Thunder (12 page)

Suddenly she regained her focus and scrambled from the writhing snake to Amaryllis.

The girl lay silent and still. Selah grabbed her up in her arms. “Amaryllis, please open your eyes.” She cradled the girl's head in her arms and wailed. The girl's head flopped from side to side as she shook her. Selah put her ear to her chest. Nothing. No heartbeat. No breath.

“Mother, help me!” she screamed. “What do I do?”

She rocked on her knees as she knelt in front of the pale, lifeless body covered in blood. She heard her mother's voice in her head.
Pound.

She'd seen it done before. She clasped her hands together and brought them down on the girl's chest. “Breathe!”

Nothing.

She raised her hands again, tears streaming down her face. “Amaryllis! Breathe!” She thumped her clenched hands onto the girl's chest again. Amaryllis's torso jerked up as her mouth opened in a gasp and then another. Her arms flailed as she coughed.

Selah grabbed her and continued to cry, this time for joy. She did it! Amaryllis opened her eyes and whimpered as she
clutched at Selah's arms. The color slowly poured back into her face.

“Girl, don't you ever scare me like that again.” Selah tried to smile through the tears but her trembling arms were giving her away. She hadn't failed. The boys were wrong. She wasn't useless or a child anymore.

Amaryllis smiled weakly. “You saved me.”

Selah managed to carry Amaryllis back to camp. The girl lay weak and disoriented. As Selah washed off the blood she discovered several puncture wounds in the child's foot and hands.

Amaryllis managed to tell her the snake had surprised her while she lay in wait to shoot a quail rooting in the underbrush. Once the snake bit down on her foot, Amaryllis tried to pry its mouth open. Her hands earned puncture wounds from the sharp teeth. The snake was faster at winding than Amaryllis was at getting away. Then Selah arrived.

Selah figured the snake had been stalking the same bird. That was the last time Amaryllis would hunt alone. She wondered if Mother ever thought about Dane falling into this kind of trouble. She'd never mentioned it. Suddenly Selah wanted to go home and warn her.

With her wounds cleaned and bandaged, Amaryllis snuggled down next to Selah to sleep. Feeling the girl's breathing against her chest gave Selah a feeling of peace that she didn't quite understand. Was it about the girl or herself?

She'd expended a lot of energy and craved rest, but she was determined not to fall asleep again. As she thought through the events and what she needed to accomplish, she heard the familiar sound of a wagon approaching the station.

She scrambled to the lookout point and peered through the trees. The first person she spotted was Bodhi. Her heart fluttered. He looked sound and no worse for the travel. In fact, he looked remarkably bronzed and fit, as though he'd spent the day exercising and playing in the sun.

On the other hand, her brothers looked like they'd ridden hard. Both boys were sweaty and their clothes dusty. Selah wrinkled her nose. She could smell their sweat. They both needed a bath and a change of clothes, which wouldn't happen anytime soon. She wondered if it was possible to smell them before she heard them coming. A giggle escaped her lips but their camp was far enough away to be safe.

Bodhi raised his head. She gasped. That same response had happened several times now. She was sure he could hear her. Dare she test it?

“Can you hear me?” She spoke in almost a whisper.

He nodded. Her eyes widened. It had to be a fluke.

“Do you know who I am?”

He nodded again. Her mouth opened in surprise.

“Are you hurt?”

He shook his head.

“What are you shaking your head about?” Raza hopped up in the back of the wagon and grabbed Bodhi by the shackles, dragging him out of the wagon by his feet.

Bodhi didn't answer, but was able to keep his torso in an upright position as Raza dragged him to the end of the wagon bed.

Cleon hopped in the wagon behind him and pushed him to the ground. Bodhi landed on his feet. Selah wanted to pummel those boys for the way they were treating him, but
she admitted her behavior might have been as bad several months ago. She wondered about others she'd helped send to their doom. Would she be called to answer for it someday?

Too many questions and not enough answers.

Selah lay in wait and watched them unload supplies and build a campfire. She feared talking to Bodhi and agitating her brothers. She was so close to putting her plan in motion. Better leave well enough alone and not create problems.

