by Tam Linsey
Heat flooded Jubal’s face. After Rann’s comment a moment ago, of course they’d think that. “I meant goods. Food, cloth, utensils.”
Gid’s face didn’t clear, but Eily’s tension eased. “We could trade some food. Maybe blankets? And we’ll help carry your trade goods.”
Stomach still queasy from his near slip-up, Jubal pretended to consider. After a couple of heartbeats, he held out a hand to seal the agreement. “Done.”
She took it.
With a doubtful tightening of his lips, Gid offered a hand clasp as well.
Jubal had to fight to keep his trader’s smile from becoming a triumphant grin. Her deal didn’t include an escort back. Now all he had to do was escort them across the Tox safely. Keeping them would be Sefe’s problem.
Chapter Ten
When Eily and Gid returned home, Levi was sitting at Beth’s kitchen table holding a mug of tea. He must have heard the news about Ana and come all the way from his new home with Tula in the city. His beard had grown since Eily’d last seen him, and although he wore modest clothing, the fabric was of obvious Haldanian origin rather than the traditional homespun cloth made at the Holdout. He rose, and she gave him a tight hug. “I’m glad to see you, Uncle Levi. How’s Josef? Where’s Aunt Tula?”
“Josef’s fine.” He hugged her back. His embrace was a comfort she’d missed since he’d moved to the city to be near his son, Josef, who had to remain in the UV-protected Garden a few more years. “Tula sends her love. With the pregnancy in the final stages, your aunt can’t risk too much sun.”
He and Gid shook hands. Then Levi held a tiny box toward Eily. “She wanted to be sure you had these.”
Eily took it, glancing at the label. “Allelopathic suppression pills? Uncle Levi, with the telomerase fungi, nobody uses these anymore.”
He shrugged. “She said it was important. And wanted me to remind you to watch the yuvee trees for incoming sunstorms—”
Eily laughed. “I know, I know. Don’t touch the leaves. Watch for UV flares after a storm. Be cautious of unknown plants—”
“Don’t take this trip lightly.” Levi’s tone was sharp. Eily stopped laughing and frowned at him. The little lines around his mouth were deeper, his lips pale and tight. “Tula wanted me to convince you not to go.”
Eily stiffened. “Why would she do that? She knows I can’t leave Ana out there.”
“I think it has less to do with you than the reversions.” He rubbed a hand over his hair and down his nape. “You know how protective she can be about her converts. She says to keep an eye on them. Talk them into coming back with you if you can. And leave any unused pills with them if you can’t.”
Frowning, Eily nodded and put the container in her pocket. She took the dishes from the sideboard and began setting the table. “Did they tell you Ana’s pregnant? Your babies can play together.”
He smiled. “I hope so, Eily.”
Gid added, “And ours. We hope to start a family right away.”
Levi cocked his head and grinned at his nephew. “I hope you’ll wait until you get back and can properly marry.”
Gid flushed, taking a step back from Eily, even though he wasn’t within reach. “Of course.”
Eily kept her smile in place and ignored the empty ache in her chest.
A knock sounded against the kitchen’s screen door, and Eily peeked through her bedroom curtains into the blue light of dawn. Newlyweds Ezra and Ruth Beller stood on the porch holding a basket. From the other side of the wall came the creak of Aunt Beth’s footsteps as she moved to the door, muffled voices, then the screen banging shut. The young couple retreated down the dirt lane, heads close as they talked.
All day yesterday, people had come and gone from the Yoder home as news of Gideon’s trip spread across the Holdout. New shoes for him. A metal pail with a tight lid for transporting perishables. The doctor’s daughter had brought a jar of pain-relieving salve for his scarred back and leg. Gid had sweet-talked the machine shop into contributing two new knives. Eily’d managed to acquire donations of old quilts and dried food. Even Ijon had offered some large backpacks for the reversions to carry gear. The reversions had been unable to gather their own items because they’d spent yesterday in the medical facility undergoing final exams.
