The Girl from Shadow Springs

by Ellie Cypher

  “You’re not the only one he hurt, you know, Jorie.” His eyes took on a hard glow, something feral in the deep greenness of them. That look were something I recognized. Something I weren’t sure was going to be helpful.

  Cody took a deep breath, pocketing the watch, and stared up at me. Determined. Whoever I had first met at the bar—that boy was gone. “That man killed my uncle as sure as I breathe. And I’m not going to sit idly by. Because even up in this lawless wild of a town, this isn’t right. No one murders a man and gets off free.”

  “A pretty sentiment, Cody Colburn. But out here, that’s about all it likely is. Only justice you’re like to see here is what you can take with your own two hands.” As much as I wished otherwise, justice didn’t tend to stop too long in Shadow Springs. Turning my back on him, I walked toward the house.

  “Well, that settles it then. I’m afraid I don’t see any other choice. There is nothing else for it.” Cody cracked his knuckles. As if something had snapped inside him. It were a sentiment I knew all too well.

  “Ain’t nothing else for what?” I asked, dread filling my gut.

  Cody fixed his gaze on mine.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “Stars you are.” I blurted the words out and they just hung there, as frozen as a beaver’s ass at midnight.

  Cody’s lips got thinner, knuckles whiter.

  He followed me into the next room. Ignoring him, I stalked over to the pantry, taking stock. I gave Cody a stare to freeze a bear’s balls and started pulling things down. Come first light, I’d be gone.

  It weren’t much, our stores. A few handfuls of berries, some pots of a waxy rendered fat, salted deer and not near enough cured herring. It weren’t enough. But it was all I had. My heart gave an uncomfortable beat against my ribs. There was a big chance I wouldn’t ever see any of this again. No matter what I took.

  You can’t think like that, Jorie. You are gonna find Bren and bring her home. You have to. Cradling the meager supplies in my arms, I glanced over my shoulder. Cody sat silent, his face unreadable, his body naught more than a silhouette in the growing darkness of the kitchen. Not my problem. He was not my problem.

  Shutting the door with my heel—and a touch more force than were strict necessary—I plopped all of my pitiful stores down into a pile on the table.

  At my side, Cody cleared his throat. I ignored him, concentrating on the edge of the frost-covered windowpanes. It’d be hours yet till I could leave. Hours for Bren to get farther and farther away.

  Least I knew one thing about my plan were good enough. Dev’s dogs—that team could run through anything and back. I only hoped Dev would forgive me for stealing ’em. After all, Fen had been Pa’s once.

  “Jorie, please listen to me.…”

  I blinked up. Cody was standing next me, too close.

  “I can help you find her.” Cody lifted his arm toward me.

  “And how would that be? You, your uncle, and whatever you’ve got mixed up in is the reason my sister is gone. The reason I don’t know if she is dead or alive. How could you possibly help now?”

  “Jorie, I—”

  “No, you listen. If you think for even one second that I’m gonna to let you come with me, you’re dead wrong. You couldn’t last three leagues out there. Not three.”

  Cody looked down, his head low, lips pinched into a tight frown. I didn’t like that look. I was being rough, I knew. But I’d no room for sympathy. He’d just get me killed. Get himself killed.

  “Have you ever even been out on the Flats? Do you know even the first thing about surviving out here?”

  Cody shook his head.

  “No.” I scoffed. “That’s what I thought. An ignorant man is worse than useless. He’s dead. And anyone fool enough to be with him is too. And I for one ain’t gonna die out there cause of you. And let’s get some things straight between us right now.” I held up a hand, counting. “I don’t care one lick about who killed your uncle, I don’t care about some stupid fairy tale, and I most certain don’t care about whatever it is your kind of stupid thinks is worth dying out there for. The only thing out there I care about is Bren.”

  I stormed off, more angry than I’d a right to be. But the Rover weren’t here to scream at. Cody were. And if he hated me, then he’d leave me alone. A pang of something close to guilt yanked at my stomach. He had lost someone too.

  Down the hall, the door to my room had been near to ripped from its hinges. The doorknob an unwanted metal eye pulled from its socket. I stepped inside and took a breath.

