Gather The Children (Chronicles of the Maca Book 2)

by Mari Collier

  It was fine to be on Dandy's back again. He kept the pace slow until over the small, rolling hill, and then he kicked Dandy and flapped the reins. He was headed away from Schmidt's Corner and away from the way he had ridden in. Whatever land lay before him would be new. He suspected MacDonald would think he went back the way they came in because it would be familiar and the money for the reward might be there. Of course, he might think different with that murder charge. It didn't matter; he was on his own again with a fine horse and a fine, new grey hat and the morning was grand for riding and elation surged through him.

  And then the screaming inside his head started. It was the wail of a lost, bereaved creature, overwhelmed with grief, or in the throes of dying. As the screams built into a crescendo, he realized it was his mother screaming at the loss of her child. He pulled Dandy to a halt. For a moment the screams abated to an anguished moan and then the screeching built again. He pulled Dandy around and headed back more rapidly than he had left the ranch. To hell with MacDonald, he'd think of something.

  Grey morning light was seeping over the earth as Dandy pounded into the yard. His mother came running from the kitchen, her arms outstretched towards him. He left the saddle in one smooth jump, threw the reins on the ground, and enfolded her in his arms. “I'm sorry, Mama, I'm sorry,” the words spilled out over and over again. “I won't run again, I promise. Don't cry.”

  Anna had thrown her arms around him and was kissing his face and stroking his arms and hands as though he were still a baby. Her words were in German and this time they made sense. She called him her heart, her lovely child, repeating the words over and over.

  Lorenz heard the slap of boots behind him and tried to disentangle himself. “Uh, Mama, I'm going to have to face him,” he whispered.

  He turned and there was MacDonald stuffing his shirt into his britches. His face and eyes were hard. Gone was the amusement that danced in his eyes and the slight smile on the lips.

  Lorenz had already decided he would do things the big man's way no matter what happened, but now he wondered if it were too late. He unbuckled his belt and held it, straight arm out, and went into a litany of his sins. “I disobeyed your rules. I ran, I touched Dandy and a weapon, and I made Mama cry and scream, and it probably scared Mina half-silly, and she's probably cryin' too.” He stopped. Something was wrong. MacDonald had stopped coming at him and was looking at him with puzzlement in his eyes and his brow half-way knitted.

  “Where's Mina?” asked Lorenz. “Y'all didn't leave her alone and afraid in the house? Why ain't she out here?”

  “Mina tis still sleepin',” said MacDonald in a controlled voice. “Just how far did ye ride, laddie? Dandy seems to be a bit lathered.”

  Lorenz hesitated and realized that he should not have been able to hear his mother, yet he had. Should he lie about it? “Ah dunno,” he whispered.

  “A mile, mayhap two?”

  Lorenz took a deep breath. “Maybe, no, uh, no more than that, maybe.”

  “Do ye ken why Mina still slumbers?”

  Lorenz shook his head no, and MacDonald continued. “She slumbers because yere mither made no sound whilst she screamed in yere head.” He swung his ire on his wife.

  “Ye kenned, Anna, ye kenned that he would hear ye!”

  Anna yanked her head up, moved closer to Lorenz, and answered in German, stressing each word. “I did not know. I hoped he would hear me, and prayed he would come home.”

  MacDonald shook his head. “And how, my sweet one, did ye ken he would hear?”

  “I did not say I knew he would hear me. I said I hoped,” Anna snapped back in German.

  “Ye are equivocating. Ye could pray he would return because ye kenned that he would hear. Now, I ask ye again to tell me how ye kenned.”

  Anna drew her lips together. Lorenz wasn't sure just how he understood this conversation in both German and English, but he could hear them both, and they were arguing about him as though he wasn't there, except his mother reached out and grasped his hand as though protecting him.

  Her chin lifted high, Anna replied, “Because even when he was four years old, he could use his mind. Daniel is four years older and bigger and stronger than Lorenz, but he could not win in a fight when Lorenz was mad. That's why I was screaming so loud at Lorenz that horrible day. I was afraid he would really hurt Daniel, and Daniel could not protect himself. Instead, he just lay there, prone on the floor while Lorenz kept hitting him. When you first brought Lorenz home, he tried to enter my mind like Mr. Lawrence, and I would not let him.”

