Caravan Ride

 The caravan continued through most of the afternoon and into the evening, each of the three waggons pulled by a pair of steady horses. Clair, Measles, Mumps, Sandra, and the young man, Gibbon, all rode in the back one, mostly sitting down and idly chatting, though Clair slept through most of it. Measles, Clair noticed as she faded in and out of wakefulness, seemed to stay at the edge of the waggon, holding tightly onto the cloth covering it while facing outside.

A couple of hours into their journey Sandra passed out sandwiches, a simple meal of ham on bread.

“Here, miss Clair,” Mumps said gently as he slowly prodded her awake. He didn't wait for her response before she felt her head being lifted up and gently set on his lap, legs crossed as she couldn't sit up on her own. He reached out of view before his hands returned and held a sandwich to her lips. “You need to eat; your body is exhausted to its limits, so even if you don't have an appetite, you need to at least take a few bites,” he prodded, pushing the slices of bread against her closed lips.

“Ugh... Mumps... I'm really not hu-mmph!” she tried to object, only to find her mouth full. She bit into it and chewed begrudgingly, glaring at Mumps before swallowing.

“Hah,” Clair heard a weak laughter come from the end of the waggon as Measles turned to them. “I gotta say, Clair, that certainly takes me back, so many years ago.” She smirked weakly at Clair, winking before her eyes widened in alarm and she turned back to facing the outside.

Clair looked at Measles in confusion, not sure what she meant before the meaning dawned on her. “H-Hey! Don't compare me to an infant! I'm not completely helpless!” she angrily ranted, starting to sway back and forth.

“...you were fussy back then, too,” came Measles' taunting reply, though it was devoid of even a chuckle as her head was lowering to between her legs.

Clair tried to object but a sharp breath in and an open mouth only invited another unwilling bite.

“Quite the contrary, miss Clair,” Mumps appeared to muse as he slowly waved the sandwich through the air. “You helped us, and now we help you. It is simply the cycle of things, for one to assist another in their infantile- I mean... inoperable state.” It was unclear to Clair if he was merely being contemplative or sarcastically witty.

Clair quickly swallowed. She tilted her head upward to her assistant, glaring angrily. “Oh don't you start too!” she grunted, pointing a finger at him. Or at least trying, though she was surprised to see her wrist above her waist, her other fingers half curled inward.

“Oh hey! Look at that,” Sandra said with a smile, noticing Clair's movement. “Do you think that she'll be better and up soon?” she asked, turning to the young man, Gibbon, who was the only other one riding with them as well.

“Like I said earlier, a full day's worth of rest, most likely,” he grumbled, shooting daggers at Clair for only a fraction of an instant. “But perhaps she can stretch her legs on the ground when we stop later... with some assistance,” he added with a shrug.

Clair let out a grumble as she glanced back at her hand, trying to point again but finding it laying still at her side. I'm never using that much magic again, she swore to herself as Mumps lowered another bite of food for her.

§

Measles flopped out of the waggon, faceplanting into the dirt of the dusty road. Clair looked over the edge, raising her head on her own, just barely seeing her companion not move at all.

“Oh, this, I missed this,” Measles said as she lay there, arms and legs spread in a X shape as if giving the road a hug. “This sweet steady stillness of earth, may you embrace me for eternity.”

“Okay, that's enough,” Mumps rolled his eyes. “It wasn't that bad. Miss Clair is fine, and the same for me.”

“Yeah, well,” Measles argued, words muffled as she didn't even raise her head, “you didn't feel it like I did. It was rough,” she insisted nonsensically.

“Oh, it's quite alright,” Sandra interjected with a sympathetic nod. She hopped down out of the waggon and slowly rubbed a hand on Measles' back. “Just a bit of motion sickness. Some get it, some get over it. We have some herbs that you can chew that help with it, sometimes,” she offered.

Measles' head, just her head, immediately shot up as she craned her neck to stare up at the girl. “Wait... you had a cure... the whole time!?” She let out an annoyed growl which was cut short by a nauseous groan.

“I-I'm sorry, you see- it was- I mean is- it-” Sandra quickly stammered, stepping back from the intimidation that Clair would have simply rolled her eyes at, as she was doing now while just listening.

“-What she means to say is that it's in one of the other waggons.” Gibbon joined them outside, climbing out after Sandra. His voice was steady, sounding bored as if he were lecturing rather than informing her.

“And you couldn't have stopped to go get it?” Measles groaned, burying her face into the dirt again.

