Awaken (34 page)

“
Ben!” I scream his name and
he tries to look back but the soldier prodding him with the shooter
keeps him from doing so. My heart is beating wildly and the
emotions coursing through me are almost overwhelming. Disbelief,
shock, happiness, anger....how is it possible I can feel this all
at once!

It was him...Ben! He was here! I had
found him!

I had forgotten about the fat man. He
waddles into view and looks slowly from Ben’s departing back and
then back to me. A smile spreads across his face causing his eyes
to almost disappear into the surrounding folds of flesh, and he
says,

“
Good info
indeed.”

He waddles away from me and I have to
bite my lip to stop from yelling every cuss word I can think of at
his retreating back...but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction
of knowing he has rattled me.

“
Shizen!” I turn away and
run a hand through my hair in frustration. “Dammit!”

Why had I reacted like that...yelling
Ben’s name! I had probably put him in more danger than ever now
because of what I had just done! Stupid! It was bad enough Finn and
Jax were in this predicament because of me but now I had done the
same thing to Ben.

Finn comes to join me, his eyes
wide.

“
That was your Ben Tara?
He’s alive?”

I nod a yes, still too overcome to
answer.

“
Then why are you so upset?
I don’t get it?” he says.

Jax is the one to answer
him.

“
Because Finn, Tara believes
that by showing her hand to Naryz he will somehow use Ben to get at
her in some way...hurt him to hurt her.”

I stare at Jax, amazed that he
understands exactly what I’m thinking. Then he grins at me
crookedly.

“
What do you think he’s
going to do to him? Keep him prisoner? Starve him? Chain him up? No
wait…I know, he’s going to put him to work in the iron mines. Yeah,
that’s it.” He snorts. “He’s already been through that
Tara...there’s not much else they can do to him.”

I nod in relief. Jax was making sense.
“You’re right Jax,” I say.

“
Damn right I’m right...it’s
us you should be worried about. We’re the ones stuck in a cage with
you. And on our way to being carted off to Skytown in the morning.”
He shakes his head in disbelief. “How the hell did I end up in this
same situation with you ...again? Must be a sucker for a pretty
face I guess.”

I start laughing...I cain’t help
myself. I throw my head back and laugh ‘til it brings tears to my
eyes. Finn is looking at me all worried.... like I have lost my
mind...and he’s probably right. Here we were, captured again like
Jax had said...being shipped off to the Prezedant in the morning to
be most likely experimented on and turned into crazy diseased
creatures but it all didn’t matter to me...not at this moment. Ben
was alive! That was enough for now.

I’m not sure what it is that awakens
me. I cain’t even believe that I had fallen asleep in the first
place...but something had pulled me from my slumber and I wake with
a start, listening. At first there’s nuthin other than Finn’s quiet
snoring. I peer through the cage bars trying to adjust my eyes to
the moonlight. I can see the two guards that had accompanied Naryz
earlier, hear their quiet murmurings...they don’t seem to find
anything out of sorts. Maybe there wasn’t anything....I had just
been dreaming. I settle back against Finn, trying to get some
warmth from him when a slight thump and a scraping sound come from
above my head. I don’t move but my eyes seek out the guards again.
They still seem to be unaware of anything amiss. There’s silence
again for a bit. I start to think I had imagined the sounds when
suddenly both guards are jerked off their feet at the same time and
dangle in mid air seems like. I watch in amazement as they
struggle, their legs thrashing wildly. Shizen! What the hell was
this? It was probably only for a few seconds but it seems like
forever before their thrashing stops and they crumple quietly to
the ground in a heap. Something leaps from the top of the cage, I
cain’t tell what it is...it’s just a black blur to me...but it
appears to be now crouching over the soldiers on the ground. I
shake Finn and Jax both, holding a finger to my lips as both sets
of eyes pop open. Much to their credit they don’t make a peep as I
point to the black shape outside of our cage. Shapes...there’s two
of them, I can see that now. Something flashes quickly in the
moonlight and I can hear scraping as the key is put into our locked
cage. Someone was trying to get us out!

Quickly we get to our feet. The rusted
door creaks noisily as it opens and I suck in my breath sharply.
The shapes stop, stand still for a moment but no alarm sounds.
Pushing the door all the way open now they motion for us to move.
We don’t hesitate. Brushing past them we are silently directed with
an upward point before they form a boosting step with their joined
hands. They want us to get on top of the cage? I go first, hoisted
quickly then turn to help Finn who is right behind me. Jax comes
next then we help pull our rescuers up over the ledge.

Once on top, in the moonlight I can
tell they ain’t just shapes at all but people dressed entirely in
black right down to the hoods covering their heads. We follow them
across the top of the metal cage and I realize it sits under a
rocky overhang. How the hell did they get here? Then I see the
ropes hanging. They had lowered themselves down on the ropes. One
of the rescuers grabs a rope and hands it to me.

“
Put this around you and
tug....our friends at the top will pull you up,” a voice whispers
in my ear. I cain’t tell if it’s male or female but I push the rope
away and shake my head no.

“
Take Finn and Jax but I
cain’t go.”

Jax, who was in the process of hitching
a rope to Finn turns to me in amazement.

“
Tara what are you doing? Go
up the damn rope,” he whispers urgently.

I shake my head again. “No...you both
go,” I whisper back. “I gotta go after Ben.”

Even in the moonlight I can tell Jax is
eyeballing me in disbelief.

“
Are you crazy? You can’t do
that by yourself!”

“
Tara! You cain’t...” Finn
is whispering worriedly but by now he is being lifted and I cain’t
hear what else he is trying to say.

“
We don’t have time for
this.” One of the black robes hisses at me. “Take the rope
girl!”

I shake my head again and turn to
Jax.

