Love Never-Ending by Anny Cook Read Free Book Online

Bishop turned to his
brother and demanded, “What’s going on? What is she doing?”
    Baron took his arm, leading him away from the group working
on Trav. “Wrenna is his mate. She’s helping them stabilize him by linking with
him mind to mind. You needn’t worry about him. We certainly wouldn’t want to
have to face Dancer if something happened to Traveller!”
    “You didn’t answer me before. How do you know Dancer?”
    A happy smile crept across his face as Baron replied
proudly, “He’s my bond-son.” Noting the panicked look on Bish’s face, he patted
his brother’s arm and suggested kindly, “Look! You’re very tired and your
friend needs immediate attention. Come with us and I assure you that we will
explain everything.”
    Llyon and Dai judged that Trav was as prepared for transport
as he could be without more extensive healing. With Tyger’s help, Wrenna
climbed to her feet and joined her father and Bishop. Taking him by the hand,
she suggested, “Why don’t you come with Mama and me, Uncle Bishop? Traveller is
your friend?”
    “Uh, yeah. He’s Dancer’s brother.” Unsure of how it had
happened, he found himself treading along the narrow path behind the waterfall,
toward a beautiful jewellike clearing surrounded by a lushly blooming valley.
Wrenna led the way with Jade sandwiched securely between her and Bishop. He turned
to go back but Jade’s deathly grip on his hand prevented him from leaving. In
the early morning light of the clearing, he stopped and frowned at her in
puzzlement, suddenly realizing the shocking truth. “My God, you’re blind! What
happened?”
    Jade lightly squeezed his hand and smiled. “A fall, long
ago, Bishop. I’m fine now but as you see, I do need help. Will you lend me your
arm until we get back home? Merlyn will be busy taking care of your friend.”
    “Who are these people, Jade? Did you know you all have blue
skin?”
    “I’m blind, Bishop—not deaf. Of course I know we’re blue.
It’s part of the adaptation to the valley,” Jade replied calmly. “Why don’t we
start back toward the village.”
    “What about Traveller?” he demanded stubbornly.
    “Traveller will be fine. They will bring him to our house so
you’ll see him then.” She tilted her head and queried, “Wrenna? Will you go see
if Dancer and Eppie can come later? I know you don’t want to leave Traveller
but you should be back by the time they carry him home. Harmony, please go with
her.”
    Harmony? Bishop looked around for another woman and saw no
one. Then the most enormous dog he’d ever seen trotted up to join Wrenna. The
dog had beautiful long hair—almost the same shade as Wrenna’s—that nearly
brushed the ground. Since Harmony’s head was just below Wrenna’s shoulder,
Bishop judged the dog was well over four feet tall.
    Wrenna ran a gentle hand over Harmony’s skull. “Come,
Harmony. Let’s go tell Dancer and Eppie about Trav’s arrival.” They trotted
down the path, leaving Bish in Jade’s clutches. Stubbornly, he refused to move.
“What the hell is going on, Jade? Where is this place? Why are all of you blue?
And what’s with the fangs and pointy ears? I refuse to go any further until someone explains something to me!” He stared around wildly at his surroundings.
“There are things blooming! It’s December. What is this place?”
    Behind him, he heard Baron’s low laughter. “Jade, I figured
he would be too stubborn to go, unless we explained everything first.” He led
Jade back to the stone bench near the calm pool in the clearing. Very
reluctantly, Bishop followed, though he didn’t sit down. As Baron talked, Bish
wandered around in the cool grass, enjoying the feel of it on his bruised feet.
“Bish, there’s no way to explain everything in a few minutes but I’ll give you
the quick, short version because we need to take care of Traveller. First of
all, you’ve arrived in Mystic Valley. Our village, Lost Market, is located over
in that