Wilders

by Brenda Cooper

  “These people are doing work for Lou.”

  “I guessed that. But really? Killers work for Lou?”

  “I don’t yet understand the situation.”

  “That makes two of us. But are you safe here? Should you leave?”

  Paula shook her head ever so briefly. “I’m safe enough as one of Lou’s minions. No one’s even noticed me.” She flicked a low light on and flipped it up to illuminate her face. “They helped me look less like a robot.”

  A jagged scar that simply couldn’t be real ran across her nose, and she appeared to have dark circles under her eyes. Her hair had two streaks of gray in it. “What possessed you to make me leave you in such danger?”

  “I didn’t want them to hurt you.”

  “I’m not human,” Paula reminded her. “I will not feel the pain of death.”

  Coryn touched her cheek. “I would feel your death.”

  Paula shook herself. “We’ll talk of this later. Let me introduce you to the horses.”

  “Wait—where’s Aspen?”

  Paula smiled. “He’s okay. You’ll probably see him later tonight.”

  “Where is he?”

  “I can’t say. Not here. Trust me.”

  “Of course, but tell me what’s happening? Who is Lou? What is she doing here? Why do these people listen to her?”

  “Lou should tell you that. Besides, I share your questions.” Paula turned toward the animals. “Come, meet the horses.”

  Coryn stepped close to them, surprised at their solidity. They felt bigger than they looked.

  Paula must have seen her hesitation. “Horses are prey,” she said. “That means, in the heart, they are fretful beings. They are afraid that wind is a wolf, that a snapping coat is an eagle, that a rustle in the bushes is a bear. You must calm them, and that starts with being calm.”

  Coryn took a deep breath and reached her hand slowly out toward the nearest horse.

  “That’s good,” Paula said. “If you are calm and can learn to tell a horse what you want, almost any well-trained horse will give you everything they have. They’ll burst their heart for you.”

  Coryn smiled as she ran her fingers through the dark mane of a dark brown horse with a white nose. “She’s beautiful.”

  “He,” Paula corrected her. “Most of these are geldings. They’re usually easier to manage.” She pointed at a huge light tan horse with dark stockings on its feet and dark ears. “That’s Mouse. She’s Lou’s horse, and the only mare in this group.”

  “Where did you learn so much about horses?” Coryn asked.

  Paula smiled. “I’ve had all day with them, and I asked questions.”

  And of course she had databases full of experiences as well, most of them not her own. Paula had always been able to learn almost anything. “I thought Lou had a pinto, like an Indian horse.”

  “She did. It died.”

  “An awful lot of things die out here,” Coryn muttered. “How did you end up with Lou?”

  “As soon as I was free, I started looking for people. The first people I saw knew Lou, and the second knew where she was. Lucky for us, she wasn’t very far away.”

  Coryn remembered. “Did you really kill a man?”

  “And a robot.”

  She was very matter-of-fact about it. A killer robot in the city was destroyed quickly unless hard evidence proved they had killed in defense of their charge. A slight chill touched Coryn’s center. Paula had only had to act like a bodyguard in small ways before. She had shouldered people out of the way, put herself between Coryn and a car that had lost its brains, and reminded Coryn to be aware when anyone Paula deemed as dangerous came too close.

  Funny how something you knew like the back of your hand changed on you suddenly. “Did you mind killing?” Coryn asked, switching horses to touch noses with a gray.

  “It makes me less safe, and thus less able to keep you safe. I mind that.”

  “Thank you.” She turned around to look for Lou. It had gotten to be full dark, and as usual the camp was dark. She listened, hoping to hear something that way.

  No sign of her.

  “We’re not staying here tonight are we?”

  “No. We would have stripped the tack off the horses if we were.”

  “The saddles?”

  “Yes. We did take the bridles off, and those halters are for when they’re penned or hobbled so they can eat.”

  Coryn fingered the leather bridle on the gray. “Lou is so different now.”

