Changer's Blood (Balancer's Soul cycle) (67 page)

“It’s Maggie… S
he was startled by something and ran that way. I’d say
no more than
about an hour ago.” Just then
,
the first drops of water
from the sky
dripped on the back of
his
neck
. “We are getting much closer.”

Knowing they
were so close made
them
track her down that much faster and knowing that whatever scared her
,
made their
concern that much graver
. And then rain came tumbling down.
Lightning flashed and the torrent soaked everything.

F
ifteen to twenty minutes later Connor
heard a noise that wasn’t
part of the
storm
. I
t sounded like
soft
whimpering
from a crying puppy
. He
held
his
arm to the side. “Quiet.” The three men behind
,
stopped and remained silent
while one breathed heavily
.
Connor closed his
eyes and
sent out a single pulse of
s
onar.
He
focused in the direction of the noise. And then came the best news
of all
“It’s Maggie
,
we found her.” Without waiting for them to say anything
,
Connor
ran between the trees.

A few heart pounding seconds later
he
spotted her. She
found her way
up a tree and
was
whimpering
.
Connor
looked down to see w
hat caused her worry
. At the base of the tree
circled
a full grown wild boar
that remained in a fit of rage
. It had
solid brown
coarse hair that was wet and its tusks were long and sharp.
It
continued
circling the tree and focusing only on Maggie.
Without a second thought
,
Connor
used the sound of the rain to
his
advantage.
He
ran up behind the wild boar and used
his
strength to kick the boar in the ri
bs. It flew into the brush
, but not before
he
felt its ribs break under the force
from the
solid kick.
It squealed but only for a moment and knew it w
as dead from the violent trauma
.

As
he
checked and made sure of
the
kill, Deputy Burrow’
s was soaked as he said “Maggie! W
e
’
re to help you. Come dow
n and get under this umbrella
. It’s dryer under here.
” H
e finally made the umbrella expand as it made a canopy
and shelter
from the rain.
“See?”

Connor
walked back and got a good look at her.
Maggie
sat
as high
up the tree
she could go
and he
couldn’t tell if it was rain or tears coming down the sides of her cheeks.
Her red hair
had
completely
plastered
itself
to her skull
and
it
cascaded everywhere. All of her clothes were caked in mud and dirt and even her tiny
elfin
face was dirty. She said quietly “But what if the beast comes back?”

Walking up to the tree
Connor
announced
“That mean Boar will not hurt a
nyone ever again.
You have my word.” He
looked down at M
ark
,
Jack and Burrow
’
s questioning eyes.
He
nodded
,
knowing they wanted to know if it was
really
dead.
He
looked
back
up and into the tree. “Can you come down or would you like for me to come up and get you?”

“Mister, can you get me?
I’m afraid of slipping.
” H
er little brown eyes were pleading
with fear
.

“You guys know
what to do.” He
said to the
other
men
as he walked up to the tree. Connor
jumped normally and caught a
thick
branch that could support
his weight. He
hooked another hand on another branch.
He
was able to easily get
a solid
footing
as he
pulled
him
self up
,
even on the wet branches.
T
he three guys knew
just what to do if a mistake was made
. They placed t
hemselves strategically below him and Maggie
,
incase either of them slipped on a branch. Connor
continued ascending up the tre
e slowly
,
so as to not frighten
the little girl a
ny
m
ore
. He
finally
climbed to
her level. “Hello
there
,
little one.”
He
spoke softly
and reassuringly
. “I’m Connor. Can I tell you a little secret?” She stopped whimperin
g
for a moment
and nodded as she looked at him
with wide eyes
. “Maggie, you’re the bravest and smartest little girl I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.” Her face started brightening
with her weak smile
. “That’s right. Tell me, who in your class has ever been chased by an angry Boar?”

“No one.” And she finally
start
ed
to giggle
softly
.

