The Beast and The Brain.

I woke up, the sun was already out, and J was nowhere to be seen. I sat up and got to my feet, “J!” I called out.
“What?” I spun around, J was holding two dead rabbits in one hand and a knife in the other.

“I thought you left…” I said embarrassed. She rolled her eyes and plopped the rabbits down next to a fire she must have made when I had been asleep. She skinned them and got as much meat off them as possible then put it into a soup.

“It’s not much but it’s hot. I don’t want to use our food supply unless we absolutely have to, I can hunt most of the time, it’s cheaper and that means if anything happens and we don’t have time to hunt for food, we will have some sort of supply to keep us going.” She tossed in some sort of herb and mixed it in with the soup.

“And I presume that you expect us to get into some sort of situation?” I asked her, “Because you still haven’t told me why we ran out of there in such a hurry. Or who on earth those men are that the villagers described. And I’m going to assume that it’s those men that we are running from.”

She stared at the soup as she stirred, then finally she looked up at me, “You notice much.” She commented, “Most people are too stupid to notice anything that is going on around them. Yes, we are running from those men. I will not tell you who they are so do not ask. Just know that they are very, very dangerous men. The reason we left in such a hurry is that they knew we were in that town somewhere. They convinced the towns’ people to draw us out. Their plan was to come back the next day and take us themselves. It was not safe to stay.”

“What about those people? Won’t those men hurt them for letting us go?” I demanded.
She shook her head, “No.” She said simply, “They are not interested in harming them, they only want us. That is another reason why we left, to draw them away from that town and Grace.”

I nodded my head, “So what now? Shouldn’t we keep moving?”
“Again with the questions.” She sighed, “We aren’t much use without rest and food. While normally I would be able to travel faster if I were on my own, I would still prefer we travel quickly with strength, then have us kill my horse trying to run to death. Make sense?”
I nodded my head, “If its speed of travel we need, why not fly?”

She shot her head up and glared at me, “Are you really that stupid?” She hissed, “You flying around as a giant dragon would be like creating a bonfire and screaming ‘over here!’. No, you will not be flying anytime soon if you know what’s good for you.”

I looked down at my hands. She was right, of course. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Apparently not.” She nodded then lifted the small pot off the fire and poured us each half into little wooden bowls she kept stored in her saddle. We ate quickly and quietly cleaned up camp and continued at a ground-eating pace.

“Where are we headed now?” I asked.
“The next town, while you were speaking with Grace, Charles told me that there is a stable up here that we can buy a horse from at a good price. Charles said that the man owed him a favor, we just have to mention his name.”

“Or we could simply use your little mind trick and get him to give us a free horse.” I suggested. J pulled back on the reigns and turned too looked at me.

“Just because I have the ability to control people’s thoughts, doesn’t give me the right to. I will not steal from honest men, I will barter and trade like a normal human being and get the cheapest price, but I will not trick the man. It’s not right.”

I looked away from her gaze. “I apologize. You are right, I was just…” I shook my head. I felt like a rambling fool around J, and that angered me. We were silent for a few hours, until we finally reached the village. Unlike the last one, the trees decreased slowly and farms began to pop up every once in a while, until finally the road ran between to wheat fields. I slid of J’s horse and walked beside her, it would look better if I wasn’t riding with her.

We passed a few farmhouses, and then came to the top of a small hill. The village was divided by a small river, and the people had built a bridge over it. The road ran right down the middle of the street and all around people were walking, and smoke was billowing out of chimneys. “Well it’s bigger than the last.” I commented.

J simply nodded, she was scouting the place out, “Right, follow my lead and stay out of trouble.” I nodded and we made our way down the hill and into town. We stopped first at a blacksmith J asked the man where the stable was located. He gave her directions and we made our way over the bridge. We found the stable and stepped inside. J tethered her horse outside the door.

“Excuse me.” J cleared her throat. A middle-aged man turned around. He had black hair, light blue eyes, and was all muscle.
“Yes madam, what can I do for ya?” He asked.
“I wish to buy a horse.”

He nodded his head, “Yes of course. Come this way, I’ll show you the stock I have for sale.” He made his way down a row of stalls to the back entrance. I noted that he limped. We stepped outside and passed a few paddocks, and then stopped. “These here are the horses I have for sale at the moment.”

J nodded her head then ducked under the fence; I followed her, “I instantly filtered through the horses. There were only about three that would be even worth looking at. J stepped up to a brown one and I shook my head.

“Not that one.” I told her, “If you’d please, my father breeds horses for a living…” She waved her hand and took a step back.

“Then by all means…”She said. I grinned and moved among the horses. They all had halters on so I reached out and grabbed a light brown one and pulled him out to J. “Here hold him for me will ya?” She nodded and held onto the halter and stroked the horses’ nose. I ran my hand down his neck and legs. I moved his joints, check his hooves for cracks, and then I checked his teeth. I shook my head, “No good, let him go.” J let the halter go and he went back to grazing. A few of the horses didn’t want to be caught, so I had trouble grabbing a white one that looked decent, but finally I managed to grab hold of her halter.