She watched Bodhi as he ate. She watched him when he closed his eyes. She could have closed her own eyes and still seen him. She memorized his eyes, those long lashes, his hair, and the way he breathed. She shook her head to dismiss the thoughts. Not part of the plan.

Amaryllis stirred. A soft moan escaped her lips.

Bodhi looked in her direction, concern etched on his face.

“It's all right,” Selah whispered.

He put his head back down, and she scrambled away from the lookout to tend Amaryllis, who was sitting up rubbing her chest. Selah hugged her. The girl moaned again.

Selah released her. “Are you okay?”

The girl grimaced. “My ribs hurt. That stupid snake tried to squeeze the life out of me.”

Now it was Selah's turn to make a face. Part of the pain was probably from her pounding on the poor girl, but she wasn't going to bring that up. Let the snake take the credit.

“My brothers have set up camp, and my friend is still with them. I'm going to get him free as soon as they go to sleep.”

Amaryllis stuck out her chin. “Those boys are your brothers? Why don't you just tell them to let your friend go?”

“It doesn't work that way. I'll explain it to you someday.”

“But they're your brothers. Don't they love you?”

“Of course they do . . . sorta. Well, it's a long story. I promise to tell you but not now. We need to get ready.” There were so many things she wanted to wait to talk about. Maybe waiting would make the hurts not so fresh, and she'd have more logical answers. And maybe she just wasn't ready to talk or think about them.

Twice Selah nodded off but fierce determination overrode the chronic need for sleep. The blue sky had dissolved into blackness, exposing the stars. The boys had bedded down. The closer Bodhi's freedom came, the more her heart pounded. She felt the same high from running.

Energy surged through her body, filling her chest with thunder. She caught herself rubbing her scar.

The fire crackled and danced, sending off tiny embers that floated on the air currents like fireflies. She watched her brothers' faces in the shadow of the flames. Both had fallen into their regular pattern of sleep. It was time.

Selah pulled the single key from her pocket and held it tightly in trembling fingers. She crept forward. The roaring fire burned through a knot in a piece of wood and flames popped.

She flinched as a trail of embers exploded from the spot and floated away. One landed on Cleon, who slept too close to the fire. She gasped.
Please
don't let it set his cover on fire.
The ember winked out.

Selah didn't realize she was holding her breath until she
exhaled. She continued the slow move forward. Reaching the last tree, she paused. She was about to step into the open. Were the boys really asleep? Or were they lying in wait? She had no choice, it was now or never.

She put her foot forward. An owl screeched. She froze.

S
elah's heart pounded against her ribs. A rabbit screamed as the owl claimed its prey. Now that every nerve stood on edge, Selah got a burst of adrenaline, and it might carry her through this operation without her hands shaking.

She set her sights on the tree and concentrated on stepping lightly. As she approached, Bodhi raised his head. At least she wouldn't startle him.

Selah crept up behind the tree and pressed her back into the bark. The boys were still asleep. They normally slept like the dead, and she hoped tonight was no exception. Lowering herself to the ground, she reached to unlock the shackle holding Bodhi to the tree.

He looked around the tree at her and smiled. The muscles in his shoulders flexed as his hands closed into tight fists and turned outward. The center link in the shackles stretched as he pulled, until the shackles separated and the chains fell away.

Selah gasped, furrowing her brow. Why was she trying to
save him when he could do it himself? She tossed the key to the dirt.

Bodhi quietly pulled apart the loops holding his ankles and gathered the open ends in his hand. He laid the shackles gently on the ground. Selah motioned him to follow. They tiptoed away and disappeared into the trees.

She led him back to Amaryllis. Happy to see the child where she'd left her, Selah beamed. Not too bad for her first plan. She'd feared she'd get Bodhi's part of the action completed only to find Amaryllis dead or dragged off by marauders.

He looked down at the girl and knelt. “She's hurt.”

“A python attacked her this afternoon,” Selah said. She waited for him to chastise her like her parents would for letting Dane get injured. Apparently he didn't care.

