Cry For Tomorrow (23 page)

As we all made our way into the clearing and dropped our packs, Rainor wandered back to the high-water line and began gathering some of the driftwood caught in the heaps of dry seaweed. “The trip from over-world to here usually takes me the better part of a day, so I established this camp where I can take a break and freshen up before heading into headquarters.”

When he had an armload of driftwood, he returned to the center of the clearing and dropped them beside a circle of rocks that had plainly been used as a fire pit in the near past. Dusting his hands off on his pants, he went to a nearby pile of seaweed that appeared to have been windblown into the clearing and kicked it aside, revealing a large wooden casket. “I also started stashing some supplies so I wouldn’t have to carry as much with me.” He threw the lid back, revealing an assortment of tarps, blankets, canned foods and bottles of water. “Now, if you guys will lend me a hand, we can have these tarps up and a fire going in no time.” He was already tossing folded tarps and rope toward the other men.

Taking in the relatively small amount of firewood in Rainor’s pile, I nodded at my sister and Jennie, “Come on, girls, it looks like the men can handle setting up camp without our help, so why don’t we see what we can find in the way of firewood.”

“I noticed some driftwood lying on the beach not far beyond the place where we left the water,” volunteered Jennie as we started out of the cove.

By the time we returned with the firewood we’d collected, the men had the tarps strung up between the trees and enough hammocks for everyone to sleep well off the damp sand.

“This is sort of fun, I’ve never been camping before,” Kelly chirped as she dropped her armful of sticks beside the pit. “Do you know how to start a fire, sis?”

“Hey, don’t worry, little sister, Jake-The-Man is here and I’ll have that fire up and roaring before you know it,” he declared as he knelt beside the pit. He fumbled in his pocket for a moment before withdrawing a bright red lighter. “Aw! Here we go now.”

He held the lighter against the pile of twigs and leaves at the bottom of the wood and flipped the top several times. He continued to flip it for several minutes before grumbling in disgust. “Damn! The kindling must be damp, I don’t know if I can get this fire started after all.”

“Here, let me try,” I offered as I reached for the lighter.

“Well, you can try but the stuff’s not going to be any drier for you than it was for m-me,” Jake grumbled as I took the lighter and held it close to the pile. He smiled when he caught my wink and realized I wasn’t actually triggering the lighter.

“There, I think that will do it,” I announced as the small pile of kindling burst into flames that
swooshed
up into the stacked wood. I handed the small lighter back to Jake and we exchanged conspiratorial smiles. I didn’t really need the aid of the lighter, just the illusion, to maintain the low profile I wished to keep.

“You’re still a little nervous of this whole business, too, I see,” Jake whispered.

“I think it’s a good idea to keep a few secrets amongst us until we see what’s happening here,” I whispered back.

Kelly was quiet, studying our faces for a few moments before she interrupted our conversation. “It’s too bad that all we have to eat are these awful food bars. I’m getting really tired of them,” she complained as she began scooping them out of her pack.

“Well, I’ll tell you what girls,” Rainor said as he joined us at the fire, “give me about fifteen minutes and maybe I can do something about the menu.” He quickly collected a small net from his cache and, with a wave, disappeared down the beach.

“Well, I sure hope he plans on coming back,” said Jake, “‘cause I’m not sure I would want to try to find my way back through those tunnels again without a guide.”

“You know, I hate to admit it, but maybe Carl was right—about this, at least,” complained Jennie. “We have absolutely no idea what we’re walking into or if we can even be any help.”

“Yeah, and what about those phantoms that jumped the freaks?” worried Kelly. “They didn’t have a chance against those monsters!”

We all gathered closer to the fire and settled on the sand to talk about this situation we had been so unexpectedly driven into.

Good to his word, and much to our relief, Rainor did return to camp about fifteen minutes later, carrying a net full of squirming fish and dragging a mesh bag filled with some fist-sized tubers dripping with fronds of seaweed.

