The only option that made sense was that while there was a fire, the builder of the fire had left the home before the dragon arrived. Perhaps he had gone to the orchard to pick fruit, or to the lake to catch a fish. Maybe he simply took a walk in the beautiful valley.
It mattered little. He had not been home. Gareth considered himself a peaceful man, a man who resolved problems without bloodshed, but he had tried to kill Belcher today. The realization had not sunk in until he reviewed his actions. What would Sara think if she saw what he’d attempted in the valley? Even in his mind he had become a vengeful killer for the first time in his life.
He could try to excuse his actions by the mistreatment Belcher gave others, or that Belcher killed his father and Cinder. But none of that was enough to turn him into a killer. Or did it? That was the question he tried to resolve.
Gareth found the food missing from his hand and his mind no more at ease than earlier. He opened his eyes and found the two boys sitting on the same blanket playing a game with a twig they tossed in the air and tried to anticipate the fall. Gareth didn’t know the rules, but he did know that they were acting like boys for the first time instead of beings who were manipulated by adults.
He might have smiled at their antics but at the far edge of his consciousness, he found a wisp of Belcher lurking. Watching. Learning.
“I almost had you today,” Gareth said.
Wicked laughter answered, followed by Belcher’s response. *But you failed.*
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Gareth sensed both the glee and evil humor in Belcher’s response. The snide evilness in knowing he was better and more powerful than everyone else. And he may be, Gareth admitted to himself. But getting into a mental argument only allowed Belcher to know him better and perhaps find a chink in his armor. That was all Belcher needed to win, and Gareth determined to keep his distance.
There were a hundred things Gareth wanted to tell Belcher; no, a hundred things he wanted to shout at Belcher until Belcher understood what he was doing violated everything a sane person believed. Gareth knew it would do no good, and perhaps cause harm. Besides, the snide attitude was like the bully on the playground taunting, “You can’t catch me.”
So Gareth cut off the minimal communication and closed down the umbrella restricting Tad and Ramos from answering Belcher if he directed any thoughts to them. They could hear his broadcasts as all sensitives could, but Belcher would receive no responses, and he couldn’t attack them.
It had been a long and tiring day climbing the slopes of the mountains. Gareth suspected his legs would protest moving in the morning. He said good-night to all and closed his eyes.
Gareth sank down into a deep, self-critical sleep that gave him little rest. Although he’d never seen Belcher, his mind created a plump boy with pouting lips and pig eyes. The resulting image was an indication of how much he disliked Belcher. For most of the night, he tossed and turned, and more than once choked back a shout or scream.
When he awoke in the dawning light, he lay there, still and unrested. Deep in the valleys of his mind, he heard laughter without humor. It was Belcher at his worst.
Throwing his blanket aside, Gareth leaped to his feet expecting to find enemies charging. Instead, he found Ann and Tad sleeping fitfully. On the other side of the dead fire lay Ramos, eyes closed, skin blue. Dead.
The boy wore no coat. His blankets, both of them, had been tossed aside, and Ramos lay on the bare, icy ground. Belcher had somehow penetrated Gareth’s defenses, probably because he knew the boy so well. He must have convinced Ramos in his sleep that he was too warm, perhaps just the smallest crack in the mental shroud Gareth placed over them, but that is all he needed.
Belcher had told Ramos to remove his coat and place the blankets to one side. Then he had probably told Ramos over and over that he was warm. Belcher was familiar with the boy’s mind and could easily slip inside and convince him of being too warm if he found only the smallest crack in the mental locks Gareth put in place.
Gareth stumbled to the boy’s side and knelt. He touched the skin and found it cold and frozen hard. The boy had been dead for hours. Gareth spun to make sure Tad and Ann were alive. In the process, he found his prediction about the waterfall freezing had been right. In other circumstances, he would have spent the time admiring it.
Scooping Ramos into his arms, Gareth stumbled into the nearest trees. Placing the boy gently behind some rocks to conceal his frozen body, he cried. I let you down, and I’m sorry.
The cold also seeped into Gareth, as did a cold like none he’d ever experienced. He was filled with a cold fury that had him gritting his teeth so hard they might shatter. He made your life miserable and then he took it from you. I’ll repay him.
Gareth spun and strode back into the camp. He couldn’t allow Tad to see Ramos, and he didn’t know what he was going to say when Tad woke. Leaving Ramos on the mountain couldn’t be helped, and he had nothing to use for digging into the frozen ground.
There was a pile of firewood and Gareth stirred the coals and found enough to ignite the twigs he spilled from his fingertips. As he was placing larger sticks on the fire, Ann woke. She flashed a smile of greeting, read his face and knew something was wrong. She spun to look at the boys. Seeing the empty bedding belonging to Ramos she leaped to his side.
“During the night.”
“He ran off?”
“Belcher convinced him it was too hot. He removed his coat and blankets. Froze.”
Ann settled on the cold ground, her jaw set and her eyes smoldering. After a short while, she spoke in a soft voice. “We will not tell Tad. We’ll just say he ran off. Where is he?”
“I placed him behind those trees over there, behind some rocks.”
“You must promise me one thing.”
Gareth expected her to demand he return the boy to the lowlands or another impossible task. He waited for her to tell him.
“When we find Belcher you will kill him. But if he is alive and we are together I want satisfaction. I will do the deed. Do not get in my way.”
“Because you think I may be too weak? If that is the case, you are wrong.”
“No, that is not the reason. It is the only thing that will allow my mind to rest, to give me the satisfaction to go on. Promise me.”
“I tried to kill Belcher last night. I thought I had him cornered in my father’s house. Blackie burned it to the ground while we watched to make sure he didn’t escape.”
She turned to face him wearing an expression that scared him. She snapped, “Well, you didn’t and look what he did. Promise me.”
Gareth could do nothing else. “I promise.”
“We need to leave this place. Not because of Ramos because we want to be across the highest part of the mountains by tonight.”
Gareth woke Tad, wondering what he was going to tell him about Ramos. Tad climbed from his bed and ate a handful of nuts while rolling his blankets and getting ready to walk. When he sensed Ann and Gareth watching him, he turned away.
Gareth said, “There’s something we have to talk about.”
“Is it about Ramos dying?”
Ann turned away from Tad so he couldn’t see her face, but Gareth could. The tears were falling, but she didn’t comment or wipe them. Her eyes turned to Gareth and waited.
Gareth said, “How did you know?”
“I can’t hear him anymore.”