Kerri looked at him and saw something in his eyes. Sadness, or was it just weakness? She didn’t like what she saw.
‘Sonny, that was not some holiday we were on. We were thrown together for survival. And, as I remember, you didn’t want me there in the first place.’ She laughed, trying to make light of it. She understood too late that he’d taken it badly, without humour.
‘What would I have to do to make you want to spend time with me?’
Now it was Kerri’s turn to take it badly.
‘You could start working towards earning some respect from your own people. You could start thinking about what you can do to save them, rather than wandering around in your own little world, retreating in on yourself.’ She felt herself getting angry now.
‘I didn’t want it to go like this. I only wanted to talk like we did that night.’
‘I told you before, Sonny, don’t wait for me,’ she reminded him.
‘We will be together. I’ll make it happen.’
‘Don’t be stupid, Sonny. You and I can never be together. You can’t make it happen. What are you going to do, kidnap me?’
It came out before she realised what she’d said. Suddenly an image of Holly, Carter and Lulu, alone in the storm after Duma had kidnapped them, came to her mind and she felt sorry for saying it. She saw anger rising in him at the thought that he could do the same thing as his father.
‘I see that now.’ He turned and walked out of the garden towards the river.
‘Sonny, Sonny!’ Kerri called. But he kept walking without saying goodbye.
Casey stood waiting at the gate, watching him leave, trying hard not to judge him, but feeling very uncomfortable at how he’d watched Sonny treat his Kerri.
* * *
‘How did it go with Sonny?’ asked Sam
‘He’s been corrupted, Dad.’
‘What?’ Salli turned and came to sit with them.
‘He’s seen the Crystal. He wanted to touch it, but held back because he was more afraid of his father. Which means there are forces stronger than it. But, by seeing it, Sonny’s opened himself up to Him and He’s been tormenting him.’
‘What’s been happening, Lu?’ asked Salli.
‘HE has been putting Sonny through a guilt trip. He tells Sonny it was his family that caused all this mess, then promising him the Crystal, then telling him Holly’s death was because of his father and he should go and find her. But he refused again. And guess why?’
They both sat, waiting.
‘Because he’s in love with someone and wants to stay close to her.’
‘To Kerri?’ her mom asked.
‘How did you know?’
‘Because he’s like a puppy dog whenever she’s around.’
‘But you see what this means, Mom? Love and fear are stronger than the pull of this Crystal. Maybe that’s something we can use to defeat Him.’
‘You do realise that if Sonny has used these two emotions to refuse Him, it means Sonny must have a strong character. You know, he can be saved,’ said Sam.
‘I know that, Dad, but until I figure how to use that, he’s dangerous. This voice has got a direct view of what we are doing and planning. From now on, Sonny must be kept in the dark about whatever we plan to do, until he has to be told.’
‘I’ll talk with Dray,’ said Sam.
‘Mom, maybe we can show Sonny how to block out this voice from searching for us, like you showed me.’
Salli thought about it for a moment. ‘Or maybe not. Maybe we could feed Sonny information that we want Him to hear?’
They sat thinking about whether this was a wrong thing to do.
‘How can we form an army without Sonny knowing?’ asked Lulu.
‘Form an army?’ said Sam.
‘Dad, the time is coming when we will need to defend ourselves. We can call it what we like, an army, a defence group, a gang! But we need to be prepared. We can get the lost people trained up with staffs, like our own people do. Then we can work, or fight, side by side.’
‘Why don’t we give Sonny responsibility for reconnaissance? We can send him ahead to scout out a good landing place. We can send Ben and Avi and a few others, it’ll give him confidence. We need to save him from himself,’ said Sam.
‘That sounds like a good idea. I’ll deal with it,’ said Lulu.
