He’d started small, just making them mildly nervous, and gradually increasing the scare until he unloaded the whole image. Belcher was returning. And he was mad at them. Belcher was going to torture and kill them all.
That may have been enough, but he needed to make sure they abandoned that place. Gareth used some of Belcher’s own tactics to help convince them. At night, he told them of Belcher’s ordering the boys to collect arsenic, including the illnesses they’d suffered. All true. He let his mind describe it in the details that Ramos used.
He had allowed them to wake in the morning and discuss their horrible dreams about their sons gathering the poison and getting ill, but then Gareth started asking them to consider why he needed all that arsenic? What would he do with it? They discussed it the entire second day before Gareth hinted the answer, making sure the Brother and none of the Sisters became aware it was he who was putting the thoughts into their minds. He hinted that he was Belcher. Worse, Belcher was going to poison the glowing water. Anyone drinking it for the next hundred years would die a horrible death from the arsenic.
The final straw was to convince them Belcher was close. He convinced two of the Sisters that they had spotted him in the village. One said he was seen slipping through the orchard; another saw him sneaking up on them from the desert to the west. Then Gareth was at the summit of the pass and the ability to send them images faded with each step.
While Gareth couldn’t tell if all of them fled the village, he suspected they had. If they hadn’t left the village, he could do no more. The mental block over Tad prevented the boy from overhearing him.
Pulling back to the clearing and present, he napped until dusk and woke long enough to build a small fire and then to help guide Blackie back into the air. Blackie flew to the designated place they had agreed upon and landed safely.
Dragons don’t enjoy flying in the dark but will when necessary. Blackie also wanted to eat, but would miss meals for a couple of days. He wouldn’t like it, but would do as asked. Gareth settled himself beside the small fire and review his plans, trying to find any mistake. He couldn’t.
At daybreak, Blackie flew into the valley to the new location, which was much closer to the lake and barns. The clearing Gareth had chosen was small, but Blackie landed without incident and crept forward behind the evergreen trees where he was less likely to be seen from below.
The new vantage point and Blackie’s eyes that were intended for hunting from far above provided an excellent view. From the new location, the front of the barn was visible. A fire pit still held coals. Gareth looked beyond to the space between the two mountains. It was a straight shot from there to the front of the barn.
Three boys emerged near noon. Two were smaller in height and skinny. The third was a head taller and bulky, if not fat. The smaller boys deferred to the larger one at every turn, almost as if he was royalty being attended by his manservants.
Gareth was not surprised that the image was almost exactly what he’d imagined. Belcher was older, bigger, and never missed a meal. The three of them went to the dock, and one jumped gleefully into the water, splashing the largest that Gareth had decided was Belcher. The boy in the water suddenly stiffened and sank. Belcher threw his head back and laughed before turned to the other boy on the dock and saying something. The smaller boy also laughed, but it looked forced. Then, the one who had sunk into the water reappeared, head bobbing above the surface sputtering and coughing.
Gareth could not hear the words exchanged, but imagined Belcher saying, “That’s what you get when you splash me.”
But Gareth now had a good look at each of the boys and reached out for the Brother waiting at the crossroads. “Can you talk?”
*My only task is waiting to hear whatever you have to say.*
“I’m going to send you the images of three boys. The larger is to die if my attack fails. The smaller boys are to be taken by the Brotherhood and raised. For your information, they have the same powers as I.”
The response was so delayed that Gareth was about to confirm the Brother had heard him, when the Brother answered, “Gareth, are you sure that is what you wish? That they be raised as you were?”
Gareth said, “Other than killing two innocents, I see no other solution, but I’m open to your suggestions.”
Another pause. *Gareth, you are correct. Forgive my surprise.*
Gareth cut the connection. He’d spoken the raw truth. What other alternatives did he have? He watched the boys swim. At one time, Belcher was the only one standing on the dock. A perfect opportunity if it had been a day later. Gareth could only hope for the same thing the next day
CHAPTER THIRTY
The following morning Gareth had crept closer to the valley, careful to keep his mind blocked. All afternoon yesterday Belcher had issued threats again, one after another. He broadcast so many times people were reacting. Most lost sleep, but some got into fights. Tempers flared over small happenings. The entire kingdom was on edge. Squabbles turned into brawls, harsh words to fist fights.
Gareth waited for the right moment. But Belcher remained inside all day, ranting and threatening the entire day. He tried to draw Gareth out a dozen ways. Belcher said he was at the coast boarding a ship to Bitters Island. Then he said he was setting an ambush where the trail went over the mountains. He offered a truce, then another. After that he laughed about killing Ramos, trying to draw any response from Gareth.
As hard as it was, Gareth never responded. He’d told Blackie to eat his fill early, then he positioned the dragon where it could reach the valley quickly. But when Belcher never left the barn, Gareth pulled his blanket around his shoulders and slept.
The following day he was sore and miserable. Without a fire, the night had seemed longer and colder, the ache in his bones real. He again sent the dragon off to find a deer or goat or any other animal, but Gareth wanted it back in its position as fast as possible. Blackie was getting tired of sitting all day. Dragons enjoy flying, and the lack of exercise was making the animal resistive.
Gareth wanted Belcher in the open, in a place where he couldn’t run into trees or inside the barn for protection. On the dock had been perfect. Gareth started devising plans to draw Belcher out. Maybe if he went down there and stood on the end of the dock and invited Belcher to join him? No, Belcher would probably send his two boys to do his fighting.
He spent all morning thinking of various ways to make Belcher walk out on the dock alone, finding none that would work with any certainty. The problem was that he might only have one chance.
While thinking of a new method that involved leaving something Belcher might want on the dock, he heard a scream. Pulling his attention away from his thoughts, he focused on the barn. The door was thrown open, and one of the smaller boys stumbled outside and fell. Behind him stood Belcher, arms on hips and shouting angrily, although Gareth couldn’t make out the words.
Belcher grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him to his feet. He shouted at him again and shoved. The boy stumbled out into the open area in front of the barn. The third boy emerged from the barn and stood, slack and helpless. Then another joined them.
The boy Belcher attacked half-stood and stumbled down the slope, nearer the lake. Belcher strode after, intent on striking him again. The other two did nothing to interfere, not even talking to one another. Belcher was totally in charge.
It was clear that Belcher was in a rage and boy he was beating terrified. The boy crawled to escape. He held up a protective arm, and Belcher must have directed a mental attack because the boy fell back without being physically struck.