“You okay, Hope?” Grace asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine, why?”
“You just turned white,” Grace said. “Maybe we need to rest a bit longer.”
“No, I’m fine,” Hope said again, shaking off the strange feeling. “We have a few miles to go and its getting late. We don’t want to be walking out here in the dark.”
Grace nodded, though her eyes remained concerned. Hope offered her a reassuring smile, then turned and led the way down the far side of the rise before turning towards the tree line in the distance. She wasn’t sure what had happened and she didn’t want to think about it. She focused on keeping the pace up. Things looked closer in the desert than they really were, but after walking all day long she thought she had a good idea of the distance. Nevertheless, she wanted to reach it ahead of sunset so they could get a good look around before setting up camp. If she’d guessed wrong, they were going to have to make camp in the open, and she really didn’t want to do that.
***
Ellicia was very glad she had agreed to have dinner with the Bearens when the waiter set a plate in front of her loaded with food. She was a lot hungrier than she’d thought. They ate quietly for a little while, until the worst of their hunger was sated.
“How well do you guys know Lariah?” Ellicia asked curiously. “Well enough that you get to see her sometimes?”
“Yes, we see her, and the Dracons, as often as we can manage,” Jackson replied. “The truth is, we spend as much time with the little ones as we can. They have captured our hearts.”
Ellicia smiled. She could feel their love for Lariah’s daughters when Jackson spoke of them. “Tell me about them, please,” she said.
For the rest of the meal, and through dessert, the Bearens told Ellicia stories about the nieces she had never met. By the time they were finished, Ellicia felt as though she really knew the little girls. Jackson, Clark and Rob didn’t just tell her funny little incidents. They gave her true insight into each of their personalities. The things they liked, the things they didn’t, the way they interacted with each other and with other people in their lives.
Ellicia was amazed at how much the Bearens knew about Salene, Rayne and Tani. How could three big, single men love three little babies that were not their own so much? And they did love them. She felt that.
When they were finished telling her about the girls, they told her about Saige, the Lobos, their daughters, the Dracon men, and most of all, Lariah. Ellicia was so happy and relieved to hear how much Lariah was loved by everyone who met her, and how happy she was on Jasan. She had worried about that. Lariah had always been so quiet and withdrawn and, worse, the past few years before she’d gone to Jasan, she’d seemed unaccountably sad. Now, Ellicia felt as though a weight she hadn’t known she carried was lifted from her.
“Thank you,” she said when they were getting ready to leave the restaurant. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me to hear such wonderful stories about my sister and her family. You’ve made me feel as though I know all of them. And you’ve made me feel how happy they are. These are gifts I didn’t expect, but which I appreciate, and will cherish always.”
Jackson, Clark and Rob looked at her with startled eyes. After a moment Jackson cleared his throat and they all bowed. “It is our pleasure to speak of those we carry in our hearts,” he said. “We are happy that it brought you pleasure as well.”
Ellicia wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but she felt the Bearens’ sincerity, and knew they didn’t expect a response.
“All right, where do you want to go?” Jackson asked as they left the restaurant and climbed into the ground-car. “Your place or the office?”
“I think my place,” Ellicia replied. “This is going to be different from what I usually do. I’m sorry, but you guys need to know that it might not even work at all.”
“Why is this going to be different?” Jackson asked.
“This is an earring that Hope wore all the time,” she said. “If it’s true that she never took them off, then the earring I have doesn’t really have a recent physical connection to its mate. Earrings don’t touch each other when you’re wearing them.”
“I see,” Jackson said, trying to hide his disappointment. Ellicia wasn’t fooled though. She didn’t need his face or his voice to tell her how disappointed he was, how disappointed they all were. She could feel it.
“On the other hand, they are two halves of one whole,” she said. “In order for me to be able to help find stolen military shipments or drug shipments, we make these little metal tags that have a number stamped on each end of them. Then we break the tags in half. I keep one half, and the other half is placed inside of certain high-risk shipments that are prone to thefts. By holding my half of the tag, I am able to find its other half. I’m hoping this will work that way.”
“We understand, Ellicia,” Jackson said. “You will do your best, and that is all we can ask of anyone. It is also understood that none of this will matter if Hope is no longer wearing the other earring.”
Ellicia turned to look out the window beside her, hiding the sudden tears that blurred her eyes and threatened to spill down her cheeks. She hadn’t wanted to remind them of that last fact, but of course they realized it. They were intelligent men.
There was a good chance she wouldn’t be able to find this woman, and she knew that. Now, they knew it too, and she felt their fear, worry and sadness as though it were her own.
No, she thought suddenly. I cannot fail in this, and it’s not just because of the Bearens either. I have to find Hope for my children’s sake.
Ellicia wasn’t sure where that thought came from or what it meant, and she didn’t really care. She needed her stubborn streak to kick in, and that had done it.
She blinked back the tears and set her jaw. She would find Hope Strigida. She would lead the Bearens to their Arima, and they would free her from whoever had her. She would do this no matter what it took. She was Agent Ellicia Daniels, and she had the highest arrest record of any other psychic in the history of the Agency’s Special Operations Directorate. When she made up her mind to do something, nothing got in her way.
