Fearless Warrior: Isaacson Trilogy Book Two

16

Esmund glanced around the cave, ensuring they'd retrieved all their gear before ducking and heading toward the others saddling their mounts. After the talk with Father, he felt like a stranger in his own body. Had his mother been right?

Did he use humor as some defense?

Several instances came to mind proving she was correct, and he shook his head in amazement. How had he never noticed it before? Knowing his mother had figured it out long ago and called him her 'fearless warrior' brought warmth to his heart and tears to his eyes.

When the emotions lingered longer than was comfortable and came too close to the surface, he sought distraction.

As luck would have it, Gunnar and Nora stood off to the side, several feet from the rest of the group, with their heads bent close together and their arms clasped around one another's waists.

They murmured too low for Esmund to hear at this distance, but he was pretty sure he knew what they were saying. He lowered his voice to resemble Gunnar's timbre and mumbled, "Goodbye, my love, stay safe and think of me every second until we meet again."

"And you," Esmund replied in a high-pitched feminine whisper nowhere near what Nora actually sounded like, but, he reasoned, it added a bit of drama to the moment. "My sweet, darling Mr. Tumbleweed, whom I love and adore beyond the air I breathe. Now kiss me, you handsome beast."

As if by magic, the two lovers followed Esmund's script and shared a kiss he believed shouldn't have been given in public, and made him uncomfortably aware of the desire to pull Elsie aside to share one of the same.

When the kiss dragged on longer than was necessary to get their point across—where even the clouds knew of how much they would miss one another, Esmund cleared his throat extra loud and pretended to pull out a pocket watch, "My, my, would you look at the time."

Gunnar and Nora pulled apart, and scowled his way.

Esmund gave them his best, dimpled grin and shrugged as he looked at the others. Elsie clutched a blanket around her like a shawl and glanced at him over her shoulder but quickly turned away before he caught her gaze.

She'd been avoiding him from the moment she woke up a half-hour ago, and he didn't know what to think of it. Had she known she slept peacefully in his arms, mumbling and chuckling in her sleep the entire night? Just thinking of it made him smile, and his arms ache to hold her again.

She'd found a way to wash the blood from her hair soon after waking, and the damp locks hung down her back, reaching past her hips in thick, relaxed waves. It was the first time he'd seen her hair free of her messy attempts at a bun, and his fingers itched to run through its luxurious length.

Would it feel as soft as it looked? It was such an inconsequential question, yet the idea of discovering the answer to this new mystery quickened his pulse.

He really needed to stop dwelling on such foolish thoughts and focus on what was important for the moment: their safe return to Buffalo Gulch. With any luck, the remainder of their journey would progress without incident.

Out of nowhere, Nora snapped her fingers in front of Esmund's face. He stepped back and frowned, "That was rather rude."

"I had to get your attention somehow."

"How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to know you were in your own little world."

Esmund shrugged, "Well, now I'm all yours—my attention, that is. My mind and heart are saved for another."

She grinned, "What a relief. Do you want to hear the plan, or do you prefer to live in a state of mystery?"

"Why don't you surprise me?"