It could not be a coincidence. He reached out into the mental abyss and immediately found another instance of his name being mentioned. This time, it was a question. The response was that they were watching the King’s Road near Bayport and had noticed nothing unusual. The mental contact broke, and Gareth settled back into his chair to consider the new information.
If the Brotherhood had lookouts on the major roads, and if his name was mentioned so many times, he needed to hide. When he had been young, a fisherman had taken him through a part of the kingdom where all sensitives were searching for him. Instead of hiding in the forests, they had traveled the roads in a wagon filled with corn to sell at market. Gareth had led a goat by a halter as if taking it to an uncle on another farm. For two days they had walked past dozens of the Brotherhood, hiding in plain sight.
Angry footsteps on the planks of the porch snapped his attention to the approaching visitor.
Sara recovered first and smiled as she said, “Amy, we were hoping you would come see us this morning. Can I get you tea?”
Hands on hips, Amy glared at Gareth, ignoring Sara. “What are you up to? Just because of that stunt you pulled with Tad last night does not mean I’m letting him go with you.”
Sara turned to Gareth and controlled a smile threatening to burst free, but with her head turned Amy couldn’t see her face. “You pulled a stunt?”
“Just a small test to convince Paul that Tad indeed has mental powers.”
“You woke him and made him walk here so it would convince me,” Amy growled. “Not Paul.”
Gareth knew that if he showed his anger, he would lose any opportunity to allow Tad to travel with him. In his softest voice, he said, “He never came here in the middle of the night before, did he?”
Sara held out the plate of fruit and offered it to Amy, who refused with a wave of her arm. Sara set the plate aside and said, “Your father-in-law needs your help. He has never asked anything of you, but this one time.”
“He hasn’t asked anything, yet.”
“Have you given him a chance, Amy? As mothers, we sometimes overprotect instead of listening. At least, I do.”
Gareth let them talk. Sara had a way with convincing people to do things with her gentle ways and easy manner. He had only to look at the new floor inside the house that he’d refused to lay last year to know her power.
Amy said, “Why would he need little Tad’s help?”
Sara went slowly when she changed people’s minds. She peeled a banana and before taking a bite said, “Two minds are better than one. We all know that. You and I understand only a fraction of what Gareth does, let alone the mental powers he has. Now our grandson, your son, may have the ability to help Gareth in his tasks. You should be proud.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” Amy wailed.
Sara bit the tip off the banana and delicately chewed before speaking. “Neither do I. None of us understand. But I understand this. Everyone in our family is in danger, and my husband is going to try and protect all of us. You. Me. Tad. All of us on this island, and I will do whatever I can to assist him.”
“Tad is my youngest.”
Gareth felt his time to talk had come. “I will protect him with my life as I will all of my family.”
“I don’t want him to go.”
Gareth emphasized with her thinking and said, “Just as I don’t want to go, but I must, and I will not make you send him with me. We are family. I am not the King and his court. However, I can better protect him if he is with me.”
Sara chimed in as if they had discussed it beforehand, “It’s a beautiful day. Gareth and I were about to walk on the shore and see what shells have washed up. Would you care to join us? But, let’s not talk about Tad anymore.”
Gareth stood. “Amy, he is your son. Let’s go pretend we are beachcombers looking for treasure.”
Amy shook her head, plainly wanting to continue the conversation but she seemed confused by the idea that they were letting her do as she wished, so there was nothing left to discuss about the matter. “I’ve got to make breakfast for Paul and the kids.”
Gareth and Sara walked with her to where the path made of white rocks split, one path to the other houses. They took the path to the beach while Amy took the other, walking almost in a daze. The conversation had not gone as she expected and she’d obviously been prepared to shout and fight.
Once they had found and discarded a dozen shells of various sizes and colors, Gareth said, “You were very convincing with her.”
“Amy has a right to be upset,” Sara said.
Gareth tossed aside another shell. “She’ll pack his things so he can go, thanks to you,”
“What will you do now?”
Gareth shrugged. “Collect a few more shells I don’t need. Then, I’ll sit on my porch and enjoy what little I can while waiting for the ship to arrive. But I will also use the time to scour the air for any sniff of what’s happening. What is drawing all of this together now instead of another time?”
“You do not give me the impression you are mourning the loss of your father, but I know you are.”
“I also mourn the loss of Cinder, but he was not my dragon. As for my father, I do not yet know for sure he is dead. There is the smallest chance he is alive. And if he is dead, I will have vengeance. And revenge.”
“Yes, I understand that.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Despite the problems of leaving Bitters Island with Tad, all of the pieces fell into place on the day the supply ship arrived. Amy reluctantly agreed with her husband, Paul, that Gareth could protect him at his side better than if the boy stayed at home. Their heated discussions often ended with no answers the last few days, and all living on the island had heard them. The one item that remained was that Tad had somehow inherited unique mental powers neither parent understood, except for the fact that he brought danger to them.
The sighting of the approaching supply ship put it all into action. After the ship had unloaded the cargo, the entire family turned out to see them off. Enough tears were shed to float the supply ship home.
But another ship would arrive soon, one large enough to carry the entire family to Vespa. The animals would be set free to survive or not. Most of their possessions would be left behind as if they might one day return, but repeated family discussions had convinced most that their idyllic lives on Bitters Island had come to an end.
Sara had taken charge of the family and packing. They would first sail to Vespa. However, Gareth didn’t have to convince her that she needed another plan in place as well. A good general in any army has his next move decided whether he wins or loses a battle. The general plans for victory and defeat. Sara carried enough gold with her to plan twenty more moves but intended to keep her family alive and well, and together.
She had discussed the options with Gareth, and since Vespa was a seaport on the lowlands, she would secretly invest in a ship. As the owner, she would have it standing by, never more than a few days away, and the Owner-Captain would be paid handsomely for the services. If trouble arose, the family would flee to the ship and depart on little notice to destinations to be determined.
There were two places she chose, with others held as possibilities. North of Vespa were forests so thick the sun seldom reached the ground. East were the Steppes, grasslands where they said the winter snow never melted and the ground remained frozen all year. Snow blew along the ground from the fierce winter winds until it wore itself to powder, and then to nothing, but it didn’t melt.