“I can keep going,” she said.
“No, you can’t,” said Simon, looking very worried. He glanced at Wade, who shook his head. “But unfortunately,” Simon continued, “we have no choice. We can’t stand out here in the middle of the desert. We have to find some shade.” He looked ahead. “We should reach the hills by tomorrow and be in the mountains soon after. I’m sorry, Cat, you just have to keep going. Get on Scooby and I’ll take his reins and walk him.”
She protested, as much for her horse’s sake as for hers, but in the end she lost the battle and was helped onto Scooby. She slumped down with her head next to Scooby’s neck and tried to let the waves of nausea pass. The others walked ahead, leading the horses.
A couple of hours later, they found a large rock formation with an overhang, allowing people and horses much needed relief from the sun. Cat slept fitfully, alternating between nausea and chills, but by evening she was feeling marginally better.
“We can’t stay here any longer,” said Wade. “We don’t know how much time they made and how close they might be.”
“I don’t understand why they are following us,” said Yuki. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe that’s the problem,” said Simon. “If these are the same people who tortured and killed Clete, then it would be useless for us to try to make sense of it at all. No rational human being would do something like that. In their heads, they have a reason.”
They resumed their trek, now easier going in the cool of the evening. They walked all night. Toward morning, when they should have been at their most tired, they found themselves moving a little quicker. The ground had become rougher and they had to skirt around boulders. They were reaching the hills. By daybreak, the whole landscape had changed.
“We made it,” said Cat quietly. She had been sick all night, but hadn’t complained.
“We did,” agreed Simon, giving her a hug. “I’d love to make a stand right here and pick them off when they reached the edge of the desert, but that wouldn’t work.”
“No,” said Cat. “There are enough of them so that they could spread out and circle us.”
“I bet if we keep going, we’ll find a watering hole,” said Wade, “and a safe place to take shelter.”
With that to look forward to, they continued on. Once the sun rose, it was hot again, but nothing like it had been on the desert floor. As Cat began to feel better, she kept an eye out for animals. They were totally out of food, and they were hungry. It became Cat’s responsibility simply because she had the crossbow. They didn’t want to shoot a gun and alert the men behind them to their location. She managed to kill four rabbits.
Late in the afternoon they came upon the perfect resting place for the night—a secluded watering hole. It had a large patch of grass for the horses. The spot was high in the hills, with a protected ledge that looked out over their back trail. With a lookout on the ledge, it would be hard for their pursuers to sneak up on them. It was actually the horses who led them to the spot. They could smell the water and had stepped up their pace to a fast trot.
That night they rested. Cat and Simon prepared the rabbits and they all dug in hungrily. After eating, they explored the area around the water hole. They were happy to find a second pool of water further in against a cliff face. It was smaller, but deeper than the first and they took turns bathing in it. Cat was elected to take the first bath and couldn’t wait to strip off the clothes she had been wearing for days. The water was cool and wonderful. They had decided not to contaminate it with soap, but to just enjoy the sensation. She kept it short, knowing that the others were anxious to take their turns. She had barely gotten out when Wade jumped in. Cat let herself drip dry, enjoying the feel of the breeze on her wet skin. The friends were comfortable enough with each other not to mind being naked for the others to see.
At all times, one of them was on the ledge looking out over the hills and the desert beyond for signs of their pursuers. It was close to midnight when Yuki, who was on the ledge, called out to the others.
“I see lights. I think it’s a campfire.”
The others were beside her in seconds.
Yuki pointed and the others followed her finger. It was hard to see at first, and then one by one they caught the flicker.
“Wow, good eyes,” said Cat. She turned to the others. “A couple of miles?”
“About that, maybe,” said Wade. “Too close, in any event. As soon as it gets light, we have to move. Let’s hope the fire isn’t a decoy to fool us while they are creeping closer.”
“I doubt it,” said Cat. “They have to be as tired as we are and they’d have as hard a time seeing in the dark.”
They packed up, ready for a quick departure at first light. They tried to sleep, but by then it was impossible. The minute dawn arrived, they were more than ready to leave.
As each hour passed, they were heading higher in altitude. After days of open desert, the constant breeze and the rock-shaded terrain came as a relief. They constantly turned in their saddles scouring the land behind them, but there was no sign of their pursuers.
It was mid-afternoon and they were in the mountains. Cat was leading the way when she came over a rise and stopped short. She held up her hand for the others to stop. In front of her was a crack in the earth like none she had ever seen. It was almost a mile wide. But unlike most crevasses caused by the earthquake, as this one certainly had been, the crevasse floor was visible—not only visible, but accessible. It didn’t look to Cat to be more than a hundred yards to the bottom.
They had no choice but to descend into the crevasse. Everything to the left and to the right was blocked by fallen rock.
“What happened here?” asked Simon. “It looks like the mountains crumbled.”
Which was exactly what it looked like. Great piles of rubble that had broken off the surrounding mountains had created mountains of their own. It would be impossible to traverse the piles of sharp and slippery rocks.
