Awaken (12 page)

“
They are too afraid of
encountering the raiders you see.”

Finn gasps at this and Tater’s smile
dies away.

“
Oh dear, maybe I shouldn’t
have said that.”

This just keeps getting better and
better, I think.

We don’t talk, we don’t stop, we walk
as fast as we can. Tater don’t come right out and say what the
villagers would do to us but my mind keeps filling in the gaps with
all kinds of horrible thoughts. I find myself looking over my
shoulder every few steps and jumping at every noise. Sometimes I
swear I catch a glimpse of movement behind us at times, like
someone was following us but it never amounts to anything. I know
it’s just my mind playing tricks on me but it don’t ease my rattled
nerves none. It only makes me pick up the pace and have Finn and
Tater struggle to keep up with me. But by sundown we’re at the base
of the mountain, and without incident. We decide not to attempt the
gulch at this late hour but wait for the morning light. A small
grove of trees halfway up a side slope looks to be our best bet for
a protected campsite, though we’ll have to do without a fire
tonight. After making it through the valley unnoticed there ain’t
no need to draw attention now.

We set up our beds by the early evening
moonlight, but I ain’t the least bit tired. I feel all on edge and
my blood is strumming through my veins. I lay staring up at the
night sky, listening ‘til finally I hear Finn’s slight snores and
Tater’s louder version. Even Cat is sleeping, twitching as she
chases some dream prey. But sleep eludes me. I move my blankets to
a tree, prop myself up against the trunk and lay the iron shooter
in my lap. I cain’t rightly say what’s bothering me but I watch the
valley floor, the slopes for any sign of movement. I strum my
fingers against the long barrel of the shooter. I wait.

The moon is high in the sky now but
it’s not much help with all the shadows of the valley. I keep
watching, looking for…I ain’t sure what. I don’t know how long I
sit there. I can hear a critter hooting off in the distance, its
call eerie in the quiet night. It’s getting hard to keep my eyes
open now. I’m being foolish, I think. I should get some
sleep.

Then suddenly…..there below me!
Something is moving! Fully awake now I bolt upright and hold the
iron shooter tighter. I wish I had thought to ask Tater for his
spyglass. I keep watching the spot. There it is again! A shape
moving real slow. I get a brief glimpse of it as it emerges from
the shadows into a moonlit patch of valley floor. It looks to be
hunched over and shuffling like….like the creature I had seen in
the sand lands. I blink my eyes, trying to focus. It disappears
into the darkness again and I cain’t see it no more. I keep
watching, not blinking ‘til my eyes start to burn but I don’t see
it again. Was I imagining it? I could have sworn something was
there. But if there had been something, there was no way it could
have been the same creature. What I had seen that night in the sand
lands had been weeks and leagues away from here. What were the odds
the creature had been traveling in the same direction as us?
Following us? Even though I don’t see no more movement I decide I
ain’t sleeping tonight. Imagination or not somebody needs to keep
watch, I think. I sense…something in my gut and it just don’t feel
right. I settle back against the tree and level the iron shooter on
my knee pointing it straight ahead. If there was something out
there it wasn’t getting past me tonight. No way in hell!

“
Tara! Tara, wake up.”
Dazed, confused I open my eyes. The sun is up, it’s morning.
Suddenly remembering the moving shadow, I search my lap frantically
for the iron shooter. It ain’t there. Then I realize Tater is
standing above me waving the shooter and grinning.

“
Looking for this oh great
protector?” He was obviously aware of my intent last evening, and
my total failure in staying awake. I yank it out of his hand
ignoring his laugh, and pack it into the slingbag at my feet. Finn
walks over to join us and hands me a waterskin.

“
How come you slept sitting
up against that tree Tara?” he asks.

“
No reason,” I say. I take a
big gulp from the water skin but he keeps looking at me curiously,
waiting for more.

“
I was just star gazing and
I fell asleep is all.”

