by Lumen Reese
“Are you alright?” he asked me.
I smiled, and shook my head. “I'm fine.”
The back of my neck prickled.
“We didn't remove the wolf,” he said. “We just shut it off... We'll stay in the village tonight, it's completely empty. And then tomorrow continue in the north and south, working east.”
I looked at the row of orange jackets moving on the plane of white. The sun was setting behind us. To my left the nearest man after Jericho was moving around the edge of the cliff. To my right, Corso was standing a stone's throw away, watching us. And I hadn't heard him approach.
“Should keep moving,” I said, and went his way.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The steep slope which led down into the Village rang with familiarity every step. Corso wordlessly fell into step beside me and followed my lead. Jericho caught up to us a minute later, when we were already walking down the main stretch. Clark was slower going down the slope, and I slowed up and waited for him. One of the other groups had already gotten in, figures in black were gathered thick around the Inn where smoke was rising from the chimney. Some others were searching building to building. I just headed for Henry's place, and when we got there we saw him kicking two men out who had already thought to settle there, one was still chewing something, the other held a bottle of beer.
“Vultures,” he said to me as I climbed the stairs.
“It's a nice house,” I said.
“Come on in.”
Kayla was already sitting in an armchair and poking at a new fire in the fireplace. She jumped up when she saw us. “Come and sit down, I'll get us some more chairs. I'm exhausted, I can't imagine how you guys who've been doing this for days must be feeling.”
Jericho followed her into the back room. Henry said he would see about some food. Corso gestured for me to take the vacated armchair, then dropped to one knee nearby with a little sigh and held his hands up to the fire.
Clark stood nearby.
Jericho and Kayla each brought out an armchair identical to the one I sat in. Jericho went immediately into the kitchen, Kayla walked around me to Clark and put both hands on his shoulders to steer him to sit in the further chair and after the silence carried for a moment, she said, “Please have a seat, Mr. Corso?”
Corso slowly obliged, and sank deeply into the seat between us.
Kayla perched on the edge of Henry's bed.
After a few more minutes, Hatley entered wordlessly and looked around, taking stock of us. She went into the kitchen, came back with a beer and sat on the arm of my chair. Stripping her gloves off with her teeth, she mumbled, “I'm frozen through,” and grabbed my hand with hers, which was cold. I smiled, and wrapped it in both of mine.
For being a log cabin the place was well insulated, and heated up quickly. We were stripping off our orange coats after half an hour. A good smell came from the kitchen around then. They each came out with two full bowls in hand. Kayla had done the mental math, it seemed, and rushed into the kitchen.
Henry offered me and Hatley each a bowl. “It's just soup, but it's good,” he said.
“Thank you.”
“Thanks.”
He pulled up a plain, wooden chair from the kitchen and sat on my other side with a bowl of his own. Jericho offered bowls to Clark, who accepted graciously, and then to Corso, who paused for a second and then nodded and accepted, saying a quiet, “Thank you.”
Jericho then brought a kitchen chair out and went and sat by Henry, and we ate in silence for a few minutes.
“This is good, Henry,” Kayla said.
“Thank you.”
“I'm sorry for what I said, back at Headquarters,” Corso said, all at once. He had drawn everyone's attention, but he was speaking to Henry. “I saw how fast you jumped on Stella in the second quarter, when the sniper took his shot at her.”
Henry's jaw was tense, I could see. He poked around his stew. “Yup. Lucky that you shot first.”
They weren't looking directly at each other, the room was tense.
Corso said, “Years of training.”
“I've got that training, too,” Henry said, “Funny enough I've managed to disarm and arrest people a few times over the years without killing anybody. And you killed every lead we could have had for days, so you could go on investigating on your own, and dragging Stella in on it, too.”
It had obviously been on his mind. I said, “Let's not do this-.”
“-Killing people shouldn't be that easy.”
“It has never been easy,” Corso murmured, and the room fell silent again.
