“What can we do for you in exchange for the wonderful drinks you served?”
He smiled, as if I had again said some magik words.
“Just come back for food sometime soon.”
“I promise we will,” I said. I tipped my hat at him.
“Thanks.”
He stood there smiling, watching us leave like we were his children headed off to school.
We went through Bethel in the middle of the night. The town looked like all the others, and, even though it was locked up tight and shuttered, I recognized the Audry’s-place-look-alike as we passed it.
For the past few hours, since a stop we made right after dark, the cows had again watched us. We were the cow entertainment for the night as we sped past pasture after pasture. Thousands and thousands of cows lined the road, ready for us to come flashing past. I had no idea why they did it, or how they knew we were coming, but there wasn’t a stretch of road that didn’t have cows lined up beside it all night long. And even though there were no fences, none of them came into the road to stop us.
After a while I stopped looking at them as well. Their big eyes, shining in the moonlight, just unnerved me.
My flying was getting better and better as the trip went on, and since the moon was almost full the road was easy to see. I could manage almost an hour of nonstop flying before I had to rest, and, because of the mostly flat land, we were making great time.
Even though I wanted to drink it earlier because I was feeling tired, I forced myself to wait until we were walking through Bethel to finish the last of the carrot juice I had had Tanda save.