  It still smelled of her. As if she’d just gone out to get firewood.

  From under my collar, I pulled out what Bren had dropped in the snow. The ice-stone rested in my palm, the warmth of my hand creating a milky fog across the sparkling surface. Swirls of white crossin the stone’s face, almost as if it were breathing. The stone unnatural cold in my hand. There were only one thing I wanted. I wanted to find Bren. I wanted it more than anything in the world. I shuddered back a breath. And for the first time in my life I knew it. A wanting so deep, a girl could die from it.

  Dipping my head, I slipped the necklace on. Cold burned at my chest where the silver-set stone nestled under my coat. A hesitant tapping came from the doorway. I ignored it, and making my way to the back of the room, stepped over moth-eaten pallets and opened the wardrobe.

  Deep breath Jorie, you can do this.

  The pack lay at the back. I pulled it out. Burlap and sealskin, the thing had clearly seen better days. But it was what I got. I set the kit bag, which had been Ma’s, on top of my pallet. The leather cords dry but not brittle. I ran them through my hands. The smell of rosemary and cedar and everything else that were the soft smell of her floated up to me.

  Grunting, I pushed aside my pallet, revealing the wood flooring underneath. Running my fingertips over the split between the boards until they came to a rest on a slight imperfection. The panel came up slow, bits cracking along the edges where years of hungry wood beetles had eaten to their little guts content.

  Underneath sat a small box. I pulled it out, carefully setting it down next to me, and reached back in. Groping, dropping to my chest, I dug around the hardpack earth until my fingers brushed an edge of cold, smooth metal. Pa’s hunting rifle.

  I pulled it out. Along with rounds of ammunition and a short but wicked hunting blade. I set them all next to the rifle. Sitting cross-legged, I ran my fingers over the delicate silver scrollwork decorating the carved oak top of the box. Inhaling the earthy smell of it, I opened the lid. Three leather bags nestled inside.

  A white, a yellow, and a black. Each one tied sure and tight against light and air. For good reason. I, for one, enjoyed my flesh very much still attached to my bones.

  I tossed the white one, the lightest of the three, in my palm. Quicklime. Ground from the bleached bones of long-dead sea creatures. If you found yourself caught out in the storm, it were worth its weight in gold. Maybe more.

  The black one contained iron ore, which when mixed with the sulfur from the orbs made fire. And explosions. The last one—the yellow—was by far the smallest of the three. It were the one that contained some sulfur and all the wealth I owned in the world. No more than a beggar’s savings, I didn’t bother to turn out the coins or pitifully thin flakes of gold. It weren’t near enough to bribe a Rover. But nothing I ever owned would ever be. I tucked them all into the kit bag, making sure to wrap it in extra furs. All I had. Weren’t anything close to enough. Only it had to be. I had to be. I plunked down and pulled the furs over my face, burying myself in their warmth.

  Out in the hall Cody’s knocking had finally stopped. I glanced at the bare closed door. A wide gray shadow leaked in under the gaping frame. Well, if he were going to play the waiting game, he were welcome to wait out there long as he wanted. Sniffing, I curled up onto my side and tucked my knees in tight to my stomach. And when I opened my eyes the only thing there was Bren’s empty bed. I reached my arm out to where she should have
been. My hand hanging in the cold air, useless and alone.

  “Hold on, Bren. I’m coming. Just hold on.” I whispered it. Soft as the brush of a fox’s fur against the night.

  CHAPTER 11 Trails the Night

  When I woke, the outside world were just sipping in the very first hints of light, a dull buzzing green and blue against the horizon. Not that I had done much sleeping.

  Nightmares had riddled my dreams. Dark and mute and falling. Chasing and being chased. Twisting my hair back into a tight bun at the base of my skull, my neck sticky with the last flush of my dream, I stood. Breathing for a long moment, thinking—and trying not to think—before shaking off the night and gathering all my kit.

  When I opened my door, the hall outside was empty. I looked both ways and gave a little grunt. Least Cody knew where he weren’t wanted. I hitched my bag higher on my shoulder and gripped the gun. Well past time to get the stars out of Shadow Springs.

