This story is part of the Wanderer series.
The wagon slowed to a halt, the clopping of the horses disappearing. The absence of this sound and the stillness of the wagon bed woke Rin up. Realizing they were no longer moving, she lifted her head and peered around with drowsy eyes. It was still bright outside, though there were hints of gold beginning to dye the air. The shadows were longer. Nozomi was still leaning against her shoulder, still apparently asleep. Chiara was across from them, wedged into the back corner on top of the bedrolls, napping as well.
With a breathy sigh, Rin craned her neck towards the front. She could hear the murmur of voices. Her shoulders were stiff, prompting her to pull them back and stretch them a bit. However, she couldn’t really do so without jostling Nozomi, and her meager attempt to alleviate her stiffness left much to be desired. She ended up waking her anyway.
“Mmmm…?” Nozomi softly murmured, shifting her body and turning her head towards Rin.
“Sorry.”
She grunted as she adjusted herself. “Did we stop? Are we there?”
“No,” said Rin, but she quickly retracted her answer. “Well, I don’t know why we stopped. But we definitely aren’t there. There’s no way.”
“I mean…” Nozomi rubbed her eyes. “Are we stopping for the night?”
“There’s still daylight.”
Up at the front, a hand pulled the sheets aside as Green popped her head into the wagon. Her eyes piqued, coming to attention. “Oh, you’re awake.”
“We just woke up.” Rin pulled herself back, grunting as she straightened. “Are we stopping already?”
“No, we ran into a problem.”
“Eh?”
Chiara was waking up too. She blinked several times as she straightened. “Huh? A problem?”
“The bridge over the river is broken,” she explained. “The next crossing is fifty kilometers south from here. Kind of the opposite direction we are going.”
“Broken?” Rin repeated with wide eyes. “Someone destroyed it? We’re being followed?”
“I don’t think so…”
“No.” Another hand drew the sheet aside as Blue ducked her head to peer in. “From the looks of it, the bridge was damaged by the river.”
“All that flooding swept its legs out beneath it,” the merchant added, raising his voice from the driver’s seat. “We’ll have to make haste to the next river crossing.”
“Can’t we get across it somehow?” Nozomi leaned forward and palmed the wagon floor, crawling towards the front.
“What do you suggest?”
“Use your water magic to float us across.”
The statement made Blue draw back with confoundment. “That’s not how that works!”
Nozomi lifted her head to stare at her friend. “How ‘bout freeze the river?”
“If I could, I would have done so many meters back!” Blue snapped. “Besides, the river is too wide and fast moving for that kind of bridge to be stable.”
Nozomi swiveled her head towards Chiara. “How about linking the two bridges together?”
“Er…” Chiara glanced to the side. She seemed almost embarrassed. “I don’t think my chains are strong enough to hold up this wagon…”
“Hmm…” Nozomi then turned to Green. “What about your wind magic?”
Green gripped the back of her seat. “I don’t want to try that. I’ll damage the cart!”
“If we damage the wagon, then we’re back on foot,” Blue pointed out. “There’s not enough time. We can’t afford that risk.”
Slumping down, Nozomi’s gaze fell on the last person in the wagon. Rin drew in her eyebrows.
“What do you expect me to do? Make a bridge of fire?”
Winging her shoulders, Nozomi sighed in defeat.
“How badly will it delay us?” Chiara asked.
“Maybe four or five days,” answered the merchant. “No more than that, I assure. Assuming there aren’t any more hindrances.”
Blue peered over her shoulders, off into the distance. “Is there a ford nearby?”
“The ford looks too deep for the horses.” He leaned forward, just slightly standing up from his seat. “I don’t think I could get ‘em to cooperate.”
“Well, we would best be off, then.” Blue sat back down. “No use sitting around.”
“Yes.”