I look round the cage and my eyes come to rest on Finn. He is staring at the floor, head hanging dejectedly on his chest and I realize I ain’t heard him speak since the courtyard.
“Finn?” I say and when he looks up his eyes are shiny with his tears.
“Why Tara? Why would Tater do that to us? I thought he was my friend! And what about Cat? She ain’t gonna know what happened to me! I promised her I was gonna come out and check on her every day. She’s gonna think I deserted her! Why would he do that to us?”
I don’t know how to answer the boy. I don’t know ‘cause I’m feeling the same kinda hurt and betrayal and loss.
“Finn...” I say but he grabs my hand tight and cuts me off.
“Promise me you won’t kill him Tara!” he says staring at me fiercely.
“Finn what are you talking ‘bout?” I say, bewildered. He was just bellyaching about Tater now he’s afraid I’m going to hurt him?
“You said you was gonna kill him. You cain’t do that Tara...no matter what he’s done. He’s still Tater. You cain’t kill him...it ain’t right!”
“Finn he betrayed us...”
“Promise me!” he says again more urgently.
“Okay! All right...I promise not to kill him,” I say but more so just to shut the boy up. I ain’t got no intention in hell of keeping that promise. I instantly feel ashamed though for lying ‘cause the boy hugs me real tight in relief. Shizen! This was not going to be easy. I pat his head awkwardly, still not in full control of my muscles.
“Cat will be fine,” I say to him and he nods even though I know he don’t believe me. I stare at Jax over the boys head.
“Any idea what they did to me back there Jax?” I say, my brain and tongue apparently working together again. He shrugs at me.
“I was hoping you could tell me. After Tater sold us out I spent the rest of the time at the bottom of a pile of soldiers. By the time I climbed my way out you were nothing but a wobbly wreck.”
Hearing Jax say that about Tater makes my hurt and anger come rushing back again, but I push it away.
“I got a glimpse of the weapon they stuck me with....ain’t never seen the likes before. The Prezedant may not be able to create his own new bloods but he definitely knows how to take ‘em down. It was damn powerful magic!”
Neither one of us comes right out and says it but that wasn’t good...not at all. My one and only defense against this so called Prezedant , my Chi, and he is able to take it away from me that easily and make me as helpless as a babe. It scares me.
“Why are they keeping us here you think? Why aren’t we on our way to Skytown right now?” I say.
“Oh you will be....bright and early in the morning I assure you.” The fat little man moved quietly for someone his size...I didn’t even hear him approach our prison. He stands just out of arms reach on the other side of the cage like he don’t trust what I would do, two more soldiers at his back. Smart man. I stare at him angrily for a bit...then suddenly I get an idea. We needed to know some things and I wonder if Nayrz had the answers. I get to my feet and walk clumsily to face him. I have to hold onto the bars to keep me upright but he involuntarily backs up a pace. It pleases me to know I scare him.
“Naryz if I remember correctly,” I say and he nods at me.
“Why wait for the morning? If I am so important to the Prezedant...why keep him waiting?”
He studies me through his little round spectacles.
“I shouldn’t think you would be so eager to meet him. He is not what you would describe as the most pleasant of men,” he says.
“Oh trust me...I am not eager to meet him at all. I’m just curious,” I say.” You seem like a true soldier...eager to please and all that. I just find it strange that you would make your master wait for his prize.”
“He is not my master....and it takes a lot of preparation for a prisoner transport. Things someone like you could not even begin to understand,” he says with more than a hint of smugness and superiority. My fingers itch to get at his throat but all I do is nod at him all serious like.
“I’m sure. But you know what I think Naryz? I think he don’t trust you to be able to take me to him. I think he thinks you lot are a bunch of idiots, drunkards, dimwit soldiers. Why else would he stick you out in this shite hole instead of Skytown.”
He puckers his lips at me like he ain’t liking what I’m saying.
