep Vandien company, I guess.'
    Willow's sudden capitulation startled Ki, but it was a relief, too. The idea of spending the day seated between two squabbling children hadn't been pleasant. But as she mounted the wagon, she considered that spending the day alone with Goat was not a happy alternative. He was already holding the