*Mama, can you hear me?*
*Wha . . . Tad? Is that you?*
*Gareth said I can talk to you if I don’t make you scared.*
*You are not scaring me, at least not now. Are you well? I miss you so much.*
Gareth pulled back until he barely sensed them, giving them all the privacy possible, but still protecting both from allowing their thoughts to escape into the general din of the world where they might be detected.
He turned his attention back to the conversation when he heard Amy tell him she was on a boat along with the rest of the family. Then he withdrew again. He’d speak with Sara when he determined it was safe to do so. The evil mind was probably out there searching for him at this instant, but it wouldn’t know of Tad.
The entire family was safely on the ship heading for Vespa. If there were any ships sailing to explore and search Bitters Island, they would find it abandoned with no way of determining where the people had fled. The preparations he’d made thirty years ago would give them a safe haven, at least for a while. The farm was large, the workers few, but the managers knew that the terms of their employment were that people might show up. There were housing and food waiting.
Over the years, he’d made sure all was well planned. There was even a cover story about a devastating fire that caused the family to relocate. Of course, that original story had been more convincing when the family consisted of four. Then ten. Now it was far larger, but he would use his powers to convince those on nearby farms that it was normal.
He listened to Tad tell Amy of his adventures, so far. Amy told of what the family was doing, and of the dissension within the family over leaving Bitters Island. However, a family meeting was called, and Sara explained the dangers of remaining, convincing all to travel with her. Gareth was relieved that he hadn’t been part of that, but Sara had insisted he leave. She would handle the family while Gareth went in search of whoever killed Cinder and Gareth’s father.
They talked until the sun settled over the tops of the trees and the air turned chilly. Gareth let them be. If nothing else, Tad was learning how to control his mind. Hopefully, Amy learned that Gareth was trying to help and protect her son.
Ann, much to her dislike, stayed close to the other boy, avoiding his eyes when he opened them. She kept her pouch of herbs nearby, ready to stuff his mouth full if needed. She had not cleaned or medicated any of the cuts, scrapes, or wounds since the night before when she had touched his mind. Instead of asking her, Gareth decided to do it himself.
He kept a mental watch on Tad while also listening to the other boy’s mind and keeping all thoughts private and limited to their clearing. The boy weighed nothing when he lifted him and carried him to the edge of the stream. Setting him down on the sand with his feet in the water, Gareth began splashing handfuls of water on his legs and washing them.
Ann passed them and dropped soap and medicine to treat the wounds. She acted as if they fell from her hand unbidden as she gathered more firewood from the tangle at the bend of the stream.
Several of the smaller wounds had formed scabs, a good sign of healing. More were not as infected or swelled as the day before. Gareth pulled the clothing off of him and found no new flea bites. The lye soap had killed the few left on him, as well as the lice and other crawlies.
He started with the hair and soaped everything until he even had soap between the toes. Then he rinsed and dressed him. The boy remained as still as a corpse.
When Gareth sat him beside the fire, Ann asked, “That is all wasted effort if you have to kill him.”
“I don’t plan to kill him.”
Ann raised her eyes to meet his. “Will you ever be able to trust him?”
“No.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Gareth couldn’t fully answer Ann’s next question. He didn’t believe he could ever trust the malnourished boy, but what choice did he have? Casting one last look at him, Gareth went to the stream and the boulder Tad sat upon.
“Tell your mother that you have to leave her for now, but since you both know how to touch minds you will do it again, soon.”
Tad screwed up his face, “Aw, do I have to?”
Gareth laughed. He had expected no less a protest. “Yes.”
A short while later, after a gentle suggestion from Gareth, both boys were fast asleep. Gareth watched the fire instead of talking. Ann’s question had upset him because she was exactly right. Could he ever trust the boy? If not, what were the risks? If he relaxed for a moment ten years from now would the boy seize the opportunity and slaughter Gareth or one of his loved ones? How could he know for sure?
With Ann’s questioning eyes still on him, he reached out and touched the mind of Blackie for an instant, telling him that he needed to relocate further away in the morning. Then he found Sara and assured her things were going well, but did not mention much of what he was finding. She told him that after the disappointment from learning the news, the family pulled together and accepted their fate. Most had already speculated or suspected what was happening.
When Gareth abruptly left the island and word of his father’s death, not to mention the death of Cinder, many started packing. Sara relayed several small incidents; the tears at sailing away from the only home many of them knew and the surprisingly general feeling of adventure of going somewhere new.
*Gareth?*
He told her he loved her but had to leave. Quickly, he touched the mind seeking his. It was the Brother who had helped raise and educate him. Gareth said, “Can you talk?”
*At least for a while. Can you shield our conversation from all others?*
“That is being done. I understand that the Brotherhood and King have come to terms on an agreement concerning me. The Brotherhood is at every bend of the road searching for me.”
*And for another.*
“That is the reason I am here and why I have contacted you,” Gareth explained, making no excused for the thirty years since their last conversation. “I need your help.”
*I suspect that we need the help of each other.*
“You always were one step ahead of me.”
*Except for the time you chose to escape.*
Gareth chuckled to himself. Escape was not the word he’d choose for being carried by a dragon across the mountains and dropped into the ocean. It had not even entered his mind that such a thing could happen, let alone that it would to him.
“The angry new voice you hear. Tell me about it.” Gareth said.
*We believe it is the voice of one ill. Tainted, is perhaps a better description.*
“Would evil, demented, or mad also apply?”
*Perhaps our description is too weak. Our consensus is that it is the mind of an untrained youth, but a strong mind. We speculate that the mind could not have survived as an infant or toddler. However, we also sense that it is so warped that it may have destroyed the mind of a father or mother, or both, perhaps over something as minor as a slap on the wrist.*
“That is similar to my guesses. Have you come to the conclusion that it is out of control and a menace to all? It must die?”