Ball turned and waved. One of his men reached up and pulled the canvas sack off the prisoner’s head. It was Journey.
“What if I just shoot you?” Father asked.
“If you aren’t out here in five minutes, she will die, whether you shoot me or not.”
“We can’t let them kill her, Father,” I cried. “I’ll go back. I don’t mind.”
“I’m not letting you go back, Noah.”
“She is family,” I cried.
Father sighed and turned to Ball. “How do I know you won’t attack?”
“I give you my word.”
“Your word is worthless as this.” Father spit off the wall.
“I will get General Black. Maybe his word means more.” He rode away, leaving his men and Journey behind. When Ball returned, Black was with him.
“Hello, Red Head. I give you my word we will not attack this village.”
“If we come with you, we face instant death,” Father yelled.
“The king told the people that he let you go home to see your sick mother, when you return, he’ll give you the chance to fight and win. Then you will have earned fifty victories and your freedom. He just wants you to return.”
Father collected his thoughts and weighed his options. Finally, he said, “We will come, and we promise not to escape.” He turned to Jack. “This will buy you some time. Get the people ready and get food in here because they will be back.”
“I can’t believe you are giving yourself up. She is one of the warriors who took my son. Tell her that when I find her, I will kill her myself. If I had been with Steven, he would still be alive.”
“Everyone changes,” Father said. “Maybe she isn’t who you think she is.”
Father turned to the villagers and said, “I am going with the soldiers. My brother Jack will make you great fighters and take care of you while I am gone.” He turned back to Jack. “I will bring your son back, if it is humanly possible for what you do.”
He stuck out his hand. Jack shook it. “Bring my son back, Bardon.”
My father and I climbed down from the wall and walked to the gate. Mara and Doc were waiting to walk out with us.
“Are you sure she is worth it?” asked Doc.
“She’s worth it.”
“Well then, let’s go kill a spider.”
We walked through the gates to Black, then out to Journey.
“You should have never agreed to this,” Journey said.
“We can go back and they can give us your head in that bag, instead,” Father answered.
Journey smiled.
“Shall we attack the village?” Ball asked Black.
“No. We need to get back so the king will quit killing our men. Send a messenger ahead. Let him know that Red Head has been captured alive.”
“Do you want them chained, Black?” asked Ball.
“No, I have Red Head’s word.”
We began the march back to Eden Two.
“Father, why haven’t you ever told me about my Uncle Jack?” I asked to pass the time.
“It’s a long story, my son.”
“I think we have time.”
“My mother and father went out to find food and never came back. Jackara is four years older than I am. I was sixteen at the time. He organized a search party, and I wanted to go. He told me I had to watch Steven and get food for the village. I was mad, but I stayed. Jackara was gone for months. He returned without our parents. While searching, he stumbled across a valley full of animals and fruit. It was beautiful, and Jackara wanted us to move there. I told him there was no protection in the valley and we should stay. What if Mother and Father came back and we were not there? Jackara said it was his decision. I refused to go. Steven chose to stay with me. Jackara took half the villagers and left. I’ve only seen him once since that day. That was right after your mother died.”
We continued marching and I hoped things would be all right. We marched until the sun was ready to go down.
CHAPTER 24
The Creeping Willow
The soldiers marched us into a meadow with high brown grass and stopped.
“Fall out and get a fire ready,” Ball commanded.
I watched the moon rise in the black sky. It looked blue and powerful. As it topped the ridge, it grew full and bright. I turned to Father. “God is awful close tonight. We better be careful.”
“The moon is like a small planet,” Mara interjected.
“It’s more than that to us.”
She ignored me.
There was only one tree in the meadow. Vines wrapped around it like a noose. Some hung down to the ground. It gave me a bad feeling, and I was grateful we were not too close.
The soldiers used their swords to hack a path through the tall, dead grass. My father began to pick up their leavings.
“What are you doing father?”
“This is going to be my bed.”
We all followed his lead. Mara put her pile of grass next to mine and smiled.
“What are you doing?”
“I am sleeping beside you.”
“I’m sleeping with my father,” I answered and carried my grass away.
Doc came over with things he called puffballs. He said we could use them as pillows. “Squeeze them too hard, and brown stuff will come out of them. It stinks a little, but they sure are nice to rest your head on.”
I squeezed the puffball and nothing happened.
Mara came over. “Squeeze harder.”
I did, and it sprayed brown dust right into Mara’s face. She choked then pointed her puffball at me. I ran behind Father. Mara came after me.
“Keep me out of this,” Father laughed.
I lifted my father’s arm up and stuck my tongue out. Mara aimed her puffball at me, and the brown dust hit my father in the face. Father stumbled back into Journey, and they both fell to the ground. Journey’s puff went off, covering her face with brown dust.
“Are you two all right?” I asked.
Journey looked at me with a brown face and I began to laugh. Father squeezed his puffball, and the brown dust struck my face. I began to choke.
Doc was overcome with laughter. We all began walking toward him. Doc yelled, “Leave me alone!” We squeezed our puffballs, and the brown dust covered him. “That’s not right,” he complained.
