The pace through the valley is quick. I urge my horse onwards to keep up with the group. Apollo and Yanx are focused on what lies ahead but they glance back at us more frequently than I would like. I glare at Apollo the next time he looks at me and Apollo aims his gun at me with a twisted sneer.
The valley continues around a bend and the first of the gang members disappear out of sight. “What do you reckon is around there?” yells Rich as he pulls his horse up next to us.
“We’ll find out soon enough,” I reply.
As we ride I am scanning the steep, scrubby flanks of the valley for any sign of our friends or the mysterious red flag. The ground is still muddy from the torrential downpour yesterday and mud splatters on my legs as the horse kicks it up with his hooves. I wonder briefly if my mother and friends slept on the wet ground with the people from the station last night. I also wonder who is signaling us, and why.
We’ve almost reached the bend in the valley when I see the gang members up ahead have stopped. As we get closer and I can see around the bend, the reason becomes clear enough. Ahead of us, the valley abruptly becomes a dead end.
“Now what?” says Rich. He slows his horse right down and the rest of us follow. No one wants to be in that space with the gang members, surrounded by a wall of rock with nowhere to go.
Everyone is milling around in the space and the sounds of the army are echoing loudly. “They’re frustrated and tempers are flaring. This isn’t going to be good,” says Birch.
A fight breaks out close to us when two horses collide and one horse rears up in fright. A male Runner pulls out a long knife and slashes at another man bearing Yanx’s bird tattoo. Yanx’s man retaliates by pulling his gun and shooting at the feet of the Runner’s horse.
That shot seems to break the dam holding back all the pent up anger and frustration in the group. Like wildfire, the violence spreads rapidly through the gang members corralled in the confined space. People are yelling and slashing and swinging at each other wildly.
Michelle looks frightened and moves back about half a chain in the direction we came from, away from the main group. I catch her eye and she shakes her head. “Come back, this could spiral out of control rapidly,” she shouts.
“Let’s go,” I say to the others. The five of us follow Michelle, putting as much distance between the rioting gang members and us as we can, without looking as though we are fleeing.
Yanx—her power and beauty only magnified by the chaos all around her—circles the gang members with the divinity. The divinity each holds a small gray canister. Yanx raises one arm first, and then the other. As she lifts her second arm in the air, she yells “Now!”
The divinity each pull something from the gray canister and then lob the canisters into the center of the fighting hoards. I’m surprised when the divinity quickly cover their mouths. But then a white gas begins to rise from the place that each canister landed.
The effect on the gangs is instantaneous. The fighting ceases and they begin coughing and screaming with pain. Everywhere I look people are struggling to breathe and clawing at their eyes.
Yanx, Apollo and the divinity have gathered near where we are standing. “Tear gas, nice one,” says Michelle to Yanx. “That should calm them down.”
I hear Birch gasp behind me. Some acrid gas has drifted our way and I begin to cough before moving further back. Rich is half a chain away and coughing badly. “Brother,” I call, struggling to draw a breath. “Are you okay?”
Rich nods his head and rides closer to us. It’s at that moment I see my mother’s face. She’s staring at me from behind a small, scrubby bush about five chains away, further down the valley. When she catches my eye she beckons furiously, then disappears.
Out of nowhere there is a terrifying explosion from above us. I’m momentarily disoriented but I know we need to get out of here.
“Go!” I yell at Rich and the others. I register their three faces in an instant. “Ride! Ride now!” I don’t move until I see them all start to ride out of the valley. Then, I’m urging my horse forward with everything I have.
We race along the valley back the way we came, all riding frantically away from the explosion. “Hold on,” I yell at Birch. She’s got her hands wrapped tightly around me.
“I’ve got you,” she yells in my ear. “Just get us out of here. Please Chris. Ride faster!”
Behind me I can hear a sound like one continuous clap of thunder that’s getting louder and louder. The ground itself seems to be shaking like an earthquake. Delphine looks over her shoulder and I see the abject terror on her face.
I risk a glance over my shoulder. It seems as though half the mountainside is collapsing in on itself. The massive landslide gains momentum and I watch, horrified, as it smashes down on to the gang members still blinded by tear gas.
I can’t take my eyes off the devastation. Piles of dirt heave down on them unrelentingly. Huge clouds of dust rise in the air until I can’t see the bodies, can't see the bend in the valley path. And the earth keeps falling.
“It’s coming after us now,” screams Abigail.
Our horses are sprinting, foaming at the mouth from exertion, yet still the ground falls. “We are never going to make it,” breathes Birch in my ear.
“Yes, we will. Don’t give up hope,” I say. Or maybe I think it as the dust clouds begin to overtake us.
At first I’m sure that Yanx has set off the explosives that started the landslide. I can’t imagine why she would murder her people like this. But then I make out her face—she’s wearing a fiercely determined expression—as she emerges through the dust clouds that almost seem alive. She seems just as shocked by the explosion and resulting landslide as we are.
Her frightened horse is engulfed in the falling earth and I think the landslide has claimed them. But then they emerge from the dust cloud.
I spot Michelle several chains behind me. She looks completely terrified but rides hard, urging her horse on. There are several of the divinity behind her, just visible through the dust.