  Paula moved a few steps closer to Coryn, worked on the mane of the lightest brown horse. He had a white stripe down his forehead, which flared out over his nose, and one leg was white to the knee. “This is River. I rode in on him, so you’re likely to ride out on him.”

  “I like the gray one.”

  Paula laughed. “He’s not yours to ask for. Now, as for why Lou is different, how different are you from when you left Seacouver?”

  Coryn didn’t have to think very hard. “Oh.”

  “Here she comes.”

  Two flashlights showed Lou walking over to them, deep in conversation with Bartholomew. Behind her there were three other people, one woman and two men. She couldn’t see them in the dark. Lights shone down from their hands, but all she could see was their feet.

  Coryn was suddenly afraid to talk to her sister. This whole trip had been about this moment; while she had imagined a meeting over horses and beside Paula, or maybe a slow walk along a path, side by side, talking, she never suspected that they would be surrounded by a camp of killers. Of course, she hadn’t expected to have almost lost her life to storms and been saved by robots, that her own robot might have changed into a killer, or that the whole world would feel tilted.

  How had she been so naive?

  Lou and Bartholomew shook hands very formally. He turned away without even glancing toward Coryn, fading back into the black of night. Lou came up to Coryn, her face tense. “I don’t know how you managed to get in so much trouble so fast. Can you ride?”

  “How do I know?”

  “Okay. Stand aside while we get the horses ready.”

  She obeyed, watching Lou and Paula and two other people slide bridles on in the dark. They left the halters, but took the long ropes and coiled them, tying them to the saddles. They tightened big belly bands on the horses, touching them, whispering to them.

  Lou gestured for her to come over. “Paula will help you mount.”

  That was all? No hello, how are you, little sister? No glad to see you?

  One of the people she hadn’t been able to see came up close to her, flashing his light on his face for just a moment, illuminating his bright smile.

  Blessing.

  “I’m so happy to see you.” It came out of her mouth, but as soon as she said it she realized she didn’t know what to think. Hadn’t he been going toward Cle Elum?

  He sounded exactly the same, like a happy showman, confident and funny and a little light for the situation. “I didn’t think I’d find Lou before you did.”

  “How did you?” she whispered. “You were going the other way.”

  “We decided to be gentlemen and follow you—we were worried about whether or not you’d be okay. After all, you were new out here, and walking around with companion robot Outside is like wearing a coat with a target painted on it.”

  “I think I understand that now.” Here she was, almost laughing a minute after seeing him again.

  “We tried to find you but couldn’t do it. But it seemed like a good idea to tell Lou you were out here.”

  “Well, yes.”

  He reached for the gray horse, which made her grimace, although it only took her a moment to forgive him for having the prettiest horse. Of course he did.

  She felt a little shy. “You probably saved my life.”

  She couldn’t see his face, but she heard his laughter. “You still have a few things to learn.”

  “Day’s here?”

  He pointed. “Over there.�
��

  She had drifted to River, and Paula came up beside her, holding her hands together, clasped and low. “Step here.”

  She did.

  “Other foot.”

  “Oh.”

  “Put your hand on the saddle horn.”

  She reached up and grasped the worn leather. It fit her hand perfectly. Paula boosted her and she swung her leg over inelegantly, her foot catching on the horse’s rump before she tugged it over where it belonged. The horse was wider than he had looked from the ground; her legs splayed awkwardly.

  Paula touched her leg to draw her attention, make sure she was listening. “Stay calm. This isn’t a bicycle. River knows what you’re feeling, and you need to learn what he’s feeling.”

  She took another deep breath. “Okay. I’m ready.”

  Paula handed her the reins, also leather. “Don’t pull on those unless you want him to stop.” She fiddled with both of Coryn’s stirrups, positioning her feet so the heels pointed down just enough to be uncomfortable.

