"Ha, ha, ha," he remarked sarcastically. "That is not the reason at all!"
Edward sat down so he didn't feel quite so exposed, and removed his boots. Placing them inside of his robe, along with the sack of vegetables, he rose from the ground and held the bundle above his head to keep it out of the water. Approaching the stream, he tested the temperature of the slow moving current with his foot. Goosebumps sprouted from his flesh immediately. Even though the waters felt almost frigid on his skin, Edward knew it would be far colder in a few months. Being mindful of his footing, he slowly made his way across the gently moving stream. At its deepest point, the icy liquid rose to just below the light patch of black hair on his chest. When he stepped onto the opposite bank, he laid the bundle on the ground and pulled the sack from within, setting it aside. Reaching for his robe, he wrapped it around his body and sat down to put on his boots, slipping them on as he glanced across the stream to check Katie's progress.
When he saw her standing on the opposite bank with her clothes off and held above her head in a pose similar to the one he had just used, Edward thought he had never seen a woman so beautiful. Her dark brown hair cascaded over her shoulders, gently caressing the sides of her ample breasts. Feeling a surge of heat growing in his groin, he forced himself to divert his gaze. After hearing Katie enter the stream, he waited a minute for her to get into the deeper water near the center before looking up again. When he did, he almost started to panic. Realizing that she was at least a few inches shorter than himself, he watched her anxiously as she began to cross the deepest part of the stream. The water was nearly up to her chin, so he hoped it didn't get any deeper. Otherwise, she might have trouble keeping her head above its surface. Edward's lust temporarily departed while he breathlessly waited for her to make it into shallows, his body feeling like a coiled spring as tiny beads of sweat formed on his brow.
It seemed like forever to him, as if Katie were moving in slow motion, until the water finally began to recede. Before he could look away, her breasts emerged from the stream. Enthralled by the tiny droplets of water falling from her erect nipples, the heat in his groin returned and his manhood started to swell beneath his robe. With great effort he turned his attention back to his boots, waiting patiently for her to step out of the stream.
Hearing her bundled clothes hit the ground a few feet from him, he watched out of the corner of his eye as she sat down. Shivering, she pulled her pants back on. Thankfully, at this angle, her hair was blocking his view of her breasts. She slipped into her vest, flipped her hair onto her back, and quickly fastened the wooden toggles up the front of the garment. Standing to hike her pants up the rest of the way, he caught a glimpse of her firm buttocks before they disappeared under the leather.
Looking over her shoulder at Edward, knowing he had been checking her out, she innocently asked, "Are we ready to continue?" Simultaneously, she was flattered that a relative stranger had found her attractive and creeped out. In a way, Edward was probably old enough to be her father.
"I believe so," he replied, gathering the sack of vegetables and his belt from the ground beside him and rising to his feet. Briefly, he considered putting his belt back on, but was leery of doing so because it would likely make his swollen member stand out like a sore thumb.
Nodding, Katie turned and looked for Amber. Initially, she couldn't find her, but then she recalled the cave. Looking up, she spotted her shimmering form standing in its entrance. "Well ... I guess we need to climb up there," she said, pointing toward Amber. Not waiting for a response from Edward, she started to climb up the steep incline that was littered with tangles of thin vines and jagged, moss-covered rocks. Patiently, Katie made sure she had firm handholds and footholds before each step, hoping to ensure that she didn't tumble back down and get hurt, or knock Edward from his place below her.
Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the rim of the cave. Amber waited for them to catch their breath before leading them inside. After a couple of minutes in the cavern, they saw a faint glow that was coming from somewhere other than Amber, who had rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. Trying to keep up with the ghost, Katie and Edward hurried around the bend, simultaneously catching a view of their transparent friend and a swirling red portal just beyond her.
Facing Katie, Amber pointed at the shimmering crimson void. "This will lead you back to our world. I don't know where it will come out exactly, but I get the sense that someone you need to see is on the other side."
