by Brown, Ben
Jonathan berated himself internally for the ease with which the brave had caught him off guard. He had lived in the woods his whole life, and he knew not only every branch, but also every sound and smell too. The ease with which his young friend had just bamboozled him was unforgivable. Yet, he knew why the brave had done it, and he knew he had it coming.
He had known this fine young man since birth, and he had always joked that he could hear his approach from a mile away. He and the brave’s father had often taken him hunting with them, and Jon had always teased the boy about how heavy-footed he was. He had always insisted the brave would never catch anything off guard. Not a deer, nor an enemy. Naalnish had just proved him wrong, and Jonathan Wentworth felt extremely foolish. The brave had literally caught him with his pants down.
“Naalnish, I am truly clad to see you,” Jon said as he holstered his weapon, and then offered the brave his hand.
The young brave’s handsomely chiseled face erupted into a broad smile, revealing gloriously white teeth. “And I you.”
At that moment, Naalnish’s brother, Elsu, joined them, but kept a respectful distance from his older brother and Jon.
“My father sent me to find you,” Naalnish said as he gestured for his younger brother to leave them. Like a ghost, Elsu evaporated into the trees.
“Callum is preparing some food in yonder clearing. Why not join us?”
Naalnish looked towards Jonathan’s son and nodded.
“Good. Now if you will excuse me, you kinda caught me in the middle of something.”
The brave laughed, and headed off towards the rest of Jonathan’s little group.
***
Jonathan reappeared a few minutes later. After washing his hands in a nearby stream, he rejoined the group.
“Naalnish, why did your father send you to find me?” Jonathan asked as his hand absentmindedly went to the tomahawk Naalnish’s father had given him.
“Four of our young braves were sent out on a hunt; it was their first and marked their move into manhood. Only one returned. He told of creatures that looked like men, but killed like wolves. He told of how his fellow braves had fallen, and of how one of the creatures had bitten him. A few hours later he died, only to awaken as one of the creatures himself.
“My father killed the brave by crushing his head with a rock. He then ordered scouting parties be sent out to see how widespread these things were. The scouts returned and all told the same tale. Most of the settlements in and around the Cove have fallen to these creatures, and they have reached as far as Franklin Town.
“Father is taking the tribe to our northern hunting grounds, and he wanted you and your family to come with us. Because of all you have done for us, our tribe greatly respects you. You and yours are now part of our people, so Elsu and I were given the task of bringing you to safety.”
Jonathan let out a loud sigh and slowly shook his head. “These monsters are spreading fast. As far as Franklin Town you say?”
Naalnish nodded grimly. “Yes, and every day their numbers grow ever higher.
“While I tracked you, Elsu kept watch. He spotted a group of them moving this way, which makes me think they are tracking you too. He came and warned me of their approach, so we headed off on horseback to intercept them. Our horses are the finest around, but we still had trouble running them all down. They are as fast and agile as any horse or deer, but fiercer than a wolf or mountain lion. We finally caught them and slaughtered them all, but it was a hard battle, and they almost bettered us.
“Father says the cold of the north will slow them, and the snows will keep us safe. You and yours must come with us; otherwise, you may not live beyond the years end. What do you say, Jonathan Wentworth? Will you and yours head north with us?”
Jon bit at his dried meat, and then looked towards Boston. “My wife and daughter are that way, not north.”
“Then it is your duty to find them, but why don’t you let me take your son and this girl with me?”
“I thank you kindly for your offer, Naalnish, but my boy stays with me. Sally on the other hand, well, she is welcome to do as she pleases.”
Naalnish looked at the frightened young girl. “Would you come with me?”
Sally shook her head demurely. “I thank you, but I think I’ll stick with these here two.”
Naalnish rose. “We have four extra horses; we brought them for your family. You are welcome to them.”
Jon stood and shook the brave’s hand. “That’s rightly nice of you.”
“Keep to the roads, Jonathan Wentworth,” Naalnish said as he pressed a clenched fist to his chest. “The forests will soon be full of the creatures.”
