Forager (9781771275606) (9 page)

“
She’s not in there, Josh.”

Kurt stepped up. “I’ll go in with him. You two,” he pointed at
Josh and Jason, “keep searching.”

Having Kurt in my RV wasn’t any better than Josh or Jason, but
I couldn’t do anything about it. “Fine, let’s go,” I
said.

We entered the RV. Sawyer lifted his head from a
pillow.

Kurt sneered, and his irritation could clearly be heard in his
voice. “Some Forager you are, asleep on the couch while the rest of
us spend the day searching for the mayor’s missing
daughter.”

Sawyer’s simple response left Kurt silent for a moment.
“Isn’t looking after the mayor’s family part of
your
job?”

Kurt’s hard, narrow eyes and locked jaw said more about his
anger than the lame, “Mind your own business,” he eventually
voiced.

A moment later, Kurt noticed the homemade batteries and the
lights attached to them. “You looking to get more jolts, Dillon? I
don’t think the mayor would approve of you having so many
bulbs.”

Before I could tell him they weren’t mine, Kurt swept his hand
across the table. Cups, nails, wires, bulbs, and salt water flew
everywhere.

“
Pick it up. Pick it up now.” It was Sawyer. He hadn’t raised
his voice, but there was pure menace in it.

With his back to Sawyer, the fool had the nerve to ask, “Why
should I?”

I knew why, even if it would take Kurt a bit longer to find
the answer. Sawyer had pointed a large revolver at the back of
Kurt’s head. Sawyer didn’t say anything, but the unmistakable sound
of the hammer being cocked back on the pistol echoed through my
RV.

Kurt took a quick look behind him, saw the pistol, and got
straight to work cleaning up.

Sawyer said, “Except for the cups, everything you found so
offensive was mine, and the mayor has already seen it. You can
leave. I need to speak to Dillon—alone.”

After Kurt scampered out, I securely shut the door behind him.
I wished for Sawyer’s nerve. Nothing fazed the man. No problem was
too big. I began to hope he’d be stuck in my trailer a while. There
were many things he could teach me, maybe even ways to deal with
Josh and Jason.

Sawyer smiled and slowly eased the hammer to its resting
position. “I really don’t like enforcers. They’re too full of
themselves. That one really made me wish this gun actually worked.”
Sawyer turned his head to look out the window, wincing as the
movement put pressure on his injured leg. Apparently satisfied, he
turned back to me and said, “I can’t forage. Not with this hole in
my leg. Dillon, I want you to fulfill the mayor’s request. I want
you to find that alternator.”

Sawyer’s words sent an electric current into my veins. My
heart raced. My hands shook.
It was next to
impossible to stay still.
I hadn’t even known I wanted this until the words
were spoken.

The furnished house came to mind. If Chane hadn’t been
missing, I’d have spent several hours looking at everything. Now, a
Forager was telling me that not only was it okay, it was
necessary.

Thinking of Chane made me realize that as much as I wanted to,
I couldn’t leave. The excitement faded, and the cold weight that
had settled into my stomach on hearing she was missing grew deeper.
“Chane has to be found. I can’t run off and go searching the
countryside for a combine. Besides, there’s no way the mayor will
approve, not with his daughter missing.”

“
Have you ever seen what happens to a town when it fails to
meet the governor’s quotas?” Sawyer asked.

I shook my head. I hadn’t been further out of town than the
farthest field. I’d never even seen another town.

“
The governor sends in an elite group of enforcers. These
enforcers work the people hard, too hard. Every person in town, and
not just adults, is given a specific job. Those jobs have
deadlines. Fail to do the job or meet the deadline and face
execution or banishment. Not many choose execution. Those that are
banished rarely live out the season. The ones that
survive…”

“
Become Scavengers,” I finished.

