The Toby the Trilby Trilogy Boxed Set

by Angela Castillo

  Toby shook his head and blew on the small flame until the sticks ignited.

  Dread twisted his head. “A fire? You think that’s such a great idea? What if someone finds us?”

  Maybe your friends will come take care of you; then I can leave. Toby closed his eyes. All these mean thoughts! Sometimes Father brought ugly parts of his soul to the surface, so they could be worked through and destroyed. This must be one of those times.

  He opened the mess kit and removed a small pan, then filled it with water from the canteen. When he added a tincture and some dried leaves Mia had placed in his pack, the water transformed into an ugly, smelly concoction.

  “I see." Dread wrinkled his nose. "Too chicken to finish me off with a weapon, so you’re using poison.”

  Toby pulled out a roll of white cloth from his pack. He tore off a square and placed the leaves, now softened, in the center. Then he folded the cloth to make a squishy packet.

  The boiled water cooled. He carried the pot and packet to Dread and knelt down again. “This is going to hurt, a whole lot. But you must be still.”

  Toby moved Dread’s hand to the side and peeled off the blood-soaked cloth. The boy gritted his teeth but made no sound.

  Angry skin pulsed under Toby’s fingers. Bits of dirt clogged the wound, so Toby poured the remaining liquid over the ragged flesh to clean it out. He gingerly placed the packet over the gash. The sight of blood always turned his stomach.

  Dread squirmed and let out a string of words Grambles Shana and Lenora would never have allowed in the house. “I knew you were trying to kill me!”

  “Be still!” Toby fought the instinct to rake him with his claws. “This poultice will draw infection from your body. You were lucky the knife didn’t hit an artery.”

  Probably doesn’t even know what an artery is. Toby wrapped his last bandage over the wound and fastened it with medical tape. He wished for Mia, Gramble Edward, or Valerie. One of them could have checked his work to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. He didn’t have a needle and thread to stitch the cut and had never attempted such a task. Hopefully, first aid would be enough.

  Dread struggled again to sit up but squealed and sank back down.

  “Look, you have to rest awhile and let that wound close.” Toby pressed Dread’s shoulder harder.

  “But what if Leader comes back?” Dread's eyes widened. “He’ll kill me!”

  “A chance we have to take. You’ll die for sure without rest.”

  Dread’s eyes flicked to Toby’s oversized ears and then to his tail. “So, where have you been all this time, Cat Kid? Guess you didn’t wanna lose your tail.”

  Toby bit back the sharp words that rose to his tongue. Father, give me strength!

  “Yeah, well, you was lucky, that’s all,” said Dread. “We thought you was a goner for sure after that trip down the hill. You must be one tough kitty.”

  While Dread continued to gripe, Toby grabbed his spare gloves from his pack. Thankful he had another pair, he turned his back so the older boy couldn’t see what he was doing and switched them. He’d rather Dread not find out about his added ‘cattiness.’

  Toby poured steaming stew from his thermos into a bowl and a cup.

  He held the bowl out to Dread. The boy tried to grab it, winced and almost spilled the food.

  Toby sighed. “Let me do it for you.” He began to spoon liquid into the sneering mouth.

  Dread gulped down his portion of stew and then half of Toby’s. He fell asleep with broth drizzled on his lips.

  Toby smothered the fire and settled back. “Father, what should I do? I can’t leave!”

  “You should’ve,” came a girl’s voice.

  Marabella stood before him.

  4

  INTO SNAPPING AIR

  Mia skipped along the forest floor over velvety carpets of moss. “I love when the snapping air of autumn comes! Even though winter will follow soon. I just can’t help it!”

  Squirrels scampered by with bulging cheeks and bright red cardinals gave curt chirps, warning their mates of winter, while the brown females sang cheeky replies.

  Gramble Shana threw back the hood of her orange sweater and closed her eyes. “Never thought I’d hear the cardinals again. Another gift returned in my twilight years.”

  Mia remembered the look on Gramble Edward’s face. “Gramble Shana, you told me you chose to be a part of the cavern team because you didn’t have any family to leave behind. What happened to them? Everyone had parents at one time. Except for Toby, of course.”

