"You even cheated...and still, my friend, you couldn't win."
Boldevier bowed-his arms stretched out in front of him, his robe clinging to his forearms from rain and sweat.
"I gave my position of first place up, so as not to disgrace Mud, the racer," Boldevier whispered to Jazira.
She laughed, wiping the rain off of his face.
"Where is Frank?" she asked. She had not seen him since after the race, when the travelers were forced to seek shelter in caves: the rain was coming down in sheets now, the visibility was less than 2 feet.
"I have not seen him, miss," Boldevier answered. He left to go sling mud at Dorian, who was fussing with her drenched straw cap, now a darker brown than mahogany.
Jazira, though, was a bit worried and she mingled among the new friends she had made.
"Don't worry," Adrianne caught Jazira by the arm. "Frank is probably worrying over the horses. You know the man well, I presume. He is such a one that would never leave the horses unattended." Jazira nodded, and sat down on a slab of rock, bunching her robes around her feet.
She watched the entrance of the cave intently, and listened as Mud and Likerbein took out tools for serving supper.
"And then there were eight...." Diedan said, pointing to the right side. Frank Hopkins was walking nonchalantly, pulling his bandana off of his neck.
Jazira ran to him and threw her arms around his shoulders. Frank in his shy way, was surprised.
"I know, It's been a whole ten minutes..." he said. Jazira laughed. Relief washed over her.
"Well you were right," said Frank. He and Diedan were sitting around a fire that Likerbein had made. "The whole Arvara Valley has flooded over."
"And so will this cave, soon," answered Diedan.
Water leaked from the cracks in the ceiling and ran along the walls like racing spiders.
"I worry that our horses will sink."
"As do I."
"We must leave them then?" asked Diedan.
Frank sighed. "Can't. They'd die quicker being left alone. I can't let them stay. We have to take 'em with us."
Although Diedan disagreed with Frank's decision, he understood his friend's love of horses, and knew he would not be able to sway his conclusion.
The next morning the friends each mounted their horses (Dorian with some difficulty) and rode through the driving bullets of new rain. The sand underneath the hooves of Pegasus was thick and sludgy, it stayed in clumps and every now and again the travelers had to stop to clean the hooves of their animals.
"This is going to take awhile," yelled Likerbein to Frank, "Should we not just wait for the rain to end?"
"No! It would takes months for the season to be over. I cannot wait that long." Frank threw a loving glance at his fiancé. It was doubtful she saw it. The rain created a grey monstrous wall.
Frank mounted his horse again and continued on.
Suddenly, Frank heard a shriek from in front of him.
"Stop the horses! Stop the horses!" Mud yelled. His voice was strong and deep, it was not like him to get frightened. "Adrianne!"
Frank jumped off Pegasus, and rushed to where Mud had been yelling.
Mud was holding on to his sister's hand, pulling at her with all his might. Her waist was halfway sunk into the sand, her muscular arms were straining with her brother's.
"No! Let her go," Likerbein jumped in the middle of the two, tearing Mud's arms from Adrianne.
"The more you struggle, the farther under you will go."
Likerbein stopped and pulled something from his robe pocket.
It was long in shape and wooden. A piece of....Frank strained harder to see...driftwood.
"Stand back," he said to everyone around.
He fell onto his knees where Adrianne was sinking and drew a big hole in the muck before him. The whole soon filled with water, and when it did so, Likerbein dug another one. This time it was closer to Adrianne. When this had filled with water, he connected the two holes and watched as the pit Adrianne was sitting in created its own hole, and filled with water.
"Swim!" Likerbein yelled, and Adrianne took a step out of the watered hole onto dry land. Mud helped pull her up, and he hugged her when she had made it safe.
"We leave the horses," he said to Frank as he passed by, leading Adrianne to his own pack animal. "Her's never had a chance in that pit."
Frank's stomach dropped. Pegasus had to be left behind.