by C.L. Bevill
Chapter 26
And Then Miss Muffet
Kicked Some Booty…
Zach was swearing at Gideon. Then he added vehemently, “Sophie saved Elan’s life! What did you want? For her to stop and deliberate what to do for hours before she went after Tate? He’s the Burned Man, for the love of God! We told you he’s dangerous. She wanted you to destroy the signs for a very specific reason.” His hands clenched into angry fists. “This was exactly it. He’s unpredictable and insane.”
“Tate didn’t look very burned to me,” Ethan interjected.
“The spiders healed him,” I said softly. Ethan shot me a dirty look. He didn’t really believe the firefly pixies had healed me either. But he couldn’t very well deny either new creature’s existences. He had seen both. Ethan was going to be one of those people who would deny the existence of the supernatural until it came up and bit him on the posterior. Literally.
Gideon’s face was grim. His teenaged face was flushed but determined. I already knew he wasn’t going to back down, not to me, not to Zach, not to anyone. “We have rules. The rules are in place for very good reasons. We don’t go out by ourselves. The instant the rules are disregarded, then we don’t have civilization anymore. We have nothing. Sophie disregarded the rule, not once, but twice. The penalty is exile. The steering committee agreed that she was justified in her actions, and the penalty was mitigated, however, she still broke the rules. She can come back to us in six months if she still wants to. But she is no longer permitted in this camp as of sunrise tomorrow.” He turned his troubled face to me and sighed. “I’m sorry, Sophie.”
I looked at Gideon. He was sorry. A first offense was a month of exile. A second offense was a year, not six months. A third offense was permanent exile. I was getting to be quite the bad girl.
Most of the group was in the center of the camp, excited about our return, happy to see Elan alive and healthy. Most of them weren’t particularly happy about my sentence but didn’t have a reason to disagree. Amanda had her arms wrapped around Elan and wouldn’t let go of him. Their other cabin mate was likewise demonstrative. His little face was patently disgusted with the amount of feminine affection directed at him. Upon hearing Gideon’s words, Amanda and Elan snapped their heads around to look at me at the same time. Elan said, “No, no, you can’t do that to her. She saved my life. He wouldn’t have let me go.” His voice choked. “He wanted to feed me to the spiders.”
There was a hush in the crowd. Blair the gardener, who had spent days alone with Tate, said, “But he seemed so…normal.”
I wanted to say that was what they used to say about serial killers, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to say.
Zach drew in a breath. He was ready to do battle. “This isn’t right. Sophie doesn’t deserve this.”
Amanda echoed Zach’s sentiment. “She saved Elan. Can’t we give her another chance?”
Gideon stood up straight. His shoulders became set. I saw for a moment the man he would grow into, the soaring, erect individual who would tower over those who were many inches taller than he was. He was, for lack of a better term, stuck between a rock and a hard place. (Was I the rock or the hard place? Hmm.) “We already exiled one person today for doing less than that. Lulu only broke one rule, and she was exiled for a month,” he said unhappily. “The rules that we decided on months ago. All of us who were in the camp from the first decided, and those who came into this camp afterwards agreed to, those rules. Why should the rules be different for each individual? It isn’t fair to the others.”
So Lulu was paying the price for her little act of desperation. It didn’t make me feel any better. I hoped she headed for the mountains or south, anywhere but north where the Burned Man had gone, carrying his severed limb. I hoped she had enough common sense to sleep with one eye open. I hoped she came back a more thoughtful person. I hoped she came back. Period.
Zach said, “Lulu caused her own problem. She did something very wrong, and I need to talk to you about that, Sophie. Before you disappear again.”
I sighed. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to hear what Zach had to say. (Part of me did. Desperately. Desperate just as Lulu had been, and it made me quiver inside.)
“If you leave this camp, I’ll go with you,” Zach declared suddenly.
