"A little ways," Thomas said.
"Can you see where you're going?" Maeve asked. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"
"Rufus knows the way," Thomas said confidently.
"How long have you been out here?" Gray asked.
"The same as you. I followed you," Thomas said matter-of-factly.
Maeve shook her head as if to clear her ears, not sure she had heard him correctly. "You followed us? Why?"
"I thought you might need me," he said simply. "Me and Rufus."
Maeve opened her mouth, then closed it, took a breath and opened it again. Still, no words came out.
Gray took pity on her and asked, "How did you even know to follow us? We didn't know we were leaving."
"I overheard Emma and John talking about your trip, so I packed some stuff, loaded Rufus up and trailed you. When you got caught, I looked for a place to hide until I could come help you."
Maeve finally found her voice. "Does your uncle know you and Rufus are out here?"
"He doesn't much care what I do. He's always saying I take up too much space and eat too much food, anyway." Thomas's voice trailed off. "He probably won't even miss me."
"I'm sorry, Thomas," Maeve said. "I didn't know."
"You didn't ask," Thomas said without accusation.
"Um, guys," Ginger said as she came jogging up from behind them. "We've got trouble." She pointed back the way they had come. "Anyone notice there's no lizard roaring? We're going to have company, I think."
"Guess poison darts do work on plagoran," Maeve said. She looked at Gray. "What's the plan now?"
Gray looked over his shoulder to where Tristan and Elton were mostly carrying Shalara along as quickly as possible. Emery was walking in front of them, encouraging Shalara to keep going. "What makes you think we're going to have company?"
"If you weren't busy finding out why kids are wandering the desert unaccompanied..."
"Hey, Rufus is offended," Thomas jumped in, indignation coloring his voice.
"You would have noticed," Ginger continued "the plagoran had quit roaring, and there are faint voices behind us."
"I can't see them, though," Gray said. "Even in the dark, we should be able to make out their outline if they were close. Sound travels a long way in the desert."
"But that also means they can hear us," Ginger pointed out.
"Right, so we need to stop talking and just follow Rufus," Maeve chimed in.
Ginger nodded, and the group fell into silence, resting all their hopes on the broad back of the large dog leading the way.
The chill night air cutting through her thin shirt caused Maeve to shiver as she plodded along behind Thomas and Rufus. Their progress was hindered by Shalara's slow pace, but Maeve took comfort in the fact that the voices of the Bellus survivors weren't getting any closer. Maeve had checked on Shalara several times, but there wasn't much she could do while they needed to hurry. She hoped they could stay in one place for a bit, for Shalara's sake. Lost in her thoughts about Shalara, Maeve was startled when Rufus's head and back suddenly vanished. Maeve peered more closely, but the large dog was nowhere to be seen. She tugged on Gray's hand.
"What happened to Rufus?" she whispered.
"What? He's right..." Gray whipped his head from side to side in confusion. "Thomas," he whispered a little louder. "Where did you and Rufus go?"
"Right here," came the whispered reply, and a hand shot up just to the left in front of them. "The ground drops away here. It's why you can't see the dunes from the oasis where you were captured."
Gray took Maeve's hand, and together they carefully edged toward Thomas's hand. The sand under their feet turned into a steep slope, and Maeve's feet skidded as she tried to keep her balance.
"How is Shalara going to get down this slope?" Maeve asked Gray. "Even with Elton and Tristan helping her, this grade is too steep for her to manage with that ankle."
"Hey," came Emery's whisper. "Where did you guys go?"
Maeve popped her head back up over the edge of the dropoff. "Right here. The ground drops away. Be careful. Let Tristan and Elton know to stop before they get here. We have to figure something out for Shalara." Emery scampered back the way they had come to relay the message, and Ginger's face replaced Emery's.
"Yeah, that's not going to work for a broken ankle," she said.
"We know," Gray replied. "Got any ideas?"
Ginger toyed with the end of her ponytail. "Too bad we don't have any supplies. We could use a tarp or a blanket and use it as a litter and kind of slide her down."
"We have a blanket," Thomas said quickly. "Me and Rufus." He pointed from himself to the dog. "We share." Thomas turned and ran the rest of the way down the slope.
