by Dale Furse
“Mike is right, Terni. Wash you face,” Noor said.
Surprised Terni did what Noor commanded; Mike lifted his shirt so the girl’s couldn’t see and splashed water over his thigh. The cut was reddening around the edges. He hoped it wouldn’t become infected. That was the last thing he needed there. They had no proper doctors, no medication, and definitely no tetanus vaccines.
“Are you all right, Mike,” Noor asked.
Mike threw a nod over his shoulder. There wasn’t any use letting them know he was hurt. They couldn’t do anything about it anyway. They would probably insist on going to the king and his physicians. Mike let out a quiet snort. Definitely no use saying anything.
He dropped his shirt and moved to Noor’s side while she checked her horse’s girth.
“You are not eager to have the little one with you?” Noor asked.
“No. If he hadn’t turned up on Earth, I wouldn’t be here now. Anyway, he treats me as if I’m his big brother or something. I’m not,” Mike thought about baby Derek at home. “He’s not so bad I guess, but I don’t want to be anybody’s big brother. Babysitting little kids is not my idea of fun.”
“Why? I couldn’t live without my younger brother and sisters.”
“How many have you got?” Mike asked.
“One brother and four… three sisters.”
“You’re not sure how many?”
“I once had four sisters.” A glint of moisture covered her eyes.
Mike wished he hadn’t asked but wanting to steer the conversation into safe ground, said, “Tell me about your three sisters.” He didn’t want to know about the fourth, presuming she was dead.
“Two of my sisters have wed and have families of their own, but we are still very close.” She smiled as if remembering. “Teila, who is five years older than me, had her third baby not two months ago, a boy. He’s so cute,” she said, with a far away look in her eye. “Her first born is about your age, you’d like him.”
“She must have been young when she married to have a seventeen-year-old son.”
“Ryen is eighteen and she was twenty, old enough to marry and bear children.”
Mike did some mental arithmetic. “You’re thirty-three? You don’t look it.”
“You say thirty-three as if it means I’m ready for the rocking chair.”
“No, I just meant you don’t look thirty-three.”
“Thank you.” She smiled and adjusted her stirrup lengths one hole longer. “I like a shorter stirrup when galloping, but I don’t think we’ll be doing any of that from now on.”
“Noor,” Mike said after a minute. “Did you ever believe Derek killed his brothers and my mother?”
“There was once a time when I thought Derek an honest and moral man, and I did believe him when he said his brother and Eva disappeared, but now…” She shook her head once.
She turned away and Mike knew it was so she could compose herself. “That was a long time ago.” She led the horse to where Terni sat under the fruit tree.
Mike walked with her. “Why did Derek leave the kingdom?”
“Who knows why men do things? Come on, Terni, up you get.”
“I’m tired,” Terni said, not moving.
“Too bad.” Noor picked him up and threw him so high, he nearly landed on the other side of the horse, but he managed to grab hold of the saddle and gain his balance.
Mike guessed she didn’t want to talk about Derek. He scrambled onto Noor’s horse in front of Terni. He would just have to ask Derek why he left and became a bandit.
Once all four mounted, they turned north but remained within seeing distance of the forest on their western side.
Mike kept looking to the mountain range. They had walked slightly downhill since the oasis and after more than two hours of riding, they were low enough that the plains north, east and south seemed to go on forever. Only the tops of the mountains tops stayed within sight. The forest, a little closer, stayed to the west.
“What do you think, Terni?” Mike asked. “Do you think this is where the wall should be?”
Terni looked around. “It is the same place where we were yesterday but there is no wall. I can’t go home.”
“It’ll come back,” Mike said. “It has to.” He jumped off the horse as soon as it stopped. A massive, black-trunked tree stood between them and the first trees of the forest. “That’s strange,” he said.
“What is?” Noor dismounted and dropped the horse’s reins to the ground.
Mike dropped his reins and pointed to the tree. “I don’t remember that being there.”
