by PJ Sharon
Chapter 34
When we arrived in Stanton it was late morning. Townspeople came out of their businesses to greet the caravan, unloading supplies at each home and storefront, rushing to get in out of the sun. Rudy pulled up in front of Mrs. Higgins’ store.
Garnet ran up and hugged me. “Wasn’t that a fun trip? I’m so glad you and Will hooked up with the caravan in Claverack. I was beginning to wonder if you two ran off and got married.” She glanced slyly from me to Will and back.
My face must have turned ten shades of pink. Just as I was about to respond with a firm denial, Mrs. Higgins pushed through the doorway. “Oh, Lily! It’s good that you’re here. Maggie McKinley was in earlier. She said that Sam…Sam had taken a turn. Nora’s with him, but I think you should get home.”
I stopped breathing for a moment as the information sank in. I imagined the worst. I shot a quick glance at Rudy’s truck. Fully loaded it would take forever to get up the mountain. “Can you lend me a horse, ma’am?”
“Of, course. I’ll send Mr. Higgins to saddle up Geronimo.”
“If it’s all the same, I just need him bridled.” My voice rang strong in my ears as if a stranger were speaking through me. But on the inside, I felt as fragile as a piece of glass, cracked and ready to shatter at any moment.
A few minutes later, Will gave me a leg up as I slid onto the broad horse, his brown and white spots curried to a gleam. “I’m coming with you.” Before I had a chance to argue, Will had flung himself up onto the horse and settled in behind me.
“You don’t have to come with me,” I said, more grateful than words could express that he was at my back.
He wrapped his arms around me, took the reins, and gave the Appaloosa a hard kick to the ribs. “You aren’t getting rid of me, now. I’ve almost got you home.” The horse bolted into flight, tearing a path down the main street.
Hot wind took my breath away as we sped toward the timber trail road. Even with Will’s hard body plastered against my back, his arms encircling me like a cocoon, all I could think of was getting to Sam with the Syntoxin.
As soon as the house was in sight, I jumped off the horse, leaving Will with the reins.
“Take him into the barn,” I called over my shoulder as I ran for the house. I didn’t wait for him to answer. I passed the wolves already waiting on the porch realizing they’d come ahead of me. I crashed through the door and into the kitchen.
Nora stood at the stove, brewing a batch of herbs that smelled of camphor and jewelweed. Her head came up when I entered. Her expression spoke a thousand words.
“Where is he?”
“He’s resting comfortably,” she said. I hated the sympathy in her voice even more than the look of defeat on her face.
“I have the medicine.” I tore the pack open and pulled out the cylinders. “The dosing instructions are inside.” I had the canister open and was digging the paper out when Nora grabbed my hand to stop me.
“It may be too late.” Her eyes flooded with tears. “I don’t know what happened. He was doing well, and then after you left, he just seemed to give up.”
My heart thundered in my ears trying to drown out her words. “No! He can’t just give up.” I felt my eyes burning but held back my own tears, afraid of what they might mean. “I need to see him.” I handed her the container and gave her a determined look. “We have nothing to lose. Would you get his first dose ready?”
Nora nodded, her expression grave as she took the canister and studied the instructions.
I headed for Sam’s room at the end of the hall, my stomach in a tight ball of knots. When I opened the door, the medicinal odor in the room and the rank undertone of death overwhelmed me. Sam lay motionless, his face a pasty yellow. I slowly approached the bed, afraid I was already too late.
“Sam?”
He opened his eyes and his lips slowly curved upward, “Hey, Monkey. I was hoping I’d see you…before…”
“You are not going to die. Do you hear me?” I clutched his hand, shocked at how cold and fragile he seemed—a far cry from the strong, hot-tempered man I knew.
“That’s my girl. Ever the optimist,” he said through gritted teeth as he shifted in the bed.
“I brought you some medicine that’s going to fix you right up. Don’t worry, okay?” My voice sounded small. I was trying to convince myself as well as him. “I need you to hang on.” He nodded and closed his eyes. “Where’s Zeph?” I asked, another sudden pitch of my insides signaling I wasn’t going to like the answer.
“I sent him to the ravine to scavenge some parts from that vehicle we left.” His voice was thin and strained as if every word was an effort. “I wanted to keep him busy…” My heart clutched in my throat trying to swallow back tears.
“The ravine?” Images from my dream rushed to mind. “You rest, Sam. I…I have to go after him.”
“Lily, wait, what’s wrong?” Sam struggled to sit up, but I eased him back down. Torn between remaining at his side and leaving my uncle to go find Zeph, I knew there was nothing more I could do for Sam.
