Awaken (11 page)

“
When he takes the young
folk…where does he keep ‘em?” I ask, knowing that this now must be
my focus. I ain’t prepared for the harsh laughter that comes from
the little man. It was so unlike his normal cheerful sound that I
cain’t help but be shocked by it. He leans over and stares at me so
intently it’s like he’s staring into my very soul. He points a
stubby finger at me.

“
I’m only going to say this
once girl so pay close attention. Forget about finding your young
kin ever again. They are as good as dead. As we speak they have
already been sold into slavery, put to work in the iron mines or a
dozen other possibilities, but they are gone, understand? Forget
about them. My advice to you, go find your Lily…maybe she can keep
you and the boy safe…give you a home. Keep you from ending up like
your kin.”

“
Shut…your…mouth!” I hiss,
low but fierce. “They ain’t dead! Don’t you ever say those words to
me…ever again!”

Fuming mad, my blood pounding through
my veins, I want to lash out at the little man for his terrible
words. How dare he tell me to forget about them! I want to smack
that smug know it all look right from his face! But I don’t get a
chance to do anything before Tater recoils and his eyes open wide,
like I really did hit him! But I ain’t touched him! I was only
thinking it! Why is he looking at me like that? Are my thoughts
that obvious? Angry, confused, and not wanting to look at his face
anymore, I turn my back to him and lay down on my bedroll. I am
done with the conversation…I don’t want to hear another word from
the half man. I can feel his eyes boring into my back but I don’t
acknowledge him at all. I wrap my hand around my flower, my gift
from Ben, hoping to get some comfort from it. I feel such
overwhelming hopelessness…all I want to do is cry. But I don’t. I
ain’t giving him the satisfaction of hearing me cry. Instead I
focus on the faces of Ben and Jane and young Thomas. I try to
picture in my mind what they look like, what they sound like,
‘cause as angry as I am at Tater for his terrible words there’s
this small nagging part of me that fears he may be right. If the
only way to get them back means going up against this Prezedant and
his army, then I’ve lost before I’ve even begun.

It’s been days of traveling through
these damn strangling woods, but the trees are finally starting to
thin out. The tangled web of branches and leaves are giving way to
golden beams of sunlight filtering through up ahead. Cat takes off,
eager to get back out into the open lands, and I can feel the same
anticipation. Just knowing we’re almost through the woods must have
put Tater in a jubilant mood ‘cause he starts singing, a tune I
ain’t heard before but Finn knows of it and soon joins in. Usually
hearing the two of them singing is enough to raise a smile outta
me, but not this time. My mood is somber…has been since my
conversation with Tater. Our arguing ain’t affected him at all.
Other than the occasional times I’ve caught him staring oddly at
me, he’s been acting like nuthin even happened. Me, I ain’t done
much talking these past few days, but I have done a lot of
thinking.

I have decided to keep on going to
Littlepass, to try and find Lily like gra’da wanted me to do. There
must have been a reason for his wanting me to. I need to know at
least why. I ain’t given up on the idea of her being able to help
me find my kin. I refuse to believe that Tater is right. They were
not gone, like he says. But he is right about one thing. It was way
too dangerous for the boy to be accompanying me. I’m hoping this
Lily can help me with that. Look after him perhaps, give him a
home, keep him alive. More than I can offer him. As for Cat, well
she was a wild animal after all, she could survive on her own. It
would break Finn’s heart to let her go but it was either that or
probably have her get killed. Finn didn’t have much of a choice. As
for myself, well, I wasn’t staying in Littlepass. I couldn’t. Once
Finn was settled I would move on. As dangerous as Skytown seemed,
it was where I had to go. I don’t care what Tater says, I was going
to find Ben... or at least die trying.

By mid morning we’re finally out of the
woods. After so many days of being in dim light the sun is almost
blinding. My eyes ain’t used to so much light no more. I close them
to give them time to adjust and just stand there with my face
turned up to the sun, enjoying its warmth. I notice right away
there ain’t no smell of rot no more. The air is fresh smelling,
like sunshine and grass and sage. It’s real nice and I breathe it
in deep.