“Hold her for me.” I told J, she nodded again. I did the same routine check the put my hands on my hips. “It’s a maybe for this one.” I told J. “Would you happen to have some rope?” I asked the man. He nodded a walked to a post where there was rope coiled. He pulled it over his shoulder and handed it to us. “Thank you.” I tied the horse to the fence then went to find the next one I had seen

He was a gray horse and he let me catch him easily, J held him as I looked him over, “He’ll be good to.” I said to J. She nodded, “So which one do you want?” I shook my head.

“Really they both aren’t what we are looking for. These horses are meant for pulling wagons, not endurance, however…” I pulled J to one side, “Do you see that stallion over there? He’s sectioned off from the others, and by the way he’s moving I can almost guarantee he’s hardly broke, if at all. That horse there is the best I’ve seen of his stock, and one that will keep pace with your horse the best.”

J looked up without actually looking like she was looking, then she nodded her head. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Wait.” I told her, “Let me bargain, as I said before…I have experience with this sort of thing.”

“Fine whatever, just make it quick. I don’t want to be here too long.” I nodded my head then went up the man.
“Looks like you picked some good once.” The man commented once I reached him.
I nodded, “Yes.”
“Which one do you want?”

“Neither.” I told him, “These horses are the best of this stock, yes, but I’m looking for something that can have endurance, not pull.” I told him, “That stallion over there caught my eye.” The man’s gaze went to the horse in the other paddock he shook his head.

“He’s not for sale. Besides, he’s hardly even broke. There are times he will take a saddle, others he will bit your hand off before he will let it happen. I got hurt from that one there.” He said patting his leg, “Nasty piece of work.”

I nodded my head, “Just the thing I’m looking for.” I told him, “There must be some sort of price we can arrange. Besides if he’s so much trouble I’m sure you wouldn’t mind letting him go.” I said.

He shook his head, “Sure he’s trouble, but he’s the best stallion I’ve got. I expect good bloodlines from him.”
I shrugged, “Maybe, to be honest even he isn’t the best looking animal I’ve seen. Surly you know that.” I told him, “Charles said you would be a good one to come to, but if you’re not willing to deal-”

“Charles?” The man cut me off, “What about him?”
“He sent us here. Said you could give us a good price.” The man spat on the ground and mumbled for a moment.
“Alright fine. What’s your offer?” He asked.

I looked at the horse a moment, “Twenty gold and four more for tack.”
“Twenty-four….” I nodded my head, “You have a deal.” He said holding out his hand. I shook it. J came forward and produced the coins and he left to get the tack. She turned to me, “Nicely done.” She commented then went over to the stallion that we had just bought. He was a dark bay colored, nice legs and a strong look. He was really a nice looking animal. Nothing like J’s horse, but still well enough.

I ducked under the fence, and J followed. The horse put his ears against his head and back away. I frowned, “Hmm…”
“Don’t worry about it.” She told me, “I can take care of this.” She stepped forward and looked at the horse. They stared at each other for a full five minutes then the horse’s ears went up and he approached J as if they were old friends.

“What did you just do?” I asked her. I went up to the horse and stroked his neck. She looked at me and winked, “You used your mind trick thing?” I asked her, “That’s crazy.”
She shrugged, “It doesn’t work the same way as humans, but it works well enough.”
“I’ll say.” I agreed. I ran my hands down the horses’ legs and checked to make sure he was in good condition. He was. “So, is he fully trained?” I asked her.

She nodded her head, “He’ll do as you ask, and he will follow orders. I told him when we don’t need him anymore that we will set him free. Horses are extremely smart animals, even though most people think they are dumb beasts.” The horse pushed against my hand and snorted.

“I know.” I told her, “My dad works with horses, I grew up with them. I’ve seen them, they are very smart.” The man came back with the tack; I brushed the horse down then put the saddle on him. The bridle had a nasty bit on it so I took it off and handed it back, “This won’t be necessary.” I told him. He looked at me as if we were crazy but said nothing. I pulled the bridle over the horses head, he accepted it with ease; J looked at me approvingly.

I took the reins in my hands, “Thank you very much for your business, if I ever need another horse I will be sure to drop by again.” J assured him. The man nodded his head once and shook both our hands. He led us back through the barn; J’s horse was still tied to the pole out front. He lifted his head and snorted when he saw us with the horse. I frowned, two stallions together could be a difficult situation, and they could fight and injure each other.

We walked away from the barn, our horses following us without hassle, “I know what you are thinking.” J said, “They won’t hurt each other.” I nodded my head, I trusted what J said, after all she was the Brain of the operation.
“So where to now?” I asked her.
“Now?” She asked looking at me, “Well now we get some supplies.”