"They share?" Ginger whispered to Maeve. "How big is the blanket?"
Large. The blanket was large enough to cover a bed. "Where did you get that?" she asked when Thomas returned, dragging the blanket.
"My Gran made it for me and Rufus. Before she died." Thomas dropped his chin for a moment, and Maeve thought he might be trying to hold back tears. She wondered how long it had been since his Gran had died and felt a twinge of guilt for not getting to know more about Thomas. After a few seconds, he raised his head and grinned. "Rufus was always stealing my blankets at night, so she made us one big enough for both of us."
"She sounds like a fantastic Gran," Maeve said.
"She was, and she would be excited to know her blanket was going to be used to help someone. She was always helping people. Even when we didn't have much to eat ourselves, Gran would share what we had if someone else didn't have anything."
Maeve started to ask Thomas more about his life, but just then Tristan strode up to the edge of the dropoff. "How is this going to work?"
"We're going to use Rufus and Thomas's blanket to make a litter for Shalara and carry/slide her down the slope," Maeve said. "It was Ginger's idea."
Tristan shot Ginger a grin. "Good thinking. Let's get it done. Shalara's not in good shape, so the sooner we get her off her feet, the better."
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"Is she going to be OK?" Ginger asked Maeve as the two of them sat with their backs against a stubby tree in the shelter of the dunes. They had maneuvered Shalara down the steep entrance to the dunes using Thomas's and Rufus's blanket, but the journey had been rough. Tristan and Elton had both stumbled once, nearly dropping Shalara, and Maeve could still hear her cries of pain ringing in her ears. She only hoped their captors couldn't hear them as well.
Maeve shook her head slowly. "I don't know. She was in pretty rough shape when I looked at her." Maeve picked at her thumbnail. "Her ankle looked OK. We did the best we could in setting it, but hopping across the desert, then being jostled around like that definitely isn't good for it. And I don't know why she has a fever."
Maeve was grateful they had some willow bark with them to help lower the fever, but there was no fire to make it into the tea that had saved Gray's life when they were on the run from the WG several months ago. She had done her best by sprinkling it into some water and giving it to Elton to force down Shalara's throat.
"Did you get close to her?" Ginger asked.
"I did my best to examine her from a distance," Maeve said. "And I washed my hands in the puddle over there that we're calling a water source."
Ginger glanced in the direction of the small pond off to her left even though it wasn't visible in the dark. "At least there's water. We'd be in big trouble without some kind of water source since we only have one canteen."
"True." Maeve fell silent. After a moment, she said, "Do you think we're really going to make it out of here? I mean, how long until Sarge and his group find us again? We didn't really travel that far."
Ginger looked over at where Emery slept, curled up against the chill underneath a second tree to their right. Thomas and Rufus lay wrapped in their blanket on the ground next to her. Gray and Tristan were keeping watch at the edge of the dropoff, and Elton was trying to make Shalara c
omfortable. "We'll make it out," Ginger said with confidence. "We haven't survived everything else to die out here in the desert."
Maeve gazed out toward the desert. "I wish I had your confidence." She draped her arms over her knees and put her forehead on her arms. "I just don't know how we're getting out of this one."
Ginger nudged Maeve with her elbow. "Come on. Are you the same girl who helped overthrow the WG or not?"
Maeve shrugged. "Not really." She raised her head and looked at Ginger. "I'm not sure who I am, Ginger. I'm definitely not the same girl who believed everything the government told her. But I'm also not the same girl who could shoot a soldier to save my friends. I don't know what I would do if I was in that situation again. And that scares me. What if something happens to one of you because I can't do what needs to be done?"
Ginger studied her intently. "Maeve, I know you're having a hard time forgiving yourself, but what else could you have done?"
Maeve shook her head again. "I don't know. I feel like I don't know anything − about who I'm supposed to be, about what I'm supposed to do. I don't know why the rest of you put up with me."
Ginger pulled Maeve into a one-armed hug. "We put up with you because you're our friend − and that's what friends do. We stick together, through the good times and the bad ones. You would never have abandoned us after our mom died, would you?"
