Peace finds me as Kohan leaves and the people from camp continue to wage war against the three wagons. The urge to look around is difficult to control as noises draw my attention, but needing this escape, I do as I am told, keeping my breathing shallow.
After having laid there for what seems like hours the battle dies down and one side or the other has been victorious. There is shuffling around me. I stay motionless, save for my shallow breathing, and Kohan’s voice can be heard.
“Everyone not injured start hauling these plates back!” He barks. “All injured report to the caravan for medical attention! Keep the prisoners secured!”
Feet stamp around me and the metal plate that lies nearby is picked up. Bezzel’s voice is heard not far off.
“He really was bad luck – got himself killed,” he says.
“Forget about him. He’s dead and we have living to worry about,” Kohan snaps.
“Lady Eve won’t like this,” he continues to talk.
“I suggest that if you don’t want to join him that you get to work Bezzel!” Kohan’s voice elevates.
Finally, the noise disappears in the far distance and I am left to wonder if it is safe to move now. Cautiously, I open my eyes to find the stars twinkling like gems above me and a cloud rolls over the moon. A breeze hits me, but the burning wagon warms me. I turn my head from side to side slowly and look around the nearby area; not a living soul is in sight. Lying half naked, the sand chafes my skin but I still don’t know if it’s safe to move.
I would assume by now Kohan will have shown Lady Eve my blood soaked clothing and told her some wild story about how he had to put me out, or maybe he blamed it on the other group. I suppose I don’t care now, as long as he can get Ami out to me.
Becoming restless, I implement the next phase of the plan and flip over onto my stomach. Needing to stay low so as not to be noticed, I crawl along toward the smoldering wagon. Coming across a dead body I strip her of her shirt, slip it on and continue moving past the first wagon heading toward the other three that were moved off and are not illuminated.
I need to circle around the back of our stopped caravan. Hopefully by the time I get there Kohan will have found a way to pull Ami away and given her provisions.
Crawling takes a significant amount of time, but playing it safe I make sure to avoid detection. Out beyond the three other wagons and away from the light I feel it might be safe for me to stand up and at least crouch along. The moonlight illuminates nearby sand dunes but I find that with the darker shirt I wear now I’m not as reflective. When I look to gain my bearings on Lady Eve’s caravan I find that it too is not reflecting light. A shadowy speck in my sight now, I follow an arc far outside and my mind begins playing tricks on me.
What if those are not the wagons? They could be hills, or something else.
With no choice but to have faith, I focus on them and make a wide berth around to the other side, my legs carrying me swiftly while I hunch and walk. Needing to occupy my mind with something other than doubts that I am heading in the correct direction, I focus on Ami.
Where does friendship end and something else begin? We had been enjoying each other’s company before, but now what are we? Having to pretend to be a legitimate couple, including sleeping curled up together and being affectionate in public has to have changed something. When we get back to the house will all of that revert back to our friendship or will that something else finally blossom?
I know we will have to talk about it. Could something develop so quickly? We have only known each other a few months and I am the first constant male contact she has had in years. And then there’s the issue of who I am or was before. I know nothing about me.
Turning my head. I find I have walked around so far that the caravan we attacked is barely a blip in my sight and I immediately turn left, trying desperately to catch sight of Lady Eve’s camp. Finding a few dots that are between me and the orange glow that I know is a small fire. I feel a little at ease but I move to place those dots directly in the line of sight of the glow and begin heading toward it little by little. Finally, I stop and sit down in the sand having reached the approximate rear of their position, waiting for any sign of Kohan or Ami but none comes.
Unable to properly discern time at night I have no idea if an hour or six have passed and not seeing either of them worries me. I resolve to get closer. At first I crouch and walk but as I get closer to the wagons I lie down in the sand and crawl along on my belly again.
A figure in the dark moves about, patrolling, and I stop completely until I notice that it’s Kohan. I make a hissing noise to try and get his attention and it works briefly, but hiding myself against the sand I blend in too well for him to see. I hiss a little louder. This time I know he heard me as his attention turns directly to me, but he makes no direct advance toward me. Instead he makes an about face and hastily retreats to the camp, disappearing from my sight into the wagon on the left.
When he does not return right away, my mind turns to the worst, thinking he might be telling Lady Eve that I deceived them and deserted, or perhaps he is getting a weapon to silently kill me. Whether he will hold to his promise or not makes me anxious with intense anticipation, but as more time passes I realize that if he was going to do something sinister it would be done by now.
Whether a trick my eyes are playing on me or if the sky is actually getting lighter I feel like time is running out. I wish with all my might that Kohan would hurry up and lo and behold two figures emerge from the wagon. One is Kohan and the other appears to be Ami.
Leery, they make sure it’s safe before quickly moving away from the camp and straight out to me. Kohan stops about half way between me and the wagon while Ami continues on, crouching and moving directly at me. When I see Ami’s face, I jump up and grab her by the hand, pulling her away without a second glance to Kohan.