The army had started a huge fire, and the smell of food filled the air. My stomach growled. When it was time to eat, the soldiers brought us water and food.
“We can’t wait to see the spider suck all of your blood out,” said one soldier.
“I can’t wait for spider stew,” Father said. The soldiers turned to walk away and said “you will be spider stew” then walked away.
Doc blessed the food and began to eat. He spit it out almost immediately. “I have never tasted spider stew before, Bardon, but I know it would taste better than this slop.”
“I thought Aunt Mary’s cooking was bad, but this takes the cake,” Father added.
The thought of cake made my stomach growl. Two of the soldiers came over and told Journey to follow them. They leered and made suggestive movements with their hips.
“No,” Journey said.
They grabbed her arms. She flipped them to the ground and began kicking them. More soldiers came running. I got up to help, and so did Doc. Father motioned for us to sit down. Journey was doing pretty good, but a lot more soldiers were coming. She looked at my father.
“I could use some help, Bardon.”
“You are asking me for help, Amazon woman? How many times have I saved that ass of yours?”
“Don’t you like my ass?”
My father shook his head and said, “I’ve to save your ass again!” Then he heaved himself to his feet, he looked at me and said lets go. We all jumped in, and t
he fight got bigger. I had never seen anyone fight like Doc. He hit the soldiers with his hands sideways and when he kicked them, they flew through the air.
General Black came running. “Stop!” he yelled. “I can’t have Red Head hurt. You’re all dummies. Now get out of here!”
The soldiers that were still standing helped those that could barely move. The rest hobbled away.
“Are you all right, Red Head?” asked Black.
“I’m fine. We were just having fun.”
“That’s good,” said Black. “The soldiers are mad at you. King Seth blamed them when you escaped. He put ten soldiers in the ring with the spider and they died. He did it over and over again.”
“Looks like the king missed a few,” Father answered.
Black shook his head. “I don’t know if you can kill that big spider, Red, but my money is on you. I won a lot of money betting on you, and I hope to win a lot more. Get some sleep, so you can be good and rested for tomorrow. I have to know, though—how did you escape?”
“We paid Captain Skull.”
Black laughed. “Skull was the first to die.”
“That’s good news,” Father said.
“Maybe you should kill some more soldiers, like all of them over there,” suggested Journey.
Black laughed again and said, “People had a lot of stories about you, a lot. Some said you flew out through the roof like gods. Isn’t that funny? Every day a different story of your escape spreads through the kingdom. Even with Skull’s help, I don’t know how you did it, but I do know you have a big task tomorrow. I will try to make it easy for you and your son.” Black turned to leave.
“General Black, wait. There was a hairy man-beast in a cage. Do you remember it?”
“Yes, I do. It didn’t put up a fight when we captured it, but it escaped the same night you did and killed twenty good soldiers. I sent a platoon after it, but it got away. I would have liked to see that thing fight in the ring.”
Doc looked at me and smiled as Black walked away.
Father had many questions for Journey. “You haven’t said much. How did you get caught again?”
Journey sighed. “When I returned to my village, there were spider webs everywhere. I walked every inch of my village, but no one was there. I heard something behind me, turned around, and there was the spider. I ran, and it chased me into a patrol. The patrol fought the spider for about an hour before killing it. I had hoped it would kill them all.”
“I know someone else who wants you dead.”
“Who now?”
“My brother.”
She blinked. “He’s back from the dead?”
“I have another brother, and he says you took his son about a year ago.”
“That’s why I recognize your face. He looked like you. He is my daughter’s slave. He’s still alive, if the spider hasn’t gotten to them. All we can do is hope,” said Journey.
“I didn’t know you had a daughter,” I exclaimed.
“I have two. Destinei is sixteen. Lilly is fourteen. They both have blue eyes and black hair.”
“Are they as mean as you?” Father asked.
“Yes.”
“Then I know they’re alive,” said Father.
She smiled at him.
We turned in for the night, but I couldn’t sleep. Nature called me out to the meadow. The moon dropped behind the clouds, and the swarms of fireflies gave the impression that there were glowing eyes everywhere, watching me. I dropped my pants under a big willow and did my business. The moon came back out, and I saw bones everywhere, then something moved. I ran all the way back to bed. I thought my heart would pound through my chest. Everyone was sleeping. I lay down and watched the moon peeked through the clouds. I wondered, as always, if it was God’s eye watching the earth. I closed my eyes and said my prayers, and it began to rain. It felt good, and I drifted into slumber.
Father’s scream jolted me from sleep. He was being dragged through the high grass. I grabbed his hand and tried to stop him. The rain made the ground slick. We were both being pulled away.
“Doc!” I shouted.
Doc got up and ran for us. He grabbed Father’s other arm and dug his feet into the ground. A vine was wrapped around Father’s leg. No, not vines; it was the arms of the willow tree. Soldiers and angels were already tangled in its arms. They struggled as the willow strangled them. A tendril crept through the grass and clutched at Doc’s neck.
