by C J Singh
***
We walked in silence for about an hour. She was relentless, didn’t care that I was huffing and groaning behind her. Even standing only to my shoulders, she was able to cover more ground than me. Her long, auburn braid swayed with her movements. She was so focused, she never looked back to check on me. She walked with confidence between trees, bushes, and over small creeks.
The only sound that I had heard for the past hour was our footsteps on the leaves and twigs, so it was hard to hear her when she started to mumble. I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but she wasn’t happy.
“Want to talk about it?” I asked her after a few minutes of her grumbling.
She quieted and replied after a moment of silence, “No.”
“Can I ask a favor?”
“What?”
“Can we take a break?” I paused. “I’m just... well, exhausted.” I looked at her when she turned to look at me, her face flushed from her steady pace.
“Can you last a few more minutes? We’re almost there.” She sounded understanding, but her tight jaw said otherwise.
“Well, since you asked so nicely, yeah. I can last a few more minutes, but when we’re there, I can’t promise I’ll be able to get up once I’m down.”
She chuckled as her shoulders relaxed a little and she slowed her pace. When we rounded a large group of birch trees, the ground dropped down a small hill. We moved down the dip, then around a few more trees to the opening of the cave.
“I’m impressed.”
“Impressed by what?”
“Impressed that you found the cave so easily.”
“Is it because I’m a girl? Because, apparently, people don’t think girls can handle themselves. Just ask my family.”
“Ummm, no. I’m impressed because I wouldn’t have been able to find it. Probably at all.”
“Right,” she said, her cheeks turning rosy, and she looked away. “Well, you go in and see if your friends are here. Get comfortable. I will see if I can find any food.” She walked back out into the trees.
I turned toward the cave opening and walked inside. It was dark and rocky. “Hey! Guys! It’s me.” My voice echoed, but I was met with nothing but silence.
I inched deeper into the cave, searching for any sign of my friends. There was nothing, only leaves and twigs strewn about. It didn’t look as neat as I remembered when we found it.
Steps entered the cave and stopped behind me. I turned to see Eden surveying the cave, but her face had gone pale.
“Back so soon, Spunky?”
“Don’t call me that,” she snapped and walked past me to investigate the leaves and twigs. “I smell something. Where are your friends?”
“Uh, I don’t know. They don’t seem to be here. Maybe they left?”
She knelt down, picking up a twig to look at it. Bringing it to her nose, she smelled it. “They didn’t leave. They were taken.”
“Taken? Taken by whom?” I walked over and picked up the same twig she just held. “How do you know?” I asked, slowly bringing it to my nose like she did. I smelled nothing but dirt.
She was now feeling the sides of the cave, nose close. Was she sniffing the rock walls? “Here.” She stopped to show me something. “Blood.”
I inched as close to the wall as I could. There was a speck of something red, but I couldn’t tell if it was blood. “Are you sure that’s blood?” I tried to sniff it like she had, but again, I smelled nothing. It only made my nose itch... Should I know how to spot out bodily fluids with a sniff of my nose or was this a special talent she had?
“You can’t smell it?”
“No... Can you?”
“Yeah. Of course.” She turned and walked toward the cave entrance.
I stepped back. I could have questioned her more, but we had more important things to deal with. “So... can your nose tell us who took them? Was it your brother and makeshift father?”
She knelt down to inspect the ground at the entrance. “I don’t know. There was more than one.” She stood with her eyes fixed to the ground, and she moved out of the cave. Crouching again, she seemed to be calculating in her head, tipping it back and forth in thought. She looked up. “They went north. If it was my family, I don’t know why they would have taken them north.”
“Maybe to kill them? Take them further away from your cabin to do the deed?”
She closed her eyes and stood. “Maybe.” Opening her eyes, she scanned the woods around us.
“What?”
She turned to look at me. “It’s just... if they didn’t take them, I don’t know who else would have.”
I stepped outside a little, looking into the woods where she had. “Is your family the only ones out here?”
“No, but I don’t know what use they would have for taking two strangers.” She continued to focus on the area surrounding the cave entrance. Her movements were swift and elegant, barely making any sound on the messy ground.
“Probably the same use your family has?” The thought raised panic. I wouldn’t be safe anywhere out of the city... or in it, for that matter.
She turned to look at me, but stayed silent, then went back to inspecting our surrounding area.
“All right.” I take a hobbling step toward her. “Then what?”
“Well, we need to track them and hope that whoever has them hasn’t killed them... yet.” She gave me an apologetic smile before looking back to the ground.
“Right. Can I have one request?”
She nodded.
“Can we not leave right now? We just got here, and I really need to rest.”
“Yeah. We might as well spend the night here. It’ll be too dark to track soon anyway.”
I let out a breath of relief. “Thank you.” Moving back into the cave, I found a nice spot with the best back support a cave could offer, and I sat. “I’m going to rest my eyes a bit.” If Eden responded, I wasn’t awake to hear it.