Sinclair cleared his throat. “You agreed to be my student,” he said straightly to Zach. “You and Kara, both. You’ve got the most medical experience of any of us, and I’m not a spring chicken. We need some good people to become the next doctors. We need you, kid.”
“Experience?” I repeated. Kara had been a paramedic in the U.S. Army, but what had Zach been?
“A pre-med student,” he told me. “My mother watched Daniel for me. I think you already know that Lila had left us almost two years before.”
Everyone was listening to us. I think I was the only one to whom the statements made sense. Lila had been Zach’s young wife. She had been too young, however, to live the life of a housewife with a small child. She had been unhappy and had left Zach and Daniel. Zach had depended on his family to help care for Daniel. As a result, it had been Zach who was the primary caregiver for his son. It was Zach who tended to his boo-boos and to his nightmares and to his need to cuddle sometimes. It was Zach who had suffered tremendously when the change had rolled over us like some horrible sea of dreams. His only child hadn’t come with us to the next life.
I opened my mouth to say that it was all right. Zach should stay and study with Sinclair. I would be all right by myself. It would have been a big fat lie, but I would say it anyway. However, I had another premonition, and this one made me grasp my head between my hands and drop to my knees. My mind reeled with the information.
Zach dropped beside me, his hands urgent on my back, trying to understand what was wrong with me. Sinclair was kneeling on my other side trying to get me to raise my head so he could look at my eyes.
I brought my head up and looked at Gideon, wiping the tears of pain away from my cheeks. “It doesn’t matter now,” I said to him and only to him. “You know you have to leave. All of you, now.”
Gideon stared at me. He nodded shortly and then started on instructions. “All right, people. We’re evacuating. You know the plans. Get the emergency packs and take what personal effects you need. We’re traveling as quickly as we can. The people who have some problem with walking, John with the broken ankle and Elan, need to ride in the trailers. No one gets left behind. Ethan, we need to get to the guards and get them back straightaway.”
His voice trickled away as people stared at him in disbelief. They started to ask questions, but I yelled something unintelligible and heated, and everyone shut right up. Then I said, “It’s him again. Tate, whatever he calls himself, the Burned Man, he’s gone north, and he’s set a fire, or he will very soon. The forest is dry, and it’ll burn like tinder. The winds are blowing south, and this place will burn like crazy.” I took a deep breath and added the ultimatum, “If you stay here in this place, you will die. Do as Gideon says, and you have a chance.”
Then I came to my feet and walked away. Actually, I half stumbled because my head felt like it had a hammer on the inside trying to get out. I needed to restock my pack and steal another sword if I could. Tomas had one in his cabin. I needed it more than he did, and I didn’t think Tomas was going to mind. Behind me, people were rushing to do what they were tasked to do.
Zach’s hand came down on my shoulder. “Where are you going, Sophie?” His chocolate brown eyes glared at me.
“I’m going to stop him if I can,” I said resolutely. “It seems to be my lot in life.”
“Why?” he asked desolately. “Why does it have to be you?”
“I don’t know the answer to that, Zach,” I said sincerely. “Maybe if you find someone who does know, you can tell me, too.”
“You don’t have to be alone,” said another voice. Ethan stood beside us. He was glaring at me as if he truly hated me. He didn’t really. He just didn’t like what I made him thi
nk about. He grimaced suddenly and said, “I’ll go, too. He has to be stopped. Doesn’t matter if it’s Tate or the Burned Man or even if they’re the same. He’s got to be stopped and now.”
I blinked. Calida was pregnant, and I hadn’t expected Ethan to leave her side even for a moment. Ethan didn’t believe in us, not really, even when the powers had been demonstrated for him. “Why?” I said before I could stop myself.
“The date thing,” he answered grimly. “Today’s the 31st of October. Halloween,” he added with a dry laugh. “Not that anyone is trick-or-treating today. Most people don’t care about the date much. Except some want to know when their birthdays are, when Christmas is, so we can be grateful for our lives.”
