Olivia snapped a hand to her holster, gloved fingers brushing her pistol’s grip, ready to rip it free. Breath held for a moment before forcing it out with a hiss. Confound it all; that’s the fifth time this morning!

And who knew how many times in the last ten days. Blasted birds were becoming a nuisance for Olivia’s nerves. She’d take a flock of screaming killdeer just so she’d stop jumping at shadows.

At least Gipp is enjoying himself, Olivia thought, watching her gray friend from the corner of her eye. The parrot had spent the past days trying to mimic the many calls, but Gipp hilariously failed each time because he wanted to do them all at once. To the amusement of Ju and her kids.

Right now, he was preening his feathers. A couple had come out, but Olivia wasn’t worried about over-preening. She had gotten lucky with having such a well-rounded bird that didn’t bat an eye at much.

Except for raccoons and squirrels. Gipp had a grudge a mile-wide towards the critters and had no issue with voicing his displeasure, resulting in Olivia putting a good chunk of funds to critter-proof every bird feeder in her and her family’s yards to preserve their hearing.

At least the birds were happy.

“Are you okay, Aunt Li?” Min asked, pulling the curtain aside to peek out with her brother following soon after. “Is something wrong?”

“Min, get back inside. You’re going to fall out,” Ping put a hand on his sister’s shoulder, gently tugging fabric to get her back inside the carriage.

“Fall out,” Gipp echoed from Olivia’s shoulder, head still buried in gray feathers. “Not good, fall out.”

“I’m not going to fall out, Ping,” Min scowled. “You worry too much like Mom.”

“I’m not,” Ping didn’t raise his voice, but it was close. “Mom said to stay in the carriage.”

“I’m fine, you two, really,” Olivia interjected before this blew into another argument, though they both denied it each time when asked, between the siblings. She couldn’t blame them; the pair had been stuck in a small space for longer than they were used to. Way more than either Olivia and her family had been during their trips for family reunions. Ah, the joys of modern transportation.

One I’ll never take for granted ever again, Olivia groused to herself, shifting in the saddle. Even with those many summers at Great-Uncle Louie’s, this had been the most riding she had done in two weeks. Chester wasn’t doing all that well either, far used to rides that lasted three hours, not sunrise to sunset with breaks in between, or Olivia having to dismount to stretch her legs and give the Arabian a break.

We have at least another day before reaching the main road, and who knows how long until we reach the capital.

Which would be right at the edge of the Tiě and Huángsè provinces, just before a narrow path through the mountains. It wasn’t the fastest way to Měilì City, which Ju said rested in the near center of the Jin Province, but compared to the path through Shu Province, which not only required a small crossing through the Chūntiān Province but also went right through Li-An Village -

No, Olivia couldn’t blame Ju for wanting to go this way. If anything, she agreed with the single mother to go the route least likely for anyone associated with her in-laws to spot them.

And enough time had passed for the note Ju left for her friends to be discovered and traveled by word of mouth. Meaning that, if desperate, someone would be looking for them.

It’ll be a giant goose chase for anyone looking along the faster routes, though. Olivia had to bite back a grin at the thought. It would be like Pedro Vial chasing after Lewis and Clark’s exploration team.

Of course, Olivia doubted anyone sent after Ju and her family would heckle strangers trying to figure out where they had gone. Sway in Li-An Village, Ju’s in-laws had, but outside the boundaries, well, only an idiot would draw attention to where they didn’t want it.

And those who did often got what was coming to them, rarely for their own benefit.

I still wouldn’t be surprised if they did something entirely left field. You know what they say about people desperate to get what they want: they become absolute idiots.

“Alright, you two,” Olivia turned back to the pair, trying not to smile at the not-fighting the siblings were doing. “How about you get back inside, and I’ll ask your mom about the plans for stopping tonight.”

“Okay, Aunt Li,” Min said, pulling back into the carriage, nearly striking her brother in the chin, and redrawing the simple cloth across the window.

