by Megan Hart
Tobin looked to the sky, which had lightened dramatically. “We’d better go. Reb Ephraim will have found the map by now and noticed I’m gone. Maybe they’ll have seen you’re gone, too. We’d better keep moving.”
“There’s the bus station,” she said, pointing to the large building straight in front of them. We can get to the tunnel from there.”
“Then let’s do it.” Tobin shot her another grin.
Laughing, she took his hand and they ran toward the building. The bus station was long, with many doors that had once been glass but now only held darkness. It didn’
t look inviting. They were almost there when the troll reared up from its hole in the street.
−20-
Tobin didn’t hesitate. He shoved Elanna behind him and held out the blanket roll. It was a poor weapon, but the only one they had. Elanna let out a small cry and stumbled against him.
“What’s it got?” shouted the thing emerging from the hole in the middle of the street. “What’s it got, now? What, what?”
Tobin thought about Golem, the creature from Tolkien’s The Hobbit. A shrill giggle escaped him, and he bit it off. This was no time for laughter.
“A troll!” Elanna moaned in his ear.
The troll climbed out of its hole and stood. Although it looked as though it only stood as tall as Tobin’s chest, it was at least twice as wide. A flat head covered with sparse wisps of gray hair topped lumpy shoulders that ended in dangling arms and wide, flat hands. It wore clothes, or at least what once had been clothes but now had disintegrated into rags. More wisps of the same gray hair covered its chest, and spots mottled its skin.
Still, it had the shape of a man and the voice of one, too. It hadn’t moved any closer to them, just stood beside the hole and rocked back and forth. Once in awhile it scratched itself under the arms or on the head. It was ugly, yes, but a monster? Tobin didn’t think so.
“It’s just a man.” Tobin didn’t put down the blanket roll.
“What’s it got, now? What, what?” shrieked the thing in the street, scratching. It still made no move toward them.
“It’s not like any man I’ve ever seen,” Elanna said doubtfully. She grimaced. “I saw a Savage once that had wandered down into Tribe territory. He didn’t even look as bad as that.”
“Maybe it’s because they live down in those holes,” Tobin said, still watching the thing. It shifted back and forth on dirty feet, mindless of the rubble and debris on the pavement. “What’s down there?”
Elanna shrugged. “Old sewers, I guess. There are lots of tunnels under the city. Sewers and subway tunnels. The holes and entrances in the Tribe’s territory were sealed off a long time ago. I think there used to be people that lived down there, who used to come up sometimes and steal from us. But not in years. Not ever since I can remember.”
“We’re not in Tribe territory anymore?” Tobin relaxed a little bit, but kept his eyes on the shaking and scratching troll. At least it had stopped its shrieking.
“We’re at the very edge. I think this part of the city has been pretty well gathered already. Not much left. Oy vey, that thing is ugly!”
From the hole emerged another thing just like the first. This one stood a little taller, and a little wider, too. Its clothes were in even worse shape than the first one’s. Its legs showed through the tears in its pants; lumpy and gnarled, they were the same mottled brown, and covered with hair.
“What’s it got, what? What’s it got?” The second troll cried in a higher voice. It pulled itself out of the hole and stood by the first, making the same rocking motion.
“I don’t think they’re going to attack us.” Tobin let the blanket roll drop in front of him, but he kept a good grip on it. Just in case.
The pair of weird things in front of them rocked and scratched. Every few minutes one would spit or sneeze, then the other. It was pretty disgusting to watch, but really not that scary.
“What’s it got?” shrieked the pair in unison. “What’s it got, now? What! What! What?”
“Nothing for you,” Tobin shouted back, not sure what to say.
The two ugly things stopped rocking and scratching. They looked at each other, misshapen jaws dropping. The taller one turned back toward Tobin and Elanna.
“Nutting?”
“No!” Elanna cried bravely from Tobin’s side.
“Nutting?”
Now the two began rocking again. “Nutting?”
“Nutting?”
“What’s it got, now?”
“Nutting?”
“What, what?”
“Nutting?”
“No, nothing!” Tobin shouted, just to shut them up. They were getting on his nerves.
The taller, thinner thing began to cry. Now it rocked, scratched and cried. The shorter, heavier one just grunted.
“What’s wrong with them?” Elanna asked.
“When people talked about trolls,” Tobin asked, “did they say they looked like that?”
“They never said they cried,” Elanna said. “And I’m not sure what they were supposed to look like. Ugly, I guess.”
“Well that fits those two for sure.” The trolls weren’t moving from their place in the street, but they blocked the way to the bus station. “Is there another way to get to the tunnel?”
Elanna shook her head. “I don’t really know. Ari said to go through the bus station, and the tunnel entrance was in there.”
“How fast can you run?”
She laughed shortly. “I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve ever tried.”
