Awaken (16 page)

“
Why?” I say.

He shrugs. “It is yours. You fought for
it valiantly, it must be very important to you. Meela had no right
to take it.”

This from the leader of a band of
thieves....somehow it don’t seem right.

“
If you respect me then let
us go,” I say again.

“
Ah yes,” he sighs deeply.
“Regretfully I cannot do that for as much as I respect your kind I
respect riches even more. The Prezedant has placed a high bounty on
the heads of new bloods, I cannot resist. If I do not turn you over
then someone else shall, so why should it not be me who reaps the
rewards?”

He shoots me the toothy grin again. “As
we speak my messenger is on his way to set up a rendezvous with the
Prezedants men. So rest up...all of you. We will have an early
start in the morning.” He starts to walk away but turns back. “Oh
by the way if you get to thinking you can escape my men have been
ordered to shoot to kill....everyone but you of course.”

As if to drive his point home two
raiders appear to flank either side of our wooden prison holding
those massive iron shooters. One of them is the same who stole
Taters hat. He’s still wearing it but he ain’t looking at me all
cocky like no more. He’s regarding me more now with a look of fear
almost. What did they see? What did I become? Is Jax right...am I a
freak, a monster? I lay my head dejectedly against the thick bars
of the cage watching him walk away. All is quiet behind me. And
then...

“
Let us go now or else.....”
Jax’s voice is high and shrill in his mimicry of me. “Brilliant
plan...don’t know why I didn’t think of that.”

I have had just about enough of this
jackass! Whirling around I snap at him angrily.

“
Aye... well I can see your
plans have worked out great for you so far you moron...how long
have you been captured now? I can tell by your whiskers you been
here a few days at least...you must be real good at escape
plans!”

He takes a couple of paces towards me
so we’re almost nose to nose.

“
I had a great escape plan
as a matter of fact but it’s all been ruined because I’m no longer
being taken to Littlepass now am I? Because of you mutie I am being
dragged off to Skytown! Do you know what the chances are of
escaping from Skytown? Zero, nil, none! People don’t escape from
Skytown freak...they disappear, never to be seen again!”

“
Stop…calling…me...freak!” I
punctuate each word with a shove so by the end of it Jax’s back is
pressed against the other side of the cage but I ain’t finished. “I
hope you do disappear never to be seen again...that would be a
blessing to all of us!”

“
Stop it, the both of you!”
Tater worms his way between us and pushes me back some, holding us
both at arm’s length. I’m simmering mad and I just wanna scratch
Jax’s eyes out...punch him in the nose...something!

“
He started it...” I say
angrily but Tater ain’t having none of it.

“
And I’m finishing it! Do
you really think it’s wise to be yelling about escape plans when we
have two guards watching our every move? Does that seem like a good
idea to either of you?”

I take a couple of deep breaths and
realize Tater is right. Both guards have moved closer to our cage
and are watching us with much amusement. I glare at the one with
the hat.

‘
Whadda you looking at?” I
snarl loudly and he backs off in a hurry, holding his shooter out
in front of him like I am about to pounce on him. The other merely
flicks the twig he was chewing on at the cage and wanders casually
back to his post. Seems I don’t bother him at all. Finn approaches
me with a quiet “Tara?” and I snap at him as well.

“
What?” I yell and he takes
an involuntary step back at my show of temper. Instantly feeling
ashamed at scaring him I mutter a contrite “Sorry” but he only
keeps staring at me in uncertainty. Jax by now has decided he is
done with all of us and sits in the corner of the cage, legs
crossed and his back to us. Which was fine by me. Tater clears his
throat.

“
Hmph....yes well I suggest
we do as the giant said, get some rest. Night has fallen and we
will think much clearer in the morning after we sleep.”

