Chapter 24
Home Again
All around Boulder Mountain, it was a bright and brilliant day without a cloud in the sky to block the sun as it traveled across the deep blue expanse. All nature seemed to be alive with songbirds of every kind that trilled their melodies passionately. A crow cawed in the distance as if it had a comment to make about it all. Bees went about their usual business collecting pollen from the many wildflowers in a meadow while a family of otters played in a nearby stream.
A deer even dared to graze in the town circle, which lay undisturbed by the inhabitants. It pricked up its ears and raised its head to look behind. It twitched and dashed away as a large, wispy disc bearing five riders sped above the ground. Esmerelda began to recognize the mining town she had seen in