“
Tara! Look!” Finn’s voice
is just quivering with excitement, breaking my tranquility. He
starts tugging on my arm trying to get my attention. I open my eyes
to see what has him so riled up.

We’re standing in a valley spread out
about half a league across. The whole floor of the valley is
grassland. It’s brown and stubbly but it’s plentiful, there ain’t a
bit of cracked soil to be seen. Surrounding us on both sides are
high sloping hills dotted with gray trees and big red boulders
creating almost walls through the valley. But it’s what’s on the
other end that has Finn all wide eyed.

They hover on the horizon like
blue-gray giants, so massive it seems like they’re actually
touching the sky. The tips of them are hidden by puffy gray clouds,
making you believe that if you were to climb to the top you could
just hop on a passing cloud and float away. Like Finn, I’m
awestruck at this sight. I ain’t ever thought I’d see such a thing
in my lifetime. They are breath taking and scary all at the same
time.

“
That’s them ain’t it
Tater,” Finn says breathlessly. “The mountains you was talking
‘bout.”

Tater nods. “Yes. Are they not
magnificent? I never tire of seeing their majestic beauty. They
truly are some of the god’s most impressive handiwork.”

“
Do we gotta go over ‘em?”
Finn is sounding all worried now but I’m glad he’s asking ‘cause
I’m fearing the same. There ain’t no way we’re going to be able to
climb those giants.

“
Oh dear me, no. No, no
silly boy that would be impossible.” Tater slaps Finn on the back
laughing as if that were the funniest thing he had ever
heard.

“
You do amuse me so. No we
will go through them. Yes indeed. You see, there is a gulch, a pass
through them, almost impossible to find unless you are aware of its
existence. Which lucky for you both, I am. As my dear mother would
have said, our meeting was indeed a most fortunate throw of the
dice.”

I shake my head. After days of being in
Tater’s company I am starting to believe he speaks just for the
sheer joy of hearing himself talk. I cain’t understand half of what
he says and if his ma truly said all those things he says she
said…well she must have been a real odd woman, I think. I guess the
branch didn’t fall far from the tree.

Winnie by now has gotten the scent of
the grass and she’s itching to feed. Tater lets her go and she
wanders off to particularly tasty looking patch. Cat is way off on
the valley floor, running and jumping. Looks like she’s maybe
chasing some sort of small critter, though she’s too far away to
tell. The open land, the sun, the fresh air, it fills me with a
sense of well being….something I ain’t felt for a long time. I
don’t know why but I start smiling. Then I look at the others.
They’re smiling too. We’re all just standing, smiling….looking
round like we’re a bunch of wide eyed young’uns.

“
It’s so pretty here,” Finn
says quietly, breaking the silence. I’m thinking the same. It is
pretty…peaceful almost, like nuthin bad could ever happen here.
Like a madman never existed just on the other side of those
mountains. But Tater quickly crushes that illusion.

“
Indeed,” he says. “But do
not be lulled into a false sense of security. There are hidden
dangers we must be aware of.”

He reaches into his jacket and pulls
something out. At first I think it’s his musical flute but then he
holds it to his eye. It’s made of a shiny light colored metal. He
pulls on it with his other hand and it gets longer. He looks
through the narrow end and I can now see there’s a circle of glass
at the other, wider end. Finn had been standing hands on his hips,
looking out over the valley, but at this new object of Tater’s his
eyes grow all big and round.

“
Shizen! What is that?” he
says in wonder.

“
Finn!” I say, scolding him.
“Stop your cussin’!”

But I’m sure as shizen wondering the
same. What is it?

“
Ah yes, this little beauty
is called a spyglass,” Tater answers but he don’t take it from his
eye. He just keeps sweeping the valley.

