Thorns of Decision (Dusk Gate Chronicles) (20 page)

“Good.” He smiled. “I’m not sure I can begin to tell you how happy it makes me to see him the way he’s been around you, Quinn.”

She glanced down at the floor, the red still spreading, down to her neck and out to the tips of her ears now, as panic over what he might be implying constricted her chest. “You know it’s not anything serious yet, right Thomas?”

And she wasn’t ready for it to be – at least when William wasn’t in the room, and she could think clearly. When he was right next to her, looking at her with those compassionate eyes that sometimes felt like he could see into her very soul, everything tended to get a little fuzzy, and she would start thinking strange things, start feeling like maybe it
wasn’t
crazy to be –
courting
someone from another world. Like there was actually some way this could end well.

“Does it have to be
serious
for me to be happy about it?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t want you to have unrealistic expectations about it, that’s all.”

“And what are your expectations, Quinn?”

“I don’t know, Thomas. It’s not exactly a normal situation. I have no idea what’s going to happen between the two of us when I go home.”

“Are you going to go home?”

Her heartbeat stuttered, almost stopping before she was able to look back up at him. “Of course I’m going to go home, Thomas. What kind of question is that?” She stared up at him, surprised when she realized he was smiling. “Seriously, Thomas. What?”

He shrugged. “I’m just trying to figure out where your mind’s at, Quinn. Play along with me for a minute?”

“Play along with you
how
?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

He shifted back into the cushions, rearranging himself so that both legs were stretched out on the couch in front of him, and he took a long sip of his tea before holding the mug with both hands in his lap. “Let’s say – just for argument’s sake – that you didn’t go back home. That you decided to stay here.”

“I can’t just do that, Thomas. Bristlecone is my home – that’s my
world.
”

“It’s
half
your world Quinn. You’re half from here, too. You have just as much stake here as you do there.”

“Not quite – and
yes
, I have thought about it. I was born there. My father was
living there
. My mom is there. My little brother and sister are there. I haven’t even graduated high school. It’s not like I can just walk out right now and never look back.”

“Maybe not
right now
, Quinn. But you’ll graduate high school – or you won’t, you wouldn’t have to – you’re already of age here, and our education system is quite different. It would be hard, but it isn’t like you could
never
see your family again. You could go back and visit.”

“And my mom would tell people what when I just disappear and reappear?”

“That you’re magic.”

“If you weren’t sitting over there with a broken leg, Thomas...”

“You’d what?” he said, raising an eyebrow, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

She sighed loudly.

“Okay, you’re right, Quinn. It’s complicated for you. I get it. Just – when it comes time to make a decision – don’t assume it’s so complicated that there’s no possible way it could work out, okay?”

“Fine, Thomas. I’ll try. But believe me when I say I am
not
ready to make that decision yet, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Besides,” she said, staring into her teacup. “I’m not sure I’m ready to live in a world where I have to start a fire in the middle of the night just to have a cup of tea.”

“Will has an electric kettle in his room.”

“Now you tell me. He didn’t think to bring one back for the common room?”

Thomas chuckled, but he shrugged. “This
is
a castle. Most of the time when someone wants tea, there is someone else to start a fire.”

“It’s not that way for everyone in your world, though.”

“No, you’re right. I do get it, Quinn. This world is very different from yours, and I can imagine how hard it would be to get used to living without a lot of the things you have. Most people in my world
do
have to build their own fires before they can have something as simple as a cup of tea.
Most
people in my world have to go around lighting candles if they wake up in the middle of the night in the first place. You’re from a place with computers and cell phones and cars. It’s not an easy decision.”

By the time Quinn had actually gotten tired again and been able to fall back asleep, the first hints of pale, gray light had been peeking over the horizon. She wasn’t ready to wake up again when Linnea knocked twice on her bedroom door and then came bounding inside.

“Wow, you’re not usually asleep this late,” she said, as Quinn struggled to sit up and open her eyes. “We’re planning on leaving for Mistle Village in about an hour.”

“Really?” She glanced over at the window. The light coming through the slit between the heavy curtains still looked faint.

“Yeah, so you’d probably better get dressed and ready.” Linnea walked over and pulled back the curtains. The light still seemed off, but now Quinn could see why. The sky was overcast; billowy gray clouds covered up any trace of blue. She noticed for the first time that Linnea was dressed in dark jeans and a long-sleeved shirt.

“Is it cold outside?” she asked.

“Not cold, but cooler than usual. You’ll want long sleeves and we’ll take jackets and things in case it rains this afternoon. You should get ready, though. Will and Jacob want to leave on time so we can get there before the storm hits if there is going to be one.”

Even though Quinn was dressed and ready to go in less than half an hour, by the time they got outside to the front of the clinic, several people were already busily getting the Hardridge family loaded into two wagons. Lily and Graeme were running in and out of the clinic, loading as many supplies as they could into the beds.

