Chapter 39

Naomi led Tavik to a small copse of trees to shield him while he did his business. She wasn’t worried about him running off anymore. Her lips still tingled. Maybe she shouldn’t be the one holding his leash. He’d brought up their marriage like it mattered. She hadn’t thought about them being husband and wife. Not really. She’d viewed him as her jailer. They were married, but were they something to each other? The answer was still nebulous in Naomi’s mind. She’d been with him a good bit, but everything was so topsy-turvy here. Was she a wife?

Tavik came to stand in front of her. “I need my belt undone.” Naomi meant to glance down at his waist to check his belt, but her eyes kept going down to stop a few inches below that article of clothing. Get a grip, she told herself. He’s going to go to the bathroom, which eww, not sexy. She grabbed hold of the belt and tugged it loose. Instantly, the pants began to sag. Her eyes shot back up to his face. He smiled crookedly at her.

“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to help?” Naomi thought about hitting him, but she didn’t need to. Mr. Squibbles stood up on his hind legs and bit him on the earlobe. “Ow!”

“Just do your business,” Mr. Squibbles ordered. Naomi grinned wryly and turned around. She realized that she would hear every sound Tavik made. She hummed to distract herself. After a few bars, she realized her subconscious liked a good joke. She was humming the wedding march.

“He’s done,” Mr. Squibbles announced.

Naomi turned back around as Tavik ducked out from among the trees. He’d pulled his pants back up. All she had to do was refasten his belt. As she reached to do that, he stepped back and weaved to the side playing keep away. Naomi couldn’t help giggling.

“Keep still,” she laughed.

Tavik had a grin on his face too as he continued to dance away from Naomi’s reaching hands. His pants sat precariously on his hips.

“Enough children, we need to get back to the cottage,” Mr. Squibbles chastised.

Naomi giggled again and lunged for the belt. Tavik hopped back, and his pants slipped. Naomi gasped. She whirled around to face the other direction. She was not sure if she had seen anything, but there had definitely been skin, too much for there to have been any sort of underwear. Tavik went commando. “See, this is what happens when you don’t listen,” Mr. Squibbles scolded.

“I didn’t see,” she sputtered.

Tavik sighed. She could hear him struggling to pull his pants back up. He growled softly in frustration. Naomi’s shoulders slumped. She knew what that meant. She turned reluctantly back around. She kept her eyes firmly up on his face. He was leering at her again. Naomi frowned. She walked up to him, closed her eyes, and bent down. She jerked the pants up none too gently.

“Careful, you might want to use that later,” he warned.

She glared at him. Mr. Squibbles bit him on the ear again.

“Will you stop that!” he thundered at the mouse.

“Yes, when you behave.”

Fun over, Naomi refastened the buckle and tugged on the rope to take Tavik back to the cottage. Yula and Agatha were already back preparing to leave. They must have resolved their brewing argument and had collected different plants during Tavik’s bathroom break.

“Are we ready to go?” Agatha asked. Naomi nodded. She sat on the love seat, and Tavik sat down beside her. She didn’t bother retying his feet nor did she move from her place beside him. Agatha pulled down the steering wheel, and the cottage lifted off. “Next stop the northern plateaus.”

Tavik’s eyebrows rose. They’d kept their destination a strict secret. Agatha must have thought it didn’t matter anymore. “You don’t look northern,” he said softly to her.

“I’m not,” she said. As the cottage flew through the afternoon, Naomi began to yawn. She dozed off and didn’t wake up till the cottage touched down again. She raised her head from Tavik’s shoulder where she had moved it while she slept. She glanced at him apologetically and wiped at the drool spot she had left.

“Sorry.”

He slanted his eyes to her and gave her a small smile. Feeling a little too close to Tavik both emotionally and physically, she rose from the love seat and stretched. “What’s the plan?” she asked the two other women.

“We should scout out as much of the area as possible before nightfall then I will perform the finding spell for Yula and see if I can give her any clue about her sons.”

Naomi nodded. “Sounds good. What are we looking for?”

Agatha motioned Naomi over so she could speak without Tavik listening. “Hoof marks are that are cloven, gashes made by a single horn on rocks, fragrant feces.”

“Nice smelling poop?” Naomi asked disbelieving.

Agatha nodded. “Highborn ladies pay a great deal for the excrement of a unicorn to use as perfume.” Naomi shook her head.

“Now I’ve heard everything.” She suddenly shot a look at Yula remembering the perfume the old woman had forced on her. “You did not dab me with poop did you?”

Yula shrugged her shoulders. “It smelled nice if it were.” Naomi shuddered. She was not wearing another drop of perfume while in this crazy world. Nothing could be trusted. “What should we do with Lord Tavik?” Yula asked.

“He will stay here with me and Mr. Squibbles. You two be careful out there. Stay quiet and alert for predators.” Naomi and Yula nodded both remembering their brush with Umbreks.

They put on heavy cloaks, scarves, mittens, and caps to keep warm on their scouting expedition and slipped from the house. Tavik came to the door to watch them go. Naomi heard Agatha tell Tavik to go back to his seat. Naomi felt a stab of worry. The witch seemed to like Tavik the least of all. She hoped he was in one piece and still human shaped when she got back.

The Northern Plateaus were sparse country. There were no trees, and the ground was almost permafrost. They had arrived in the fall season for the area. A cold wind whipped across the plateau they were on and stung the two women’s cheeks and noses telling them that the fall season would be very brief. “Let’s make this quick,” Naomi said. Since the space was so open, they could see for miles. Naomi began walking and looking at the ground for possible unicorn signs. Yula trailed after her.

They wandered around the area looking at the ground and studying any large rocks they found. The plateau was immense. There was too much ground to cover in one day. She hoped they found something that day because combing the entire place was a daunting prospect.

The place was bleak and made Naomi feel the same way. Her feet were quickly numb from the cold, and the rest of her was not long off. The wind surprised them every time it blew and made them wince. They crept across the plateau for a couple of hours. They found no signs of unicorns or of any wildlife. Naomi wondered if this whole expedition had been one very bad wild goose chase. As the sun began to dip, Naomi turned back to the cottage which was a distant speck to them. They had covered a good amount of area, but it had been no use. They had found no cloven hoof prints, horn scratches, or aromatic feces.

“I wonder if Agatha knows of anywhere else to search,” Naomi said with her head bent as she continued to search the area doggedly on the way back. She didn’t expect to find anything but wouldn’t give up.

“Milady,” Yula called.

Naomi kept going too focused on the ground.

“Milady, look over there!”

Naomi turned and followed Yula’s wavering finger. Standing not five yards away was a unicorn. “Now where did he come from?”

Continue to Chapter 40.