  Coryn looked around. Everyone else seemed to be waiting for her. Just then, Day’s horse almost bumped River, and the horse kicked, rocking her in the saddle. She gripped the horn tighter, and River tossed his head. Day looked quite calm about the incident. “Just follow us,” he said. “Don’t let River too close to Monkey, here. Blessing will ride beside you, and Paula will walk close by. It’ll be okay.”

  “You named your horse Monkey?”

  “No. Someone else did that. It fits him, though.”

  Lou took the front. Coryn and River were next to last, with Paula right by River’s bridle as if she expected to have to grab him.

  The horses walked, rolling gently back and forth with each stride. “We’re not going to go any faster?” Coryn asked Paula.

  “It’s not safe. Lou doesn’t like to ride in the dark at all. But this is an extraordinary circumstance.”

  For the first hour or so, her senses seemed extra attuned to everything, the feel of the cooling air, the calls of night birds, the small animals rustling in the low scrub or grasses that they rode through, the clunks and pings of the horses’ hooves when they stepped on stones. Eventually, her eyes grew so heavy she closed them. Paula poked her, and she jerked straight. “Stay awake,” Paula admonished. “Never underestimate the challenges a horse can present you with. They’re easily scared.”

  “Mmmmmm . . . .” Coryn said, and struggled to stay alert. She had so much trouble that eventually they devolved into a rhythm where Paula would poke her every few moments.

  Stars spilled across the sky above them, and the moon rose almost full, making it easier to see the faces of the other riders. Everyone stayed as quiet as the entire camp had been at night.

  It made her wonder what they were all hiding from.

  The horses stopped all at once, startling Coryn out of a daze. Lou unlocked a wide gate in a tall metal fence and gestured them forward. After it closed behind them, Lou locked it and climbed back on Mouse. As they continued riding, low and excited chatter started up among the riders. Coryn thought about approaching her sister, but Lou was surrounded by the others, and she’d have to muscle River in. She wasn’t sure she had that much control over the horse.

  “Do you know where we are?” she asked Paula.

  “Home,” Paula said. “RiversEnd Ranch.”

  Dawn began to break as they turned up a slight hill. Pale light spilled onto a barn that sat a respectable distance above a riverbed lined with trees and cluttered with rhododendrons dotted with a few of the last spring blooms in pinks and whites and a brilliant purple. The entire line of horses had already been speeding up, but when the barn came into view River tossed his head and tried to rush past the front horses. She had to hold herself on by clutching the horn with both hands to keep from falling.

  Paula grabbed River’s bridle. He twisted sideways once, before settling and allowing himself to be led.

  The barn towered over them, far larger than it had looked at first. Paula led River in last, and they all bunched loosely in a tall, covered area with wide open doors. Tack festooned the far wall: saddles and bridles and blankets and buckets and ropes and things she didn’t recognize at all. One door opened onto rows of horse stalls.

  Ever since she’d left the city, her life had been full of barns.

  Paula reached up to help her off of River. She almost fell, but Paula took most of her weight and let her stamp her feet to get the blood back into them. They felt like fire, and she was surprisingly unsteady. They walked together around the barn until Coryn could walk with no help, and then once more for good measure. Everything about her legs and butt hurt except the bottoms of her feet.

  The barn’s roof ran high and supported bales of hay, and the long rows of stalls held at least twenty other horses. Each animal occupied a private box with hay strewn on the ground and a bucket of fresh water. Coryn started up the rows, peering over stall doors. A few were empty, but many held horses she hadn’t seen. “Where’s Aspen?”

  “In the house.” Paula put a hand on her shoulder. “First, you have a horse to put away.”

  She shook free of the foggy feeling of finally being on the ground, and noticed Blessing lifting a saddle free from his gray horse and Day carrying a brush in one hand and a halter in the other. She sighed, wishing for a quiet place to lie down. But all of these horses had come to save her, and River had carried her here. She headed back to River, and Paula gave her precise directions without offering any other help. This was typical when she thought Coryn needed to learn something, which probably meant she would be riding again. Hopefully not for a few days; the inside of her thighs felt raw.