Journey was trying to pry a tendril from Mara.
“Just let me go, Doc!” Father yelled.
“No! We are in this together!” Doc tried to hold onto my father’s hand, but it slipped through his fingers.
“Let me go, Noah!” Father pleaded.
“I can’t! I won’t!” I dug my heels into the earth.
Father pried my fingers from his hand, and as soon as I fell back, the willow threw him in the air. The soldiers shot arrows and threw spears at the plant monster. I smashed the vine with a rock, and it released Doc. The monster dropped soldiers, angels, and my father into the giant mouth that opened on its trunk. I dropped to my knees and began to cry.
“Get up, Noah!” demanded Doc. “Bardon is not dead yet! Run to the fire and toss burning wood at the willow.”
We began throwing the burning wood, and the willow monster screamed in agony. It tossed soldiers at us. Some were dead. Some were almost dead. We kept setting fire to the monster. Its screams hurt our ears. Doc and Journey heated the tips of big spears from the guns in the fire till they glowed.
“Are you ready?” asked Journey.
Doc looked at her. “I was born ready.”
They ran at the monster and drove the red-hot tips into its belly. It screamed, and I dropped to my knees and held my ears. The soldiers and angels that were tangled in its arms fell to the ground.
I jumped up. “Is it dead?”
“Jump up on my shoulders, Journey!” yelled Doc. “Cut its belly!”
Journey picked up a sword and climbed onto Doc’s shoulders. She ran the sword into the monster’s belly and cut sideways. The bodies, including my father’s, fell onto Journey and Doc and knocked them to the ground. Father sat up, coughing. He was covered with red slime. He was alive! I jumped on him. The soldiers and angels that were still alive, including Black and Ball, looked at us and walked away, wiping the goop, but saying nothing.
“Not even thanks,” Journey said, disgusted. “I should have cut a smaller hole and pulled just you out, Bardon.”
We wiped off as much of the slime as we could. Dead soldiers littered the ground. My father climbed on the covered wagon and found a barrel of drinking water. He broke the top out, picked it up, and poured it over us. We cleaned ourselves off as best we could, then turned in for the night.
I was so tired and still scared. I snuggled close to Father. Journey nestled in beside me, then Mara, then Doc. Eventually, sleep came.
Morning followed. The sun seemed to zip over the hill and into the meadow. Black came to us then, looking somber and resolute. “Leave,” he said simply. “All of you. Except Bardon.
“Why not him to?” I said.
If I let him go, the king will kill me.”
“I am not leaving without my father.” I said.
“Doc, take Noah, Journey, and your daughter, and go,” Black said, ignoring me.
“I’m not going, either,” Journey said.
“I am giving you freedom,” he said, incredulous.
We all clasped hands resolutely.
“I guess that’s your answer, Black,” Doc said.
“It’s your death. The king will kill you all.”
“The king will have to get in line,” Journey said.
We packed up camp and began the march. We walked past the funeral pyre of soldiers and the remains of the willow. Black smoke rose into the
blue sky. On the horizon, dark clouds were building. By midday, it was raining, and the sky was black. We marched all day in the rain. I had never seen a storm like it before.
The creek beside the trail turned brown as mud. The soldiers were nervous. The horses began dancing. Then a small portion of the trail ahead slipped into the creek. We froze. With unnerving slowness, a vast swath of the trail vanished, sliding into the creek, taking wagons and horses with it.
The men and their angels tried to help, but they were tired from last night’s battle. Soldiers sank deeper and deeper, out of sight. Father helped a soldier that was no older than me to safety. Thunder roared and white lighting crackled like giant spider webs as it flashed across the sky. A bolt struck near us and knocked us down. I got up slowly.
“Where’s your father?” yelled Doc.
I shook my head. I didn’t know.
My father had sunk up to his neck in the mud, and he was unconscious. He was tangled in a tree root, which was the only thing keeping him from sinking further. I grabbed his free hand. Journey and Doc grabbed my feet. Father’s hand was slipping out of mine.
“Father!” I screamed.
The young soldier my father had saved earlier came to our aid. We dragged Father back from a muddy grave to the trail. Father opened his eyes.
“How many times do I have to save your ass, Bardon?” Journey asked.
“You must really like it.”
We laughed.
“I guess you returned the favor,” Father said to the young soldier. “What is your name?”
“Saul,” he answered.
Slowly, the shattered patrol reassembled itself. General Black stood away from us; I think he was studying us. He motioned then yelled “move out.” We got up and marched until we reached Eden Two.
“Father, what do you have all over you?” I asked as we passed into the tunnels. “It’s sparkling in the torch light.”
“I don’t know. It must have been in the mud.”
“It’s on me, too, but you’re coated with it, Father.”
As we came out of the tunnel, storm winds blew the torches out. Fear swept the crowd, and they fell silent. General Black sent the soldiers to relight the torches. Lighting struck and the light flashed into the tunnel. The light reflected off my father and made him look like a golden god. The wind blew, and his golden red mane appeared as fire. The people began to chant.
Angels of the Second Earth Age Page 12