Chapter 7
Tristan
My legs were burned from jogging all the way back to the cabin. I had to pick my feet up higher to miss downed trees and push through bushes. The yard was in shambles with chicken feathers, twigs, and leaves scattering the ground. Ellie was sitting up against the goat fence with Ash panting at her feet.
“Hey! What happened?” I asked, searching the rest of the yard. “Where’s Eden?”
Ellie’s chest heaved as a laugh escaped her. “No idea. If you find her, let her know that she needs to get better control of her wolf or he’ll become dinner.”
My heart sped up. “What do you mean you have no idea? When was the last time you saw her?” I scanned the area for any sign of her. All I saw was an empty yard and garden.
“This morning. She was tending to the prisoner.”
I took off running toward the boathouse. “Eden!” If that bastard hurt her, his bruised face would be the least of his worries. The door slammed against the wall when I threw it open. Small pieces of wood flew about the small room. “Eden!” My bellow was met with silence and the sawed-off ropes that once held the prisoner.
They were gone.
Ash trotted in behind me and surveyed the area. There was no sign of a struggle and Ash didn’t seem upset. If I know one thing, Ash wouldn’t let anything happen to Eden, so his lack of concern was oddly comforting.
Ellie came in behind me and sucked in her breath. “Where is the prisoner?” She put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, no.”
“You’re telling me that you didn’t notice him take Eden?”
“Tristan, we don’t know if he took her or if she took him.”
I looked up from inspecting the ground. “She took him? Why on earth would she do that?” Eden was smarter than that and Ellie knew that, so for her to suggest that was outrageous.
“Well, yeah. She made it clear she wasn
’t happy about killing anyone. Maybe she wanted to... save him?”
I stood, towering over Ellie’s small frame. “Old Bob told Tate and me something yesterday. I was hoping I would be able to protect her, but...” I couldn’t finish my sentence. I didn’t want to think about what could have happened and how I failed her.
“Eden is strong, Tristan. She can handle more than you think. When Old Bob and Tate return, we will go after her.” She gave my arm a reassuring squeeze.
“I’m leaving now. You catch up with me when they arrive.” I headed toward the door but was intercepted by Ash. His gold eyes glowed in the evening light that shined through the door. “Why is Ash here? He never leaves Eden’s side.”
Ellie sighed. “He was too busy working up all the animals.”
“And you don’t think that is a little odd?”
“He is an animal. I don’t think of him like a human who would think to protect Eden.”
I could see her point, but it didn’t feel right. I narrowed my eyes at Ash and squatted to his level. “Why didn’t you protect her?” I scratched his ears gently, then put my mouth to them and whispered, “If anything happens to her, I will kill you.”
Ash pulled his head back, baring his teeth rumbling a low, quiet growl.
“All right, all right. We will find her.” Ellie tugged my shoulder.
Too angry to respond, I stormed out of the boathouse. I needed to prepare, so we could leave when the others returned.
***
Tate and Old Bob returned just after dark with no prisoners.
“We lost the tracks,” Tate said between gulps of water. He and Old Bob rested at the table. “Where’s Eden?” He glanced around the cabin.
“Well...” Ellie started.
“She’s gone and so is the prisoner,” I said as I shoved some fruit into my sack.
“What?” Tate knocked over the chair as he stood. Old Bob looked to Ellie with wide eyes before turning to me.
“You heard me. You might want to start packing. We leave at first light.”
“Do we know if he took her? Were there any signs of what happened?” Old Bob’s face was ashen as he stood walking to the kitchen. He leaned on the counter, looking outside through the window over the sink.
I shook my head. “Only the cut ropes. Nothing else.”
“Wait. The ropes were cut? How would he do that?” Tate paced the length of the cabin, focused on what could have happened to his sister.
“Maybe...” Old Bob hesitated as he turned back to us, leaning a hip on the counter. “Maybe while we were out tracking the others, they made it here first. They could have freed him and taken Eden.”
I hadn’t thought of that, but I clutched my pack tighter at the idea. My eyes fell to Ash sleeping on his favorite rug. “But, Ash.” His ears perked at the sound of his name and he lifted his head. “He wouldn’t have let her be taken.”
“He’s an animal,” Ellie replied. “They are unpredictable.”
“No, he’s right,” Tate said, walking to Ash. He crouched to scratch his ears. “Maybe he didn’t know?”
I didn’t have a response to that, but it wasn’t wrong. I just didn’t like it. Didn’t like it at all. I pushed both hands through my hair and tugged. The feeling always helped to center me.
“We leave at first light. Get ready and get some sleep.” Old Bob’s voice returned to his typical fatherly tone.
Everyone nodded.
I went back to packing, trying not to think about what Eden was going through.
Chapter 8
Eden
The wind on my feathers felt like silk washing over me. I soared down through the crisp, cool air and let my claws glide through the icy water. Little specks of water splashed onto my beak. As I flew into the trees, something small and furry caught my eye. I dove down to snag the rodent, but before my claws could clasp the plump body, ropes surrounded me. Squawking in panic, I tried to fly back into the sky, but the ropes tightened their hold on me.
“Eden!”