“I guess we go down and try to find our way up the other side,” said Cat.
A ledge wide enough for the horses had been naturally cut into the cliff face. It extended downward to the floor of the crevasse. One by one they walked their horses down the trail. Enough dirt had covered the trail over the years to prevent the horses from slipping. Nevertheless, they took it slowly. A half hour later, all four had reached the bottom.
The found themselves in a box canyon, with steep cliffs on all four sides. The left and right sides were not viable options for finding a way up, as the tops of the cliffs had the high patches of broken stone. The only possibility for finding a way to the top and moving beyond the crevasse was the opposite side of the canyon from where they descended. They mounted their horses and started on the mile-long trek to the other side.
The canyon floor was strewn with boulders, but was otherwise a smooth surface, making for easy riding. They reached the other side in no time, but were immediately disheartened to find no easy access to the top. The canyon walls were steep, with no place for a person to climb to the top, much less a trail for the horses.
“I think we have to go back to the other side and head back up the trail,” said Simon, “and try to find some other way around these mountains.”
“Backtracking will be dangerous,” said Wade. “We don’t know how close they are behind us. But you’re right, there’s no other way out of here.”
“I’m sorry,” said Cat. “It was my idea to come down here.”
“Hey, it seemed like a good idea at the time,” said Yuki. “None of us had any better suggestions.”
They started back and were about halfway across when they saw movement at the top of the canyon ahead.
“Oh no,” said Cat. “We’re too late.”
Suddenly, a couple dozen men appeared at the top of the trail. All had beards, many of them gray, and they all wore tattered clothes. Many appeared to be barefoot. A fleeting question went through Cat’s head as to how they could have crossed the
desert without shoes, but the thought was short-lived. Many of the men took positions at the top of the canyon wall, guns pointing down at them, while others scurried down the trail.
There was no way out!
Chapter 27
Cat looked around in desperation. They couldn’t fight them in the open. They had to find someplace to make a stand. To their right against the far cliff wall was a pile of rocks. Simon saw it too.
“Over there,” he said. “It’s our only chance.”
They turned their horses and headed toward the rocks, each keeping low in the saddle to make a smaller target. But no shots came.
They reached the rocks in a minute and Cat hoped there would be a place to hide the horses as well. Scooby was her friend and an integral part of her family. If he was exposed, they would surely kill him to block off any chance of escape.
However, she needn’t have worried. The rocks were piled high close to the cliff face, but there was a cramped space just long enough for all of the horses between the rocks and the wall and out of the line of fire. Growing against the wall was a clump of large bushes. They jumped off the horses, tied them to the bushes, and crouched down behind the rocks.
The pile of rocks was about twenty feet high and thirty feet long and filled with nooks and crannies for them to position themselves in. They climbed up the pile and peered over the top. From their position they were unseen even by the men on the ridge.
“Try to stay as hidden as possible,” said Wade. “They could shoot into the wall behind us and get us with ricochets. How about I take the far left. Yuki can be about five feet down on my right, then Cat, then Simon take the far right.”
“I’m good with that,” said Simon.
Still no bullets came.
“We’re in a bad spot,” said Yuki. “They can wait us out. At some point we’re going to run out of food and water.”
Cat looked at Simon. They all knew Yuki was right. There was nothing to say.
“Why haven’t they fired?” asked Simon. At that moment a single bullet hit the rocks near his head. He ducked out of sight.
“Simon, are you okay?” asked Cat.
“I’m fine. Just a few rock chips in my face.”
A moment later, the boom of another rifle split the air and a bullet ricocheted off a rock near Wade. Then the rest of the guns started firing, with bullets flying all around the heads of Wade and Simon. They kept low, with their heads covered.
After five minutes, the shower of bullets stopped.
“Simon, this is weird,” said Cat. “All of the shots were directed toward you and Wade. Not one shot came at Yuki and me.”
Simon and Wade looked at each other from opposite ends of the rocks. Almost at the same time, the light of understanding was switched on.
“Because they want Wade and me dead,” said Simon.
“I don’t understand,” said Cat.
“Look out there,” said Wade. “Do you see any women?”
Cat glanced at Yuki, then back at Wade. “Are you saying they want us?”
Simon answered. “We’ve been trying to figure out why they’ve been following us. They wouldn’t come all this way just to kill us. Look at them. I bet it’s been a long time for them.”
“Oh my God!” said Yuki. “Well if they get this far, I’ll kill myself before I’ll go with them.”
“It’s going to be dark in a couple of hours,” said Cat. “If they rush us in the dark, we’re done for.” She cocked her Winchester. “Well, if they’re not going to shoot at me, then I’m going to get a few of them.”
She climbed higher on the rocks to where she was almost visible to those in front of them. Nobody fired at her. She aimed up to the top of the cliff and fired off five rounds before the men scattered. Four of the five rounds hit their marks and two of the victims fell forward and dropped to the bottom of the cliff.
“Wow, I’d always heard you were good,” said Wade. “Did your dad teach you?”
