Free Echoes of Magic by Donna Grant Page B

back from the seat
and took her place.
    “ I hope you’re wrong,”
Grayson mumbled as he hurried to sit beside her and slapped the
reins on the cows.
    “ I am, too.” Though she
knew she wasn’t.
    No longer were the gypsies moving along
leisurely. There was a sense of urgency that hadn’t been there
earlier. Adrianna hated to get caught in storms. It was best for
everyone if they could get set up for the night to wait it out
rather and driving through it.
    Every once in a while she saw Grayson glance
at the sky. Finally, she looked at him, waiting for him to ask the
inevitable.
    He shook his head. “How do you know?”
    “ It’s one of my gifts. I
can smell it on the wind.”
    “ Aye, there are times I can
smell a storm, too.”
    She grinned. “Not until the storm is nearly
upon you though.”
    “ Just how far out is this
storm?”
    Adrianna lifted her face to the wind and
inhaled. “We have about four hours.” She opened her eyes to find
him watching her. “What is it?”
    “ You smell the
wind?”
    She nodded and folded her hands in her
lap.
    “ What do you
smell?”
    “ Many things,” she answered
and closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply. “I smell roses, pine and
even a hint of heather. Not far is a pasture of sheep. To the east
are fields of wheat that sway in the breeze. And I smell the
sea.”
    “ Amazing.”
    After a moment she opened her eyes, afraid
to look at Grayson. Though the gypsies had welcomed her, she knew
some were fearful of her gifts and looked at her with a mixture of
fear and repulsion when they didn’t think she saw them.
    “ I imagine that gift comes
in handy,” he said.
    She shrugged. “It can.”
    “ Can you smell the
evil?”
    “ Most
definitely.”
    There was no censure in his gaze, only
acceptance. “Good. I think we’re going to need that extra
advantage.”

Chapter Eleven
     
     
    Adrianna frowned when a few hours later the
wind began to whip around them, the trees bending against the
force.
    “ You can say it,” Grayson
said over the howling wind.
    She smiled and gave him an innocent look. “I
don’t know what you mean.”
    He laughed, his eyes twinkling silver. “You
know you want to tell me ‘I told you so’.”
    “ I could, but I
won’t.”
    Thankfully, they reached the edge of the
village and found a perfect spot to camp for the night. Adrianna
helped Grayson unhook the cattle and wrap a rope around several
trees to keep the livestock together.
    “ You can still change your
mind,” he said as he took her arm and steered her toward her
cart.
    She shook her head. “I want to go with
you.”
    He sighed. “Remember your promise.”
    “ I do.”
    After a wave to Milosh, they set out on foot
to the village. She had imagined Grayson would walk right into the
town, but he had other ideas. To her surprise, they strolled around
the village learning the size and where each business and home was.
He was fascinating to watch as he looked at the town, calculating
where they could escape to if the need arose.
    “ From the looks of things,
there are only one or two men who might give us
problems.”
    She raised a brow. “And how do you know
that?”
    “ You have your gifts. I
have mine,” he answered with a smirk. Then he pointed to the left
where a horse stood. “See that mount? The horse is of good stock
and, by the looks of the saddle, whoever owns that horse is at the
very least a knight and possibly a lord.”
    It was her turn to be amazed. “I’d never
have known that.”
    “ Now you do. So, stay
he...”
    She glanced at him when his words trailed
away. “What is it?”
    “ I don’t believe it,” he
whispered and leaned forward to peer through the bushes. “It’s my
horse.”
    “ What? Where?”
    “ The grey in the paddock
toward the back of the town.”
    “ Are you sure it’s your
horse? Maybe it’s one that looks like him.”
    He frowned, his lips pressed into a thin
line. “I raised that horse from a colt, Adrianna. I know the way