I shot up, bumping my forehead onto Jace’s. “Ow!” we both said in unison, rubbing our heads. He sat back down, letting out a whiff of air. His one eye was still swollen shut, and he nursed his right arm.
“What were you doing?” I scooted up and away from him.
Jace’s wild hair blended in with the dark cave. “You were thrashing about, screaming. I wanted to wake you from your nightmare.” He sat back against the cave wall opposite me, his sapphire eyes glinting in the moonlight.
Embers from our fire still glowed, giving off some light, but the cool, dewy air breezed in through the cave opening. A shiver went through me, and I pulled my knees into my chest. Nightmares have plagued me since I was a young child, but it has been a long time since I have had one. I thought it was a phase done and over with. I felt my cheeks warm at my vulnerability being exposed.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Not a big deal.” He paused. “Want to talk about it?”
I looked away. “Talk about what?”
“Your dream.” He grunted in pain as he worked to sit more upright against the wall.
“Why would you want to hear about my dream?”
“I was once told that if you tell your nightmares... I mean dreams, they won’t come true.”
“Who told you that load of crock?”
His smile faded. “My father.”
Well, great. Now I hurt his feelings. “I’m sorry. That was rude.”
We stared at each other a moment, then he chuckled. “It’s all right. He’s an ass.”
“Smartass! I really felt bad!” Picking up a twig, I threw it across the darkness at him.
He blocked it with his good arm and laughed. “Hey! You don’t have to get violent, Spunky!”
“How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”
His laugh grew louder. “Ow, ow, don’t make me laugh. It hurts.” He took a few slow breaths, getting himself composed. We sat in awkward silence, watching each other before he looked toward the opening of the cave. “Well, I’m going to go see if I can find something to eat.”
“What? Seriously? It’s the middle of the night.”
He squeezed his good eye shut, clawed his fingers into the wall, and strained to pull himself up. Grunting, he fell back to the floor; his hand instinctively went to his bruised stomach. I raised my eyebrows at his determination. Ignoring me, he took three big breaths then heaved himself up. He leaned his forehead on the stone wall and coughed out the pain.
“Well... yeah... I’m hungry.”
He turned, leaning his back on the wall, giving me a wince, which I’m pretty sure was his attempt at a smile. “Any requests?”
“Requests?”
“Yeah, like you tell me what you want, and I get it. A request.”
His marred face looked so confident that I almost felt bad for him. Almost. He had no idea how to survive in the woods. He was going hunting in the middle of the night. Well, probably not hunting since I’m positive that was beyond his scope of abilities, even when he was in full form.
“Ummm, no, but if it would make your life easier, I left some food right there for you.” I motioned toward a big leaf I placed next to him. “You can just eat that instead of going out and getting yourself killed.”
He looked down at the leaf and stared a moment. “And what is that exactly?”
“Wild berries and bark.”
He made a noise between a cough and clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, did you say bark?”
“Have you never had bark before?”
“Ummm, no, I can’t say that I have.”
I motioned back to the ground. “Just sit back down and eat. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Well, thank you very much for the offer. Don’t
take this the wrong way, but I can’t eat that.”
“Well, pretty boy, I’m sorry that it’s not good enough for you, but good luck trying to find anything else around here right now.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out the hair tie and flicked it at him. “Here, use this. Your hair is a mess.”
I moved further into the cave and sat back down, hugging my arms close to fight off the damp cold. I missed Ash’s warmth.
I glanced back at Jace, who hissed in breaths as he slid back to the ground. He picked up the bark, trying to examine it in the dark, then took a nibble. His body moved in an exaggerated gag, and I snorted. “Night.”
His quiet mumbles and gags lulled me to sleep.
***
Jace’s cough echoed behind me as we walked deeper into the woods. It was deep and persistent. My eyes darted about on watch for any predators that may come lurking for the sick human. The last thing I needed was to defend us from a wild animal.
I looked back at him. He had pulled his hair back into a messy bun which showed his strong jaw and high cheekbones glossed with bruised, clammy skin. He staggered between trees with his eyes on the ground. His feet dragged heavily on the ground, picking up leaves and twigs. If he wasn’t careful, he was going to snag them on a tree root and fall. He paused at a tree to hunch over coughing. The deep rattling in his chest startled a nest of birds, and they flew through the trees tweeting in protest.
I dug the water bottle out of my sack. “Here, drink this. It may help.”
He raised a hand in thanks as he took the bottle, unable to speak. After taking a long drink, he looked at me. “Can we rest?” His voice cracked with exhaustion.
“We need to keep going. I’m sorry, but we have to find your friends before anything happens.”
He nodded and pushed off the tree, dropping the water bottle back in my sack. “As you wish.” He was unsteady, but I brushed that off to his injuries.
“No smart comments?” I asked, oddly missing his boyish humor.
“I’m sorry.” He coughed. “I just don’t feel... like myself.” He took a few swaying steps toward me then collapsed. Lunging forward, I caught him before he hit the ground. His skin was hot to the touch, and he smelled of sweat and infection.
