Season of Hytalia

by Jennifer Arntson

  “He never wanted that,” Marsh mumbled.

  Mother turned around with tears streaming down her face. “So we’re supposed to let you run off into the hills, alone, to find a pack of rebel soldiers?”

  “He told me to go.”

  “He’s not here!” Mother yelled, now sobbing. My father stood up and held her as she cried into his chest.

  Father whispered as he stroked her hair. “He’s going to be fine; he’s smart. There’s a reasonable explanation for him being gone, you’ll see.”

  “If I’m wrong, he’ll be able to find me.”

  “How would he do that?” Marsh asked.

  “At some point, Calish will cross paths with Hawk; after all, they’re both Junior Lords of the Authority. They’ll meet eventually. Hawk has been to the camp. When I get word that it’s safe to come home, I will. That’ll be the end of it.”

  As I sipped my last bit of tea, I sensed my father entertaining the idea. Something I’d said took root. I set my cup on the table, prepared to make my final argument.

  “Please don’t make me stay here and raise this baby with Blue as its father.”

  Silence fell throughout the house as my mother picked up the bowl of eggs and added them to the pan to cook over the fire. No one wanted to be the first to reply to my request. If I said anything more, it would give a chance for one of them to deny me Calish’s plan. As hard as it was, I had to stay quiet. Marsh and my father stared at each other across the table. These two men held me hostage. If only one of them would break and let me go, the other would have no choice but to concede.

  “I’ll go with her,” my brother offered.

  “What?” Mother turned from the fire in protest.

  “It’s not like she can go alone.” He shrugged. “I agree with Calish, she cannot be made to go back with that family. If Blue doesn’t kill her, that old lady of his will. I don’t like the idea of this, but she won’t stay here. I’d rather go with her than have her slip out in the middle of the night. At least she won’t be alone.”

  My father didn’t object; he just swirled his tea while leaning against the kitchen counter.

  “Tawl, say something!” Mother begged.

  “Have you thought this through, son?” He set his cup to the side.

  My mother dropped the towel she held in her hands. “No. I’m not losing my family! Not now!” She ignored the eggs on the fire, and they started to burn. “She’s pregnant! She’s our daughter, and she’s carrying our grandchild! Calish’s child!” She hit my father’s chest with her delicate fists. “You cannot do this to us, Tawl. You can’t just let them go. I won’t go through this again!”

  Her cries were heartbreaking. All her children would vanish in a span of five days. We were all she had. With the exception of my recent absence during Talium, we’d seen one another every day for years. We lived shoulder to shoulder in this little house, season after season, and never tired of the company of each other. For us, a family was the only thing of value we truly had, and I foolishly expected her to give it up without a fight?

  “Come with us,” I suggested.

  My father shook his head. “Someone must stay here in case—” Father closed his eyes for a moment. “Someone needs to be here when Calish comes home. Otherwise, he might not have a home to return to.”

  Marsh explained my father’s statement quietly as my father moved our mother into their private area. “If we abandon the house, there’s a chance we’ll lose rights to it.”

  I overheard my father speaking to our mother as I scraped the blackened eggs onto an empty plate. “Would they take the house?”

  He answered me in a hushed voice. “We’re not exactly liked, if you haven’t noticed. They may vandalize it, burn it, or another Reclaimer might claim it. We have too many animals and too much security here to just walk away.”

  “I should go on my own.”

  “The only way they’re going to agree with this is if I go with you.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “I’d do it for them.” He shoveled a fork full of food into his mouth. “Besides, you and Cal seem to think it’s the best idea. Why should I stay here if I can watch over you and the little one until he gets back?”

  “Because this isn’t your responsibility.”

  Marsh drank the rest of his tea in one gulp and set it down on the table in front of him. “Una, we are each called at one time or another to do things to protect this family. You know how it is. This time, it is my responsibility.”

  Chapter 14

  It was midday before we were ready to leave. Father insisted that we take a few things for the road in case the trip took more than a day to complete. The men loaded up the cart and harnessed Rebel to it. We put five rabbits inside the messenger hawk’s cage so we wouldn’t have to hunt if we got hungry after setting up camp. Mother, against her protests for us to stay, packed up a few jars of canned vegetables, soup starts, and all the bread she had in the house. Marsh took his thistle gun, the vests made from the Nobu-wood, and a blade, while I added clothing for both of us.

  Father covered the back part of the wagon with a canvas, making sure that the middle point was high enough to direct the rainwater off each side. I lifted the flap at the end, and Rain jumped in the back, under the cover to stay dry.

  “Leave the rabbits alone,” I warned. He belly crawled under the tarp, up to the driver’s seat of the wagon. He popped his head out to make sure he could see us then lay down.

  When we were all loaded up, Mother handed me the mirror. “Take this. You look at it every day and tell yourself you’re loved.”

  “I will.”

  “Once we get settled, I’ll ride back and check in with you,” Marsh promised. “I don’t want you to worry. I’ll take care of her.”

  She wrapped her arms around him as far as they would reach. “I love you, my dear, sweet, boy.”