“Say what you will mutant but the overseeing of the iron mines is a very important business. I cannot afford to lose any of my men to take you on your little journey so the Prezedant, well he is sending his own elite group of men to handle you. You will be under their watchful eye in the morning. They have been well trained in dealing with your kind.”
I nod at him like I was agreeing wholeheartedly, then give him my brightest smile.
“Thank you Naryz...you have been very helpful.”
His look of confusion is almost comical.
“I have told you nothing!”
“Ah but that’s where you’re wrong. I now know that we are indeed in the iron mines and that the few soldiers you have here are all there is to be had in Littlepass and that we have until the morning to make our escape before more soldiers arrive...good info indeed.”
The open mouthed look on his puffy face kind of reminds me of the fish we used to catch as young’uns back in Rivercross and I find myself wanting to laugh. But then a shocked and disbelieving “Tara!” reaches my ears and I spin around to Jax and Finn, to see what has them yelling so. But it ain’t them. They’re both looking at the other end of the cage and I follow their gaze.
I see him then. Dirty, dressed in rags, and much thinner then I remember but I know him right away.
Ben!
I’m too shocked to move! Is it really him? He’s in a line with a bunch of other prisoners, all chained together, but it’s him all right. He stares at me and the brown eyes that have haunted my nightly dreams, they search my face like he cain’t believe what he’s seeing. He tries to move closer to our prison but a soldier walks by and gives him a non too gentle shove, sending him stumbling and the poor young’un chained to him sprawling in the dirt. He helps the child back to her feet, glaring daggers at the soldier the whole time. I notice the young girl is crying and there is blood splattered on her torn yellow tunic.
“Get back in line!”
They shuffle away from me, dragged by the others and too late I stumble to the end of the cage.
“Ben!” I scream his name and he tries to look back but the soldier prodding him with the shooter keeps him from doing so. My heart is beating wildly and the emotions coursing through me are almost overwhelming. Disbelief, shock, happiness, anger....how is it possible I can feel this all at once!
It was him...Ben! He was here! I had found him!
I had forgotten about the fat man. He waddles into view and looks slowly from Ben’s departing back and then back to me. A smile spreads across his face causing his eyes to almost disappear into the surrounding folds of flesh, and he says,
“Good info indeed.”
He waddles away from me and I have to bite my lip to stop from yelling every cuss word I can think of at his retreating back...but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he has rattled me.
“Shizen!” I turn away and run a hand through my hair in frustration. “Dammit!”
Why had I reacted like that...yelling Ben’s name! I had probably put him in more danger than ever now because of what I had just done! Stupid! It was bad enough Finn and Jax were in this predicament because of me but now I had done the same thing to Ben.
Finn comes to join me, his eyes wide.
“That was your Ben Tara? He’s alive?”
I nod a yes, still too overcome to answer.
“Then why are you so upset? I don’t get it?” he says.
Jax is the one to answer him.
“Because Finn, Tara believes that by showing her hand to Naryz he will somehow use Ben to get at her i
n some way...hurt him to hurt her.”
I stare at Jax, amazed that he understands exactly what I’m thinking. Then he grins at me crookedly.
“What do you think he’s going to do to him? Keep him prisoner? Starve him? Chain him up? No wait…I know, he’s going to put him to work in the iron mines. Yeah, that’s it.” He snorts. “He’s already been through that Tara...there’s not much else they can do to him.”
I nod in relief. Jax was making sense. “You’re right Jax,” I say.
“Damn right I’m right...it’s us you should be worried about. We’re the ones stuck in a cage with you. And on our way to being carted off to Skytown in the morning.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “How the hell did I end up in this same situation with you ...again? Must be a sucker for a pretty face I guess.”
I start laughing...I cain’t help myself. I throw my head back and laugh ‘til it brings tears to my eyes. Finn is looking at me all worried.... like I have lost my mind...and he’s probably right. Here we were, captured again like Jax had said...being shipped off to the Prezedant in the morning to be most likely experimented on and turned into crazy diseased creatures but it all didn’t matter to me...not at this moment. Ben was alive! That was enough for now.
