Sandstorm Box Set

by T. W. Piperbrook

  Pieces of waste.

  The door opened. Samel stood at the threshold, looking sheepish. “Are you done?”

  “I’m done, Sam,” he said.

  The joy returned to Samel’s face as he dashed back inside.

  “Hold on,” Raj said.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” Raj said. “I just want to stretch my legs. Why don’t we go outside?”

  Samel nodded, opening the door for his brother to pass through.

  Raj squinted and looked around. A woman scraped at a stubborn stain with a chamber pot stick. Another smoothed out her wrinkled bedding. Others neighbors gathered in talkative circles, glancing up at the cliffs. He couldn’t see much through the growing glare, but he didn’t see Amos.

  Another memory flitted back to him. This time it was a face.

  Turning to Samel, he asked, “Did Adriana come to visit me, while I was sick?”

  “She was here the other day, along with some others,” Samel said. “Amos and Helgid didn’t let many people in. You were too sick for visitors. But I told her I would let you know that she stopped by.”

  Raj nodded. His anger turned to warmth as he thought of her. He took a step in the direction of the adjacent alley.

  “Where are you going?” Samel asked, confused, as he ran after him with quick steps.

  “I should visit her,” he said.

  “Raj,” Samel protested, keeping up. “You shouldn’t be going anywhere. Helgid told me. And Amos said to watch over you.”

  “I’m fine,” Raj said, turning back to face his brother. “I’ve been cooped up for too long. I need a walk. In fact, I feel great.”

  “I’m coming with you,” Samel insisted. Raj didn’t argue, but he didn’t stop, as he kept on through the next alley, with Samel next to him.

  Another memory flickered through Raj’s mind. “You found me in the graveyard.”

  Samel nodded. “I thought you were dead. You were all hot and sweaty. You weren’t talking. I got some others to help me.”

  “Who were they?”

  “A girl named Bianca and her boyfriend Marco, and some Crop Supervisors. And the healer, of course.” Samel seemed upset as he relived those moments.

  “Was anyone else there?” Raj asked, thinking again of the sneering boys. Maybe they watched from a distance, wringing the last drop of joy out of his misery.

  “No, they were it,” Samel answered.

  Bending down, putting his hands on his brother’s shoulders, Raj said, “You’re a good brother.”

  “Really?” Samel beamed.

  “The best,” Raj said. “Can you do me a favor?”

  “What?” Samel asked, listening intently.

  “I was really hoping I could see Adriana alone. I’d like to talk to her in private. Would you mind running back to Helgid’s and waiting for me? I won’t be long, but I don’t want anyone to worry.”

  Samel furrowed his brow, conflicted. “I—”

  “I’ll be back before you know it,” Raj said. “Can you do that for me?”

  Samel looked into his brother’s eyes for a long moment. “Last time you left, you got hurt.”

  Raj squeezed his shoulders, fighting back the anger in his heart. “I won’t get hurt. I’m just going to chat with Adriana and be back.”

  Samel looked as if he wanted to argue. Worry crossed his face as he said, “Helgid will be upset if I let you go.”

  “She’d be even angrier if we both ran off.”

  Samel was even more indecisive.

  “Go back to Helgid’s and tell Amos where I am, so no one worries.”

  Samel watched him. “Promise you won’t get hurt?”

  “I promise, Sam.” Raj looked at him with a smile. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Chapter 47: Raj

  Raj headed off down the alley, peeking over his shoulder a few times to ensure Samel had gone. He walked with purpose. A few younger children whom he hadn’t seen in a while glanced at him. He kept past them without stopping, until all eyes were off him and he was alone, or at least, it felt that way, as he walked through the center of an alley with people who couldn’t care less about him.

  Raj swallowed back his unexpected tears.

  Neena was off, doing the heavens only knew what. And Helgid was probably reclaiming the only free time she’d had in days. He couldn’t blame them. They had lives and problems of their own.