He
touched the tip of her nose. “Exactly. Plus, you were smart enough to climb up this tree
where that pig couldn’t get to you
. You
are
a
very brave
young lady
.
I’m very proud of how resourceful you’ve been.
”

She shook her head
,
making all the droplets in her hair go in every direction
. “No, I was more scared than anything else. I’m not brave like you.
You kicked that pig like a soccer ball.
I was so scared, Mister.
”

“Would you believe I was scared to
o?” H
er eyes went wide and she shook her head. “I was. Fear is a strong weapon
,
Maggie. You overcame your fear when you thought enough ahead to climb a tree.
You knew that a boar couldn’t climb.
”

She shivered as she said “I was still scared though.”

He
smiled in a friendly manner and soon she did as well. “Let’s get you out of this tree
before lightning strikes
.” She nodded uneasily as she looked down. “It’s alright. I won’t let you fall
, promise
. Put your arms around me…” Maggie slowly wrapped her frail and little arms around
his
neck slowly
and
he
saw her keeping her eyes tightly shut
. Connor
scooped the rest
of her body to
his
chest and supported
her
closer w
ith
his
left arm.
He
then looked down
and slowly and carefully made the decent to the ground.

With one small
and final
leap
Connor
landed on the ground
and dropped to one knee for her to know she was back on the ground and safe
.

As he
landed
he
felt the rain stop and when
he
looked up
t
he umbrella
protected them from the rain
. “You’re safe Maggie.” Jack said in a soothing voice
as h
e too knelt in the mud by
her
side
.

Maggie
crack an eye as she looked up at
Connor
and then up to the umbrella. Her ha
nds finally eased from around his
neck and
he sat her on the ground. He
stood and
stepped back as Deputy Burrow’s
came closer and
asked “Young lady, are you hurt anywhere?”

“No sir
, just wet from rain
.”

He sighed
with relief
and his smile came back to life. He pulled out the bag of food Jillian packed fo
r this exact reason. “Hungry?” T
he little girl
shyly
beamed
for some sustenance
. She opened the bag
herself
and pulled out a
bag of barbecue chips, granola bars and a few red apples.
As she started eating, the deputy gave her a bottle of water and she drank until she needed to draw another breath. A
s she ate the rain stopped and he
asked “Well did you catch that rabbit
you were after
?”

Her little brown eyes looked up to
them all
. “How did you know I was chasing a rabbit?”

“I’m the one who followed your track
’
s here.”
Connor
rubbed the top of her head.
“Did you think I’d miss rabbit tracks?

She smiled and sighed. “No I didn’t
catch it
. I lost him in the woods
,
Mr. Muscles.” All the guys
behind Connor
started chuckling softly.
She looked at them confused, but went on.
“I tried catchi
ng
the rabbit
, but he vanished on me
by going into his hole
.
Then b
efore I knew it, I was
alone and
lost
out here
. I’m just so happy someone came to help… is Grandma and Grandpa alright?
They must be worried about me…
”

Mark stepped up
to her and sat on his heels
.
Out of all of
them
he looked the warmest because he didn’t have a shirt that was soaked from the rain.
“Yes, they are very worried for you
so they sent us
.
I know they will be happy to know that you are alright.
” She nodded and finished eating her snack.

“W
ould you like a ride home?” Connor
asked the little girl.

“Yes sir.”
Maggie said in a high
er
pitched voice.

He
picked up the little girl and placed her on
his
back. She wrapped her
tiny
arm
s
around his
neck again,
but for stability instead of fr
ight. Deputy Burrow’s
soon
asked “Do you know the way back?
I bet the rain washed away our tracks.
”

“Of course, I remembered every move we made to get here.
And for your safety I broke branches along the way so they will be easy to navigate back.
”
Deputy Burrow
seemed
satisfied with the answer
as he smiled
.

Connor looked up and saw they
had less than an hour of
day
light
remaining
, but since it rained
so much
all at once
the clouds dissipated
shortly before the sun set
.
Good, we can have enough light to travel during the night.
Thei
r newest member kept talking and asking questions
about what they
do and who
they
are.
She really
i
s a great kid.