Helen regarded her for a moment. She was young, innocent, even idealistic. Perhaps it would be a good thing for her to hear the teaching of those in the Faith and hopefully she would join it herself, just as Helen had so long ago. “Of course,” she said, “but only if you take me with you.”
Lily thought this over for a moment and then nodded. “Now,” she said, her voice becoming even more serious, “is it far from here?”
“Yes. But not too far for three travellers who have each other for support.”
“Well, we have that,” Lily said with a smile.
“I'll start packing right away. It won't take long.” Lily nodded and turned to go, but just before she did, Helen thought of something else. “Sarah has to go too.”
This was where Lily apparently drew the line. “Helen, no. She's just a child. She won't be able to keep up. We'll be walking, right?”
“Yes, we will, but I'm not leaving her. She's been my only family for ten years.” Helen clenched her fists a little in stubborness. Lily could say what she liked, but they were taking Sarah. Nothing would make her give that up. And she was the only one that could direct Lily and her friend, Nathan, to the Nonexistents, so that was something in her and Sarah's favour.
Lily must have remembered that little fact, for her face relaxed after a moment. “Fine,” she said. She might have looked relaxed, but her tone was still biting. “We leave tonight. Be sure you're ready.”
“We will be.”
:::::
“We're going, but there's a complication.”
Nathan frowned. A complication? Great. Just what they needed right now. “What's that?”
“We have to take Helen and Sarah. That's the only way she'll give us directions. It's a long distance and we're walking which will also slow things down considerably.” Lily let out a frustrated sigh and Nathan felt like joining her. What was the point of all of this? Just for some treasure that may or may not exist they were going through all of this?
“Do you really think it's worth all this trouble?”
He and Lily were standing outside her home on the hot, dusty road. They had stepped out for a bit of privacy from her mother, Vivian, and since this stretch of road was almost deserted it was as good a place as any to talk.
“Yes, of course,” Lily said. The matter of fact way in which she said this surprised Nathan. “I can't give it up just because of a few difficulties. These are my people. My home. I can't just leave them like this; they deserve much better. If you don't want to come, fine with me. I already have two travelling companions.”
“I'm coming,” Nathan said automatically. “You'll need protection, anyway.”
She gave a short laugh.
“What?” he said. “You will.”
“You don't think I haven't learned to protect myself? I can do just fine, Nathan.”
He raised his hands in mock-defeat. “All right, all right. Excuse me for trying to help.” He tried to make it be something of a joke, but he was hurt and a little angry. He wanted to go with Lily on the journey and find out more about the Nonexistents – and her – but as she obviously didn't need him or want him, he'd have to find some other way to get there without her help.
He turned to leave, but Lily caught his arm. “Nate-” she began.
“Don't call me that,” he said roughly, shaking his arm out of her grasp. That simple word, spoken in apologetic tones had brought him closer to tears than he had been for a long time. But he didn't want her calling him Nate. It made him think of Hunter and that's exactly what he didn't want to do at the moment.
“Sorry,” she said. He felt like he should be the one apologizing. “I do want you to come,” she continued. “You'll be a big help.” He nodded, and then an idea hit him. Perhaps they wouldn't have to walk after all...
“Nathan Bordage, were on earth did you get those?” Lily said, her voice high with surprise, delight, and fear all at the same time. 'Those' were four horses, obviously of fine quality and breeding. They were all black, all about the same size, and all appeared extremely gentle. They could have been quintuplets for all Nathan knew, but that's not why he had gotten them. They had been the easiest catch he could get, all loosely tethered together and relatively close to the poor community. The robbery had gone off without a hitch.
“Nothing you need to worry about,” he said. He had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate the fact that he'd stolen them although, of course, she must already know it. “Now we won't have to walk. These horses are fast and we'll be able to get there much quicker. And I'll return them as soon as we get back. I promise.” He was just saying that to appease his conscience and hers. He had no intention of giving these fine horses back any time soon. They'd be perfect for his revolution, to carry messengers and such.
He saw the struggle in her face between honesty and need, but need won out. “We'll use them,” she said, “but I just want you to know I don't approve.” Nathan grinned inside. He had carried his point.
“We'll have to leave tonight. It's too dangerous to go right now.”
“Of course.”
:::::
It took five days of hard, fast riding before Helen deemed them near enough to walk the rest of the way – since the horses would not be able to go most of the rest of the way. Lily had acquitted herself well in the saddle, so well in fact, that Nathan was sure she'd ridden before although he couldn't think when that could have been. Helen also did well, though probably more from natural, in-born skill than anything else. Nathan and Sarah, however, were partners in agony for the first two or three days.
When he'd had the idea of taking horses to ride on their way to the Nonexistents, Nathan was sure it would be easy. The plain was open and sweeping behind the poor community, they would be able to go much faster, and riding a horse didn't look hard at all. And it hadn't been, for the first hour or so, that is. By the time the first day was over he couldn't even dismount. He fell down in a heap on the ground and lay there for the longest time (after assuring Lily and Helen that he was fine). The two women took care of Sarah as best they could, but he was left to himself.
