Fractious by Carrie Lynn Barker Read Free Book Online Page B

become kind of fond of that stupid mule who bore my
name.
    Fractious the mule gave a quick bray, but that was only because Cu yanked on his lead
line as he kicked his pony to a trot.
    I tottered along behind them, my pony kicking up his heels and me kicking my feet to
catch up. My pony purposefully ran beneath a low hanging branch in a pretty good attempt to
knock me off. His success only lasted a moment when I got up, dusted myself off and took a
couple of running steps to catch up to his little self. I vaulted over his back end like Zorro onto
Tornado and got myself seated again, my feet once more dragging on the ground. I felt I would
have been faster if I was walking, but I didn't want to make the pony feel bad or, even worse, feel
useless.
    * * * *
    Later in the day, we came to the base of a decent sized mountain range. I stood at the
bottom of a trail, looking up as it wound away deeper into the mountain. "We're gonna ride up
that?"
    Cu was on his feet too, holding the reins of his pony. He was drinking from his wine
skin and making me jealous. "No, we're not riding," he said, wiping red wine droplets from his
chin, making me even more jealous. "We walk. It's too steep to ride the ponies. They can walk.
We'll need them when we get to the top."
    "Where the dragon is," I said with a gulp.
    "Shut up."
    We began to lead our ponies up the trail, me following behind Cu and the mule. I began
to feel some sadness at the possible loss of Fractious the mule, but I thought it was better to lose
him then to have to give up my life to this dragon. Then again, that would probably make me
next in line to be the pack mule, which wouldn't be the highlight of my day.
    The path wound around and around, sometimes narrowing to the point where rock walls
crowded us on two sides. Sometimes the rock walls would drop away and a steep cliff would
appear off to one side. I led my pony, who seemed indifferent to the varying surroundings.
Fractious the mule gave a snort each time the rock walls dropped off and cliffs appeared, but that
was the extent of his complaints. Cu said nothing and neither did his pony.
    So I trailed along behind all of them, with my pony leading me as I hung onto his tail. I
watched carefully where I was putting my feet, lest I step wrong and end up slipping and
possibly falling off a cliff. It wasn't the most pleasant hike I'd ever done, but it wasn't the most
unpleasant either.
    The most unpleasant was one where I'd lost my right shoe in a deep mud puddle and had
to walk around with only the left shoe. After a while I lost the left one in a pile of what I could
only assume was bear dung. At least this all occurred on the way back down a trail so I didn't
have to hike all the way to my destination without shoes. It was the longest and hardest walk
back from my girlfriend's house I've ever done.
    I'll never date a woman from Sierra Madre ever again.
    Any hoot, Cu and I walked for more hours than I cared to count. Finally we reached the
end of the path. It wasn't too bad of a hike after all except for the sheer cliffs, the occasional
vertigo and the threat of falling to my death. No big deal.
    At the top of the mountain, at the end of the trail, we came to a large cave cut into the
side of the mountain itself. It led off into the darkness, deep into the rock, and I could only
assume that it came out the other side. Somewhere inside, also just an assumption, was a dragon
who was going to probably eat both me and Fractious the mule. I wasn't looking forward to
either meal.
    "You coming?" Cu said as he began to venture inside.
    "Have you ever been here before?" I said, tentatively following in his wake as he
disappeared into the darkness.
    "No," Cu said. "Why would I have ever come here before?"
    "Dunno," I muttered. "You seem to know where you're going."
    "Do you see any other route?"
    "No," I said as darkness swallowed me and my pony and I waited for the mountain's
stomach acids to begin digesting us all. "How are we going to