Jon placed a clenched fist to his heart and replied, “Your words are wise, Naalnish, and your generosity humbles me.”
Naalnish gestured to his left. “Elsu is waiting with our horses some half a mile from here. We should hurry, as the day draws to an end.”
The small group hurriedly packed away their gear, and allowed Naalnish to lead the way. Twenty minutes later, the Wentworths and Sally Hopkins headed towards Boston once more, only this time they were on horseback and kept firmly to the road.
At first, Sally seemed uneasy with the idea of riding bareback, but after a few miles her unease seemed to pass and she settled into the union between rider and horse. She even allowed herself a small smile, which seemed to lift years from her face.
They made their way towards Boston, and what they hoped would be a happy reunion with the ones they loved. They still had a long way to go, but the horses would ease their journey.
As the horses walked slowly along, Jon pondered Naalnish’s words and the doom they had predicted. He prayed he was doing the right thing by keeping Callum and Sally with him. As he contemplated his concerns, his eyes drifted to his son.
Callum was turning into a fine young man, but he was still just a boy, and still his son. All, including his son and Sally, would need to do grievous things over the coming days. He had no doubt about the fact they were riding into danger, a danger he had no idea whether they could survive. Was it right putting two such young and inexperienced people in such a danger?
It was true Callum had proven his salt in their clash with the creatures, but that fight differed greatly from a full out battle. If they became overwhelmed, could Callum look after himself? Also, what of Sally. Could she even handle a weapon?
As Jonathan Wentworth worked all this over in his head, Hector ran to-and-fro behind them. Jon looked at the dog and envied his lack of thought. The hound had no idea of what faced them, and even if he did, Jon knew he would never leave their side. As he marveled at the dog’s loyalty, he realized he had made the right decision. No matter what, families always stuck together. His wife and daughter were in danger, and it was his and Callum’s duty to find them.
He now also knew there were no longer two women in the Wentworth family. Now there were three. Sally, through no fault of her own, was now a Wentworth. She may not know it yet, but Jonathan would die before seeing any harm befall her. As far as he was concerned, she was as much his responsibility as the rest of his family, which meant he needed to keep her close. Right or wrong, the Wentworths would stay together, or die trying.
Chapter 6
As night fell the three huddled around a small campfire. Two rabbits roasted in the flames, and the delicious aroma of cooking meat filled the night air. Jonathan stoked the fire and looked at his boy. He could see his son was struggling to stay awake. Callum’s eyes blinked heavily as he stared at the slowly roasting rabbits.
“Get some sleep, Son; I’ll wake you when the rabbits are ready.”
“I am awful tired. I think I might just grab a quick nap before we eat,” Callum replied as he let out a long yawn. “I want to take the first watch, Pa. I want to make sure I do my share.”
“I’ll wake you in around an hour,” Jonathan said as he threw some more wood on the fire. He looked at his son again, and saw he had already fallen asleep.
For more than forty minutes, Jonathan and sally sat silently staring at the roasting rabbits. The peace of their surroundings seemed to sooth all their troubles away. It was as if nature had wrapped them in a cocoon of dark, and nothing could trouble them as long as the silence held. However, silences cannot last forever, and finally Sally burst forth from the cocoon.
“Mr. Wentworth….”
“Call me Jon.”
“…Jon, how far do you think these creatures will spread?” Sally asked as she wrapped her blanket a little tighter around her.
“I really don’t know. I hope the spread of the creatures dies out before it hits Boston, but something tells me that’s just hopeful thinking. I think this may be the beginning of a new plague.”
Sally nodded grimly, and then looked at Callum sleeping beside her. “Your boy really is something. The way he handled himself when that thing … I mean Pastor Jacob … attacked you. Well it was something to behold.”
Jonathan Wentworth pulled his pipe from his pocket and started packing it with fresh tobacco. He then turned his intense gaze to the girl sat across the fire from him.
