Foxheart

Chapter Forty-Seven

'But we're goin' to fix it, okay? The Granite Tower isn't that far. If we're quick, this friend of yours can fix you up, no problem.'

Dupont pulled away, revealing her red eyes, tear stained cheeks and scrunched up face. It wasn't the most attraction expression he'd seen on her.

'But what if it grows worse before then? What if I become a fox?'

'I'll find a box for you, it's fine. Absolon won't let you run of either.'

At the mention of his name, Absolon drifted down from the tree where he'd been twittering with the other Sprites and whistled sadly at Dupont's miserable demeanour. He reached out his wiggly arm and touched her nose.

Instantly a smile broke out. Her face shone. It was a much better expression for Dupont to have.

'Good. You're smilin' now.' Fox commented dryly. 'Now get off me. We need to get movin'.'

The comment seemed to sober Dupont and make her very aware of the compromising position the pair were in. Her face, already slightly pink from her cries, instantly turned a bright red and her eyes widened. Instantly she was pulling away, unintentionally pressing herself harder against him for a second and making him mind go a little blank. She scrabbled towards the pack where her clothes had fallen from her smaller, vulpine body. Fox turned away, keeping himself focused on the Sprites that were beginning to float into the air, singing and twittering like a flock of sparrows. It helped and the little spark inside him died rapidly.

Before long she was dressed in her plain clothes, looking more male than female. He sighed as the Sprites began to sway and sing, urging them to follow.

Dupont took the lead, as always. Fox hated roaming here. He felt much more at home out in the real swamp littered with sinkholes, mud and ponds. But as he watched Dupont move, he noticed as small sag to her slight shoulders and a worried rub of the arm. She was still thinking about the curse creeping up to claim her. He did too but he told himself it was fine. He wasn't going to lose Dupont to it. He just wouldn't.

*

An hour through the Spirit Paths and it spat them out far from Farmire. The bog had gone, replaced by hillocks, grassy meadows and open fields dotted with the white fluffy shapes of sheep. Trees were rare around here, dotting on a small hill here and there. The only real woodland was behind him now, barely a mile long. Absolon seemed to enjoy the openness and twirled around in the blue sky, sinking and floating aimlessly.

But Fox, after a moment of figuring exactly where they were, he realised two things. One, there was a hole for them to hide in nearby. A stable-master went by the name Bull and was the fencer in this area, the one Badger had urged for him to head towards. It was a relief for him. The other thing was that the farms led up to a large town. A town he'd been wanting to reach since Doe gave him the task of securing the Eye. Hornberg, exactly where Catriona promised they'd turn up.

It was a rather rich town, he recalled. Filled with mansions littering the countryside, high end stores filling the streets, cuisine and large animal stock tradesmen. Horses here were bred for racing and dressage, cows for the tender meat, sheep for the fluffiest wool. Every farm filling up the meadows here were rich and specialised, not like the mass-production for meat, eggs and dairy they'd seen along the way.

'Bull is along here somewhere.' Fox said, shielding his eyes from the sun. Despite it being hot still, the sweltering mugginess of the marshlands had passed. And the midges. Thank gods they were gone.

'Is she someone we can trust?' Dupont asked beside him.

Fox shrugged. 'If she says the password, then yeah. If not, keep that mouth of yours shut. Not a word. Understand?'