Whatever Idun was doing, she was doing it really well. Either that or the horse was just so used to being attached to a plow that it didn't even phase him that it was happening in the dark. Then again, early morning could still be dark and maybe this farmer was a very early riser. That might explain it too. But Lottie was going to go with the idea that Idun was working some kind of magic with the horse, because that was a variable they could control. One of very, very, very few in this situation.
By the time she finished with the last strap, Idun was saying she thought the horse was calm. Philotes was a smidge worried that the horse was old but as long as he pulled the plow, she'd be happy to call him calm. So she nodded and said, “This is going to work.”
Because it had to work. Lottie didn't have another plan in her. This was it. All the eggs in one basket. Or plow as the case may be.
Slowly at first, and then more confidently, Friendship led the horse toward the field they'd left alight. As she walked, every third step or so, she swept her left leg in a half circle. It made her gait odd and uneven, but it kept whatever was in her skirt from scratching her for a couple of steps. Then it would hit her leg, and she'd do her odd step again. Fortunately, it didn't seem to bother the horse.
The same could not be said for the fire. As the glow grew steadily brighter, the horse seemed to be a little more reluctant about approaching. By the time they reached the edge of the clearing, he was definitely more nervous. It was a good thing this was as close as they needed to get. Now she just needed to figure out how to get the blade of the plow down.
“Alright, keep him calm, I need to figure this out,” Lottie said, trusting Idun to work her magic again with the horse. After a moment, while the flickering light of the fire caused a rise in her own panic, she said as serenely as she was able, “Do you see a lever or something? How do we get the plow blade down? This isn't going to work if we can't get the plow blade down, because just dragging it around isn't going to make a deep enough furrow, we actually need it to cut into the earth, maybe even a couple times, like a couple different rows of furrows so the fire can't jump the first one, but we can't even get the first one unless I figure this out and I just don't see it, tell me you see something, Idun. Please, please, please.”