  “I never told you?” Gramble Shana pressed her lips together. “It’s amazing how we can live and work together day after day and still have so many pockets of our lives tucked away and secret.”

  “If it makes you sad, you don’t have to tell me.”

  “No, it doesn’t upset me.” Gramble Shana pushed a thorn bush to the side. “My parents died when I was still a baby, so I grew up in an orphan’s home. The government scanned these facilities for children with academic promise and placed them in special programs. Lenora, Gregory and I were in the same school. We all became friends in childhood, even though Gregory was older.”

  “Really? You knew each other all those years?”

  Gramble Shana’s eyes shone. “Oh yes. Lenora and I got into so much trouble!”

  Mia tried to imagine Gramble Lenora and Gramble Shana as little girls, but she couldn’t picture Shana without her white braids or Lenora with smooth, wrinkle-free skin.

  “And you never fell in love?” she teased.

  “I wouldn’t say never.” Gramble Shana smiled wistfully. “People in power knew some kind of disaster was coming. Earth’s expectations hung over us, and we had no time or emotion left for personal lives. Yes, you could say we had our little romances, but most of us never pushed past the first few stages. I accepted my life, and understood I would probably not marry or have children of my own. Until…”

  “Until Toby?”

  “Until Toby.” Gramble Shana grasped Mia’s hand in her warm, wrinkled fingers. “And you.”

  The grambles had sacrificed so much, to prepare for millions who never even made it to the sanctuary. So few were saved from the disaster, and those only by chance. Mia shook her head.

  Gramble Shana stooped down to examine a violet flower. “Can you describe what kind of plant you need again?” Though a botanist, she focused more on vegetables, fruits and grains instead of medicinal herbs.

  “Valerie said it’s a sort of vine, with clumps of yellow flowers. I used to see it near my old village on gathering trips, so I know it grows in the swamp.” Mia picked wild onions and thyme and placed them in the basket while she scanned the shrubbery for the cat’s claw. “We’re also looking for willows, which usually grow by water, so we’ll have to look out for a creek or stream.”

  "Oooh, pecans." Gramble Shana bent to gather the oval nuts. "Might be enough here for a pie."

  “I’ve never had pecan pie, but I’ve eaten them raw,” said Mia. “Pie sounds wonderful! Let’s be sure to—“

  A scream ripped through the peaceful afternoon.

  “Goodness!” Gramble Shana’s basket fell from her hands, and pecans bounced around her feet. “What was that? Panther?”

  “No. I’ve heard panthers. Plenty out here, that’s why I brought the gun.” Mia pulled out the plastic tranquilizer gun they kept over the fireplace at home. ‘Not an animal. That sounded like a human.”

  Another scream hurled through the trees, wordless but pleading.

  “Sounds bad,” said Gramble Shana. “We should see if they need help.”

  “We’re so close to the swamp people’s village…”

  “Yes, and I realize you don’t want them to know you are still alive,” said Gramble Shana. “But if someone is in trouble we must give them aid. It is Father’s way.”

  Mia tried to keep the tremble from her voice. “Of course.”

  Gramble Shana patted her hand. “Don’t be afraid. God will keep
us safe.”

  They crept through the brush. Every few moments another scream pulled them closer.

  “What if they are sacrificing someone else?” Mia shivered. Toby had managed to save her two years ago, but she wasn’t brave, like him. She fought the urge to stop and curl up on the forest floor.

  Bushes tore at Gramble Shana’s clothes with thorny fingers. Her skirt’s hem was drenched in mud but she squared her thin shoulders and pushed ahead.

  “Father, protect us both,” Mia prayed.

  Ahead, the forest thinned and opened into a clearing. The two women hid behind a thick curtain of curling ivy.

  At first, the woman was hard to spot. Her dress, woven of moss, blended in with the trunks of the giant tree she leaned against. Sweat poured down her dark face and her breath came in long gasps. Every few moments her body shuddered and she would scream again, clutching at her round, full belly.

  “She’s having a baby!” Gramble Shana gasped.

  Mia sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands. “Oh no!”