  Walking through the colony, every child’s cry reminded him of the humiliation he’d endured, and the laughter of the kids holding him down. And Bailey was at the center of that humiliation—a sneering, ugly face. Raj and Samel were the orphan boys, and none of those kids ever let them forget it.

  Hatred coursed through Raj. The snickers and sneers of Bailey’s gang had filled too many of his hazy moments. His bruises would heal, but his pride would not.

  Adriana would never want a boy like him, who couldn’t hold on to a simple keepsake. She’d want a strong boy—a hunter man—who would cast off simple-minded bullies like Bailey.

  Raj was so enwrapped in his thoughts that he barely noticed more activity from The Watchers on the cliffs, as they filled the high ledges, waving their hands and skirting along the narrow paths. It wasn’t until he saw more people stopping to stare that he paid attention.

  More anger overcame him.

  Let them blow their horns.

  Let another storm come.

  It wouldn’t stop what he was about to do.

  Chapter 48: Samel

  Samel waited next to the dirty hovel, peeking around the edge. Instead of making good on his promise to return home, he crept out and continued after Raj. He kept a safe buffer zone, sticking far back enough that he blended with the other colonists, waiting for his brother to peek over his shoulder, catch him, and scold him.

  I don’t care, Samel thought. Let him catch me.

  Maybe that would give him another chance to convince his brother to come home.

  To his disappointment—or secret relief—Raj didn’t turn around, nor did he stop.

  A nervous feeling washed over Samel as he realized he’d broken Neena, Helgid, and Amos’s rules, but he was too guilty to leave his brother alone again. Samel could see the lies in Raj’s face. He thought Samel was too young to know the truth.

  Raj wasn’t going to Adriana’s.

  Whatever was happening, Samel wasn’t going to allow his brother to get hurt again.

  Chapter 49: Neena

  Neena closed her eyes, opened them, and closed them again. After most of a night spent of sneaking through the caves, trying several more exits, and finding them blocked, she, Darius, and Kai finally gave in to rest. They were exhausted. Their encounters with The Watchers had left them on edge, and too many close calls with bugs, bats, and lizards had frayed what was left of their nerves.

  Now they rested in a small section of cave through which they could crawl, through which Darius had led them. The smaller cave was about half the size of a hovel, with a ceiling that was just high enough to stand in. Rat bones littered the ground. One fresh carcass lay in the center of the cave, missing its head. Neena figured they had stumbled on a fox den. Their presence had scared off the wily beast, or so she hoped.

  Massaging her calves, Neena looked at her companions in the light of the low-burning torch. The light was enough to illuminate their surroundings, but hopefully not enough to draw attention to them.

  Kai slipped off his boot, nursing his wounded ankle.

  “I have a spare shirt in my bag,” Darius offered. “It might give you support.”

  Kai nodded his thanks, and Darius opened his bag and provided the shirt. Kai ripped a strip off and quietly fashioned a makeshift tourniquet around his red, swollen foot.

  Hobbling over to keep an eye on the entrance, Darius said, “I’ll keep watch around the corner.”

  Alone with Kai, Neena looked at him with sympathy.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Kai said, smiling
grimly. Neither needed to speak the obvious: getting out was starting to look more and more like a fool’s dream. “I’m sorry we ended up here.”

  “It was our decision to come into the caves,” Neena said.

  “But I’ve put you in this predicament.” Kai looked down at his ankle, guilt on his face. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be here.”

  Neena shook her head. “This wasn’t like the desert, or the jail. I made a choice.”

  Looking at her, Kai asked, “Do you regret it?”

  “No.” Neena shook her head resolutely. And she meant it.

  Her only regrets were her brothers, who were waiting at home, and her lies to Helgid. If the worst happened, her family might never know what happened to her. She might be the next in some deep, dark cave, rotting away. Neena closed her eyes again. She’d made the choice, and she’d live with the consequences.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “My family.”

  “They’re lucky to have you,” Kai said, with respect in his eyes.