Active with preparations, Eily hardly had time to think about the upcoming journey. This morning, though, she’d woken in darkness, her mind spinning with memories of fear and hunger. She hadn’t been outside the safety of the fence in six years, not counting the brief debacle with Gid’s mini. Lucky debacle. Without it, she might never have met the traders face to face, might never have learned of Ana.
How had her sister survived so long among the cannibals? Every living human on the Tox considered Flame Runnas mortal enemies. Yet Ana always had been the adventurous one. Self-reliant. Unhesitating. Unlike Ana, the thought of venturing past the Burn and into the Tox made Eily’s stomach churn.
Shoving aside her fear, Eily dressed, made her bed, and fit a few last-minute things into her pack. A soft knock sounded at her door.
“Yes?”
Gid poked his head in first, then entered. He held a long walking stick in one hand, much like a trader’s staff but without the dangling ornamentation. “I’m ready when you are. Ma made us breakfast.”
Eily might not need to eat but had grown used to the luxury while living at the Holdout. This morning, she didn’t think her stomach would accept food. “Go ahead. I’ll be there in a minute.”
He reached to the top of her dresser and picked up Ijon’s black transponder. “Don’t forget the beacon.”
“I’m not taking it.”
“What? Why?”
She took the box from him and placed it firmly back on the dresser. “I don’t trust them.”
“But what if we get into trouble? Ijon promised they wouldn’t come unless we call.”
“The Protectorate’s mission is to convert or kill every cannibal. I won’t endanger the people who have kept Ana alive all this time.”
Gid frowned and seized the beacon again. “It was part of the deal.”
Eily huffed and snatched the box from him. “Fine.” She dropped the beacon on top of her open pack, then turned to pretend to look for her toothbrush.
“I’ll see you downstairs.”
She nodded and waited until his footsteps creaked on the staircase. After a generous moment, she plucked the beacon from her pack and dropped it inside the top dresser drawer. Gid didn’t understand. People in the Order were honest; if they agreed to do something, they did it. The Protectorate wasn’t so trustworthy. Once she’d retrieved Ana, she would never know if the Board secretly sent Burn Operatives to eradicate the tribe. She couldn’t risk it. But she didn’t want to argue with Gid, either.
Down in the kitchen, Gid shoveled eggs and ham into his mouth. Gid’s father, Samuel, sat grimly at the head of the table, his Bible beside him, stabbing chunks of fried potato with his fork. Eily took her seat and helped herself to a single hotcake and raspberry jam but found it difficult to swallow.
Beth brought two cloth-wrapped packages to the table and put one beside Eily’s plate and the other next to Gid’s. “Lunches.” Her voice trembled. “Do you want extras for your reversion friends?”
Eily shook her head. “I don’t want to coddle them. Maybe by the time we reach Ana, they’ll change their minds and come back home.”
Beth nodded, her eyes shining with tears, and turned back to the sink to wash dishes.
Eily looked around the warm kitchen, memorizing every sight and smell. Even Samuel’s ruddy face, downturned toward his Bible, made her heart ache. She forced down a few bites in silence, then rose and hugged Beth. “I love you. Goodbye.”
Chest shuddering, Beth dabbed at her eyes with her apron. “Auf Wiedersehen.”
Samuel nodded his goodbye, ever as stiff as his son, and said, “Be careful.”
“I’ll wait outside for you, Gid.” Eily exited to give him a few moments alone
with his family. Anything could happen on the Tox, and this might be the last time Beth would see her son. Eily was prepared to die for her sister, and grateful Gid wanted to help, but the thought of him being slaughtered by cannibals was almost enough to make her forget the whole thing.
The sun crested the horizon, sending long shadows across the yard and promising a hot day. Eily fiddled with her pack and water bottle until Gid emerged from the house. Beth and Samuel stood on the porch steps as she and Gid began the trek toward the Gate where they would meet the rest of the party. On other porches, families stood watching them pass, and when Eily and Gid reached the fence, a small crowd waited. A handful of Old Order stood on one side, murmuring about evil leading the way. A larger bunch of New Order well-wishers, some with final parting gifts, surrounded them. A few handed her tokens—a stubby wax candle, a nub of maple candy—but most gifts were for Gid. One girl handed him a packet of jerky. Miss Blythe, the schoolteacher, offered him a miniature New Testament Bible.
