It was unanimously decided that the camp should be left to Clay and Corliss, and that Julia, Maida, the dogs, and the twins should set out immediately to find and capture the cows. Clay had plans to build a small cow enclosure, and Alder was already whittling a Shepard’s staff. Corliss had fanciful notions of being a dairymaid, like the ones in fairy-tales, but in truth, she had more claim to this title then anyone, as her family had once owned cows, and she had been taught to milk them at only five years old. Aiken and Maida simply thought that this would be a great adventure, while Julia, though she wouldn’t dare to admit it, thought the time away with Alder would be the best part. 

You could feel the excitement in the air the morning that they left, the dogs were leaping around and wrestling with each other, there were grins of excitement on everyone’s faces, and even Alder was a little louder than normal. They set out at a brisk pace just as the sun was coming up. The cows were about a five hours walk away, so they hoped to be there around noon, and have some fresh milk with their lunch. As was typical, Maida and Aiken ran ahead, racing each other and playing fetch with a very eager Argo. Artemis stayed back, trotting along next to Alder, bumping protectively against his leg from time to time. Julia stayed silent, savoring the moment, her hand still feeling warm whenever she thought about the previous night. After they had walked for nearly an hour in silence, Alder looked over at Julia and nervously ran his hand through his hair.

“So, about last night” his voice was soft, his eyes unsure, lacking their usual quiet confidence “I wanted to know if…” his voice trailed off, and he seemed to be searching for words. 

“If I like you as much as you like me?” Julia volunteered. 

“Yeah, that sounds right” Alder blushed and Artemis licked his hand, sensing his nervousness. Alder looked down and scratched her head, then, seeming to draw strength from the wolf, looked back at Julia, meeting her eyes with his own, no longer the quiet, shy boy, but a young man, strong and self-assured. “So, do you?” His words may have been questioning, but his tone was not, the way he said it made Julia sure he knew the answer.

“Yes, yes I do” Four words was all that she said, but Julia’s heart leapt for joy at the mere speaking of them. Alder’s face lit up, and for the first time ever Julia saw him really smile, and thought him even more handsome because of it. He caught her hand in his, and they walked on, their arms swinging gently with each step.

After another hour of walking, they all stopped at a pile of rocks to eat breakfast. Aiken and Maida climbed the biggest one, some five feet high, and ate breakfast on their backs in the sun while Argos attempted to get up to them, whimpering every time his attempts failed. Alder and Julia ate breakfast on the ground, their backs against some smaller rocks. The day was warm, the sun was out, and the woods were alive with the sounds of birds and the colors of flowers. Maida took a deep breath of the fresh air and let it out.

“It’s so much nicer here then at the raiders castle, so much less smoky and dark. There, all green things are taken as fuel for the fires as soon as they dare show their heads, and flowers are non-existent, the only thing they find beautiful is gold and jewels” She said, studying a particularly unique cloud.

“I think it looks like antlers” Aiken offered, speaking of the cloud. He wasn’t trying to ignore what Maida had just said, in fact, he thought it quite interesting. He simply didn’t know exactly what to say in response to it. He got to his feet and leapt of the boulder rather abruptly, then repapered, holding a three-flower bouquet “Here you go, we don’t burn the flowers here, we need prettier things to look at then your face” he teased. Maida leapt at him, knocking him to the ground and they lay there, laughing and fake-punching each other until Alder called that it was time to head out again.