by L. S. O'Dea
HUGH SEARCHED FOR a Guard or House Servant to accompany him, but the camp was mostly empty. There were a few stragglers but they were all exhausted from searching or being on patrol. It ate at him to have to wait but he was a liability in the forest by himself.
A black shadow darted through the tree line near the perimeter of camp by Trinity’s tent. If they were attacked now, they’d lose. Jackson should’ve never sent so many to look for her, but he understood. He’d have done the same thing. He drew his knife and made his way toward the tent. He searched the nearby woods but there was nothing and no one around. As he sheathed his weapon, a leaf drifted down in front of his face. It was green and healthy. He looked up. Say sat high on a branch, watching him.
“Hey! Do you know where Trinity is?”
Say, silent as always, jumped to a branch on another tree.
“Thanks a lot you little ingrate.” Figures. The little Servant followed her around like a shadow and yet when they needed him he couldn’t or wouldn’t help. He turned, heading back toward camp when something hit him in the back. He spun around. A large stone lay on the ground at his feet. Another rock hit him in the chest. Say stood at the edge of the forest, hand up ready to throw again.
“Stop that. What do you want?” He rubbed his chest. That rock had hurt.
The Servant made a slight movement with his head and then darted into the forest. Apparently, he was supposed to follow the little creep, or at least that was what he thought Say wanted.
“You know, you could’ve asked me to go with you instead of hitting me with rocks.” He still didn’t trust Say. There was something off about the kid, but the Servant was devoted to Trinity. He shouldn’t go alone, but if Say knew what happened to Trinity he couldn’t wait. He jogged after the House Servant. “I hope I’m not going to regret this.”
They traveled for hours, Say zipping through the forest and him struggling to keep up. Every time he lost the Servant, he’d stop and within a few minutes Say would return, usually hitting him with something to get his attention. He was pretty sure his lack of speed was annoying the creep, but it couldn’t possibly bother Say more than it did him.
Say stopped at the edge of the forest.
“Is she around here?” If she were in this area, she must be hurt. Otherwise she’d have gone back to camp.
Say pointed toward the river.
His heartbeat slowed to a thud. She couldn’t be in the river. “Did a River-Man...”
Say hissed at him and pointed at the river. He looked closer and in the clearing near the water was an area that looked heavily trampled. Leaving the safety of the forest was dangerous. Say was friends with Ray and Meesus. If she’d found out he’d left, she wouldn’t be happy. He looked behind him. Say waited in the tree line, pointing toward the river and hissing.
“All right. I’m going.” He carefully made his way toward the disturbed earth, glancing around to make sure nothing was coming after him from the forest. He stopped in the clearing. There was a large, dark stain on the ground. He knelt and examined the dirt. It was blood, a lot of blood and there were a ton of footprints. Something bad had happened here. He fought against the image of her injured and bleeding, alone and helpless. It was a lot of blood. She was small. She’d never recover from losing that much, but it may not be hers. Travis had been with her. He was large. He could lose that much blood and still live. He scooped up some of the dirt. The only way he’d know if it were hers was to test it at the lab. He stood. It wasn’t hers. It couldn’t be, but if they didn’t find her soon, he’d go back to the lab and find out for sure.
“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”
He whirled around, dropping the dirt as he unsheathed his knife. Gaar stood several feet away, holding a canoe.
His breath came out in a whoosh. He hadn’t heard the Handler approach. “I’m not alone.” He glanced at where he’d left Say but the Servant was gone. “At least I wasn’t.”
“Who beat you up?” Gaar walked to the river and dropped the canoe onto the water.
“No one.” At Gaar’s raised eyebrow he explained, “No one important.” Jethro wasn’t important. The kid was an ass. “Do you have any idea what happened?” He pointed to the blood. If Gaar was here, the blood could belong to Mirra or one of her victims.
“Not really.” Gaar climbed into the boat. “There were too many tracks by the time I arrived. Most belong to Guards. I followed the trail of blood from deep in the forest.” His black eyes shimmered. “It’s Mirra’s.”