Zach started to say something, but I put my hand on his arm. He stopped, startled, and looked at me.
“What about the date thing?” I asked slowly. It was important to Ethan. He had discovered something about himself, and he wasn’t happy. As a matter of fact, he looked like he had been torn apart.
“You can’t tell anyone else,” Ethan said, and his usually harsh voice was pleading. “I can’t have people asking me this question. I don’t think I could bear to tell anyone what I shouldn’t know. Not. One. Other. Person. Ever.”
“I swear,” I said. “I swear I will never tell anyone else what you know.”
“Swear you won’t ask me what I’m going to you tell you,” Ethan insisted, “past this one time. Swear that.”
“I swear,” I affirmed.
Zach echoed me.
“Ask me,” Ethan said, and his voice choked with emotion. “Ask me what date she’ll die.”
“Oh no,” I said. I had once asked Ethan what date I was born. He had known down to the day. Not because of mental subtraction from the present date, but because he had simply known. Dates and days were Ethan’s forte. It hadn’t occurred to me that he might know the opposite end of the spectrum.
“Ask me when Calida dies,” he whispered, and Zach stepped back with a horrified expression.
“What date does Calida die?” I said, forcing the words out of my mouth, hating myself for saying each one of them.
“Friday, October 31st,” Ethan murmured. “Today. God help us all.” He collected himself and looked across the clearing. Calida was collecting her belongings and loading a bicycle. She was unaware of the level of emotion that was threatening Ethan’s self-control. If she had looked at him at that moment, she surely would have known. “Both of them,” he added lowly, harshly.
I touched Ethan’s hand. “We can change it,” I said. “I’ve changed the premonitions. I saw Elan die. I changed that. I don’t know how we’re going to do it but we will. I swear, Ethan.”
Ethan’s moisture-filled eyes stared at me, a glimmer of hope there.
“Get weapons,” Zach said. “Crossbows. Arrows. Rocks. We need to make sure that he doesn’t have the spiders with him when we take him down.”
“He doesn’t,” I said. “He…burned his bridge with them.” I wasn’t trying for a pun, but out it came anyway, and no one even got it but me.
Zach studied my face for a moment and then gave me a gentle nudge. “Go, Sophie. Get more of your stuff. I’ll get some on-the-go food. We don’t have a lot of time.”
The moment I stepped away, I saw something else in my head. For an instant I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
“What is it?” Zach asked urgently. His arms wrapped around my body.
“I know what to do,” I murmured incredulously. “I mean, I really know what to do. And Zach, forget the food. We have to go now.”
I stepped closer to the redwoods, and I sang my loudest song. Everyone in camp stopped to stare at me. The camp became motionless and silent, but for my call. Then after a moment, I knew my answer. The pixies heard, and they were coming as fast as they could. I ran to Tomas’ cabin and took the sword out of his surprised hand. “Sorry,” I said. “I need it.”
“Okay,” Tomas said agreeably but confused. “I know a good store in Sacramento. Maybe we’ll get down there soon. I’ll get another one. One for you, too. You seem to be hard on them.”
I met Zach and Ethan at the crossroads for the trails. Gideon was waiting, as well. “Which way should we go, Sophie?” he asked me.
“To the south. Go as hard as you can. Until you come to the river and then shelter in the houses across the river. Keep away from the forest and the meadows.” I turned away onto the forest trail and headed north. Zach and Ethan were at my heels.
“Good luck,” Gideon called after us.
“Did you say anything to Calida?” Zach asked Ethan behind me.
“What could I say to her?” Ethan asked bitterly.
Then there were others behind us. All were younger members of the group. Fit members who would be able to keep up. Gibby, Tomas, Robert the hunter, and Leander fell in behind us as if we were part of a team.
“Tell us what to do, Sophie,” Leander said.