“Can she travel?” he asked. He stood and looked around the woods.

She bristled with annoyance. He could have at least asked about the girl's condition. “Yes, but she can't travel fast. We need to get away from here before the boys call in Mountain security to help find you. And another thing! If you could break the chains, why didn't you get away before I had to spend all that time trying to get you free?” she asked, hands on her hips.

“I was letting them carry me north since I don't know the landscape,” Bodhi said. “Why'd you want to free me anyway? You wanted me as a prisoner too. But I'm having impressions of you and they don't seem to make sense.”

Selah raised a hand. “We'll have time for that later. We need to move.” She had wanted to claim her rightful catch, but now, since she could never go back to prove her prow
ess to Father—well, her stepfather—the catching part had lost its appeal. Rather than needing this man to appease her stepfather, she needed him to find her real father.

“I'll go away. You'll be safe.”

“No!” Selah panicked. “No, I won't. I need your help.”

He stared at her. “Is this a trick? I noticed you don't have any means of confining me.”

“Trust me. Please. This is no trick. We have to be far away by the time the boys wake up. Then I'll have time to explain this very long story.” Selah scrambled to snatch up the few items laid out around Amaryllis. She stuffed them in the backpack, handed it to Bodhi, and helped Amaryllis struggle to her feet.

The girl's legs wobbled like those of the new colts Selah used to watch at home. She put an arm under Amaryllis to give her support.

Bodhi looked at the backpack in his hand and shoved it back at Selah.

Selah huffed as she struggled to hold the bag and the girl. “Well, I at least thought you would help since I set you free.”

Bodhi glared at her, reached down, and scooped Amaryllis up in his arms. Both girls gasped.

Bodhi tipped his head. “Where can't they follow?”

Selah thought a minute then pursed her lips. “It's not the direction I wanted to go, but we'll be safe until Amaryllis heals.”

Bodhi carried the child with no effort, even for the fast pace Selah wanted to travel. She seemed rather agile, and he liked
watching her movements. But he didn't like her leading him back to the south. Why should he trust her? He decided to play along since she didn't seem strong enough to present a threat. Although it could probably get him in more trouble. Her seeming innocence had gotten him in this trouble in the first place.

He'd heard Selah telling her brothers he was her catch. He bristled. He was an Elite and an immortal, but he wasn't anyone's
catch
.

He'd shaken off the lethargy of the voyage but still operated at a loss. Normally, when he threw open thoughts, it brought a flurry of responses or walls where thoughts were blocked. But there were zero responses, and the two times he'd felt any mental kickback had been first from Selah's father and second from Selah herself. But neither of them were Landers. Very strange place indeed. He tired of trying to make contact with others.

Bodhi figured the more interaction with these Mundanes, the more information he'd glean on what kind of world non-immortals could throw and receive thoughts in. It might be advantageous to stay with this girl for a while.

He looked to the sky. “Why are we going south? I need to go north.”

Selah walked along the edge of the woods. “Amaryllis is hurt. She needs time to heal before I can force her into a long trek. Your needs are not important right now, and neither are mine.”

He glanced down at the child in his arms. She was seriously injured—he could feel her broken aura seeping into his arms. He wondered if a banflux would work here. He stopped.

Selah was walking a few yards away but turned and hurried back. “What are you doing? We need to keep moving. My brothers could come anytime.”

“Your brothers were interested in bio-coin for the animals in crates. They will continue north.”

“Animals? What animals? Their main business was turning you in for the bounty.”

“Rabbits. Vicious ones at that.” Bodhi had never seen animals so deadly. Some of the rabbits had fangs an inch long.

Selah squinted in the sunlight. “You're lying. Neither of them would have anything to do with rabbits. They won't even come near them when I'm cooking them.”

“No reason to lie,” Bodhi said. He hadn't heard any other details and he didn't care if she believed him or not. This relationship would be short-lived. He'd probably run across a half dozen others like her on his quest to find answers.