"No, but that's different. That was horrible, and you didn't do anything to cause it." Maeve paused. "I created my own problem."
"By saving Gray," Ginger said patiently. "Would you rather he have died?"
"No!" Maeve vehemently shook her head.
"Then what else were you going to do? It was that soldier or Gray." Ginger's next words came out slowly as if she wanted Maeve to be sure to hear what she was saying. "Did you have to make a terrible choice? Yes. Was it fair? No. Do you have to live with it? Yes. Did it change you? Yes. But don't let that one moment define who you are, Maeve. Love requires sacrifice. My mom sacrificed her life for us, and I have to live with the choice that she made. I wish my mom could have found another way, but I have to accept what she did and live my life so that it wasn't in vain. You chose to do something you didn't even know you were capable of doing. And that's hard because it shows you a piece of you that you never knew existed. You need to make peace with who you are and move forward. You can't live it over and over again or you'll never heal."
"I know you're right," Maeve said. "But I just seem stuck. Emma said I should focus on the little things. And I know I never want to hold a gun again. But what if that decision puts you guys in danger? I'm beginning to think I shouldn't have come with you on this expedition."
Ginger started to respond, but whatever she was going to say was lost when they heard Tristan and Gray running down the path from the dropoff. They rounded the corner between the dunes and stumbled to a stop.
"We have to move," Gray said urgently as he leaned over and shook Emery and Thomas awake. Rufus growled in annoyance and rolled over, still asleep. Thomas shook the sleeping dog until he let out a large yawn and slowly rose to his feet. "Sarge and his crew are headed this way."
"How do you know?" Ginger asked.
Tristan helped her to her feet. "We can hear them − and see them. They're using lanterns to find us since they have us outnumbered and outgunned."
Gray helped Maeve to her feet, and she brushed the dust from her pants and hands. "Where are we going to go?"
The four of them looked at each other, indecision written on each face. "There might be a shelter in the dunes," Thomas said.
"What?" Gray spun to face Thomas who stood with one hand idly petting Rufus's head. Gray's abrupt movement startled Rufus who growled low in his throat.
"It's OK, Rufus," Thomas said quietly.
"What kind of shelter is it?" Gray asked.
"I'm not sure," Thomas said. "I only saw an indentation that could have been a hidden door. I didn't have time to look at it because you guys got yourselves caught."
"Well, show us where it is," Gray said impatiently. "We haven't got much time."
Maeve squeezed Gray's hand in warning and shot him a dark look at his impatient tone. "He's just a little kid," she said under her breath. "You don't have to be short with him."
Gray shook off Maeve's hand. "We don't have time to stand around. Sarge and his friends will be here soon, and we've got two kids, a dog and a sick and injured stranger. Our odds are terrible even if we do find someplace to hide."
Thomas gave Gray a hard stare, squared his shoulders and turned his back on them. "Let's go, Rufus." He looked over his shoulder at Maeve. "You coming?"
Maeve and Gray moved to follow Thomas while Tristan and Ginger gathered their things and Elton helped Shalara to her feet. Maeve noted with relief that Tristan and Ginger were keeping their distance from Shalara, but Emery was hovering closer than Maeve would like. Ginger's eyebrows drew together in a frown as she watched Emery, but she said nothing.
The group returned to the path between the dunes that rose high into the air. Maeve felt like she was in a canyon between mountains, and she guessed in a way that's exactly what this was. Maybe choosing to hide here wasn't the smartest idea. If Sarge found them, they would be easy targets with no way out. A shiver of fear ran up Maeve's spine.
"Here," Thomas said, pointing at the side of the dune. Maeve leaned forward for a closer look, but she couldn't see anything in the sand that looked like a door could be hidden there.
Gray and Tristan stepped up to the spot and began moving the sand with their hands. Sand cascaded down the side of the dune at a speed reminiscent of a waterfall. Maeve worried that the sand might bury Gray and Tristan as it pooled at their feet, covering their boots.
"There's nothing here," Gray said in frustration, shaking the sand off his boots and hands. "We've wasted precious time we could have used to get away."
"No, wait," said Tristan who was still digging through the sand. "There's something hard."
