Reading the Wind (Silver Ship) (41 page)

Behind us, Tom and Paloma rode side by side, deep in serious conversation.

As we neared the edge of the long high meadow, movement in front of us caught my attention. A tall, dark-haired woman with long legs, a tiny waist, and well-defined biceps stepped from under a tent tree just in front of Liam, holding up her right hand to signal him to stop. She looked grave, although her blue eyes sparkled. I leaned over to Kayleen. “That’s Alyksa. She’s the best scout in the band. Always finds the djuri herds.”

“She looks strong,” Kayleen said.

Liam pulled his borrowed hebra, Duke, to a slower pace and then
stopped just in front of her. Alyksa took one of Duke’s reins. Kayleen and I rode up close to them. I expected Alyksa to smile and welcome us home, but she pursed her lips and kept her feet in a ready stance, one she could run or fight from. Her first words were, “We’ll need to escort you in. You must wait.” And then, in response to his incredulous look, she added, “Even you.” Only then, her duty discharged, did she break into a smile to match the clear pleasure in her eyes at seeing us.

Tom and Paloma rode up. Alyksa kept her smile, clearly recognizing them. She looked back at Liam, and then me. “Welcome home.”

Liam nodded at her. “Thank you.” He and I shared a brief, confused glance. The West Band had always kept watchers, but they watched for trouble and let our people pass.

He turned back to Alyksa. “How are Akashi and Mayah?”

“Worried.”

I caught a slight movement as tree limbs shivered and then parted far behind Alyksa, then smiled as I recognized Akashi, on foot. I leaned far over and poked Liam in the shoulder. “Ask him yourself.”

Liam turned and slid from his hebra in a single fluid motion. He raced toward his dad, leaving Alyksa holding his hebra’s reins. The scout grimaced, then shrugged, patting the hebra briefly.

Akashi, too, broke into a run, his face bright with excitement.

I stayed put, watching them race into each other’s arms. Liam had grown; Akashi’s head barely came to his adopted son’s shoulder. Akashi’s long gray hair had been shorn, and his shoulders slumped inward. Liam patted his father’s back, his face cocked a bit to one side so his cheek rested on Akashi’s head. They stayed that way for a long moment before separating and looking at each other.

I grabbed the rough, knotted mounting rope and slid carefully from Jiko’s back, wishing yet again that I rode Stripes instead of this docile and unremarkable beast. I thrust my reins into Alyksa’s outstretched hand and stood watching Akashi and Liam.

Shortly, Akashi gestured for me to come. I fell into his arms, drinking in the scent of leather and campfire smoke and sweat. Hot tears of relief surprised me, streaking unbidden down my cheeks. His dark eyes also held tears, hanging in the corners but not falling.

“I missed you,” I said, my voice nearly breaking.

He pulled me even closer. “I missed you, too.” He pushed me a little away, keeping his grip on my waist, looking up at me. His dark eyes shone with mischief. “That’s Liam’s baby?”

I nodded, and he pointed at Kayleen. “That one, too?”

I bit my lip, suddenly afraid. I gave a small nod, and Akashi said, “Not surprised. Congratulations.” I blew out a long, relieved breath.

Akashi turned to Liam. “Where did you go?”

Liam swallowed. “Islandia.”

Akashi raised an eyebrow, and I broke in. “Kayleen took us. It’s a long story. We would have told you.”

Akashi pulled Liam close as well, so the three of us stood together in a single embrace. “I know you would have. At least you’re back, now.” Akashi looked toward the group, his brows furrowed. “We are being inhospitable.”

He let us go and greeted the other three. We followed him down a wide, wooded path until we came to a clearing. Liam clutched my hand and stopped as we emerged from the trees; his eyes narrowed as he scanned the camp. Even though I had only been to a few summer camps before, I could immediately tell this was different.

Usually, the band’s wagons gathered in a rough circle, bunched together to provide protection in numbers. Here, wagons lay tucked separately under trees, with at least one person near each one. Goats and hebras grazed, most tied on long-lines or staked to the ground near the wagons instead of together in quick-build corrals like usual. Children walked through camp in pairs, or larger groups, carrying water, leading goats, and talking quietly. Summer-fat camp dogs hung close to the children’s feet, ever-watchful. The camp smelled right—of drying meat and ash and animals, but the scents seemed as subdued as the movement and noise.