Olivia shook her head. “I really wish I knew when Min decided I was family. Maybe it’s a cultural thing? I’ll have to ask Ju if I remember.”

Pulling Chester back, Olivia swung around the back of the carriage before sending Chester into a trot to reach the wagon’s front. It wasn’t the best to watch the road behind the wagon, where anyone could try to sneak up on them, but Olivia worked with what she got, which wasn’t much at the moment.

“Everything alright, Li?” Ju asked when Chester reached the driver’s seat.

“I think that should be my line,” Olivia lifted a brow, eyes focused on the white-knuckle grip Ju had on the reins. “It’s been nearly two weeks; how are you doing?”

Ju turned back to the road, clearly trying to gather her thoughts. “I’d be lying if I said if I wasn’t excited,” she finally said, “but at the same time, I’m outright terrified.”

Olivia nodded. “No surprise there. The unknown is scary for everyone.”

“Even you?” Ju asked, surprised. “You seem so brave, even with your…situation.”

“Brave,” Gip whistled between preening his feathers. “Very brave.”

“Being afraid is a part of being brave,” Olivia smiled sadly. “I’m terrified that I’ll never see my family again. I won’t hear my dad gripe about the idiocy of misguided youth and adults, my mom going over every detail about feeding the animals – even though I’ve done it hundreds of times before – or fearing what new pranks my siblings will pull in their never-ending war when April First comes around. I never thought I’d ever miss those little things.”

Ju took her eyes off the road briefly to stare at Olivia. “…What do you think they’re doing?”

Olivia sighed. “It depends on what exactly happened after I got here. If I’m lucky, they won’t even have realized that I’ve gone planet-hopping until I get back and tell them. If not, well, there’s a waiting period of two days before adults can be officially reported missing. I doubt they wouldn’t wait to ask friends and family to search the area where I told them I would be riding. Now? I wouldn’t be surprised if my face were being plastered on every…city square and storefront.”

The problems of being in a pre-modern world: describing the concept of television without actually going into the details. Argh. My poor head.

“I can understand,” Ju smiled. “I’m sure my parents would do the same thing if I were in your position.”

“What were they like, your parents?” Olivia asked, genuinely curious.

“They weren’t anything special, just simple farmers like I told you before. Many folks here in Tiě Province are. It’s why there aren’t a lot of towns here.” Ju sighed. “But Mom was wonderful with food. Give her any, and I do mean any, ingredients, and she could cook up a meal that never clashed in taste. Dad was a quiet man but did appreciate a good laugh.”

“Sounds like they were wonderful people.”

Ju nodded. “On the worst days, I would wonder what they would think of me if they were still alive.”

“Well, I can’t speak for the dead, but I’m sure they’re happy if you’re happy. I’ll bet they’ve been spinning in their graves for all the grief you’ve had gone through over the years.”

Ju blinked. “‘Spinning in their grave?’”

Olivia winced. “Sorry, a figure of speech. Just that they’d be furious at your in-laws for their treatment of you and your kids if they were still alive.”

“I see. Your world sure has a lot of interesting ways with words.”

“That’s for sure.” Olivia snickered. “Remind me to tell you about puns later.”

Before Ju could respond, a crashing sound erupted inside the wagon, causing women, horses, and a bird to jump.

“Is everything alright, you two?” Ju called over her shoulder.

“We’re okay, Mama,” came Min’s muffled reply.

“Min. Knocked over a box,” Ping spoke up. Strange, he sounded a little out of breath, as if he was trying to force the words out.

“You didn’t have to tell her that!”

Rolling her eyes, Olivia turned back to a slightly bemused Ju. “Speaking of later, any idea on when and where we are stopping for the night?”

“…There’s a place not far that we can stop at,” Ju winced, “but I really hope we don’t have to.”

Glancing up at the pinking sky, Olivia doubted they had more than an hour, hour-and-half at most, of good riding light. “Any reason why this isn’t you’re preferred stopping point?”

Ju winced again. “It’s just…one doesn’t stop there unless you have no other choice.”