The two traders waited with their packs near the Gate. Rann’s features were pinched in discomfort, but according to the doctor, he would heal. Jubal, his smile as dazzling as ever, spoke to Brother John. The trader laughed at something and clapped John on the shoulder. Eily looked away, an undefined longing rising in her. Above the hinged portal, a sign read The Gate is Narrow to remind the faithful to keep their hearts on God.
Jubal rose to greet them. “We’re ready.”
The crackle of tires on gravel announced Ijon’s arrival with the reversions. The men climbed out of the skimmer. Pulo’s muscles bunched as he shrugged into his pack. He helped Wint into his, Wint’s pudgy gut bulging as he fastened the waist harness. The two of them entwined fingers and smiled into each other’s eyes, and Eily suddenly understood why they wanted to leave the Holdout.
Eily caught Lisius’s eye, and he grinned, eyes twinkling. “We’re going home.”
She bit back her reply—no need to start the trip on a sour note, especially if she hoped to talk him out of remaining on the Tox.
Ijon looked everyone over. “Good luck.”
Eily said firmly, “We’ll be back soon.”
“Ready?” Gid asked, looking at her.
She nodded. He faced the gatehouse and raised a hand high to signal the gatekeeper waiting at the low door. The man dipped his chin at them before disappearing inside. When the faint hum from the fence ceased, Gid opened the latch. He pushed the Gate outward and gestured to Jubal to lead the way. Rann followed with the reversions, then Eily and Gid, who closed the Gate with a metallic clunk.
For a moment, they all stood gazing toward the green line of the Tox. Eily swiveled to take a last, long look at the crowd behind the fence. Then they set off to find the cannibals.
They reached the edge of the amarantox within the hour, and soon the large, ribbed leaves blocked out the sun. Gid, taller than the others by several inches, stretched to touch the ceiling of vegetation every now and again as they walked, exposing a glimpse of blue sky. An ever-present breeze rustled the canopy but couldn’t reach them down on the narrow dirt path between the stalks.
Eily found herself walking differently, lighter on her toes, more careful of where she placed each step, her limbs loose yet primed for action. Her senses, muted so long, seemed to explode like the breath a swimmer releases after surfacing from a lake. Every rustle of leaves drew her attention, every shadow her gaze. Friend, foe, food? A short distance ahead, the reversions followed close behind Jubal, pointing and chattering between themselves. They wanted to return to their former lives, but they seemed to have forgotten the terror of the Tox.
Or maybe her days spent fleeing the Fosselite mountain with Tula and Levi had scarred her far more deeply than growing up in a tribe ever could.
At least on this journey they were not fleeing Fosselite night vision or Protectorate Burn Operatives. Ijon had assured her that Burn Ops flight crews had been instructed to stand down for the next two days, so they needn’t worry about being mistaken for cannibals. But she still scanned the skies whenever Gid opened a line of sight upward.
At a small creek crossing, Jubal paused and told everyone to top off their water bottles. The bank sloped gently to the water, and the amarantox gave way to tamarisk thickets and cattail reeds. The breeze could reach them here, offering welcome relief from the stagnant tunnel through the weeds, and everyone dropped their packs for a break.
Gid reclined on a flat spot to stretch the kinks out of his leg. He’d been keeping up well, but she wasn’t sure how long he could maintain this pace. Lisius had his head together with Wint and Pulo. They’d captured a beetle and passed it between them, arguing over who got to eat it. Jubal stood at the edge of the water and gazed across the creek, his trader’s staff in hand. She joined him, searching the amarantox on the other bank.
He turned his head toward her, his eyes roaming down her skirt. “You’ll be able to cross this?”
She glanced into the water for the first time. She knew how to swim but had never tried in a dress. She licked her lips and took a quick peek at Gid, realizing for the first time that she was the only female in the group. The reversions had quickly divested themselves of the Order’s modest clothing, and all three now wore only trousers and boots. Lisius retained the wide straw hat worn by men in the order. He and Pulo had rolled their cuffs up around their knees. Wint retained his suspenders; in spite of his photosynthesis, he’d eaten enough at the Holdout to plump out his belly, and his hips would no longer hold up his waistband. He’d make a fine meal. She shook her head, horrified at her own thought, as if the Tox was reverting her against her will.