  MacDonald's voice filled with bewilderment. “And ye did nay warn me?”

  “Why would I warn you? You are capable of defending your mind.”

  “I am nay thinking of myself. What of Mina, or for that matter, young James? Did ye wish to see them harmed?” His voice grew louder.

  Lorenz had been listening to their exchange in wonder, but now he protested. “Y'all leave her alone. Ah wouldn't hurt Mina or James. Ah'd wait till he growed up.”

  MacDonald looked at Lorenz, his voice harsh. “Laddie, be still a wee bit longer.” He swung his gaze back to his wife. “Ye may as well speak in English as I believe he has kenned every word ye have said.”

  Anna closed her eyes and moaned. Then she blinked them open, her face hard. “I did not vant him to be like his father and murder his own.”

  “He already has his fither's abilities. Ye canna stop him from using his mind.” MacDonald half shouted. “I can, however, teach him to use it correctly.”

  “I vill not have du talking in your minds in my house. It vill be outside.” Anna was not shouting but her voice was as hard as her face.

  MacDonald took a deep breath. “Thank ye, my love.” He turned his attention back to Lorenz. “And so, ye have tried walking in your mither's mind. Can ye tell me what happened when ye did?”

  Lorenz wasn't sure where this was leading except to be a reason to tell him to leave. His mother hadn't relaxed her grip on his hand. It was like she was afraid he would run if she did. His looking at either face wasn't telling him much except that both were in a contentious mood. He was in a world of shit and it looked like it didn't matter whether he told the truth or lied. He decided to try truth. “It was like she slammed a door, and I ran straight into it.”

  MacDonald gave one of his tight smiles. “And what happened when ye tried to walk in my mind?”

  “Sometimes nothin', sometimes I'd see things, and other times it was like just grey clouds.”

  MacDonald's eyes widened. “Ye surprise me, laddie. I shall pay more attention to what ye are doing. Now, one more thing, just why did ye run after yesterday and calling yereself a bear cub, or twas it something ye planned all along?”

  Once more, Lorenz tried looking at both faces, but MacDonald's was still hard and Mama was not smiling. “Dunno,” he muttered. Why didn't MacDonald just knock him down or tell him to get? What were all the questions for? And how did he tell him that?”

  “I dinna believe ye,” said MacDonald. “They may be wrong, or they may be devious, but ye have reasons for what ye do.”

  Lorenz looked straight at him and decided to hell with it. He might as well get the whole thing over with. “Ah can't tell y'all with Mama standin' right there.”

  “Then show me in your mind.”

  Lorenz brought up the scene and glared at MacDonald. “I wasn't waitin' for that to happen. I'd thought y'all was different. It was all a lie.” Bitterness laced through Lorenz's words.

  MacDonald stepped back as though hit. “Ye Gods, laddie. Ye have it all wrong. Did this nay happen when ye did something for a man to be proud of?”

  “Yeah, that's what made it so dirty.”

  MacDonald shook his head. “Anna, please tell Lorenz what language ye think in.”

  Anna unfolded her lips which had been pursed in disapproval and answered, “Deutsch.”

  “Aye, yere mither thinks in German because twas her first language. Once she has formed her thoughts, she
must put the words into English. So tis with me. Whilst my language tis very similar to English, my customs differ. First I think of the customs of my land and then use the customs of this land.”

  “That ain't making any sense. Y'all had your hand on me. Are y'all tellin' me they do things like that in Scotland?”

  “And when did I say I twas from Scotland?”

  “Well, y'all didn't, but Martin said folks there talk like y'all.”

  MacDonald's half-smile was back. “Laddie, if there tis anyone from Scotland near me, I keep my mouth shut, or run in the opposite direction. Should they ere hear me speak, they would ken I twas nay born there and they would ask questions.”

  “That don't change nothin'.”

  “Laddie, in my land, we dinna use the word adoption. We use the word, claiming. Because of my position, ere I could claim ye as part of my House, I would need to go before the Guardians of the Realm and request their permission. If the Guardians and their Counselors agree, then permission tis granted, and ye would become part of my House with all the rights of someone from the House of Don, but first, ye must go through the Claiming Rite.”