  She opened her eyes and smiled grimly. “Sometimes I feel as if I have given them more worries than they need.”

  “I’m sure they appreciate everything you do for them,” he said, with a firm nod. His eyes filled with the same admiration she’d seen in the desert, when she’d fashioned the spear. It was a look she hadn’t seen often, but she could get used to it.

  She kept her smile, thinking of the quick embrace they’d shared after the ledge, or how she’d found his hand in the dark, when they fled into the dark chamber. She hadn’t had time to process those moments. She wondered if she’d ever get the chance.

  She looked over at Darius, who walked back, scratching his chin.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  Darius nodded and opened his eyes. “I’m thinking about the last time I ran so fast in these caves.”

  “When was that?” she asked.

  “I was in my twenties, I think,” he said. “I saw the biggest lizard I’d ever seen. It looked as if it had eaten a cave’s worth of bugs.”

  A small smile returned to Neena’s mouth. “What are we going to do?”

  “I’ve been thinking about that the whole time,” Darius said. “We’ve tried almost all of the exits of which I’m aware, through this section of caves. Other than returning to the ledge, I can only think of one more we haven’t tried.”

  Neena felt a stab of returning fear. None of them wanted to return to that dark, oppressive chamber. “Where is this last exit?”

  “It comes out on the southeastern side of the colony, near the river,” Darius said. “My guess is that it will be heavily guarded, and not worth the effort.” A thought crossed his face. “Of course, if we were able to get out there, it might allow us the easiest access to slip back to the colony. Who knows? Maybe The Watchers won’t guard it as heavily, thinking we wouldn’t be stupid enough to try it.”

  Neena chewed on that thought for a moment. The idea of getting back to Red Rock was tempting, until she remembered Kai, and looked over at him. His markings were symmetrical shadows in the flickering torchlights. Of course, he couldn’t come back with them.

  She had only just realized she didn’t hate him, and now he might be leaving again.

  Before Neena could put up an argument, Kai said, “It sounds like a good idea.” His face was firm, resolved. “Let’s try it.”

  Chapter 50: Raj

  Raj looked around at the houses closest to the river. He had always envied the people living in this area. Their backs didn’t hurt as badly when they carried their buckets.

  Of course, they didn’t.

  Thinking of Bailey’s conveniences added to his hatred for the boy. Raj’s anger was a stoked fire, burning in his belly. He kept a vision of Bailey in his head as he walked. Looking left through an adjacent alley, he noticed a slew of Watchers gathered at the base of the cliffs. At least they weren’t after him, at the moment. A few families passed by him, going the opposite way. He forced his attention back to his mission, focusing on reaching the house where he’d seen Bailey return after his trips to the river.

  Raj clenched his fists, digging his nails into the skin.

  He gritted his teeth.

  If he didn’t find Bailey, he didn’t know what he’d do.

  He wanted to settle this now.

  Approaching a hovel with laundry hanging outside, he peered around the edges, thinking he’d find Bailey lying in wait. The idea was foolish. Bailey had no idea he was coming.

  Or did he?

  For all Raj knew, he’d been sitting vigil outside his house, snickering with his friends, watching him. New anger inspired him as he dipped around the laundry, looking around the hovel’s back. Nothing. He listened for voices through the wall, but heard only quiet. Bailey and his family were out.

  Raj stalked past the hovel and to the front of the alley, looking back and forth. For a moment, he considered heading to the river, until he saw a flow of people headed north. The word ‘meeting’ floated from someone’s tongue.

  Was there a gathering he didn’t know about?

  Following them, he kept a careful eye out for Bailey. Several times, he saw someone with the same gait, or of a similar height. None were the boy he sought.

  He swallowed as he considered that everyone was heading to the same place. He couldn’t attack Bailey in a crowd.

  His plan might die before it started.

  Frustrations.

  He looked around. Most of the houses seemed locked up and empty. Failure struck him until he saw a familiar face among the crowd, dipping in and out of some smaller groups.

  Bailey.

