“Dear Lord of All, I ask for a special blessing upon Keltin. He bears a heavy burden as he cares for the rest of us. Please comfort him. We need him. Give him the guidance that he needs to keep himself and the rest of us safe. Help those of us that he is protecting to be strong and obedient to whatever he counsels. Amen.”
Keltin opened his eyes and looked at Elaine. She gave him a gentle smile as she reached out and took his hand.
“We’re ready now,” she said.
“I hope so,” said Keltin as they stood and returned to the others hand-in-hand.
She gave his hand a final squeeze before leaving his side to join her family on the wagonette. Once everyone seemed prepared, Keltin stepped up to the blade-wire fence, peering through the sharpened metal to look for any sign of a sleevak. Seeing none, he reached into his pocket and withdrew the key that Wulp had loaned him. The padlock was large but simple, and popped open easily as Keltin turned the key. He pulled the gate open to allow Harper to drive the wagonette through. Waiting for the last of their company to pass by, Keltin then locked the gate again and hid the key at the base of the fence. Turning, he pulled his rifle off his shoulder, took his position at the front of the group, and proceeded to lead them into the forest.
It started to rain less than an hour’s journey through the forest. Raindrops fell gently though the trees as they reached to the sky with bare branches. Keltin was grateful as the rainwater soaked the carpet of leaves underfoot. The wet leaves made less noise than dry ones would have as they traveled, and while it would have been easiest to see the trail if it were completely clear, the well-worn ruts became more pronounced as the leaves grew heavy and wet, filling in the deep tracks of wagon wheels and churned earth from mules and horses.
Unfortunately, the constant pattering of the rain mixed with the groaning of the wagonette wheels and the creaking of the harnesses made it almost impossible to try listening for any sign of sleevaks nearby. Instead, Keltin scanned the forest for any sign of movement. His eyes darted from tree to tree, searching every bush and thicket for the telltale sign of the beasts. The task became harder as a gentle breeze began to pick up, stirring the bare branches and causing a hundred false alarms within Keltin’s mind. The gentle breeze had turned into a series of gusts by the time they had stopped for a mid-morning rest. Ross pulled Keltin aside to whisper softly to him as the others shared cold roast pork and travel bread.
“If this wind gets much worse, it may start bringing down some branches.”
“I know,” said Keltin. “We’re going to have to keep a careful watch on the trail for anything that comes down in our way.”
Ross nodded, his eyes scanning the surrounding trees.
“I haven’t seen any sign of the boils yet. Have you?”
“Not yet. Has Kuff caught a scent?”
“He’s acting like it, but I can’t get him to give me a direction.”
“Well, keep an eye out. Those things are definitely out there.”
The first attack came less than an hour later. They had just begun to press on when Wendi suddenly cried out.
“Over there!”
Keltin spun around, trying to find Wendi to see where she was pointing even as the rest of the group began shouting and pointing in various directions. It took a moment for Keltin to realize that something was coming from the forest on the other side of the wagonette. Cursing under his breath, he began racing around to get a clear view of what was going on. Through the corner of his eye, Keltin saw Harper jump to his feet in the back of the wagonette and fire into the forest with his long rifle. The newspaperman fired again and again, as all the while Keltin felt as if his pumping legs were pushing through molasses.
Finally rounding the wagonette, he pulled his rifle into his shoulder and examined the scene before him. It was a single sleevak, looking much the worse-for-wear. Blood poured from two fresh bullet holes in its flanks as it stumbled forward, one of its stubby legs dragging along with a nasty looking injury just above the knee joint. Its staggering, stumbling gait made an aimed shot easier than it otherwise would have been, and Keltin sent a Reltac Spinner through the back of the beast’s skull and onward into the forest behind it. The beast shuddered to a halt. Keltin hoisted himself up onto the bed of the wagonette to spin around and check for any other sign of movement, but the forest was still.
“Looks like it was just the one,” said Harper at his side.
“It seems that way, but keep an eye out. I’m going to take a closer look at this one.”