“
I cain’t leave him...not
again. I am his only chance Jax...I cain’t just leave him here,” I
say, begging him to understand.

“
If you get captured again
then he has no chance! Tara, let’s get out of here...we’ll figure
out a way to come back for Ben...but if you are sent off to Skytown
in the morning who will help him then? At least if we are free we
can come up with a way to help him too.”

I know what he’s saying makes sense but
it feels wrong...so wrong! How can I leave Ben here to endure any
more suffering? How can I leave him when I have just found him? The
memory of him and the young girl with the bloody tunic pops into my
head and I know I cain’t go.

One of the black robes grabs my
arm...so tightly it hurts.

“
Listen to me girl...we
don’t have much time! The soldiers are due for their rounds any
minute now. Soon somebody is either going to find those two down
there or our friends at the top…now do what your boyfriend is
telling you and move!”

I yank my arm out of his grasp and hiss
at him angrily “He ain’t my boyfriend!” but my eyes are focused on
Jax.

“
I cain’t go without him
Jax. The Gods only know what Naryz will do to him....” I trail off
not wanting to think of that possibility.

“
Go up that damn rope and I
will come back and get Ben myself!” he whispers at me urgently,
pretty much shoving the rope in my hands. “But there is nothing we
can do tonight. Use your head Tara...if we get captured again he
won’t have anyone to help free him!”

Jax is right. Dammit! I know he’s right
but I still don’t want to admit it.

“
You promise to help me get
him out of here?” I whisper at him fiercely.

“
I promise! Now go
dammit!”

Hoping that I ain’t making a mistake, I
believe him. Fitting the rope under my arms I give a little tug and
suddenly feel myself being lifted. Immediately, once I hit the top,
arms pull me onto solid ground and the rope is yanked off of me and
sent down again. Finn stands at my side as we wait anxiously for
Jax to join us. I look around at these people helping us. There
must be at least five or six of them...plus the two still below.
Who are they? And why are they helping us? There ain’t no time for
questions though. As soon as the three of us are together again we
are ushered quickly through a grove of trees by a hooded woman...I
can tell that much. There’s a covered wagon waiting for us on the
other side. We are soon joined by three others, a girl ‘bout my age
and two young men, one not much bigger than Finn. They, unlike the
others, wear no hoods. It’s like they ain’t trying to hide at
all.

“
Go now,” she says to them.
“And make sure you are seen as you ride out of town. We want them
to believe the fugitives have clearly left Littlepass. Make haste
for the safe house. Ride swift and safe my friends.”

They nod and scurry away. The rest of
them blend into the shadows of the night now that they have secured
the last of their people. The hooded woman ushers us into the
wagon, just as a loud shouting comes from below us. The Army! They
must have found their men...seen that we were gone. The woman leaps
in behind us and shouts “Go!” and the wagon takes off so violently
we fall over from the sudden jolt.

The wagon ride is fierce...we must have
hit every rut and hole possible. Feels like my bones are going to
shatter they’re jarred so much. But no one dares to utter a sound.
We travel in complete silence, fearing at any moment to hear the
shouts of the army telling us to halt. But it don’t happen, the
ride is uneventful and we reach our destination, whatever it may
be, without incident. With relief the wagon finally grinds to a
halt and we are herded out. We find ourselves in some sort of stone
circular room full of hay and mud looks like, and from the smell I
would say more than a few animals had called this home as well, but
we ain’t got much chance to look around before the woman moves us
again.

“
This way,” she says and we
follow her through a little door cut into the rock wall of the
room.

As dirty and foul smelling as the stone
room was, the room we now find ourselves in is the complete
opposite. Walls and floors so blindingly white it hurts my eyes
just to look at them. I blink for a bit, trying to let my eyes
adjust. It’s so bright in here it’s almost like daylight yet it’s
the middle of the night. My confused brain is telling me the light
is coming from the torches on the walls but there ain’t no fire
from what I can see! Torches without flame...what the hell? I look
at Finn and Jax in amazement but they’re too busy themselves
looking ‘round all wide eyed. The woman don’t give us any time to
investigate this curious oddity though.

“
Come,” she says abruptly
and starts walking down the white hall. Dumbfounded as we are, we
follow meekly. Every step we take on the shiny smooth stone floor
echoes back at us from the bare white walls. We don’t talk...it’s
like the room demands silence and to break it would be committing a
sacrilege. She leads us to two massive black doors, the only bit of
color in this otherwise white hall. She knocks once then turns the
handles and pushes them open.

The room we step into is completely
different yet again. If the other room had been cold and barren
this one is warm and inviting. A fire burns in a huge stone hearth
at the center of the room and chairs flank it on both sides,
sitting on a nice thick rug. The walls of the room are made up of
shelves and they’re full of settler books. So many of them! I’ve
only ever seen one before…the one Gra’da used to have one when I
was real young. The one he had thought me to read and write with,
but that had rotted away long ago. There’s so many of them
here...and in such good shape! I never could have imagined so many
existed! I’m so entranced with my surroundings I don’t even notice
the woman standing in front of the fire ‘til she speaks, making us
all jump.

“
Welcome.”

She is tall, I notice that right away.
Her hair is back...black as mine and hangs long and straight down
her back. She is dressed in a long gray robe and her hands are
tucked away in the voluminous sleeves. But she is smiling and that
smile says she is very glad to see us. She walks towards us, right
up to me and the hands that come out to cradle my face are covered
in puckered raised scars. At the contact I can feel a tingling
shoot straight through me and I startle.

“
Tara...you have grown up!
It is so good to see you again child.”

Again? I ain’t ever seen this woman
before in my life...why would she say that? I grab her hands and
pull them away, finally finding my voice.

“
Where are we? Who are you?
And why did your people save us? What do you want from us?” I
say.