“Nothing…I hope. Just rest, I’ll be back.” I passed Nora in the doorway. She looked doubly concerned when she saw my face.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“I have to find Zeph. I’ll explain later.” I glanced at Sam one more time, wishing I could stay, but knowing I had to go to the ravine and face whatever was waiting for me there. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Take care of him for me.” Sam was in the hands of fate, or destiny, or whatever God was up in heaven looking down on us. I slammed through the screen door and ran headlong into Will.
On the way back to the barn, the wolves at my heels, I explained the urgency to find Zeph. I could see Will wanted to argue, but he knew there was no point. A moment later, I pulled the Crawler out of the barn, motor rumbling. He climbed on behind me, and without a word, he hung on as I sped down the driveway for the timber trail, Bo and Pappy chasing after us. We had just cleared the trees when a commotion down the road caught our attention.
Rudy came tearing toward us on horseback, screaming his head off. “Help! Come quick!” he reared up to a stop. “Something terrible has happened,” he gasped between wheezing breaths. He was dripping sweat and covered in blood.
“What is it?” A thunderous wave of realization hit me that this—Rudy on a black stallion, his voice panicked—was all part of my dream.
“I don’t know what happened, but there’s a God awful mess down at the ravine. I was just heading up to your place when I came upon what looks like some kind of massacre. It’s Jack Johnson and his men. He’s still alive, but he needs help bad.”
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked. In my dream there had been a crowd of townspeople wailing over dead bodies.
“I called Josh on my radio. I told him to come and bring help. I figured I could get to you faster on horseback so I left my truck with the trailer and all the supplies back at the ravine and took Jack’s horse. You have to come quick, Miss Lily.” The horse pranced in circles, responding to the tension in Rudy’s voice.
By this time, half the town was on its way, a cloud of dust forming on the horizon. It didn’t take us long at top speed to reach the ravine. I skidded to a halt and Will and I jumped off the machine, running to the edge and looking down the thirty-foot slope. A stifled scream caught in my throat as I covered my mouth with my hands. There were several bodies, face down in the water. My eyes focused on the one man who was sitting up, his back resting on the embankment.
Mr. Johnson lay against the grassy hillside, half in and half out of the stream that ran along the bottom of the ravine. Will and I slid down the slope. I waded through the stream to the other side, my boots filling with water as I knelt onto the embankment next to Mr. Johnson.
I turned my head to see other bodies floating, blood turning the stream to crimson. There were three strangers in suits, all riddled with bullet holes. The other six men were workers for Mr. Johnson, men who had lived
and worked in Stanton for years. Friends, neighbors—cut down and dead—large holes through the center of their bodies as if they’d been hit by cannon fire. I tried to ignore the bodies, knowing that none of them could have survived. The wolves sniffed about and began to howl.
The sound of cries from above drew my attention. As a crowd formed, Josh stood at the top of the ravine with Luke at his side. “Get that animal away from my father!” Josh stood looking down on the scene, a fierce expression on his face and a handgun aiming at Bo who was tight at my side, sniffing at the head wound still oozing blood down Mr. Johnson’s face.
“It wasn’t the wolves, Josh…” Will tried to get a word in but Josh cut him off as he took aim. “Move away, Lily. I’m taking those rabid animals down and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
I stood and stepped in front of Bo. “You aren’t going to blame this on the wolves. It was human cruelty that did this.”
But he wouldn’t listen. As people crowded in behind him, recognizing friends and loved ones, shocked whispers and fervent cries rang out. Rudy had arrived and was fighting to calm people down, but the energy built to a raging storm against my senses. The figures, cloaked against the dangers of the zenith, looked down on me like a hoard of avenging demons.
Josh turned the gun on Pappy who was ten feet away from me and sniffing a body lying face down in the stream. As if in slow motion, I saw the murderous expression in Josh’s eyes and watched his finger move to the trigger, helpless to stop him from making a terrible mistake.
Will saw it coming and reacted. He charged and dove in front of the wolf as the sound of a shot rang out. “Noooo!” I screamed, too late to stop the inevitable. Will dropped into the water and both wolves began whining and howling in earnest. Time sped up. Suddenly Rudy grabbed the gun from Josh’s hand and swore a blue streak as he slid down the slope, several townspeople joining him.
I rushed to Will’s side and with Rudy’s help, rolled him onto his back. We dragged him to shore, my heart pounding against my ribs. “Oh, God, no…please, no…Will, Will…” my hands shook as I found the bullet wound in his side, blood trailing in the water and staining his clothes a bright red. By this time, Josh and Luke were already at their father’s side.
“Don’t move him!” I yelled at Luke who began shaking the man and crying.
Just then, Will opened his eyes and looked down at my hand covering the wound. “It’s a good thing I have you around to keep patching me up.” His voice strained, he smiled and winced as I assessed the damage, my heart in my throat. The bullet had gone through and barely missed his kidney. A half-inch in any direction would have been disastrous.