  “I love you, too, Mother.” Bending over to match her height, he hugged her small frame and whispered in her ear. “If it isn’t safe, we’re not going to stay. I’ll be back either way in a few days.”

  She pulled back from him, nodding and wiping her tears from her face.

  Father held out his arms for Marsh. My brother embraced him as they each patted the other firmly on the back. “You’re a good man.” He stepped back and put his fist against his heart. “I’m proud to call you my son.” For a moment, Marsh’s bravado loosened. Father turned to me with mist-filled eyes. “Una, you do everything he tells you to, you understand?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now come here.” He hugged me. “I love you so much. You trust your instincts.”

  “I will, Father.”

  “Take care of my grandchild.” He pointed at me, choked up by his own request.

  “I will.”

  Marsh helped me up on the cart and then pulled himself into his place on the bench. He took the reins and gave Rebel the consent to go off property, leaving my parents holding each other behind us in the rain.

  Too nervous to glance back at them, I adjusted my cloak to sit like a tent around my body and over my legs.

  “So we’re headed to the main road?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “I have a feeling that they’re up there pretty far. They must be close to the caves with the wolves, but I’m not sure.”

  “It would be the perfect hiding spot. Especially if they’re working together.”

  When we reached the turnoff that led to the river, we went right and continued further into the hills. We didn’t talk much. There was not a lot to say, really. Most of our travel was spent in deep thought. While I had no idea what Marsh thought, I kept my eyes closed in effort to muster up some sort of vision about where we should be headed. It didn’t work, though. It probably had to do with the fact I preoccupied myself with all the possible reasons Calish hadn’t returned home yet.

  I knew he was alive, although I’m not exactly sure why I felt this way. He was out there somewhere. I just
didn’t know where. The easiest explanation would be that Reinick had him, but what reason would he have to lock him up? What could Reinick do that would keep him away from me but keep their relationship healthy enough to have him working for the Authority? I had too many suspicions and unanswered questions to put together any sort of theory.

  My frustration grew as I struggled to use my gift. What benefit did I hold as a Seer if I couldn’t see what I wanted to? Negotiating with my inner-self was futile. The answers I needed had to be within my grasp. If only I knew what to do!

  Why can’t I see where Calish is?

  * * *

  The day dragged on. Each time we crested a small hill, another one made itself known in the distance. The trees hid the road’s length in its bends, constantly fooling us in believing we’d reached its end. Of course, there were the downpours that kept us from seeing anything more than twenty yards ahead. That had to be the worst. It never seemed like we moved more than an inch.

  When the clouds parted, we found ourselves abandoned in the middle of a long ribbon of dirt with trees boxing us in on either side. Neither of us had been this far in this direction, at least not that we remembered. With the temporary break from the rain, I saw a wooden shingle swinging from a leaning post on the side of the road. It was in serious disrepair, aged and difficult to read.

  “Marsh, do you see that?”

  “Yeah. Would the Resistance have a welcome sign?”

  “Gods, I hope not.”

  He slowed Rebel when we got close enough to see the message. The words “Room Available” had been burned into the wooden plank, and an arrow carved into it pointed to the right.

  “Room? Like an inn?” he asked.

  “Seems like an odd place to visit.” I shrugged. “I need to relieve myself. I’ll be right back.” I jumped down and ran across the street. I had to go so badly, I barely made it.

  After I cleaned up and redressed for the impending rain, I headed back to the wagon to see my brother speaking with a strange man in an oversized raincoat.

  “So is this the missus?”

  “Yes.” Marsh wrinkled his nose. “She’s my little sweetie-weetie.” He put his arm around me as if we were an item.

  “Well, we got enough room for ya. Come on, get out of the rain and eat,” the old man offered.

  I held onto my brother, continuing the act.

  “Much appreciated, but I don’t think we can afford to take that long of a break.”

  The man leaned in, but I had trouble seeing his face under his hood. “You know, things are ’bout to get a lot crazier ’round here.”

  “What do you mean?” Marsh inquired.

  “Well, that floodin’ isn’t going nowhere. Folks like you been making their way out here for a couple of moon cycles now. Lost everything to the gods of water and want. Got nothing but the clothes on their backs. You two planned well, though,” he pointed to his head, “you’re thinkers.”

  “I thought only the shops closed,” I said.

  “Never doubt the power of the gods. Do you know what the strongest of all elements is?”

  Iron.

  “Water. The Citizens have forgotten, so Volaris is reminding them. He does so with every drop falling from above. His reach is widening, and he will take everything he touches for his own. We are witness to his argument with Undonon.”

  I was curious. “What would the river god and the god of boundaries quarrel about?”

  “The question you should be asking is who is the giver of rain?” He shuffled closer. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

  “Yes, sir,” Marsh answered him too quickly, and the man tilted his head, suspicious of the response.

  “We should keep going.” I turned to get back on the wagon, but the man lifted his cane and blocked my way.

  “You may want to stay here for the night. There’s nothing else out there for you; the next homestead is at least three days out.”

  Marsh stepped in his way, knocking down the man’s walking stick. “A pilgrimage easier to survive than what we’ve experienced. Come on, Sweetie.”