After a minute, Henry asked me, “Do you want to stay here, tonight?”
I started to say yes, but then I glanced at Corso. “I'd better stick with him...”
“Alright, then, he can stay, too. I'd like to have you nearby.”
Corso shrugged his indifference, so I said, “Okay.”
“What about me?” Hatley said, “Can I stay?”
“Of course. You can all stay if you want, but there are empty beds all over town if you just go and look.”
“But this place is warm, and who wants to be alone?”
The night had fallen outside and lights were flicked on in the homes of all of Henry's neighbors around the lake. She had given a voice to how awful it sounded, to go back out into the cold.
Henry said, “I've only got the one bed, but there are chairs, and plenty of blankets...”
“Well, why are you telling me?” Hatley asked. “Us girls are taking over that bed of yours, you know that, don't you? You don't mind sleeping with me, right Stella? Kay?”
I shrugged. Kayla said, “Not at all. It's certainly big enough for three, isn't it, Henry?”
A few of us chuckled at that.
We finished our stew and sat in silence by the fire. Eventually Corso stood and started to collect people's bowls, and I rushed to my feet to join him, even though my soles were sore. He washed and I rinsed in Henry's sink. Henry came in and took the entire pot of stew out the back door, onto the porch, and set it in the snow. I heard him place a big stone on its lid. He went back through.
When we went back out, Kayla was asleep on the left side of Henry's bed, tucked under the covers. Jericho had dozed off, upright, in her vacated armchair. Hatley, when she saw us lingering in the doorway, stood and moved to the bed, climbing into the middle. She reached out and patted the empty side.
I sidled over. Corso followed and laid on the floor a few feet away, catching a pillow when I tossed one at him.
And then the whole place settled into silence and breathing. I shut my eyes. My body was heavy. I was sinking down, it felt like. But after a minute I twitched back into wakefulness, and my eyes were scanning the dark. Corso was there on the floor, and he had noticed my jolt.
“-'S okay, Honey,” he murmured, and just the sound of it did make me feel more at ease.
I was surrounded by people whom I trusted at least a little; and several whom I trusted a lot. My eyes closed again.
Then a cloudy idea of the wolf, the cold, and danger, formed something complete and I jerked upright in Henry's bed.
“It's a guard dog.”
Corso sat up and Hatley did, too. Clark and Henry peered around the back and side of their chairs, and the latter reached over and gave Jericho a shake.
“The wolf didn't attack because someone wanted me dead, think about it. I hadn't even done anything yet. It would have attacked anyone that tried to go into the cave, while the girls were inside. It's a guard dog.”
Jericho said, “We've had men in there since that incident. You were inside, yourself, and you saw nothing, that cave is too small.”
“One of the victims was taken with a shipment of drilling equipment, they could have just dug deeper into the mountain. And it's like the aqueducts, the entrance was hidden. You wouldn't find it unless you knew to look for it.” I was throwing off the covers and finding my shoes in the dark. “We have to go, now.”
Corso
was on his feet, Henry too, and Hatley was scooting to the end of the bed, rubbing her eyes.
Jericho still sat, his brow was furrowed, his lips pursed, and then he stood. “Alright. Alright. We need Mr. Nathanson, and some of his men.”
“And us, too,” I said. “We're here, let us help.”
He looked over all of us. Kayla was sleepy and confused.
“You can come along,” he said, finally. “Let the professionals take the lead. Wait here, I'll go and get Mr. Nathanson and come back, and together we'll figure out the best tactic for approaching the cave.”
He was tugging on his orange coat even as he went out the door, letting in a gust of cold air. Light bloomed behind me, Henry turned on a lamp. He was rubbing his face.
“This could be it,” he said.
The truth is, I was scared for it to be over.
*
The lights were up, everyone had sat back down besides Henry, Corso and I. I moved to the back of the room, then to the front again.