Don’t know who Tater was trying to
fool...none of us were going to get any sleep tonight, and I was
too wound up to rest. Too full of anger...and burning with
questions. But they were questions I needed to ask without Jax
around to give his input. So since there ain’t nuthin else I can do
I settle against the side of the cage as far away from Jax as I can
get. Finn comes to sit hesitantly beside me and I take off the
wolfling skin cloak, motioning him closer so we can both use it as
a blanket. At first he don’t want to come any closer, I can
tell.

“
It’s okay Finn,” I whisper,
giving him a ghost of a smile. “I ain’t gonna bite.”

Finally deciding I could be trusted
again, he scoots closer and I settle the cloak around the both of
us.

We sit there all quiet like, listening
to the sounds of the raiders go about their business off in the
distance. The smell of an evening meal cooking wafts by us and Finn
squirms a little.

“
That smells real good
Tara,” he says.

“
Aye it does,” I
say.

“
I’m hungry.”

“
I know Finn.”

We are quiet for a bit more.

“
What’s gonna happen to us
Tara?”

I think about lying to the boy, to tell
him there weren’t nuthin’ to worry about....that everything was
going to work out just fine but before I can say a word a loud
wailing not far from the camp reaches our ears. Finn bolts upright
and out of the corner of my eye I can see our two guards jump to
their feet and grab their weapons.

“
That’s Cat!” he whispers to
me all excitedly. “She found us.”

“
You sure?” I say, scared
for what that could mean. Hopefully she wasn’t about to attack the
camp. We don’t need her getting fired on by the raiders.

“
Aye that’s her all
right....I know the sound of her bellyachin’. She’s letting us know
she’s there and she’s waiting for us.”

He settles back underneath the cloak
and I can feel his scrawny little frame strumming with happiness at
knowing his beast was okay. I cain’t help feeling a little relieved
myself although what the cat could do against an army of raiders I
ain’t sure. But just knowing she was out there still gave me some
measure of comfort. The wailing stops finally and our guards settle
back down although I notice hat head keeps his shooter in his
hands. Cat’s howling has rattled him...good, I think. I hope he’s
as scared as we are. Finn stays quiet for so long I think he’s
asleep, but then...

“
Everything is gonna be okay
Tara...I know it. With Cat watching out for us and you being a new
blood and all....Tater says it’s a good thing so it must be. Yep
everything is gonna be okay.”

I cain’t help but smile to myself in
the dark. He sounded so sure...so positive....a total turnaround
from his earlier outlook. I don’t say nuthin, just move closer to
him so I can rest my chin on the top of his head. If only I could
believe that Finn, I think. But how can it be okay? I just found
out I was some sort of freak of nature from an idiot who, it seems,
would be happier to see my head on a spike then be stuck in a cage
with me and we were on our way to being turned over to a madman .
All in all I’ve had better days. But I don’t burst the boys bubble.
I just sit quietly with his head resting against my shoulder ‘til I
hear the deep even breaths that tell me he’s asleep. Good, I think.
At least one of us should rest.

****************************************************************************

I fall to my knees on the hard ground
and grab eagerly for the tin of water being thrust in my face. I
don’t even try to fight the raiders tying me to the downed tree
like I did the last evening... there wasn’t any use and I am just
so thirsty! The water is warm and tinny but I drink of it deeply
and it eases my parched throat.

Without warning a body falls on me
sending the tin flying right out of my grip and spilling its
precious contents into the dry earth. From the muffled cussin’ I
know its Jax, and I push at him angrily with my tied
hands.

“
Get...off...me!” I grunt
pushing at his weight and he falls awkwardly face first in the dirt
beside me, his tied wrists offering no help in cushioning his fall,
much to the delight of our captors. Their laughter at his planned
misfortune is met with his icy glare but he don’t say nuthin as he
struggles to his knees. They watch, still laughing, ‘til he rights
himself then three of them drag him back to my side and lash him to
the same tree I am tied to. Tater is quickly tied as well but he
manages to reach the water tin before it can be kicked away by any
of our numerous guards. I blow the hair that has come loose from my
braid out of my eyes and look for Finn. I spot him being lifted off
of Winnie’s back, his hands tied just like the rest of
us.