“No,” the two answered together, Sandra sounding sympathetic while Gibbon was clearly annoyed. “..I am sorry; I didn't realize it had hurt you so bad,” Sandra tacked on apologetically.

Gibbon let out an impatient sigh, breathing heavily. “It's because of you three that we couldn't stop at all.”

“Wait, no,” Sandra quickly interrupted. “Don't say that, it's not tr-”

“Come off it, Sandra; you know that we're at least an hour behind what would be best,” he groaned.

“Hold on,” Clair spoke up, annoyed at his attitude so far. The accusation that she and the twins were to blame caused her to boil over, and she grunted as she propped herself up so as to face her accuser. “The sheriff said you weren't even going to leave until tomorrow. How could you possibly be behind schedule?” She tried to sound and look intimidating, a defensive feeling for Measles beating in her chest at the perceived verbal beat down.

“It's because of that blasted dragon,” he said, turning to glare at Clair. “...and you.”

“Me?” she asked, surprised by the answer. “I didn't even do anything to you.”

“Yeah, that's the problem,” he grumbled. He turned away as if finished speaking but whirled back around at her. “We could have been one of the first ones out of there, free from the hopeless city, but no. We waited for you,” he huffed angrily. “You think there'd be a point waiting around another day!? We sell spices! Honey! Herbs! Luxury goods!” He enunciated every word as if hammering a point that Clair failed to grasp. His face twisted in annoyance at her blank expression. “Stuff nobody will buy while they're spending every coin they've got to rebuild toppled buildings!” he exploded.

Sandra opened her mouth to speak but Gibbon spun on her, jabbing a finger at her and firing off. “And you stuck your neck out for her and had us wait. Your father was beside himself wanting to leave. But you insisted we had to hold on and wait for-for... for a useless layabout that doesn't look like she's done a day of labour in her life! And now we're behind the others on a hopeless, miserable, losing game of catch-up! Any merchants coming this way likely saw the mass exodus and took the hint, which only makes things worse! And on top of that-”

“SHUT THE HELL UP, YOU IDIOT!” Sandra yelled as she slapped him across the face, surely leaving a mark. Clair blinked in shock as the mousy girl suddenly appeared to actually have a voice and will. “This is not Clair's fault, and it is not my fault either!” she argued, staring up at him with hands now in balls at her sides. “My father agreed to wait because I asked him, because he trusts me. And I think that an extra three people to help out would be good. You said yourself that she should be walking after a day, and we need the extra help. The other smaller caravans were going to get ahead of us anyways so it hardly mattered if we left an hour early or an hour later. So pull your head out of your rear before you make a further fool of yourself in front of the only people you're with that don't already know how much of a prick you can be!” She huffed, finishing her rant with heavy breaths and puffy eyes. Then her eyes widened and she gasped, the weight of her words and final insults appearing to suddenly set in. “I-I'm sorry!” she yelled as she quickly turned red and ran, circling around the caravan and out of eyesight.

“W-wait, Sandra!” Gibbon called out, face flush pale with the exception of a crisp handprint forming on his cheek. He ran after her, leaving the other three alone behind the rear waggon.

“Well... that was something,” Measles eventually broke the silence.

“Frankly, I blame you for that,” Mumps said to her in a serious tone.

“Wait, hold up! I didn- ...oh,” she sighed as she turned to see him, the flat sarcasm written on his face. She rolled her eyes and slowly got up, brushing the dust off her dress and cloak. “Clearly those two have a thing going on, eh?” she chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Clair.

“...Am I the cause of all of this trouble?” The girl slowly asked instead. She stared down at the floor, unable to meet the eyes of Measles in front of her, much less turn to Mumps.

“Woah, woah, miss Clair, you didn't do any of this!” he quickly responded as Measles scurried over, climbing back into the waggon.

“Yeah! It was the dragon, not you,” Measles added. “You didn't do any of it.”

Clair felt Measles' hands wrap around one of hers. She strained, pulling it out quickly and turning away. “You're wrong,” Clair sighed. “...I led it there.”

“No, no,” Measles quickly counted. She reached out again but stopped, looking lost before turning to her brother for support.

“Yeah; I mean, if anything, it was chased all of us to the town,” he chimed it.

Clair glanced up at them, catching Measles holding up her hands in the universal signal of “what are you doing!?” before she quickly stood straight again. “That's... kind of you to say, Mumps,” she smiled softly. “But surely you've both noticed. When we split up in the field. When we escaped to the forest. When we ran around it in the rubble. It only had eyes on me.”