“They’re not exactly the red snapper the folks in your city seemed to like so much, but you’ll find they’re just as tasty,” he beamed as he dumped the fish on the beach. “These are sea-tubers. I think you’ll find they taste a lot like your potatoes.” He dropped the sack beside us and grinned. “Just dig some small hollows in the coals and drop them in, seaweed and all, it will burn away. Oh, yes, you’ll find a wire grill in the trunk. Just lay it above the fire for the fish.”

Rainor was right, the grilled fish and baked tubers were delicious.

“Wow, I think that was possibly one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten,” sighed Kelly as she dropped the red leaf she’d used for a plate into the fire. Looking up at the night sky of black and silver overhead, she climbed slowly to her feet and began dusting the sand from her jeans. “I’m totally wiped out. I think I’m going to give that hammock a try. Come on, Dusty, you’re with me tonight.” The dog abandoned her place by the fire and gleefully bounced after the girl.

“I think the kid’s got it right,” agreed Jake as he stretched and stifled a yawn. “Who’s got first watch?”

“I’ll take it,” volunteered Ben. He got to his feet and reached for the coffee pot setting on the rocks beside the fire and refilled his cup. Turning to Rainor’s trunk, he took a blanket from the pile.

“Great, wake me when it’s my turn,” Jake said as he wandered toward one of the hammocks.

“Are you coming, Halie?” Jennie queried. She tiredly collected a blanket before starting after the others.

“Yes, I’ll be along in a few minutes,” I told her as I continued to fuss with the fire, adding a few more sticks to the flames.

Rainor got to his feet and began dusting the sand from his pants. “I’m going to do a little scouting along the beach before I turn in.” He extended one hand in my direction and asked, “Would you like to come for a walk with me?”

“Yes, that would be nice.” I was a little surprised by the invitation. Curious, I looked up into his face and found myself staring into two tiny lakes of molten silver alive with golden stars. My mind knew that this was just the firelight reflecting from his grey eyes, but the effect was still breathtaking. Returning his smile, I tossed the stick I’d been stirring the fire with into the flames and took his hand. “My body says I’m exhausted, but my mind is still buzzing with all these new things. A short walk might be just what I need.”

“It’s probably a good idea if you don’t stray too far from camp ‘til we have a better idea of who and what we’re dealing with out there,” cautioned Ben in a gruff voice.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be going far,” Rainor assured him with a curious glance back at the older man. I gave him a second look myself—he’d sounded a lot like a jealous boyfriend for a minute there.

I splashed through the shallow wavelets rolling along the waterline, enjoying the cool feel of the water on my bare feet. I was so busy watching the swirling clouds of black and silver overhead that I would have fallen into the waves if not for Rainor’s hand on my arm.

“Well, what do you think of Tereus so far?” he queried softly.

“I don’t really know what I think. It is truly overwhelming. One minute there’s some gruesome monster attacking our party and then, well, then there’s this,” I waved my arm at the sky and surrounding landscape. “I have never seen anything that is both so incredibly beautiful and so totally frightening and alien all at the same time.” I jumped to dodge a small crab-like creature that suddenly scuttled between my feet and bumped into his side.

“Easy, they’re just harmless little crustaceans,” he laughed as he pulled me against his body to steady me again. “They’re actually pretty good to eat, but you can only catch them at night when they come out to forage.”

“Okay, how about we leave them for some time when we’re
really
hungry?” I laughed as I turned to get another look at the ugly little crab. Noticing that Rainor was still had his arm around my waist, I looked up into his face but I couldn’t make out the details in the pale, silvery light. The feel his hard-muscled body through our clothes was sending little chills up my spine and making my head swim with questions and confusing feelings. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this intimate contact, but still, he was an attractive young man and I didn’t have an overwhelming desire to pull away from it, either.

When we reached a narrow inlet of water that cut across the beach, Rainor released me and took my hand, leading me into a cluster of large rocks at the edge of the waterway before he stopped. “I think this is far enough for tonight and, if my timing is good, maybe I can show you something really special.” He drew me down on the sand beside him in the shadow of the rocks and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“Yes, there they are,” he whispered gleefully and pointed to the mouth of the inlet.

