Blinking away yet another watery skein from across his eyes, he tried to make out something of the way ahead. A sudden white-orange flash, and immediately thunder rumbled not too far away. The wind tugged at his beard, at his clothes, staggered the animal beneath him and plucked at his temper. He couldn't take too much more of this. The occasional lightning flash only served to confuse the landscape in front of him, turning it into a meaningless smudge while his vision had to continually readjust to the variations. He leaned forward, gripped the front of his saddle and attempted to pierce the gloom. There. Was that a vague light up ahead? He wiped at his eyes. Yes, there was a definite light further down the valley. Right then, the padder chose to stop dead in its tracks, its feet disappearing into muddy pools in what was left of the roadway beneath it.
"Damn you, animal. Not now!" he shouted through the wind, digging his heels into its flanks. "Don't do this to me. Haven't you already done enough, you --?"
He picked a few more terms, but the padder simply refused to budge. Sometimes Sandon really, really hated the Return. Muttering to himself, he slid from the animal's back, his feet landing heavily in a puddle and splashing muddy water all the way up his calves. Gritting his teeth against the wind that buffeted him from every direction, he sloshed around the padder's front and started to pull. It almost had the desired effect; the padder shifted, but only enough to face its back to the driving rain. Sandon rolled his eyes, looked up at the sky and immediately regretted it. Oh, damn Leannis Men Darnak. If only he could see what he had wrought. Shaking streaming water from his nose, he went back to trying to shift the truculent beast.
Again, the animal refused to budge. He tugged and pulled, cursing it, but all he managed to do was land flat on his back in a mud puddle. If he hadn't known any better, he might have thought that the padder was grinning at him. He climbed to his feet, his teeth bared, and retook the reins. There was something about leading animals that he'd forgotten. Someone somewhere had told him something. What was it? He gritted his teeth and uttered a growl at his own stupidity. You were supposed to face away from them. Looking at their face was like a confrontation, and of course, they'd resist. He turned around and tugged gently as he took a step forward. Reluctantly, the padder took a step. Sandon took two more, and the beast started following. They were underway again, Sandon's sodden robes slapping about his legs.
He peered through the curtain of rain, trying to make out any more detail. He'd never actually visited the Ka Vail estates before. The continuing rain made it virtually impossible to determine anything clearly, but he did note something strange. Down and off to one side, something snagged his attention. There was a sudden flash of brightness. It was too bright for a lantern, and it was made indistinct by the sheets of water refracting the source. The light blinked out, then appeared again. It seemed to fade, grow strong, and then disappear off behind the buildings. Sandon frowned. If he didn't know better, he would have said it was a groundcar heading off into the night. But that was impossible. Nobody used groundcars this far into Storm Season. Curious. He put it from his mind. Who knew what he was seeing in the midst of all this. Shaking his head, he continued his trudge down the hill. When he was about halfway down, the rain eased, sputtered and trickled to a final halt. Typical, he thought. He couldn't even claim shelter, as was his proper right.
He led the padder through the outer gates and up the broad roadway across tufted seasonal grasses. Further ahead, it divided into two smaller paths, one leading off to the left to the clustered stables and storage garages, the other leading to the house proper. He thought for a moment about stabling the beast, but the less time he spent here the better. He could find the Men Darnak boy, deliver the message and be on his way, back to locate the Principal and resume his observation. He'd worry about when he was finally going to get some rest later.
The pathway split, and he took the right bend. Shortly after the paths divided, he found a broad railing. He cinched the padder's reins and headed for the house.