There are no gang members to be seen.
I look forward, focusing all of my attention on the entrance to the valley and the forest beyond. We have to get out of here. We have to get out of the valley before we are completely buried. The explosion and landslide have triggered a chain reaction and one entire side of the mountain is cascading down upon us.
Then, like a mirage, we see Philip and Millie in front of us at the bottom of the valley. They have ropes tied to their waists and they are gesturing to us frantically. I pull my horse’s reigns hard, trying to stop him. But he’s lost control and won’t be stopped.
“We need to stop,” I scream to the others. “There are Philip and Millie!”
Rich and Abigail manage to slow their horses long enough to jump off next to Philip and Millie. I’m about a chain behind them and see Delphine’s horse continue on without stopping. She looks back, sees me, and screams. I race after her.
It only takes a moment until we are riding next to one another. I reach for her outstretched arm and pull her onto my horse. She lands stomach first across my legs and her horse thunders away. I notice the extra weight has slowed our horse. At the same time, I scream to Birch, “Jump now, do it!”
I twist to face Birch to be sure she got the message. “Now!” I yell over the thundering landslip. “Now!”
We all dive from the horse. I land hard on my shoulder and the air is knocked out of me. Then I am pushing myself to my feet, barely able to see a cubit in front of me. Delphine and Birch lay stunned beside me.
Visibility is practically zero but I grab Delphine and Birch and pull them towards where I saw Millie and Philip. The sound of the collapsing earth is terrifying but we press on.
“Run,” I say to Delphine and Birch. “Hurry.”
They are both lagging and I am practically dragging them both now. I stumble and right myself quickly. Birch has also tripped and I lift her up and support her with one arm.
“Com
e on,” I yell. I take in a massive lungful of dirt and bend over double, coughing up lungful after lungful of grit and dust, when strong hands help me up.
Through the thick dust there is a familiar, lined face.
It’s Philip.
He ties a rope around my waist and I am shoved towards the other side of the valley which is still solid. I start to scramble up the slope blind and am grateful to feel the upward pull of the rope around me. Someone at the top is helping to drag my aching body from certain death.
“Delphine.” I break down coughing. “Delphine,” I say again louder. I can’t see her or Birch anywhere.
The landslide has kicked so much dirt into the air that I can’t see further than my hands. The air is completely filled with dust and it’s almost impossible to breathe. But I climb, and am pulled, and climb some more. I pray that the others are safe. With no way of knowing, all I can do is put one hand in front of the other.
After what feels like a dust-choked eternity, I reach the top and collapse.
Chapter Seven
“Chris, come on, have a drink,” says a familiar voice. A hand lifts my head and a water bladder is pressed to my lips. Cool fluids run over my cracked lips and into my mouth. I swallow gratefully, hungrily. I take the bladder and pour some water over my face, cleansing my eyes and skin of the thick layer of dirt that’s accumulated there.
When I open my eyes, Millie is staring back at me. I smile at her tentatively. Behind us, clouds of dust continue to rise in the air as the landslide grinds to a halt.
“Are the others okay?” I ask her quickly.
“Yes, everyone made it up safely,” she replies.
“Are you with my mother and the others?” I ask.
“Yes, and they’re all safe,” she says. She runs her hands through her short-cropped hair. I can tell she wants to say more but Patrick’s voice is calling us to get up, to move.
Millie helps me to my feet and then over to her chestnut brown horse. She jumps up easily and I pull myself up behind her. We start riding towards a thick, overgrown section of forest.
There is the pounding of hooves behind us. I twist around and look back to see Abigail’s father. Abigail is on his horse too, her arms wrapped around him and her curly black hair fanning out behind him. He grins at me and the joy on his face at their reunion makes me smile.
I spot Delphine and Birch up ahead. Rich and Philip on a dappled gray stallion catch up to us. I’m overcome that we’ve all escaped alive. “That was a near thing,” says Philip as he maneuvers his horse closer to Millie and me.
“How did you find us?” Rich asks. His face and clothes are caked with dirt and his brown eyes are exhausted, but relieved.
“It’s good to be away from Yanx and the others,” I say in a low voice. Rich nods.
“We’ve been following you since your boat docked,” replies Millie.
“Well, not us, but the forest people,” adds Philip.
“Did you set off the landslide?” I ask them.
Millie nods in front of me.
“So the camp that Yanx’s scouts found?” asks Rich.
“It was bait, and those twisted freaks swallowed it whole,” she replies. She barks out a laugh but stops when she sees Rich’s face.
“What?” she asks. “It’s not like they didn’t deserve it, and more.”
From where I sit, the slowly healing wounds and scars on Millie’s arms are visible. She was captured by Yanx and they did unspeakable things to her before we managed to set her free.
“How are you doing, Millie?” I ask in a low voice. She stiffens and doesn’t reply. We ride on in silence for a while.
“Where are we going?” asks Rich after some time. The forest is wild and overgrown here, with bamboo thickets so dense we have to go around them. Knotweed invades every sunlit space. I hear songbirds trilling sweetly but there are no signs of human life.