Not a word is exchanged between us as we run across the plain, passing small dunes and dead brush. When we are a great distance away I allow us to slow to a fast walk as the light on the horizon threatens to reveal us. Looking over my shoulder, I find their caravan is but a dot now and I sigh in relief. Removing a sack from her back while we continue to walk, she pulls out a water skin. We stop and take a swig from it. She caps it off and puts it into the bag before throwing her arms around my neck.
“I thought you might actually be dead!”
“Kohan played the whole thing out, didn’t he?” I hug her back.
“Yes, he really made everyone think he killed you for attacking him.” She drops down from hanging on my neck and I let her go.
“Well, we are both alive and now we just need to get back to the house. We will be fine,” I tell her and begin walking again.
“You mean until Mother or Aunt Evalyn gets to us right?” She laughs.
“I’ll take the blame. I’ll tell them that I was the one who convinced you to go and then tell them the rest of what happened,” I offer.
“No, I can’t let you do that. Mother knows that I have a tendency to wander off when we reach a new time.” She catches up and puts her arm through mine.
“Well, you don’t have a choice. I am taking the blame.”
“My noble knight,” she whispers.
My stomach growls and she opens the bag while we walk. Digging around in the predawn light, she produces a couple slices of meat and hands me one. I gnaw on it, keeping a bite or two in my cheek to let the saliva pull the flavor out and soften it up. While we eat and walk I find that the harsh sun rising into the sky quickly becomes a nuisance. Without a hood to block it, I am exposed to the sun’s harsh rays but I know moving in the daylight will provide us a greater chance to find the house.
Marching through the sand in the direction that I think we originally came from I try to take note of everything around us, but unfortunately the sand and occasional dead plant provide no assistance.
“Hold on a moment,” I tell Ami.
I run over to a nearby patch of dead plants and drag
my foot through the sand in a big arrow next to it, marking our passing through the area. Though it would only tell us if we had somehow circled back on ourselves, it gives me peace of mind.
“Good plan,” she sees what I am doing.
I search the horizon and determine by the rising of the sun in the east that by putting it to our backs we will align ourselves closer to the direction that we want to head, hoping that any amount of good luck will help us find the house within hours.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sun had brought the heat out quickly. Now arching high into the sky its rays are deadly, nearly unbearable. Having walked for at least a few hours now and rested several times, one of the water skins has become empty. Breaking for a few minutes, I work at the string tying the two halves together and finally getting it open enough I place it over my head as protection. She laughs at me and I pull the sack back up on my shoulder; my turn to carry it.
We continue walking but with the sun high above us now I do everything in my power to not stray from our path. Turning too far left or right might have a catastrophic effect as our rations would run out far before the house were to yank us back. Climbing up to the top of a sand dune I look around for any possible glimpse of the valley that the house sits in.
The desert stretches on and though I cannot see anything that would help us, I note some dark clouds moving rapidly in from the northwestern horizon. There is a haze underneath. Pointing for Ami to see she practically squeals in delight.
“Wow! It’s really coming down!” Excitedly she jumps up and down.
“Should we head that way? It would not be going backwards,” I ask.
“We have been traveling west for too long.” She takes a moment to think before continuing. “It might be a good idea to start walking in that direction.”
We survey the dunes and valleys where the rain is falling and move to intercept. Directing us down into a valley and back to the top of another plain we make our way toward the heavy rainfall. Meeting us halfway, we find ourselves being pelted by the hard rain and I take the water skin from my head and let it wash over me while filling the skin at the same time. Drinking heavily from it Ami and I quench our thirsts and when I bring my head down from a healthy gulp I notice that Ami’s white clothing is now clinging to her skin and it has become somewhat transparent. I try desperately not to stare, but fail and she notices that I am looking at her.
“We should huddle to keep warm and rest,” Ami suggests, making my nerves worse.
“I don’t…I…” I stammer, completely tongue-tied.
She grabs me by the hand and pulls me over to a nearby bank of sand. Sitting down we huddle close together, our arms wrapped around one another. She leans her head on my shoulder and I try to shield us with the open water skin. But we both end up shifting several times trying to get comfortable and warm.
“This isn’t working well,” I mention.
“Yeah.”
“Here, lie down on your side and face me. I will shield you from the rain,” I tell her, trying to overcome my embarrassment.
“What?!” Her eyes go wide and face turns red.
“I am not going to do try anything. We are just going to share body heat like we did at camp.”
She lies down on her side and I lie down with her, scooting her into my body by pulling on her waist. We intertwine our legs together and I tuck her head against my chest while resting my arm and the water skin over her head to create a pocket for her. My face is exposed, but I find myself uncaring as long as she is comfortable. I rest my head against the sand near the top of hers and breathe heavily so that the warmth of my breath keeps her from feeling too cold. She pulls in closer and rests her face against my chest. I find myself struggling to keep my thoughts pure.
However it’s not long before I feel my fatigue setting in and I turn my face toward the ground to block the rain, taking comfort in the heat that Ami is providing through her curled up body and hot breath against my torso.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unsure of how long I was out, when I wake the rain has stopped and the clouds have dissipated, leaving a clear sky above us. My eyes adjust and night has fallen upon us while we slept. My body jolts with fear, realizing that we slept through the rest of our daylight traveling time. My body spasm has awoken Ami and she jumps up too. Eagerly I look around and try to discern the direction we need to head.