Chapter 31
By the time Hope, Grace and Karma reached the line of trees, the sun was just touching the horizon. It had been a bit further than Hope had guessed, more like nine miles than six judging by the nearly three hours it had taken them to reach it . They still had time, and enough light, to get a good look around and select a camping spot. But first, they all wanted more than anything to indulge themselves by washing their face and hands.
The stream was small, but it was clear, clean, fast running water over a bed of small pebbles and sand. It was icy cold and felt wonderful against their hot, dusty skin. The water was only about knee deep but Karma waded into the middle of it and started to sit down.
“No, I don’t think you want to do that, Karma,” Hope warned. “That sun is about to set, and then its going to get very cold here.”
Karma grimaced, but waded back to the shore. “I’ll save it for morning then,” she said.
“We all will,” Hope agreed. She turned around to pick up her pack, feeling refreshed now that her face and hands were clean. As she bent down for her pack she glanced back the way they had come and froze.
“Poutanas yie,” she swore softly.
“What is it?” Grace asked at once, hurrying over to Hope, Karma right behind her.
“Look,” Hope said, pointing. “Out there.”
Karma and Grace looked where she was pointing and both gasped aloud at the tiny cloud of dust racing across the desert in the fading light.
“That’s exactly where we were at,” Grace said. “That little rise they just passed.”
Hope followed the faint trail of dust behind the speeding vehicle until it faded to nothing. “That’s the direction we were walking too,” she said. “That car would have practically run us over if we hadn’t detoured.”
“How do you know that wo
uld be a bad thing?” Karma asked. Grace and Hope both stared at her. “Maybe those are nice people in that ground-car. If we’d kept on the way we were going, then maybe we’d have a ride out of this desert right now.”
“Maybe,” Hope conceded. “But since it’s heading back the way we came, and I saw for myself that there isn’t anything else around for about a hundred miles, I think we’re lucky that whoever is in that car didn’t see us.”
“Do you think it’s safe to camp here?” Karma asked, suddenly realizing that Hope was right.
“Yes,” Hope replied. “That car is moving fast, straight toward the compound. That’s at least thirty miles from here, and I deliberately didn’t tell Berta or Aisling which direction we were going in. We’re safe here for tonight.”
“Lets pick a spot for our camp before it gets any darker,” Grace suggested when they could no longer see either the car or its dust trail.
“Good idea,” Hope agreed. They picked up their packs and walked back and forth along the line of trees twice before deciding to wade across the stream to the other side. There they found a group of boulders surrounded by trees with a small clear area in between them. It was a perfect spot for their camp, giving them a sense of safety.
It didn’t take long for them to start a fire and set up their beds. The small enclosure helped to hold in the heat a little so that when the sun went down, they were warmer than they had been the night before. Feeling warm and safe encouraged them to relax a little, in spite of the ground-car they’d spotted racing for the compound.
They took advantage of the water supply, and the abundance of wood, to heat up some water just so they could wash up a bit more. Hope couldn’t believe how luxurious it felt just to have a clean face. After they’d eaten dinner they indulged themselves with a second cup of hot tea as they sat around the fire.
“Do you think that Berta will be able to hide Aisling in her room like she said?” Grace asked.
“I know she’ll try,” Hope replied. “Berta’s pretty sharp. I think if it can be done, she’s the one to pull it off.”
“I didn’t realize you hadn’t told them which direction we were going in,” Karma said. “That was smart.”
“It was Berta’s idea,” Hope said. “Like I said, she’s sharp.”
“How are you feeling?” Grace asked Hope.
“I’m good, why?” Hope asked, mildly surprised by the question.
“You keep worrying about us, I thought maybe we should check on you for a change,” Grace said. “You look to be in great shape, but you did say you haven’t run in six months, so I thought you might be getting sore.”
“A little,” Hope said. “Aside from running, I practice Yoga kind of regularly.” She shrugged. “I switch around a lot, but I generally do something physical to keep myself in shape.”
“What do you do for a living?” Grace asked curiously.
“I’m a portrait artist,” Hope said. “You?”
“I just got my degree in planetary reclamation,” Grace replied. “I’ve been offered several positions, but haven’t decided which I want yet.”
“A degree?” Hope asked. “I apologize if this is too personal a question, but how old are you?”
“Just turned twenty,” Grace replied. “I started my graduate studies a little early.”
Hope smiled. She had already figured out that Grace was smart, she just hadn’t realized how smart.
“What about you, Karma?” she asked.
“I’m a teacher,” Karma replied, much to Hope and Grace’s surprise. “Well, I was until I quit my job to run off to Jasan. Since that didn’t work out, I guess I’m technically unemployed.”
“What did you teach?” Grace asked.
“Children,” Karma replied. “First and second grades. I just love the little ones.” Karma’s expression softened as she thought about her students.
“You miss them, don’t you?” Hope said.
“Very much,” Karma replied. “It’s impossible to go an entire day without feeling joy when you’re surrounded by children.”