I’m not sure what it is that awakens me. I cain’t even believe that I had fallen asleep in the first place...but something had pulled me from my slumber and I wake with a start, listening. At first there’s nuthin other than Finn’s quiet snoring. I peer through the cage bars trying to adjust my eyes to the moonlight. I can see the two guards that had accompanied Naryz earlier, hear their quiet murmurings...they don’t seem to find anything out of sorts. Maybe there wasn’t anything....I had just been dreaming. I settle back against Finn, trying to get some warmth from him when a slight thump and a scraping sound come from above my head. I don’t move but my eyes seek out the guards again. They still seem to be unaware of anything amiss. There’s silence again for a bit. I start to think I had imagined the sounds when suddenly both guards are jerked off their feet at the same time and dangle in mid air seems like. I watch in amazement as they struggle, their legs thrashing wildly. Shizen! What the hell was this? It was probably only for a few seconds but it seems like forever before their thrashing stops and they crumple quietly to the ground in a heap. Something leaps from the top of the cage, I cain’t tell what it is...it’s just a black blur to me...but it appears to be now crouching over the soldiers on the ground. I shake Finn and Jax both, holding a finger to my lips as both sets of eyes pop open. Much to their credit they don’t make a peep as I point to the black shape outside of our cage. Shapes...there’s two of them, I can see that now. Something flashes quickly in the moonlight and I can hear scraping as the key is put into our locked cage. Someone was trying to get us out!
Quickly we get to our feet. The rusted door creaks noisily as it opens and I suck in my breath sharply. The shapes stop, stand still for a moment but no alarm sounds. Pushing the door all the way open now they motion for us to move. We don’t hesitate. Brushing past them we are silently directed with an upward point before they form a boosting step with their joined hands. They want us to get on top of the cage? I go first, hoisted quickly then turn to help Finn who is right behind me. Jax comes next then we help pull our rescuers up over the ledge.
Once on top, in the moonlight I can tell they ain’t just shapes at all but people dressed entirely in black right down to the hoods covering their heads. We follow them across the top of the metal cage and I realize it sits under a rocky overhang. How the hell did they get here? Then I see the ropes hanging. They had lowered themselves down on the ropes. One of the rescuers grabs a rope and hands it to me.
“Put this around you and tug....our friends at the top will pull you up,” a voice whispers in my ear. I cain’t tell if it’s male or female but I push the rope away and shake my head no.
“Take Finn and Jax but I cain’t go.”
Jax, who was in the process of hitching a rope to Finn turns to me in amazement.
“Tara what are you doing? Go up the damn rope,” he whispers urgently.
I shake my head again. “No...you both go,” I whisper back. “I gotta go after Ben.”
Even in the moonlight I can tell Jax is eyeballing me in disbelief.
“Are you crazy? You can’t do that by yourself!”
“Tara! You cain’t...” Finn is whispering worriedly but by now he is being lifted and I cain’t hear what else he is trying to say.
“We don’t have time for this.” One of the black robes hisses at me. “Take the rope girl!”
I shake my head again and turn to Jax.
“I cain’t leave him...not again. I am his only chance Jax...I cain’t just leave him here,” I say, begging him to understand.
“If you get captured again then he has no chance! Tara, let’s get out of here...we’ll figure out a way to come back for Ben...but if you are sent off to Skytown in the morning who will help him then? At least if we are free we can come up with a way to help him too.”
I know what he’s saying makes sense but it feels wrong...so wrong! How can I leave Ben here to endure any more suffering? How can I leave him when I have just found him? The memory of him and the young girl with the bloody tunic pops into my head and I know I cain’t go.
One of the black robes grabs my arm...so tightly it hurts.
“Listen to me girl...we don’t have much time! The soldiers are due for their rounds any minute now. Soon somebody is either going to find those two down there or our friends at the top…now do what your boyfriend is telling you and move!”
I yank my arm out of his grasp and hiss at him angrily “He ain’t my boyfriend!” but my eyes are focused on Jax.
