Chapter Three

A New Sidekick

Xena had no trouble following Callisto’s trail. It was evident she was more interested in putting distance between her and Xena than covering her tracks. Later, she would be harder to follow, but for now, it was easy, so easy that Xena’s main concern was the many rambling and erratic thoughts running through her head.

“It doesn’t look like Callisto’s circling back to go after Gabrielle. That’s a relief. She sure didn’t waste any time leaving with Perdicus. I wonder if she was afraid Callisto was coming after them. But she looked happy, not fearful, the way she held onto him. Maybe I should thank Callisto. If she hadn’t tried to kill Perdicus I wouldn't have had almost another half day to spend with Gabrielle before they left. But – if she hadn’t attacked that village, Gabrielle wouldn't have agreed to marry him, she told me she didn’t want to. Damn that Callisto! She’s going to die if I have anything to do with it! But that won’t change things, Gabrielle will remain Perdicus’ wife. But she still needs killing no matter what!”

So engrossed was Xena with her thoughts that she wasn’t aware of just when she lost the trail. She had to follow her horse’s own hoof prints back to a wide, shallow stream she had crossed. Callisto’s horse’s tracks went into the water, but didn’t come out.

“She’s following the stream to hide her trail. Now, which way did she go?”

Xena followed the stream in one direction for a while, then reversed her direction, trying to find some sign. After the second reversal, she saw what she was looking for – several rocks had been kicked up by the horse, exposing the darker color of their undersides. Riding on, Xena found where Callisto had exited the stream and continued on dry land. But it was getting close to dusk and she decided to camp for the night.

 Sleep didn’t come easy for her. And when it did, her dreams were disturbing. Xena was atop the small hill that overlooked Gabrielle and Perdicus’ farm. She could see Gabrielle in front of the house with several small children. It was hard to tell just how many because they were all, Gabrielle included, running around and laughing and playing.