Wayfarer (Wanderlust 2)

Chapter Seven

The next few days passed the same way. Tanden spend his time hopping back and forth between the driver's bench and the back of the carriage. Jale began to teach him words in Tallenese, by pointing out different things and telling him what they were called. His Morcean had been good for nearly a year, but his ability to swiftly translate between Morcean and Teltish got better. Jale and Soren didn't always need him, anyway, they got by with gestures.

Jale liked him, Tanden could tell. She joked with him, teased him, and endured his nonsense with the same sort of patience Soren always had. She liked Soren, as well, and said as much. She liked how he picked up on tasks that needed to be done, and did them, without prompting. She liked how he had designated himself the cook, so that she could go hunt and know preparations were already being made back at camp. Tanden still hadn't specifically told her about his relationship with Soren, but he was going to.

Then, one day shortly after they'd taken a break for lunch, it started to snow. At first the snowflakes were large, few and far between and drifted down slowly, but before long the air was thick with the snow. Jale pulled up her hood.

"I suggest you change into those warmer jackets I told you to buy."

"Good idea," Tanden agreed, turning around to drop into the back of the carriage. Soren had already pulled out the appropriate crate and tossed him his fur jacket. Tanden quickly shed his nautical jacket. The fur was certainly warmer. He grinned at Soren as he did up the various laces and buttons. "This is new, isn't it? You look great, by the way." And he really did. Soren's jacket was made of dark fur, and it suited him, even though it was like nothing he had ever worn before. Tanden's was a lighter brown fur with shorter fur. He imagined his looked more elegant, but Soren's jacket made him look broader, and stronger, and maybe a little ferocious. Tanden liked that.

Soren packed their thinner jackets away. "Reckon you do, too."

"I'll enjoy taking that jacket off of you later."

When they had first met, it had been really easy to fluster Soren with simple lines like that, but it was progressively getting harder. Soren slid the crate back into place under the bench and shrugged casually. "If it gets much colder than this, you won't want to take yours off, let alone mine."

"You're no fun, mate."

Soren laughed, as he settled back down on the bench. "No, I'm just used to you."

Tanden sat next to him, distracted for a moment by the way Soren's fur caught the snowflakes. Up close, they were beautiful little works of art. "I'll have to draw these in my next letter to Clairia," he decided, as he tried very gingerly to pick one of the snowflakes up. It melted almost as soon as he touched his skin.

"It is pretty," Soren agreed.

They fell silent, watching the snow gather on the carriage and the trees they passed. The snow gave the forest a different feel, like it was more mysterious, and quieter. Even the wheels started to sound muffled as the snow fell more thickly. It continued to snow through the afternoon, and it was much earlier than usual when Jale drove the kyloe off of the road and into the trees.

This wasn't a well used spot along the trail like they had been using. Instead Jale let the kyloe wander into the trees, where the thick evergreens caught most of the snow before it hit the ground. They found a gap in the trees big enough for the carriage with space for them to create a fire nearby. As always, the first thing Jale did was unharness the kyloe and tuck their gear underneath the carriage.

Tanden and Soren got out of the back, and Soren began to look for branches and twigs, as he usually did. Tanden waited for instructions. When Jale was done with the harnesses she joined him. "We need to sweep the snow out of the carriage, and then we'll put the roof on. Come-" She slide a broom out from between some crates and the carriage wall, and handed it to Tanden. While he climbed back into the carriage to sweep it, she began undoing the ties on the rolled canvas.