“Are you sure you’re all right?” Deep was frowning down at her, his bottomless black eyes filled with some emotion she couldn’t read—it roiled inside him like a cloud of smoke, nebulous and confusing. “What happened, anyway?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Kat lied. “I just started to trip but Lock saved me. No big deal.”
“It had better not be. If I find out there’s something you’re not telling us…”
“Leave her alone, Deep.” Lock frowned at his brother. “Go make sure the boat’s ready to sail. We need to go if we’re going to catch the crosswind.”
“Yes, Captain.” Performing a mock salute, Deep turned to go. But not before he pierced Kat with another impenetrable look.
“So how long is this, uh, voyage going to take, anyway?” she asked, ignoring him as they got under way. “Not too long, I hope. This isn’t a very big boat.”
“It’s the sailing vessel our fathers left us,” Lock explained, doing something to one of the many ropes that were all around the boat. “We used to come out in it often before they died.”
“I’m so sorry,” Kat said. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“You didn’t,” Lock assured her. “It was a long time ago. And to answer your question, the trip to the continent is only a few hours with a good headwind. We’ll be there before you know it.”
“Oh good.” Kat felt relieved. “I was afraid we were going to be gone for weeks.”
“We might be,” Deep said. “The flower Mother L’rin is sending us to find is rare—some say it exists only in legends and fairy tales.”
“What?” Kat frowned. “Then how are we supposed to find it?”
“We’ll start in the hill region,” Lock said. “That’s where the legends that talk of it come from. And it’s only a day’s hike from where we’ll be landing.”
“Hiking?” Kat raised her eyebrows. “Nobody said anything about hiking. I know you guys have on boots but I’m still wearing these.” She nodded down at the dainty, strappy sandals Lock had gotten for her at the local bazaar. She had to admit he had good taste and was excellent at judging her size, but the sandals were hardly suited to days of rugged mountain climbing.
“Don’t worry,” Deep told her. “The continent is covered in belsh. It’s a soft, velvety moss that cushions your feet at every step.”
“It’s so comfortable to walk on barefoot that the natives have never worn shoes,” Lock explained. “The whole concept of footwear is entirely foreign to them.”
“Well…all right.” She nodded. “But if we’re going to be there awhile, where are we going to stay the night? I’m assuming there aren’t any Hiltons or Holiday Inns on the continent.”
“We’ll sleep under the stars,” Deep said. “And there’s a tent if it rains.” He raised an eyebrow at Kat. “Though it might be a tight fit for three.”
“Guess we’ll be hoping for clear skies then,” she said dryly. Although a night snuggled up between the two of them was probably exactly what she needed to keep from getting too weak to function. What I want and what I need are two different things, Kat told herself firmly. Besides, there’s no point in being worried over nothing. We’ll find the flower and come back in no time. I’ll be fine.
She hoped.
* * * * *
Kat thought later in her life that the trip in the little wooden boat over the golden sea was one of the things about Twin Moons she would never forget.
Because Twin Moons’ sun was a red dwarf, the sunlight had a golden-pink glow that sparkled on the water. It was so clear she could see fathoms and fathoms down to the ocean floor where rainbow colored fish flitted playfully among spiny corals and waving anemone-type creatures. There were larger creatures too, moving in the depths. Some longer than their boat and about twice as wide, with round, glassy eyes and rough purple skin. Lock told her not to worry about them, though. He said they were peaceful plant eaters that wouldn’t harm her even if she fell overboard. Kat planned to stay firmly in the boat anyway—she had no interest in finding out how “tame” and “harmless” the huge creatures were firsthand.
At last they landed on the sandy shore of a vast tract of land—the continent. Deep and Lock anchored their boat firmly in a natural cove they knew of and the three of them took off their shoes and boots and Kat hiked up her dark blue toga dress before they splashed ashore.