We’ve been on the move, non-stop, for
two days now towards the exchange with the Prezedant’s men. Me, Jax
and Tater have been walking, tied behind Busher’s horse, but at
least the raider leader had taken pity on Finn and his injured leg
and let him ride the mule. He weren’t taking no chances though,
there must be at least ten or more of ‘em accompanying us plus the
scouts and guards he had posted in the hills. I don’t rightly know
if he expects the threat to come from us or the men he was meeting
but I know we ain’t no threat. New Blood...hah, what a joke. No
matter how hard I try to summon this power...this ‘Chi’ it don’t
happen. Oh the anger and hatred is there all right but there ain’t
no fire in my blood or buzzing in my ears....there ain’t nuthin I
can do except follow along like some trussed up hog.

Cat has been trailing after us and a
couple of times she’s even attempted to attack the camp but they
chase her off with their shooters, much to Finn’s dismay. They
ain’t nicked her though ‘cause she’s still off to the side wailing,
and rattling all their nerves. They cain’t understand why they’re
being stalked by a devil cat and I see their glances and hear their
whispers about me, about the new blood and how I must be
controlling the she devil. It makes me smile. Good Cat, I
think.

“
You all right Finn?” I say
once they have us all settled away. They have tied us together, all
in a line. Tater, then Finn, then me and Jax. Even our feet are
bound...they ain’t taking no chances of any of us getting free and
making a run for it during the night. Finn looks up at my question.
I can tell the past couple of days have been hard on him, he looks
tired. His face is stark white and there are dark bruises under his
eyes but he gives me a crooked grin.

“
Aye I’m fine, except for my
unmentionables. Sitting on a mule all day ain’t easy on a man’s
parts.”

I know our situation don’t warrant it
and maybe it was just a mixture of exhaustion and shock, but I
cain’t help but laugh. It even draws a low chuckle out of Jax and I
stare at him, stunned. Unbelievable! He can actually laugh? If
these past few days had been any indication I figured all he knew
how to do was scowl and cuss and hurl insults. Besides that we
ain’t heard a single word come out of his mouth. He catches me
staring and raises a dark brow. Hurriedly I look away and busy
myself with collecting the water tin from Tater to give to the
boy.

“
Well I’m glad you three can
find humor in our situation,” Tater says huffily, frowning at me
from under his bushy brows. He, as well, has been unusually quiet
over these past two days and I realize it was to do with me and my
...condition. The whole idea of him staying on at the camp for the
raider girl’s amusement was totally thrown to the wind at my almost
killing the girl. Instead he found himself still a prisoner and on
his way to certain death at the hands of a madman, along with the
rest of us. I can see where his annoyance with me may stem
from.

“
You’re right Tater...and
I’m truly sorry I got you dragged into this mess. You and Finn
both,” I say, instantly feeling ashamed for my laughter. I ignore
Jax’s mocking snort at my words. The raiders look over at us
talking amongst ourselves but they don’t seem too concerned. After
two full days of no sign of any ‘powers’ on my part they don’t seem
to jump at my every move anymore. They’re paying more attention to
setting up their campfire and cooking their evening meal than they
are to us. Tied and bound as we are we don’t seem to offer them no
threat.

Tater seems a little taken aback at my
apology and the look of surprise on his face coupled with his wild
gray hair blowing round his head ‘cause of no hat to hold it down
almost makes me want to laugh again ...but I don’t. The half man
was right...there ain’t one thing about our predicament that should
be making any of us laugh. And if last night was any indication we
were in for another long and uncomfortable night again tonight. I
try the best I can with my bound hands and feet, to get closer to
Finn so as we can prop up against each other’s backs for
sleeping.

Cat, unfortunately, chooses that moment
to start her howling again and Finn bolts upright causing me to
almost fall over. He cain’t contain the sharp cry that escapes from
his lips when Busher orders two of his men to ‘go find that hell
cat and get rid of it for good!’