by P. C. Cast
“You have to tell me,” Nik said. “There could be more of them.”
Sora’s shoulders began to shake. “I can’t, Nik!”
“Sora, I give you my word, sworn on Rigel’s life, that I will never tell anyone from the Tribe where Mari’s burrow is. You can trust me. You have to.”
“He rescued me from the island.” Jenna’s voice was soft and sweet. “I think he’s a good man, even though he is a Companion.”
Finally, Sora nodded. “Go southeast.”
Nik started to lead them from the clearing, but Sora stopped him.
“We have to bring the rabbits. And the turkey. I—I have to get wapato and lavender, too. For Mari. Mari needs them.”
“Sora, there’s not time for any of that. I didn’t kill the third male, and if he brings more back in force, I won’t be able to hold them off,” Nik said.
“I’ll get the turkey,” Jenna spoke with a matter-of-fact attitude that seemed to belong to a woman much older than the pale, little girl he’d rescued from the island. “I’ll wring the rabbits’ necks and carry them, too.”
“No! We need the rabbits alive.” Sora met Nik’s gaze. “Mari is breeding them.”
Nik almost told Sora that Mari would have to come back and get them herself, but then he realized what Mari must be doing. She was raising rabbits because Rigel’s rapidly growing body required constant fresh meat.
He sighed. “Jenna, get the turkey from the snare. I’ll take care of the rabbits.” He hurried to the traps, quickly grabbing one of the animals by its ears and shoving it into the cage with the other. Hefting it under his arm, he turned to Sora. “We’re not digging for roots or gathering lavender. We’re getting you safely home. Now. The two of you stay behind me, and stay close and quiet.”
Thankfully, Sora didn’t argue. Clutching Jenna’s free hand, she followed Nik from the clearing and into the forest.
* * *
Mari was having a lovely dream about mounds and mounds of steaming roasted wapato mixed with all sorts of herbs and salt—lots and lots of precious salt—when Rigel jolted her awake. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and feeling anxious and confused. The young canine was at the door, barking frantically.
“What’s happening? Help me, Mari!” Danita was sitting on her pallet, clutching a blanket to her chin and staring at the door with wide, panicked eyes.
“Everything is fine. No one can get to us here, Danita.”
Mari hurried to Rigel. The young canine had stopped barking, but he was whining and scratching at the door. “Okay, I’m coming. Just a second.” Mari rushed to throw across her shoulder the pack that held her slingshot. She grabbed several handfuls of the carefully chosen stones she kept in good supply near the hearth, tossing them into the pack. “Stay here. Bar the door behind me and don’t open it unless Sora or I tell you to.”
“No, Mari! Don’t leave me here by myself!” the girl cried.
“You’re safer here than anywhere in the forest.”
“What if you and Sora don’t come back?”
Mari almost assured her that they would, and then she thought of Leda, who she lost long before she should have. “If we don’t come back you stay here until you’re stronger. There are foodstuffs and supplies in the pantry—enough to last several days if you’re careful. Then you have to follow the rest of the Clanswomen to the coast or south to Clan Miller. Only travel during the day. Find a big tree to hide in at night. Do you understand?”
Danita nodded.
“Bar the door behind me,” Mari repeated.
She opened the door, and Sora fell into her arms, sobbing and speaking hysterically. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! I had to bring him here. Males are in the forest. They attacked me. I’m so sorry, Mari!”
Utterly confused, Mari looked behind Sora to see Nik standing in the doorway. He was holding a crossbow in one hand and a full rabbit trap in the other. He looked dirty and pale and soaked with sweat—and Mari’s heart did a strange little stutter step of happiness as he smiled at her. Then he moved a little to the side, revealing Jenna.
“Surprise!” Nik said.
Unable to speak through her tears, Mari opened her arm to allow Jenna to come into her embrace. She stood like that, enfolding the two young women in her arms as Nik smiled into her eyes, for what seemed like a very long time.
She wasn’t able to look away from him or find her voice until he crouched to greet Rigel.
“Hey there, good to see you again, big man. Good to see you.” He scratched the wriggling canine behind his ears.