Sawyer nodded. “It’s all about the numbers. The governor has
his own quotas to fill. The only way he can do that is to make sure
towns like this one produce their share. There are places where the
enforcers drove the people so hard they gave up. As a group, they
left their tools and belongings behind and fled to the countryside.
It could happen here. That’s why it’s so important to keep that
combine running.”

Sawyer’s words fed my desire. I wanted to be out there looking
for that alternator, but what was I going to do about
Chane?

“
What about the mayor? I don’t think he’s going to let me go
Foraging with his daughter missing.”

“
Don’t worry about him. He can’t stop you. He knows I have the
authority to commandeer anything or anyone to help me Forage. I
don’t even need to tell him, but I will. I take it you’re
willing?”

I nodded. I wanted to go, but at the same time I didn’t like
abandoning Chane. I tried to tell myself that there was a whole
town looking for her, and it wouldn’t make any difference who found
her. Naturally, it didn’t work.

Three sharp raps on my RV brought me back to reality. Opening
the front door, I found Jason looking at me expectantly. “Are you
about done in there? We need to keep searching for my
sister.”

“
Dillon won’t be joining you. Continue the search without him,”
Sawyer replied.

“
My father is not gonna like that. In fact, you both should be
out here searching,” Jason said.

“
We’re headed to the mayor right now.” Sawyer waved his hand
toward the street. “If you want to find your sister, you’d best get
looking. Dillon, if you’d help me to my horse?”

Jason threw his arms in the air and stomped off.

It took a while to saddle Sawyer’s horse, which was a lot
harder than I thought. Turns out I’d done things backwards last
night—I should have unwound the long leather strap to undo the
girth and left the buckle alone. With his instructions, I fumbled
about with blankets and buckles and straps until everything was
secured to his liking.

Actually getting Sawyer in the saddle was a chore of its
own. He grabbed the saddle with both hands to support himself,
balancing carefully on his injured leg and putting his left knee in
my cupped hands.
I lifted straight up until
he was high enough that he could roll himself into position. A
painful grunt escaped his lips as he swung his leg over the
saddle.
Even
through his jeans. he felt warm. Too warm.

“
Sawyer, you’re burning up!”

“
Just a bit of fever.” His voice held firm despite his obvious
pain. “It’s all the more reason for you to take my place. Let’s go.
There’s a lot to do before you can set out tomorrow.”

“
Tomorrow.” I sighed heavily. “Why not today?” I started
walking and Sawyer, on his horse, followed.

“
There’s too much to do. We have to gather information and let
people know what’s happening. Seriously, Dillon, do you even know
what an alternator looks like? Do you have any idea where to find
one? What tools you’ll need? And, another thing, have you ever
ridden?”

“
No.”

“
It’s not hard to learn the basics, especially if the horse is
held to a walk. Galloping, though, that’s a whole different
ballgame. I can only hope you don’t meet anyone out there,” he
waved his hand to indicate the countryside, “who’s looking for
trouble. I can’t teach you everything you should know about riding
in the daylight we have left, but if you pay attention, you should
be fine.”

“
What? Sawyer, wait, I’ve never taken care of a horse. I don’t
know what to do.”

“
Fred’s easy. Just feed and water her, and give her a good
grooming when you’re done riding for the day,” he said.

“
Fred?”

“
Fred.”

“
But…”

“
Yeah, she’s a mare.”

“
Okay.” I did my best not to laugh. For
some reason naming a mare Fred struck my funny bone.
Thankfully, Sawyer was behind
me, on the horse. I couldn’t
stop the tears running down my face, but I bit my bottom lip and
held in the laughter. He might have seen my shoulders shake, but he
didn’t say anything.

After stopping a few of the searchers, we discovered that the
mayor was at the infirmary. This gave me an idea. When we arrived,
I made Sawyer wait outside. Hurrying in, I was back in less than a
minute with a surprise for Sawyer.

“
That kind of forward thinking is exactly what makes a good
Forager,” he said. I helped him off of his horse and into the
wheelchair. He gave an audible sigh as he plopped down on the seat
and put his boots into the foot rests. “Let Fred graze on the lawn,
and let’s go find the mayor.”