* * *
He stood, peering into the golden bowl, adding just enough coal to the fire below to keep the water boiling gently, with a regular simmering on the surface. Sprinkling a few grains of the crimson powder onto the surface, he watched as the steam mixed with the chemical to lay as a cloud of mist over the surface of the gently bubbling liquid. Another few grains of the sulphurous powder and the mists cleared. He removed it from the fire, the surface now still and mirror-like in its reflection of his face. He looked past himself into the depths of the bowl, which appeared so deep as to sink below the floor of the temple in which he stood. The coals cast an orange glow around the walls, shadows flickering with the dancing flames of the fire.
He called gently, waiting for the slightest response to show that he’d been heard.
‘Sonny, it’s me, your father. I need you. Help me,’ he whispered.
He saw a ripple cross the surface of the liquid and knew he was being heard.
‘Sonny, come, help me. I’m in so much pain.’
The ripples passed again, larger this time.
‘Sonny, where’s Holly? You must find her, to stop my pain.’
The water was rising, becoming agitated within the bowl.
‘Sonny... Kerri doesn’t want you. She laughs at you. She despises you. She wants Carter, not you. Leave there and find Holly.’
The water started to boil against the golden bowl, bubbles being released that rushed to the surface to explode violently.
‘Sonny...’ his voice smooth and sweet, enticing his victim to believe in his every word. ‘Sonny... tell me, how will they defeat the apes?’
Lulu’s eyes shot open. She sat quickly up in her bed. ‘MOM!’ she called.
‘I know, I heard it,’ said Salli, rushing into Lulu’s bedroom, pulling a shawl around herself. ‘Let’s hope Sonny comes to tell you.’
9
Chapter Nine
Deciding to Move
THEY SAT IN a circle, eating their pie, constantly glancing out through the cave entrance.
‘Nice pie, Vin. One of yours?’
‘No, my Mom made this one especially for you, Carter.’
‘Please tell her I said thanks.’
Vin smiled. ‘You know, Carter, we don’t blame her. It happened to Duma and it’ll happen to anyone who comes close to it.’
‘Thanks, Vin. I know Holly, and I know she’d never want to hurt anyone, especially not you and Mrs Vin, not after the kindness we’ve been shown.’
Vin nodded.
From the back wall came a moan. Carter looked over at Holly curled almost into a ball. She called out again in her sleep, ‘Leave me! Get out!’
The others turned to look at her. Holly started to thrash about in her sleep, shaking her head, striking out with her hands at an unseen attacker.
‘The pool! The cave!’ she shouted louder, rolling wildly amongst her blankets.
Carter rushed over, shaking her awake. ‘Holly, Holly! Wake up, what are you dreaming? Who are you talking to? What about the pool and the cave, Holly? Wake up!’
Her eyes shot open, staring wildly. She suddenly saw Carter leaning over her, shaking her. She threw her arms around his neck and buried her head into his chest.
‘Carter, I’m so sorry I brought all these problems on you.’ Her voice was shaking with emotion, on the verge of breaking into tears.
‘Who was in your dreams, Holly? Who were you talking to?’
‘It was Him again, the one who kept coming back and frightening me when I lay under the snow, he won’t leave me alone.’
‘It’s okay now, we’ll take care of you.’
‘I know you
will, Carter, you always do.’
He lay her gently down on the blankets. ‘Try to rest a little as we’ll be leaving soon.’
Carter joined Naz and Vin again. ‘She’s telling Him where we are.’
‘Yep, I guessed that. We can’t keep her awake all night, just as we can’t control her dreams,’ said Vin.
‘Would the moss help? It’s good for everything else,’ said Naz.
‘I hadn’t thought of that. We can try giving her a drink with some boiled. It’ll make her sleep so deep, maybe He won’t reach her,’ said Carter.
Vin looked out through the cave entrance. The small slit at ground level made their cave almost invisible, but from inside they had a clear view of the surrounding slopes and the town below.
‘I smell ape, Vin, and close,’ said Carter, peering through the entrance.
In the valley below they could see at least forty apes running with their loping stride, all heading out of the town. On the rock face surrounding them, groups of apes were scouring the slopes, still far below, but determined in their search for them and the Crystal.