“What the hell is taking him so long?” I muttered.
“Be patient,” Henry said.
Corso was looking out the window. “Still dark out on the street.”
I let out a tense breath. “He wouldn't leave us, would he?”
Henry shook his head. “No, I don't think so.”
“Let's go check,” I said.
“Just wait.”
Corso was putting his coat on. I looked at Henry, then went for mine, too. “Something is wrong.”
“She's right,” Hatley said. “Let's go.”
Everyone put on their coats, and we hurried out into the cold. Down Henry's stairs, into the snow, up the sloping main road through the village. Lanterns lit the snow in golden circles, but in the windows of the buildings around us, there was no light. Corso took the lead when we reached the inn's door. He had no gun, and so I wondered what he planned to do if there was someone hostile inside, but I inched in after him nonetheless.
The room was dark. There were a dozen figures sleeping in the main room, the fire had burned down to embers.
Corso waved for me to go back and shut the door silently.
The others were waiting on the street, looking anxious. Kayla was twisting her hands.
“He hasn't been here,” Corso said.
“He could be in danger,” Hatley said. Henry's eyes pinched shut a moment.
“What should we do?” Clark asked. The others looked at Kayla, but when she only looked at Corso and I, so did they.
Corso was looking at buildings around us and down the road. “We should get off the street. Let's wake these guys up, tell them we're taking their guns, and we're going to the cave.”
We woke the place up, and took handguns off of Jericho's people. Kayla asked if we were sure we wouldn't take the others with us. Corso said that we were. She understood after a moment, that he was still unsure, and after Jericho disappeared so was I. Had any one of his men from anywhere else in the town intercepted him? Or had he gone on his own? Suddenly everything around me was suspect.
Kayla showed us her radio and told us to call if we needed reinforcements, or if we found anything. She would go with us no further, and nobody questioned it. I watched her as the others started to head for the door. I was struck with the strange, expansive idea that while she was not the gun-type, she had her own kind of strength, and that all women were that way. It felt suddenly like it was an honor to have been given the chance to carry some of that with me, wherever I went, however it manifested.
No matter what kind of strength she had, I wouldn't leave her alone. I tapped Clark on the shoulder as he was about to head out the door. He had a gun in hand, red-faced and afraid, but was ready to go.
“Please stay with her.”
He nodded. “Be careful...”
“You too.” I gave him a quick hug, so grateful that there were men like him, and then hurried out into the cold after the others.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
We had no light except the moon, which was blocked by the thick boughs of pine trees until we reached the area around the lake where they thinned out. It had seemed a thousand miles to get there, thinking every step of the way that we might be too late. We all knew without saying it that the train was waiting a few miles further. I only hoped that if they had already left the cave, it would be slow going with all their captives.
At the cave, I stepped right up to the ledge where the others were more careful. Corso followed and took my hand, going down on his knees, and murmuring, “Wait for me.”
Then I inched back out over the cliff's side, and once my knees had gone, I was half-bent over the edge and the snowy ground was hard and digging into my stomach. I caught a big breath and then dropped off my elbows, and slung down the length of both of our arms. As soon as I heard Corso's hiss of pain I reflexively let go, not realizing I had done it until my feet jammed into the ground. The rocks were cold and flat and I pressed my face into them.
Corso got a grip on the rocks at the edge, and found a perch with one of his feet as he eased out. He slipped, or his leg gave out, and then he was dangling, and then he dropped. When he landed on shaky legs, bowed into the cliff's face and wobbled there. I steadied him.
Henry was lowering Hatley down. I wasn't waiting, just moved sideways until the cave was expanding deep and dark around the corner. My throat was a knot. Corso slid his gun from the small of his back, bringing it in front with both hands. He caught his breath a moment.
I put out a hand to stop him. There was a chance the traffickers and victims could still be inside the cave. Gunshots would attract them. He seemed to understand and tucked the gun away again as Hatley landed softly on the other side of him.
