“Let’s keep moving before we get trampled out here!” hissed Pahrdh as they started moving back up the street.
After several minutes of some rather dexterous maneuvering, the small cavalry finally made it out of town. Jahrra took in a deep breath, soaking in the coastal air as they freed themselves from the bustling sea of Nesnan and Resai townsfolk.
“Ugh, finally!” Rhudedth complained. “I hate crowds!”
“Me too,” Jahrra concurred.
She gazed at the scene surrounding them, shading her eyes from the blazing sun. The land to their left stretched out for about a hundred feet before plunging into the churning waves below. To their right, the fields rose into the low coastal hills that ran for miles in either direction, but just before them lay a long sandy road, stretched out like an endless carpet, beseeching them to reach its end.
“Well,” Jahrra grinned, “anybody up for a race?”
Before anyone could answer, she kicked her heels into Phrym’s ribs, and the two of them took off down the pale ribbon of sand, daring the rest to follow.
-Chapter Thirteen-
The Ninth Cove
Jahrra and Phrym stayed well ahead of the others and their horses as they made easy progress along the dirt road hugging the bluff’s edge. As Phrym covered the distance, Jahrra kept her eyes open for signs of the next town that shared this coastal road with Toria. The warm air brushed past her face and the sound of the sea below complimented the drumming of horses’ hooves. After a few short miles, the soft white sand below began to give way to darker, hard packed earth. Jahrra eased Phrym into a slow canter, allowing her friends to catch up to her.
“We must be coming into Hassett Town,” Scede panted as he slowed a puffing Bhun to a walk.
“Wonderful,” Pahrdh muttered.
“What’s so bad about Hassett Town?” Gieaun asked, picking up on her friend’s dull tone.
“Oh, nothing,” he droned as he ran one hand through his tousled hair. “Only that it’s just like Kiniahn Kroi, only worse. This is where all the ‘nobles’ come to vacation.”
Hassett Town was nestled nicely between the rising hills on the east and the ocean cliffs on the west. The children gawked in wonder as their horses clacked down the fine cobblestone street, their eyes brushing the wonderful vista. The houses were amazing, far more beautiful than Jahrra had expected from her friend’s disinterested description. They were constructed in the coastal stone style of the houses in Toria, but they were much larger and meticulously landscaped. Large gardens and yards were encircled by fine iron fences with neat little stone paths leading up to graceful, arching doorways. A multitude of blossoming coastal flowers and plants in pale yellows, pinks and greens billowed over the fences and gates. Every one of the houses had at least one marble fountain of a sea nymph or dolphin in the front yard.
Jahrra was surprised to see very few people out on such a nice day, but she was pleased by it nonetheless. She had a feeling that if there were any wealthy Resai families outside to see them, they would most likely chase them away with pitchforks the way a mob of country villagers would drive out a rabid wolf.
The pleasant jangle of a wind chime pierced the strange silence and Jahrra turned to her friends.
“Don’t Eydeth and Ellysian have a summer house here?” She tried to sound bored, but feared she came off as agitated.
“Yes, they do.” Gieaun, on the other hand, didn’t feel the need to hide her annoyance.
“That must be it over there,” Pahrdh joked, pointing out a small tool shed.
The children sniggered at his remark and urged their horses onward, hoping that the twins were still snug in their mansion in Kiniahn Kroi and not taking a stroll down the road somewhere up ahead.
“Look, there’s a sign,” Scede said. “Maybe it’ll tell us how far the coves are from here.”
Scede read aloud as his friends caught up to him.
“The Eight Coves, 4 miles, Soarna Point Town, 13 miles.”
“Four miles isn’t so far, and we still have all day,” Rhudedth said, shading her eyes and looking toward the sun as her mare pawed at the ground.
“We could race again,” Jahrra offered, pulling Phrym’s reins back in anticipation.
“Jahrra, you always want to race!” Gieaun breathed.
“True, but it’s so much fun!” Pahrdh insisted. “Besides,” he added to Scede and Mahryn with a wry smile, “we can pretend we are contestants in the Great Race of Oescienne!”
Gieaun looked over at Rhudedth and rolled her eyes.
“You boys and that stupid race!” she moaned.
“Ready?” Jahrra asked excitedly, ignoring Gieaun’s complaint.
“GO!!” Pahrdh shouted as he kicked his horse into full speed.
The five horses and one semequin struggled for a short while to claim the lead, but Phrym was much too fast for all of them. After ten minutes of full-out galloping, the six companions slowed their horses to a walk and began glancing around at the changed environment, their breathing labored from the effort of keeping their mounts confined to the narrow dirt path. The lane had gently climbed for most of the way, but now it started to decline into what looked like a redwood grove up ahead. The hills to their right had also gradually crept closer to the coast, creating a small shelf of flat, wooded land between the cliffs and the base of the hills.
“If I remember correctly, we go downhill through those trees. On the other side there’s a trail leading down to the base of the cove,” Pahrdh said to the group as they came to the edge of the trees.
He and his sister were the only two who had ever been to the coves before.
“As long as you know where we’re going,” said Gieaun, sounding weary.
The group led their horses through the redwood grove for another half mile or more, feeling grateful for the dappled shade protecting them from the burning sun. Jahrra began to wonder where the start of the trail was, but once they came upon a small bridge arching over a tiny creek running across their path, she knew they must be close. She stopped Phrym for a moment and took a deep breath, letting the air fill her lungs. It smelled of pine oil, dust and ocean. Such a lovely combination, she thought as she smiled, urging her semequin on once more.
The six riders eventually came to a small clearing in the woods. Scede spotted the trailhead right away; perched on the edge of the cliff before disappearing down its side. Jahrra walked up as close to the edge with Phrym as she dared. The fresh leather of her new saddle squeaked as she stood up in the stirrups, first to peer over the cliff’s side and then to glance behind her. Her five friends stood back in a line on their horses, a look of patience on their faces, as if waiting for her to give them the all-clear sign.
Jahrra smiled as she turned to survey the breathtaking view ahead. To her left, the land curved around, creating a giant hook of towering earth that eventually pointed to the north. The land was like a ridge on the sea, its height adorned with a dusting of trees, acting like a great arm that gathered the pale blue water of the cove below into a great, rocky bowl. A narrow footpath led up the hill and most likely to the edge of the point, but dead ahead of Jahrra, and just on the other side of this enormous jetty, sat the ocean, the endless western ocean. Great, towering rocks, some as tall as fifty feet and just as wide, were scattered beyond the shore as if they’d been tossed there by an enormous hand. Far below, the small, pebbly beach welcomed the glittering turquoise-blue surf of the sheltered cove, and a ribbon of water purled down from the edge of the cliff to meet the shore beneath it. The small cascade was flowing quite profusely, and when she made an effort to listen, Jahrra could hear its light, almost melodic crash upon the gravelly sand below.