  She put the saddle and bridle away and brushed the saddle marks from River’s coat, cleaned his feet, and gave him a few handfuls of grain and a flake of fresh hay. After he stood eating contentedly, she followed Paula into the house.

  They were the last ones out of the barn. She turned to Paula. “Horses are a lot more work than bicycles.”

  “They’re not more work to ride.”

  “I disagree. My inner thighs feel like someone set them on fire.”

  “There’s that.”

  “Stupid robot.”

  Paula smiled. “Stupid Coryn. What would I have done if you got yourself killed?”

  “Found another human to keep.”

  “But I might not like them so much.”

  “Stupid robot.”

  The others had gathered in a great room in front of a roaring fire. A few of them clutched hot cups of coffee, looking as if they might just skip sleeping. Blessing smiled at her, and the strangers in the room looked at her with intense curiosity but didn’t approach her.

  Coryn went right for the fire and held her hands up, grateful for the warmth. Paula came up beside her and dropped Aspen into her arms. The little dog yipped and leapt free, running around the room twice and making her laugh. Finally, he jumped back into her arms and stayed there.

  Aspen and the fire warmed her. She was alive. For the moment, it was enough.

  Lou drew her from the fire and performed introductions. She knew Blessing and Day and Paula, of course, but there a woman named Matchiko and a man named Daryl, as well. Both were older by a few years and fit Coryn’s expectation of cowboy types, with rugged good looks and wrinkled faces and even flannel shirts.

  “Thank you,” Coryn said.

  Matchiko blushed a little, and said, “You’re welcome.” Daryl simply nodded.

  Lou also introduced her to a thin and slightly bent old man named Justin, who handed out tea and coffee and set out plates of bread.

  Coryn helped herself to both tea and bread. The still-warm bread smelled of cinnamon, raisins, and nuts. The food and the hot tea combined to fill and soothe her, and fatigue began to slow her movements. She hadn’t felt this safe since she left the city, not even in Cle Elum.

  She had made it. Lou had found her instead of her finding Lou, but now they were together. Nothing had been like she’d thought,
except that the trip had somehow taken about as many days as she expected.

  But Lou was not at all what she had expected. Coryn silently watched her sister move through the small crowd, realizing that she had complete and utter charge of these people. She seemed to be a casual and capable leader, encouraging and laughing and stopping to ask questions.

  Now if she could only get Lou to talk with her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Lou pulled her and Aspen away from the fire and into a corner of the room as far from everyone as possible. She looked into Coryn’s eyes. “I’m glad you’re safe. I have to meet with my crew. I’m going to take you to your room. This is . . . a difficult time.”

  Coryn blinked for a moment, realizing that Lou meant she might be an inconvenience. After all that had happened to her, she was being handed a dismissal from the adults’ table. “I can stay up for a while,” she stammered.

  Lou’s expression softened a little. “Come on. We can talk for a few minutes.”

  Coryn followed her, partly out of habit and partly because she was truly exhausted. Aspen padded behind her. Paula remained in the room by the fire, almost certainly at Lou’s request. Maybe she’d learn something useful there.

  The room Lou led her to was far away from the fire, and almost as cold as the outside. But it had a sumptuous-looking bed piled high with blankets, a small attached bathroom, and fresh clean clothes that had been laid out for her. She hadn’t realized how much she needed each and every one of those things. She fingered the heavy coverlet. Stains marred one corner, and the middle had been patched more than once, but it smelled clean and felt soft.

  She hadn’t been warm at night for a long time. Maybe she could stand to miss whatever conversation Lou intended to keep from her after all.

  Aspen leapt up and curled into the middle of the covers like a king on a throne.

  Lou stood in the door, watching. The differences in her were even clearer in this light. She looked like she’d aged ten years instead of four. She had filled out, all of it muscle. Even her face looked fuller and stronger, more alive. Something had knocked her nose a little crooked, and there was a small scar right on the bridge of it. “Did you bring the dog all the way from the city?”