The horses were already hitched to the wagons; the two that Jacob had brought whuffled patiently in front of his wagon. Skittles, William’s brown and white mare, looked a little less than pleased to be harnessed next to one of her stable mates that Quinn didn’t recognize.

Walking over to Skittles, Quinn reached up and rubbed her nose sympathetically. “Good girl,” she murmured.

Suddenly, there was a forceful nudge at her shoulder. Startled, she spun around to see her own mare, Dusk, starting at her in what she would have sworn was jealousy. “Oh, Dusk,” she said, putting her arms around the animal’s neck. “You know I love you best.”

Dusk bobbed her head up and down once, snorting. From behind her, Quinn heard a hearty laugh.

“Sometimes I think that horse has more personality than the rest of us put together,” William said, coming up to stand next to Quinn.

When she turned to look at him, her breath caught in her throat. Standing there as he was, in a tight, light blue sweater that set off his sparkling gray eyes and almost-black hair perfectly, it was hard to imagine exactly how he could have ever escaped her notice at school. Underneath the soft wool she could see the outlines of the muscles he’d developed through all of the manual labor he did here in his world.

When he caught her gaze she blushed, watching the color spread across her cheeks in the reflection off the clear glass in his wire-framed glasses. “Hey,” he said. “Good morning.”

“’Morning.”

Their position, standing in the circle created by the three horses, gave them a tiny bit of privacy from the people who worked around them, and he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “You okay?” he asked her.

“I’m fine. Why?” she asked, frowning.

“I talked to Thomas a little bit ago. He said you were awake half the night.”

Oh, right.
“Yeah ... it was just dreams again.”

He put his hand on her shoulder, running it down to her elbow comfortingly. “Do you remember what they were about this time?”

Closing her eyes, she tried to catch the hint of an image that danced in her mind, but shook her head when she opened them again. “I remember something about dandelions,” she said. “I think I was trapped in a field of them or something, but I can’t really remember.”

William caught her hand and squeezed it gently. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I know it’s disconcerting for you when you have dreams like that.”

“I just wish I could remember them. It seems like they’re important somehow, like I need to know what’s happening in them, but I just can’t hold onto it.”

He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. It felt good to be there, snuggled against his chest, the uneasy feeling left over from her dream was slowly slipping away. His head tipped down towards hers, their lips brushing…

“Will! Where are you?” Jacob’s voice called from the porch.

He sighed and then chuckled. “I’ll be right there,” he called. “We need to get on the road,” he said, looking back down at Quinn. “I think we’ve got a few hours before it rains, but I’d like to have Eldon and Payla settled at the clinic regardless.”

*          *          *

The ride to Mistle Village was pleasant in the cool, overcast weather. It was nice to not be feeling sweaty and sticky underneath the searing heat of the summer sun. Dusk seemed to be enjoying herself, too; her casual walk was more energetic than usual. Linnea’s mare, Snow, kept up a happy pace right beside them.

They followed along a little way behind the wagon William was driving, which carried all of the Hardridge children, except the youngest one, the barely toddling cherub-cheeked baby named George. They’d kept him in the first wagon with his parents so that Connie could hold on to him.

Payla, the seven-cycle little girl who had been so ill just a few days ago was doing a lot better, though William and Jacob still wanted to keep her at the clinic until her coughing had subsided more. Right now she was smiling along with her siblings as they huddled under blankets and watched the countryside roll by.

“Are you going to stare at Will the whole trip?” Linnea asked beside her.

Heat flowed into her cheeks again as she turned to face her friend. “I’m not staring at him.”

Linnea raised an eyebrow.

Maybe she
had
been staring a little. Although she had seen William on horseback many times, she’d never watched him drive a wagon before, and it was surprisingly fascinating – the way he deftly controlled the horses with subtle movements of the lines he held.

“People don’t drive wagons much in my world,” she said. “It’s kind of interesting.”

“Yeah ...
that’s
the reason you’re staring.”

The blush crept further down her neck as she scrambled for a response. “And if it was a certain, cute stable hand up there...”

“If Jared was driving the wagon in front of us, I’d be staring too,” Linnea said, completely unabashed. “Maybe he’d notice and actually ask me on a walk or something.”

How did all of this come so naturally to some people, Quinn wondered, when it all felt awkward and strange to her? Even with Zander, it had been hard to admit they were really dating, though Abigail had never seemed to have a problem flaunting her relationship with Adam.

With William, it was hard enough when they admitted what was going on to each other – now she had to know what to say to his sister, too? Of course, she could always keep changing the subject. “He notices you, Nay. I’ve seen him. I think he’s just intimidated because he’s a stable hand and you’re a princess.”