He had the good sense to move around as much as possible that first night so as to not let his muscles seize up and making riding impossible. There was the very real risk of being found and captured before they reached the relative safety of the Nonexistents, so they couldn't rest for a whole day or even half a day. Just the nights. He hardly got any sleep the first night from a mixture of pain and nervousness and it took all his courage the next day to get back on his horse.
His duffel bag banged against his leg as the horse galloped along the even, hard ground and every time it did so he winced. But there was no other place to put it so he bore it as best he could. He envied Lily and Helen. They were riding along as though they didn't have a care in the world, even making little games and races as they went along. They were both deep in conversation most of the time which left Nathan mostly alone to stew and think and fret. He didn't like doing that, but Sarah was hardly a good conversational companion even though he did feel a certain comradeship due to their shared pains.
After the first couple of days, however, both Nathan and Sarah began to toughen up and by the fifth day Nathan was as easy in the saddle as if he'd ridden horses all his life. Sarah seemed to be almost the same as well and Nathan was glad. Now they could make much better time because even though they kept up a good clip the first day or so, Lily had insisted on going slower because of Sarah and thus, by extension, Nathan. But now they could go as fast as possible.
“We should dismount now,” Helen called over her shoulder. She was the furthest ahead but when Lily heard that, she caught up to her right away. Nathan followed a little less enthusiastically and Sarah brought up the rear. Soon they were all together, the horses forming a tight knot. Even though they were close to each other, Helen still had to shout to be heard. A fierce wind had come up a few moments ago and it whipped the words out of her mouth and sand all around the place
.
“Are you sure?” Nathan said. “We're that close? I don't want to leave the horses if we still have a long distance to go. This wind is terrible, especially to walk through.”
“Oh, stop whining, Nathan,” Lily said. He would've taken that as an affront, except her voice was just normal and teasing. Had anyone else said it, though... “Helen knows what she's talking about. And anyway, a little walking never hurt anybody.”
“There's only a mile or so more,” Helen said, “till we get to the entrance, but the ground gets very hard with sharp rocks everywhere in just a little bit. It would ruin the horse's feet.” She pointed to a few scraggly tree-shrubs that jutted up out of nowhere in the middle of the vast desert they had ridden through over the past five days. “You can't see it from here, but there's a stream and some grass over there. Tie the horses to the trees. Do it loosely – once they eat all the grass, they'll escape and find food somewhere else.”
“You know a lot about horses, don't you?” Nathan asked, respect tinging his voice despite himself.
She shrugged. “I like them so I try to learn everything I can about them. You can learn a lot in thirty years.” After that, they all dismounted. Helen took the four horse's reins and left for the tree-shrubs. The others watched her go. She tied the horses up, each to a different tree, and then laid her head against the one she had ridden. Then she came back. There were a few tears in her eyes, but no one mentioned anything about it.
“Now we go.”
The others followed her bidding. She drew Sarah a little closer to her and then they set off across the remaining mile of desert. Nathan looked all around, and mostly in front of him, but he couldn't see any place with sharp stones that would cut up horses' legs and feet. He was beginning to think Helen was wrong when the ground formation started changing. At first it wasn't anything all that noticeable – a few sharp little pebbles, some cracks in the earth – but soon the stones became bigger, with wicked looking points. They were scattered everywhere and it took them all a long time to carefully pick their way through. If one stepped on a rock, it would go through your shoe, even Nathan's thick, though now beat up, hiking boots.
It was a harrowing experience and Nathan was hot and sweaty by the time they came out of it. His back muscles ached from being kept rigid from tension and he stretched several times to relieve them. The others did too, so they must be feeling the same thing he was. “Look,” Lily said, pointing ahead. What Nathan saw almost took his breath away. Just a few metres away, the sandy desert floor changed dramatically the lush green grass and shrubs. And beyond that blue water sparkled in the sunlight as far as the eye could see. He smelled the tangy whiff of salt. This must be the sea. It looked like paradise.
They had made it.
Of course, they hadn't quite made it. Nothing was ever that simple, as Nathan learned quickly. “This is definitely the general area,” Helen said after she'd gained control of her emotions – she had practically burst into tears when they came to the grass and sank down, glad for the coolness - “but we still have quite a ways to go.”
Nathan imagined his face mirrored the disappointment and weariness Lily and Sarah showed, and Helen hastened to add, “It's all underground, pretty much, from now on. We don't have to be in this blinding heat. The tunnel is very cool.”
“There's a tunnel?” Nathan said.
Helen nodded. “They-we don't live above ground. We'd be found out right away if we did that. I don't really now the history of how we all came to live in the tunnels and underground chambers, but I'm sure there are people down there who'd be happy to tell you. Come on. I'll take all of you to the entrance.”
Following her lead, Nathan and the others soon found themselves staring in front of what looked like an ordinary rock wall that went up to a cliff. But Nathan remembered the entrance to the poor community. “How does it open?” he said in a disinterested voice. Lily smiled secretly at him. She obviously knew what he was thinking of.
