The Cascaders

by Glenn, L. M.

  “I am ashamed to tell this to you. I have carried this burden for a long time. You are the only one who knows the truth. The young boy who died here was not the first to appear. Over the years, some have appeared and left just as quickly. Others died within minutes by the Morgs’ sharp teeth. Paltos was taken through the same hole you and Jayden came through.”

  Her eyes widened. “More than one?”

  He nodded. “The hole disappears within minutes. There is one other place that I have seen the humans come. I have sent watchers there.”

  “What happened to Paltos?” she asked, her face impassive.

  Mihael bowed his head. “He never came back.”

  “How awful. What did his father do?”

  “I never told them of what I saw that day, only that he disappeared. They have believed he was taken by the Morg. I never told them otherwise,” Mihael answered looking sheepish.

  “But … but why?”

  “They would always be looking as I have. They needed closure and I needed more answers. I thought I had done the right thing, but now … I am not sure.” Mihael watched her closely, wondering if she hated him.

  She perched on a stump across from him and her shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry, Mihael.”

  He didn’t know why it mattered to him what she thought now, but it did. “Are you angry at me?”

  “Why would I be angry with you? None of this is your fault, and you’re telling me now so it’s not like you kept anything from me.” She smiled weakly. “What causes the hole to open? Maybe if we knew that we could get out.”

  He shrugged. “I am not sure. When the hole opened and you fell, what were you doing when it opened?

  “Um …I didn’t fall, I jumped.” Her face heated up.

  Mihael looked at her incredulously. “Why would you jump?”

  “To save my brother,” she answered quietly.

  Mihael smiled. Of course, he would have done the same. She wasn’t as hard as she made herself to be. He had noticed the small things she did out of love for her brother.

  “If the hole only stays open for a few minutes, how will we get back? By the time the others came for us, it would be closed.”

  Mihael grinned mischievously. “I have a plan. It will stay open until you are ready.” Mihael leaned back resting against the tree. “We must check to make sure the fires stay lit. Once the daylight appears, we will leave.”

  “May I ask you a question?” she asked.

  He nodded his head. He had a sudden urge to kiss her. It was a good thing Nigel was with them.

  “Nigel is two, right? But why does he look like he’s the same age as my brother who is nine?”

  “We have moon phases here. One year is two thousand five hundred and fifty-five days, so Nigel is five thousand one hundred and ten days old. On moon phase, one moon burns out and another is replaced. It stays dark for one day. We keep all fires lit.

  “How many hours in your day?”

  “We have six hours of light and eighteen hours of dark equals one day.”

  “So it is true.”

  He cocked his said to the side. “What is true?”

  “Cats have one year to our seven years.”

  “How many days are in your year?”

  “We have three hundred sixty-five days and twelve hours of daylight and twelve of darkness.” Desiree tilted her head. “Mihael, you stated your friend went missing. If he was in our world, would he age the same as you or would he age slower?”

  “That is a good question. I do not know. He has been gone a long time, Desiree. He may not be alive any longer.”

  She nodded. If Paltos had been pulled back along with that human, he would have been killed or put in a lab to be poked and prodded. She couldn’t tell Mihael what the humans were capable of where she came from. But from the worried look on his face, she had a feeling he already knew.

  Her chin came up, and her eyes brightened. “Wait, you said the hole doesn’t stay open, yet it did when Jayden and I were in the tunnel. I had even taken a nap. It was still open when I woke up.”

  “Hmmm. Maybe it stays open for a while then.” He yawned. “I must rest a while. The Morgs took a lot out of me. I’m sorry.”

  “You lost a lot of blood, Mihael. Sleep and I will keep the fires lit.” Although she was tired too, the thought of sleep wasn’t what she wanted. She needed to mull over everything he had spoken of.

  The storm. It had stormed the night before the hole opened. Did that have anything to do with it? She bit her nails. If only they had computers here, she could Google it.

  ****

  When they returned to the village, everyone cheered. Rose took Mihael away to doctor his wounds. Genèva carried the plants to her hut to make a broth for Jayden to drink.

  Within hours of drinking the broth Genèva had made from the plant, Jayden’s fever left and his color returned to his cheeks.

  Genèva and Desiree were with Jayden when Desiree handed Genèva back the knife she had loaned her. “Thank you, it came in handy.” Genèva took the knife and nodded her head. She sheathed it at her side.

  “I would love to take some of that back home with me,” Desiree told her and pointed to the medicine.

  Genèva’s eyes widened in fear. “Oh no, Desiree, you must not take the plant with you. It would bring great harm upon our village.”

  “I know, Genèva; I wouldn’t do that to you or your family. It’s just that we don’t have anything like it. Although we do cure infections from using a type of mold, but that’s the closest thing we have to it.”

  “It does not cure everything, and sometimes only makes us feel better for a short time. When it is our time, nothing will deter it.” She smiled wistfully. “Desiree.” Genèva brushed her hand along her shoulder. “I am sorry for the way I acted when Rose …” She bowed her head.