Mari glanced at Sora and really saw her—the tear-streaked face, the bloody lip—the torn clothing. “You’re hurt!” She disentangled from the two girls and began quickly assessing Sora’s injuries, adding bloody, bruising bites on the soft part of her upper arms to the list. “What happened? Tell me what happened!”
Nik came all the way inside the burrow, closing the door behind them, which is when Danita started screaming.
“Go to her. I’m fine,” Sora said.
Mari rushed to Danita and took her face between her hands. “Danita, you are completely safe. That is our friend, Nik. He isn’t an Earth Walker, so he has no Night Fever.”
“He’s a Companion! He’ll take us away or kill us!”
“No, he won’t. He’s different,” Jenna said, joining Mari. “Nik just helped me escape from the Companions.”
“Jenna, take Danita into our back room and tuck her into bed.” But before Jenna could do as she asked, Mari pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re back!”
“Me, too, Mari.” Jenna pulled back and looked into Mari’s eyes. “What happened to your hair?”
“Sora.”
Jenna giggled, then her expression sobered. “Nik told me about Leda. I’m so sad about it.”
Mari hugged her again. “I know, honey. I know.” When she finally let her loose, Jenna kissed her cheek before taking Danita’s hand and leading her into the other room.
Mari went to Sora, who was trying to pour water into the pot for tea, but her hands were shaking so badly that she was spilling more than she was saving.
“I’ll do that. Sit down.” Sora sank down in her usual spot by the hearth and stared into the fire. Mari glanced at Nik, who was sitting on the chair by the little desk, petting Rigel, whose tail hadn’t stopped thumping. “Are you hurt?” she asked him.
“Nothing new. I think I broke open the back wound, though.”
“Is it bad?”
He shook his head. “Tend Sora first. She needs you.”
Mari sat beside Sora. “What happened, and where are you hurt?”
“My—my arms hurt, and my breasts,” she whispered. Then her voice began to rise. “My face. What happened to my face?” Sora looked frantically at Mari, her hand lifting to her bloody lip.
Mari caught her hand, gently holding it out of the way. “Your lip is cut, but not badly. Your cheek is swelling and already bruised.” She hesitated before pulling off the remnants of Sora’s clothing. Over her shoulder she said, “Nik, could you leave the burrow? Just wait right outside. I need to examine Sora.”
Nik was getting stiffly to his feet when Sora spoke. “He doesn’t have to leave. He saved me. But c-could he turn around?”
“Of course, Sora,” Nik said, turning the chair so that his back was facing the women.
“All right, talk to me,” Mari said as she began untangling the torn clothing from Sora’s bruised body.
“I was in the clearing. I was so happy I was wading in the stream and thinking about what wonderful thing I was going to do with the turkey we’d snared.” Sora smiled through new tears. “It felt good to be so happy.”
Mari nodded and made an understanding sound, though she didn’t take her focus from the nasty bite wounds on Sora’s arms.
“Jaxom, Bradon, and Joshua came out of the forest. I didn’t even know they were there until it was too late,” Sora continued. “I tried to reason with them, but they’re completely mad, and in terrible s
hape, worse than Night Fever, worse than anything I’ve ever seen. They wanted me to Wash them during the day … and when I couldn’t they dragged me from the water and, and they attacked me.” Tears slid down her face. “They held me down. Even Jaxom. Jaxom was going to rape me—they were all going to rape me.” Sora’s shoulders began to shake. “Then Nik was there. He-he killed Bradon and Joshua, and he shot Jaxom, but he got away.”
Mari glanced at Nik’s broad back. “Did you kill the third one, Nik?”
“Not sure,” he said. “Not outright, but the arrow went through his shoulder. If I hit the right place he’ll bleed out. If not, my guess is he’ll die slowly of infection. Sora’s right. There’s something seriously wrong with those males.”
“Jaxom and I used to be friends,” Sora sobbed. “We even talked about being mates.”
“Did he rape you?” Mari asked softly.
Sora shook her head. “No. Nik stopped him.”
