Few of the young warriors went to their beds that night. Instead, most of them fell asleep in a pile in the lounge, waiting for news. Riley awoke with Gabe dozing on one of her shoulders and Celia on the other. She disentangled herself from the sleepers and stepped outside onto the porch, pacing and stretching to remove the stiffness. The sky above camp was thickly clouded.
So were Riley’s feelings.
It’s been three days and I still haven’t made contact with Jack and Will. What if they were part of Pash’s abduction and I could have prevented it? What if I could prevent another attack if I speak to them now, but the Colonel still won’t let me? What if Jack and Will did step in, now that they know I’m a Greenwood, and the Poxinosa attacked THEM? Oh, this SUCKS! I need to know that they’re… wait… what is that?
A ball of red light was creeping down the lane toward the Lodge.
Riley made herself invisible and walked across the porch, toward the creeping light. As she got closer, she saw that it wasn’t a ball of light. It was a turkey.
A glowing red turkey.
PASH!
She gasped and made herself visible again. The big bird stopped walking and stared up at her innocently.
IS it Pash? Riley tried to see the bird’s thoughts, but she couldn’t.
She frowned. This isn’t Pash. It’s an animal. But holy animals aren’t allowed inside the shield. So where did the turkey come from?
Riley knelt and held out her hand, and the turkey came toward her. It moved slowly at first, and then began waddling enthusiastically, trustingly, as if it knew her.
It IS Pash! She’s back! But why can’t I…
Riley reached toward the creature. It tried to rub its head against her outstretched fingers, but the bird passed through her hand.
Riley trembled. Pash can’t make herself illusory like Celia can. She doesn’t have that power. This can’t be Pash, unless… unless this is what happens after she’s…
She couldn’t form the words.
Riley heard the Lodge door close behind her, light footsteps, silence, and then a terrible scream.
The bird turned and ran away, back down the lane, flapping as it went. She turned in time to see Violet scream a second time, and then a third.
Alley and Perry came sailing out of the Lodge. They ran directly to where Violet was standing. “What?”
Riley pointed down the lane at the fleeing red turkey. Alley and Perry took one look at the bird and immediately burst into tears.
“Pash is dead… Pash is dead!” Alley gasped, backing closer to Violet and putting her arms around her. “Her bird… it’s here without her… they killed her!”
Perry took a deep breath and bellowed as loud as he could.
From the Lodge and the dining hall, there was commotion. Then more screams, more tears as more people caught sight of the confused bird.
Through the trees, Riley saw Jane standing with some of the elder women at the edge of the dining hall. She left her roommates behind and walked in that direction, still keeping an eye on the turkey. Those men killed Pash. The Colonel said they would, but seeing her like this…
“Riley!” Jane ran forward and embraced her. “Ned told me what you did last night.” She put her hands on either side of Riley’s face. “Oh, you were so brave!”
Riley lowered her head to Jane’s shoulder and closed her eyes.
The loud cry of a hawk echoed through Greenwood valley. Riley glanced up and saw Reed soaring over the field.
The turkey let out a high-pitched screech and scurried toward the trees, away from the huge predatory bird that it didn’t recognize. Several elders who hadn’t seen Reed’s animal before also pointed and exclaimed as he flew over them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Riley saw a blur of bright orange as Gabe raced to her side.
“Stop running off,” he scolded before he pulled her out of Jane’s arms and into his own. His face, too, was streaked with tears. “How can I keep you safe if I can’t even find you?”
Riley hugged him back. She looked again at the skittish red bird that was hovering at the edge of the trees. Violet had morphed into her emerald green deer and was slowly approaching it. “So that bird is what’s left of Pash?” Riley asked.
“No.” Jane said. “Pash, the woman, is gone. The turkey is the animal that lived within her and shared her mind and body with her.”
“But it recognized me. She must be in there somewhere.”
“No. The turkey was part of Pash, not the other way around. It has its own copy of Pash’s memories. That’s how it recognized you... a turkey is capable of recognizing a friend. But it can’t use those memories the same way that Pash did because it’s an animal. Does that make sense?”
Riley nodded. “How did it know to come back here?”
“Animal spirits are used to having a human leader. In life, that’s the man or woman they live with. In death, when an animal spirit can no longer find its human host, it usually seeks its chief.”
“So Pash came back to Greenwood because this is where Chief James is?”
“Yes.”
“And now she — the turkey, I mean — will become part of the shield?”
Jane nodded. “There will be a ceremony tonight at sunset, and she will join the shield. And because Pash was a warrior when she died, her warrior power — that incredible memory of hers — will also become part of the shield. It will gain the power of permanent memory.”
Reed circled the field again before he landed and walked toward his sister. When he and Riley suddenly and simultaneously became Veiled, some of the elders gasped.
Reed looked upset. “I need to go.”
“Now?”
“Yes. I was hoping to stay until you called Jack, but I’ve been told to come back immediately. I’ll call Xander tonight and fill you guys in.” He hesitated, then hugged her. “Be safe, Riles.”
“You too!”
Reed clapped Gabe on the shoulder. “Take care of my sister.”
“I will.”
Reed ran away from Riley until he was out of her shell, then changed back into a hawk and took off into the sky, changing his color so that he was the same shade of overcast gray as the cloud cover above them.
“Can he make himself invisible too?” one of the older ladies asked another, confused.
“I wish he could stay,” Riley whispered to Gabe.
“Gabriel!” Elder Richard Fish called out from the dining hall. “Alicia’s back. It’s your turn to patrol.”