Mumps interrupted, attempted to deny the obvious. “B-but miss Clair, I was the one it bit-”

“Because it was going for me, and you were in the way,” she cut him off. “And when I ran at it, it only bit harder. If I hadn't, then... then maybe you wouldn't have been so hurt.” She sniffed, holding back tears as the thought that she had only made things worse, nearly killing Mumps, pressed in on her.

“No!” he shouted right in her face and she flinched, startling. She looked up at him, confused at the objection to the plain facts. “I-I don't care, ok? I don't care if it was going for you. Or if it's only been chasing after you. Or if it only shattered my leg and nearly put me in the ground because of you!” he ranted as Measles frantically waved at him to stop talking. “...I'm only here because of you; because you saved me, I mean,” he quickly clarified, clearing his throat. “I would have died to that dragon, I'm sure, if you hadn't saved me. I don't care that it only appeared to target you all these times; I'm here for you, so it counts all the same.”

Clair tried to object, trying to say something, trying to speak up and blame herself for all of their troubles. But she was stopped as she felt his arms cradle her head, a soft embrace wrapping around her. “We are all free because of you. Nothing bad that has happened has been your fault,” he reassured her softly.

She felt a second pair of small arms join as well, hold her around the shoulders.

“I mean... maybe a few things,” Measles added. “Like when you tore one of your dresses into a cape and ran around the castle trying to fly like a bird. Or when you wanted to plant the carrots I had just picked and only succeeded in mashing them into the stone floor. Or when-”

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Clair laughed, Measles' recounting of childhood antics bringing a smile to her face.

“But all of this,” Measles added sweetly, “is not your fault. You've done amazingly, Clair.”

Clair felt a small squeeze before Measles stepped back, beaming at her. “Now then,” Measles said, quickly turning to the side and rubbing her face, “let's get you out of this waggon and see if you can walk.”

“O...Okay,” Clair said slowly, clearing her throat. She let her arms slide back a bit before she started propping herself up again. As she raised her upper body, four small hands assisted, lifting her higher up until she was sitting upright.

“Alright, here's the big step, miss Clair. Literally,” Mumps said as he and Measles held her waist.

Clair grimaced as she focused on moving a leg under her, then pulling her second one inward, so that she now had both feet under her centre of balance. She grunted as she slowly started to rise, straining to straighten her legs and stand. She felt the other two pushing together, lifting her up as she struggled and straightened, until their hands were at their eye level.

“I-I'm standing!” Clair exclaimed, the effort of keeping herself upright far easier than getting up. “Come on, help me to the edge,” she requested eagerly, not really waiting for an answer.

“H-Hold on, Miss Clair, you just-ah wait!” Mumps tried to object as she stepped forward, but he was forced to either follow or let go, and he wasn't going to let go. As she raised a foot and swung it forward, a habitual motion she didn't think anything of, the mistake of her eagerness was apparent as her only leg on the floor almost crumpled beneath her. She fell forward into the step and Measles and Mumps grunted with the sudden extra weight, barely keeping her upright. She quickly brought her legs together, arms up just above the twins' height, as she tried to stay standing.

“Okay... small steps...” Measles wheezed, taking a deep breath from the small scare.

Clair nodded without a word, her heart beating fast as her own weakness was all to clear.

“Maybe we should wait. Or lay back down?” Mumps suggested as he stood at her side.

“No... I'm okay,” Clair stubbornly insisted, pushing forwards with a pair of shuffling steps. The twins followed beside her, holding her up as she kept going, getting closer to the edge of the waggon.

“Alright... now turn around...” Measles tried to ease her.

“I just want to see out,” Clair insisted as she kept shuffling forwards. As she got closer to the edge she could feel the two attempting to guide her back, but the breeze that she couldn't feel inside the waggon was so refreshing on her skin. “Hold on, just another step,” she said, not even looking down as she felt her foot slip off the edge.

The twins tried to grab at her but they couldn't hope to support her weight. She could swear she saw her life flash in front of her as the three foot free fall seemed much further down.

“Oof!” a voice grunted as a pair of arms, human ones, caught her just as her feet touched the ground. Clair let out a surprised grunt as Gibbon appeared in front of her, quickly stepping in and slowing her fall as his arms wrapped under hers. “Ugh... didn't I say a day?” he grumbled with annoyance as he held her way too close to his face.

Clair scowled as him, her anger from earlier bubbling up. “Yeah, well, you said I could walk with some help, so there!” she argued, knowing it was a weak argument at best. “...and are you going to keep staring at me or give me some space to stand on my own?”

