Eric scrunches his face in concentration, and then slowly shakes his head back and forth. “I can’t give you any particular reason why, but…”
“There’s something there, right? Something about him just feels off.”
“Yeah, maybe I should keep an eye on him while you’re gone.”
I jump up from the chair. “That’s actually a really good idea. Wait here.”
Eric calls after me as I dash to the door, “I can’t go anywhere else.”
There isn’t anyone in the hallway, and I need it to stay that way for a while. I poke my head into several doors, but none of the empty rooms have what I need. I’ll have to go to the source.
Down the hall, the same nurse from when I came in is sitting at the entrance desk.
“Hi, I’m with Eric, down the hall.” I point in the general direction of his room. “He’s really thirsty. I was wondering if you could get us a pitcher of water.”
She jumps up from her chair. “Sure thing, sweetie. Just let me check with Doctor Greg to make sure he can have the extra fluid.”
“Great, thank you,” I call to her back as she enters a room behind her desk. Acting fast, I race behind the desk and pull out drawer after drawer until I find what I’m looking for. A Noteboard, buried underneath a stack of paper. I pull it out, glide the drawer shut without a sound and rush back down the hall to Eric’s room.
I push through the door and race over to his bed, just shoving the Noteboard under the mattress as the nurse walks back in with a pitcher of water. “Glad to hear you’re feeling up for some liquids.” She pours him a small glass and hands it over. “Just take it slow so you don’t irritate your stomach. I’ll see what I can do about getting you some dinner, too.”
To his credit, Eric rolls with it, simply thanking the nurse and taking a sip of water for good measure. She pats his good leg and moves back into the hall, leaving the door open.
The second she’s out of sight, I rush over and close the door all the way.
“What in the world is going on, Rebecca?”
“I had to borrow a Noteboard from the nurse’s station.” I pull the tablet out from underneath the mattress. “You’ve got a mission.”
Eric pushes himself up until he’s halfway sitting in the bed. “I’m listening.”
I turn the Noteboard over and pop open the compartment the way Daniel showed me. “I need someone to keep tabs on John David while I’m gone, and here you are, a man I trust completely, stuck right where he’s going to be.” I dig into my pocket and pull out one of Daniel’s chips, setting it in the right spot and closing everything up.
I hand the Noteboard over, and Eric slides it under his pillow. “Before we leave, I’ll ask John David to check on you daily while we’re gone. And when he comes, I need you to be my eyes and ears. Anything fishy, you let me know.”
John David has been accommodating so far, but I’m not prepared to trust anyone who hasn’t stood and fought beside me.
The door opens, and the nurse bustles in with a meal tray. “Dinner time.” She sets the tray down on a small table near Eric’s bed. “You’d better get over to the dining hall, dear, or you’ll miss dinner yourself.”
I shoot Eric a meaningful look and back up toward the door. “I’ll see you later, Eric. Be a good patient while we’re gone.”
Eric nods. “You can trust me.”
Nineteen
I open my eyes to Ethan’s knee caps.
“Oh, good. You’re awake.” Ethan stands up from his spot on the bed next to mine and walks over to his own bed. “John David is waiting for us in the dining hall.”
Heavy fingers rub at my eyes in an attempt to coax them into staying open. My head pounds from a headache that feels as if tiny woodpeckers are fighting their way out of my brain through my eye sockets. A quick hand through my hair suggests I look about as good as I feel this morning. I grab the cup of water from last night’s dinner and drain it so fast little rivulets leak at the corners of my lips.
My clothes are wrinkled and covered in dirt. I slept in the same ones I wore while we traipsed through the forest all night. Dust flies off my sleeve when I pat the arms.
“I’m going to step outside and give you a few minutes to change. John David said to pack what we have in case we don’t come back here.” Ethan steps outside the warped wooden door, and I’m alone for the first time in what feels like forever.
What I really want is to crawl back under my thin blankets and pretend like this is someone else’s problem. I’ll just cover my head and pretend everyone I love is alive and well.
But the Cardinal is beating down our door, and every time I turn around I lose someone else who’s managed to worm their way into my heart. I toss my dirty clothes onto the floor and throw on my one remaining outfit that someone was kind enough to wash for me. There’s nothing else to pack, except my Noteboard and the chips. I throw them into the bag I have left and leave without even a little bit of sadness that I might not come back here.
I join Ethan outside and we walk in silence to the dining hall. The early morning light is just beginning to burn away the haze of another cold night, and the streets are mostly empty. I slept all day and all night, but my body still trudges with each step as if I didn’t sleep at all.
Ethan pushes open the door, and we walk straight to where John David sits with Daniel and Elizabeth at one of the large round tables. Michael emerges a minute later, holding a tray loaded with a variety of breakfast foods, including juice.
I’m not hungry, but who knows how long it’ll be before we get another meal like this. The four of us silently dig in, splitting up the eggs and warm biscuits.
John David sits down and gives us a minute of silence to eat. It doesn’t last.
“We received word from one of our riders last night. Longview was attacked within the last few days.”
I stop chewing and the warm bread in my mouth turns to mush.