We searched the first floor, but he wasn’t in any of the
rooms. Leaving Sawyer at the foot of the staircase, I said, “Wait
here. I’ll find him.”

The mayor was on the third floor, among the injured from the
previous day’s attack. From the hallway, I watched him move from
door to door and bed to bed, patting shoulders and giving
encouraging words. It surprised me, especially since his daughter
was missing. It probably shouldn’t have. The mayor always kept the
best interests of the townspeople foremost, even if we couldn’t
always see it.

When he was done, he said, “Thank you for waiting, Dillon. I
assume because of your patience that my daughter has not yet been
found?”

“
No,” I said, feeling guilty again that I wasn’t searching.
“This is something else. Sawyer wants to talk to you. He’s
downstairs.”

“
Lead the way.”

“
Took you long enough,” Sawyer said when we finally came down
the stairs. “I need Dillon to go out after that generator. I can’t
do it. Not with my leg the way it is.”

The mayor’s face turned dark red. “No! He can’t leave! He’s to
be punished for his crime and he needs to be searching for my
daughter.”

Apparently, the mayor’s compassion didn’t include someone
who’d shot a deer.

“
You don’t have a choice. Don’t forget, I’m a
Forager.”

“
There has to be someone better suited to the task than him.”
Sawyer thought I was good enough, why didn’t the mayor? “I’ve got a
better idea. Why don’t you take one of my boys instead? They’re
twice his size and probably much more capable.”

“
I’ve made my choice. I came here as a courtesy. You will abide
my decision or we’ll be discussing this with the
governor.”

I didn’t think it was possible for the mayor’s face to get any
redder. I was right. It went purple, deep purple, like a plum. How
long had it been since someone had usurped his authority? He
pointed his finger right in Sawyer’s face. “Fine, but when he gets
back, I’ll deliver his jolts personally!”

Oh, great. I just got myself thrown into the middle of their
personal feud.

Sawyer shrugged as if he didn’t care, and the two of us made
for the exit. I grabbed a pair of crutches from a wall rack and was
about to push Sawyer thorough the door when Dr. White stopped
us.

“
Dillon, Sawyer, good to see you. How’s that leg?”

“
Not great, I’m afraid. I think the infection is getting
worse,” Sawyer said.

Dr. White turned to me and asked, “Have you checked the wound
lately?”

I hadn’t. My face warmed in embarrassment, despite having the
excuse of being in the middle of a very busy day. I simply told the
doctor, “Not since this morning.”

“
No time like the present. Follow me.”

Dr. White led us into a small examination room. He asked me to
step outside and wait. Standing by the door, I hoped no one would
come along and find something else for me to do. Amazingly, no one
did.

No surprise, my thoughts wandered to Chane. My mind drifted
back to a day shortly after I recovered from the sickness that
killed my parents. I was in the Dining Hall eating lunch. I’d lost
track of time, and was one of the last to get my tray. Millie ran
out of apples. It happened, and usually was not a big deal. But I
was younger. I’d been sick. My parents were only a week in the
ground and I’d been too ill to attend the funeral. Great tears
welled in my eyes and before I knew it, I was bawling like a baby.
And that was when Chane came to the rescue. I’d always remembered
the softness of her hand as she placed her apple in my palm. The
tenderness of her voice as she said, “Here, Dillon, you can have
mine.”

I hoped she was all right, wherever she was. It shamed me
that I wasn’t searching for her, but the guilt couldn’t outweigh
the excitement of Sawyer wanting me to be a Forager. Even if it was
only temporary, it made me feel important.
It didn’t matter why he’d chosen me. I wanted to do it. More
than that, I wanted to do it right and prove to Sawyer that he’d
made a good choice. I wanted him to be proud of me.
That thought stopped
all the others. I hadn’t felt such conviction since my parents
died.