"Fine." Kira stood up and looked around. "There should be a lot of trails and dirt roads through this country. We just have to find one that heads north and follow it."

"I thought you wanted to go west to the coast once we were this far."

"I did. But with everyone stirred up so quickly looking for us, that would be too risky. That former Mechanic assassin must not have noticed us leaving the car, but he'll realize we're gone when he reaches that next station, and if he has any friends nearby he'll tell them we're in the area. I think our best chance now is heading north to Danalee and then Dorcastle. That's the shortest, quickest route. From Dorcastle we should be able to get a ship or boat to the north side of the Sea of Bakre."

Jason sat up, his hair still dripping water on his face. "Who is coming up with this plan? Smart Kira or Crazy Kira?"

She grinned. "Smart Kira, though according to my mother in the last few years there may be a fine line dividing her from Crazy Kira." Sitting down, Kira began pulling off her boots and socks. "You should do this, too. We'll have to wait until they dry out before we can walk in them."

Jason looked at the grassy knolls rising to the north. "Barefoot? Through the countryside?"

"Barefoot will hurt a lot less than the huge blisters we'll get if we walk a long ways in wet shoes and boots," Kira said.

"Why not change into our spare outfits? Our bags stayed watertight."

"Because then we'd have no way to dry out the wet clothes, and our boots would still be wet. Sorry."

Jason slumped over, his eyes closed. "Gotta save lives," he mumbled. "Gotta save people." Opening his eyes, he began working off his own boots.

Kira took the lead as they walked away from the river, their wet clothes dripping water onto the tall grass. She hadn't gone far before the discomfort of her wet trousers reminded her that her pants were clinging to her rear end.

And Jason had decided to walk behind her.

Kira, very tired after what had already been a long day, felt her temper flare. She spun about angrily, fully expecting to catch Jason with his eyes locked on her butt.

But his head was down, his eyes apparently fixed on his bare feet in the grass.

Almost bumping into her before realizing that Kira had stopped, Jason looked up at her. "What?"

"What were you looking at?" Kira demanded.

"Grass." Jason swung one bare foot through the stalks of vegetation.

She studied him, perplexed. "You like girls, right? Because that was my impression."

"Yeah, I like girls."

"This is going to sound like a weird question," Kira said. "Why weren't you staring at my butt?"

Jason shrugged. "I didn't think you wanted me staring at your butt."

"I don't."