The Dove (Prophecy Series) (22 page)

She moaned. “They lived through Firewalker and then died like that? It isn’t right. It isn’t right.”

Adam shrugged. “Life isn’t fair. Why then should death be any different?”

His words struck her as cold, but when she looked at them, she remembered what the existence of their life had been like before, and realized they were right. Nothing was fair. People are born. People die. It’s what they do and how they do it in between those times that matters.

“You are right. I’m sorry. It was just a shock. But you are sure Tyhen and Yuma are safe?”

“Yes, we are certain,” Evan said.

“Good. Then we go.”

Once they exited the rubble, they began counting off the names of the servants who’d gone inside, making sure everyone was present.

As predicted, Cayetano immediately saw the blood on Singing Bird’s leg and stopped everything to make sure she wasn’t seriously injured.

“I am fine,” Singing Bird said and smiled as she stroked the side of his face.

He knew he should not have let her go inside on her own, but after a look at the cut, took her at her word.

“Is this my pack?” he asked as Adam handed it over.

Singing Bird nodded.

He slipped his arms through the straps, shifted it one way and then another until it felt comfortable on his back and then turned to the vast number of people awaiting his word.

They were scattered around the grounds of the palace and all the way down the hill, carrying only what they’d been able to rescue from the fire. His warriors had retrieved plenty of weapons, but it was not the way he’d planned their exit.

He turned to the twins.

“Is there more to know?”

“There will be more shaking, but nothing like before.”

He looked down into the city and tried not to think of what was gone. They’d lost so much already, but nothing could matter but people. Everything else could be rebuilt.

A few more people emerged from the jungle. They’d been there when the earthquake began. There were more wails and more cries of disbelief when they realized what was lost but were soon calmed by the realization that they were lucky to still be breathing.

“Adam, send the signal. We leave now.”

Adam pulled the Conch shell out of his pack one last time then blew it, sending the signal they’d been waiting for.

People began getting to their feet and gathering up their things, and when the chief lifted an arm into the air, swung it South, and started walking, they followed. There was no need to look back. Naaki Chava was already gone.

****

Wesley Two Bears trip to the river was uneventful, but upon arrival he found two large water birds feeding in the shallows where he usually tossed out his line, so he moved a short distance downstream. He had just thrown his line into the water when he heard what sounded like an explosion.

Startled, he turned toward the city as the big birds took flight. They were in a panic to be airborne and he was focused on the people he could see who were running, and he didn’t see the birds flying toward him until it was too late.

The largest bird flew into the side of his head as it took to the air; knocking him off his feet. There was an intense pain and a loud snap as his hip gave way. He fell only inches from the water, unable to move and in terrible pain.

He shouted for help, but there were so many people screaming and yelling that they did not hear him. When the ground began to shake, it threw the water up into his face. He tried to crawl away, but every time he would move, he would faint from the pain, only to be awakened by the water sloshing in his face.

The last time he passed out, the water kept splashing, and his face was underwater and so he drowned.

After the shaking stopped, the water returned to its normal place. Smoke was blowing in Wesley Two Bears’ face as he lay near the river’s edge, his fishing pole crumpled beneath him.

His fishing trip was over.

****

Little Mouse was halfway up the mountain looking for fever root when the loud boom sounded. Startled by the noise, her first thought was that this was it. The mountain was going to die and she was on it. But then the top did not come off and there was no fire shooting into the air. Before she had time to rejoice, the ground began to shake, and she dropped to her belly and grabbed hold of the earth, begging and screaming at it to be still.

But the earth did not heed her cry and kept shaking and toppling trees, rolling rocks, sending all the birds in flight and every animal in the jungle into a race to get away. When the tree beside her cracked at the roots and began to fall, she knew she should have been running. But by the time the thought went through her head, the tree was down and she had been knocked unconscious by one of the limbs.

