Home was now several days behind them and the road stretched out before them. Maud made good time on level ground, pulling the wagon with very little effort. Tarnish’s limp was becoming a little less pronounced and each day he could put a little more weight down on his bad leg.
The road was dusty, not having seen any rain for quite some time. Summer had reached the point where it felt as though it was going to stretch on forever. The sky overhead was cloudless and there was no protection at all from the sun, which was merciless.
And so, it was with much relief when Maud stopped and pointed at a wooden sign announcing that the Everfree River was just ahead and that campsites were available. The pair turned right, taking the narrow dirt road that would take them to the campground.
The campground was deserted. There were no wagons, no ponies, no sign of anypony having been there recently. There was a small cabin that had three walls and was open on one side. Inside the cabin was a map of the area carved upon a large sheet of wood. There were a few hammocks hanging from some of the trees. There was a pump for water and several fire pits just waiting for a fire. The campground was well shaded and a cooling breeze blew up from the river.
“I plan to go for a dunk in the river,” Tarnish said, eyeing the trail that led down to the water. “I’ll help you get the wagon sorted out first, don’t worry.”
“I can’t wait to be in the water,” Maud said in a low, almost weary sounding deadpan.
Maud came to a stop near one of the fire pits, the one closest to the wooden cabin and the pump. Reaching back with her hind hoof, she kicked the brake for the front wheels while Tarnish pulled the lever that locked all four wheels. Maud, well practiced, slipped out of her harness and tack without any trouble. Then, she was off, and Tarnish hurried along behind her.
Maud didn’t even bother taking off her frock. She slipped into the cool water and vanished for a moment, diving beneath the surface. She came up for air a moment later, just as Tarnish was taking off his pith helmet and his saddlebags.
“The river is full of rocks,” Maud announced as Tarnish dove in.
Maud began to slip out of her wet frock. Moving to belly deep water, she gave her frock a good rinse and then slapped it down on a large rock protruding from the water so it could dry. Having accomplished this, Maud slipped away from the sunny patch and retreated to a shady spot where a cottonwood tree leaned over the river.
She sat down in the belly deep water, heaved a sigh, and watched as Tarnish swam around out in the deeper water. This felt so good, it was almost indescribable. The riverbank had an endless number of well worn stones, smooth, slippery stones. The water had a surprising clarity for moving river water. Maud peered down into the water and saw little glittering bits moving among the rocks. This river had gold in it.
Squinting, Maud watched as Tarnish pulled himself up onto a large rock sticking up out of the river. She watched as the water ran down his sides, soaking the rock, leaving behind dark streaks. She watched with growing interest as he lay down upon the rock, and then, feeling a bit too warm even though she was sitting in cool water, she watched with even more growing interest as Tarnish rolled over onto his back to sun his belly. His chocolate brown pelt was as dark as black coffee from being wet, his cream coloured mane and his tail were plastered to the rock he was sprawled out upon. Maud felt her heart thudding against her ribs. He might have been rather plain looking, as far as ponies go, but Maud liked plain looking.
Seeing him sprawled out, Maud realised that Tarnish had filled out and grown a bit since they had first met. His legs were a little longer, as was his neck. He had been a bit too thin upon his arrival at the farmhouse, too many ribs were showing, so much so that Maud’s mother had complained about the issue and kept feeding Tarnish fudge in an attempt to fatten him up a bit.
Perhaps the best thing about him was his smile, something that Maud saw more and more of. Tarnish had his sad moments, his darker moments, but his smile, like the one that he had right now, made Maud happy to see.
There was a big difference in the Tarnish she saw now compared to the first time she had seen him. Maud felt a moment of intense anger at the memory of Tarnish dangling from a noose. She felt every muscle in her body tighten from the thought. She had approached, not knowing if he was dead or alive, feeling rather fearful. Upon investigating, Maud had heard raspy, strained breathing. The noose had not been tied very well and it had cinched around the base of Tarnish’s jaw, not his neck, an incredible stroke of luck. His face had been covered in lumps and cuts. One eye had almost been swollen shut.
It had been quite a challenge cutting him down and trying not to cause further harm to his broken leg. Maud felt a growing emotion in her that she could not identify… and she didn’t like it. If things had played out a little differently, if the noose had been tied a little better, if the noose had settled around Tarnish’s neck rather than his jaw, Maud realised that she would have stayed lonely. That she would not be as happy as she was right now.
Maud rose and began moving through the water. She hit the deep water, started swimming, and went over to the rock were Tarnish was sunning himself. Reaching up, Maud grabbed him by both of his rear legs and pulled him down into the water with her. Standing up on her hind hooves, she was just able to keep her head cleared above the water as she squeezed Tarnish as hard as she dared.
“Maud?”
Maud was not able to reply. She pressed her face against the side of Tarnish’s cheek, feeling the angle of his jawbone against her nose. She felt his forelegs slip around her. She took a deep breath and could not face the idea of a future without Tarnish.
“Maud, is something wrong?”
“Yes,” Maud managed to gasp. The emotion was now overwhelming, at no point in her life had she ever felt quite like this. It was like a physical pain down in her guts. “Just let me hold you.”
“Okay.”
