I watched the people celebrating and couldn’t help but smile back at their happy faces. Men, women, and children all relished in Calish’s promotion with the hope he would be able to make things better, he would give them a future worth living for. It was hard not to respond in kind.
I surveyed the crowd, seeing each of their expressions until I came across one who stood out from the rest. He did not move, and he didn’t smile. My eyes locked with his, and my expression froze.
Kash.
I glanced at the shawl around my shoulder to make sure it still covered me, and it did. His gaze floated to the children where they danced on the stage.
“We need to leave,” I said, breaking from Calish.
“What?” he shouted while chasing after me. “I can’t hear you!”
“We need to go! Kash is here!”
Marsh read my lips and sprang into action.
“Where is he?” Calish searched the crowd.
“You’ll never find him,” I shouted, gathering up the children. “We need to leave! Everyone grabs a hand!” I signaled to Marsh to help me get them off the stage, and he herded them back to the wagon. Scooping up Ky, who was too enamored with the audience, Calish made a motion with his hand, and a few Authority rushed in as added security.
I scrambled into the back with the children and urged them to hold on to each other. Calish slid next to our brother, whose hands already whipped the horses forward. We collectively lurched in the same direction with the second flick of Marsh’s reins. The mounted guards took point and escorted us from the festivities and to the main road. Though the neighborhood was closer, the property would be easier to get to, and for some reason, I felt it would be more secure.
The sun’s lower edge tucked behind the trees, warning it would soon be dark. If the horses kept their speed, we might be home before then. It wasn’t the sun I wanted to outrun, it was Kash and his men. I sat with the children facing the road behind us as a green, grassy trail formed in our wake. I touched every child in the wagon to assess what they knew about it, but none of them had seen this type of thing before.
Could Hawk’s comment about one of them being a Grower be true? I’d learned enough not to assume the possibility was only superstition. I knew firsthand that gifts and talents were more than folklore.
If it hadn’t happened twice before, I would have considered someone else on the stage to be responsible. It had to be one of us, and I was certain it was one of the children. If I knew who it was, perhaps they could make it stop. Since none of them knew anything about it, I feared there might not be a way to. Running from Kash wouldn’t help if we left a lush green carpet of grass behind us. Wildflowers would lead him straight to where we were.
Calish climbed back into the wagon with me and sat. “It was you,” he said, looking at the growth of our wake.
“Not me,” I replied. “One of them.”
The children sang and celebrated with their arms intertwined, completely unaware of the implications of our attendance. Or that Kash had seen it all.
Chapter 31
As a precaution, we opted to put the kids to sleep in the wooded area of the pasture instead of the open one we used on the previous nights. Our land wasn’t so big intruders looking for them wouldn’t be able to find them, but at least they were hidden from the road. Additionally, Calish told the guards escorting us they’d be staying put. It increased the security detail threefold.
“They’ll stay here with you for now,” he said, changing out of his uniform and into the sleeping pants the servants packed for him. “And I’ll send additional men to monitor the roads tomorrow.”Marsh agreed to increasing security but suggested we contact Nik and ask for reinforcements from the camp as well.
“How are we supposed to do that? I don’t have any messenger birds.” Calish shrugged.
“We don’t need those. Una can just do her mirror trick and tell him.” He snacked on a cracker.
“What is he talking about?” Calish rested his hands on his hips.
My pitiful attempt to reply was interrupted by Trisk. “Is everyone decent?” she asked from outside the tent.
“Yeah, we’re as decent as we’re going to get.” Marsh pulled back the canvas door.
Trisk brought a guest with her.
“Good evening, everyone,” Hawk greeted, following her inside. “Graken came back with me. He was not too pleased you took off without him.”
“I’m sure he’ll recover,” Calish said, shaking his hand.
“He’s outside debriefing the men from the Coronation,” Hawk informed us, sitting down on an overturned crate. “Tell me, who’s the Grower?”
I shrugged. “I wish I knew. I searched all the children’s memories, and I can’t tell.” I told him about the last two nights and how the greenery gets bigger each day.
“Well, you got some attention today.” Hawk crossed his arms over his chest. “The good news is my father doesn’t believe in any Mystic-stuff. He’ll believe it was from the gods, anything that feeds his ego, really, but Noran, he’s going to take a new interest in who’s staying here.”
“I bet we’ll get new attention from Kash, too. He was in the audience and didn’t look pleased. Something told me to get out of there,” I said.
“Are all those children from his territory?” Hawk asked, and I nodded. “Then he’s going to want them back.” As much as I hated hearing it out loud, he only said what we were already thinking. If the Woodsmen had a Grower, they would have a never-ending food supply. It would get them through Talium without having to prepare for it.
“He can’t have them,” Marsh spat. “We need to hide them. We need to take them to the camp.”
Hawk shook his head. “No can do, Marsh. You can’t. Not now.” He anticipated Marsh’s objection. “The camp has grown, but so have the rumors about it. Men on both sides of the law are looking for it. We can’t fight the Woodsmen and the Authority simultaneously; there are simply not enough men or resources. Since there’s nowhere for you to go, you’ll have to wait it out here.”
