‘Leon, I need to talk to you,’ Noland said rushing back. Leon nodded and turned. He gestured to the fly man that stood nearby.
‘Watch her for a minute,’ he ordered. The man nodded and came to stand next to me. ‘Hope, in answer to your question, we only did it to get their attention. We never actually meant to kill anyone. Sandor promised…’ His words were cut short when Noland grabbed his arm and pulled him away. They stood off to one side of the fire. Noland was calm and collected, while Leon was gesticulating madly.
‘He’s a good leader,’ the fly man guarding me said.
‘He’s the leader of you all?’ I could see the sunlight glistening against his wings. Rainbows bounced from them.
‘Yes, of course. He has been since we became rebels ten years ago.’
Wow, Leon was not what I expected at all. This was not the same man we had captured and tried to interrogate.
‘How did he become leader?’ I asked.
‘He declared that we didn’t deserve to be treated so unfairly. We agreed and followed him out of Lower Side.’ He shrugged.
‘And Noland? I heard he killed Artie’s parents,’ I asked, looking over at the pair as they spoke.
‘It was an accident, he didn’t mean to.’
‘How can you not mean to?’ I looked at the man and watched his wings flick a few times.
‘He was on a mission for Artie. He’d been his best warrior up until then. Artie had asked him to investigate a rebel bomb but Noland wasn’t able to disconnect it in time and it went off. Artie’s parents were in the building. Noland managed to get some people out first, but not them.’
Artie blamed Noland for the bomb going off? That didn’t exactly seem fair considering Noland was trying to save them all. I looked at Noland and his gaze met mine. That half grin was thrown back at me before he turned back to Leon.
‘Hardly seems fair,’ I muttered. I didn’t want to be dis-loyal to Artie but I was struggling with the secrets he kept from me about my mother.
‘Hope,’ Leon called before my companion could respond, ‘I want to show you where you’ll be sleeping. Follow me.’
Chapter Three
Three days went by and I slowly got used to how they lived in the wilderness. Everyone was extremely friendly. It was an unusual feeling. I was greeted by everyone when Noland or Leon walked me through the camp. They’d not tied me up, but they had put a guard outside my tent.
‘I need to bathe,’ I said quietly to Leon when he came to get me on the third evening for dinner. He sighed and looked around us. Lots of people were gathering in the centre of the village.
‘Okay, after dinner Noland will take you,’ he said, gesturing for me to sit on the wooden bench. I swallowed hard. I’d tried to avoid being around Noland. For some reason, I felt that he was the only one who might be able to tell what I was.
‘Here,’ Noland’s deep voice had me looking up into amused grey eyes. He’s been standing right beside us. He was holding out a bowl of soup and a chunk of bread. I was amazed by how much food they had here. I took it and smiled my thanks. I really wanted to feel clean, so I ignored the trembling in my hands.
‘Hope, we need to talk,’ Leon said. He had taken the other bowl that Noland had offered and was staring straight ahead. The sun had got low and was no longer shining into the camp.
‘Are you letting me go?’ I looked at him, but he wouldn’t make eye contact. He shook his head as he chewed on a piece of bread. The soup was hot. It was vegetable. I’d not seen any vegetables anywhere and was curious where they got them from. We couldn’t grow anything on the Lower Side and the wilderness didn’t exactly look like it could grow any crops either. I’d seen the pictures in books of flourishing fields and gorgeous fruit trees. The Perfects must have a secret place to grow. I’d been told that they had an abundance of fresh food on the Upper Side.
‘I’m sorry, no. I’ve been talking to my team and we’ve decided to send a ransom note to the government.’
My jaw dropped open. Luckily, I’d finished my food. The winged kids ran around us for a moment, their laughter sinking into me.
‘I thought you said that you were trying to make peace?’
I couldn’t see that the government would be bothered with paying a ransom for me. I wasn’t that important to them.
‘Peace making is a strategy. I know you’ve worked for Artie for a while so you know the deal. We can’t go quietly to the Perfects and expect them to just accept us and treat us fairly. They’re the ones who created Lower Side and the divide between us in the first place. A long time ago, there was no such thing. We all lived together without judgement. We need to play this game.’ Leon glanced at me and I could see the hardness in his eyes. Not hardness of uncaring, but determination to do this right.
‘So where do I come in?’ I asked.
‘I want to ransom you for an extra seat on Sandor’s trial,’ he said, handing his bowl to a woman who I’d been told was his sister. She smiled at me as she took my bowl. I tried to smile back but my arm was vibrating. I concentrated on keeping my wings in my back and my good arm in my shoulder. No one had stared at me here. My lack of arm was quite normal to them.
‘Are you okay?’ Noland whispered next to me. He’d sat down as I’d been concentrating on keeping my wings in. I nodded.
‘Who will be the extra person on the jury?’ I already knew the answer.