Maud could feel the river water flowing around her, tugging at her tail, and she had to scrabble a few times to keep her balance upon the slippery stones beneath her hind hooves, all while holding Tarnish so she could feel his heart beating through his ribs.
“Maud, you’re shaking, what’s wrong?”
“I saw a future without you in it…”
It was far too hot to cook anything. Tarnish, using his magic, spread Nutty-Butter over several pieces of bread, his thoughts heavy in his mind. Nutty-Butter, the jar claimed, was made up of twelve different nuts and delivered a satisfying, crunchy treat like no other nut butter spread. Having applied the Nutty-Butter, he began spreading grape jelly on his sandwiches, but left Maud’s sandwiches plain. She didn’t care for the far too sweet grape jelly, but the Nutty-Butter was salty without being too sweet.
He added the top slice of bread, whole wheat, to the sandwiches and then set the plate down on the blanket spread over the ground. He looked at Maud, trying to read her expression, and found that he could not. He took a more direct approach.
“You okay?” He leaned forwards, looking into Maud’s eyes, looking for something, anything that might tell him how she was feeling. “I’m worried about you.”
“I don’t know what came over me,” Maud replied. She looked down at the plate of sandwiches, grabbed one with her hoof, and began to eat it, her first bite tearing off a whole quarter. She chewed, smacking her lips together, and her eyes remained locked upon Tarnish, unable to stop staring at him.
“I know who came over me,” Tarnish said in a low, flirty whisper, hoping to make Maud feel better. He picked up a sandwich and stared at the grape jelly oozing from the edge.
“Tarnish, feeling you, touching you, knowing that I had you, it was like a relief.”
“So that was like a relief orgasm?” Tarnish asked, becoming serious.
Maud shrugged and tore off another bite of sandwich. She chewed for a bit, swallowed, then replied, “I don’t know. But it was different for me this time. I could feel you, I could hold you… I was just glad to have you against me. I found you hung, Tarnish, left to die on a tree.”
“I’m here because of you.” Bowing his head down, Tarnish licked grape jelly from the edge of his sandwich. He didn’t know what to say; Maud was distressed, that much was obvious, but he didn’t know what to do.
The pair ate in silence. Maud finished off her sandwich first and then began to work on a second one, her eyes never leaving Tarnish. Tarnish took a few nibbles of his sandwich and then cracked open a bottle of Luna~Cola, the only sensible thing to drink with Nutty-Butter and grape jelly sandwiches. A little bit of magic made it ice cold and using a bottle opener with his telekinesis popped the top off.
As Tarnish began to eat his second sandwich and Maud was working on her third, a quiet voice said, “Hello.” Tarnish turned his head. A short distance away sat a filly and beside her sat a griffon. Griffoness? Tarnish didn’t know what the feminine term for griffon was. He had never even seen a griffon other than in a few movies.
“My name is Garnet Targe and this is my sister, Rowanne.”
Tarnish swallowed. “Hello.” He glanced at Maud and saw that she was still chewing and peering at the their visitors through half open, somewhat sleepy looking eyes. He could hear the filly’s stomach growling.
“Would the two of you like a sandwich?” Tarnish asked, his eyebrow raising.
“Rowanne can catch fish in the river, but I’d love a sandwich, if you don’t mind.” The filly crept forward, glancing around, taking timid steps towards Tarnish and Maud.
Glancing down, Tarnish checked his amulet, saw that it was blue, and felt relieved. He cracked open another bottle of Princess Pop and pushed the plate full of sandwiches closer to the filly, who stood at the edge of the blanket. “My name is Tarnished Teapot. This is Maud Pie.” He set the soda down near the plate and was relieved when it didn’t spill. He went to work cracking open another.
Garnet glanced at the pith helmet lying on the edge of the blanket. “Are you adventurers?”
“Yes,” Maud replied before Tarnish had a chance to answer.
“Rowanne and I are adventuring.” Garnet picked up a sandwich and tore into it.
Tarnish wanted to say something about how young he and Maud’s guests were, but remained silent. He watched as the filly ate and the griffon drank some soda pop, pouring it down her beak.
“If you tell us about your adventures, we’ll share our camp with you tonight,” Maud said to Garnet, glancing at Tarnish as she spoke.
“We still have marshmallows… I think… Maud doesn’t eat them.” Tarnish grinned at the filly. “I can make more sandwiches.” Tarnish saw the filly turn, look at the griffon, and then the griffon nodded.
“We’d like to stay. We’ve been on the road for a long time… not all ponies are so nice.” Garnet, still looking very timid, smiled, and then, with her mouth full, said, “Rowanne keeps me safe. We ran away together because they wanted to send Rowanne off to some other place just for little griffons and we didn’t want to be separated.”
Tarnish raised his eyebrow and looked at the filly. “I see… that was very brave of you.”
“Thank you for the sandwiches!” Garnet said to Tarnish as she watched Rowanne slinking away, heading down the trail that lead to the river. She waved at the griffon. “Good luck catching fish!”
“She doesn’t talk much, does she?” Tarnish asked.
“Nope,” Garnet replied.
“You’ll have to tell us more about your adventures.”
“Okay.”