Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Heart of Gold Challenge, Part 3

By the time they found a spot to climb up and then hiked back to where Rath had left his belongings, the other people were gone. Rath wasn't at all surprised to see his belongings were gone as well. His pouches, his lunch, his newly-bought handkerchiefs—thank the Fates he hadn't carried anything valuable with him today and his coins were safely tucked inside his shirt.

Still, the jacket alone would be costly to replace, never mind the pouch he'd just bought and the old one he'd had for years and been rather fond of. Stifling a sigh, he turned to the boy. "Where is your family? Isn't anyone traveling with you?"

Yuri nodded. "My brother. He ran back to get a rope, but that was ages ago—"

"Yuri! Yuri!" A young man came rushing up, wearing a guard's uniform. "Thank the Fates, you're all right." He hugged Yuri tightly, kissed his brow and the top of his head over and over until Yuri finally shoved him away in disgust. "Are you well?"

"I'm fine," Yuri said. "Rath saved me."