“Perhaps you didn’t notice it.” Noor began walking toward the tree. “Although I must admit, it does look out of place. It looks more like a tree from the far east coast.”
Mike would have noticed a tree that big. Moreover, it didn’t have pink bark like the trees in the forest. Something moved behind the tree. He stopped and stared harder, certain something brown and soft, like material, disappeared into the grey, leafy branches.
“Did you see that?” he called to Noor.
“What? Where?” Vala asked as she joined Mike and Noor.
“In the tree.” Mike hurried alongside her. “I thought I saw something, like material or maybe an animal, go up into the branches.”
“It’s probably only a rangon looking for nuts. Well, come along and let’s have a look.”
“Mmm, I love nuts,” said Vala. She swatted Mike’s arm. “Be careful, rangons are vicious but taste good roasted.”
Noor turned back to Terni. “You stay there, little messenger, we will not be long.”
“Can I hop off?” Terni asked.
“Can you dismount yourself?”
“Yes.” Terni was already half-sliding, half-falling to the ground.
As they approached the tree, a scrape sounded high in the branches. Noor held out her arm to stop Mike, and put her finger on her lips to stop him from speaking.
“Is it a rangon?” Vala whispered.
“What’s a rangon?” Mike asked.
Vala widened her eyes at him. “It is a large rodent and it bites.”
“Oh.”
There were short muffled sounds, successive and quick as if something was trying to climb the tree but kept falling back.
Noor put an arrow in her bow and tip toed under the tree.
Mike’s curiosity overcame him and before he knew it, he was standing under the tree peering up into the canopy. Vala was close behind him, her sweet, fruity scent drifted to his nose. The sound stopped at the same time Noor hit Mike on the head.
“Ouch.” Mike rubbed the back of his head. “What was that for?”
“For not staying behind me.” She hit him again. “And that was for talking so loud.”
“Ow,” Mike complained. “Well, there’s nothing there, anyway.”
“It might have run off into the forest,” Vala suggested.
Noor shook her head. “One of us would have seen it.”
“Not necessarily. If whatever it was stayed in line with the trunk, we, being on this side, wouldn’t see it.”
Mike thought about that for a moment. “Maybe. If it was small, you could be right.”
“Thanks. I—”
Before Vala could finish, a blur of orange, purple and green whizzed past them toward the forest.
“Terni!” Mike shouted. “Terni! Come back.” But the blur kept moving.
Mike turned to his horse in time to see two black-hooded thieves gallop south-west with all three horses in tow. With a glance in Terni’s direction, Mike was thankful the kid had stopped before he disappeared into the forest. The bandits must have scared the little blighter half out of his wits.
Three more bandits burst over the rise close to the first stream and belted after the others who had stopped to wait at the edge of the forest a little south of them.
Mike focused on one of the following bandits’ horses. Derek. He recognized the black and white under the rider, and spun back to face Noor. His mouth hung
open and he gawped at her. He didn’t know why, but he expected her to do something.
“I recognized Derek too.” She waved at Terni to come back. But the boy stood as if frozen.
Unsure of what he should do, Mike did the first thing that occurred to him, and ran toward Terni.
Horses erupted from the forest. Mike slid to a standstill as more bandits surrounded the kid. Terni looked around, confused.
One rider burst from the pack and grabbed Terni.
“Mi-ike,” Terni screamed.
Chapter 10
The boy struggled. He was no match for the ape who held Terni’s small frame against his chest. Terni shrieked and bit into the bandit’s upper arm. The man’s free hand clenched into a fist and bashed Terni in the side of his head. The little messenger slumped forward as the kidnapper’s horse disappeared into the forest.
“Terni,” Mike gasped and again went to run after them.
Noor hauled on Mike’s arm. “Wait,” she said. “There are too many.”
Mike knew she was right, but he couldn’t leave Terni. He would be scared and he’d start bawling the second he woke up—if he woke up. He pushed the thought out of his head. The mongrels wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of kidnapping him if they wanted to kill him. But what would they want with a howling kid? He thought about the punch to poor Terni’s head. “They’re more than capable of hurting him.” He snatched his arm from Noor’s clasp.
“No, Mike. Look,” Vala shouted.
As she spoke, the other five riders led by Derek entered his line of vision. They galloped into the forest with the riderless horses to join the ape and his group. Three people had no chance against such a large group of brigands. Terni was lost.
Noor appeared to be deep in thought and, as if making up her mind, re-notched the arrow and regarded Mike. “I want you to stay here with Vala. No, go back, stay by the tree, and wait for me here. I’m going to see if I can find tracks. As soon as I do, I’ll signal for you two to join me. Okay?”
Mike nodded.
“I mean it. Stay.”
“He will,” Vala said.
Mike huffed at her implication he wouldn’t.
Noor sprinted toward the pink trees.
Mike looked at the tree for several minutes. He took a step and his heart leapt into his throat. A breeze, strong enough to blow his hair from his face, didn’t move the tree’s leaves. The entire tree was static, like it was painted onto the landscape. He hesitated.
“What is it?” Vala wanted to know.
“I don’t know, but something’s weird about that tree.” With Vala behind him, Mike continued his approach.
All was silent except for the sound of his heart beating in his ears. His cold fingers brushed against the bark. A light thud sounded behind him. He spun around to find Vala on the ground, facing the tree. He dropped to his haunches and rolled her onto her back. Her eyes were shut and she was sound asleep.
“Binka arore,” an unknown voice sounded from the other side of the tree.
Mike started. The voice sounded like a cross between a man with a cold and a feral cat. He circled around, thinking if he had to, he could fight. He hoped he didn’t have to—he only passed his last Taekwondo exam by a point. He wished Noor were there. She had the weapons.
Hang on. He crouched beside Vala and felt the back of her belt. He thought he saw something there earlier, and he was right. He pushed her back onto her side and pulled out a small, thick-bladed knife.
Another soft thud sounded behind him. He stood and turned at the same time. With a pounding heart, he readied himself for an attack from the big man dressed in a loose, brown robe. He wasn’t even an arm’s length away. Mike had to protect Vala.
“Hankley distel.”
The man spoke in a language Mike didn’t recognize.
“Arore mankaz,” he said with a wide smile.
The man’s face seemed friendly enough, and Mike’s heart calmed a little. The man looked like a monk of some sort.
Shrugging, but not lowering the knife, Mike said, “I don’t understand.”
The man’s near-bald head shook. “Ferx lo shar vor,” he said, and disappeared. No puff of smoke, he just vanished into thin air.
Mike blinked. He blinked again. Not possible.
Vala groaned and sat up. “What happened?” She rubbed the side of her head. “Ouch. I’ve got a lump on my head.”
Mike stared at her.
“Were we attacked?” She stood up. “Mike,” she shouted. “Answer me.”
“I… I don’t know.”
She looked around. “Were you knocked out too?”
“I don’t know.”
“Is that all you can say?”
“No-o,” he said. “And neither were you. You fell asleep. That must be how you got your lump. You hit your head when you fell.”
Eyes protruding from their sockets, Vala’s face turned from ghost-white to fire-red. “I don’t just fall asleep. Tell me what happened.”
Her voice, loud and thin, was on its way to being hysterical. “Calm down and listen or you’ll pop a vein or something.” She stepped forward, sucked in her lips and raised her hands to the height of Mike’s throat. Another tact maybe. “Wait. I’ll tell you what I know. I didn’t fall asleep and I don’t know what happened to you. A man dressed like a monk came from nowhere and spoke some gibberish to me. When he realized, at least I think he realized, I couldn’t understand him, he disappeared.” Mike clicked his fingers. “Just like that. Gone.”
Vala gave a shake of her head, and slowly said, “A man, dressed like a monk came from nowhere, spoke some gibberish to you and then disappeared.”
Mike clicked his fingers again. “Just like that. Gone.”
Lowering her hands, Vala tiptoed around the tree.
