Maggie of the Mist by Madeleine M. (best ebook reader for ubuntu txt) 📕

“Some people call me Maggie.,” Maggie looked up from her work to see his face quite close to hers. “Can you please stop wiggling? I’ll stab myself and you’ll have a shirt full of holes with my blood on it.” She felt a blush and he grinned like it was a game.

“Oh, sorry.” Keith whispered softly as he brushed a stray blond hair from her face. She didn’t like it one bit, or at least she told herself she didn’t. Maggie returned to her work, without as much as a glance in his direction. “Are you a wood nymph?” he asked suddenly.

“Why would you think that?” Maggie asked without looking up. She swallowed the laughter that rose in her throat. She was going to try to not let him get to her, no matter how long she was stuck with him. She felt a set of eyes tracking their every move, and couldn’t manage to hold back a smile.

“Well, because you remind me of the ones in stories. You know,” Keith elbowed her slightly, “The mysterious creatures said to lead a human to their fate. Appearing and disappearing with the mist. Living in the trees. Stuff like that.” He looked her way just as she finished mending the holes that her arrows made.

Holding up the shirt she said, “There, good as new,”

“Wow, you’re good!” Keith exclaimed, standing to put his shirt back on.

What Keith didn’t realize, was that Vika had seen everything. Maggie had felt her watching, but thought nothing of it. She knew Vika could be a little bit too protective. If she told anyone to back off, they would without further question. The girl had that flair about her. Vika was very suspicious of this stranger Maggie was talking to. It had been plain on her face, but Keith had no clue.

Turning around to look over her shoulder, Maggie called to her friend, “Alright Vika,” Keith shot her a look that seemed to say, you knew she was there? “I’ve asked him my questions, you can take him now.” Vika appeared from behind the closest tree, making sure that her dagger was gleaming in the early morning light. “Vika, Keith,” Maggie introduced them, nodding to each in turn. “Keith, this is my cousin Vika.”

“Charmed,” Vika smiled, amused, she was laying it on pretty thick for a first meeting. She moved out of the shadows and picked up his sword before he could move for it. “Keith, was it?  Because you made us a bit late, with that little misunderstanding, you get to go help Angus finish cleaning up. Oh and do make sure that you don’t rip that nice shirt on your way back.” She was waving her dagger casually. Maggie had to smile when she saw that look on his face as Vika ordered him around.

“Little misunderstanding?” he openly gaped at her, “I was almost killed!”

“But you weren’t,” Vika shifted her weight and place her hands on her hips, a small mocking grin on her lips, “Trust me, if she was aiming to kill, you’d be long dead by now.” She nodded towards Maggie. Without another word Keith walked in the direction of their camp, with the funniest look on his face as he glanced back at Maggie. “Well, I said it before and I’ll say it again; he’s a strange kind,” announced Vika once she thought it fit to speak about him. “I can tell because you almost came right out and talked to him. A complete stranger!” she put a stress on the word talked and Maggie shrugged.

“I had to say something,” she replied putting her hood on. She replaced her weapons on her body. The sewing kit she stuffed in the pocket of her pants. She felt a little bad about ripping his shirt. Honestly, she did.

“I don’t know what you plan to do with him.” Vika was all business once again.

“I think I trust him.”

“You think, or you know?”

“I’m not sure,” Maggie sighed. “I’ll let you know once we get to Redd’s.”

“Fine,” Vika sighed dramatically. “I guess that means he has to come with us, doesn’t it? Perfect.” The two girls made their way back to see how the boys were doing. They needed to leave soon. Maggie wasn’t sure how many people would be out stalking her.

“Oh, and Vika,” Maggie started, as they were almost in ear shot of the camp, “There’s something I think that you’ll want to hear…”

*****

How mean could one little girl be?

Keith was helping Angus finish packing up camp. He had learned the names of their horses. Angus had Scott, Vika rode Dagger, – he was not surprised – and Maggie’s was Gregor.  Angus had been quiet the whole time. Just what he needed; someone else who pretended he wasn’t there.

“Wonder what’s taking them so long? We should be gone by now.” Angus was leaning against a tree, whittling a twig with his pocket knife. Keith was wondering the same. Maggie was probably convincing Vika to spare his life. He sat on a rock, thinking about the shy girl who had skillfully filled his shirt with arrows, and then with the same preciseness, had mended the holes she made. If you just glanced at his shirt, you would hardly see any sign that there had been holes there before, and if you looked really close you could just see a slight discolouration.

He knew he should be thinking of ways to escape. For a way to get his sword back at least. Instead, his thoughts were always dragged back to Maggie. There was something about the way her cousins both protected her, how she didn’t speak when they met on the road. They were obviously hiding some dirty little secret. He just had to figure out what it was.