It was the smell of smoke that woke her, which made her panic. She didn’t know where she was or what had happened, but she didn’t want to burn up. She pushed and shoved at the out-flung limbs until she made her way out from under the tree, then dragged herself up to a standing position.

Her head was bleeding, her right knee and left arm were throbbing, and the smoke was so thick it made her gag. She stumbled and staggered on her way downhill. All she wanted to do was get back to Naaki Chava. Someone would help her there.

But after only a few minutes of walking she emerged into a clearing and looked down into the valley, expecting to see the city below, but it was gone. All of it! Gone! Reduced to piles of burning rubble!

“No,” she said and started walking. “Noo!” she shouted as she lengthened her stride. “No, no, no!” she screamed as she began to run.

But it changed nothing. No matter how fast she ran, it was all too late. Her city was in ashes. The people were gone, and there wasn’t a living soul in sight. She forgot about her injuries. She was immune to all the pain. She just ran and ran and ran until she reached the first pile of smoking embers, then stopped, heart pounding and choking on smoke.

“Hello? I am Little Mouse! I am here! I am here.”

Smoke drifted between her line of vision and the city, and when it cleared, she looked up, straight toward the palace. She could still see the shape of it and her heart thumped once in thanksgiving.

That was where they’d gone! Everyone must be up at the palace! Yes! That was it! The city caught fire, so they ran, and they are safe with Cayetano and Singing Bird.

It didn’t register that scenario would have been impossible. The city has been too large for all the people to fit into the palace, even if it had been built for the chief of Naaki Chava. She needed that fantasy to get her through the city, and when the wind blew burning embers into her hair and on her clothes, she put them out with her hands and kept moving.

She didn’t know until she reached the palace that one of her sandals was missing and the other nearly burned through on her foot. She reached down and pulled it off, then tossed it aside without care. They would find her another pair. They would put medicine on her burns.

Blind to all the debris lying in the doorway, she walked around it and stepped into the first hall.

“Hello. I am Little Mouse. I have been hurt. Will someone help?”

A bird suddenly flew out of a doorway down the hall and came toward her, aiming for the light. She dropped to her knees as it sailed over her. She was shaking now so hard she could not stand. Shock was setting in.

“This is me! I am Little Mouse! Someone come help me! Help me!”

The words echoed. A wind whistled a warning as it moved through the palace.

She rocked back on her heels and began pulling at her hair.

“This is Little Mouse! I am here! I am here!”

A monkey dropped down from an opening in the ceiling and stared at her for a moment before scampering away.

She looked up, saw the clear blue sky where it shouldn’t have been, and then saw the palace for what it was. Fresh blood was running down her face now; but not from the cut on her head. It was from the places where she’d pulled out her hair, and in that moment, her reality shifted.

“Little Mouse helped you,” she mumbled as she staggered to her feet. “Little Mouse always came when you called, but you did not wait for her.”

She looked around, trying to orient herself within the palace, then stumbled down the hall toward the place where they made the food. She was hungry and she was thirsty. And this would be home.

While Cayetano and Singing Bird led their people South, Tyhen and Yuma were looking for a safe path to continue their journey North.

They had been on the move for almost two hours, and as expected, the farther downriver they went, the less water there was in the riverbed. When they finally came to a place where the water was gone, they stopped to survey the sight. There was nothing left to see but dead fish, a few water snakes still writhing in the mud and a couple of stranded turtles. It was the absence of crocodiles that made it even more appealing.

Tyhen had dropped back a couple of paces earlier to talk with Nona, who was now sporting two black eyes from the blow across her nose, so Yuma began checking out the site on his own. He saw what appeared to be a good place to cross and went closer to check it out. The drop-off wasn’t steep, but there was no way to tell how deep the mud was but to walk through it.

Both of the Nantay brothers, along with some of the elders, came running when they saw him start down the slope.

“What do you think?” Montford asked.

Yuma pointed. “I don’t see any crocs anywhere. Can’t tell if there are any sinkholes until we walk it.”