Hope smiled. She would never have guessed that Karma was a teacher, but the expression on her face was genuine. There was a lot more to Karma than met the eye.
“Kydos,” she said solemnly.
“What does that mean?” Karma asked suspiciously.
“It is a Greek word of praise,” Hope replied. “I believe that those who dedicate their lives to teaching are praiseworthy.”
“Thank you,” Karma said, surprised and pleased.
“Is that the language you keep using? Greek?” Grace asked. “I wondered about that.”
Hope nodded as she took a sip of her tea.
“What was it you said a while ago, when you saw that ground-car?” Grace asked.
Hope laughed. “When I was a child, my mother taught me that it was a bad thing for a lady to swear. But there were a few Greek words that she used all the time that she would never tell me the meaning of. Eventually, my cousin taught me the meaning of those words. Turns out, my mother never swore in Standard, but she could swear a blue streak in Greek.”
“So those little snippets you utter now and then are swear words?” Grace asked with a grin.
“A lot of them, yes,” Hope replied.
“Teach us a few,” Karma asked.
“All right,” Hope agreed. “My two favorite are poutanas yie, which means son of a bitch, and gamoto, which means damn.”
“I like those,” Grace said. “I’ll have to practice them. So you learned Greek from your Mom?”
“Yes,” Hope replied. “From her and my Aunt Olivia. They learned it from their mother, as she’d learned from hers, going back for generations. They taught my cousin and me when we were children.”
“That’s wonderful,” Karma said. “So many ancient cultures and languages are disappearing from our world now. Many of those that want to keep their cultures alive have left Earth and settled their own new worlds, like Nippon 2, or Nouvelle-France. So few pass languages and cultures on to their children any more.”
“True, but at least Nippon 2, and other worlds like it, keep those cultures alive. That’s important, whether they are on Earth or not,” Grace said.
Karma and Hope nodded in silent agreement and they all fell silent for awhile.
“Hope,” Karma said after a few minutes. “Do you think you can try that astral projection thing again? See how far we are from that town now?”
“I can try,” Hope replied. “But honestly, I doubt it will work. It usually takes a few days before I can do it again, especially after stretching the ability as much as I did.”
Hope set her cup down in the sand, placed her hands on her knees and closed her eyes. She emptied her mind of everything but her owl, coaxing it to take off soaring into the sky. After a few minutes she opened her eyes and sighed.
“No luck, huh?” Grace asked.
“Not even close,” Hope replied. “I think it’ll be another couple days at least.”
“Thanks for trying,” Karma said.
“No problem,” Hope said with a smile. “I wish it had worked too.”
“Well, we best get to bed,” Grace said. “Morning comes early, and I have a feeling we’re all gonna be a bit sore tomorrow after today’s walk.”
“Yes, I agree,” Hope said. She gazed at the fire for a long moment, then reached for some branches of greener wood she had broken off of a couple of the trees. The green wood could keep the fire going all night if they banked it correctly. It would also produce more smoke, but in this enclosed area, in the dark, she didn’t think anyone would see it.
Once she had the fire banked she crawled into her blankets and closed her eyes. Immediately the image of the three blonde men appeared in her mind, and again she had the sense that they were searching for her. She felt tears sting her eyes and she rolled over so that her face was away from the fire. It was bad enough she was engaging in such wishful thinking. She didn’t need the other women to know
about it.
***
Berta and Aisling had just finished eating dinner when there was a loud crash from the far end of the house. Both women froze for one, heart-stopping moment as they waited to see what, if anything, would happen next.
After a silence that lasted only a few seconds but seemed to stretch forever, there was a loud bang, then another, and another. One of the guards had clearly found a way to make some noise. Enough noise that Berta knew she could not claim to be unaware of it.
“Damn,” Berta said softly. She looked up at Aisling thinking quickly as she decided what to do.
“You need to go into the kitchen and wash your dishes, then put them away,” she said, speaking in a very low voice. “There can be no sign of your presence.”
Aisling nodded and turned toward the kitchen, but Berta stopped her. “Be very quiet, and do it quickly,” she said. “Take my dishes into the kitchen with you, but leave them on the counter. I’m going to say I was in my bedroom eating and came out to clean the dishes, so don’t wash them. When you’re finished, go into my bedroom and hide yourself.”
Aisling added Berta’s dishes to those she was carrying and hurried away. Berta gripped her cane tightly, then shuffled slowly out of the dining room, across the living room and down the hall. The banging continued, growing louder the closer she got to it. She hesitated outside of the bedroom door, going over her story in her mind one last time before gripping the knob and turning it. She opened the door a tiny crack and peeked in.
It was a good thing that the pillowcase was still in place over Lenny’s head since she could not prevent the gleeful smile that split her face at the sight before her. Lenny was wrapped up like a mummy with long strips of sheet. He had not been able to get loose, but he had managed to knock over the cheap bedside table which had been the source of the crash. Now he was swinging his bound legs back and forth, kicking the broken table into the wall which was making all the noise.
Berta swallowed her smile and took a deep breath.
The Bearens' Hope Book Four of the Soul Page 20