“His horse is gone,” reported Midge. “I searched for blocks around and could not find him. Do you want me search farther?” “Why would Fredrik just up and leave?” questioned Tedi. “It makes no sense. Not only is he violating the order to stay in our rooms, it appears that he does not plan on coming back.” “I don’t know,” frowned Arik. “I agree that he does not plan on coming back though. He took all of his belongings with him. Now that we know that his horse is gone too, there can be no doubt about his intentions.” “That still doesn’t answer the question of why he decided to leave,” Tedi pointed out. “Alex will be furious.” “Call him Mikal while we are in this city,” warned Arik. “We must be careful with our words. He spent an awful lot of time with Niki on the voyage here from Tice. Perhaps this has something to do with her.” “She is always needling him to leave the group,”
