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THE SUNSET GATES
CHAPTER ONE
Wind whistles in the endless tall grass. The gypsies are traveling slowly. Heart is dressed like a gypsy now, with a shawl and a bright woven belt with tassels and tiny bells. She walks behind a yellow caravan--Moonsilver is inside it, safe, but restless.
Avamir and Kip follow closely. Dunraven's forests are far behind Heart now. These wide plains and the gray, stony mountains beyond them, belong to Lord Irmaedith.
Heart squinted.
The sky arched deep blue overhead. It curved downward to meet the circle of the horizon.
There was a town in the distance.
The buildings looked tiny from here.
Heart called out to Davey. "Is that where we're going?"
He half-turned on the wagon bench and nodded. "Jordanville. We'll be there by tonight."
Heart shaded her eyes with one hand.
The buildings seemed to be standing at the edge of a sea of grass. Beyond them, steep mountains rose.
Heart was glad. They had been traveling across the plains for a month. The land was flat as a supper-plate and she didn't like it.
There had been no hills.
There had been no trees.
Moonsilver had only been free to graze at night.
Inside the painted wagon, Moonsilver stamped his fore hoof. It was a hollow, impatient sound. He hated being cooped up, Heart knew. But there was no choice.
Moonsilver's white coat made him all to easy to see. His beautiful horn was impossible to hide.
"We'll be in the mountains before long," she said in a soothing voice.
But then she glanced at the rocky slopes beyond the distant town.
They looked gray, not green.
Heart sighed. Binney had said there were forests farther on. But how much farther?
Moonsilver stamped again.
Heart pushed up her sleeve and twisted the braided silver bracelet on her wrist.
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It was so hard to keep the unicorn colt hidden. Would he ever be able to run free?
Heart looked at the long line of gypsy wagons. Binney's bright blue one led the way.
Heart's carry sack and blankets were in it.
Talia's family came next. Their wagon was patterned green and silver. Then Davey's cousins with their apple red wagon, then Davey's parents and Josepha's older brother and his wife.
Each wagon was like a flower, bright and different from all the rest.
Gypsies were like that, Heart thought-their clothes, their hair, their wagons-each person was different and lovely.
The horses that weren't in harness walked alongside the caravan of gypsies, grazing as they went.
Some had halters, most wore no tack at all.
Sometimes Sadie and Kip pretend to herd them along.
The horses needed little guidance. They were used to keeping pace with the wagons.
Heart frowned. It was so unfair that Moonsilver had to ride inside a stuffy caravan.
She stared at the stone colored mountains in the distance. They reminded her of the mountains she dreamed about so often.
Heart straightened her shoulders. She had to find her family somehow. The book she'd found in Lord Dunraven's castle might help.
"If I can ever learn to read it," she whispered to the sky. Then she sighed. The woman in Yolen's Crossing had said it took weeks to learn the letters. The gypsies never stayed anywhere more than a day or two.
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Heart kicked at a pebble.
Kip whined softly and looked up at her.
Heart patted him. He swung his tail from side to side.
"I'm tired of hiding and worrying," Heart told him.
Behind her, Avamir shook her mane.
Heart turned to face the unicorn mare.
Avamir reached out, blowing a warm breath along Heart's cheek. heart stood on her tiptoes. She kissed the mare's scarred forehead.
"If I can find my family," she said quietly. "They will help us."
Avamir switched her tail.
"They will," Heart said, as if the mare had disagreed with her.
But Heart knew she couldn't be sure.
It didn't matter how much she wanted it to be true.
Whoever her parents had been, they had left her by the river in Ash Grove.
They had never come back to find her.
Maybe they had left her because they just didn't want her.
Heart flinched away from the thought, as always.
She laid her hand on Kip's head.
Her eyes stung. She squeezed them shut.
This was no time to cry.
She had to worry about Moonsilver and Avamir and Kip now, not about herself.
Inside the caravan, Moonsilver struck his hoof against the planks again.
"Play your flute for a while," Davey called over his shoulder. "It calms him down."
Heart pulled the flute out of the shoulder-case Zim had made for her.
She was lifting it to her lips when she noticed tiny, dark shapes on the horizon.
For a long moment, she stared, blinking.
Then she lowered the flute.
They hadn't run into anyone since they had wound their way down out of Dunraven's mountains.
"See the riders?" Davey asked.
"Yes," Heart answered.
The riders were separating, fanning out. Heart watched, puzzled and scared. Why would they do that?
"Guardsmen," Davey said. "Lord Irmaedith's."
Heart stared, wondering how he knew.
Then she saw a flash of reflected sunlight. Only silvered steel sparkled like that-it was their sword scabbards.
"What do they want?" Heart asked, her voice shrill.
"Keep your wits," Binney called out, her clear voice carrying down the line of wagons. "They just want to see what we're about, same as always."
Heart swallowed hard.
She could hear the hoof beats now.
In a few moments, the guardsmen would be upon them.
Heart frowned. It was so unfair that Moonsilver had to ride inside a stuffy caravan.
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