“We moved here the day after Gianna called us,” Akashi said quietly. “There are twice as many border scouts on duty as usual.”

I finally spotted my little wagon. Stripes grazed placidly next to it, and Sasha sat in the seat working on some project, her dark head bent over whatever she was doing, the streak of white in her hair clearly visible. I wanted to race over to her, but the camp’s differences reminded me of why we’d come. I leaned over to Akashi. “Is there a place we can talk? We’re bringing bad news.”

He sighed. “I thought you might be.”

Alyksa and two young men walked by with our mounts.

Kiara looked over and spotted us, then called out, “Hey, look!” to Abyl, her best friend. The two of them did everything together, including parking their wagons next to each other, and now they came to greet us together, two sturdy, wide middle-aged women. Sasha looked up at the movement and dropped whatever she held in her lap. She leapt from the high wagon seat, landing in a dead run, beating Kiara and Abyl to our sides. Stripes raised her head and bugled. Soon, we were surrounded by half the band, calling to us, greeting us, asking for news. Kayleen, Tom, and Paloma stood together just outside the flow of people, watching, wide-eyed.

Akashi, too, watched, smiling at the crowd. After the first rush of noisy, happy greeting ended, he looked over at Liam. “Do you want to talk to me, or to the band?”

Liam raised a single eyebrow at me. I wanted to catch up with everyone, but it would be hard to talk to so many people at once. “Akashi and the Chiefs,” I mouthed.

So we started our story yet again. But this time we spoke to the most competent people on Fremont.

W
hen we finished the meeting, I stepped outside. The midafternoon sun assaulted my eyes, forcing me to blink and look away for a moment. Liam had stayed behind to talk with his mom and dad, and Kayleen had already headed off with Cho, the band librarian, the two of them chattering about the data library like old friends. I went straight for my wagon.

Sasha had returned to the front bench, her hands and her project back in her lap. Her smile looked like my heart felt, bright and full. I snuggled up close to her and put my arm around her slender shoulders. She was a roamer—more capable by far than a townie—and now just months short of being a full adult and getting her own wagon and animals. She’d clearly cared well for mine—the outside walls and the seat were clear of dust and the metal wheel-hubs shone. My voice broke as I said, “I missed you so.”

She set her work down on her lap, covering it slightly with her open hand, as if hiding it from me. “What’s happening?” she asked. “Everybody is worried about a ship, and then you came back in one, but it’s not you they’re worried about, is it?”

I shook my head, and told her the tale of the mercenaries and Islandia.

She didn’t interrupt, but just sat quietly, her eyes focused in front of her. From experience, I knew she wouldn’t miss a word. At the end, she looked up at me. “What now? What will the Council and Akashi and his Chiefs do?”

“We’re taking most of the people out of Artistos and grouping them with members of the two bands, sending people off in small groups as if they were roamers.”

“But won’t small groups have more trouble defending themselves?”

“Yes.” I had raised that topic in the meeting. “But Artistos is not built to be defended. It can be attacked from three sides—from the High Road going down, from the side where we have the farms and hebra barns and stuff, and from the air.” I winced, picturing our cabin and greenhouse blown up, Windy dying in the paddock. “The Star Mercenaries have at least five skimmers and maybe they can even use their big ship to attack us. I don’t know about that.”

She frowned, and went right to the heart of the matter. “It’s going to be tough to live out here with townies. They don’t know what to do. Some of them will die.”

I sighed. “If everyone stays in town, maybe they’ll all die at once. This isn’t very good, but it’s better. Besides, I asked for you and Sky to come to our cave. That’s where Kayleen and Liam and I will be, and I want you with me. I’ll need friends.”

She smiled, pleased. I blew out an inner breath of relief. At least she wanted to come.

“Will Mom and Dad let me go?” she asked.

“Akashi and the Chiefs and Tom are making decisions. They said they’d do this. Besides, you’re almost grown-up. Look how well you took care of my wagon.”

She ducked and looked away, then back. “It was nothing. I missed you, too. When we saw that damned machine bob its wings and fly away, I didn’t know what to think. Akashi told me he’d seen it before, that it belonged to you all, that you must be doing something important.” She looked up at me, her dark hair falling across one brown eye, the wide white streak of hair down the right side of her head shining in the sun. “I wished every day for you to come back safely.”

