Kaylee sped along, cognizant of the hoofbeats behind her but listening for the ones she hoped to hear in front of her soon. She thought she may have circled too far to her right, which would’ve been almost due north, in order to get ahead of the band, but there was no way to tell for sure. She rode on, cutting back west. A large gully formed in front of her, and she pulled up on Storm’s reins, wondering how she would get around. The bastards that took Jenna must’ve found a way.
“There’s a bridge,” Gregory said, bringing his horse to a halt a few feet behind hers. Marcus brought up the rear, his face still showing his consternation over the entire situation. “If we head that way, we can get across.”
He pointed to their left, south. “Do you think that’s how they crossed?” Kaylee asked.
“No.” Gregory rode just a few feet to their left and stopped, dismounting. “There are markings here that show they had some sort of temporary bridge. The gully’s not as wide here, only about twenty feet. They must’ve been prepared somehow.”
Kaylee looked at the distance between where Gregory was kneeling and the far side of the hole. It wasn’t that far across at this point. Looking down, she could see it wasn’t all that deep either, though falling a couple of stories would likely result in certain death. Still, she wondered if Storm could make the jump.
Marcus had her reins. “Don’t even think it, cousin. The answer is no. It’s too great a distance.”
She glared at him, wondering how he’d read her thoughts so quickly.
“The bridge is not that far out of our way.” Gregory was back in the saddle. “If you want to get there before the soldiers Annetta’s likely summoned, you better hurry. Or else, you’ll have trouble in the front and the rear.
Annetta--Kaylee hadn’t even given any thought as to what had become of her lady. Of course, she’d headed back to the castle to ask for help. While part of her was relieved to know her father would soon be in pursuit of Jenna’s kidnappers, the idea that he would want to lock her up in a tower for the rest of her life as soon as he caught up to her made Kaylee want to give the jump more consideration.
“Come on!” Marcus said, situating his horse between Storm and the gulley and pressing on. Seeing no alternative, Kaylee headed toward the bridge, wondering how long it would take her father to call up his troops, get them in formation, and march them through the forest. He would likely use the cavalry, and if he was aware this gully was here, he’d take a more direct path, which meant they didn’t have time to argue.
The bridge was little more than a few sticks assembled across the expanse, with something symbolizing guardrails on either side. Storm wasn’t worried at all as he made his way out onto the creaking, quaking surface, but Marcus’s horse didn’t want to go. Kaylee didn’t wait to find out whether or not her cousin won the battle. Once she was on the other side, she took off again, heading back north, toward where Gregory had found evidence of a makeshift bridge. Hopefully, she would pick up a trail there.
Gregory was beside her in a few moments, the clearing next to the gully allowing them to ride side by side. The faint sound of Marcus coming up behind them let her know he’d made it across as well. “We aren’t in Arteria anymore,” Gregory reminded her. “This is Gradenian territory. If we head north a bit further, we’ll be in Zurconia, and then, beyond that, a sliver of Clovington before we are out of area any of us are familiar with.”
“That has to be a day or more away, at full speed,” Kaylee argued, wishing he’d be quiet so she could concentrate.
“Yes, probably so. Do you honestly think you’ll catch them before then? And when you do, what is it you intend to do to free Jenna? You have a saber with you, but they have arrows. Not to mention, we are grossly outnumbered and their swordsmanship likely leaves us wanting.”
“Speak for yourself,” she barked, glaring at him. “I don’t know what I intend to do,” she admitted. “But I will get my cousin back.”
“You may want to come up with a plan, Princess. Stumbling upon a group of kidnappers in the middle of a forest is dangerous enough. Riding in there angry and not thinking clearly is a good way to find an arrow in one’s neck.”
She knew that already, of course, having already dodged arrows twice that day. Seeing the marking on the ground both near the gully and disappearing into the wood, Kaylee turned. It didn’t take long for her to see the makeshift bridge abandoned within the trees. It was only a few fallen timbers hastily fastened together. She imagined it had to be difficult to cross such a span on that and hoped that Jenna wasn’t terrified the entire while, not that she wouldn't be anyway. Who knew what those hooligans intended to do with her dainty cousin?
A plan would be a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, as she rode along through thicker forest, turning quickly into what could only be considered swampland, she had none. If it was dark by the time they found them, perhaps they would’ve made camp. Then, she could sneak in under the cover of night and find her cousin, setting her free before they rode away into the shadows of the forest. Perhaps they needed to be quieter so that the bandits didn’t hear them coming. They could follow along until darkness fell, wait a while, and then make their move.
Being quiet wasn’t her strong suit, though, not when she was racing through the woods. As the ground grew wetter, it was easier to follow their tracks. Fresh markings of horse hooves littered the ground. There were plenty of them. Kaylee remembered what Gregory had said, too, about them being well-trained. It entered her mind that she was leading two other people she cared about into a situation where they would also be in mortal danger. The intelligent thing to do would be to turn back. Yet, Kaylee found herself riding on, the stubborn streak in her not allowing her to admit defeat. She needed to find Jenna. Once she did that, she’d figure out how to set her free. In the meantime, she prayed for everyone else’s safety and hoped, if someone did lose their life, it would be her. If anything happened to anyone else, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself.