“And going where exactly?” Eric chimes in.
“Alan said there are more villages out there like this one.” I push a smile onto my face, but I don’t feel like smiling. “We’ll find one of them. We can sleep here tonight and get some rest and a bit more food in our bellies. Tomorrow morning, we leave first thing.”
“So that’s it. They’re just kicking us out.” Constance grips Thomas’s hand so tightly his fingers turn white around the edges.
“Yes. They’re kicking us out, but we’re going to be fine. The good news is Eric was right. There are people living out here, and if we found one village, we can find another.” My jaw hurts from holding onto this smile. I don’t want to put on a brave face. I want to stand on one of the beds and scream until my throat turns raw, then curl into a ball and cry. But we rarely get what we want. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.
Eleven
I pull the straps of my backpack a little tighter. It’s heavy again with the supplies Mary brought us this morning, before the sun was more than an orange tint on the horizon. A clean change of clothes, smoked meat and cheese, and a canteen full of water. I just hope it’s enough to get us to another village.
Several other members of the village, including Marcus and Margaret, stand off to the left, beside a large boulder that seems to indicate the entrance to town. None of them have said a word to us. They aren’t here to say goodbye. They’re here to make sure we leave.
Mary is missing. I really thought she’d be here to see us off, but she dropped off the supplies this morning and then rushed out, claiming she had to get to work without even a parting wave goodbye.
“You should get going so you can take advantage of the sunlight while you have it. There’s another village called Allmore almost directly west of here. If you keep a steady pace, you should reach it in a day and a half.” Alan holds his hand out and Daniel shakes it, though from the pinched look on his face, he doesn’t even want to do that much.
Alan nods, turns, and walks off, most of the other villagers trailing behind him. Only a handful stay to watch us walk out past the boulder. Within minutes we are all swept back up into the forest and alone again.
Daniel and I take the lead, more by default than any real sense of leadership. Constance and Thomas fall in line behind us, with Elizabeth beside them, still clutching the burlap bag she brought out of the PIT. Eric and Patrice pull up the rear. Right back at square zero, almost.
A shrill whistle rings out, bouncing between the trees. I pull up short as Mary steps from behind a thick trunk that had kept her hidden.
“You didn’t think I’d let you leave without saying goodbye, did you?” Mary wears a warm smile that puts me instantly at ease. “I know you need to get moving, but I have something for you. I couldn’t give it to you back in the village. Actually, my father specifically forbade me from giving it to you.” She winks at me as she digs a hand into her pocket. “I’m not the most obedient daughter.”
She pulls her hand out and holds it to me. Pinched in her fingers is a braided leather circle. It’s roughly made and I have no idea what I’m supposed to do with it.
“You guys are a quiet bunch when you’re getting kicked out of civilization.”
My eyes flare up at hers. I’m not in the mood to be taunted this morning.
“Easy, it was a joke. Apparently a bad one.” She slides the circle around my wrist. “This is a bracelet, obviously. It’s used as a bit of a recognition symbol among the Freemen.”
“Is that what you call yourselves?” I finger the twisted leather circle.
Mary nods. “We wear these bracelets when we travel outside our own village as a way to let others know who we are.” She tightens the bracelet on my wrist and gives it a tug to test the fit. “When you get to Allmore, show this to them and they’ll know that you came through us first and we trusted you.”
“I think ‘we’ is a bit of an exaggeration,” Daniel says, twisting the bracelet around my wrist to examine it.
“Fine.” Mary throws her arms out to her sides. “I trust you.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say I haven’t forgotten why we live out here and not in the Territories. My father and the others know the Cardinal is dangerous, but they seem to forget that he’s also a self-interested liar and master manipulator.”
I hold my arm up in front of me. “So this bracelet is our free ticket to Allmore?”
“The bracelet makes sure you don’t get shot before you have a chance to plead your case.” Mary looks off to the west, almost longingly. “But they are much more open there. I know their leader and he isn’t going to send you packing just because you were Cardinal Rejects. Now, you should get going while you still have good light.”
I grab Mary’s wrist before she can walk back to the village and wait until she meets my eyes. “Thank you.”
“We really owe you one,” Eric says.
“Out here we have a saying; there are no debts to pay, just favors to be forwarded.” She nods at me and the others, then runs back east toward Arbor Glen.
“You know, I would have thought I’d be used to rejection by now.”
I wait for Constance to say more, but she only grabs Thomas’s elbow and stares straight ahead. The sun lifts off the horizon, casting long shadows in front of us, guiding us deeper into the forest. Daniel squeezes my hand and I squeeze back. We can do this, together.
We walk all morning, heading due west per Alan’s instructions. It’s all we can do. When the sun stretches up high above our heads, peaking down through the leaves like a yellow spotlight, we stop for lunch. No one has the energy for conversation, and we eat our cheese and dried fish in the quiet peace of the forest around us.
The walk gets harder as the afternoon stretches into evening. The thickness of trees everywhere makes the landscape blend into itself, but it’s still clear we’re climbing. With the higher elevation and the constant threat of tree roots and fallen branches sending us to the ground with a sprained ankle, there isn’t much conversation. Everyone is focused on staying upright.
The deep red sun is barely visible through the trees when the rush of water signals the end of our first leg. The bank of the river is less dense with trees, so we can see up and down for a ways. It doesn’t look deep. We’ll have to cross it eventually, but it can wait until tomorrow.
We all dump our bags in a little circle, but Patrice is the only one to sit down.
Daniel and I grab the canteens and head down to the river to get everyone a refill. Constance and Elizabeth follow us to gather up sticks for a fire while Thomas gets the kindling going. By the time the canteens are full, a blazing fire lights the way back for us. Daniel passes out the water and I grab blankets out of our bags. Other than the occasional ‘thank you,’ the whole group is silent. The sounds of the forest are soothing, but the silence of our camp is less than comforting. Everyone is exhausted, but the shooting looks at Patrice, who has yet to offer an ounce of help, is what keeps conversation at bay.
I don’t have the energy for a fight tonight, but if I don’t say anything now, this is only going to get worse. Tomorrow we have to convince Allmore to let us stay, and we’ll have a much better chance of that if we don’t hate each other.
I sit down and rummage through my bag for the food we have left. “Patrice, if you want any of this cheese, you’ll need to come get it.”
Movement in the camp freezes and all eyes turn to Patrice.
“I’m exhausted. Can’t you just bring it here?”
Like a tennis match, all eyes shift back to me.
“No. We’re all exhausted. Especially since we had to get camp ready without your help. If you want the cheese, you’ll need to come get it.”
All eyes shift again, and Daniel scoots a little closer to me, as if he’s preparing for a nasty volley from Patrice.
“Then keep the cheese.” Patrice lies down and turns her back to me, but everyone can hear her add ‘bitch’ to the end of h
er response.
Daniel jumps up beside me and is in Patrice’s face before I can move. “You ungrateful little brat. Do you have any idea how much everyone in this group has done for you?”
“How much they’ve done for me?” Patrice stands up, and at almost Daniel’s height her narrowed eyes are just about level with his. “You mean the way they helped me get Rejected and sent to the PIT in the first place? The way you all dragged me out into the middle of nowhere, made me a run away, and then got us stuck out here where no one will let us live with them? That kind of help? ‘Cause I’m perfectly aware of what a tremendous help you’ve all been.”
“I had hoped you’d grown up since I last saw you, but maybe that was too much to ask.”
“And maybe I thought being Rejected would have knocked out that superiority complex Dad instilled in you, but I guess that was too much to hope for.”
“If we weren’t here right now, then all of us would probably be dead.” Daniel motions to the group sitting in a little semi-circle around the fire. “You think you’d be better off in the PIT? Someday you should ask Rebecca what happened to her and the other girls stuck alone in the PIT. You think because the men were on the other side of the fence you would have been safe? Ask Eric how the guards treated pretty, young Rejects.”
“I’ll just ask you since you seem to know everything, Mr. Council-member’s son.”
Well, that went much worse than I expected. “Enough.” I insert myself between Daniel and Patrice until they’re forced to break their staring contest. “Patrice, you can complain all you want, but it isn’t going to change anything.”
I hold up my hand when she opens her mouth to protest. “But I’m sorry. I’m sorry you’re stuck out here. And you’re right. You wouldn’t be out here if it wasn’t for me. I’m the one that insisted on hacking the Acceptance ceremony. I thought it would help. I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
Patrice flops down onto her blanket at the same time Eric stands up beside me. “This is just as much my fault. We wouldn’t be out here without a place to live if I hadn’t broken you all out.”
“But you wouldn’t have had to do that if I hadn’t played a very dangerous game of chicken with the Cardinal.”
Daniel grabs my hand. “You couldn’t have hacked the feed if I hadn’t stolen a video camera and re-routed the signal. I’ll take some of that blame, too.”
“Wouldn’t have been much of a video if Thomas and I hadn’t shown up with some of our friends.” Constance pulls Thomas up beside her and nods at me.
Elizabeth lets out a hearty laugh. “You wouldn’t have even been there if I hadn’t hunted down every innocent person I could find inside the PIT and pretty much begged you to come.”
Thomas takes one step closer to the fire so the flames highlight the contours of the ruined side of his face. “You wouldn’t have had any innocent people to find if the Cardinal hadn’t sent so many of us there.”
We all make eye contact across the glow of the fire. Each of us had a part to play in getting to where we are, but we’ll never forget that the Cardinal is the one who really holds the blame. Everyone goes back to their blankets, and Patrice pulls hers over her head.
I kneel down and set a piece of cheese by her hand. My words are soft, meant only for her. “You’re still mad, and that’s fine. You’ll probably still be mad tomorrow, and the day after that, and the day after that. But one of these days you’re going to get it. That we aren’t the ones you’re really mad at. And when that day comes, you’ll realize how lucky you are to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with such an amazing group of people. And we’ll be here, waiting and ready to be your family.”
I stand up and take Daniel’s hand as we walk back to our blankets. I nod at each person as we pass, and thank the stars that each of them is willing to be my family.
Twelve
My stomach growls, but there’s nothing for it. Lunch was hours ago and we finished off what was left of our meager supplies. Beside me, Daniel’s stomach echoes mine, but neither of us says a word. All we can do is keep walking west and hope there’s a village with food willing to take us in.
No one has said a word all day about last night’s confrontation with Patrice, but she has been less surly. She even said ‘thank you’ to Constance earlier when she was passing out refilled canteens. I can’t bank on a full change of heart just yet, but I can thank the stars that we’re keeping it civil. My nerves are on edge enough with the constant worry of what happens if and when we finally find this village.
Daniel steps over a log and reaches back to help me over. I only have one leg over, straddling the half-rotten log, but Daniel puts a hand on my shoulder and pushes me down until I’m sitting on the soft wood.
His eyes dart all over the forest, and everyone else stops, freezing in their tracks. Thomas pulls Constance behind him, and Eric steps in front of Patrice.
“Hail, strangers,” a loud, but cheerful voice calls out from somewhere up ahead. “I can see you, so there’s no point in hiding now.”
I stand up, but Daniel gently pushes me back down. His voice is steady, but his hand trembles against my shoulder. “Hail, stranger. You can see us, but we can’t see you.”
A young man, armed with a bow, but with it strapped to his back instead of pointing at us, steps out from behind a crop of trees. His dark-green and brown clothing allow him to blend into the natural habitat. He lifts a hand and smiles in greeting as he walks effortlessly and silently over the uneven forest floor. So different from the last time we were discovered.