The sleevak lay twitching on the ground as Keltin approached it. He could clearly see that several of the beast’s injuries were days old, and had likely been inflicted by others of its kind. Ross came up to Keltin’s side and looked down at the carcass before them.
“Looks like a pariah that got driven from a group,” he muttered. “Could be a female that wanted to take over the matriarchy and was cast out.”
“Maybe. This could also be the old matriarch that was cast out. Some of these other scars are old.”
Ross shook his head and spat. “I wish we knew more about how these things act in the wild. It could have made this trip much easier.”
“You’re right, but it doesn’t do us any good now. We’ve got just two days left, and then we’ll be out of here. We just have to keep our heads until then.”
* * *
Dusk was beginning to fall when Keltin noticed Wendi stumble a third time as she walked along in front of the wagonette. Reluctantly, he called a halt and suggested that they make camp for the night. As he pulled his pack off his back and unlashed his tent and bedroll, he allowed himself a cautiously optimistic outlook on their journey thus far. The lone sleevak attack had been the only sighting for the day. There had been multiple false alarms, and Ross insisted that Kuff was acting like something was still close by. Still, while Keltin would certainly continue to be cautious, he’d learned long ago the dangers of becoming too tense on a hunt. Jumping at shadows was the realm of prey animals, and it was very important to remember and project to both his companions and the lurking beasts that he was not prey.
As they sat around the cooking fire waiting for their evening meal, Keltin took the opportunity to study the faces of his companions. Ross’ expression was calm but alert, while Kuff lay by his side in what would have seemed a composed, relaxed posture except for the rapid breathing that belied his heightened attention to their surroundings. Harper was somber, staring moodily into the fire, while Wendi showed clear signs of fatigue as she stirred the pot in the cooking pit by the fire. Keltin made a mental note to suggest she take another turn on the wagonette as either a driver or passenger once they headed out again in the morning.
Turning to the Destovs, he was impressed by their stoic strength despite their hardships. Mrs. Destov held Derrick close to her, while Col sat just far enough away from his mother to feel independent as he studied the leather laces of the sheath covering Keltin’s Lawrie hunting knife. Turning his gaze to Elaine, Keltin found that she was looking back at him. She gave him a slight smile, and he returned it. In her eyes he saw the same determination that had kept her alive for all those weeks in a farmhouse surrounded by beasts. Keltin looked into those eyes and realized that of all those gathered around him, it was she that he felt he could rely on the most, and while he never would have wished her to be in their current predicament, he was grateful that she was with him.
With that in mind, he addressed the group in a voice just loud enough to be heard as they began eating, outlining his plan for the night’s watches. He and Harper would take the first and most difficult shift, followed by Wendi and Kuff taking the relatively easiest turn in the middle. The third and final watch would be handled by Ross and Elaine, the two members of the company that Keltin had the most confidence in.
After supper, Keltin went to the wagonette and removed the reflectors from the two large lanterns, bathing the area in a pale, yellow light. Harper took his position by the campfire to keep it going w
hile Keltin climbed up into the driver’s seat to have the highest vantage point possible. Turning, he watched as Elaine and Col spread the woolen ground cover out under the wagonette that would protect the Destovs’ quilts from the cold, wet earth. She straightened and looked up to see Keltin watching her. She gave him a grim smile.
“It’s going to be hard getting any sleep tonight,” she said.
“Do your best. I’m counting on you for the third shift.”
“I’ll be ready. Goodnight Keltin.”
“Goodnight.”
She crouched down and crawled under the wagonette as Keltin turned his attention on the rest of the camp. As the last of the company bedded down for the night, he exchanged a brief nod with Harper before turning to begin his watch. He positioned himself so that he wasn’t facing the light from the fire or the two lanterns, letting his eyes adjust as much as possible to the gloomy night. The rain had stopped, and with the horses sleeping on their feet and the camp still, Keltin was able to train his ears for anything that might be lurking beyond the range of light from the lanterns and campfire.