Gabe kissed Riley. “Please stay inside, and stay with someone else, until I get back.”
“I will. You be safe!”
Alley came out of the dining hall, out of breath and in tears. She motioned to Riley. The two of them started walking back toward the Lodge.
“How was it?” Riley asked.
Alley shook her head. “No one’s there,” she panted. “No intruders, no fresh scent trails, nothing. All of them left when they took her. Gabe will be back very soon.”
Riley wrapped her arms tight around herself as she stepped on the porch. “I need to talk to Jack.”
“You still haven’t called?”
“No. I’m supposed to call soon. I know we’re busy,” Riley said as she opened the door to the Lodge and held it for Alley, “but the longer I go without talking to him, the more worried I—”
“Out!” Violet screamed as Riley stepped inside, pointing at her. “Get out of here!”
—She’s afraid of you—
Alley moved between Violet and Riley. “Calm down, Vi. She lives here now. She’s staying.”
“I can’t live with her! The people I love are dying, not because of anything they did, but because killers are looking for her!” Violet squeaked, tears streaming down her cheeks. “And you want to keep her here?” She shook her head. “I want her gone… out of this camp and out of our lives. Send her back to Terrapin where she belongs!”
“She’s one of us now,” Alley argued. “This is where she belongs.”
“The hell it is.” Violet’s eyes narrowed as she turned to face Riley. “How about I tell you what no one else here has the guts to say?” she hissed at Riley. “How about I tell you what all those symbols on your brother’s arm really mean… maybe then you’ll see why I think you need to go.”
Alley looked horrified. “Violet, no! Xander said not to—”
“Yes!” Violet went into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, then she sat down at the table and began drawing. “The square,” Violet drew a small box, “means they killed, or helped to kill, a warrior. An empty square means an earth warrior, and a red square means a fire warrior.”
Tears filled Riley’s eyes. They each have an empty square, and Jack has two red ones!
“The black spade,” Violet wiped her eyes and drew one of those, “means they killed or helped to kill someone Veiled. If it’s right side up, that means it was a clean kill. Upside down means the victim was tortured first.”
Will has one of those… Jack has EIGHT… most of them upside down… NO! The tears spilled down Riley’s cheeks and she gasped.
“Black clubs right side up means they were good little foot soldiers and completed a quest. Black clubs upside down means the quest failed, and it’s usually accompanied by a broken bone or a missing finger or toe as a punishment.”
“Stop talking, Vi!” Alley ordered her. “Don’t say any more!”
“Alley, I need to hear this,” Riley sobbed.
“Yes she does!” Violet stabbed the paper with her pen as she continued through her own tears. “The hearts and diamonds are for all the different women those sick bastards slept with. Hearts are Veiled women, and diamonds are Miyala. Most of the time those are black, but red ink is used for the virgins. And whenever the hearts are upside down, that means the Veiled women were forced—”
Riley came slowly to her feet, and then doubled over in pain. Jack has six… Will has NINETEEN… both colors… many upside down… “That’s impossible!”
“And that’s what they did to Pash and Clarinda,” Violet said, throwing the pen across the room. She walked around the ottoman to where Riley was standing and looked up at her. “First they torture them to make them talk. After that, each man in the Cut takes a turn.”
Riley backed into the fireplace.
“Shut up, Vi!” Alley screamed. “Stop it!”
There were footsteps outside.
“And when they’ve finished raping her,” Violet moved closer to Riley so that she was in her face, “each man cuts off a piece of her body to keep as a souvenir. A finger. A toe. An eye—”
Riley’s stomach lurched. She ran around Violet toward the bathroom, barely making it to the toilet before she threw up. She heaved until there was nothing left, grateful that it drowned out the shouts that were coming from the lounge.
Once her oversensitive stomach was empty, Riley wiped her eyes and reached for her toothbrush. She turned the water up as high as it would go to drown out the noise, and brushed her teeth twice, as hard as she could. Then she oiled and rinsed her ring repeatedly, rubbing her hands raw under the burning water. Several minutes later, she finally turned off the water.
People were still yelling.
“How could you?” Xander shouted. “You can’t take this out on Riley! She isn’t responsible for the Poxinosa or any of her brother’s—”
“If she hadn’t come here, none of this would’ve happened!” Violet screamed.
“Bullshit!” Gabe yelled.
“We don’t know that. We still don’t know who the teleporter is!” Alley argued. “They would’ve grabbed Pash that day on the trail if not for Riley—”
“Pash wouldn’t even have been on the trail that day if not for Riley! You guys were showing her around. I am so damn sick,” Violet crumbled, weeping, “of the way you all hover over her and protect her. She’s the only one here who doesn’t need protection. It’s the rest of us they’re trying to kill!”
Riley’s tears came back as she stumbled into the room. “She’s right,” she sobbed, burying herself in Gabe’s arms. “She’s right!”
Gabe picked Riley up and carried her outside the Lodge. Xander, Alley and Violet continued to shout at one another as they crossed the porch. “This is about their old baggage and about Pash and Clarinda. It’s not about you.”
Riley couldn’t answer.
He carried her all the way down the lane and around the pavilion to the swing. He sat down gently with her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her.
“We didn’t want you to find out,” Gabe whispered. “You can’t do anything about it! All this information could do is hurt you.” He squeezed her. “Hold on to me, Riley. I’ll keep you safe.”
She knew better. No one can keep me safe. But she pulled him as close as she could.
Comments (2)
See all