  The man inched back, his face still deep within the shadow of his hood. Marsh helped me onto the wagon, keeping the homesteader in his periphery.

  “Not everyone on this road is an honorable companion seeking a similar future. The moon threatens what the sun lost time to take.”

  “More reason to be going.” He cracked the reins to make Rebel move forward again.

  A slow start eventually put distance between us and the man too crippled to catch up to us. My mark burned as the strange man watched from the road. “I wish I was a better Seer.”

  “Why?”

  “There was something about that man.”

  Marsh glanced back. “Other than giving me the creeps?”

  “I’ve seen him somewhere before.”

  “At the prison?”

  I rubbed my temples. “I don’t know, but I don’t think we should stop anymore. The further we get from the valley, the more comfortable I’ll feel.”

  “Do you think we’re still headed in the right direction?”

  “What other way is there?”

  Marsh chuckled. “Well then, we keep going, Sweetie.”

  “You know, if you ever find a woman, I hope you give her a better pet name than Sweetie.”

  “Oh, yeah? What does Calish call you?”

  “He calls me Una.”

  “Nothing cute and repulsing?”

  I shook my head. “No, not that I can think of.”

  “How disappointing.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Well, I didn’t get to relieve myself back there, so here, you take these,” he handed me the leather reins, “and I’ll just go over the side.”

  “Gross.” I shouldn’t have accepted them so quickly.

  “What? You said we shouldn’t stop again,” he said as he urinated off his side of the wagon.

  “I know,” I whined.

  “You’re just jealous you can’t do it like this.” He finished up and sat comfortably by my side.

  “Whatever you want to believe.” I dropped the leads into his open hands, careful not to touch them.

  * * *

  The sky turned from a milky gray to an odd shade of purple. Perhaps it was the setting sun giving up its fight behind the cloud cover or we’d traveled to thinner air. The animals here were braver than back home, and they were as interested in us as we were in them. Rain didn’t chase anything, although I knew by the rumble in his gut that he needed to eat.

  Instead of taking down the deer or rabbits hiding poorly in the brush, he snapped at the oversized grain-flies that flew over the cart. Their heavy wings clacked against the hard-shelled body, warning of their approach, and every once in a while, he’d catch one in midair. Dozens of them darted from the path, providing him with plenty of excitement and snacks. We continued down the road. Other than the bugs, we seemed to be the only ones on it.

  Marsh yawned, leaning to each side to stretch his aching back. “We’re going to have to stop soon.”

  “We should let Rain out. There haven’t been any other roads, but it would be nice to know if we were headed in the right direction.”

  “Let’s wait until morning. We need to set camp for the night before it’s too dark.”

  “It’ll be hours before it gets too dark to see.”

  “I can barely see now!”

  “I can see just fine.”

  Marsh flinched. “Are you kidding?”

  “No. I have no problem seeing in the dark.”

  “Since when?”

  “I told you about the wolf. Weren’t you listening?”

  “About the wolf-blood thing, yes. No one ever mentioned anything about you being nocturnal.”

  I smacked him playfully. “It’s not like that.”

  “Then what is it like?”

  “Fine, it is kind of like that. My senses are better than they used to be. I can smell and taste things
more completely.”

  “Must be nice to be special,” Marsh quipped.

  “Honestly? It’s too damn complicated. You all think I can just pull a vision out of the air, like pulling a rabbit out of its cage. Now with all this wolf stuff, I get angry and impulsive. I’m not me anymore. I miss being normal.”

  “Well, seems to me that if you were ‘normal,’ you’d be dead, a couple of times by now according to my math.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” My defense was weak, and I knew it.

  “At least it’s keeping you out of trouble, instead of getting you into it,” he justified.

  “Wait,” I said. “That’s it!”

  “What?”

  “I’ve only seen things when I’m in danger.” I started thinking back to my previous visions. The Atchem Festival, the night I was attacked, the woman in red, my escape from Blue’s house; all of them were to ensure my safety. “Marsh! You’re brilliant!”

  “So what do we do now?”

  “We go as far as we can tonight, then we stop somewhere dry. If we’re off course or in trouble, I’ll dream about it. If not, we just keep going.”

  “Are you positive you’ve got this thing figured out?”

  “No, but what other choice do we have?”

  * * *

  We continued along the road until Marsh didn’t feel comfortable driving anymore. I took the reins, not that it mattered. Apparently, Rebel also had a hard time seeing and, as such, kept stopping every few feet to test his next step. Not wanting to stay exposed in the open, I got down and searched for a dry spot that would best accommodate our needs. It had to be somewhere we could hide both the horse and cart from view. When I found a place I thought would work, I jogged back to the road and led him to it.

  Satisfied with my choice, Marsh pulled back the canvas and let me climb in the wagon feet first. He wedged himself in next, lying against me.

  “Don’t get any ideas.” He pushed my shoulder.

  “Don’t be an ass,” I threatened him.

  “Hey, I don’t want any of your woman magic. I saw what it did to Calish.”

  I had to admit, it was pretty funny, albeit wildly inappropriate. “I’ll try to control myself.”