He went over a mental list of what did know about her.

So far he had discovered that Maggie was not very good with strangers. She had aim to kill if she wanted to, and had the skills of the common house wife. She had sharp, light blue eyes that held secrets and stopped his heart when she looked at him. Long blond hair that fell to about the middle of her back, and was soft to the touch. The girl had to be a good head shorter than him, at least. She couldn’t be older than sixteen. Maggie’s smile, though appearing seldom, was genuinely kind and bright. When he saw it, he found himself grinning back. Those boyish clothes hid the actual size of her body. And she had a confidence problem. She seemed withdrawn, except with people she was very close to. Something about that characteristic made him want to help her. With what, he wasn’t sure. But he was going to see how long it would take him to find out.

But one thing was for sure, Laila was right. The little girl with the head of dark curls had been on his mind since he realized a girl like Maggie actually ran from boys and hid in trees. Maggie was very pretty. Perhaps she was from somewhere near Laila’s village. He was contemplating this when the two girls came back. Maggie had her quiver strapped to her hip and bow on her back. She put the hood on again.

Will she always hide? Keith wondered. He had a lot of detective work ahead of him.

“Alright,” said Vika taking control, “We’re taking you with us, you’re going to be riding with Angus on Scott. We’re riding alone until we stop to eat, then you get to either walk, or ride with me,” She pointed to herself and Maggie. “Keith, you will tell Maggie where your brother was supposed to meet up with you.” Vika grabbed Angus by the sleeve. “There’s something we need to straighten out before we go.” They walked through what was left of the early morning mist leaving Keith alone with this mysterious girl.

Keith turned back to face Maggie. Her beautiful face was covered and she didn’t make a sound. “Well,” Keith started, “I suppose I’m to meet him up in Koal.” At the mention of the Curtian capital, she froze. Probably not for the same reasons as he had when she was trying to help him get out of his tangled shirt. Her hands were freezing cold, that was his reason – or at least the one he had tried to convince himself of. She seemed to be thinking. He waited for a response but all he got was a slow nod. While Maggie was over adding his things to Gregor’s load, Keith could hear the loud voices of his other two captures discussing something.

“… We have to… after the last village … her protection, we promised…” That was Vika.

“Fine… only until the capital… her father safely, or we get rid of...” That voice was Angus. Keith was sure that he probably wouldn’t like to know what they meant by ‘we get rid of’. He tried to busy his mind by watching the creek trickle past his feet, the birds singing in the trees, the wind ruffling his hair – anything was better than thinking of the constant danger his life was in as he travelled with these children. Vika and Angus could not have been older than Daileas.

When they came back, Maggie had already untethered the horses and was perched on Gregor. Waiting patiently for the others to do the same.

Vika dug something out of her packs. Rope.

“Hands out front.” She ordered. Vika tied his wrists tightly and smiled as she tugged one last time. Maggie cleared her throat and her smile fell. The girl all but threw him onto Scott’s back. The horse shifted anxiously as he tried to right himself. Keith glared at her as she smoothly mounted Dagger. She returned it coldly.

Before getting on Scott’s back with Keith, Angus made sure that the fire was out and their camp looked like the rest of the woods around them. Keith noticed for the first time that the small space held almost no evidence of these people being there. He began to wonder again how safe he really was with them. Maybe he should make an escape plan. “Off we go!” Angus cried as he lead them back out to the road.

*****

Keith wasn’t used to sharing a horse. It took him a while to get used to not being in control. It might have been a little difficult to keep his balance just sitting behind Angus, but having his hands bound was no easy task. It was painful every time he moved his arms. The muscles in his shoulders and arms protested any movement, while the skin on his wrists was being rubbed raw by his binds.

For several leagues, the two girls fell behind a bit. Vika whispered to Maggie about something, the whole time she nodded in understanding. He tried not to worry about what they were talking about.

The trees on either side of the road drifted past, only to be replaced by even more trees. If he had to guess, Keith would have said they were still in the Curtian Forest. The only sounds that filled the day were those of the horses and the creatures that lived among the trees. Every once in a while, the wind came up and tussled his red hear. The sun was out the whole time. Eventually, he had to get Angus to roll up his sleeves, and remove his cloak.

They had covered at least twice as much ground as Keith had walking , but he still felt like they were moving too slow. The only thing that helped pass the time was the many stories his riding companion had to tell. Keith heard some really interesting tales. There were some about dragons, lost treasures, and great battles. Brave young men and wise old women. Heroes sent by the Warrior, the Maiden, even the Veil’s Guard.

But one in particular caught his attention.

“There were two ancient clans who were sworn enemies, the Tine’la and