“We’re just going to sit here and see if they come after us?” Trisk shrilled. “We’re like sitting ducks here!”
“I’m not arguing that, but you can’t make a move without everyone else noticing it! In case you didn’t notice, you’ve got a big green welcome mat extending from the river to your front door. Until you figure out who it is, those kids aren’t safe anywhere! Even if nature didn’t give you your own trail, there are plenty of spies watching you now. Noran may have passed it off as a blessing from the gods, but anyone out there with half a brain knows you’ve got something they don’t want someone else getting.”
“I have no idea what to do.” I meant my words to stay in my head, but they escaped as I paced.
“Like Hawk said, wait it out,” Calish agreed. “We’ll just have to go on about our business as if we don’t know what’s going on. Maybe they’ll buy it, and eventually they’ll give up.”
“That’s not likely to happen.” Hawk sighed. “Una’s going to need to determine who the Grower is before they do.”
“Why me?” I stopped pacing. “So let me get this straight, I’m supposed to figure out who Kash is, and if Noran or Reinick or both are working with him, and now you expect me to find out who the Grower is, all while preparing to give birth?”
A silence filled the tent.
“This is insane,” I whispered. “I should have stayed at the camp.”
Trisk tried to support Hawk’s assessment of the situation and convince me I might need a nap.
“What? I’m not allowed to be upset by this? I’m trying to keep it together, but I’m not as strong as you all think. I’m starting to slip, and I’m scared. These children have no one but us. Now you’re telling me we’re probably going to lose them because we’ve got nowhere safe to take them? What are we going to do?”
Marsh offered, “Have you had a vision?”
I glared him.
Yes! Yes, I hav
e. You drew an arrow on me and, by the look in your eye, had every intention of killing me.
But I couldn’t say that, could I? Not without adding more problems to the list we were making.
I circled back to the point I struggled to make. “I’m not good at using my gift. I’m not like Nik. I generally don’t know how to interpret my visions until after they’ve already happened. I’m no better than any of you when it comes to seeing the future or figuring this stuff out!”
“I’m sorry, Una—” Hawk held up his hands “—like it or not, you’ve got an ability no one else here does. At your worst, you’re still a better Seer than any of us.”
“What about tomorrow. What do we do?” Trisk asked.
“Do whatever you’d planned to do; if you don’t, it’ll look suspicious. I suggest you pretend as if you believe Noran’s account; the spontaneous growth is a blessing from the gods.”
“Fine by me.” I didn’t care to talk about it anymore this evening; in fact, all I wanted was some fresh air. “You four can discuss it all night, but I’m done.” I stormed off.
Thankfully no one came after me. Qarla, Sterle, and their people retired to their tents, and the children were settled in their beds. Everyone else awake let me alone with my thoughts. The conversation continued in the tent after I left. My ears picked up a few words, so I increased the distance between us and stayed out of earshot. I didn’t care what they discussed as long as they left me out of it.
Anger distracted me from any particular destination, and I found myself wandering next to the empty pigpen Marsh and my father spent so long constructing. The length of split wood held shape as did the door, propped slightly open. I leaned on the top rail and rubbed my face in my hands.
I was so determined to get back to this property, but now that I’m here, all I want to do is run and hide.
I’d never forget the look on Kash’s face. He knew he made a mistake by letting those children go. Trying to guess his next move, my mind unraveled.
He wouldn’t kill them. Not until he knew which child had the gift. My fingers rapped on the fence rail. He might offer a trade for them, but what? Scavengers didn’t require much; besides, I was married to the Lord of the Authority. Anything Kash offered me, I could get on my own.
Unless he took Calish.
No, I’d see that coming.
There were plenty of things I didn’t see. I never had a vision where Calish got engaged.
But they didn’t marry. I saved him!
He followed me up the hill to warn me of Merci’s intentions to kill me.
Oh, shut up!
I growled. I could argue with myself all night long.
I crossed the yard to my mother’s garden. Not even weeds grew there in Toridia. I sat on the sidewall of the herb box and sighed. Things used to be so much easier when nobody knew us. When no one paid attention. In the span of a few seasons, my house was demolished and sorted into piles, and my entire life was known by everyone—including those who would exploit it. I guessed it didn’t matter which side you’re on, the men of power controlling either side were terrible in their own way.
“Mother Una?” a small voice came from the shadows of Rebel’s pasture.
“Yes?” I turned, faking a smile.
A brown-haired boy shuffled his way to me through the moonlight. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Me either.” I held my arm out for him to join me.
“What are you doing?”
“This is my mother’s garden. I just kind of ended up here.” I patted a spot next to me. “You’re Davin, right?”
He nodded.
“Well, Davin, what should we do to help us fall asleep?”
He said as he sat beside me, “I don’t know.”
I thought for a moment. “Have you ever put out rabbit traps?”
He shook his head.
“Well, how about I show you how to make them?”
“Really?”
“Sure.” I stood. “You can be our resident rabbit hunter.”