  “On a given date, we would both appear before the Guardians, and we would both be nude neath our capes. We would then stand before the Guardians, remove our capes and the ceremony would begin. I would put my hand on ye and claim yere seed for my House, and ye would put yere hand on me and claim my seed as yere own. Tis very moving.”

  Anna gasped. Lorenz shook his head in disbelief. “People are watchin?”

  “Aye, but the Guardians of the Realm nay rule here so we must abide by this land's laws. To change yere name to mine and give ye the rights of inheritance, we must go before a Judge and have him say that ye are Lorenz MacDonald, but when I think of ye as my own, I think in my own way. As long as we live here, I must go by yere laws as mine have nay legality.”

  “Where y'all from?” Lorenz half whispered the question. He had seen enough in MacDonald's mind to know that wherever the land, it was frightening; somehow more frightening than watching a man slow skin another.

  MacDonald straightened and gave a bow. “I am Llewellyn, Maca of Don, from the planet Thalia. We, that tis my world, were overrun by forces from the planet of yere biological fither. That however tis a very long tale, far longer than the one I told last night, and there were a few discrepancies in the telling.”

  “Is that why y'all told that story? Hell, y'all don't think ah'm goin' to believe people fly?” He swung his free hand upward.

  A huge smile lit MacDonald's face. “We more than fly, laddie. We go betwixt stars. Yere mither has seen the Golden One that I came in, and she can attest to its existence.”

  Anna nodded her head when Lorenz glanced at her. “I don't believe it.”

  “Then ye need to go with me and see what I am speaking about. Ye can touch it, and ye twill be able to see and hear. Tis a far better way to learn. Do ye agree, my counselor?”

  Anna's face had relaxed, but she was not in total agreement. In German, she said, “It puts you at risk.”

  MacDonald smiled at her. “Ye might as well speak in English,” he reminded her. “Nay, I dinna believe the laddie twill betray me.” He looked at Lorenz and said, “Ye twill nay betray me when ye find fault only with the flying and nay the two hearts.”

  The flush and denial vanished from Lorenz's face and he considered. Did MacDonald know? Had Mama told him, and if so why? Had MacDonald known he was a freak all this time? In desperation he looked at his mother. Why wasn't she saying something, or did she feel there was nothing to say?

  The smile on MacDonald's face wasn't exactly a leer, but his eyes narrowed as he reached up and loosened the buttons of his shirt and underwear, exposing the broad, hairless chest.

  “Listen, if ye dare.”

  This was a different challenge, and an unexpected one. He had not wanted to be that close to the man, but curiosity overrode his reluctance and he stepped nearer, sucked his breath in, removed his hat, and laid his ear against the chest. It was unmistakable: two hearts were beating inside.

  His world spun and he forgot his fear, and leaned against MacDonald. Years of being called a freak, or the people in camp making a cross at the sight of him weakened his resolve. This man knew, he could understand and help him, and no one, no man, he knew could take MacDonald down.

  He knew from the words that had been said, it couldn't be, but he had to ask. He looked up at the man and choked out, partially in desperation, hoping it would be true, “Are you my pa?”

  “Nay, laddie. He tis a Justine by the name of Toma. He took the name Thomas Lawrence in this land. His kin did nay ken where he journeyed, and after my mither destroyed their planet and killed most of the Justines, they needed him back to replenish their shrunken gene pool.” Laughter edged his words. “For all their genius, cloning, duplicating a perfect Justine tis nay possible, and they are even slower than Thalians to reproduce.”

  Lorenz felt his world swaying. MacDonald was running his hand up and down Lorenz's back and he was smiling gently. Lorenz could feel the tension building inside, the nerves in his right thigh twitching, and sensations he could not understand scraping at his mind.

  “'Tis all right, laddie. Ye twill ken in time.” He ruffled Lorenz's hair and took the hat from Lorenz's hand and placed it on Lorenz's head. “Now tis time we stilled the lowing of that cow and feed the stock whilst yere mither makes us a fine breakfast.” He smiled in his satisfied way. “And put that damned belt back on and get the buckets. I'll attend to yere beastie.”