She lifted her hands and I saw that she was nearly done making a beaded sash. She held it up for me to see. It was knotted thread spun from hebra wool and dyed in reds and greens from local plants. Every few inches, she’d worked a row of tiny wooden beads into the design. “I made the beads myself.”

I cupped the soft belt in my hand, feeling the fine knots and admiring the intricate designs and tiny round wooden and stone beads. “It’s beautiful.”

“I made it for you,” she said. “I put a wish for your safety into every knot.” Her eyes shone. “And now you’ve come back.” She glanced down at the belt. “I can finish it tonight. I heard…I heard we might be attacked.”

She had been conceived during the last of the war, and born after it finished. I swallowed. “I think it’s worse for Fremont than the ship my parents came on.”

She pursed her lips and glanced away and then back. “We’ll be okay,” she said. “I know we will.”

“We’ll have to be.” I took the belt from her and held it in one hand, running my other hand along its surface. There must be hundreds of knots. Maybe thousands. Thousands of wishes. Maybe Sasha’s wishes had helped us the day we let the dogs onto the strangers and fled. Surely something had—we were all here, all safe. “This is the most beautiful work I’ve ever seen.”

Sasha spoke quietly. “Just let it keep you safe.”

“Thank you.” I handed her the belt and cupped her chin in my hand. “And I will make a wish for your safety every day.”

She smiled. “Come on. Let’s go see Stripes.”

I thought of Windy and swallowed hard. I would wish for Sasha’s and Stripes’s safety every day, too. For everyone’s.

M
orning sunlight danced brightly on the rocks outside the Cave of Power. Kayleen paced between me and Liam and the sunshine, blocking the light and freeing it, back and forth on the ledge just under the cave’s opening. She had arrived home late the night before, after a visit with Paloma and her new wandering band of science guild members. “Paloma figured out how to make a new salve that heals burns faster than her old one, and she found a new plant that she says has possibilities for headaches.” She eyed me and made an exaggerated face. “She says she should have been a roamer all along, and wants to know why you didn’t take her with you when you went to the band.”

I laughed, but I couldn’t help searching her green eyes for any sign that she might not be all right. For the first few days after we’d come back, I’d sworn I often saw a crazy girl peering at me from under her long dark lashes. But as hours dragged into days, into weeks, the crazy girl inside my friend came out less often. She looked haunted this morning, but all three of us looked haunted. And we were: by lack of sleep, by our own demons, and by the questions in everyone else’s eyes. The Star Mercenaries had stayed put on Islandia without so much as a skimmer sortie our way. Three weeks of convincing people to stay away from their homes had worn us out, worn out Gianna, and Akashi, and Nava, and Hunter. They still believed, but for how long?

And why the wait anyway? To drive us nuts? Did we damage them
enough they had to pause and fix the
Dawnforce
? Or had Kayleen been wrong, and they really didn’t mean to kill us after all?

Kayleen stared in the general direction of Islandia. “They’re coming. Soon. I feel it, like there’s a shaking in the air. Maybe this morning.” She took my hand and squeezed it. “Come with me. Let’s get out of this cave and head down the High Road. Not all the way, but down to View Bend.” She licked her lips. “Maybe we can see the skimmers in time to warn people.”

Liam said, “We should bring food and water.”

“I’ll get it.” I turned toward the makeshift communal kitchen.

Sky and Sasha were setting up for the group breakfast: dried apples from our stores, dried djuri jerky, and a plethora of fresh berries gathered the day before from high up along the ridges. As Sky bent down to set the food out, her long dark braids periodically swept at the table like little brooms. She looked up as I came near. “What can I get you?”

“Some of all of that, and water.” I looked from Sky to Sasha, making sure I had both of their attention. “Kayleen thinks they might come today.”

Sky frowned at me. “That’s not the first time she’s said so.”

I hoped they weren’t joining the community of skeptics. “Please stay alert. We need you all to worry even if some of the townies won’t.”

“We will,” Sasha said. “You can count on us.”

I loved her for her loyalty.

Sky began to gather berries into a soft bed of leaves, and I chose three strips of jerky from the smallish pile on the table. Supplies were already dwindling. “How are you holding up?” I asked them.