“Just something that’s been going around,” I said, trying the wine.
“It seems more like magic than the flu.”
“Perhaps there was a touch of that too,” I agreed. “You never know what might blow in out of Shadow. But almost everyone I know who’s had it is okay now.”
She furrowed her brow. “It was very strange.”
I had a few more crackers and sips of the wine. They did keep the good stuff for themselves.
“There is absolutely nothing to worry about,” I repeated.
She smiled and nodded. “I believe you. What are you doing here, anyhow?”
“Stopover. I’m on my way back to Amber,” I said, “from elsewhere. Which reminds me-may I borrow a horse?”
“Certainly,” she replied. “How soon will you be leaving?”
“As soon as I get the horse,” I said.
She got to her feet. “I didn’t realize you were in a hurry. I’ll take you over to the stables now.”
“Thanks.”
I grabbed two more crackers and another piece of cheese on the way out and tossed off the rest of the wine. I wondered where the blue fog might be drifting now. When I’d located a good horse, which she told me I could have delivered to their stable in Amber, I saddled him and fitted his bridle. He was a gray, named Smoke. I donned my cloak then and clasped Vinta’s hands.
“Thanks for the hospitality,” I said, “even if you don’t recall it.”
“Don’t say good-bye yet,” she told me. “Ride around to the kitchen door off the patio, and I’ll give you a water bottle and some food for the road. We didn’t have a mad affair that I don’t remember, did we?”
“A gentleman never tells,” I said.
She laughed and slapped my shoulder. “Come see me sometime when I’m in Amber,” she told me, “and refresh my memory.”
I grabbed a set of saddlebags, a bag of chow for Smoke and a longish tethering rope. I led him outside as Vinta headed back to the house. I mounted then and rode slowly after her, a few dogs capering about me. I circled the manor, taking the long way around, drew rein and dismounted near the kitchen. I considered the patio, wishing I had one just like it where I could sit and take coffee in the morning. Or had it just been the company?
After a time, the door opened and Vinta came out and passed me a bundle and a flask. As I was securing them, she said, “Let my father know that I’ll be back in a few days, will you? Tell him that I came to the country because I wasn’t feeling well, but that I’m all right now.”
“Glad to,” I said.
“I don’t really know why you were here,” she said. “But if it involves politics or intrigue I don’t want to know.”
“Okay,” I said.
“If a servant took a meal to a big red-haired man who seemed to be pretty badly injured, this would be better forgotten?”
“I’d say.”
“It will be, then. But one of these days I’d like the story.”
“Me too,” I said. “We’ll see what we can do.”
“So, have a good journey.”
“Thanks. I’ll try.”
I clasped her hand, turned away and mounted.
“So long.”
“See you in Amber,” she said.
I mounted and continued my circuit of the house until I was back near the stables again. I headed past them then to a trail we had ridden that led off in the direction I wanted. Back toward the house, a dog began to howl and another joined it moments later. There was a breeze out of the south, and it carried a few leaves past me. I wanted to be on the road, far away and alone. I value my solitude because that is when I seem to do my best thinking, and right now I had many things to think over.
I rode to the northwest. About ten minutes later I came to a dirt road we had crossed the other day. This time I followed it westward, and it finally took me to the crossroads with the marker indicating that Amber lay straight ahead. I rode on.