“Do you think you could do what he did?” Jon asked as he pulled a blazing twig from the fire and lit his pipe.
Sally’s brow furrowed as she considered the question. “When I was eight, my mother died, and daddy started treating me like some fragile doll. He sheltered me from all the things that made life hard. He did it because he loved me.” Tears started to fill her eyes and Jon turned his gaze to the fire. “I know he did it because he thought it was the right thing, but I now feel as if I am ill prepared for the future. I know daddy pictured me marrying some well-to-do lawyer or doctor from Boston, but I guess those dreams are a thing of the past.”
“Maybe not,” Jon said as he blew out a smoke ring. “Humanity has always survived plagues, and it will survive this-un. Hold on to dreams, Sally, they help when times are bad. That said, you didn’t answer my question. Can you bring yourself to kill those things?”
Sally cuffed her eyes dry, and then nodded determinedly. “Yes, I think I could.” She then fixed Jon with pleading eyes. “Or at least I could if I knew for sure they were no longer people. The one that pinned you, it used to be the pastor, but it weren’t no more. Were it?”
Jon smiled kindly. “The pastor died the moment he got bit. The thing my boy killed were no more the pastor, than he were human.”
She nodded. “I guess you are right, but how would I kill the things? I ain’t never fired a gun and I ain’t got no weapon.”
“Leave the guns to Cal and me, but we will need to find you something to defend yourself with. Teaching you to use a bow will take too long, so it will have to be a hand weapon for you. We should reach Warrington tomorrow; mayhap we will find you a good knife, or even a sword.”
Sally’s face turned pale. “You mean I would have to kill them up close?”
“Hopefully all the killing will be done by me and the boy, but you need to be able to defend yourself. Learning to fire a gun or shoot an arrow takes time. Time we don’t have. I hope that you won’t need to defend yourself from those creatures, but we can’t live on hope. As my dear old pa used to say, ‘Pray for rain, but dig a well while you pray.’
“Once we find the rest of my family, we'll head north to join Naalnish and his tribe. Once we are safe I’ll teach, you, Tilly, and Emily, how to use both gun and bow. I suspect the coming years will see a need for such skills in women and men alike.”
Sally’s gaze turned to the rabbits, and as if wishing to change the subject, she said, “I think they are done.”
“I think so too. Give yon sleeping beauty an elbow in the ribs.”
She giggled and did as asked. The three ate in relative silence, and then Callum took first watch. His father slept with one eye open, a trick taught to him by Chief Qaletaqa. It was not that he thought his son would fall asleep; rather he did it because of years of self-discipline. He never slept with both eyes shut, not unless he was safe in his own bed.
***
With the rise of the sun, the three travelers and Hector prepared to move on. The night had passed without incident, which filled the three with a slight ray of optimism. Maybe things were not as bleak as they had first thought.
The three traveled the road side by side, and for almost the whole day, the going was good. There were no signs of the creatures, or of any panic. In fact, for all intents and purposes, they owned the road. They saw no one, not a single traveler, not a single coach. This in itself seemed ominous.
“Pa, how busy is this road normally?” Callum asked.
Jon could not help but hear the unease in his son’s voice, an unease he too shared. “Well,” he said as he drew to a stop, “this road feeds all the settlements north of Warrington. Normally it is heavy with carts and coaches.”
“Do you think Warrington is overrun?” Sally asked as her horse moved nervously beneath her.
Jon’s eyes first fixed on her, and then he moved his gaze to his son. Finally, he said, “I think it might have. If those monsters have reached Warrington, then Boston must now be under threat. I think we should keep moving forward. We need supplies and Warrington will have everything we need.”
Callum eyed his father solemnly. “But if it’s overrun, what then?”
Jonathan shrugged. “We keep moving. Come on, we are losing light.”
The three continued for another hour, but then Jonathan pulled his horse to a stop. The light was failing, and they had reached the bottom of a steep hill. Warrington lay just five miles past its crown, but what Jonathan saw at the crest of the hill chilled him. A crowd, maybe thirty strong, stood atop the crest; their forms silhouetted in the setting sun. Nightfall was just around the corner, and Jon did not want to face any threats in the dark.