“From what we know, there were only a few casualties, but the entire village was torched.”
The food in my stomach threatens to make a return visit. I push away my plate and put my elbows on the table so I can rest my head in my hands.
“Where will they go?” Ethan’s voice is choked with emotion. He must be reliving our own Cardinal attack. It seems so long ago, but it’s barely been a month.
“They’ll split up. Just like Allmore did. They might reform in another location, but Whitney is old. She’s served for a long time. It’s the next generation’s turn now.”
“He’s getting bolder.” I can sense them all staring at me, though my eyes are shut tight against the images from Arbor Glen that refuse to blink away.
“That’s why you need to get to Mexico now. It’s only a matter of time before they find the rest of the villages, and then there’ll be nowhere for the Freemen to go.”
I lift my head up because I can’t pretend that this isn’t happening. “You need to send your riders out now. They need to warn every village they can about what’s happening. They need to keep watch, to prepare.” I clench my teeth until my jaw hurts. “They need to stop sitting on the sidelines and join us.”
“I’ll get my riders out immediately.”
I dig into my bag and pull out the collection of chips Daniel gave me. “Give them these, but keep one for yourself. This is how we’ll be able to stay in communication.”
John David takes the chips, and Daniel shows him how to insert it into the Noteboard. “And this blocks the Cardinal? Are you sure?”
“I learned everything I know from my father.”
Elizabeth gives my hand a squeeze while John David nods.
John David hands me a thick envelope. “Inside is the full write up for the invasion strategy. President Tiroso shouldn’t have any problems.” His fingers drum along the table. “I wish I could send someone with you, but we’ve got so much to do here. Plus, Tiroso made it clear last time we tried to meet with him that Michael and I are not welcome. I’m sure you ca
n manage passing along the information.”
I stand up, and the others follow suit. There’s really not anything else to talk about, and we don’t have a minute to spare for small talk. With Phillip’s transporter lost to the Cardinal, it’s going to be a long ride to Mexico. “How long is the trip by horseback?”
“A week at least, but we can get you there faster.” John David stands and walks to the front door. “Come and see.”
We walk through the village and pass a few early morning risers. John David stops to talk to a woman with brown hair curlier than my own. He gestures wildly with his cane and whispers directly into her ear. After a short back-and-forth she nods and he hands her the bag of chips I just gave him. She must be the Pony Express coordinator. In another day and time, I’d follow her back to her office and pick her ear about all things trade. But today, she walks away, and I follow John David to the edge of the village.
We walk right up to the barn where Henry met us our first day here and saw us off the other night. John David slides the big door back. The shaft of sunlight hits Henry, sitting on a beat up chair with his boots flung up on a table and an old printed book in his hands. He sets it down and jumps up to greet us as we move inside.
“Henry, we don’t have time for niceties today. We need the rover.”
Henry sticks his big hands into the pockets of his overall pants. “I told you, JD, it’s not been tested yet.”
“Well, it’s about to be.” John David points at the lump of something covered in old canvas tarps. “We don’t have time for horses today.”
Henry looks us over, and I wish I knew what he saw. Four teenagers, standing in his barn with nothing more than a few small bags to our names. None of us have had a proper bath in way too long, and if I only look half as bad as I feel, I must look like death warmed over, served on a pile of steaming manure. Whatever he sees, Henry nods and walks over to the covered lump.
He pulls down the canvas tarp to reveal an impersonation of a transporter.
“I didn’t have any plans or schematics, and it’s not like I could dismantle Phillip’s transporter in order to get a close look at the inside. But I did the best I could in copying his machine. It’s not too bad if I say so myself.”
Phillip’s machine was like a work of art, all sleek lines and polished metal. Henry’s looks designed by an over imaginative elementary student. Not a single foot of plating matches the one next to it, and the only window is a tiny port in the front, which looks more like a beak than a slick capsule.
“Will she fly?” Ethan is already investigating every square inch, running his fingers along all the welding joints and peering into the tiny window.
“It won’t be as smooth of a ride as you’d want for a trip to Mexico, but I’m pretty sure she can get you there. I’m somewhat confident she can get you back.”
Henry’s words are punctuated by a smile, but I don’t have it in me to meet him halfway. My body doesn’t have the capacity for false emotions today.
“Let’s get going then.” John David shrugs at the rover. “Henry, show them how she works.”
Henry pops open the door, and we all climb in so Henry can walk us through the control panel, various gears, and a steering mechanism. It doesn’t sound complicated, but I’m guessing there’s a lot more to it than Henry can give in a quick five-minute tutorial.
We climb back out just as the girl from earlier walks in with a good sized box.
“Oh, perfect. Thank you, Samantha.” John David takes the box, and the girl leaves again without another word. He hands it to Henry like they’re playing a game of hot potato. “Can you store this in the cargo bin?”
Henry takes the box and lifts a compartment on the back of the rover where he pops it inside.
“We don’t have much that will keep, but I had Samantha put together some food and water. It should last for several days. Hopefully you’ll have enough to get you there and back no problem.”
The six of us stand in a little circle staring at each other, none of us entirely sure what to do next. The moment feels like it calls for a speech, but I’m fresh out of words, and John David isn’t much for pep talks.
