It’s #bookqw and ‘since’ Daeryn is obsessed with the new girl…
More from Chapter 12 with Daeryn:
Speaking of Terrent’s Forestridge origins, Daeryn ought to pick the boy’s brain for something to discuss with the new girl, since Outside was a mystery to him. “What was it like for Annmar coming into the Basin from the north Gateway?”
“Don’t nobody get through the Gap Gateway without his or her hand held by old Mr. Yates.” Terrent grinned at him. “Nobody new, that is.”
“I’ll bite. Somebody old?”
“Well, not old,” Terrent said, “just a few of us. Yates never let us kits through without an adult, and since those Proofs are guarded better than gold, a few of us took to finding a way to do it. That dammed tunnel—”
“Tunnel?”
His brow creased. “I forget it’s not one. A gorge, actually. A skinny rock passage, dark as night and twisty as a tendril. No matter how clever yous think yous are, without a Proof, that thing’ll block yous inside. Or Outside, depend’n on what side yous start.”
“Same as OverEdge. But our Gateway is a boulder maze that keeps strangers turned downhill.”
“Clever. The challenge to exit caught us, but any route around or over the hills led us around the Basin rim, not into the Outside Peak District. It wasn’t until three of us were potholing that we found a way out.”
“A cave passage? Impossible. That goes against every principle I ever learned or witnessed while Riv and I worked with the Borderlands Protective Chain. There’s no way in or out but the Gap and OverEdge.”
Terrent stopped and put his hand over his heart. “I swear it’s the Creator’s truth. This big cavern leads under—”
He pivoted, nose up, his nostrils flaring.
Daeryn lifted his nose, drawing the crisp air automatically. Sweeping over the adjacent squash field came a familiar scent. Familiar, but still confusing. A shiver traveled his spine, raising his growing hackles. He spun to Terrent, barely able to hold his tensing muscles from a shift. “That’s it. The pest. Have you smelled this other places tonight?”
~~~
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On a personal note:
Enroute to Colorado, we visited the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Kansas. Early morning 90 degree temperatures made our hike hot, hot, hot.
Not as many wildflowers as we thought would be blooming the end of June, but this 11,000 acre remnant of the vast midwest prairies was impressive.
Upright Prairie Coneflower
Purple Prairie Clover
And stands of common milkweed, attended by any butterflies.
We were pleased to see prairie birds. The dickcissels were plentiful, along with Eastern Meadowlark and grasshopper sparrows.
We plan to return in March to see the Greater Prairie Chickens and take in the historical buildings in cooler temperatures. All in all a good place to visit!
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