Time passed slowly. He resisted the urge to check his pocket watch, knowing that less time had passed than it felt like. He stretched his shoulders and neck and rubbed his fingers together. It was a luxury of movement he wasn’t able to take advantage of during a stand hunt, where the most important thing for him to do was to stay as perfectly still as possible. Then again, there was usually far less personal danger involved with a stand hunt than keeping watch over a campsite. Sitting out in the open, bathed in light, he felt terribly exposed, and was keenly aware of how vulnerable his sleeping companions were around him.
Eventually, Keltin broke down and withdrew his watch from his pocket. Popping open the old, scuffed brass clasp, he checked the hour and found that his shift was already more than half over. It was a small relief, though he would likely not get any sleep after lying back down. He was debating letting Wendi and Kuff sleep a little longer when he heard a rustling behind him.
Everything seemed to slow down like a nightmare moving at half-speed. Keltin turned as if submerged in pitch, raising his rifle to his shoulder with seemingly agonizing slowness. His eyes were temporarily blinded by the light of the campfire and lanterns. Even his eyelids felt slow as they tried to blink away the sunspots that filled up the campsite. A sudden, harsh scream came from somewhere behind the flashing red and green lights dominating his vision. He forced himself to look slightly to the side so that he could make out what was happening in his peripheral vision.
A sleevak was on top of Harper. A second one moved through the camp, as sounds of slavering monsters seemed to come from all sides. Keltin spun his rifle in the direction of the sleevak that was running through the camp, not trusting his adjusting vision to fire at the beast attacking Harper. Keltin advanced the chamber to a Capshire Shatter Round and fired in the direction he thought the beast was in. He was rewarded with a squeal of animal pain and fired a Haurizer Smasher at the sound.
As his vision cleared, he was able to take in the scene better. There were four sleevaks. One was on Harper, another was thrashing in the dirt just a few feet from the wagonette, the victim of Keltin’s two lucky shots. The third and fourth were free and rushing towards the rest of the company. Everyone was awake and scrambling to defend themselves. Kuff was up like a bolt of lightning and tackled the third beast as it ran, knocking it over and rolling together in a frantic heap until they were both beyond the lanterns’ light. There was a gunshot from under Keltin’s feet and he knew that Elaine was firing upon the fourth beast.
He turned his attention to Harper. The sleevak was still on top of him, thrashing and biting with its long fangs. Keltin had three rounds left. A Reltac Spinner, a Capshire Shatter Round, and an Alpenion round filled with belferin acid. The Spinner might go through and hit Harper, and the shrapnel from the exploding Capshire could do the same. Keltin fired the acid round into the beast’s spine between its shoulder blades. He regretted having already used his Smasher round, as it would have likely severed the spinal cord and paralyzed the monster. Still, the sudden, intense burning of the acid caused the beast to freeze and clench its muscles, arching upward and giving Keltin a clear shot. He fired a Reltac Spinner through the monster’s exposed throat. The beast collapsed on top of Harper.
A quick survey of the camp showed that the immediate threat was over. Elaine and Wendi had put down the two other beasts in the camp, and Ross had gone off to support his hound. Keltin jumped down from the wagonette and raced to Harper. Grabbing the beast on top of him, Keltin flipped it over onto its back. The man it revealed underneath was in terrible shape with blood flowing from multiple wounds, including one long, angry cut across his left eye. Harper groaned and tried to sit up but Keltin dropped to his knees and pushed him back down.
“Stay still,” he said firmly. “You’re going to be all right.”
Keltin pulled aside the man’s clothes to see just how severe the wounds were. Several of the gashes were deep and weeping blood, but none of them seemed any deeper than the outer muscle layer.
Keltin looked up and saw several of the others approaching him. Col was among them.
“Get back!” Keltin yelled, pointing a hand covered in Harper’s blood at the boy. “Don’t come over here!”