  “Mia, are you all right?" Gramble Shana ran to kneel beside her. "We’ve helped Lenora bring lots of baby animals in the world. We can surely handle this. Mia?” Gramble Shana touched Mia’s shoulder. “What’s the matter, dear?”

  Mia peeked between her latticed fingers. “That woman is Madrid, one of the swamp people. I was her slave."

  ###

  Toby was halfway to his tree before someone grabbed him. He tumbled backwards, and several pairs of hands held him down. Instincts screamed for him to unsheathe his claws and try to fight his way out, but something held him back again, reminded him not to reveal this secret weapon.

  He glared at the dirty faces staring down at him. “I saved Dread,” he shouted. “Let me go!”

  The teens hurled curses while they bound him with his own rope and tied him up against a tree. He looked over at Dread, his eyes pleading.

  “Don’t look at me like that, Kid.” Dread said. “Should’ve left when you had the chance. We can use a little sneak like you.”

  “You wanna keep him?” Mirabella kicked a rock in Toby’s direction. “I thought you didn’t allow pets, Dread.”

  “Yeah, but he did save my life,” Dread tapped the bandage on his chest. “We need all the manpower we can get. The Moddies left this time, but they might come back after they find that space thingy. We’ll keep him on that rope and make him run up trees to let us know what’s coming.”

  Marabella knelt down to stare at Toby. She possessed a wild beauty, but danger glittered in her dark eyes. “You wanna let him up a tree? Might as well shoot ourselves and save Leader the trouble.”

  Another boy shook a bow in the air. “He’ll get an arrow in his throat if he tries anything.”

  Toby spoke again. “Why are you doing this? I saved Dread’s life.”

  “Your choice,” Dread jabbed a finger in the air. “We gotta have a good spy and none of us can climb like you. You saw those Moddies. They got more people, better weapons, and these things called machines.”

  “Yeah, you know where they got those?” Might as well get any information I can.

  “I heard they came from a city, far away,” said a girl with a mop of brown curls. “He found ‘em down underground, like in a building for cars. He spent years fixing them up and learning how to work ‘em.”

  “That’s what you heard, Dasha,” Dread shrugged. “We don’t know for sure.”

  A smaller kid, probably ten or so, grabbed Toby’s pack. “Man, there’s tons of food in here!” Five teens snatched at the bag and supplies tumbled out on the ground.

  Toby turned his head. Such a waste!

  Marabella’s shriek rose over the clamor. “Idiots! Stop right now!” She ripped food packs from the grubby fingers.

  “We’re hungry,” whimpered a girl with blond, stringy hair .

  “You’ll get something soon enough,” said Marabella. “This stuff is valuable, and you’re ruining all of it. Tinga and Jurn,” she pointed to the blond girl and the dark-eyed boy who had first grabbed the pack. “You two pick up this mess.”

  They grumbled but gathered the contents of the pack into a pile.

  Marabella examined the supplies and pulled out a bag of jerky. She doled a few pieces of the meat into each eager pair of hands.

  The food disappeared into the dirty mouths in seconds. Eyes turned up, begging for more.

  Despite his indignation, Toby’s heart filled with pity for each pinched face. He found himself wishing he had packed extra food.

  Marabella caught his gaze and shoved him back against the tree. “Tomorrow, you help us scout or we’ll kill you. I don’t care if you saved Dread or not.”

  “Why do you think they will return?” asked Toby. “They weren’t even coming after you in the first place.”

  “Their machines can take them far distances in the blink of an eye.” Marabella twisted her hair up and tied it with a piece of bandage pulled from a bush. “We tried to steal one. Leader won’t forget, and he never forgives.”

  Marabella leaned over Dread, and for the first time, her eyes softened. “You gonna be okay to move tomorrow, Boss?”

  Dread nodded. “I’ll make it.”

  “I wouldn’t suggest you move around for at least two days.” Toby had to try.

  Marabella laughed. “Who’s all high and mighty tied to your tree and bossin’ me around? Dread’s tough as a wildcat. He’ll be fine.”

  Tinga tapped Marabella’s shoulder. “So, we gonna find the spaceship tomorrow?”