Mari breathed a long sigh of relief. “Good. That’s really good. Okay, I’m going to get a wash ready to clean those bite wounds. Your skin is only broken in a few places, but you’re going to bruise badly, and you’ll be sore. I’ll brew a tea for you that’ll help with the pain and make you sleep.”
“I don’t want to sleep. Wash the wounds, but sleep won’t make me better. And I have a turkey to roast. I’m sorry about the wapato and lavender. I should have gathered it before I played in the stream. I should have—” Sora broke off, putting her face in her hands while she sobbed.
Mari wrapped her arms around her friend and held on tight. “None of this was your fault. None of it.”
“I—I led Nik here. I’m sorry, Mari,” she said brokenly.
“She had to, Mari,” Nik spoke up. “We didn’t know how many more of them might be lurking in the forest. And the wounded one could have returned. I did swear that I would never betray your home to anyone in the Tribe. I meant it, Mari. You can trust me to keep your secret.”
“It’s okay—it’s okay,” Mari said to them both. “I believe you, Nik. What’s most important is that we are all here and safe. We’ll figure everything else out in time.”
“He brought Jenna home,” Sora said, raising her tear-streaked face and looking at Nik.
Mari had to blink hard to keep from crying. “Which means you need to consider two more mouths to feed for dinner,” she said instead of dissolving into half-hysterical, half-happy tears.
Sora smiled tentatively. “It’s good that the turkey is big and fat.”
“It’s good that we’re all together.” Mari hugged her. “Do you think you can brew us some tea while I check Nik’s back and grind some goldenseal?”
Sora nodded. “You’ll need more boiling water for the wash, won’t you?”
“I will.” Mari went to the empty pallet and got a blanket, giving it to Sora so she could wrap herself in it. Then, as Sora chose herbs for the tea and filled the pot, Mari went to Nik.
She stood in front of him and held out her hand. “Hello, Nik. Nice to see you again.”
He grinned up at her, took her hand, turned it, and, as if he did it every day, kissed the pulse point on her wrist. “Hello, Mari. Nice to see you again, too.”
Though her cheeks were flushing so much that they felt on fire, Mari somehow managed to speak calmly—as if she was used to Nik kissing her. “You need to take off that shirt so I can see how badly you’ve messed up my work.”
“Sorry about that, but it was a little tougher getting Jenna free and getting here than I thought it was going to be,” Nik said, as he pulled off his shirt.
Mari stepped behind him, frowning at the bleeding wound. “Well, there’s no sign of infection, and you didn’t completely rip out the stitches. It’s going to be sore, but I’ll clean it and bandage it tightly enough that it should continue to heal—though it is going to leave a pretty nasty scar.”
“Scars add character,” Nik said.
From the hearth Mari heard Sora snort, which made her smile. Sora was going to be just fine.
“Okay, just relax while I get what I need for the both of you together.” Mari paused and then added, “Is Jenna hurt, too?”
“No. She was pretty bad last night when I took her from the island, but the closer we got to here, the better she’s been,” Nik said.
Mari smiled with relief. “That’s good to hear.” She made a mental note to be sure to Wash Jenna as soon after moonrise as possible. Then she put her hand on Nik’s shoulder and looked into his green eyes. “Thank you for saving Sora.”
“I couldn’t have done anything else,” Nik said.
“Yes, you could have,” Sora said.
Mari and Nik turned to face her. Sora was standing by the hearth with a blanket wrapped around her, bruised and bloodied, but whole.
“If it had been up to me, that day we found you I would have killed you and left you for the roaches. You knew that, but you saved me anyway. I was wrong about you. I ask you to forgive me for that, Nik,” Sora said.
“I willingly forgive you, Sora.”
Sora blinked, wiping new tears from her cheeks, and turned back to the hearth fire.
“And thank you for freeing Jenna,” Mari said. “It seems we have a lot to thank you for today.”
Nik took her hand from his shoulder and held it gently. “Before you make me out to be too much of a hero, I have to tell you exactly why I freed Jenna.”
“Okay, tell me,” Mari said.
“I have a cousin who is like a brother to me. His name is O’Bryan. He was wounded by a pack of those males. While I’ve been gone his wound has blighted. He’s dying, Mari. Soon. I freed Jenna to trade a life for a life—hers for my cousin’s. Please return to the Tribe with me and heal my friend.”