  The trip into town took no time at all, my only companions the echoes of hungry birds and the gentle trickle of falling snow from overloaded pine boughs.

  When I got to the inn there were naught to see. Dev’s place were shut up tight. Not a man or light in sight. Still, I set a long board across the back door, just in case. I leaned the gun against the porch railing. The runs before the dog kennels were empty. Not a footprint dusted the snow. I walked over to the feed bucket.

  Cracking open the lid, I grabbed what I could only assume was a back leg of a winter hare in one hand and its half-rotted spine in the other. I unlatched the dogs’ run.

  First thing came out into the cold were a nose. Then two, then three. Pretty soon, half a dozen furry muzzles were sticking out of the den, sending a clean white mist into the air. I smiled. I had run dogs since before I could remember. Pa had taught me.

  “Come on out, Fen, breakfast.” I tossed the hare’s leg into the snow.

  The alpha stuck her head out. Fenrir was beautiful. All sleek black-and-white fur and fierce as anything out on the Flats.

  Sharp yellow-and-blue eyes fixed on mine, ears alert, she gave a little tilt to her head before coming all the way out. Every step filled with deliberate purpose. The kind of walk that had meaning. It were all control. Fen padded right over to the leg, gave it a single dismissive sniff. I tossed the spine. It skidded to a stop at her feet. This time she didn’t even look down. Typical. My lip gave a twitch of a smile as Fen padded over to my side. Behind her, wet noses jostled disembodied in the darkness of the kennel. The sweet, heady smell of warm canine bodies drifting out on wafts of curling air. As did a low whine or two.

  Fen’s perfect head came up to the middle of my thigh. I stayed quiet, letting her smell. Which she did with intense focus, stalking around me, showing me my place. She would take as much time as she wanted, and I would sit and stay. I smiled wide enough to feel the cold burn against my teeth.

  “We haven’t got all day, you know.”

  Fen ignored my protest, busy smelling my left shoe. Finally she gave a loud snort and sat back on her haunches. Expectant. She tilted her head up at me.

  “Alright, alright already. I should have known.” From my pocket I pulled out a small strip of dried caribou meat I’d been saving for my breakfast. Fen caught it, a perfect snatch out the cold air.

  Tail wagging, she swallowed the offering whole. Reaching down, I ruffled her ears. Eyes dancing, Fen gave a short, sharp yip, and in no time flat the entire kennel was plunging out toward me. A jumblin mess of wagging tails and furry bodies, they spooled out, tongues licking, faces bright. They were ready.

  Fen gave another bark, and the gang settled itself down. A little. Boz, the other lead dog, sat himself down next to his mate, while the other four busied themselves with the offerings.

  By the time I had all six of them harnessed, the lead lines gathered, and the sled loaded, I was springing with more anticipation than them.

  We made it near two leagues out of town before we found his body.

  CHAPTER 12 Shadows

  Cody’s face was freezing cold.

  Fool. Idiot. I didn’t have enough words for this kind of stupid. In fact, as he gave a weak, raking cough, I considered that the whole world hadn’t enough words to string together for how stupid he was.

  What he’d been thinking didn’t right matter. I didn’t have the extra hours of sunlight to run him back to town. And he didn’t have the time, or the abilities, to walk back. I squished an uneasy feeling in my gut.

  I rocked back on my heels. In front of me, Cody’s trembling arms fell palms down from his chest. He gave me a weak smile and pulled himself up to full sitting from where I had set him against the pine tree at his back. Behind us, a black-jawed vole scuttled off into his icy crevice. The sky overhead was clear as ice.

  “Stars, Southerner,” I cursed. “What in the world possessed you? The Flats? Alone? Or ain’t it avenging your uncle you’re after anymore, but just flat-out dying?” I cocked an eyebrow. “Cause if that’s what you want, I can certain set you back out where I found you.”

  Cody blinked up at me, giving a half-hearted smile, lines of ice cracking across his lips like splinters of white against the blue of his cheeks. If he were trying for charming, he certain missed the mark.

  I tugged at my coat. Cody gave a sad little cough, pulling his coat around his face.

