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The man grabbed the reins of the giant horse that Gregor was tied too and, after a subtle motion to Gregor, began leading the group. He led them through the prairie grass and onto the gravel shore of the creek. The sandy-gravel was dark with moisture and pockets of water rose to fill their footprints. The man stopped short of the creek and fished a rag out of the horse's saddle bags. He dipped the rag in the water, wrung the water from it quickly, and casually tossed it towards Gregor.

Gregor was putting the unconscious soldier down when the man tossed him the rag. He hurriedly dropped the man to the earth and attempted to catch the rag. The rope tied to his bound hands caught on the unconscious soldiers legs and Gregor stumble, his hands being pulled downwards and his back-end jerking away from him. The rag hit the side of his body and then fell into the sandy shoreline. The man who had thrown the rag barked out a laugh and retried the now sandy rag from Gregor. After removing the sand fro the rag in the creek the man made a great show on handing the rag to Gregor. Despite his best intentions Gregor was unable to keep the sarcastic look from creeping into his face. Lana used to perform similar routines on Gregor when she would catch him doing something that she thought was foolish. Gregor's role was to play the patronizing fatherly role, a role which he now fell into without fully thinking about it. Gregor snatched the rag from the man's hands, he was tired, and his body ached from the nights ride. Gregor looked at the man and held the rag up in the air asking the man what he wanted.

The man barked out another laugh, deeper than the one before. He continued to laugh and began to walk away. As he passed Gregor, he gave Gregor a slap on the back before stepping up onto the grassy bank and sitting down. Gregor looked at the man, and he made a circle motion with his hand in front of his face. Nodding Gregor knelt down in the wet sandy and began to clean the blood from the soldiers face and body. As he worked he occasionally stole glances at the man who sat on the bank. As far as he could tell the man had all but forgotten that Gregor or the still unconscious soldier were even there. He passed his time braiding grasses together or tossing rocks into the stream, but as far as Gregor could see the man never once looked over.