Chapter 12

Deanna glanced up from where she was examining the dirt, looking in the direction that the horse had gone. It had sped away quickly, almost as if startled. Though she hoped that it was a lead on Herndon, and not just the hoof prints of a scared horse.
"What do you think, Krennan?" She asked. He neighed in response.
She smiled.
"I think it's a lead too." She said, getting to her feet and walking over to him. "Shall we go see?"
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They'd stopped a little before midnight that night. Alroy went out to collect some firewood, while Cayle set up the campsite. They had a warm meal of leftover stew and tea, before rolling up in their blankets to sleep.
After a while, Cayle could hear Alroy's steady breathing, signifying that he was in deep slumber.
He laid awake, thinking over ways to try and get Alroy to open up about his past, and why he was being so secretive about it.
Tomorrow, he said to himself, I will find out more about you, Alroy, and then we'll see if you're trustworthy.
Eventually, he fell asleep. Awakened soon after by Alroy so they could move.
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She stopped when she reached another fork in the road.
"Why are there so many of these things?" She asked Krennan as she dismounted. "Very inconvenient for following someone."
She knelt on the ground once more to examine it.
"This must be one of the active roads." She commented, noting all of the footprints. "Looks like this won't get us anywhere; any one of these could be Herndon's. It's your call, Krennan, which way?"
There was a pause, and then Krennan stomped his feet and trotted over to the south.
"South? But the trail was heading east..." Deanna said. "Are you sure?"
Krennan snorted and shook his head, moving a little farther south.
Deanna held up her hands in a peace making gesture. "Ok, ok," She said. "I was just making sure, no need to bite my head off."
She mounted again and headed off to the south.
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"So tell me," Cayle said after they had been walking for an hour. "Where are you from?"
Very subtle, Cayle. He thought.
Alroy glanced at him. "Here and there." He answered, dodging the question. "Any idea which direction if there is a fork?"
"We just continue in the same direction we're going; and I'm fairly sure there are no forks in these parts." Cayle said. "And you're avoiding my question."
"How could you tell?" Alroy said with a grin. "I don't like to talk about myself, alright? Can we just move past it?"
"Alroy, you do realize how suspicious you look by not talking about yourself and dodging every single question that brings anything up, right?" Cayle said.
"Vaguely." Was the answer.
"Look, Alroy, I'm not trying to be rude here, I just need to know that I can trust you." Cayle explained. "And I'm sorry if this is uncomfortable."
"You can trust me." Alroy said simply.
"I'm going to need more than that to go on." Cayle replied.
Alroy was about to respond when they heard a scream coming from the woods.
They both stopped in their tracks and looked at each other briefly before running into the woods.