Curious, I drew my legs up and quietly studied the place he was pointing. Lit by the full moon above, the dark water of the narrow channel became a stage for the pair of sleek sea serpents exploding from the waves in a fountain of sea-spray. Balanced on the tips of their long, wispy tails, they fanned fins as delicate as spider webs to keep them airborne as they twisted and turned, undulating as if to a melody heard only by them. Water dripped and glittered from fins of gossamer as the gentle rays of silver light played across scales glowing luminescent in shades of pink and pearl. Though it lasted only moments, the serpents’ dance of love seemed to last an eternity as they played upon the low crest of waves.

A soft rustle of leaves and sand shattered the magic and the serpents disappeared into the waves they had risen from.

Disappointed by the sudden disappearance of the performers, I turned my head to get an explanation from Rainor, but the stillness of his features and the hand he held up in warning told me that something was wrong. His grip on my arm tightened and he was drawing me back into the deeper shadows where we could watch the beach and rocks on the far side of the inlet without being seen by the intruders.

We didn’t have long to wait. Evidently aware that they had lost their only chance to capture the dancing serpents, a pair of small humanoids slid from the shadows and shuffled to the shore, gibbering and snorting at each other in short angry bursts. They were dragging a crude net of sea grass weighted along its outer edge with rocks tied into the netting. When the serpents did not reappear, the pair jumped up and down and kicked at the sand in a small jig of frustration.

I couldn’t help a small gasp of surprise when the moonlight fell upon their grotesque, goblin faces. I was seriously relieved when the little monsters disappeared back into the shadows they’d come from.

“Come on, we need to head back to camp,” Rainor whispered in my ear. With his arm circling my waist, he brought us both to our feet.

“What were those?” I demanded as I hurried to keep up with him. “They aren’t going to attack the camp or anything are they?”

“They’re Skorks, and no, they’re much too cowardly to attack a group as large as ours, even in the dark.”

“Okay, and just what are
Skorks
and are we going to be running into them again?”

“I doubt it. They’re scavengers and usually follow in the wake of the larger bands of ghouls, picking off whatever they leave.” Rainor’s voice dripped with the loathing he plainly felt for the small goblins. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever encountered them more than a stone’s throw from the band of ghouls which they consider their meal-tickets.

I walked a little faster. His words were telling me not to worry but his body language was telling me a totally different story. “Okay. Now, if those nasty-looking things are the
little guys,
then just what are these ghouls that you’re sounding so worried about?”

“Well, to put it in terms you are more familiar with, let’s just say that if we were on your world, ghouls would be a lot like the legendary creatures you call vampires,” he spit out. “They suck the life and blood from anything they can catch, but I’ve never encountered a band of them in this region before.” Stopping almost in his tracks, Rainor turned so he could see my face. “Please, I don’t want you to wake any of the others tonight. They need as much rest as possible. The ghouls don’t hunt by night and the goblins are too cowardly to be a threat on their own.”

“Yeah, okay, I guess we can tell them all about it in the morning,” I agreed, but I still had the feeling that his concern seemed a little excessive for something that he was trying to convince me was trivial.

After Rainor left me at the side of the small shelter where Kelly and Jennie were sleeping, I stood thinking for several minutes before turning away from the waiting hammock and heading for the shadows at the base of the clump of trees on the far side of the camp.

“
Ben?
” I called softly as I neared the shadows.

“Right here,” he slid from behind the rocks, “I saw you come back into camp. Is everything okay?”

“No, not really,” I answered hesitantly.

“Hey, that guy didn’t get out of line or something, did he?” Ben’s voice was rough with promised retribution. Catching one of my hands, he drew me back into the shadows with him and settled me on a large flat rock at his side.

“No! It was nothing like that,” I replied hastily. “But, well, we ran into something out there.”

“Tell me,” he insisted.

I quickly told him about the dancing serpents and about the goblins skulking about in the dark and I told him everything that Rainor had said about them.

Ben listened intently, only interrupting to clarify a few details. When I was finished, he got to his feet and helped me up from the rock. “He’s right about one thing, you need to get some rest. Tomorrow we’ll get a few more answers out of your friend, Rainor, before we decide whether to continue with this mission or to abort it now.”