Venture Untamed (The Venture Books) (21 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

The feeble winter sun was just rising in the gray sky, pale and yellow-white. Snow had fallen overnight. Venture stood on the driveway of the Big House and sneaked a wistful look up at Jade’s window. Her heavy winter drapes were drawn tight against the cold. He shook off a shiver. He’d gotten up well before dawn, and the frigid air was burning his sleepy eyes. The few things he owned had been carefully packed the night before in the leather bag Justice used to use when he was visiting from Calm Harbor, the same worn bag that had once belonged to their father.

He hadn’t said anything to Grant about what had happened at Beamer’s the day before. He’d wanted to tell him, to warn him that there might be trouble, but then he’d thought that was Jade’s place, not his. It was one of the many things that had kept him up last night. Half the time he felt the weight of guilt, that he and his crazy dreams were going to cost the Fieldstones more than they cost him, and that Grant trusted him and would want to know; the other half understood that Jade had made her own choices, and that Grant was her father, and she’d want her friend to respect that. So he’d just thanked Grant for his support and promised to represent his house well, with good conduct and hard work.

He’d said his good-byes—all but one. He sighed and regarded Able and Justice and Grant standing next to the wagon on the driveway, outside the carriage house. The carriage house was the sole addition to the original structure. Although it couldn’t pretend to match, it fit the Big House with the resemblance of an offspring. The three men, however, didn’t fit together at all, though each of them had been a father to Venture in one way or another.

“Venture!” Jade’s voice called out, sweet with half-concealed desperation.
 

He turned around to see her, cloakless and flushed, standing before the double doors of the front entrance. “Miss,” he answered with a little bow and a sad smile.

He glanced from her to the men. Able was busy putting on the wagon’s winter runners, for he had supplies to pick up in town after he dropped Venture off at Beamer’s. Justice was trying to help while keeping an eye on Venture now that Jade had shown up. Grant was offering advice and trying not to be entirely useless. Venture tossed his bag into the wagon box, next to Lightning, who was barking eagerly. Then he jogged up the front walk to Jade.

“You weren’t going to leave without saying good-bye to me, were you?” Jade shook back a would-be tear along with her long, disheveled hair, and threw her shoulders back proudly.

“I didn’t think you were up yet, Miss.”

“I wasn’t. I overslept.”

She’d overslept because she’d been up most of the night crying; that much was obvious. Her eyes pleaded with him, their centers greener than ever, surrounded by redness.

From the open doorway, Rose called, “For pity’s sake, Jade, come back in here and shut the door, please!”

“The men’ll call us when they’re ready to go, Miss,” Connie said, appearing behind Jade. “So we can all come out and wave.”

Mrs. Bright nudged Connie back. “Let her be,” she whispered.

Connie caught the meaningful look Mrs. Bright was shooting her, and shut the door, sparing Rose the draft without dragging Jade back inside with her.

Venture wanted to say something to Jade. Something about yesterday, about who she was to him, who she’d always be, but even though the women had left them alone, the men remained just a few paces away.

Jade fiddled with her unbrushed hair. It looked as though she’d pulled on the first dress she saw—from the way it hung crookedly on her shoulders, without even fastening it up the side—and rushed to find him before it was too late. Venture couldn’t help being pleased by this, silly as it was. And the way she tugged at herself self-consciously—so unlike her, not because it was unladylike, but because she’d always had a confident lack of interest in worrying about the way she looked—he yearned to tell her what a beautiful mess she was.

Instead he said, “I’m glad you had the chance to see me off.”

Jade forgot about her hair and smiled. “I wish you all the best, Vent.”

“And you too, Miss.”

“You’ll be back soon, I hope.”

She hugged her arms to her and shivered, and he entertained a fleeting fantasy of putting her in his coat before he forced himself to focus and respond.

“Summer at the earliest. Maybe later.”

“I see. Well. We’ll all miss you, I’m sure.” Her face fell, and she looked down at her feet. Bare feet, pale and red-toed with the cold of the icy stoop.