“You’ll see soon enough. We’re almost there,” Millie calls over her shoulder.
And she’s right. The next moment we ride into a shady clearing with a blue-gray pool of water in the center. The crowning glory of the space is a waterfall about three chains high that fills the space with its splashing melody as the water burbles into the wide pool and down the meandering river. The space is cool and green and immensely peaceful.
I look up and see that the waterfall plunges from the top of an escarpment that casts its shadow over the clearing. It’s impossible to see what is beyond the cliff from where we stand.
“Where are we going?” I repeat Rich’s question to Millie.
“Somewhere safe,” she replies. I catch her looking over her shoulder nervously. The message is clear. We aren’t safe yet.
Birch is looking around in wonder. We make eye contact and I smile reassuringly. She returns my smile with a dazzling grin.
I look around at the loved and familiar faces. This was a mission to extract us, to save us from the landslide they set off to stop Yanx’s army. It’s good to be back among our people.
Millie does a quick check that we are all here. “You go first,” she says to Philip. “Go quickly. We can’t let anyone see us.”
“Alright,” he says. “Rich, hold on tight.” And then, to my surprise, they ride straight for the edge of the waterfall and disappear on the other side of the heavy curtain.
We follow them horse-by-horse. We are last, and when it’s our turn, Millie pauses by the waterfall. The sound of water beating down is louder here, and a fine spray is misting me. “Are you ready?”
“Go for it,” I reply. Or horse takes a nervous step forward and Millie urges it on. We step under the waterfall and I raise my face to the water above, cleansing myself of the remaining dirt and grit.
We emerge soaking wet in a dark cavernous tunnel that was hidden from the clearing. “What is this place?” I ask Millie.
“This tunnel leads deeper into the rock and then bends to the left, opening into another valley,” she replies. I notice she doesn’t answer my question properly, but we are already moving through the dark tunnel and around the bend.
Once we round the corner, there’s a bright light at the end of the tunnel and we ride towards it. I can see the others in silhouette ahead of me. Finally, we emerge on the other side of the escarpment.
There’s a narrow, muddy path and we climb up the winding, rocky side of the mountain. The trees are sparser here, the ground on either side of the path covered in high grass. I can feel Millie’s horse straining under our weight, struggling to get a foothold. To my left, the ground drops away steeply to the forest below.
“Did you see if the horses we left in the valley managed to escape the landslide?” I ask Millie.
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t see them, but I’m sure they made it to safety.”
I spend a few moments lost in my own thoughts, re-living the terror of the mountain collapsing in on the gang members and the wave of dirt and mud chasing us out of the valley.
When we finally reach the lip of the plateau, the horse strains mightily to pull us up and over. But we make it and are standing on flat ground once more. I gently rub the horse’s flank, grateful for the mammoth effort the horse put in to bring us both up the mountainside. I don’t think I would have been able to make it from the valley to this mountain top on foot. I’m exhausted.
The plateau is densely forested. It seems to be another world up here. There are clusters of unfamiliar flowers as well as trees I’ve not seen before. We ride quickly and quietly until we come to a river. “Is this where the waterfall comes from?” I ask Millie.
“Yes,” she replies. She indicates behind us, in the direction of the flow of the water. “But we are going the other way.”
We continue along the riverbank for about twenty chains before we come to what looks like a particularly dense patch of prickly vines. Philip makes a sound like a crow’s call, which he repeats four times. The familiar signal sends a shiver up my spine. Rich and I catch each other’s eye. He feels it too.
The vines—which are in fact growing over the side of a hidden bamboo gate—swing open and a young man brandishing an aluminum tipped spearhead smiles at us. He’s one of the forest people.
It suddenly occurs to me that I’m about to come face-to-face with the people from the station. I reach for my weapon and feel it in its holster. I hold my hand close to it, just in case.
We ride through the gate and I see the bamboo fence continues around the perimeter of the camp. There are people everywhere. Some are unmistakably forest people but others, dressed all in black with a ghostly pallor, are from the station. I tense in the saddle and look around warily.
“What is the place?” I whisper.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Chris,” she replies in a low voice. “This is one of the permanent camps maintained by the forest people. You’re welcome here, provided you don’t try to hurt any of their other guests, if you get my drift.”
Loud and clear.
I don’t say anything further but keep my hand on my holster, ready.
We tether the horses by a water trough. Abigail touches my arm but I don’t look at her. There are people from the station everywhere. I have to be ready.
“Chris,” says Rich in a low voice. “You look like you’re about to hurt someone.” He adds a hollow grin at the end of his statement, which falls flat. I notice he and Abigail exchange a worried glance.
“It’s them,” I say to Rich, stepping closer so no one can hear my speak. “Over there.” I indicate with my head towards a small group close by. They are dressed in black and are clustered around a wooden barrel of water. They seem to be washing clothes.
“They hardly look like a threat,” Rich whispers. “A few of them are kids.”
“It’s not the kids we need to worry about. It’s the ones in charge. Be ready, okay.”
Before Rich has a chance to answer, I hear a familiar voice call my name and then Rich’s name. We both turn towards the voice and everyone else falls silent, watching us.
Hothouse Page 6