She turned her attention back to the flowing brown water. It looked calm enough, but that could be deceiving. “How deep is it?”
Jubal moved close enough that their shoulders touched, and a small thrill chased outward from the contact. With one hand he indicated the bottom of his ribcage, about level with her armpit. “And slippery.”
Sighing, she sat down on the bank and began unlacing her shoes. Her bare feet would grip the slippery rocks better. Her dress, however, was another problem. Even tucked into her waistband, it provided a lot of fabric for the current to catch hold of. And if she slipped and went under, it would be a lot of weight to struggle with. She rubbed her hands up and down her thighs. The dress had to come off. Gid would be horrified. He’ll be more horrified if you drown.
She loosed the first hook and eye at her collar. Then the next. Underneath, she wore a white sleeveless chemise and panties. As she lowered the dress around her shoulders, Gid lurched to his feet and rushed to her side in such haste that his foot splashed into the edge of the stream and he nearly tumbled in. He gripped the dress and yanked it up to cover her. “Eily! What are you doing?”
“I can’t swim in a dress, Gid.”
He glanced in horror at the others, his face twitching. Bending close to Eily, he whispered, “But we’ll see you.”
She tried not to smile as his eyes flicked toward her breasts. I want him to see me. Taking a step back, she kept her gaze locked on his and dropped the dress around her feet. “Then don’t look.”
Gid spun to face upstream, his shoulders heaving with his rapid breath. A tiny nudge of disappointment made her chest ache. Then she caught Jubal’s eye on her. He didn’t look away as she met his gaze. The ache inside her exploded into trembling butterflies. Flushing, she bent and gathered her dress, folding it neatly and placing it inside her pack.
She lifted the load to the top of her head. “I’m ready.”
“We’ll go together.” Jubal swung his pack over his head with practiced ease and settled it onto his shoulders. He stepped into the water, unconcerned for his wet leggings, and waited for her to join him.
She followed, edging out into the current carefully. The rocks scraped against her bare feet, jagged and slippery at the same time; her soles had grown soft at the Holdout. The chill water stiffened her joints, but she kept her focus on the other side.
“Eily, wait!” Gid called behind her.
She didn’t stop moving. About two thirds of the way across, her foot slipped sideways, but Jubal caught her elbow and kept her upright. He kept a supporting grip on her as they finished crossing. When they reached the far bank, he helped her lower her pack.
A cry from the water drew her attention, and she spun just in time to see Gideon’s head go under. She lunged forward. Jubal’s grip around her arm jerked her backward and she stumbled against his chest. “Gideon!”
Gid surfaced, arms flailing, and went under again. Loose items from his pack swirled into the current. On the other side of the bank, Lisius shrugged out of his pack and dove into the muddy river. Eily struggled against Jubal’s grip. “Let me go!”
“You’d only be another body to save. Stay put.”
Lisius reached the churning water where Gid struggled and grabbed hold. With strong strokes, he moved toward shore. Jubal released Eily’s arm, and she fled down the bank to where the drenched men crawled onto the rock.
“Gideon, are you all right?”
He coughed and nodded, weakly attempting to push the shoulder straps of his pack off. She squatted to help. The pack’s top hadn’t been cinched closed, and most of the contents were missing, including all their food.
Lisius pushed onto his hands and knees and then to his feet, breathing hard. “That was close.”
She stood and threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”
He rubbed a hand up and down her back and nodded. She let go and held a hand down to Gid to help him up. He’d lost his staff, and a tear in the shin of his trousers dripped watery blood onto the rock. He looked up at her and his brows drew together. “Put your clothes back on.”
His admonition made her drop her chin in shame. Her dark nipples showed clearly through her chemise. Crossing one arm over her chest, she shuffled to her pack. Jubal waited where they’d left the water, his dark eyes on her. Her skin tingled under his gaze, and she averted her eyes while she pulled her dress over her head and fastened the hooks.