He came to me to sleep, and I ended up giving him a second wind. Normally, setting up rabbit traps is boring, but Davin, so excited to help, made it fun. With the aid of a lantern, the two of us had no problem finding what we needed. We started by gathering a bunch of sticks and pulling the long-dried grasses from the edge of the property.
“There are two basic types of traps,” I explained, “one is to kill your prey, the other is to capture them alive.”
“Which are we going to make?” he asked, following me back to an area with enough room to work and away from those who were sleeping.
“We’re going to make the kind to capture them alive.”
“Are they going to be pets?” he asked innocently.
His question made me remember how I felt about our rabbits and Marsh’s warning not to fall in love with our food. “The Great One gives us all we need to survive. His greatest gift is our ability to think and make plans.” I pointed to my temple. “Would it be easier to catch them every day or to give them a home and let them breed in captivity?”
“Breed?” Davin didn’t understand the concept at all.
“We’re going to let them reproduce and make more bunnies to grow to be rabbits. Then we don’t have to chase them every day.”
“Oh.” He nodded slowly. “So we’ll have lots of pets!”
I tussled his hair. “Let’s catch them, then we’ll take it from there.”
Weaving was one of my more human talents, so making traps was simple. Father assigned me to the task at a young age. Feeding two growing boys meant we required several rabbits in a season. Our does had a hard time keeping up with the demand. They were a good, renewable food source thanks to their short gestations and fast maturity. Rabbits and chickens were a staple for anyone who needed to be self-reliant, and Scavengers definitely fit that description.
Now everyone does.
Davin proved to be a quick learner with a talent for the craft. He made his trap quickly. The knots challenged him a bit; tying off grasses wasn’t like shoelaces. Other than that, his technique impressed me. We made several together while chatting about fishing, school, and his hope to one day become the Lord of the Authority “just like Calish.”
I wanted to say, “That is a job no one should strive for,” but then I remembered my dream of being a Temple Dancer. My mother must have had an opinion about that, but if she did, I never heard it. I told him the same thing my mother told me: “You’ll have to learn all you can so when the opportunity presents itself, you’ll be prepared to take it.”
Hours had passed by the time we finished. Davin and I carried our traps to Graken, who recently had taken over the watch at the entrance. I had two traps in each hand, while Davin struggled to carry one.
“Good evening, Mr. Graken,” I said. “Would you please escort us over to that field across the road?”
“What for?” He eyed the traps.
“I’d like to set these,” I answered. “We’ll never catch anything in here with all the activity. That field has always provided well for our family.”
“Where’s Lord Calish?” He picked something from between his molars with his tongue.
“Probably still with Hawk, I mean, Lord Hawk.” I set the traps down to shake the blood back into my hands. “Come on, Graken. You’ve been looking out there forever now. You know there’s nothing out there.”
“No, I don’t know that. Do you?”
“I don’t smell anything, if that’s what you’re asking,” I whispered.
Davin leaned forward. “I don’t smell anything either.”
Graken chuckled.
I handed the officer two of the traps. “Here, you can help.”
Before he took them, he snapped his fingers at two of the guards. “We’re going into that field over there. Keep watch.”
We crossed the bridge and went into the grasses. I showed Davin and Graken how to rig the trap then demonstrated how it worked. Graken, who constantly t
ried to convince me nothing impressed him, seemed more interested than the kid.
“A few sticks properly balanced and tied with dried grass can catch an animal?”
“It’s not easy. That’s why we put out so many. They don’t all work as well as we hope.”
“Mother Una says we’ll let them have babies, so we won’t have to do this again,” Davin added.
Once the traps were set, we returned to the safety of our land. Graken pulled the bridge back to our side of the gulch and resumed his post, while I walked the boy back to his sleeping blanket for the night. I never considered trapping to be relaxing, yet I felt more at ease than I had all day. Thanking Graken for his assistance crossed my mind as I tucked the boy in, but when saw him, I decided against it.
Graken’s large frame, a darkened silhouette of a man against a dark blue backdrop, did not invite pleasantries. Although I never had reason to show him gratitude, he didn’t seem like the kind of man who enjoyed appreciation. Everyone had their preferred ways to be thanked. His was to be left alone.
Feeling tired, and not wanting to wait up for Calish any longer, I made myself a place to lie under the trees, near to where the children sprawled across the dried weeds of the pasture. As much as I’d like to be with my husband, to be held by him, I’d gladly trade another conversation about strategy and politics for sleep. Many worries competed for a place in my thoughts, yet the effectiveness of the traps beat them all. I half expected them to be empty in the morning. If they did work, I figured we wouldn’t know. Someone out there would claim our prize. It didn’t matter, really. Still, it would be great to see Davin bring in his first catch and return a smile to his face.
Chapter 32
Today was a new day. Despite the looming threats closing in on our situation, I felt cheerful and optimistic about the future. Maybe it had something to do with the children and their abundant energy. Maybe my mind tried to protect my heart. Whatever the reason, it felt good, and I had no intention of ruining it.
Scavenger Girl: Season of Toridia Page 37