He held his breath, wanting to sigh in relief but that’d be cruel. “Is she...”
“She’s alive.” Gaar touched his heart. “I can feel her.”
“Where is she?” He walked to the canoe.
“The witch has her.”
“Who?”
“The Forest Witch.” Gaar nodded his head. “Climb aboard and you can meet her.”
“Do you think Trinity is there too?” He glanced behind him again, but the little creep had abandoned him.
“Yeah. She’d been with Mirra deep in the brush. She did a good job hiding most of her tracks but it’s hard to hide signs of a large, male Producer.”
“Travis was with her too.” He climbed into the canoe. “Do you think the Guards found them?”
“Nah.” Gaar started rowing. “Like I said, she’s good at covering her trail but I’m good at finding things that are hidden. Guards? Not so much. Plus, they’d never know to look to the islands. That’s one of the secrets I uncovered years ago.”
“This Forest Witch knows these secrets too?” He didn’t believe in magic but he didn’t like anyone who used the title of witch. They had to be unbalanced to assume they had special powers.
“Unfortunately, yes. She knows a lot of secrets and lies.”
“You know her well?”
“We go back many years. She’s annoying and usually harmless, but she can be obstinate. She believes in things that are never going to happen.”
“Does she live alone?” He was glad he had Gaar with him.
“Nope. She has quite a few followers and before you ask, they’re from all classes.”
“Great. A crazy woman who thinks she’s a witch with a group of crazies from the other classes. This is going to be fun.” Almost as much fun as going through the sewers. Too bad Tim wasn’t here.
“She’s not crazy.”
“She thinks she’s a witch.”
“She doesn’t think she’s a witch.” Gaar glanced at him. “She is a witch. Was born that way just like the others before her.”
“There’s no such—”
“Still judging with your Almighty beliefs.” Gaar shook his head. “With everything you’ve seen in this forest you—”
“Every creature out here...every one...has a scientific reason for its existence.”
“You’ll change your tune once you meet her.” Gaar was smiling slightly. “Everyone does.”
“Fine. I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve met this Forest Witch.” He wouldn’t change his mind. There was no scientific proof of magic and there never would be, but there was no reason to argue with Gaar. He was only going to meet this witch because he needed to find Trinity. He glanced back toward the shore. Say stood on the bank watching them.
CHAPTER 28: JETHRO
JETHRO SAT ON his mother’s couch staring at the blood on his hand. He’d stabbed Jackson. He’d been so focused on killing Hugh that he hadn’t realized anyone had been behind him. When the Guard grabbed him, yanking him off his prey, he hadn’t thought; he’d reacted.
His mom sat down next to him. She rubbed a warm, wet washcloth over his hand, cleaning off the blood.
“I...I didn’t...”
“Of course, you didn’t mean to do it.” She dipped the cloth in a bowl of water and wrung it out. “Jackson will be fine. Don’t you worry about him.” The tremor in her voice and hands belied her words. “He knows you didn’t mean to...He’ll be fine.” His mother and sister both rambled when ne
rvous.
He hadn’t meant to hurt Jackson. At first, he hadn’t even wanted to hurt Hugh, not too badly anyway. Trinity wouldn’t turn herself over to him, if Hugh were dead. He’d needed the other Almighty alive, but then he’d remembered her drawings and her betrayal. She’d probably lied about being a virgin. Hugh had been practically living with her for months. Images of Hugh touching her and kissing her had torn through him, leaving only hatred and the desire to see Hugh’s blood on his knife. He still wanted that. Once he had Trinity, he wouldn’t deliver Hugh to Jason. He’d kill the man himself. He could find money another way.
His mom dropped the washcloth in the bowl and took both his hands in hers. “I need to tell you something.”
He forced his thoughts of vengeance aside and focused on his mother. She was paler than normal and lines marred her soft skin. Indy groaned and pushed himself to a sitting position. He’d checked the Guard earlier. Indy was going to have a headache but he hadn’t been seriously injured.