44
Mari felt as if Nik had punched her in the stomach. She pulled her hand from his. “You were right. We shouldn’t make you out to be too much of a hero,” she said.
“Don’t do that, Mari.” Mari looked up to see Jenna standing in the doorway. “He could have tied me up and dragged me to our territory, and then held me as a hostage until you agreed to help him, but he didn’t. He was nice to me—really nice. He even tried to help me the night Father was killed. He might not be as much of a hero as you thought, but he’s definitely not a villain.” Then her gaze went to Rigel. “Mari, why is there a big Shepherd in your burrow? Is he Nik’s?”
“No!” Mari and Nik said together.
“He’s mine,” Mari continued. “His name is Rigel, and he found me.” Then she blurted, “Jenna, my father was a Companion from Nik’s Tribe. That’s why I look like this, and why Rigel bonded with me.”
“Did your father rape Leda like the males were trying to do to Sora?”
“No. He loved Mama very much,” Mari said.
“Well, then, where is he?” Jenna asked.
“He died when I was a baby.”
“Oh. That’s too bad. And that explains why you’ve always been so different,” she said. “Danita says she could eat something, and so could I. I thought I’d start plucking that turkey for Sora.”
“That would be nice. Thanks, Jenna,” Sora said. “I’ll boil more water for that.”
“Okay, call me when it’s ready. I’ll sit with Danita until then.”
When she was gone, Mari shook her head. “I thought it’d be a lot harder than that.”
“What would be harder?” Nik asked.
“Telling people who she really is,” Sora spoke with her back to them as she began their dinner preparations. “You see, Nik, our Mari thinks the Clan will hate her and banish her because she’s part Companion.”
“Maybe they will,” Mari said. “Maybe it’s just my friends who are willing to accept me.”
“I say if someone’s not your friend then don’t waste your time on them,” Sora said as she rattled pots and pans and began filling mugs with steaming tea.
“I’m your friend,” Nik said. “I accept you for exactly who and what you are.”
Mari looked at Nik. “Okay, okay! Get your cousin. I’ll heal him.”
“That was my first choice, too, but when I saw him last night I realized he’s too far gone to walk. Mari, you have to come to the Tribe with me.”
“No! I’m all for her helping you, especially after what you just did for me, but Mari can’t go there,” Sora said.
“You have to,” Nik spoke directly to Mari. “Please. He’ll die if you don’t.”
“And what if she saves him—cures him of this awful blight? Do you expect us to believe the rest of your Tribe is just going to let Mari leave?”
“No, I don’t expect you to believe they’ll let her leave. I do expect you to believe that my father and I will make sure she has safe passage—to the Tribe, and back.”
“What does your father have to do with this?” Mari asked.
“He’s our Sun Priest—the Leader of our Tribe,” Nik said.
Into the shocked silence Sora spoke first. “I’ll do it. I’ll go with you and heal your cousin. You said a life for a life. You just saved mine. I’ll save your cousin’s in return.”
“Can she do that?” Nik asked Mari.
“Probably, but she’s not going to have to. I’ll go.”
“Mari, no! You’re the closest thing to a true Moon Woman we have. You can’t go,” Sora said.
Mari went to Sora. “You are a true Moon Woman, too. If something happens to me, you have Mama’s journals. This burrow would be yours. Take care of Jenna. Train Danita. Go to the Millers and the Fishers and bring our women back to their homes. Be who Leda believed you could be.”
Sora brushed away tears. “I’ll be who you believe I can be.”
“I’ll bring her back to you safely. That I promise you,” Nik said.
Sora pulled Mari into her arms, hugging her tightly. Over Mari’s shoulder she told Nik, “You’d better, because if you don’t we’ll come get her.”
* * *
Mari and Nik left after Sora put together a hasty meal of leftover stew and bread for them. She complained all the while about how they were going to be missing the turkey feast she was in the middle of preparing, but Mari had agreed with Nik. With the symptoms he described even Leda’s journals warned that the disease was advanced and without drastic measures would be fatal.