  Desiree interrupted. “It’s all right, Genèva, Mihael doesn’t belong to me. I won’t be staying here, and Rose has every right to be jealous. I do love Mihael, but we both know it’s not right. You did hurt my feelings, but I’m over it now.” She smiled. She was over it—but only over staying mad at Genèva.

  Chapter 19

  The next morning Jayden was almost like his old self again. “Nigel told me how his dad and you fought off a million Morgs to save me.” The shock was clear on his face. “That’s so cool. I wish I had been there to see it. He said Morgs are meat eaters with thousands of sharp teeth. I want to see one.”

  Desiree shook her head. She found herself smiling. “No, you don’t, Jay, they look like a giant hairless rat with razor-sharp teeth and pointy tails that can cut you in two.”

  Her eyes moved over his face lovingly. She realized he was more than just a snot-nosed brat. She loved him. She always had. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek.

  “Eww!” Jayden wiped it off. “What was that for?” His cheeks turned a nice shade of pink.

  Laughing, she stood. “Genèva said you can get up tomorrow.”

  He gave her a long look. “Desiree?”

  “Yeah?” she asked, looking down on him.

  “You lost your stutter.”

  Surprise flickered across her face. “Wow, you’re right!” How awesome was that?

  Over the next few days Genèva taught her how to sew with a thorn and a vine. She taught her how to cook and boil Morg skin then push and pull them to make a soft hide. She took her to the garden and continued showing her which plants were for food and which were used for healing. Desiree wanted to help. Sitting around doing nothing didn’t hold much appeal to her. She wanted to keep busy making the time go by faster.

  She went fishing again with Nigel and Jayden and even went hunting with Mihael and Trevore. Trevore was a prankster. He was witty and enjoyed making everyone laugh.

  After a while she forgot about the internet, cell phones and television. There was always something to do. Perceforest was like living in the middle ages, nothing was easy but it actually felt good to accomplish something.<
br />
  All the cubs laughed and played, and whenever there was a disagreement among them an adult stepped in and it was quickly distinguished like water on fire.

  Although some of the other were-cats were not acceptable of them there were a few who were. She made sure she was never alone when Rose was around, until the following morning when she made a grave mistake.

  When nature called, Desiree didn’t think to ask anyone to accompany her, and she just went alone. When she was coming out of the outhouse, Rose and another were-cat, one she wasn’t familiar with, were waiting for her. This one was a male tiger. It could have been a relation, but she never had the chance to ask. Something sharp pierced her neck, and for a minute, the earth tilted and her vision blurred. Right before the earth met her face, she heard laughter.

  The jackhammer pounded in her head and Desiree groaned. Her whole body felt as if it was on fire, burning from the inside out. Drool ran out of her mouth. She went to wipe it and found her hands tied behind her back. She stilled and tried to recall what happened. Rose. Rose had jabbed something in her neck. Her stomach revolted. She began to gag. Whatever they had given her, it was making her sick. She rolled onto her side and vomited. She spit after trying to clear her mouth of the foul stuff. She rolled over the opposite direction a couple times to get away from it. Heat slapped her in the face. She slowly opened her eyes. Right in front of her was a magma pool. Steam bellowed and her eyes watered.

  Fear reared its ugly head. They had brought her to the Morgs’ territory. She was tied with no way of escaping. Her ankles were also tied.

  Using her stomach muscles, she sat up. She pushed her butt backward away from the heat. She didn’t stop until her back hit a solid wall. Breathing heavily now, she tried to calm the hard knot of terror crawling up her throat. They had left her for the Morgs.

  This was murder! Rose was pure evil. She had thought by ignoring her, Rose would just go away—wrong. She had let her guard down and forgot they were all animals. Jayden! Oh no, Jayden would never get home and probably die here. She had to get out. Knowing it was all up to her gave her a bit of courage. She fought with her bindings. She twisted her hands back and forth until the bindings rubbed her wrists raw. She was so busy trying to get free that at first she didn’t hear them. She happened to glance up, looking for something sharp, when a ruby-red pair of eyes met her own. Her pulse thudded over the roar in her ears, her breathing short and shallow.

  No! This couldn’t be happening. She didn’t want to die here, not like this. At this moment, she would have given anything to be like MacGyver. The beastly carnivores were eyeing her greedily. Saliva poured out of their hideous mouths. Their pointy noses crinkled up as they sniffed her scent. She pressed her back tight up against the wall and pulled her knees up. She began to shake uncontrollably. She was surrounded by hundreds of Morgs. The stench they carried was of foul meat. They crept closer. She pictured all those teeth gnawing on her body. She did the only thing she could. She screamed and the high-pitched wail bounced off the cavern walls. To her amazement, the Morgs screeched, scampered back, and then slid into the pools.

  Her body shook uncontrollably, and she gave herself a second for her heart rate to return to normal before she could rationalize what just happened.

  Her scream must have scared them? No, it must be something else. Maybe the high pitch hurt their ears? She didn’t know and really didn’t care at this point, but now she had a fighting chance. She glanced to where the opening was and began to scoot across in that direction while keeping her eyes locked on the magma pool. At the same time, she tried to get out of her bonds, but whoever had tied her up had done a good job of it.