“Let’s go into the kitchen.” Mom glanced in the Guard’s direction.
“Anything you want to tell me can be said in front of Indy. I trust him.”
“Maybe you do, but this is personal and it’s about me.” His mom walked into the other room.
“What happened?” Indy rubbed his head, wincing.
“You didn’t duck. I’ll tell you the rest later.”
“Okay, but do it quietly.” Indy leaned the side of his face against the wall. “My head is killing me.”
He went into the kitchen. Mom was fussing around inside the fridge.
“I’m not hungry.”
“Eat.” She put some nuts and homemade bread on the table.
He sat and took a slice of bread, pulling small sections off but not eating. He wanted meat not bread, but she didn’t have any meat.
She sat down on the chair next to him. “A long time ago—”
“I don’t have time for a history lesson. I need to find Hugh.” He dropped the bread and started to stand.
“Sit down and listen,” she snapped.
He could count on one hand the number of times she’d raised her voice. He dropped back onto the chair.
“When I was fourteen, I....I had a child.”
“What? You didn’t meet Dad until you were—”
“It wasn’t your father’s child.”
“So, it’s not a lie?” A cold dread filled him. “Did Hugh’s father rape you?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Not exactly. I mean, I liked him...I had a crush on General Truent but...I...wasn’t prepared for...”
“He raped you.” He inhaled sharply. It was like a punch in his gut, knocking him into a new reality. He’d never suspected anything like this. He took her hand. Too bad the man was dead because he wanted to tie him up and skin him alive, one tiny strip at a time.
“Not really.” She wiped at her eyes. “I guess in a way. He hadn’t meant—”
“Don’t defend him! You were...what? Thirteen?”
“Yes, but I’d flirted and—”
“So what?” A surge of disgust washed through him. This was as bad as Jason.
“What he did was wrong but that’s not why I’m telling you this.” She grabbed his hand and took a deep breath. “Afterward, I realized I was pregnant.”
Only her soft hand clasped in his kept him from racing out the door and attacking someone, anyone who might’ve known about this.
“Hugh is your half-brother.” She touched his cheek with her other hand.
“And Hugh’s known this all these years.” He’d beat the other man extra for this deception.
“He just found out. That’s why he was here.” She squeezed his hand. “Sarah and I should’ve told him years ago, but there was never a good time.”
He stared at the wall, all his plans slipping away. He couldn’t kill Hugh. He couldn’t even turn him over. It’d hurt his mother.
“Promise me, you’ll stop trying to capture him. He shouldn’t be in prison. You know that. He didn’t do anything that he’s accused of doing.” She clutched at his hand, her nails digging into his skin.
“He committed treason.” That was the only crime Hugh was guilty of—that and touching Trinity.
“He did not. He presented his scientific discovery. It’s not his fault the outcome isn’t liked by our government.” She kissed his hand. “You have to stop fighting for them. They’re wrong about this. We need to change how we treat the other classes.”
His shoulders sagged. How was he going to get Trinity now? “I don’t care about the war. I was only working for them because of the debt.”
“Oh honey, I’m so sorry. That’s not your problem. It’s mine. I’ll take care of it.”
She wrapped him in her arms like when he’d been a boy and he struggled not to cry. This entire situation was a huge mess, a huge mistake.
“I won’t kill Hugh. I promise.” He stood and kissed her cheek. He had to figure out some other way to catch Trinity because brother or not, she belonged to him and no one else.
He smiled as he left the house, Indy following him. Actually, this was better. He’d capture Trinity and Hugh would live the rest of his life knowing that every night she was in his bed.
CHAPTER 29: TRINITY
TRINITY WAS TIRED of preparing spears, but she had nothing else to do. She’d already made a new quiver. She was tempted to help in the fields. The earth was rich and fertile, but she didn’t belong there. She never had and that left her alone, again.
Every morning, Travis joined the others in the gardens. He stayed there all day, only returning in the evening to sleep. Mirra was getting stronger physically but was still emotionally broken. On the days she could coax the Tracker out of the cage, they’d travel around the island, staying in the forest as much as possible. At some point, Mirra always climbed the rocks and sat staring out to sea, humming a mournful tune.