‘It’ll be dark soon. We’ll have to make a move then. If we stay here any longer, they’re bound to stumble upon us eventually,’ said Naz.
Carter pointed to a group of four who were kicking rocks around, searching for them.
‘We’ll have to go around and get behind them. Do you think you’ll find the way in the dark?’ asked Naz.
‘I’m sure I can,’ said Carter. ‘I can follow Holly’s scent easily enough back the way she came.’
‘I’ll lead them away,’ said Vin.
‘What?’
‘I’ll head for the snow line, making as much noise as I can and try to pull away as many as I can.’
‘That’s suicide, Vin. They’re bound to catch you,’ said Carter.
‘Not if I head for the snow. I’m better at climbing mountains than they are and the cold will kill them before they catch me, anyway.’
‘You can’t do that, Vin,’ said Naz. ‘We’re stronger together.’
‘Have you another plan?’
‘We have to stick together, Vin,’ said Naz.
‘Naz, we can’t go back to your land.’
There was a stunned silence as Carter finally voiced what each had been thinking but had been afraid to discuss.
‘We’ve got to go home. This is our only chance of crossing this country,’ said Carter.
The realisation suddenly dawned on Naz and Vin.
‘We’ve got to get the Crystal back across the border to safety,’ said Naz.
‘I know that, but we’re halfway home. Holly’s recovered and we’ve got supplies. If we return with you now, we may never make it this far next time. I’ve got to get Holly home. That’s my responsibility. That’s why I’m here.’
‘If we get caught with the Crystal, nobody on this earth will be safe. They’ll be able to cross the borders as they wish. They’ll take out their revenge on us, then they’ll come looking for your people, Carter. Nobody will be safe.’
‘I do understand that. Look, you take the Crystal and head north.’ He saw Holly make an involuntary move to hold the sack around her neck. ‘Holly and I can head south. I’m sure we can outrun them, we’ve done it before,’ said Carter.
‘We can’t let them youngsters go running around here on their own, Naz,’ said Vin.
‘I’ve been thinking the same thing. It’s our responsibility to get you home. I’d never forgive myself if anything ever happened to you.’
‘You’re right, Naz. Them apes are mean.’
‘What are we going to do?’ said Carter
‘We stick together.’
‘Okay, let’s wake up Holly and get prepared. We don’t want to leave anything behind to show we were here,’ said Naz. ‘We’ll go now, it’s dark enough.’
* * *
The two Snow Bears and the two hounds crawled silently out from the mouth of the cave. Despite their size, the bears were surprisingly silent on their feet. Moments after leaving the cave, Carter dropped flat to the ground, a signal for the others to do likewise.
‘Apes ahead of us,’ he whispered to the others.
They lay still, trying not to breathe for fear of giving themselves away. Carter crept silently backwards to the others.
‘I can smell apes all around,’ he whispered. ‘I think that group we saw running up the valley are on the mountainside now. I can smell them everywhere. We’re surrounded.’
* * *
Lulu stood at the water’s edge, watching the boats being loaded. Kerri stood with her, both lost in their own thoughts. In the distance, she watched Casey arrive with Sonny after their overnight forage for moss. They both carried two full and obviously heavy sacks. Casey walked with a cheerful saunter, as was his usual way, while Sonny was staggering under the weight he had to carry.
‘My! What a vast amount of moss you managed to collect,’ Lulu said as an encouraging greeting.
‘Hi, Lu. Hi, Kerri,’ Casey called happily, leaning down to kiss Kerri on the forehead. ‘How’s my favourite girl?’
‘I’m fine,’ said Kerri happily. She looked at Sonny. ‘And how’s you?’ she said, but Sonny quickly looked away, as if not hearing.
Lulu noticed the lack of exchange of greetings. Was that anger I saw flash across his eyes? Lulu thought. She looked at Kerri, who’d suddenly lost her gaiety at the snub.
Lulu walked to Sonny and took his arm to guide him away from the others.