“Let's move, mister,” Selah said. “We still have a ways to go, and we're burning daylight.”

Her way of talking amused him. She sounded bossy, but he could feel her frightened thoughts. He'd never noticed centorums to be such a contradiction. But then he'd never had the ability to read their thoughts either.

“I need to concentrate,” he said. He pressed his arms tightly to his sides.

Selah stared at him, hands on hips. “I said we—”

Bodhi's arms began to shimmer like a heat illusion. He watched as the shimmer slid down his arms and engulfed the child sleeping in his arms. Yes, this could work.

“What are you doing to her?” Selah charged him. As she touched the shimmer, it threw her back. She stumbled but
regained her footing and stared, wide-eyed. “Bodhi, answer me. Please don't hurt her. She's only a child.”

No answer. Her hand went to her mouth and she started sobbing. “Bodhi, let her go!” she screamed.

Broken bones. Bruised organs. A small internal laceration from constriction. None life-threatening. Bodhi expended the energy to knit the healings. The glow faded. He pulled in a long breath of air.

“She'll heal faster now,” he said. He wasn't turning into one of those do-gooders like at home. He just did this to advance his own cause. He figured the sooner he could get them moving in the direction he wanted to go, the better off he'd be.

Selah pulled back and waved her hand in a circle. “What was that? We need to talk about . . . whatever that was . . .”

“She needs time to absorb sullage.” Bodhi looked at the child. Her breathing had leveled from short, halting pulls of air. She slept quietly in his arms.

“I've never heard of you people doing all this strange stuff.” Selah paced, running her hand over the top of her head.

“Stop calling us ‘you people.' It sounds rude. Besides, it was just low-level healing. Among us there are different sets of abilities.”

Selah rolled her eyes. “Oh, is that all. What other abilities—” Her head perked up. “I hear a wagon coming.”

Bodhi glanced at her sharply. “I heard it, but how did you?”

“That's another one of those conversations for later.” She led them down the slope and onto the road.

“Why are we on the road? Could it be your brothers?” Bodhi asked. He looked up the road to the north. The wagon would be here in a minute.

Selah stopped. “You said my brothers were continuing north. Have you changed your mind about that bit of information?”

Bodhi lowered his head. “I'm not used to people questioning me. I thought we were traveling near the forest edge to use it for cover. Now you hear a wagon and you're on the road. I'm trying to understand.”

“The wagon sounds heavy and the horses' gait is too long to be my brothers'. And it's going in our direction. We could use the ride. I'm tired of walking.”

Bodhi watched her. After a couple hours of walking with her, he'd grown accustomed to her voice. The tone was pleasant, even when she was angry. And her posturing, all fire and ice, made her desirable. But he needed to back off those feelings. This could be a test. Did he want to toe the mark to get home, or act on his feelings?

He and Selah turned toward the sound. A pair of draft horses trotted around the bend, pulling a wagon with two large wine casks strapped in the back.

Cleon flopped onto his back, yawned, and rubbed the sleep from his eyes as the sun pushed over the horizon. He rolled to face the tree.

Bolting upright, he searched to his left and right. He just knew somehow this was going to be his fault. “Raza! Where's the Lander?”

Raza mumbled something indistinguishable and pulled his covering over his head.

“Get up!” Cleon gave Raza a kick in the leg and scrambled to his feet.

Raza jerked awake, flailing to escape his blanket. He scrambled to the tree and searched the underbrush. Curses filled the air.

“I told you to check him one last time before we went to sleep. This is your fault.” Raza glared at Cleon.

Cleon yawned again, stretching his limbs to wake up. Good. He felt sorry for the guy. He had been heroic in saving their sister, and they'd rewarded him by capturing him. “I did check him again when you fell asleep. He couldn't have gotten away. Did he just pull himself and the chain around behind the tree?”

Raza held up the two ends of the shackles. “Does this look like there's anyone on the other end?”

“No, I guess not. What happened?”

“I don't—” Raza spewed out another curse and bent to the ground. His face turned crimson. He lifted his head and screamed, “Selah, I'm going to kill you!”