“
Got this off of a real
friendly lady in Skytown by the name of Glenalda. Traded her a
bottle of whiskey and a lovely silk dress of my mothers.” He laughs
to himself. “Yes…that was quite the night indeed…but I’m rambling
again aren’t I? This, my young friends, helps you to see far off in
the distance. Very handy for scouring the vicinity for any sign of
danger or threat.”

He does another sweep then takes it
down from his eye.

“
And it appears we are
good.”

I forget all my hostility and anger
towards Tater and nearly run Finn over in my haste to reach the
little man and his curious object.

“
Let me see!”

“
Can I try?”

We’re trying to yell over each other,
to be the first to get a look at this wonder, but Tater holds the
spyglass away from us.

“
Careful! It’s a very
delicate object.”

He hesitates for a bit, looks from me
to his spyglass. I can tell he don’t wanna part with it, but
finally he relents and hands it over.

“
You promise to be
careful?”

“
Aye!” I say, taking it
eagerly.

I hold it to one eye, squinting the
other like Tater had done. All of a sudden the mountains that
seemed so far away before loom in front of me and I cain’t help but
step back in shocked astonishment. I can see every rocky ledge and
treed valley perfectly clear like I could reach out and touch
them!

“
Holy Shizen!” I say,
pulling it away for a moment just to make sure my eyes weren’t
playing a trick on me. Nope the mountains are just as far away as
before. I quickly put it back to my eye again. How is this little
thing making this possible?

Finn is yanking at my tunic
impatiently.

“
My turn! My
turn!”

I don’t want to let it go. It’s one of
the most amazing things I’ve ever seen but it ain’t fair not to let
Finn try so I reluctantly hand it over. I cain’t help but laugh
when his mouth falls open at what he sees. His hand goes up in
front of him and he’s reaching like he thinks he can touch what’s
in the spyglass. At hearing my laugh he turns the spyglass to me,
grinning.

“
Hey Tara, you got a hanger
in your nose.”

“
What?” My hand goes to
cover my nose but Finn cracks up laughing.

“
No there ain’t you mule
turd,” I yell at him but it makes me laugh too.

Finn hands the spyglass carefully back
to Tater.

“
That was amazing Tater!” he
says, bouncing up and down. “You got anything else to show
us?”

“
Another time perhaps,”
Tater says putting it away. “But I think it is best we head out. A
word of advice though before we proceed through the valley,
yes?”

His tone is light but I get the feeling
he ain’t telling us everything, and my gut clenches, chasing away
my earlier feeling of peacefulness.

“
What is it?” I ask. “Did
you see something in that spyglass of yours?”

“
No, no. Everything was
clear. No sign of any threat. But I suggest we move through the
valley quickly. Not make camp until we get to the base of the
mountains. If we make haste we should be there before
nightfall.”

Taters words are not easing my worries
none.

“
Why? Thought you said
everything was clear? Why do we gotta hurry? Are there critters or
such we should watch out for?” I say.

He chuckles as if the idea of such a
thing was ridiculous.

“
No not ‘critters’ per say.
But beyond that third rise there is a village I am familiar with. I
have done some trading there in the past. They….tolerate my
presence. But they are, how shall I put this, very unfriendly
towards strangers of any sort. You two, being so young
and…..innocent, let’s just say you do not want to make their
acquaintance. And as for Cat, as extraordinary as she is, they
would only see meat and a fur cloak. Do you understand?”

I understand. I understand that the
world is a lot more evil and dark then I had ever thought possible.
But I just nod.

“
Aye. We need to go through
unnoticed. Let’s move then,” I say.

But Finn as always was more concerned
about his beast than us.

“
So if we get to the
mountains Tater will Cat be safe from the villagers then? Won’t
they just follow us into the mountains?” he says, his face a mask
of anxiety.

“
Oh no dear boy….do not
worry about your she devil. The villagers, they do not venture into
the mountains…they avoid the mountains at all cost.” He grins his
toothy smile and I see Finn visibly relax.