Today, Mirra was sleeping on her pallet. They’d been out most of the day yesterday and the Tracker claimed to be too tired to do anything. She was pretty sure Mirra was more heartsick than physically ill, but those wounds were also real. Gaar had better arrive soon. Mirra needed him and she needed him too. She smiled a little. Let Verly try to keep them here once Gaar showed up.
She was strengthening the spear in the fire when Verly approached, her long robe flowing across the land, seeming to float above it.
“Stop making your weapons of death and come with me.” Verly’s lip curved in distaste as she stared at the pile of spears. “Why do you bother with these tools? Your mother’s a healer and so are you.”
“I don’t do that anymore.” She put the spear with the others and grabbed another one. Verly had adamantly refused to tell her anything about the visions and quite frankly, she was tired of the Forest Witch’s company.
“Ah child, you cannot forget. Memories don’t go away because you tell them to.” Verly sat next to her, snatching the spear from her fingers and tossing it aside before she took Trinity’s hand in hers. “It’s here.” She touched Trinity’s fingers. “Your hands cared for Chirps when others would’ve killed him.”
“How do you know about Chirps?” She pulled free from the Forest Witch’s grasp.
“And here”—Verly tapped Trinity on the chest—“in the heart that couldn’t snare and kill the rabbits but instead figured out a way to keep them from the crops without hurting them.”
“Did Travis tell you this?” She was going to kill him. He needed to learn to keep his big mouth shut.
“Don’t be angry with your friend. He’s told me nothing. I don’t need his words to tell me about you. I’ve had visions of you since you were born.” Verly patted Trinity’s knee and stood. “Now, come along.”
“I’m not like that anymore.” She didn’t want to heal or care anymore. It hurt too much.
“Oh dear, that’s not true. It’s in your essence, your very being. It sparkles around you like dancing motes.”
She forced herself
not to look around for the sparkles. She wouldn’t see anything and she didn’t believe the Forest Witch did either. She picked up another spear. “My time is better spent making my weapons of death.”
“You will come with me.” Verly’s voice was no longer friendly.
She raised her head, meeting the Almighty’s angry eyes. “I don’t want to and you can’t make me.” The witch didn’t have any special powers besides possibly the second sight. It wasn’t like she could cast a spell on her or anything. The worst Verly could do was toss her off the island and she was more than ready to leave.
“Just as you cannot force yourself not to care, your fate has already been decided.” Verly turned and wandered into the forest.
She stared after the witch for a long time. Verly seemed willing to talk today. She knew she was being manipulated but she followed the path the Forest Witch had taken. She found the Almighty at a small brook.
Not looking up, Verly pointed to some moss. “This is good for coughs and can stop vomiting.” She gathered some and placed it in a pouch.
“I thought you said I got to choose my future. How can that be if my fate is already decided?”
“A choice in your destiny?” Verly stood. “None of us get that, but we do get to choose the paths we take and the relationships we form on our journey.”
“What use is that? If I end up in the same place, who cares how I got there or who’s with me?”
Verly moved through the forest. “If you pay attention, every stop along the journey teaches you something and every creature you meet gives you a gift, be it bad or good.”
“What if I refuse to take part? Maybe, I’ll hide out here with you.” As much as she wanted to leave, staying here did have its appeal. Home was war and pain. Home was Hugh and hurting him when she told him about her and Jethro.
“I’m sorry to tell you my dear, but your part in this tale is far from over.” Verly patted Trinity’s hand. “It’s unfair, perhaps, that you were chosen for this, but life is seldom fair.”
“What have you seen?”
“I know the tale but not how it ends or even how it plays out.” Verly’s eyes grew cloudy and gray. “So much is lost over the years. Twisted and turned. Simplified.” Her eyes cleared and she turned toward Trinity. “History is created by those who survive, but the truth in the tale is always more than what remains.”