Cautiously approaching the writhing red mist, Katie paused. Hesitantly, she extended her right hand to touch it and watched in fascinated horror as it disappeared before her eyes. Attempting to tap her unseen fingers together, she felt nothing. She quickly withdrew her hand from the portal to assure herself that it was still firmly attached to her arm. Sighing with relief, she saw that it was and rubbed her fingertips together lightly, smiling when her brain immediately received the impulses from their nerve endings. Wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, she glanced nervously at Amber. "I don't know if I can do this. The whole idea of traveling between worlds like this freaks me out."
"You'll be fine," Amber insisted. "I'll be with you every step of the way."
"I'm still scared to death!"
"Just think of it this way. If you don't go through the portal and find the person you need, your chances of finding and helping your friend will be slim to none," Amber said, trying to encourage her.
A grim expression of resolve appeared on Katie's face. Bolstered with new-found courage, she stepped into the portal. Edward watched her disappear into the mist with Amber following right behind.
Chapter 37
At the first light of dawn, George stood beside a tree at the top of the incline overlooking the town below. The last three days had been pretty good, phenomenal actually, but gazing at the bustle of activity in the valley told him they would soon send out hunting parties to find the missing people. Even so, he was impressed with his accomplishments, managing to capture five female prisoners before the patrols had increased, and another five males after guards were posted. Initially, he had hoped to thin the number of sentries enough to continue, but things hadn't quite worked out as he planned. Not only had the number of patrols increased, but the amount of individuals in each group did as well. Now it was too dangerous to risk further raids on the city. Maybe I can deliver this group of prisoners to the Factory and come back. By that time, things might be calm enough to try again.
Hearing movement nearby, he turned his attention from the town. On the ground behind his horse, a few of his prisoners were beginning to wake up. Casually gathering the remaining supplies scattered by his feet, he placed them back inside the compartment in the chest of his horse and closed it. Noticing that more and more of his prisoners were shifting to a sitting position, he walked back to check on them. Most were looking around in a daze, as if they had just emerged from a dream they were trying to recall. Noticing that a couple of his captives were still sleeping, George prodded them roughly with the toe of his boot. "We'll be moving out shortly. I suggest you be on your feet and ready to go ... Unless you enjoy being dragged," he informed them with a malicious grin.
At the end of the line, one of the males suddenly sprang to his feet, attempting to catch his captor off guard. As he stormed toward George, the man succeeded in tumbling a couple of his companions face first onto the ground, and when he reached the end of the rope his legs were jerked from under him as his upper body came to an abrupt halt. Watching the man sail through the air and land on his butt, George laughed. With an amused grin, he inquired, "Anyone else?" The women had tears in their eyes and wouldn't look at him, and most of the men gazed upon him with indifference. The lone renegade who had charged him a moment ago was the only one that seemed like he might try to cause trouble. A glare of absolute hatred shone in his eyes.
Grinning with satisfaction, George turned from the prisoners and mounted his steed. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that everyone w
as on their feet now. Rotating his head to the front, he nudged the pommel in the direction that would lead him back to the outpost.
Chapter 38
Stepping through the portal, Katie immediately felt herself falling. Before she could brace herself, she hit the gravel littered ground with a thud. Gingerly, she sat up and held her left arm, inspecting the damage. Illuminated by the light of a nearby street lamp, she saw several scrape marks on her forearm with pieces of gravel embedded in them. Most of her wounds were superficial abrasions, but in a couple of places blood trickled down her flesh.