He seems to accept this without
question and moves on to pack up his bedding, but Tater is
eyeballing me. He knows I ain’t telling the whole truth.

“
Did you witness any unusual
constellations during your gazing?” he asks.

“
If by that you mean strange
stars then no, just the usual,” I say. I reckon I best not mention
what I had seen last evening, or thought I had seen. I kind of feel
foolish for my fright and I weren’t even sure it was real now in
the light of day. No sense worrying them over what could have very
well been my imagination. Sides, if something had been here last
evening Cat would have sensed it, I think. She would have warned
us. Instead she had slept sound through the night, obviously she
hadn’t sensed anything amiss. No, best push it out of my mind and
blame my jitters on my exhaustion. We got us more pressing matters
like some crazy villagers and mountains and possibly raiders to
worry about instead. Just another typical day in the sand
lands.

Mid afternoon, day five in the
mountains. The ground is changing the higher we climb. And we are
climbing. Not so quickly that you really notice but the ground is
sloping upwards. It’s getting rockier, sparser. The loose shale
sometimes makes it hard for Winnie to get her footing, but Tater
coaxes her along gently. I believe he truly does love that
mule.

It’s getting cooler too, especially the
nights. I’m real glad I have Thomas’ wolfling cloak to keep me warm
‘cause the wind that sometimes blows cuts like a knife. I had made
Finn a cloak out of one of my blankets to keep him protected from
the biting wind but Tater, he only seemed to need the warmth of his
tin flask just adding to my belief that he was indeed a
mutie.

The half man assures us it will only
take a few more days travel before we start going down the other
side, then things will get better. Better, he says. I’m not sure
about that. Littlepass means closer to Lily and answers to my
questions about Ben and the young’uns. But it also means we’re
getting closer to the Prezedant’s lands. To my plan of abandoning
Finn. I ain’t yet told him of my idea to settle him there. I hope
he won’t hate me too much but it’s all I can think to do for him. I
know it’s going to be hard to say goodbye to him. I kind of enjoy
having him around, Cat too. Even Tater don’t irritate me so much
though the thought of not hearing his voice every day don’t bother
me at all. But the thought of not seeing Finn every day….. it don’t
sit well .

I watch him now plodding along after
Tater, yammering with a hundred questions.

“
How much further Tater?
What does Littlepass look like? What kinda food do they eat
there?”

His hair is sticking up as normal and
there’s a big streak of mud across his cheek. Don’t know how he got
that. He sees me watching him, stops talking and gives me his gap
toothed grin. It tugs at me some but I squash those feelings right
away. I ain’t got time for that. I cain’t afford to have any kind
of care for anybody right now, except for Ben and Jane and young
Thomas. They were my only concern. Besides, I know it’s best for
him and me to part ways. Some of what I’m thinking must be showing
on my face however ‘cause his smile fades away.

“
You okay Tara?”

“
What? Me? Aye, I’m fine you
mule turd. Why you asking?” I say.

“
Cause you look…I dunno…sad
kinda,” he says and starts walking towards me. I give him my
brightest smile and reach out, try to wipe the dirt off his cheek,
but it’s stuck good.

“
No…I’m fine…truly. I…I was
just thinking about how the sky looks mighty dark up
ahead.”

I grasp at something to change the
subject. I don’t want to have to tell him anything yet. I don’t
need to be arguing with him the rest of the way.

“
Looks like it’s gonna
rain.”

Tater stops at my words and studies the
sky.

“
H’m ….you are right Tara.
There is definitely a rain storm up ahead. We are going to have to
wait it out. It’s too dangerous to be walking in the gulch right
now.”

“
What do you mean Tater? Why
is it dangerous?” Just like that Finn totally forgets about me at
the mention of danger. He trots back over to the little
man.

“
Why is a storm coming
dangerous?”

“
Rain in the mountains…it’s
different from the sand lands. The rains are intense and torrential
and can cause the gulch to flood…sweep us away before we even
realize it’s coming. We need to get out of the gulch now, wait it
out on that plateau above us.”