  “Change of plans.” Marabella’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve been thinking. Cat Kid’s askin’ all these questions about the Moddies. So that means he’s not with their group. He’s got better supplies in his pack then anything the Moddies have. I’d bet he has more stored somewhere nearby. He didn’t just magic it all up.”

  Toby’s pulse quickened. He could never reveal his home. The only motto these teens lived by was ‘destroy, or be destroyed.’ They would kill his family and steal everything.

  “Good idea.” Dread tilted his head back and closed his eyes. “Who cares about spaceships when we could have full bellies for awhile?”

  “Let’s go right now!” An excited grin covered Jurn’s dirty face.

  “No, Dread needs rest.” Marabella tucked one of Toby’s blankets over Dread, who was already snoring. “Tonight, we sleep. Tomorrow, we find a new home.”

  5

  MIA’S MEMORY

  Sweat drenched the woman's clothes despite the cool afternoon. She wailed again and her body shook with another contraction.

  “Her pains are coming faster,” Gramble Shana whispered. “The baby will be here soon.”

  Mia sank back into the brush. “She’ll be fine, Gramble Shana. She wouldn’t want our help, even if we offered.”

  "I would think she would welcome help from anyone, at this point."

  “Yes, but she’s a swamp person.” Mia poked a stick into the dirt. “They hate outsiders. And Madrid thinks I died as a sacrifice to Natura. My survival would be terrible news for her. Besides, maybe she came into the woods to have her baby by herself on purpose.”

  “Alone?” Gramble Shana peered back through the branches. “Don’t the swamp people have a midwife or someone to help deliver babies?"

  “They used to, but maybe now they think only Natura should be there.” Mia’s hole in the dirt grew bigger. “Two years is a long time. Beliefs might have changed.”

  The woman slid to the ground and leaned against the tree trunk. Tears poured down her reddened cheeks.

  “Something’s wrong, I feel it.” Gramble Shana wrung her hands.

  “I know.” Mia closed her eyes. “I'll come with you. It’s just—“

  Gramble Shana touched her cheek. “She was very cruel to you, wasn’t she?”

  Mia nodded. A memory she had tried to push away forever flooded back, a distant sound of—

  ###

  Rain. Dirty water streamed through a
hole in the thatched roof, and the ragged piece of sack Mia used for a bed crawled with bugs. She shivered among them, fighting for warmth.

  “I’m so, so cold!” she whispered, though no one was there to listen.

  Earlier that morning, she had crawled to Madrid’s door to beg for an extra piece of sacking, just a small one. Now, a cherry-colored welt stretched from her wrist to her elbow to remind her of the woman’s answer.

  Her hands shook while she searched a cracked earthen plate for any scraps she might have missed. Was anything left from yesterday’s meal?

  Someone tapped on the shed’s wall. “Mia, I’m here.”

  Brown eyes shone through a hole. “Can I come in?”

  Caleb. She huddled into herself. Even though his mother had thrown her into the shed, Mia didn’t want him to see her like this.

  “Please, Mia?” He pushed further through the crack, his ginger hair sticking to the textured mud wall. “I brought you something.”

  “All right.” She brushed the biggest insects off her blanket and smoothed her ragged clothing.

  Caleb squeezed in, and his tall, lanky body almost filled what space remained in the shed. His nose wrinkled when he sat beside her. He said nothing, just pressed two carrots and a small, boiled potato into her hands.

  “Thank you, Caleb.” Tears slipped down her cheeks, warmed them for a moment, then turned to icy streaks.

  “I can’t believe she makes you stay out here!” Caleb picked up her battered piece of sack and shook it. “Look at those bugs! Surely my mother doesn’t think Natura wills this!”

  “Shhh.” Mia took the sacking from him and hung it over the broken wall. “If Madrid catches you out here, she’ll beat you, too.” She twisted her arm to hide the welt, but it was too late.

  Caleb caught her wrist and turned it over. “Did she hit you?”

  “It doesn’t hurt.” Mia pulled away from his grasp. She forced herself to nibble the carrot instead of devouring it whole.

  Caleb's shoulders slumped and he leaned back against the wall. “I'll never understand my mother’s hatred for people of other cultures. She always talked about your family, said they shouldn’t be here. When your parents passed to the other side...”