“I’m Ethander, but you can call me Ethan.” He holds his hand out to Daniel. “Everyone else does, at least to my face. No telling what they call me behind my back.” Ethan grins as if we’re all best friends, his sable eyes crinkling at the corners.
Daniel swallows hard, but shakes Ethan’s hand, Ethan’s skin tone only a few shades lighter than his own. “My name is Daniel and these are my friends…and family.”
“You all look like you’ve had a hard time of it. Have you been traveling long?”
I push my way past Daniel’s arm. “Two days.” I hold out my arm so he can see the leather bracelet Mary gave us. “Alan sent us.”
Ethan runs his thumb over the bracelet, frowning at the worn strips. “That explains a lot.” He looks right at me as if the others aren’t there. “When did you escape?”
We can’t hide who we are, and I don’t want to anymore.
“It’s been about a week.”
“A whole week?” Ethan whistles and his smile is back. “If the Cardinal hasn’t found you by now, you’re as good as safe.”
I nod and soak in the warmth filling me from the inside out. Safe. I can’t remember the last time that even felt like a possibility.
“Better head into the village then. You’re probably tired of sleeping on the ground, and I bet dinner is almost ready.”
Ethan turns and walks back in the direction he came from.
Daniel grabs my arm before I can take my first step and the others group around us. “Did that feel a little too easy to anyone else? Are you sure about this, Rebecca?”
No, I’m not. But I’ve stopped thinking any of us can ever be sure of anything. Ethan is far enough ahead that I can whisper without being heard. “If they treat us like Arbor Glen, we’ll be gone before the sun comes up. Until then, this is our best option.”
“Are you coming?” Ethan calls out from up ahead.
Daniel grabs my hand and wraps his fingers through mine. At least I can be sure of him.
Thirteen
The smell hits me first. Something spicy and rich floats in the evening air as the trees thin out, revealing the broken up roadway leading into town. If I squint, I can almost imagine we’re back at Arbor Glen. Same neglected road lined with buildings of various sizes. Same hustle of people walking about, finishing up whatever they’re doing before the meal.
Except this isn’t Arbor Glen. More weeds poke up between the cracked asphalt and the
buildings are more worn. Splintered wood and empty doorways are a common sight. There isn’t a fresh coat of paint in sight. Midway down the street, one building stands out. Warm yellow light flows out of the empty windows and joyful voices mingle with the rich aroma.
“Just in time for dinner.” Ethan stops by a lean-to shack and drops off his bow, not even checking to see if any of us go for it. So trusting. What kind of place is this?
Daniel meets my gaze and it’s clear he’s thinking the same thing I am. Ethan knows we came from the PIT. Alan and the others treated us like we were ticking time bombs that would destroy them any minute. Ethan acts like we’re the invited guests of honor.
He pushes open the door where all the noise is coming from. Inside is a whole new world.
Long wooden tables and benches line the deep hall. Warm light floods out of sconces placed along the walls and one huge chandelier hangs from the ceiling. Platters and kettles of food move around the room, everyone taking just enough to fill a plate before passing the food on down the row. Happy voices and laughter mix in the air with the rich aromas of cooked meat, vegetables, and fresh bread.
Several men and women at the front of the room turn, welcoming Ethan with a warm smile or wave. They nod to us and scoot down to make room at the table. A few people lift up off the bench to get a look at us and offer smiles, but no one looks worried by our presence. A woman scurries out of a back room and sets out plates, forks, and cups at the newly empty spots.
“Have a seat,” Ethan says, gesturing to the table. “The food should be down this way in a minute. I’ll be right back.”
Ethan moves deeper into the hall, pausing as he goes to share a word, smile, or pat on the back with the others sitting down for their meals. Several of those he passes look down our way, but all of them have smiles to share with us. In minutes, he disappears into the throng of people.
Rite of Revelation (Acceptance Book 2) Page 7