  Thirty minutes later and a few scratches to show for her hard work, she made it to the opening. Sweat covered her face blinding her. She would give anything if she could wipe her eyes. Bending her head, she used her knees to swipe at her face so she could at least see enough to get out. Slowly she backed out and then pulled her knees to her chest. Taking heavy breaths, she rested for a second, and then with a will she didn’t know existed, she scooted backward an inch at a time until her bum was too sore to go an inch farther. She told herself she wouldn’t cry, but she felt the prickly sensation behind her eyelids. Taking in a deep breath, she decided to hell with the creepy crawlies in the tunnel. She wasn’t staying in here to die. She lay on her side and began to roll.

  Her hands scraped against the cement floor each time her body made a turn, but she didn’t care. She picked up momentum. Twice she stopped to spit out the dirt and dust that made its way into her mouth and then began again.

  When the opening came into view, she cried then. With tears streaking down her face, she rolled out. Once she was free of the cave, she sat back up. She looked in all directions. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for but realization dawned. She wasn’t much better off than when she was in the cage. She still couldn’t get out of her bindings, and she would never make it back to the village like this.

  She lay on the dirt-packed ground and cried until she had no more tears left. Quit feeling sorry for yourself, Desiree. Get up and walk! She had to get back to Jayden.

  Pulling herself together, she slowly made it to her feet. With her ankles bound tightly, she was only able to move a few inches at a time. She walked and hopped her way forward.

  She wasn’t sure how long she had been gone. Was Mihael looking for her? Did they know she was even missing? What if Rose came back? These thoughts swirled around in her head as she made her way back.

  The twin moons were sinking, and the darkness was descending rapidly. A new terror began to take up residence in her belly. The Morgs would come. She didn’t have any energy left to fight them. Her throat was parched, and she was sure she wouldn’t be able to scream. Her lips were cracked and sore. Just as she was about to give in to the night, she saw the fires from the village light up the sky. It was too late, and she couldn’t go on. Her feet bled at the jagged pebbles cutting into the bottoms. She fell to her knees. With every ounce of energy she had left, she screamed out his name. “Mihael!?” She fell over and succumbed to the darkness.

  She heard the shout and then she was being carried in strong arms. She felt a soft kiss on her forehead. Mihael whispered into her ear. “It’s going to be okay now. You’re safe.”

  She opened her eyes with difficulty. She squinted through their dirt-encrusted openings. She looked up into his beautiful face. A lone tear slipped down. It would never be all right.

  Chapter 20

  “Someone is here to see you,” Genèva said. She grabbed up her medical supplies and opened the flap of her tent. Jayden rushed in as Genèva left.

  “Hey, Dez, how ya feeling?” He sat on the edge of her cot.

  “Better,” she replied.

  “Mihael said you fought off thousands of those Morgs again. That you’re brave and you survived what no other could have. Wow, Dez, you’re like a hero.”

  She noted the awe in his voice. She felt the heat in her face. “No, Jay, I didn’t fight off the Morgs. I just screamed loud and they all ran for cover,” she chuckled.

  He took her hand in his and squeezed. “I’m glad your back. I was scared the Morgs ate ya. Mihael went searching, and boy was he mad at you for leaving. But then he said you were tied up when he found you. Wow, and I thought I was trouble.” He grinned boyishly.

  She glanced up when the flap opened again. Mihael stood in the doorway. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Can I have a minute with your sister?” he asked Jayden.

  Jayden nodded and patted my hand. He stood and bowed to Mihael. “She’s all yours,” he laughed and then ran out.

  Mihael shook his head as his eyes followed Jayden. His eyes swung to hers. His eyebrows drew together, studying her, his face thoughtful.

  With little effort she sat up putting her feet on the ground.

  “You look better today,” he said

  “I feel much better thanks to Genèva’s magic.” She watched him wearily as he cam
e farther into the room and knelt down on one knee.

  He looked into her eyes. “Rose and Buttons have been dealt with. You’re safe now, Desiree. I’m sorry. I should have looked more closely at the way she treated you.” He took her hand and bent over it. To her surprise, he kissed the back of her hand. “You … you are a brave young woman.” He smiled into her eyes. “I have something for you.” He reached down, pulled something from his belt, and held it up for her to see.

  She gasped. It was a necklace. A beautiful red jewel hung from a soft rope. Gold strands wrapped around the large stone in an intricate design. She reached out for it. “It’s beautiful, Mihael.”

  “I made it for you.” He held it out but wouldn’t let her take it. “Turn around so I can put it on.” Desiree turned her back toward him. He laid the jewel against her chest and then tied the top behind her neck.

  She turned back around. “I love it,” she whispered.

  He stood. “I wanted something for you to remember us by.”

  “Thank you.”

  After he left, Desiree held the jewel in her hand warmed by the sweet gesture.

  She stood up deciding she had lain in bed long enough. The bruising was now yellow, and the cuts on her ankles and wrists had turned into small scabs. The bottom of her feet were still a little tender but not bad.

  When she left the tent, the inhabitants were less friendly. She received glares and hisses. Many turned their backs on her. She found out later that they were angry with Mihael for caging Rose. She also found out he was intending to let her out as soon as they left. This world was a harsh one, and she much preferred her own.