Resting her battered appendage gently on her leg, she began picking the tiny stones out of her arm. Grimacing in pain, Katie pressed down hard on her wound in an attempt to stop the flow of blood. In an effort to distract herself, she gazed to the right at her surroundings to get a sense of where she was. Sitting in what appeared to be an alley between two small brick buildings, she spotted Amber nearby. Out of the corner of her eye, Katie saw the swirling mist of a portal a few feet above her ghostly friend, looking as if the magical gateway was somehow embedded in the frame of a window. Thinking back to the void in her bedroom that she had entered to get to Desolace, Katie couldn't help but wonder why the portal placement was so screwed up. It was like some cruel and twisted joke to have the entrances and exits at different heights in each world, making it impossible to walk straight through from one side to the other without incident. Frustrated with whoever created the portals, she tore her eyes away and inspected the building on the opposite side of the alley. Seeing boards nailed over the windows, she assumed it to be abandoned.
Having not seen Amber move since she landed in the gravel, Katie looked up and swore she saw a tear rolling down her transparent cheek. The anguished expression on her ghostly face almost suggested that she could feel Katie's pain. As she lifted her wounded arm to see if the blood had stopped flowing yet, Katie heard the sounds of people fighting from somewhere nearby. Using her uninjured appendage, she boosted herself to her feet. After quickly dusting her clothes off, she noticed that Amber had begun drifting toward the commotion. Katie followed her to the edge of the alley and stopped to get her bearings. The last thing she needed was to lose track of where the portal was, so she studied the front side of the buildings around her. A faded white sign hung slightly askew from the abandoned building, dominated by large red letters proclaiming that it had once been the Erie Market. On the opposite side of the alley, she saw a familiar blue mailbox standing on the sidewalk in front of the other building. In the darkened window, the white lettering said, U.S. Post Office. In a slightly smaller size beneath it was written, Erie, Pennsylvania 16511.
At least now Katie knew where she was. Turning her attention back toward the sounds of fighting, which seemed to be coming from across the street, she saw two floodlights illuminating a large wooden sign bearing the words 'Franklin Park' in bold block letters. As Katie jogged toward the wooded area on the other side of the pavement, Amber glided ahead of her and zigzagged through the foliage. A light drizzle began as Katie struggled to keep pace with the ghost. The sounds of the scuffle seemed very close and she feared they would accidentally stumble into the middle of it. Suddenly, Amber stopped and pointed, slightly to her right. Stepping beside her, Katie followed her spectral finger.
In the clearing ahead, picnic tables were scattered randomly across the open, grassy area. Charcoal grills dotted the landscape, seemingly sprouting from the ground between them. A small structure, which appeared to be an outhouse, stood like a silent sentinel twenty feet behind the tables, a lone floodlight mounted to its exterior illuminating the area. Squinting toward the cone of light, Katie saw a flurry of activity. It looked to her as if several black men were attacking a single white man. Even though the odds were clearly stacked against him, Katie watched in awe as the man fended off his attackers. Out of the blue, Edward's words from the first time they had met rolled through her mind. I wonder if this guy is the fighter Edward mentioned. The ease in which he is holding his assailants at bay would certainly make a strong case for it.
As the scuffle continued before her eyes, it became increasingly apparent that the attackers were starting to get the upper hand. There were just too many of them. Inching closer to the fight, Katie pondered how to convince the gentleman to come through the portal with her. Actions spoke louder than words, she supposed. When she had closed the distance between herself and the writhing mass of bodies to around one hundred feet, Katie tripped over something in the grass. Cursing her clumsiness, she turned to see the faint glimmer of an aluminum baseball bat lying almost completely hidden in the turf. After bending down to pick it up, she returned her attention to the fight.
So far, no one had noticed her approach. With a confidence she didn't know she had in her, Katie snuck up behind the closest person and clouted him in the head as hard as she could. The bat vibrated in her hand from the force of her blow, resonating with a hollow metallic sound. Instantly, the man she struck with it slumped to the ground. Startled by the noise, the remaining black men spun around. Frozen in time for a few seconds, the white man stared at her with his jaw hanging open in surprise. Then, realizing he now had the advantage with the focus of his attackers drawn away from him, he jumped into action. From behind one of his assailants, he latched onto the man's head with a firm hand on either side. Savagely, he twisted it much farther than it was ever intended to turn. With a loud crack, the man fell to the grass.