“My mom. My dad is better with a crossbow.”
She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned, aimed, and fired all in one movement. The man had made the unfortunate decision to cross between two boulders. He only made it halfway before falling dead in the dirt.
Cat ducked down and looked at Yuki, who was staring at her wide-eyed.
“What?”
“You just killed them.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“It doesn’t bother you?”
Cat cocked her head to the side with a questioning expression.
“Why would it bother me?”
“Because you killed them.”
“They are trying to kill Wade and Simon, and kidnap you and me.”
Simon, seeing Cat’s lack of understanding at Yuki’s question, took over.
“Yuki, if a bear was attacking you, would you kill it?”
“Of course, but…”
“These people are attacking us.”
“I know, but they are people, not animals.”
“Well, I’m not so sure of that, but even so, what you are saying is that it’s not okay for an animal to kill you, but it’s okay for a person to kill you?”
“Well no, but I guess I’m surprised that Cat isn’t more bothered by it.”
“Frankly, I think she’d be more upset to kill the bear. Yuki, it’s all how you look at it. These people are intent on killing us. They’ve made their choice. You may have to kill some of them yourself. Don’t let it bother you. If you do, you will hesitate and it will be too late.”
Yuki nodded slowly. Simon knew she had never dealt with anything like this. If they survived, he was confident that Yuki would have a completely different understanding of the difference between life and death.
The shooting stopped. Simon and Wade had ducked down, leaving the attackers with no targets. The attackers themselves, seeing the result of Cat’s marksmanship, had also hunkered down. It was clear to the teens that the men intended to wait them out.
After fidgeting in silence for a while, Yuki finally asked, “So what are we going to do?”
Getting no response, she said, “I’m scared. I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to be taken by them.”
“We’re all scared, but we’re not going to die,” said Wade. “We’ll come up with something.”
Cat was looking at the horses, trying to figure out if they could make a break for it, when her attention was diverted to the bushes. They were moving. She could understand motion in the bushes that the horses were tied to, but these had nothing tied to them. The movement was slight, but it was enough to give her pause. There was no wind, and yet they were moving. She watched them for a few more minutes just to make sure she wasn’t imagining it.
“What are you looking at,” asked Simon. “You seem to be staring into space.”
“Actually, I’m not.” She slid down the rocks and moved the horses out of the way. The others were looking at her with puzzled expressions.
“There’s no breeze,” she explained, “but these bushes are moving. There’s only one explanation.”
She moved the branches aside to reveal a pile of rocks instead of the smooth cliff wall. She held her hand up to the rocks. Cool air was coming through the cracks!
She stepped back and looked at the bushes.
“These bushes aren’t growing here wild. There are no others growing down here. I think these were planted here to cover up something. And there’s air coming through the rocks. Like the bushes, I think the rocks were placed here. I think there’s a cave on the other side. Those guys can’t see us from out there. Let’s try to take these rocks out.”
Simon and Wade slid down.
“I’ll keep watch,” said Yuki.
There was a renewed enthusiasm among the teens as the three started pulling out the rocks. Some were quite large and it took two of them to remove them. Within minutes they knew that Cat’s theory was correct. There was open space behind the rocks. They worked faster. The space wa
s taking shape. When they finished, they had cleared an entrance just large enough for the horses to make it through. Based on the placement of the rocks, they figured the whole cave opening was about six feet high and four feet wide.
“We still have a couple hours of daylight, so they won’t attack us yet,” said Simon. “One of us should check it out before we commit ourselves to it.”
“Not that we have much choice,” said Cat, “but I agree. I’ll go.”
No one objected, so she reached into her saddlebag for a flashlight and started in. She shone the light all around the entrance to make sure no snakes were lurking in the shadows, then continued on.
The chamber she had entered was small, only about twenty feet square. Other than rocks and small boulders strewn around, it was empty. A tall, narrow opening at the rear led to a second chamber. She passed through and found herself in a much larger room, at least fifty feet wide and a hundred feet long. At the far end was another opening, larger than the first, leading to another chamber beyond.
She shone the light all around the second chamber and discovered the remnants of an old fire pit. She approached it. It hadn’t been used for a very long time. All around it were piles of food wrappers and hundreds of empty food cans. She picked one up. SpaghettiOs. Another said Dinty Moore Beef Stew. The labels were hard to read and many of the cans didn’t have labels at all. Like the fire pit, they’d been there a long time. There was also a huge pile of discarded liquor bottles. Scattered around were various bits of furniture, including a chair, a small table, a mattress, and a pile of blankets. Dozens of books were piled next to the mattress. She pointed the light into a corner and almost dropped it. A skeleton lay propped up against the wall. A gun was still in his hand and the back of his skull was missing. It was obvious what had happened.
“How’s it going in there?” It was Simon’s voice.
“I’m coming out.” They could check out the rest of the cave later, but there was no doubt that this was where they had to make their stand.
Eden's Legacy (Eden Rising Trilogy Book 3) Page 17