“I’ll miss you too,” he whispered, purposely crossing the line of appropriate behavior with the deep sentiment of his tone. He paused, tempted to call her
Jadie
, but then he returned to his promise. “Miss Jade,” he finished unhappily.

“Good-bye, then.” Jade bit her lower lip, driving Venture mad with wanting to reach out for her.

All the doubts, which he’d struggled through the night to push down, came rushing back at him at once. He was too young. He was just a bondsman. He didn’t belong at Champions for so many reasons. He loved Twin Rivers, Beamer’s, the Fieldstones, Grace, even Justice. How was he going to make it through the most grueling training he’d ever experienced with only a tenuous friendship with Lance and Nick amid all the unfamiliarity?

Jadie
, he wanted to say.
Tell me you want me to stay, and I’ll stay. I can’t go off and leave you. I can’t do this. I can’t do this all alone.

“Vent,” Jade said.

He looked at her questioningly.

She reached for his collar, and her nimble fingers slid around his neck, under his scarf. He almost said something, almost reminded her that Justice was watching, that her father might be, too. But she found the leather cord and drew his pendant out from under his coat.
 

“God be with you,” she said, resting her hand over the pendant, against his chest, just for an instant.

As she pulled her hand back, Venture caught it briefly in his. It was trembling. Was he only imagining that it was more than just the cold?

“And with you,” he whispered.

 
He released her hand and she clutched her dress to her and hurried inside before he had a chance to do anything more foolish, before he could see her cry.

Justice gave him a knowing look as he returned to the wagon, then just sighed and pulled him into a last, brief embrace. Grant shook his hand and didn’t put him through any further good-byes. The wagon was ready, and down at Beamer’s a carriage was waiting for him to join the other boys on their five-day journey to Farview, home of Champions Center.

Able yelled for Bounty to run in and get the women. Venture climbed onto the wagon seat beside Able, and Lightning scrambled up beside him. He gave her a kiss on the soft spot between her eyes, then said good-bye to her too, and tossed her out, yelping. Herald, who’d come out with the women, tried to hold her back, but she growled at him and Jade ended up having to do it. Lightning knew better than to think she was going to get a ride into town. She sensed that this was more than a trip to town for Venture, or she wouldn’t have tried to get away with coming along as they careened along the slick, winding road down the hill, headed for the snow-covered roofs and puffing chimneys of Twin Rivers.

There was too much waving and weeping for Venture’s liking as they took off, but finally they were on the road and it was just him and Able. Just quiet. Then Able shifted in his seat, and Venture knew he was working on saying something. They were halfway down the hill when it came out.

“They’ll be just fine here. You have to do what you’re supposed to do. And this is what you’re meant to do, Vent.”

That was all. When they reached Beamer’s, Venture jumped out of the wagon and shrugged his shoulders up, pushing his collar higher around his neck against the cold. He shook Able’s hand and said yet another good-bye. Able gripped his hand extra tight, and then he let him go.

Lance left the huddle of boys in front of the center and approached Venture as he shouldered his bag. “Hey,” he said.

“Hey.” Venture gave Able a wave as he drove away. “Thanks for yesterday,” he said to Lance.

Lance shrugged. “It wasn’t right.”

Venture nodded. He shifted his bag. “Lance, about the tournament . . . I’m sorry.”

Lance shook his head. “You were right. You were better that day. But it was just one day, you know?”

There was a flash of challenge in Lance’s eye that made the corner of Venture’s mouth turn up. This was the Lance he knew. “I know. You’re a fighter.” Venture extended his hand. “Okay?”

Lance took it. “Okay.”

A hand clamped down on Venture’s tight woolen cap.
 

“Earnest.” He mustered a smile for his trainer. “You came to see us off?”

Earnest gave him a look that said he noticed the strain in the smile. “Come here.” He led Venture aside, away from the others. He shoved his gloved hands into his pockets and looked at Venture with dark, serious eyes. “What’s the matter?”

He’d had no intention of expressing any of his doubts aloud, but Earnest’s tone demanded it. “I only took second. I barely took second . . .”

“So now you don’t think you have what it takes?”

“No, it’s just . . .”

“Too soon?”

Venture nodded.