"Where?" Gray asked.
"Right here." Tristan guided Gray's hand through the sand to place it next to his. "It feels like wood."
Gray's eyes brightened and his shoulders lifted. "You're right. Let's get this sand shifted."
"Shhh," Maeve said suddenly as Elton and Shalara came up behind her. For a minute all was silent until a voice they all recognized as Sarge's floated through the night air.
"They have to be this way. It's the only way they could have gone."
"Hurry," Maeve said urgently. "They sound like they're near the dropoff."
Gray, Tristan and Thomas began digging madly. Rufus, thinking it was a game, began to dig next to Thomas, kicking up a spray of dirt that hit Maeve in the face. Sputtering, she stepped forward and gingerly stepped around Rufus to dig next to Gray. Ginger and Emery dug their hands in as well, but Elton and Shalara hung back.
After several minutes of digging and listening to the voices of their previous captors draw ever closer, Tristan said, "Stop. Everyone move back."
In the dimness of the night, Maeve could see Gray and Tristan lean into the hole they had dug in the side of the dune. She watched their muscles strain as they struggled to get the piece of wood they had uncovered to move. With a loud creaking sound, the wooden door opened just far enough for Tristan to slip through.
Less than a minute later, his head poked back around the door, and he motioned for them to follow him. Gray pushed the door open a bit more, and Emery, Thomas and Rufus ducked under his arm. Ginger followed. Maeve looked back at Shalara and Elton. They seemed to be having a heated argument, with Elton whispering urgently and Shalara vehemently shaking her head.
Maeve took two steps toward them. "Come on, you two. We need to go."
Shalara shook her head again. "I'm not coming. I'm sick. If we go in that room together, I could spread whatever this is to all of you."
Maeve noted Elton's grip on Shalara's arm tightened when she spoke. Shalara winced, but Maeve didn't know if it was from Elton's grip
or the pain in her ankle. "You have to come, Shalara. I'm not leaving you out here."
A shout came from above them. Maeve assumed that someone from Sarge's group had stumbled on the steep dropoff. It wouldn't take them long to figure out how to get down to where Maeve stood.
"What are you guys doing?" came Gray's impatient voice. "Move it. They're going to find us, and then no one will have a chance to survive."
Maeve weighed her options. If Shalara stayed outside the shelter, Sarge and his friends would definitely kill her once they realized she was sick, but if she encouraged Shalara to enter the shelter, she would be exposing her friends to a potentially deadly illness. There wasn't really any choice.
"Come on, Shalara," Maeve said. "We don't even know for sure your fever is from illness. It could just be an infection in your ankle. If you stay out here, you'll definitely die. In there," Maeve nodded toward where Gray was holding the door open, "we all at least have a chance."
Shalara looked from Maeve to Gray who nodded at her and relented. "OK, I'm too tired to fight you on this. Let's go." She took a tired hop step toward the door. Maeve noticed that Elton's grip relaxed as soon as Shalara agreed to enter the shelter.
Shalara and Elton made slow progress toward the door, and Maeve could hear Sarge's voice coming down the incline. When Shalara and Elton reached the door, Gray motioned to her to hurry. Maeve ran to the door but stopped at the entrance.
"Won't they see the hole?" she asked Gray, with worry in her voice.
"Maybe, but I'm betting when I pull the door shut, sand will tumble over it, hiding it unless they look closer. It's dark, so we might get lucky. Come on. If we stand out here, they'll definitely find us."
Maeve stepped through the door, and Gray pulled it shut behind them. They could hear sand falling on the other side of the door, and both let out a sigh of relief.
Maeve stepped farther into the room and stopped. "What is this place?"
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Maeve studied the small space made entirely of concrete and lit only by the dim light from a lantern. The only wood was the door behind them. Tristan, Ginger, Emery, Thomas and Rufus were sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall directly opposite the door while Elton and Shalara were huddled in the corner to their left. The rest of the room was filled with supplies − food in cans and boxes, water in bottles, blankets, lanterns and backpacks. Maeve noted flint and matches as well as canteens.
The Lost City: The Palumbra Chronicles: Book Two Page 8