  Lorenz pulled in a lungful of air as the crises had passed, and blurted out, “Uh,” he began tentatively, “y'all forgot about that weapon up on my saddle, and I, well, I took this too.” He dug out a small pocket knife and held it out.

  MacDonald looked down at the knife and chuckled. “Dinna tell me ye twere about to attack me with that. Keep it. Ye may need it sometime.” He turned, took Dandy's reins, and headed towards the barn.

  Anna leaned over and kissed Lorenz's cheek. “Come, there's vork to do.”

  Chapter 10: The Golden One

  It was a fine morning for riding and they covered the distance to the nearby foothills in less than two hours. It took another thirty minutes or so to ride up into the flat area back against one of the rocky up thrusts. Lorenz was surprised to find the ground almost barren of grass, chaparral, or trees. They left the horses in the shade of the one remaining tree. The rock rose in the form of a small mountain. MacDonald stopped at the side a huge boulder. At either side of the boulder, mountain laurel fought to survive and small trees struggled for a foothold in the rock. Mostly it looked like the vegetation had lost.

  MacDonald braced his back against the boulder, set his legs, and pushed. His face began to flush, but gradually the boulder moved, scattering small rocks and dust in its wake as the opening to a wide cavern spewed out musty air.

  “Now we hoof it,” he announced.

  The interior was cooler and the earth smell hung in the air. Several feet into the cave, MacDonald moved a rock from a ledge and extracted an implement. Lorenz couldn't see what it was until suddenly a beam of light flowed out from the front of it.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “Tis a small lowe for seeing our way. It works like a torch.”

  This was something new to puzzle on. It was no torch he had ever seen. There was no lit smoking end and no smell of oil or wood. Lorenz considered asking for the thing in MacDonald's fist, and thought the better of it. He was in awe of the thing. They walked down a wide, sloping ramp that looked like it had been gouged out to create a tunnel large enough to for two trains to pass through, but where had the debris gone? There were no huge piles of dirt outside and yet, this could be no natural thing. The earth and air seemed to close around him, and he stifled an urge to turn and run. He wouldn't let this man think him a coward.

  They kept walking downward, drawing ever closer to some dim light. They finally hit level ground and enter
ed an immense chamber filled with golden light. MacDonald pointed at the huge golden shape. “There she tis, the craft that brought me from the current Justine home to this world. What do ye think?”

  Lorenz was speechless, his grey eyes were large and he almost forgot to breathe. Like MacDonald, this thing, this machine was totally alien at first sight. It also glowed in the darkness with an intensity that belied its underground existence. MacDonald threw his arm around Lorenz's shoulders and walked him closer the machine.

  “Mama's seen this thing and been in it?”

  “Aye.”

  “She's one gutsy woman.”

  “She tis a magnificent woman,” he agreed. “Ere we enter, I shall tell ye a bit more of my tale.” His voice, low and rumbling, filled the space left in the cavern. “The story I told two nights ago twas mainly true, but embellished for the wee one. There twas nay love affair betwixt a warrior Princess and a warrior Prince. My people twere threatened by the Justines and their Kreppie allies. We massed an attack against them. We thought it would be a surprise, but they twere waiting for us in their Golden Ones. We had over five hundred crafts. They twere nay as large as this craft, but they twere sufficient to carry almost a million of our people. Too many Thalians died that day, and my mither and elder (ye twould say uncle) twere captured.”

  “The Justines used their medics to wither my elder's right arm and take his seed. Twas a huge tragedy as he and his counselor had nay wee ones yet, and the current Maca of Don, though eld, had insisted on being with the fleet and his ship disintegrated under the Justine attack My elder fither (grandfither to ye) and his counselor, my elder mither (grandmither) went down with him That meant that the new Maca must come from my mither or my elder, her brither.”

  “Since the House of Don tis a warrior class and fought the Justines bitterly, the Justines decided to remove my mither to a place of exile where she could nay ever mingle with Thalians again. They kenned that she twas a far more dangerous opponent than her brither.” Lorenz felt dizzy. Some quality of the man's voice seemed to scrape at every nerve ending in his body.