“You’re going to be okay,” I said. Then I looked back at Mr. Johnson who was ghostly pale and still unconscious.
Josh came up behind me and stood over my shoulder. “I didn’t mean to shoot him. What were you trying to prove getting in front of a bullet, you stupid grifter?”
“Shut up, Josh!” I yelled, tears hot on my face. “You almost killed him!”
I held my hands over Will’s side, trying to get my breathing under control enough to focus my energy toward healing him.
Will shook his head and nodded toward Mr. Johnson. I know that you get tired and weak after you use your gift. “Heal him first.”
“No!”
Will grabbed my hand. “I’ll be okay. Go help him.
I wanted to argue, but I sensed Mr. Johnson’s life force fading. He was running out of time. Josh had a pleading look in his eyes, even though he stood perfectly still, waiting to see what I would do.
“Give me your shirt,” I barked at him. To his credit, he tore the shirt off over his head and handed it to me without question. I wet it in the icy stream and covered Will’s wound. I turned to Rudy. “Keep hard pressure on it.”
Will cringed again but his eyes met mine with approval. “Go do your thing, Healer. Just save a little for me.” Then he smiled, and I wanted to both cry and slap him silly for being so noble and stubborn.
I turned to the more immediate danger. Jack Johnson was fading fast. With a traumatic brain injury, I wasn’t sure how much damage I could heal.
Luke continued to cry over his father, begging him not to die. I pushed the boy out of the way, quickly ran a body scan, and reached out for the man’s energy, sensing a weak pulse that gave me a spark of hope.
Josh knelt beside his father. “Please, Lily…” his voice broke off as he cried desperate tears.
Without hesitation, I nodded and tried to shut out the surge of sadness, rage, and grief that emanated from the crowd like a harsh winter chill. I drew in a deep breath, the scent of blood overwhelming my senses. I pulled all of my power inward and then pushed it out as hard as I could, channeling the energy through my hands and into Mr. Johnson’s body.
My hands grew warm and then hot as I placed them over the gash on his head. I took deep breaths, trying to keep my emotions in check and focus all of my energy into my hands, into the tissue and damaged bone, into the life force of this man I’d so often feared and rarely liked. But none of that mattered now. He was alive and I could save him. The choice to act was no longer mine. Light filled my hands and traveled up my arms, glowing brighter than it ever had before, almost burning in its intensity.
The people around me hushed. All eyes fell to me, the quiet murmurs of astonishment sounding off around me. Whatever secret I’d been trying to keep hidden would no longer be mine. Half the town was there and everyone would bear witness to my gift. I was breaking Sam’s cardinal rule, but still, I didn’t care. This is who I was—what I did. I knew I couldn’t run away from my gift any more than Zeph could run away from his.
I shut out my concern for my brother, who was nowhere to be found, and who had surely had something to do with this catastrophe.
Instead, I poured love, peace, and healing into the father of my enemy. The cracks in his skull mended, blood stopped streaming, and his gash closed up as if the tissue was folding in on itself. His eyes fluttered open. He darted a wild gaze around at all of the people and then looked into my eyes. “Tyler,” he said weakly.
“It’s me, Lily Carmichael.”
“They took my boy. Tyler…” His dark eyes roved the crowd again and finally settled on Josh who was kneeling beside his father, eyes filled with tears.
“We’re here, Pa.” Luke slipped in beneath his father and held him, rocking and crying.
Josh gave me a brief nod. “Thank you. I…owe you.” Josh looked down at his father. “Who took Tyler? Who did this, Pa?”
“Those government people…they had terrible weapons. We tried to stop them, but…they took him.” Josh and Luke helped him to sit up and the man clutched his head. His voice shook with rage and a hard expression took over his face. “That brother of yours…he lured Tyler down here. Said they were coming to scavenge some old truck for parts. I knew he was up to no good, so I followed them. When I got here, the agents,” he nodded toward the three dead strangers whose bodies were being dragged up onto the embankment, “were talking to Tyler and Zephron about coming peacefully so nobody in town needed to get hurt.” He glared at me and then at Will. “Your brother didn’t seem surprised. He was trying to talk Tyler into going with them, as if it was something he’d planned.”
By now, Josh and Luke had their father on his feet and flanked him on each side holding him steady. I struggled to understand what he was saying. I shook my head. “You’re mistaken. Why would Zeph do that? Why would he lure Tyler here? It doesn’t make any sense.”
Jack Johnson looked at me hard. “It does if he was trying to protect you. It sounded to me like he’d made some kind of deal with the bastards.”
The reality hit me square and I stumbled back. “No! He wouldn’t…he couldn’t….”
“He did,” said Mr. Johnson. The boys and their father pushed past me as I dropped to my knees next to Will, not sure if I had the strength left to heal him.