‘It’s beautiful sleeping out under the stars, especially on the Northern Plain. The stars seem to go on forever when you look at them from there. I think it’s because there’s no light from the meeting place or the river to compete with them,’ she said.
‘Yes, the stars were beautiful last night, Lulu,’ agreed Sonny.
‘And how did you sleep? No more bad dreams or hearing voices, I hope?’
‘No, no more voices. I slept soundly. It must have been the fresh air.’ He dropped his eyes, unable to look at her. He started fumbling with the string tying the sacks closed.
She turned to look at him. Touching his hand as a sign of friendship, she gave an encouraging smile, asking him to open up to her. ‘Is there anything I need to know?’
But he couldn’t hold her gaze. He looked off to river. ‘We’ve enough moss to last the winter,’ he said.
Why didn’t you tell me the truth? Lulu wondered. She felt distressed that her trust in him had finally been broken.
‘So much activity around the boats today, someone leaving?’ he asked, feigning innocence.
‘Why, yes,’ Lulu said, reflecting his innocence, ‘Ben and Avi are going downstream to harvest the fish for drying and smoking before winter. You should go along, it’ll help you. The most important thing you can do now is keep busy.’
‘No, I’m...’
‘Come on, I’ll introduce you to Ben,’ Lulu said, interrupting him.
‘But I’ve just got back, I...’
‘No excuses,’ she laughed, guiding him down to the boat ‘It’s important that you learn as much as you can about our lives if you’re going to support someone one day. Ben! Over here.’ Lulu waved to attract Ben’s attention.
‘Will you take Sonny on the boat today, show him the preparations for winter?’
‘Sure, Lu. It’ll be a pleasure to have you along,’ he smiled at Sonny.
‘That’s settled then. I can see you’re going to be really useful around here,’ she said with a smile, as Ben led him to the boat.
‘Oh, and Ben, here’s something to keep the chill out of your bones tonight.’ Lulu handed him a small paper-wrapped packet.
Ben nodded his understanding, and turned back to show Sonny what to load onto the boat.
* * *
Lulu walked back with Kerri and Casey beside her.
‘He was talking in his sleep, Lu,’ said Casey when they were out of hearing of Ben and Sonny. ‘Not just talking, but shouting, thrashing about, like he w
as being attacked almost.’
Lulu nodded in understanding. ‘What was that about? Between you and him,’ Lulu said to Kerri. ‘It looked like you are not his favourite anymore.’
‘We had words,’ Kerri said.
‘Words that didn’t go well?’
‘Not well at all.’
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ asked Lulu.
‘Nope,’ said Kerri.
They walked back to the house in silence.
* * *
They cast off and let the current draw them gently away from the riverbank. Sonny stood at the side, watching the island drift slowly past to their left. Memories of his first night alone on the island came flooding back to him. His anger at having such a stupid accident that would break his leg. He was confused over how the Clan had treated him, even after he’d been caught as part of the raiding party that came to steal the Clan’s children.
He remembered the wonder at waking up to find the potion of mosses that Doc Mossman had placed on his leg had completely mended the broken bone overnight. He could see himself again swimming for his life against the current, and his futile attempt to escape the Clan. It all seemed different, a lifetime away by now.
‘Hey, Sonny, no time for daydreaming. Come on, we’ve work to do,’ Ben called good-naturedly.
Sonny turned from the boat rail. With an effort, he took a deep breath and went forward to help haul on the rope to raise the sail.
I should’ve told Lulu about Him calling me again, he thought. Why did I lie?
He couldn’t understand the things he did and said anymore. He caught himself staring off into the distance at the riverbank drifting by, without really remembering anything he’d seen. He’d pull his mind back to find they’d drifted for leagues downstream without him seeing a thing that he’d been staring at. Nothing registered.
Ben decided it was best to leave him be, willing to accept him as a passenger for the moment. Maybe he’ll come around to joining us at meal time. We’re all in this together after all, Ben thought.
Lost Lands (CHANGING TIMES Book 2) Page 17