“Pa, do you think they are the godless?” Callum said as he too peered at the ever-increasing crowd atop the hill.
“Yep. Look at the way they shamble, they are surely the godless ones.”
“What should we do?” Sally asked as she squinted against the lowering sun.
Jon gazed around. “We can’t ride through them, there are simply too many. It will be dark soon, which makes riding around them impossible. We need to find somewhere to hold up.” He started looking around, and then nodded to himself. “There’s a river over yonder.” He pointed to the left. “There’s a flour mill on its banks. It’s made of stone, so we should be safe there.”
“Pa, look!” Callum shouted, and Jonathan turned back to the hill.
The crowd atop the hill were no longer shambling; they were running. Like a fast moving pack of ravenous wolves, the creatures plummeted down the hill towards them.
“Come on!” Jonathan bellowed as he yanked his horse towards the river and the waiting mill.
The three drove their horses hard, but the swarm of creatures pursuing them was gaining. Jon looked back over his shoulder and was shocked to see the Godless creatures had already closed the distance between them by half.
“That’s impossible!” he mumbled under his breath as he spurred his mount on. “They are gaining! More haste!”
In an attempt to squeeze a little more speed from their horses, both Callum and Sally started kicking the flanks of their mounts furiously. With unerring skill, Jonathan released his grip on his reins and pulled his bow from his back. He slowed his horse, so that he now positioned himself between the creatures and the rest of his group. He knew it unlikely that he could accurately hit a moving target at such a distance. The fact that he was on horseback added to the difficulty of his aim, but still he had to try.
He turned and fired his first arrow; it hit one of the creatures in the leg, merely slowing it. He fired again and again, but his efforts did little to slow their pursuers.
“There, Pa!” Callum shouted from somewhere in front of him.
He turned to see the mill just a few hundred yards ahead of them. A man stood at the door of the mill, and he waved t
hem on. Jonathan shouldered his bow, and coaxed more speed from his horse. It would be tight, but with luck, he would reach the mill mere seconds before the horde.
Callum reached the mill first, closely followed by Sally and Hector.
“Inside, quickly,” the old man yelled from beside the door. “Horses too.”
Callum did not need telling twice, and led his horse inside. Sally followed, but Hector stood by the old man. He barked at the approaching horde, but stayed firmly at the old man’s side.
Jonathan dared a look back. Only a few yards now separated him from certain death. He turned his stare to the mill, and saw the old man readying himself to shut the door. Jonathan lowered his head to the horse’s neck, and whispered, “Come on, come on.”
The old man could see what Jonathan intended. “Boy, call your dog inside!”
“Hector! Here!”
The dog took one last look at the horde, and then bolted inside.
“Good,” the old man said as his grip tightened on the door. “Now get ready to barricade the door with whatever you can find.”
Callum and Sally started moving large sacks of flour towards the door.
Jonathan readied himself. He knew he would be lucky if he came out of this maneuver without a broken neck.
Jonathan lowered himself even further, and thundered into the mill at a full gallop. The old man moved with more speed than anyone watching would have thought possible. In less than a second, he had the door shut, and its heavy wooden cross brace in place.
Jonathan brought his horse to a skidding stop, sending him flying from its back. He hit the stone floor hard, but did not allow himself to feel any pain. In less than a heartbeat, he was on his feet and barricading the door with the others.
Loud thumps echoed throughout the mill as body after body hit the heavy door.
Several minutes later, the four inside had completely buried the door with heavy bags of flour. The layer of flour-filled sacks both muffled the thumps, but also made forced entry impossible. With a collective sigh of relief, they all collapse to the floor at the same time. Hector, who by now was in a heightened state of excitement, ran between them licking their faces franticly. The dog reached Callum last, and the boy wrestled the panicked dog to the floor beside him.