‘Me, of course,’ Leon said, standing and brushing crumbs from his trousers, ‘Noland, please could you take Hope to the bathing room. No one else must be in there. Sorry, Hope, that’s as much privacy as I can give you. Noland will not look at you.’ He glared at his friend as he said the last sentence. Great, I was going to have to clean myself with the most gorgeous looking man in the entire village standing nearby. I stood as my guard did and followed him through the tents. People were beginning to wind down for the day. Some sat around their fires, eating. Some were playing instruments and others were lying back looking up at the newly appearing stars.
‘Wait!’ a female voice called from behind. I turned to see Leon’s sister coming after us. She had a bundle of cloth in her hands. ‘Here is a towel to dry yourself and some clean clothes. I’m sorry I can’t come with you. Leon doesn’t trust that I’d be able to keep you here.’
She was very sweet as she said goodbye and walked away. I followed Noland to the gap in the mountain walls. He ducked through but before I could think about turning and running off, his hand came through the gap, grabbed my cast and pulled me inside. There were candles littered everywhere. They were in groves of the rocky walls. They were on the floor and in the ceiling. They made dancing patterns on the water below. There was a little area to the side where people probably got changed. In the centre of the cave, there was big pool of steaming water. It was clean and looked more inviting than anything I’d ever seen.
‘It’s a natural hot spring. Go ahead,’ Noland said. His deep voice was near my ear and I jumped away from him. An image of my old friend Nicole came into my mind.
‘Does Nicole know that you’re a rebel?’ I asked, stepping away from him and raising my eyebrows. He took the bundle from me, unwrapped it and laid the towel on the side of the pool. He shot me a grin and turned away to face the wall. I spun away from him and tugged my clothes off. It was harder with my arm in the cast, but I wasn’t missing this opportunity. The water looked gorgeous and at that point I wouldn’t have cared if Noland saw me naked. I hurried into the water and ducked down. I had to hold my arm above my head so the cast didn’t get wet.
‘Wow, this is so nice,’ I said, sighing. A splash had me turning around and gasping. Noland was walking into the pool and he was completely naked. His bare chest was ridged and glistening in the candle-light. His hips were sharp and toned and led to a place where I did not need to look. I spun away from him and made my way to the furthest part of the pool.
‘I’m not sure this is what Leon meant,’ I stuttered, turning when I felt he would be safely under wat
er. He was inches away from me. I felt the warmth of the water start to travel up every part of my body as his grey eyes, shadowed in the candlelight, tried to make eye contact with me.
‘Stop it!’ I pushed some water at him and he laughed. It was a deep vibration that travelled up my spine. I couldn’t help but shiver. He stopped moving towards me and bowed his head.
‘Sorry, it’s a habit. How long do you have to have the cast on for?’ He stayed where he was. It was far away enough for me to not be able to see him in the dark water. I wasn’t ashamed of my body or worried about seeing his, but images of Jason kept coming to me. I swallowed and ducked underwater. When I came back up, he was very slightly nearer to me.
‘Not long, it was only a minor break. I think you’re clean enough now,’ I whispered. He was moving towards me slowly and there was nothing I could do. He reached forward, pushed his fingers into my hair and cupped the back of my head. I couldn’t do a thing as his grey eyes and red lips came towards me.
PTO FOR A SURPRISE!
Avoidables Serial Two is Here!
The camp was set out well. It was a shame I’d have to destroy it. I stood on the edge of the red mountain top, looking down at the rebel’s base. I’d been looking for them for three days. When Leon and Hope had gone missing, Artie had admitted defeat. He tried to forbid me from coming after Hope, but he’d soon changed his mind…
Find Purple’s War at www.rachelmedhurst.com
Dear Reader,
Thank you for reading Avoidables. Hope comes from a place where people are discriminated against for the way they look. Much like our world today. When I started this series, I never realised how much it would teach me.
As a writer I’m always as shocked as my readers by what happens in my stories. I love sharing the world I created with you and I hope you’ll not only join me in the next episode, but share Hope with others too.
The first series of Avoidables is completely free. It consists of five episodes that will be delivered to your inbox once a week. If you do enjoy Avoidables, please support me by leaving reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
From a writer to a reader, thank you. I love you.
Rachel Medhurst
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Have You Ever Wondered What Happens When You Die?
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Out Now!
Copyright © 2014 by Rachel Medhurst
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Author
Rachel Medhurst writes fiction that appeals to young adults and adults. She wants to bring hope, excitement and feeling through her work. An avid reader herself, she loves to get lost in a book. There's no point in trying to get her to do anything else when she's lost in reading. Writing is Rachel's passion. She's been writing for many years and finally took the plunge in getting her work out there. To keep up to date on new releases please check out her website.
www.rachelmedhurst.com
Avoidables S1 Complete Page 8