Mike squinted towards the forest of trees with bright pink trunks. Something glinted in the sunlight south of where Noor entered the trees. A man? He wasn’t wearing a brown robe. Maybe a woman. She turned and ran to the cover of the trees. No, not a woman.
Certain the person had a ponytail like Ludo, Mike tried to remember what the prince had worn earlier. He couldn’t remember what color breeches, but Ludo had worn a gold coat like the one glistening in the sun. But why would he be there? He was with the king, taking Cornel back to the palace.
Not knowing Derek, Mike guessed he might also wear a ponytail, and he might have a similar coat. Noor said Derek’s bandits lived around the area. Mike didn’t know much about the people of Zandell but figured it was plausible. He frowned. Derek must have taken Terni. But what had the vanishing monk to do with it?
Vala seemed a lot calmer by the time she got back to Mike. “No one could disappear. You must have dreamed the man up. Perhaps we both fell asleep.” She peered across the plain. “Perhaps we touched or smelled something that affected us. Or the bandits came back with a sleeping draught.” She shook her head. “I know I don’t fall asleep without meaning to.”
If Mike had fallen asleep, he would probably agree with her.
After a moment, he said, “I think a magician did it.”
“A magician?” Vala scoffed. “Like out of a child’s book? Was he a good or bad one?”
“I couldn’t tell. He smiled, but he could have been a happy sadist.”
“Don’t be silly. There’s no such thing as magicians.”
“There might be and you don’t know it.”
She laughed, a sweet gurgling sound tinged with ridicule.
“Why are you laughing? This is serious.”
Her mirth remained in her eyes after her laughter ceased. “It wasn’t so much what you said, but how you said it. Look, Noor’s signaling us. Don’t say anything until I figure out what happened.”
Mike almost gasped at her smarter-than-you attitude. “You are going to figure this out?”
“There has to be an explanation and I will find it.”
Noor kept waving her arms.
“Fine, do what you like. I know what
happened—what I saw.” He trotted toward Noor and the forest, Vala on his heels.
“I’ve found their tracks,” Noor said. “This way.”
Vala casually matched Noor’s pace, but Mike took awhile before he got into the rhythm. He wondered if he should tell Noor he had seen someone ride into the forest earlier, and that someone could have been Derek. Whoever it was went the same way as the bandits and to Mike’s mind, meant he was with them.
They jogged for about half an hour when Noor stopped and studied the ground.
“They must have covered their tracks,” she said. “I’ve lost them.”
“Maybe they doubled back,” Mike said. At least they did in the old westerns he and Dan used to watch on television.
“Good thinking, young man.” With her eyes glued to the ground, Noor prowled back the way they had come. She stopped and gave Mike a hard look. “Clever as well as handsome,” she said and gave him a slight bow.
His cheeks burned. “I know.”
Vala’s expression was incredulous.
He wanted to hit himself for the ridiculous retort. Noor didn’t smile at his lame joke. She probably thought he was conceited too.
“Are the tracks there?” He tried to smooth over his embarrassment.
“Yes.” She trotted back a few more meters. “Here, they go north from here.”
If she noticed his discomfort or Vala’s eyes mocking him, she didn’t let on.
Staying back, he trundled after the girls through the dense bush until they emerged from the dark canopy into sunlight. The forest had turned into a light scrub. Scattered trees and clumps of grasses covered the rocky ground for some distance ahead. Beyond, another plain stretched up toward the mountains. More bushes and trees grew many kilometers to the north.
Three horses weaved north through the vegetation. Once they were clear, they galloped across the plain, shrinking to specks before they disappeared into the woodland.
“I thought they’d turn back west,” Noor said, as she plopped onto the ground. “We need horses. We’ll never catch up without any.”
“Can we get to the king? Maybe Ludo, ah, that reminds me. Does Derek have a gold coat?
“He did once, I think,” said Noor.
“I thought I saw someone in a goldish coat south of here when we were waiting at the tree.”