Gallop Swiftmane's Arc

Chapter 3 of 5

The morning after his partner left, Gallop walked the circuit alone. He stopped at the high turn she had redrawn — the one that swept past a stand of low branches strung with old dreamcatchers, feathers stirring in the wind. Riders would pass under them at full stride. It was the most beautiful stretch of the route, and the most photographed in every sketch he had shown a backer. Mervin Bogbutton found him there before noon. He had someone with him — a tall figure in a fine cloak, silent, watching the dreamcatcher branches with the look of a man pricing them. "Found you a backer," Mervin said. "Full circuit. Every furlong. Just logic, really." He gestured at the tavern down the slope. "We'll talk inside. He's already had a sign painted." Inside the alehouse, the backer set down a wrapped bundle and pulled the cloth away. A carved blossom, large as a shield, its petals washed in shimmering blue and violet paint. His crest at the center. "This goes at the dreamcatcher turn," the backer said. "And the route carries my name beside yours. Co-owned. Equal share." Mervin nodded fast. "Fair. Obviously fair." Gallop looked at the blossom. Then at the door. "No," he said. He stood. "Anyone who wants their name on the circuit more than they want it built isn't a backer. He's a tenant." Mervin started to speak. Gallop was already walking. He stepped back into the open air with nothing in his hands and his map still his own. The funded circuit his partner had ridden south for was still coming. This one — this offer — was dead behind him. He turned toward the high turn and kept walking.