Backpedaling and swinging the bat wildly, Katie tried to keep the remaining men from getting close to her. The cracking sound of the impact, along with flying blood and teeth, suggested that she had broken her attacker's jaw. As he dropped one knee, stunned by the blow, the few remaining men hesitated for a second and started to form a circle around her. Using Katie as a distraction, the white man crept behind one and swept the legs from under him, knocking him to the ground. Following this move with a brutal open-palmed strike to his face, he sent shards of bone into his brain. Leaping behind the next man, he encircled his throat with his right arm and dragged him away from the fight. Desperately gasping for air, the black man tried to beat him with his fists in a futile attempt to break out of the choke hold. Within moments, the black man was unconscious. The two remaining attackers that were still standing, and the one kneeling on the ground with a broken jaw, suddenly realized the tables had turned against them. Quickly yanking the stunned man to his feet, they fled off into the night.
Lowering the bat, Katie jogged toward the man she had helped. "I think you can let him go now," Katie wheezed, bending to put her hands on her knees and catch her breath.
Wordlessly, he released the coiled stranglehold of his arm around his attacker's neck, allowing the dark-skinned man to slump to the ground, his oxygen deprived brain no longer telling him that his lungs needed air. Raising his head to meet Katie's eyes, he nodded. "Thank you," he gasped, his short blond hair glistening with sweat.
"I'm just glad that I was able to help. My name is Katie," she said, offering her hand in greeting and helping him to his feet.
"Mine is Mike," he replied softly, shaking her hand. "I'm glad you came along when you did. I'd been fighting with them for about fifteen minutes when you jumped in. I wasn't sure it was ever going to end."
Starting to feel a bit soggy, the prior drizzle having turned to a light rain, Katie glanced around to find Amber. Relieved, she saw her ghostly shape in the tree line, mostly hidden by the foliage. "Is there anywhere nearby that we can go to talk? Preferably someplace drier."
"There's an abandoned building across the street and I think the roof is still intact. Will that work?"
"The Erie Market?" she inquired.
"You know the place?"
"When I first heard the fighting, I was in the alley beside it. If the roof isn't too leaky, it should work fine as a temporary shelter from the weather."
As they started walking toward the trees, Katie noticed that Amber was working her way around them in such a way as t
o remain out of sight. Grateful for the spirit's tact, she began working out how to approach Mike with her story. Seeing Amber at this point would probably just complicate matters, though breaching the subject of his coming with her to Desolace would likely make him think she had a few screws loose upstairs. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but even the nice ones reacted badly sometimes.
Stepping from the woods to the sidewalk, the rain picked up significantly. A rumble of thunder sounded in the distance. "If I remember correctly, there is a delivery entrance in back of the building. We should be able to get in that way," Mike shouted, raising his voice to be heard over the steady downpour.
"Looks like we'll have to make a run for it."
Mike nodded. "Are you ready?"
"Yep." Katie squatted down slightly, looking as if she were preparing to run a fifty yard dash.
Holding up his right hand, Mike poked up one finger from his fist, then two, then three. As soon as the third finger rose, he darted across the street with Katie on his heels. Feeling as if someone had dumped a bucket of icy water on their heads, they flew down the alley and rounded the back corner of the abandoned building. Quickly locating the door, Mike tried the knob. "It's locked. Back up for a second." Taking a few steps back, he lowered his shoulder and rushed at the door. Suppressing her laughter, Katie imagined him hitting the door, bouncing off and landing hard on his butt. When his shoulder struck, however, the rusted hinges gave way easily and the door fell inward, slamming to the floor and raising a cloud of dust.
Hurrying inside, Katie found Mike sprawled on the floor, laughing hysterically. "What's so funny?"
Tears rolling down his face and his cheeks reddened with laughter, he managed to answer, "I expected the door to swing open on its hinges, not cave in the way it did."
Desolace Omnibus Edition Page 14