Ann had much of the food spread on a blanket, and she found two bundles wrapped in material. Inside were hard biscuits, the kind sailors take on voyages that last weeks or months. Each was thin, hard, and tasteless unless garlic, onion, or herbs were included in the dough before baking.
Similar biscuits had become a favorite of Gareth’s when he was young. If stored in a dry place he had food to look forward to during the long mountain winter where animals hibernated or hid, fruit and vegetables could not be found, and the biscuits had often been his only food. Over time, he’d come to enjoy them and during his time on Bitters Island, he’d often traded sailors for them. Sara discouraged the act, telling him he needed to eat a healthy diet. The pang of missing her was almost physical.
Ramos’ eyes were wide at the sight of all the food. Gareth reached for two biscuits and handed one to the boy. There were two tricks to eating them. Never hurry because they were so hard, and keep water nearby.
Managing to bite off a sliver, Gareth waited for it to soften in his mouth, finding that it contained garlic and at least one more spice he didn’t recognize but found he liked. Ramos did his best to take a large bite and when he failed he broke off a smaller piece by wriggling the biscuit up and down until it broke off.
Gareth sat and motioned for Ramos to join him. The boy looked wary but finally sat at the far edge of the blanket where Gareth’s fist wouldn’t reach him. Gareth said, “We have not had much time to talk.”
Ramos said nothing. His eyes looked for a way to escape as he chewed the biscuit.
Continuing, Gareth said, “I notice you are not scratching your head all the time. The medicine Ann put there killed the lice, but they can come back. Tell her if your head itches again and she will apply more soap.”
Ramos looked calmer until Tad ran up and leaped onto the blanket. Ann, understanding Gareth’s intent, took Tad’s hand and said, “You and I need to take a quick walk.”
“The sores on your legs and arms look better. I imagine they do not hurt like they did. When you finish that biscuit, there is more food for you. All you wish.”
The boy kept his eyes averted, but he gnawed on the biscuit until it was finished. Gareth didn’t speak again until he asked, “What else would you like to eat?” as he waved his arm to encompass all the food spread on the blanket.
“Water.”
“Me too,” he stood. “Let’s go to that little stream over there. He pointed down the slope and across the clearing.
They walked, Gareth in front and Ramos behind. Without preamble, Ramos said, “Belcher is going to kill you.”
“I know he’s going to try.”
“He kills everyone.”
“Not you. Not the others he brought with him.”
“There used to be more of us. There were three more.”
“He killed them?”
“Two. One died of sickness.”
Gareth didn’t want to push and make the boy stop talking. At the stream, he knelt and scooped water with his hand. The last of the biscuit softened enough to swallow. He scooped more water as he watched Ramos do the same from the corner of his eye.
They were within a step of each other. As they finished, Ramos gathered a round rock twice the size of his fist and tried to conceal it. Gareth turned away but watched from the corner of his eyes. He remained kneeling, feeling the damp of the ground beside the stream soak into the knee of his pants.
The rock fell back into the water. Ramos stood.
They walked back up the slope as if nothing had happened, but it had. Gareth was pleased the boy had let the rock slip from his fingers. It made the next few days easier, but he could not relax his diligence. Not yet. But the fact that Ramos had considered it told volumes. So did dropping it.
Ann and Tad returned. They ate and then placed their supplies on blankets at one end. The two sides were folded over the food in the center. Rolling the blankets tightly secured the food where it could not spill from either end. The fur leggings were tied on the bedrolls. Loops let them carry the bundles over their shoulders.
Walking again, Gareth let the two boys go first. They did not talk. Ann asked, “How did it go?”
“He said Belcher is going to kill me.”
“That seems to be his pattern, but it is good that Ramos told you.”
“It does feel right. He killed two of his own. Another died of sickness but that might have been because of infection or starvation, so he still killed a third.”
Ann was quiet for the time it took to take several steps. When she did speak, her voice was soft, for his ears alone. “Has it struck you that something has changed? The balance you spoke of is upset?”
“How?”
She paused, framing her thoughts before speaking. “If my history is accurate, there has been one, and sometimes two people with your abilities alive at any time. Now there is Tad, Belcher, Ramos, three more, and there were three that died.”
“Gods above, that’s nine.”
“Ten, counting you. Eleven, before your father died. All at the same time.”
Gareth swallowed. Hard, and it had nothing to do with the hard biscuit. “What’s going on?”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Gareth spoke little as they walked again. He was deep in thought about the number of people with his abilities that Ann mentioned. Eleven of them with the same powers as his, nine of them children. The idea terrified him. One Belcher in the world was bad enough, but months ago Belcher had eight followers, or mental prisoners as he thought of them. The only saving graces were that they remained untrained and immature.
A thousand ideas filled his head with questions and wonder. What if Belcher had cared for his eight instead of crossing over the mountains, and what if they had all survived? Imagine Belcher waiting ten more years when he had more experience with his powers, and he had matured? Gareth felt confident he could defeat Belcher today, but only because he was older and had better control of the sensitive powers, and he had the support of the Brotherhood and Sisterhood, not to mention possibly the King’s troops. In ten years he would not have stood a chance.
The last items considering the support of the Brotherhood and King were not confirmed, yet. Still, he expected to hear word of their support soon, especially after Belcher’s outburst the night before. Every sensitive and some who didn’t even know they possessed marginal powers had heard Belcher as much as if an earthquake had struck and would want to rid the world of Belcher.
Another idea leaped into his head and almost made him stumble as it struck like being struck from behind with a stick. Are there others?
He caught his balance. Ann’s comments about there being eleven of them alive at one time didn’t take into consideration there might be others. Only a month ago held believed there were only two—and that two at the same time was a rare occurrence. How wrong he was.
If there were eleven, there might be more. His conclusion was not founded on knowledge but inference. Even so, Gareth’s mind churned and twisted with the new implications and possibilities. But there was one item that needed to be done.
“We need to find a place to stop.”
“Legs hurt?” Ann asked, rubbing the back of her thigh.
“There is something I have to attend to. It will take a while.”
Ann glanced up at the sun. It was well past mid-day. “Why don’t we spend our time making a camp and gathering firewood?”
Gareth looked at Ramos. “Do you remember crossing here?”
“It was cold. We didn’t have coats.”
“How many nights did you sleep up here?”
“Two, I think.”