I pe e ked around the corner but I couldn't see much in the dark. The moon was shining into the cave only a few feet, glinting off of black ice and rock. I felt my feet scraping on the snow and before I knew what I was doing I was halfway to the other side. There were the clicks of the thing's feet on the cave floor, twice, and I dropped, going boneless all at once and crashing to the ground. The thing, more massive than I remembered, whipped its great, sharp head around and half its body followed but its feet skidded, the whole thing kept going while its toenails clicked, scrabbling for some purchase. It was going, but then I felt a sharp tug and the pain sinking into my calf I didn't notice until a moment later, when my back scratched on the rock as I slid over the edge and was falling.
*
Painful pressure on my chest. The distan t feeling of my lungs screaming. Then all at once I was awake and starved for my next breath and gasping and and crying out because part of me was sure that I was still falling. But the ground was there when I whipped around and coughed up a splash of water onto the muddy ground. I had knocked Corso aside to retch up the lake's water, and he put a hand on my back. He, too, was gasping and dripping.
“Stella!?” Henry looked over his shoulder and almost lost his grip on the cliff's side as he climbed down, sounding frantic. He saw me, must be, because he looked ahead and focused on finding his footing.
Corso reached out once I had sat up. “You alright, Honey?” His hands on my face were gentle and cold, making me realize my own fingers were aching. I flexed them, mesmerized.
“Okay.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” He let go of my face and wrapped my hands in his, rubbing them.
“It worked.”
“It did,” he admitted. “But if Henry's coming, that must mean the cave is empty. You should've just let me shoot it.”
“Damn. Sorry.”
“-'S okay.”
“Thanks.”
“-'S okay,” he said, with a little grin.
I was feeling a bit strange, or the world was, the way it does after something frantic happens. “You always find excuses to kiss me.”
“You always enjoy it,” he accused, and stole a look at Henry, who was nearing the bottom of the cliff's face. Then he reached out with one hand and cupped t
he side of my face again, leaned in and pressed his cold lips to mine for a quick kiss before climbing to his feet and offering his hand. “Come on.”
He pulled me up. I gasped. My leg was stabbing with needles, but I could stand. When I bent down and looked at the spot, there were teeth marks which were bleeding but my calf was all still there. Henry ran up and was reaching out for me before he had even reached me.
“Are you alright?”
“I'm fine. We have to get to the train.”
“Take my coat,” he said, already stripping it off.
“Okay, but let's go.”
*
The way up out of the valley was much longer than the way down. It was a steep trail and the rocks were icy. It had begun to snow and my hair froze solid. Even with Henry's huge coat on I felt chilled to the bone, and so I knew Corso had to be even colder. Hatley had managed to climb back up to the top on her own, and waited for us there. As soon as she saw us, she looked between Corso and I.
“Take my coat. Give that one to him-.”
“-I'm fine, let's go,” Corso said, but she snapped at him.
“Take the coat, you idiot! I mean it. You're both going to catch hypothermia by the time we're out of this.” She had a wool hat on, too, and gave it to me, letting her curls fall out.
We hurried on, half an hour, and I watched as Henry picked out small details in the forest that I had missed. A broken branch, places where the fresh snow had not yet covered up trudged trails in the ground, and every few minutes we would see a scratch in the bark of a tree along the way. We crossed the bridge over the ravine.
The snow fell thicker. I was cold from head to toe, my face was numb. Finally after what felt like hours, we began to approach a humming sound that was faint in the distance. It was the train. We moved faster, probably looking ridiculous loping through the snow at a half-jog, exhausted and injured in over our heads. Lights became visible over the last hill, through the trees, where the treeline ended abruptly. There was the two-walled station, and beyond it the train was lit up in every car. We could see female heads lining the seats in the three passenger cars, and the figures of hulking men patrolling up and down them with automatic weapons slung off of their shoulders. There were two in each car.