All of a sudden Tyhen was behind him, then grabbing his arm. “You can’t cross here. Get back.”

Yuma turned around. “Why not?”

“Something is going to happen. We can’t cross this. There isn’t time.”

Yuma frowned. “But we have to cross sometime or we’ll wind up back where we started.”

She held firm. “We can’t cross here.”

Johnston nodded. “Then we won’t,” he said. “I’ll tell the others to keep walking.”

“And stay away from the edge. Tell them not to get too close to the edge,” she added.

Yuma’s frown deepened. “What did you see?”

“A wall of water.”

He shuddered. “You mean—”

Before he could finish what he’d started to say, the ground began to shake. It wasn’t the first time they’d felt tremors since the big quake had ended, but it was the biggest one by far.

A few people began to weep and threw up their hands, beseeching the Old Ones to spare them once more.

“Get away from the riverbank!” Tyhen yelled, and people responded without question.

The ground shook more, and the people dropped to their knees and threw themselves on the ground. There was nowhere to go but down, and they were too weary to run.

The aftershock continued to rumble like an angry old woman who’d been disturbed from her sleep. By the time the tremor stopped, nerves were frazzled and tempers were short.

“We want to leave this place!” a woman cried. “Why can’t we cross?”

Once the complaint had been made, another followed.

“I’m not afraid!” a young man cried.

Tyhen turned around and saw it was Nona’s husband who was speaking.

“You can’t cross here!” she shouted. “Stop yelling and listen! It’s already coming!”

The New Ones listened. At first they heard nothing, and then when they did, they didn’t recognize the sound.

“What is that?” Yuma asked as the whistling sound grew louder and louder until it had turned into a rush like the sound of an oncoming wind.

“I think the second quake sealed up the hole in the riverbed above us. I think the whirlpool is gone,” she said.

They were all looking upstream when a wall of water appeared; rolling so fast it was out of its banks. People began screaming and running back into the jungle to keep from being swept into the flood.

Yuma grabbed Tyhen’s hand, but he didn’t need to urge her. She was already moving.

After the first wave passed, the water quickly found its level. It was still moving at breakneck speed, but now contained back where it belonged. The people stared in disbelief, well aware she had just saved their lives again.

Nona was one of the first to come looking for Tyhen, and she was dragging her husband with her. As soon as they saw her, Nona headed for her with intent, her husband still in tow.

“My husband has something he wishes to say.”

When the young man ducked his head and looked away, Nona gave his arm a sharp tug. “You had plenty to say a few minutes ago. Say it now or you will be the one cooking our meals on this trip.”

The young man sighed. “I am sorry I questioned you, Tyhen. I am sorry I doubted you. I am a fool.”

Tyhen bit her lip to keep from smiling. “I doubt you are a fool and you are forgiven. This is a frightening time for all of us.”

He nodded quickly and then grabbed his wife and walked away.

Tyhen sighed, and then in a rare moment, put her arms around Yuma’s neck and hid her face against his shoulder.

Yuma could feel the tension in her body. Her muscles were trembling almost as much as the ground on which they stood. He cupped the back of her head with one hand and stroked the place between her shoulder blades with the other. They were all dirty and sweating. His belly was growling with hunger, so he imagined hers was, too, and yet she never complained. Once she’d asked him to help make her tough, but he didn’t think she could be any tougher. She was barely into her sixteenth year, but she was handling this burden like a warrior.

“I, too, need to apologize for questioning your advice. I am sorry. Will you forgive me?” he whispered.

“There is no need. I do not want an apology from you. You are my mate, my equal. We think and say what we feel to each other without care that it might offend.”

He sighed, then wrapped her up in his arms and gave her a gentle squeeze.

“I hear.”

She leaned back in his arms to look at his face.

“We need to find a place for early camp. Everyone is tired and hurt and hungry. Tomorrow we will find a place to cross. Today needs to come to an end.”