“What’s wrong?!” she asks anxiously.
“We have slept too long. We need to get moving,” I reply as calmly as I can.
“Food first,” she says while digging into the soaked bag.
We devour two slices of meat each and drink from one of the water skins. Standing up, I grab the bag and hoist it over my shoulder as she puts the skin back in. Taking the lead we head in what I hope is the right direction.
The moon illuminates the land in front of us, and between hills and valleys in the near distance I wonder if we are anywhere close. Still we continue to move in a northwest direction.
After several minutes of shuffling along the edge of a sand dune a howl pierces the night from behind us. Looking over my shoulder, a sinking feeling enters my gut. As a growling enters earshot I find that a beast of the desert is stalking us.
“Ami, run,” I warn.
Letting her take the lead we begin to move at a great speed and another howl comes from near the mound where we had just been. Looking again reveals a four-legged beast dashing toward us in chase, overtaking us with ease.
“Run faster!” I yell at her.
Ami leads us along to the edge of the plain we are on and turns abruptly, her foot slipping down the embankment. She cries out and I lunge to grab her hand before she tumbles down the steep grade. But in saving her, the dog-like animal has caught up with us and I place myself between it and her.
The beast lunges at my neck and I sling the bag from my shoulder. It connects with the animal’s head. Unyielding, as soon as it hits the sand, it lunges again and instead of swinging the bag I use the leather strap and catch the mutt by its neck. It struggles against me but as I pin it to the ground I pull hard and begin to choke it. Thrashing about it tries hard to escape, but I am stronger.
Even if it was trying to kill me, this feels wrong.
It begins to slow its struggle and I remove the strap from its neck while pinning it down to the sand. This initiates a new fight within and it chomps at me. Backing away I drop the bag and wait for it to come at me again and when it does I duck and grab its legs and swing it over the edge of our plain. Yelps and whimpering can be heard as it tumbles down the sand and when I look over the edge it lies on the ground, still alive but wounded.
“He must have smelled us. That fresh rain washed away our desert smell,” I huff.
“I’m just glad it was alone,” she says picking up the bag and returning to me.
“I had the chance to kill it, but I felt sympathy for it. It was probably just hungry.” I take her arm in mine while watching it limp away.
“Just shows that you have good character, though maybe a little naïve,” she giggles.
“Either way, we should move. We don’t want that thing coming back with friends,” I tell her while moving along the edge of the plain toward our original destination.
Walking arm-in-arm I keep my ears perked for sounds of more beasts that I may have to defend against. For every minute that passes, I find myself more thankful to hear nothing of the sort. Following the plain by moonlight we come across a new valley and a few hills and Ami suddenly stops. She turns around completely and looks about excitedly.
“What is wrong?” I ask.
“I know where we are! Hurry!” She darts off and I follow after her as fast as I can.
I don’t see what she sees, but I trust her judgment and hope that she is leading us toward home. She disappears from sight several yards in front of me, dipping down into a valley and when I reach the edge of it a familiar sight comes i
nto view. The house is there, but there are no lights on. The moon’s light reflects off of the solar panels and causes the house to shine like a beacon in the night. Already nearing the bottom of the hill Ami darts into the grass and waves at me.
“Hurry Rain!” She giggles excitedly.
I follow her down by sidestepping, though quite a bit slower for fear of slipping and falling down the steep slope. But when I finally make my way to the yard we tear the sand shoes off and race together toward the kitchen door. The door swings open with a loud creak and Ami runs over to the light to turn it on. Digging into the fridge I find a few pieces of turkey and pull it out.
“Ami! Real food!” I point out and begin to scarf down a chunk of it.
The comforts of Agatha’s home return and I feel at peace once more to have a solid roof over my head and delicious food to eat. As Ami joins me in devouring the turkey pieces the swinging door to the living room bursts open. Spinning, we see Agatha wielding a large metal pipe.
“Where have you two been?!” She sounds frantic.
“Where we have been is a long story, but let me enjoy this turkey just a moment,” I smile with a mouthful already.
“I’ve been sick to death!” Agatha begins to bawl, setting the metal pipe on the table and hugs Ami.
“It’s okay Mother. There was no need to worry because Rain was protecting me.” Ami hugs her mother.
“Well she did worry.” Evalyn’s voice comes out clear and angry from Agatha’s throat and she pushes away hard.
I can see in her face that she wants to strike Ami but she sees that I am ready to intercept, my brows furrowed, so she sits idly by while I speak.
“If you are going to punish someone, punish me,” I tell her.
“You? Your head is messed up and as far as we know your judgment was impaired too. Her judgment isn’t,” Evalyn retorts. “And you’ve gone and hurt yourself, again.”
“What?” I look down and find that at some point during the fight, the animal must have scratched me as there is a large gash across my forearm and blood is dripping down my hand. “Wow. How did I miss that?”
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