Gibbon opened his mouth, a look of annoyance coming over his face, before it washed away with a half-hearted sigh. “Just... straighten your legs... there you go,” he instructed as he calmly and slowly let her go until she was standing on her own, swaying slightly. “When I said you could get up, I meant with someone who could help you stand up and then lay back down,” he elaborated. “I didn't mean fall out of the waggon.”

Clair bristled at that. She almost took a step forward but decided against it at the moment, trying to look strong where she was. “Well, if you-”

“And I'm sorry about before,” he continued, cutting her off. Clair stopped at that, his apology somewhere between begrudging and sincere as he didn't quite meet her eyes. “I was out of line earlier, and whether I was right or wrong— and I was wrong— I shouldn't have gone off on you like that,” he confessed.

“I... I see,” Clair nodded slowly, her readiness for a verbal fight slowly draining away. “Well... I am also sorry that I didn't help you move out, and delayed you still,” she apologized back, feeling obligated to reciprocate.

“Heh, no,” Gibbon chuckled, his sullenness lifting slightly. “We probably would have left about the same time either way, so don't think twice on it.” He got down on a knee and cupped his hands together, lining them up with one of Clair's feet. “Speaking of which, we're going on now, so let's get you back inside and laying down,” he explained.

“Th-thank you,” Clair blushed slightly as she put a hand on his shoulder, raising a foot slightly and letting him scoop it up. The twins where ready, pulling Clair up as Gibbon lifted, and Clair quickly flopped over the back of the waggon in an undignified slump just as Sandra rounded the corner.

She looked confused as Clair laid awkwardly on the side but turned to Gibbon. “Oh, I forgot the herbs for Measles; can you grab them?” she quickly asked.

He opened his mouth as if to argue but shut it, nodding as he jogged around to one of the waggons in front.

“So... did he apologize?” she nervously asked Clair as soon as she was gone.

Clair turned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow as she she crawled along the waggon floor, too tired to try standing again. “Yeah... I assume you told him to?” she asked with a sigh, feeling cheated and tricked as she considered that there was nothing sincere from what he said.

“Oh, nothing of the sort!” Sandra quickly clarified as she got back in herself. “I mean, I told him he was wrong, but I didn't say anything more. I'm kinda surprised he did apologize,” she said and Clair would have sworn she saw Sandra's cheeks redden a bit. “Let's get you back on the bed though,” she quickly added, pulling back the blanket as Mumps assisted Clair's crawl the rest of the way. Measles was already on the edge of waggon, teetering nervously at the idea of continuing to ride.

“Here,” Gibbon told her as he reappeared, handing her a bundle of leaves tied around with string. “Chew, don't swallow.” He climbed back in after Measles took the small package.

“Ah... thanks,” she said with a weary grimace. She slowly put the bundle into her mouth and immediately coughed. “Ack! Bitter!” she grunted the complaint.

“Then spit it out and deal with the ride,” Gibbon muttered under his breath, though all four of them could easily hear. Clair glanced over at Sandra just in time to see her roll her eyes in frustration before shaking her head.

“So, onto the capital now?” Clair asked as she eased back into position on the floor, glad to have some motion back but even the brief exercise leaving her feeling exhausted.

“Eventually, yes.” Sandra smiled happily, as if this was the news Clair wanted to hear.

“...'Eventually'?” Clair just repeated, holding back a groan, though she knew her face likely said it all the same.

“Well, yes. We can't make a straight line there without a few stops on the way; terrible for business.”

“Okay, a few stops... I can handle that,” Clair said with some relief as she sat up further, arms feeling stronger than before. “So, what's the first town like?” she asked, sounding excited as her curiosity began getting the better of her.

“Oh, uh,” Sandra trailed off, an awkward chuckle coming out nervously. “It's not exactly a... town, per say.”

“Okay. What is it then?” Can this girl just give a straight answer for once? Clair found herself thinking with annoyance.

“...It's a goblin commune,” she eventually told her, swaying nervously.

Oh... Well okay then, Clair thought at first, realizing from how Sandra said it that the destination must have been an odd thing to suggest.

“Sorry,” Sandra continued, leaning in so that only Clair could hear the whisper, “the Measles goblin told us where you were raised. We understand if you wish to hide in the waggon while we're there...?” she trailed off, ending the suggestion like a question.

“Oh~ that.” Clair awkwardly forced a chuckle that she immediately realized probably only made the story sound more believable. “It's fine, I'm okay with going into one of those.” She swallowed her pride to she smiled back at Sandra, while the other girl looked down at her as if she was kicked puppy.

Measles, I'm going to kill you.