I pull the strap of my bag tighter around me and place my hand in the middle of our circle, the way the arena teams do before a big game. “No one dies.” Ethan puts his hand on top of mine, followed by Elizabeth and finally Daniel. “No one dies.”
My hand is warm under the others, but I pull it back to break up the world’s most awkward pep rally. Cheryl might keel over and die if she could see the way I was butchering this send off. But she’s not here. Hopefully she stays tucked away in the safety of her own home until all of this is over. Because too many people have died already.
The four of us pile into the ship.
“Hey, Rebecca.” I turn at John David’s words just in time to see a tiny piece of metal arc in the air right at me. I grab at it and open my hand to reveal one of Daniel’s chips. “For Mexico. Good luck.”
I turn again and slump into the rover while Ethan and Daniel fire up the engines. We lift off by a few feet and head toward the barn doors. We tip a bit to the left, and Ethan over-corrects, sending us floating to the right where John David and Henry are standing. Ethan slams the controller down, and we hit the ground as our audience scrambles to safety.
“Deep breath.” I pat his shoulder. “You’ve got this.”
Ethan lifts up and manages to clear the barn doors without hitting anything. Once outside, he lifts us straight up until we’re higher than the barn. Below, John David and Henry stare up at us, waving. They can’t see us, but I wave back anyway.
Elizabeth leans over the front seat and maps out the route on the clunky navigation system. “Alright. Let’s get to Mexico.”
Twenty
The sudden drop wakes me from a dream that I can almost remember, but hangs just out of reach. The night is pitch black outside our small viewing window. I lean forward to peer out the window, but with the engine turned off and no lights, there’s nothing to see.
“What are we doing?”
“We’re at the border.” Daniel leans down to whisper in my ear. “Ethan had to shut us down because we have no idea if anyone is guarding this crossing or not.”
“My money is on not.” Elizabeth’s voice is a quiet whisper from the front seat, and the rustling of clothing suggests she turned to face us, but all I can see are dark shadows. “From what you’ve said, the Cardinal probably has every available guard out there searching for Freemen villages. There wouldn’t be enough left to man the borders properly.”
“Unless he’s recruited more guards in order to make sure Rebecca doesn’t escape down into Mexico.” Daniel argues back, but I can tell it’s more from fear than conviction.
“Ethan, how far is the capital from the border?”
“From what we think we know, it’s another fifty or sixty miles.”
I grunt in acknowledgment. If we take the transporter across and there are guards there, we’ll be captured for sure and all our plans are sunk. If we walk, there’s a much lower chance of being spotted out there in the darkness. But that long of a walk would add more time than we have to a journey that’s already overdue. There might not be any villages left to save by the time we get there. That’s a big risk on the off chance that the border is being guarded at this exact spot.
“I think we have to go for it in the transporter.” I turn toward Daniel as he tenses beside me. “If we walk it, we risk the guards finding even more villages. We can’t risk it.”
“We can’t risk you.”
“And what if the next village he finds is where Liam is staying with little Nellie? Or where Thomas and Constance are? The time for being cautious is over.”
“Oh, watch out Cardinal.” Elizabeth turns back around, and Ethan turns the engine back on. “Rebecca is on the warpath now.”
Daniel squeezes my hand as Ethan edges us up a few feet, but stays in the cover of the trees. The contact is more
instinct than anything else, but I soak up the warmth of Daniel’s hand in mine. Going slower than I thought possible, Ethan moves around the trees as they grow thinner and the border draws into view.
There isn’t much to it. An old metal fence that looks less effective than the ones at the PIT. There aren’t even any signs, though I can’t imagine what they would say. “Hey you, you can’t leave,” or “Now entering Mexico,” as if there would be some confusion as to which country is directly to our south. No one is supposed to be out here anyway.
Ethan cuts out the leading lights at the front of the vehicle, and we’re left with a thin strip of running lights on the outside and the dim glow of the instrument panel. He pushes us out past the last line of trees and waits while we all hold our breath.
If anyone is out here, we’re completely exposed with nowhere to run and hide. I count to ninety-five in my head before Ethan takes us out farther, traveling at the pace of an injured dog. No one says a word, but every eye is glued to our tiny window, hoping the view stays clear right up to the fence.
Daniel grabs my hand tightly in his as we creep across the barren landscape. Getting closer to the dilapidated fence, Ethan edges the rover up at an angle. It exposes us more, but gives us a more direct route to cross the fence and into a bit of safety. Every foot we climb sends my heart rate soaring to another level. In front of me, Elizabeth can’t sit still. She leans forward in her seat until her forehead is practically touching the glass of the window. Her head swivels from one end of our limited view to the other.
“There.” Ethan points out the window by his side of the rover, and all four of us crowd over to the side, forcing Ethan to adjust the controls to keep us level.
“Guards?” I strain my eyes to see anything in the inky darkness surrounding us. “Where are they?”
“No.” Ethan glides us over the top of the fence and picks up speed. “People.”
Rite of Redemption (Acceptance Book 3) Page 13