Tobin sighed, looking back at the pair of rocking, wailing things that stood between them and the bus station. “I don’t know if they’ll attack or not. They seem pretty pathetic, but it could be an act.”
“Nutting!” shrilled the taller troll. Tears streamed down its mottled cheeks. Snot dripped from its nose in thick curds. Disgusting.
“What, what?” answered its companion.
Elanna shook her head. “It’s a pretty good act.”
“We can try to go around them,” Tobin said. “We may have to run, though. Or fight.”
Elanna looked up at the sky. “It’s daylight now. I’ll feel safer when we’re crossing the tunnel. Let’s try it.”
He looked at her in admiration. She really was pulling through. He was glad she’d decided to come with him. More than glad, really. Near to ecstatic. The feeling gave him courage he might not have had if he’d been alone.
“Yeah, let’s.” Tobin hefted his bundle and took her bag from her. When she protested he stopped her with a look. “If you need to run, you don’t want to be carrying extra weight. I’m stronger than you. I’ll do it.”
She let him take the bag. Tobin wanted to take her hand but didn’t. He’d need to be ready, in case the things started after them. He tensed, judging the distance to the doors of the bus station and hoping he was right.
“I feel bad for them,” Elanna said quietly. “Look at them!”
Now both trolls were sobbing and groaning. The shorter one stomped its feet up and down in grief. The taller one pounded its chest. Tears and snot flew as they shook from side to side.
“If nothing else, let’s run fast enough so we don’t get hit with any of that,” Tobin said. “Damn, that’s nasty.”
“I’m ready,” Elanna said.
“Go!”
Tobin ran, aware that she was beside him, keeping up. Not bad for a girl who’d probably never had to run more than a block in her life. The bags slapped against his legs as he ran. They were nearing the farthest point of the trolls’ reach.
With a strangled cry, Elanna tripped and fell. The string holding her blanket roll had come undone, tangling her legs. She landed hard on the street, shredding away the leg of her pants. Bright blood spilled from the gash in her calf.
What’s it got, now!” shrieked the taller troll, whirling on Elanna as though it had been pulled by a string.
“What, what?” yelled the shorter one, al
ready moving toward her with jerky, scrabbling movements.
They were drawn by the blood, Tobin realized in alarm as he bent to help Elanna. The wound didn’t look too serious, more of a scrape than a cut, really, but it was bleeding fairly heavily. In a minute, the things would be upon them.
Elanna held her leg, trying to stanch the flow with her fingers. “Leave me,” she said through tensed jaws. “Get them!”
Tobin stood, feet apart and hands gripping the rope that had come loose from her blanket roll. He had no idea what he was going to do with it, but it was his only weapon. His heart pounded, thud, thud, like the banging of a drum. His breath burned in his chest. He was, he thought as though from far away, terrified. But exhilarated.
The pair of trolls came at him in unison with their arms outstretched, still gabbling their freakish refrain. They didn’t have claws, exactly, just filthy fingernails which had grown long. They still looked like they could do some damage.
Just as they came within grabbing distance, Tobin was surprised to see the second blanket roll shoot from behind him. It connected solidly with both trolls’ legs. The things stumbled, one at a time, the taller one going down first and taking the shorter one with it. They both went down on their knees, the sound like ice cracking as they hit the street.
Their howls of pain and anger were terrible, low growls that rose to a crescendo that hurt Tobin’s ears. He didn’t have time to worry about that. While the things were down, he swung the ends of the rope around their necks and pulled tight. The trolls’ heads came together with a loud clunk, sending out another round of shrieks and wails.
Now they were struggling to their feet, bound together at the neck. It didn’t seem to stop them. Contorted with rage, their ugly faces were even uglier. Blood oozed from their knees, and Tobin had time to notice that it was red before the pair lunged at him again.
Jerking out of the way, Tobin saw Elanna get to her feet. With a triumphant yell, she swung her shoulder bag over her head by its strap. Once, twice and again she swung it, building up speed and force. With a sharp grunt, she swung it into the trolls’ faces.
Noses cracked. More blood flew. Tobin saw a few teeth go rattling down to the pavement. The trolls fell face forward onto the ground and lay there, silent. Blood began to stream from beneath them, puddling on the pavement.
“Are they dead?” Elanna was breathing hard, her cheeks flushed. She stood stiffly, her unwounded leg holding her weight. “Did I kill them?”
“They don’t die that quick,” said a familiar voice from behind Tobin. “They’ll be out for a while, maybe, but that’s it.”
It was Luz. Dressed in black, his Gatherer’
s uniform. He was grinning, and not pleasantly.
−21-
“Good work, Elanna.” Luz sneered at Tobin. “Nothing like letting a lady save your ass.”
“How long have you been there?” Tobin asked.
“I’ve been following you two since you left.Wondering how far you’d get.”
“Why didn’t you help us?” Elanna said, outraged but not scared.