  I slid a hand into my pocket and pulled out a small metal flask. For a heartbeat I stared down at him. But only one. Twisting off the cap, I handed it over. Leaving him here would be leaving him here to die.

  Cody turned his face to mine. I’d only what I’d taken from Dev. But right now, Cody needed it more than me. I let out a long sigh, shaking the liquid.

  “Go on, take it. It’ll help.” He blinked up at me. “Promise.”

  He eyed the drink for a long moment before reaching out. He took a deep pull. Followed right quick by a sputtering retch. But the drink had done its job. A flutter of red were already creeping into his face. The tension drained out of him.

  “Th-thanks. I think,” Cody stuttered out the words, handing back the flask.

  I studied him for a long time. At the end of the reins the dogs turned restless. Eager to go. The pack’s barking shook around us, splintering the ice in the branches above.

  I turned to leave. Cody, unready, stumbled to his feet, slipping in the snow. Cursing, I passed an arm under his and with effort drug him to rest against one of the trees. Panting, he closed his eyes and leaned his shoulder into the rough bark. I looked at the sun and scowled. He wouldn’t make it back. Not like this.

  From the top of his coat pocket the shine of something caught my attention. I reached down and plucked it out. He didn’t open his eyes. It was a picture, all bent up, the corners soft and fraying from wear. My gut sank. Cause there were no mistaking who it was.

  In it a small boy with tousled red hair and green eyes stood proudly, a spyglass clutched in his hands. Only he weren’t alone. Three adults stood delighted at his side, one of them I already knew. This was his family. All of them now dead. A bead of heat pulsed raw up my throat and I glanced back at the face of the freezing boy at my side.

  “I found him last night, you know,” he said.

  I went dead still, the picture cold in my grip. “Who?”

  A twist to his lips. “My uncle. I went looking for him after I left your house.”

  Relief flooded into me. Of course that were who he’d meant. Relief that were quick replaced by guilt. I knew the look well enough. It weren’t a kindness, learning the truth for yourself. Learning that last shred of hope you held deep inside were gone. Out here hope were easier to lose than hate. I scanned the road ahead.

  “They didn’t even try to hide him,” Cody said. “Just dumped him. His body twisted out on the ice, like he didn’t mean anything. Like his life didn’t mean anything. Who does that?” Tears, bright and freezing, edged at his eyes. He coughed again.

  “Rovers. That’s who,” I said. He were lucky dumping him were all the
y’d done. It were a message, plain and simple. Not that I needed any more of those. The unknown dead man he’d left us and the note were plain enough. A message that the Rover could take whatever he wanted, from whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted. And he’d do it again and again. Nothing were sacred, not even death. Not till he got what he were after. What I didn’t have.

  “I’ll bury him. I swear it.” Cody’s face turned to mine. Hurt and fear and anger plain across the hard angle of his jaw. Real and raw and cold. For a moment I were uncertain who he meant. The Rover or his uncle. It would honest do for both.

  “At least he’s covered now, even if it is only shallow snow,” he said.

  The picture fluttered in my hand. I stared down into the face of the boy, frowning. Decided, I held out the picture. Cody hesitant slipped it back into his coat, eyes downcast. I eyed him up and down, yanking my gloves on tight. That were the problem with people. Everyone were something to someone.

  “Well, come on then. Enough socializing,” I said rough. “Get your snowy rear over here before I change my mind and really do leave you out here to freeze. I ain’t gonna wait round all day.”

  Cody’s eyes flew open. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  His smile split wide, green eyes earnest. Something got uncomfortable tight in my chest. Grumbling, I looped a steadying arm under Cody’s. Together we managed to stagger him to his feet and toward the dogs. With a mighty groan, he half fell, half sat onto the bucket of the sled.

  “You won’t regret it,” he said, puffing slightly with the cold.

  I gave him a flicker of a sad smile. Those were the usual words people said—right before you did. Taking this untested Southerner with me were probably the single dumbest idea I’d ever had. But I was doing it. Stars help me, I was doing it. Ahead of us, the dogs pulled on their harnesses.