Earnest paused. Lance called to him and he waved him away. “You’re right, Vent. You’re only just getting started. I don’t know how tough those guys are going to be there. Maybe they’ll be good enough to let you know you’ve got a long way to go. But you’ll handle it. You’ll keep getting back up, because that’s what you do, Vent. It’s what you’ve always done, from the first time you stepped on that mat.” He nodded at the center behind them. “You kept getting back up, no matter what. You never gave up.”

Venture smiled a real smile. Get up, or give up. That would be his choice at Champions Center, just as it had been at Beamer’s.

“I won’t give up,” he promised. “I won’t stop until I’m Champion of All Richland.”

<<< End >>>

A Note from the Author

Thanks for giving Venture a try! If you enjoyed
Venture Untamed
, you can check out my other books in the series. Read on after the acknowledgments for a preview of the sequel,
Venture Unleashed
.
Venture Unbroken
, the third novel in the series, is coming September 15, 2012. Want to know when more books are available? Subscribe to my
e-mail list
. You can also visit
theventurebooks.com
, or
facebook.com/TheVentureBooks
.
 

I love to hear from readers! You can e-mail me at [email protected] if you like.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The ambitions, the struggles, and the triumphs of the fighters in the Venture books are inspired by the author’s involvement with combat sports. Eighteen years on the mat with talented young fighters have given R.H. Russell not only the experience to write about fighters in an authentic way, but a heart for the fighter in all of us.

The author also writes the Unicorns of the Mist series as R.R. Russell.
Wonder Light
(Sourcebooks 2013), the first of these novels for young readers, will be available in hardcover next spring.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’m so grateful for my teammates, who’ve laughed and cried and sweated with me, inspired me, and forgiven me throughout the years.

I’ve been surrounded by knowledgeable, generous people since the moment I first stepped on a mat. My first sensei, Eddie Stewart took me aside in his backyard dojo and told me he’d never give up on me. And my current teammates are always there to help me out. When I asked Jason Harai to help me come up with a good punishment for Beamer to put Venture through in chapter four, he came up with the perfect groundwork sequence, and Byron Redditt endured being the dummy as he demonstrated for me. P. Z. Mendiola helped me out with the peg board scene in chapter nineteen, and if he thought it was impossible, he never said so.

A special thanks to my first readers, who all gave me invaluable feedback. In 2006, Jason Harai, Byron Redditt, Jenny Coppens, and Steven Russell all read early drafts of what became the Venture books. And my son was the first to read this particular manuscript,
Venture Untamed
.
 

My mom instilled in me a love of books, and my practical-minded dad never told me that I should do something more sensible than writing and drawing.

My family has loved and supported me through all the ups and downs involved in getting my books written and published, from my beautiful daughter who’s grown up crawling around on the mat and scribbling on the backs of old drafts of Venture manuscripts, to my son—who’s somehow ended up teaching me more than I’ve taught him over the years—and who helped me out with the original cover. My spouse, who’s made all of this possible in so many ways, continues to make my life a great adventure.

I owe all of this and more to the Lord, the author of friendship and family, and the one who first used words and gave them power. He spoke the universe into existence, and he speaks to us still.

Venture Unleashed

CHAPTER ONE

Winter’s Third Month, 655 After the Founding

Venture jumped out of the carriage after the other boys from Beamer’s Center, onto a square paved in dark stone, which stretched from the road to the main building. The air was crisp and it felt so good to stand up, to really move again. Behind them, the sounds of the people of Farview coughing and calling their farewells as they hurried home at the end of the day weren’t so different from the noises he was accustomed to back home in Twin Rivers. But in front of them, Champions Center claimed several city blocks for its grounds, and the main building itself was like nothing Venture had seen outside of the capital. Three rectangular towers, five stories tall, joined a massive central section, whose three arched entrances each led to a different set of double doors.

The boys stared at it in stunned silence, smiled anxiously, and clutched their bags tighter.
 

Two men stepped out of the shadows of the central archway, into the waning winter daylight. One of them was small, probably a trainer. Venture almost dropped his bag when he saw the hulking, dark-haired figure next to him.