  It looked like the boy was trying to get ahead. Or perhaps he was trying to find his family. In any case, maybe the meeting would be an opportunity to get him away, and alone. Raj swallowed, digging his nails into his palm and heading after him. A last, dawdling woman locked up her house, walking swiftly toward the back of the leaving crowd. Raj glanced left and right, but he didn’t see anyone else.

  Raj snuck next to the closest house. In a loud, urgent voice, he cried, “Bailey!”

  He ducked behind the nearest empty house.

  Raj stooped down a moment, waiting several moments before peering around the side of the hovel. Bailey spun in the center of the alley, searching. A few other people glanced over their shoulders, but no one stopped.

  Waiting until he was looking in the other direction, Raj called again, “Bailey!”

  He cupped his hands around his mouth, projecting his voice and disguising it. Peering around again, he saw Bailey coming in his direction, confused.

  Raj steeled his nerves as the moment he had waited for approached.

  Looking at his bare hands, he prepared himself for a fight he might not win.

  Chapter 51: Gideon

  “Did you call the meeting?” Gideon asked Wyatt, looking at the nervous man next to him.

  “I did.” Wyatt’s face was unusually pale, as he followed Gideon’s gaze from the tithing houses to the cliffs. “The other Heads of Colony and some Watchers are spreading the word. We didn’t find the girl, but we are still looking.”

  “I think it is best we get the people involved now,” Gideon said. “Hopefully their alertness will be something we can use.”

  Gideon nodded. Wyatt was his right-hand man, his most trusted ally. He was glad he stood next to him now to reinforce his opinions.

  They stared up at the high, craggy ledges on the eastern formation. All along them, Watchers guarded the openings of the cliffs, or walked the narrow paths, holding their spears. To his left and north, in the desert, several handfuls of Watchers combed the desert, searching between the tall spires, disappearing and reappearing.

  More and more, Gideon’s fears had turned to dread. Maybe the escaped people were holed up in a Red Rock hovel. Or maybe they conspired with others and were planning an attack.

  In any case, he hoped he’d made the right choice.

  Turnin
g to Wyatt, he said, “A thousand pairs of eyes will search better than our few hundred. We’ll tell the colonists that anyone who sees something will be rewarded.”

  “I think it is our best option,” Wyatt reaffirmed.

  Chapter 52: Helgid

  Helgid passed the last row of hovels on a section of the colony’s eastern side, looking across the gap of sand. Her heart beat a frantic rhythm.

  With each step she didn’t find Neena, her deepest fears grew.

  She couldn’t help the thought that Neena was involved in whatever was happening.

  She’d already checked by the river, at Neena’s house, and near the graveyard. In none of those places had she found her friend. Now, it seemed as if the entire colony was heading away for some reason. What was going on?

  Noticing a middle-aged woman leaving her hovel, she asked, “What’s happening?”

  “The Heads of Colony called a meeting,” the woman answered. “The Watchers told everyone to spread the word.”

  “Meeting?” Helgid was confused.

  “Gideon’s men are setting up the podium. Everyone should head there now.”

  Looking past the woman, she saw more people heading north. Before she could ask another question, the woman headed away, joining the flow of others.

  With nothing left to do, Helgid headed in the same direction.

  Chapter 53: Raj

  Raj looked around. His heart thudded against his chest. None of his thoughts of revenge had included anything other than his fists. Bailey was older, taller, and had been in more scuffles than he had.

  Of course, he had.

  Frantically, he looked around the side of the house for a weapon, finding nothing except for a few small rocks. None were large enough to do anything other than annoy a rat. His eyes settled on a chamber pot.

  Sticking from the inside was a long, filthy stick.

  Raj dashed for the stick and pried it out. Paying no attention to the liquid dripping off of the end, he huddled at the side of the house, waiting. With just a moment before his confrontation, Raj swallowed and looked around, certain that he’d find a neighbor watching, ready to put a stop to his ill-fated revenge, but he saw no one.