Mrs. Destov immediately turned and steered her son back to the wagonette as Elaine rushed to Keltin’s side. She made a small choking sound at the sight of Harper’s injuries, but she drew in a shuddering breath and dropped to her knees beside him.
“What do you need me to do?” she asked quietly.
“Keep him calm. I’ve got bandages in my pack, though we may need more. We’ve got to get pressure on these wounds to keep him from bleeding out.”
“Should we stitch them closed?”
“No. Don’t sew him up too soon. You could lock in contamination and introduce infection that way.”
Keltin got up and rushed to his pack. Ross appeared at his side as he rummaged through his kit.
“I’ve got bindings in my gear as well,” he said. “Let me and Elaine take care of it. I’ve got experience with this sort of thing. With all this blood around, we need you back on watch.”
“All right,” said Keltin, passing the bandages over to the tamarrin hound trainer.
He took up his rifle and went to the wagonette resuming his place at the driver seat. Wendi came up to him hesitantly.
“What can I do, Mr. Moore?”
“Take up a watch position next to the others. We need to keep several lookouts in case the smell of blood draws any more of the boils to us.”
Wendi nodded and went to stand near enough to Ross and Elaine to watch over them without having to see Harper. Mrs. Destov tentatively spoke to Keltin from the back of the carriage.
“Do you think your friend will survive?” she asked quietly.
“I don’t know. First we have to stop the bleeding.”
“And after that?”
Keltin took a deep breath and shook his head. “We’ll have to strike camp and travel through the night. If there’s any chance of saving him at all, it won’t be here in the forest. We have to get him to civilization quickly.”
“Of course. I’ll help the boys get ready.”
Keltin spared the briefest of looks towards her as she efficiently began directing her two boys to help her strike the camp before turning back to his watch, praying fervently that they wouldn’t be too late for Harper.
Chapter 21 – Last Resort
Keltin rubbed his eyes and face with the palm of his hand. He inhaled the steam of his sweet broth and sipped it, willing the hot brew to imbue him with some desperately needed energy. It had been a long night of traveling after the attack. Hardly anyone had been able to sleep by riding in the back of the wagonette with Harper, and everyone was showing clear signs of exhaustion. At dawn, they’d paused long enough for a small cooking fire to be lit so that they could get something warm into them before pressi
ng on.
Draining his cup, Keltin stowed it in his pack and checked to see if the rest of the group was ready to go. Elaine had taken over the task of driving the wagonette, and while her eyes were red, she gave him a brave, tight-lipped smiled. Ross and Kuff took a position in front of the wagonette, while Keltin placed himself behind it as the rearguard. He told himself that if they could only get through the day that they would be out of the forest by nightfall. At least, that was what he fervently prayed for as they began moving down the trail.
The wind, which had fallen off somewhat in the late night, had picked up markedly with the coming of dawn. The trees creaked and groaned as they twisted and leaned away from the severe gusts rocking through their bare branches. Keltin turned up the collar of his coat against the chill breeze as it whipped around him. Despite his weariness, he jumped every time a branch was broken off and fell with a crash nearby. Several times, they were forced to stop and wait while Ross and Wendi pulled branches out of the trail as Keltin watched for sleevaks.
It was late in the morning when Keltin noticed Elaine turning in the driver seat and waving to him. He quickened his pace to catch up to her.
“What’s wrong?” he said. “Do you see something?”
“No, but I think we need to rest the horses.”
Keltin sighed, but nodded.
“All right. We’ll rest, but only for a short time. We need to keep moving as much as we can.”
Elaine nodded and reined in the horses as Keltin went back behind the wagonette. He found a log near the side of the trail and took a seat, watching for signs of bestial movement among the blustery forest. After a moment Elaine approached him and sat down next to him.
“How are you holding up?” he asked, his eyes on the forest.
“I’m all right. I’m not much of a driver, but they’re good horses. Still, I worry about controlling them if sleevaks attack again.”
“Just keep a tight hand on them. If they bolt, they could turn the carriage over.”
Dangerous Territory Page 22
