Green Desert - Chapter 4.3.1 - Bhanar

Séara dismounted, landing with both feet together. “Stay here,” she said to me. “Make sure she doesn’t wander too far.”

She? I glanced at the horse’s nether regions. By the time I looked back toward the policewoman, Séara was entering the bushes, crouching low. The leafy branches enveloped her and I was alone with the horse.

The sun beat down. The leaves fluttered in a slight wind. The horse walked forward to munch on the greenery. Birds sand. The sun beat down.

The shade of the trees invited me. I didn’t really have to do what Séara said, did I? I could follow her if I wanted, right? Just because she was a sheriff’s deputy, she thought she could boss me around. Well, that’s not right. “Not right at all.”

The horse turned her head to look at me, then went back to tearing leaves off bushes.

I stayed put.

Fairly soon, Séara returned silently. She walked over to me, glanced at my bare feet, and whispered, “You could’ve moved a little, if you wanted to.” She smiled, taking the edge off the joke.

I couldn’t help but smile back. “Are they there?”

She nodded. “Three. One large man wearing a button-down shirt, boxers, and loafers; one younger man naked and asleep; and a blonde woman wearing a tshirt and the large man’s khaki pants. The naked one is Zhudırı, I’d guess, if that’s his shirt you’re wearing.”

I nodded. “And Fírí and Mr. Kılímı.”