章 280: Silent observation

Ford watched the scene from far too close. The night before, he had circled around behind Daniel. He was fairly confident the boy either had somehow missed him appearing and disappearing—from trying to keep himself hidden–or had written it off as a hallucination or mirage.

Following behind the boy meant that Ford did not have as good a view of the main party, but he also felt a strange urge to protect Daniel.

The child was oddly competent. Ford was shocked that the boy was able to saddle his horse on his own, and mount it without aid. 

Ford was still having trouble with that last bit, granted, he had lingering pain from his wounds and broken leg when he wasn't masking it. Even so, he learned a bit from watching Daniel move about, how he sat when he rode, and how he managed to follow at a distance and keep himself from being detected.

It had taken Ford over a day to notice the boy… or perhaps he had only caught up to them after most of the day.