Helen pressed what looked like a small chunk of rock jutting out from the surface. It slid inside of the little cranny and the door opened without a sound. The tunnel was surprisingly big – large enough for at least five people to walk abreast in it at once and much taller than Nathan. They had been carved out of the rock itself, that was obvious enough, and Nathan marvelled at the work needed to do such a thing. It was incredible, really, to think about it.
The door closed again once they were all inside. Nathan heard Lily rummaging around in her bag and then a beam of light dazzled his eyes. Her flashlight. She handed one to each of the others. “Is this going to take long?” she asked Helen.
“Probably twenty or thirty minutes.”
“Fine. You can all turn on your flashlights then. Just wanted to check, since I don't have any more batteries.”
“How do we get out,” Sarah whispered, her voice anxious in the semi-darkness. She'd not turned her light on.
“There's another lever inside here,” Helen said. “It's really easy to get out, same as it is to get in – once you know how. Now let's get going.” She switched on Sarah's light for her and then the four of them continued on into the bowels of the tunnel. Nathan found he was actually enjoying himself. It was an adventure: five days' journey, tunnels, finding a people who had disappeared years ago, the treasure. It was all highly exciting.
They walked on and on. Nathan's old trainer watch had fluorescent hands so he was able to call of the time every five minutes. When he reached twenty-five minutes since they'd entered the tunnel, he felt everyone tensing up. Adrenaline flowed through the whole group as one connective source of energy and Nathan's heart rate increased dramatically. The tunnel had twisted and turned for some time, but now it was going straight and a glimmer of light was at the end of it.
It grew bigger and bigger, more vast, more tantalizing, until they were right next to the source of the light. It was a window in a door – a huge metal door that put the prison doors to shame. It was too high up to see through it at all, and there appeared to be some sort of combination lock on it. “Great,” Nathan moaned, making sure to keep his voice quiet, “we'll never get in.”
“Whatever,” Lily said. “Flick off your flashlights and give them to me. We certainly don't need them any more. Helen's known everything about this trip, I'm sure she knows the combination.”
In the dim light, Nathan could see her nod. “It's ten-one-five-eight-one-four-three-one-six.” They all stared at her as she rattled off the numbers. It was so complicated; there must be a trick for remembering it. Lily asked her if there was, and Helen merely said, “There might be. I'm sure you'll figure it out soon,” and that's all they got out of her. As she said the numbers, she punched them in, then turned the knob.
Nathan noticed her hands were trembling as she did so and realized his were as well. What would they find on the other side? Just as the tunnel entrance door had done, this one opened noiselessly. In a moment they were all inside.
It was flooded with light. Nathan wondered if they'd come outside again, but they hadn't. The room they entered was vast and airy with natural looking light coming in from somewhere he couldn't see – mostly as the whole tunnel and room was completely underground. The floor was a complicated mosaic of stones and the walls were stone, showing that the room had been carved out of the cliff, or mountain, as well as the tunnels.
Nathan took in all these details without really looking at them. He was looking at the people. They looked ordinary enough, but the thing that surprised him the most was that there was an even ratio of men to women, unlike the outside world. And they were interacting. Laughing, talking, and so on. Children ran around everywhere, yelling at the top of their lungs unless some adult told them to be quiet.
The noise ceased in an instant for they realized they were not alone anymore, wrapped up in their own little secure world. They all stared at Nathan and the others and he felt his skin tingle. What would they do now that someone had entered their home? Then, an elderly man s
tepped out of the group. He seemed to have gotten over an surprise he might have had for his face was compose and gentle, although there was a quiet fire in his eyes. Firm and strong, but quiet.
“Welcome,” he said, addressing Nathan, probably because he was the one man in the group. He was surprised. Why hadn't they immediately run for weapons? Why didn't they fire off questions as to why and how and when they came? Why weren't any of the others moving and instead sat there, their faces still surprised, but quite calm? Nathan had no answers for any of these questions but he sensed these must be an extraordinary people.
The man continued. “My name is Benjamin.” Nathan cleared his throat and gave his name as well. It seemed the thing to do. The others did so as well, following his lead. Benjamin took a closer look at Helen and frowned a little, as if trying to place her. “Have I seen you before?”
“You might have seen my mother,” she said. Nathan noticed she wasn't scared one bit. In fact, her face was glowing with a quiet joy and she had the beginnings of a genuine smile on her face. And, after all, what was there to be afraid of?
“Of course,” Benjamin said, his face lighting up with recognition. “Your mother's name was May, wasn't it? May Blackton.” When Helen nodded, he called over to some of the women sitting nearby, introducing Helen right away. Smiles broke out and Helen went over to them, Sarah following. It looked as though they'd be talking for a while, so that left Lily and Nathan for Benjamin to talk to.
Nathan was sure it would be easier to gain a foothold in this community, concerning the treasure, now that Helen was an accepted member of the group. Benjamin gestured to them, pointing out a few benches arranged in a semi-circle. Some men already sat there but Benjamin waved them away 'for just a few minutes, please' and told Nathan and Lily to sit down. Nathan glanced up as the men were leaving and got the shock of his life.
Among them were Aaron and Dylan.
Vengeance Is Mine Page 11