I glanced over my shoulder at him. Then I saw the rest of them. My steps faltered as I perceived that they held spears, crossbows, and a large butcher knife in Gibby’s case. “We…uh…we…” I mumbled. Ethan took pity on me.
“We’re going after Tate or the Burned Man or both of them or one and the same,” Ethan snapped. “We’re going to stop him. Hopefully before he burns the redwoods down to the ground.”
“What he said,” I muttered ungraciously. What was I supposed to do with a group of grown-ups? How was I supposed to tell them what needed to be done when I didn’t exactly know what needed to be done? What I had seen in my head was a picture of something that I couldn’t exactly describe.
I needed to be somewhere before the sun went down. If all was to be accomplished, then I needed to be at the location where the hill met the large open path where the Big Mamas had mashed the forest to the ground.
Increasing my pace, I began to jog. Ethan was the only one who complained. Zach kept behind me like a shadow.
“Are we going to have time to talk later?” Zach said after a moment. I was panting, but his breathing was level. (He was probably jogging every day just in anticipation of a hero-type situation like this. Silly me.)
“I don’t know,” I puffed.
“She left me,” he said.
“I know,” I said, concentrating on the trail. The shadows were lengthening, and I couldn’t see everything in my way. The sun was dropping in the distance, and we didn’t have time for conversation. However, I couldn’t make Zach let it go.
“Then you need to understand,” he insisted. “We were never…in love.”
I squared my shoulders and glanced at Ethan. The big man was grim and breathing hard, but dour amusement danced in his eyes. The others were absorbed on making their bodies work to their capacity.
“Okay,” I said.
Zach said a bad word. I gathered I was supposed to capitulate at this point and maybe throw myself in his arms. “Do you understand, Sophie?”
“God, please tell me you understand,” Gibby gasped from somewhere behind us.
I glanced at Zach. His face had turned a very interesting shade of red. Well, an audience didn’t really work for this.
“No, I don’t understand,” I bit out.
“We got married because we thought we were supposed to get married,” he gritted. “Then we had Daniel, and I’ll never regret that in a million years.”
“No one expects you to regret your son,” I threw in, panting harder. I tripped on a root, and Zach pulled me to my feet by grabbing my arm.
“But Lila left me for another man. She filed for divorce. She didn’t even want to have joint custody of Daniel. She wanted her freedom, and I found that out, I was relieved. I had Daniel, and although I was disappointed, I wasn’t unhappy. Then when the dreams started…” His voice trailed off. We went down a steep hill, and everyone was skidding to keep upright.
When we had regained a level path, Ethan prompted, “Then when the dreams started…?”
Za
ch shot Ethan a dirty look. “I found out something very important. I had loved Lila, but it wasn’t really love.”
I held my breath for a second and then choked on it. Ethan reached over and pounded my back helpfully. Gibby called from the back, “Tell her, Zach. Just tell her.”
“It’s you,” Zach said. He came in front of me and skidded to a stop. He forced me to stop as well, and everyone pounded to a halt around us. His hands gripped my shoulders, and he stared intently into my eyes, ignoring my heaving chest and the perspiration dripping from my forehead. “I didn’t know what love was before. Like I do now. I love you, Sophie.”
My mouth opened to answer him. My eyes were lost in the forthright expression of his face. He was trying so hard to impart the silent message to me. Believe me, Sophie. Trust me, Sophie. Love me, too, Sophie.
But just when I started to say something, I realized we had stopped at the spot where the paths crossed. Crushed trees lay to each side of us. Brush had been flattened to bits all around us. A weathered path was beginning to take shape in the twenty or so yards that spanned the corridor.
Then the Big Mamas trumpeted a warning alarm not a hundred yards from us. Zach and I turned to look at the same time. The lead animal was bellowing out a warning to us, and the remainder was following in its wake.
Zach’s fingers tightened on my flesh, and he started to push me back into the standing redwoods. But I stopped him. We stood there and waited for the Big Mamas to come closer.