I ain’t sure what a ‘pla-toe’ is but I
follow Taters gaze and figure he’s talking about the mountain ledge
up ahead. The ledge is flat and open but there are a couple of
boulders high enough to maybe give us shelter from the rain if it
came this way. It would have to do.

Reaching the ledge I choose one of the
boulders to rest against and ease my slingbag and bow from my
shoulder. Tater does the same, easing Winnie’s burden by taking off
her saddlebags and laying them under the other boulder to keep them
as dry as possible. Winnie is enjoying this bit of freedom and
takes a happy little romp about the grass, scaring away some sort
of mountain bird that had been using the grass as a hiding spot
from us. The bird squawks some and takes off, Cat following and
nipping at its tail feathers. I smile at the chase. I’d be willing
to bet we’re having mountain bird for our evening meal
tonight.

I lay back against the rock, close my
eyes. I feel bone tired and my shoulder is aching something fierce.
The slingbag strap has been irritating me some lately. I was going
to have to try and get some extra padding on it, I
think.

Finn, unlike me or Tater, is showing no
signs of weariness. He ain’t even bothering with sitting down, he’s
busy exploring the ledge, yelling my name to get my attention. I
crack open one eye. He is at the ledges drop off, not close enough
for worrying but close enough to see how high up we’ve
climbed.

“
Tara, you gotta come see
this! It’s like we’re at the top of the world! It’s
amazing!”

I close my eye again.

“
I’ll take your word on that
Finn,” I say, too tired to move. “Don’t get no closer to that
edge!”

“
Yeah, yeah,” he says,
brushing aside my warning. I’m still listening to his yammering
about the view below when, suddenly, I get a real bad feeling in my
gut. Seconds later Winnie starts braying in fright. I bolt upright
and instinctively grab for my bow. The mule rears up on her hind
legs and before Tater can stop her she runs off towards the
gulch.

“
What the…?” I duck
instinctively as a huge dark shadow leaps from the boulder above my
head. It lands right in between us, with me and Tater on one side
and Finn on the other.

“
Holy damnation!” Tater’s
cussin’ bursts out of him as he stumbles backward into me, nearly
knocking me from my feet.

The creature standing before us is
enormous, even bigger then Cat. Its light fur is matted and dirty
and the red eyes regarding me and Tater at the moment look wild…and
hungry.

“
Tara!”

At the boys cry the creature’s head
swings toward him, and I can see the powerful jaws on the massive
head. It bears its teeth. They look like a mouth full of daggers! I
can see Finn over its head. He’s frozen in place, his face a mask
of fear.

“
It’s okay Finn,” I yell out
to him, sounding a lot calmer then I really am. Slowly I raise my
bow and reach for an arrow only to grab at empty air. Shizen! I had
taken my quiver off with the rest of my things earlier! I see it
out of the corner of my eye, laying about four paces from me and
make a move for it but the creatures head swings my way. I freeze,
waiting for it to pounce on me. Finn must fear the same ‘cause he
cries my name again causing the devil cat’s attention to shift back
to him. It crouches then, finally deciding on the boy as the easier
prey. It’s about to attack Finn! I don’t stop to think, I just drop
the bow, grab my knife from the sheath and run at the beast
screaming. I cain’t let it get to Finn! It springs into the air
away from me and I yell, terrified.

“
Finn! Run!”

From out of nowhere seems like, Cat
comes flying past me, her teeth bared and snarling like the she
devil she was. She collides with the other beast in mid air and she
brings it down. They tumble over and over, a black and golden blur,
their claws and teeth ripping at each other’s throats.

“
Finn, get away from
them!”

I’m yelling at him to move but all he
can see is his beloved beast in danger and it’s like he don’t even
heed me.

“
Cat!” he’s screaming. “Cat
no!” He runs right into the path of the fighting beasts and I watch
in horror as he is knocked from his feet and disappears over the
mountain edge!