“I cain’t go without him Jax. The Gods only know what Naryz will do to him....” I trail off not wanting to think of that possibility.
“Go up that damn rope and I will come back and get Ben myself!” he whispers at me urgently, pretty much shoving the rope in my hands. “But there is nothing we can do tonight. Use your head Tara...if we get captured again he won’t have anyone to help free him!”
Jax is right. Dammit! I know he’s right but I still don’t want to admit it.
“You promise to help me get him out of here?” I whisper at him fiercely.
“I promise! Now go dammit!”
Hoping that I ain’t making a mistake, I believe him. Fitting the rope under my arms I give a little tug and suddenly feel myself being lifted. Immediately, once I hit the top, arms pull me onto solid ground and the rope is yanked off of me and sent down again. Finn stands at my side as we wait anxiously for Jax to join us. I look around at these people helping us. There must be at least five or six of them...plus the two still below. Who are they? And why are they helping us? There ain’t no time for questions though. As soon as the three of us are together again we are ushered quickly through a grove of trees by a hooded woman...I can tell that much. There’s a covered wagon waiting for us on the other side. We are soon joined by three others, a girl ‘bout my age and two young men, one not much bigger than Finn. They, unlike the others, wear no hoods. It’s like they ain’t trying to hide at all.
“Go now,” she says to them. “And make sure you are seen as you ride out of town. We want them to believe the fugitives have clearly left Littlepass. Make haste for the safe house. Ride swift and safe my friends.”
They nod and scurry away. The rest of them blend into the shadows of the night now that they have secured the last of their people. The hooded woman ushers us into the wagon, just as a loud shouting comes from below us. The Army! They must have found their men...seen that we were gone. The woman leaps in behind us and shouts “Go!” and the wagon takes off so violently we fall over from the sudden jolt.
The wagon ride is fierce...we must have hit every rut and hole possible. Feels like my bones are going to shatter they’re jarred so much. But no one dares to utter a sound. We travel in complete silence, fearing at any moment to hear the sh
outs of the army telling us to halt. But it don’t happen, the ride is uneventful and we reach our destination, whatever it may be, without incident. With relief the wagon finally grinds to a halt and we are herded out. We find ourselves in some sort of stone circular room full of hay and mud looks like, and from the smell I would say more than a few animals had called this home as well, but we ain’t got much chance to look around before the woman moves us again.
“This way,” she says and we follow her through a little door cut into the rock wall of the room.
As dirty and foul smelling as the stone room was, the room we now find ourselves in is the complete opposite. Walls and floors so blindingly white it hurts my eyes just to look at them. I blink for a bit, trying to let my eyes adjust. It’s so bright in here it’s almost like daylight yet it’s the middle of the night. My confused brain is telling me the light is coming from the torches on the walls but there ain’t no fire from what I can see! Torches without flame...what the hell? I look at Finn and Jax in amazement but they’re too busy themselves looking ‘round all wide eyed. The woman don’t give us any time to investigate this curious oddity though.
“Come,” she says abruptly and starts walking down the white hall. Dumbfounded as we are, we follow meekly. Every step we take on the shiny smooth stone floor echoes back at us from the bare white walls. We don’t talk...it’s like the room demands silence and to break it would be committing a sacrilege. She leads us to two massive black doors, the only bit of color in this otherwise white hall. She knocks once then turns the handles and pushes them open.
The room we step into is completely different yet again. If the other room had been cold and barren this one is warm and inviting. A fire burns in a huge stone hearth at the center of the room and chairs flank it on both sides, sitting on a nice thick rug. The walls of the room are made up of shelves and they’re full of settler books. So many of them! I’ve only ever seen one before…the one Gra’da used to have one when I was real young. The one he had thought me to read and write with, but that had rotted away long ago. There’s so many of them here...and in such good shape! I never could have imagined so many existed! I’m so entranced with my surroundings I don’t even notice the woman standing in front of the fire ‘til she speaks, making us all jump.
Awaken Page 24