“I thought maybe if I let you go, the trollies would do my work for me,” Luz said with a grin. It was a nasty smile, like something a spider would have on its face before it ate the dinner caught in its the web.
“If you came to take us back, you’re wasting your time,” Elanna said.
She moved away from the puddle of blood and sat down. Quickly she tore the useless shreds of her pant leg into useable strips, then wrapped them around her leg. It stung, but it stopped the blood from oozing out.
She’d have to clean it, so it wouldn’t get infected. That was the first thing Frieda taught them all. Clean wounds meant clean healing. There was no medication for infections. A person could die from a dirty wound faster than from anything else.
She looked up at Luz, that arrogant jerk. It figured he’d be the one to come after them. He was always trying to throw his weight around, just because he was Ari’s right hand man. Elanna didn’t like him, but she wasn’t scared of him.
“I didn’t come to take him back.” Luz cracked the knuckles of one hand in the opposite palm, and then did it again in reverse. “Just you.”
“And what about Tobin?”
Luz shrugged. “I can kill him if I want to, or just let him go.”
“Kill him!” Elanna said, stunned. To cause deliberate harm to another was an inviolable rule of the Tribe.
“If I want to,” Luz said with a sneer. “But I don’t think I’ll waste my time. Reb Ephraim found the map. We don’t need this waste of space to help us.”
She couldn’t believe that Reb Ephraim had ordered Luz to kill Tobin. To track them down, sure, and bring them back, yes, she could see that. Punish them, certainly. But kill?
She stood, testing the pain in her leg. With the bandages it would be okay. She smoothed her hair and straightened her clothes. She knew how to deal with men like Luz.
“You’re still wasting your time,” she said, the sweetness of her tone contradicting the bitterness in her thoughts. “I’m going with Tobin.”
“You’re betraying the Tribe,” Luz said, his mouth twisted with disgust. “For what? Him? That puny excuse for a man?”
Elanna expected Tobin to rise to the bait, but he stayed quiet. He was busy rerolling her blanket, tucking all the odds and ends inside. He almost seemed to be ignoring Luz.
“I’m not betraying anybody,” she said.
“You’re a hopemother,” Luz said. “You belong to the Tribe.”
“If you’re trying to convince me to stay you’re doing it the wrong way,” Elanna said, more than annoyed now. Now she was angry. Not just at Luz, for being such a pain, but also at Tobin for saying nothing.
Tobin launched himself at the much larger man. Clutched in one hand was a sharp chunk of concrete. He must have picked it up while he fixed the blanket roll.
She never would have expected him to land a blow on Luz, but he did. Right to the temple. Blood flowed rapidly, running into the Gatherer’s eyes and down his face. With a grunt, Luz slumped to his hands and knees, head hanging low.
Without stopping for pity, Tobin struck the man again. More blood squirted, and Elanna had to look away. Feeling faint, she bit her lip until the pain sharpened her mind again. From behind her she heard thuds and grunts, but she didn’t turn to see what was happening. She didn’t want to know.
“Let’s go,” Tobin said quietly. He wasn’t holding the stone anymore. His hands were covered in blood.
Numb, Elanna picked up her bundle. Wordlessly she followed Tobin past the trolls, who were beginning to stir. The bus station loomed ahead. She put one foot in front of the other, just walking, not thinking. She couldn’t think. Didn’t want to think.
“Wait a minute.”
Tobin paused by a shallow groove along the curb. Dirty water had accumulated there, and he bent to wipe his hands in it. They came away gray, but that was better than red. At that thought, Elanna bit back a cry.
He had caused harm. More than harm, he’d severely wounded a man, perhaps even killed him. She felt sick. Luz would have done the same to Tobin, she told herself fiercely, following Tobin to the front doors. That didn’t make it all right, just easier to bear.
Several of the doors were hanging off their hinges. Tobin stepped through, then waited for her. The station was dark inside. Their footsteps echoed menacingly as they moved in the few feet of light just inside the doors.
“Elanna, are you all right?”
She nodded, but the tears came anyway. Then he was holding her in his arms, touching her face with his hands, the hands that had killed. And she pulled away, shuddering.
“I’m sorry,” Tobin said. “But I had to do it.”
“I know,” she said, furiously wiping her face. “I know, Tobin, but…”
Tobin reached out and held her shoulders, turning her until she looked at him. “I think I killed him.”
His voice broke, and his face crumple
d. She realized that he was shivering. Without thinking she pulled him to her, cradling him against her. She smoothed her fingers through his hair over and over, the rhythm soothing them both.
“It’s all right,” she whispered, feeling his cheek hot against hers. “Toby, it’s ok. I understand.”
“I never even punched a man before!” Tobin said, his voice agonized. He clutched her with a desperation that frightened her a little. “Oh, God, Elanna! I had his blood on my hands!”