Gareth flashed her a confused glance.
“Your face. I see hate, and it is ugly.”
Tad said, “That’s because he’s mad at Belcher.”
Again Tad had been listening again, without any awareness by Gareth. Would there be no privacy for him? Ever?
Tad spoke again, “If you feel for me, you can tell when I hear you. You can also tell me not to listen and I won’t.”
“Feel you?”
“Here, let me show you.”
Gareth felt a slight tickle in his mind. Not the kind to make him laugh, but a tiny tingle or tickle well in the background of his mind.
“That’s me,” Tad said. “I’m making it stronger so you know me.”
“Can you go back to regular listening without making it stronger?” The ticklish tingle instantly diminished but was still present now that he knew what to look for. “Now, stop listening to my mind.”
The sensation disappeared. They walked a few more steps while Gareth tried to sort out the idea that Tad was teaching him instead of the other way around.
A deer bolted from one side of the road and bounded to the other. A hawk circled overhead, and a ground squirrel spotted them, darted from a pile of boulders into the open, then raced away. The hawk dropped lower, watching where the squirrel had been playing.
The ground was rising slightly, but only a little more than level. The ground was more rock than dirt. Tad investigated the first cactus, but after Ann had pulled three spines from his small hand, he lost interest in the later ones. Trees shrank, then disappeared in a sea of brown grass, dotted with silver-green sage, dark green juniper, and gnarled cedar.
Near mid-day they reached the crest of the long, low hill they climbed. From there the trail split into two. A smaller one wound off to the north, having the signs that mostly animals used it. The main trail continued over the crest and fell away.
They paused at the top of the ridge. Ahead was a wide, flat, dry valley as far as they could see. Looking to the left and right revealed the same. Not a tree in sight. Just a rolling plain of brown grass and bare rock. No green. No abandoned cities. No water.
Nothing was out there but the trail they followed until it disappeared from sight in the wavering distance.
“Three Gods above and four below!” Ann murmured, slashing her fingers in the ancient hand sign to ward off evil. “What is this place?”
Tad said, “Do we have to go down there?”
Gareth glanced around for shade and found none. He said, “I want to stop here.”
“Me too,” Ann added, her voice as ashen as her face.
Without water the trek into the emptiness ahead was impossible, and they carried no canteens or water bottles. Other than the path they followed, he saw no reason for anyone to enter the dry lands in front of them. But the trail they followed was there because it had been made by people, and it had to go somewhere.
He sat on the hard ground and reached out for Blackie. The dragon responded instantly. It was clinging to a steep side of a rocky mountain, it’s preferred perch. Gareth looked through the eyes of the dragon and determined the pines and lack of underbrush indicated it was near where the three of them had spent the night.
Blackie welcomed his touch and returned it. Gareth ordered, “Fly to me.”
The dragon leaped off the side of the mountain before fully extending his wings. It fell until the first powerful stroke lifted it and sent it forward. Gareth gulped and fought vertigo as the ground began to fall away. Blackie flew higher and ahead with each long, lazy flap of his wings, and as if pleased the two of them were joined as it flew, Blackie tossed back his head and let out a scream of pure joy.
Any animals within hearing range surely cringed and huddled deeper in their caves, nests, and burrows. Blackie had announced to the world below he was supreme, and none had better dare challenge him. Gareth chuckled as he shared Blackie’s enthusiasm.
He used Blackie’s eyes to watch the ground below. Spread out in all directions was the beginning of the dry lands. The pine trees were smaller, there was less green, and the air was hotter and dry. He saw the trail they’d walked and recognized a few landmarks despite seeing them from above.
And then, in the distance, he saw a ridge with three figures sitting, two of them looking up at him. On impulse, Gareth ordered Blackie to fly lower, so low he would barely skim the edge of the crest.
Turning the dragons head on the serpentine neck, he watched Tad and Ann throw up their arms to protect their eyes from the dust and small rocks they’d thrown in the air. He didn’t miss the concerned expression Ann wore, nor the laugh of delight from Tad.
Looking to the front again, Gareth watched the trail below. A dozen strokes of the dragon’s wings carried him further ahead than them walking a quarter of a day, or it seemed like it. One last look behind found the ridge, but it was already so far away he couldn’t see the people he knew were there.
Then, as his attention focused ahead again, he saw that beyond a small rolling hill lay buildings. The trail went directly to them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The buildings were the same color as the tan of the dirt and grass. There were only five. One appeared much larger. Around the buildings, but out of sight of the ridge because of the hill, were trees and patches of green gardens and pastures.
As Blackie flew closer, Gareth decided three buildings were houses, one a storage shed or barn, and the last was far larger than any other. It was a community center or church. Animals grazed on the lush grass surrounding the buildings, and smoke rose from a chimney.
A startled woman looked up, saw Blackie and shielded her eyes from the sun as she watched and called out a warning. Others emerged and watched. Gareth didn’t want to worry them so he turned away and flew back to the safety of the mountains where Blackie could feed at will as he waited for Gareth to complete his business.
Gareth broke the link and looked at Ann and Tad. “There is a community ahead. Just a few buildings, but I think we need to go there.”
Ann shrugged, “It’s what we came here for. I suspect the answers you seek are waiting there.”
Tad said, “I still hear the minds of ten people, but they are excited, now.”
“That’s because they saw Blackie fly over them.”
“Is there water? I’m thirsty,” Tad added.
“Yes, there’s green fields and trees, so there is water.”
Ann gave him a questioning look. “Out there? How far is this place?”
Gareth understood her question. They had no water with them. As far as they could see it was brown without a sign of water. “Not as far as you’d think. About where the trail disappears from sight is a small hill and the buildings are on the other side.”
She didn’t seem convinced. A glance at the sun to estimate the time and she asked, “Will we be there before dark?”
“Long before our mid-day meal,” he told her, trying to assure both of them.
As one, they stood and started walking. The path was still no larger than at the top of the mountain pass, but it covered hard ground that made for easy walking as they moved down the long slope. At the bottom, they found the land was not as flat as they believed, or that it looked from the crest. Instead, it rolled one small round hill after another. They walked up one gentle slope and down another. Then repeated the process.
Early in the afternoon, with the sun at their backs, they climbed another hill and found the buildings directly ahead. The green of the crops and pastures looked unnatural against the brown of the arid land all around. All of the buildings were constructed of mud bricks with a coating of tan plaster protecting the outside. All were constructed so much alike that it appeared a single worker had done all the work, which may be true.