“Amy, wake up. We’ve got to move. Now.” He looks terrified, worse than the day the town was destroyed. Grunts and howls surround us. Trees snap like twigs. Bets, Samuel, and English are already atop their horses. I search frantically in my haze for any sign of Eliza. She’s not here.
“Theo, where’s Eliza?”
“Amy, I’m so, so sorry. She wasn’t there.” He yanks me onto Phineus, both my head and leg shrieking in protest. We’re surrounded. I’m certain that we aren’t going to make it out of our camp.
“Theo, listen to me,” I groan. “You have to knock me out.”
“Amy, what’s wrong with you?”
“Trust me. I can’t explain now. But this is our only chance.”
He pauses. I scream at him and the last thing I see is Bets swinging a staff at my head.
I regain consciousness in the head of a grub in the dark forest. It takes me a minute to gain my bearings. The grub I’m possessing is a few hundred feet away from our camp. Three other grubs and five men are about to attack us. I see Theo and Bets arguing over my limp body. It seems to me that they have more pressing issues than my welfare. I command the grub to attack its brothers and it lunges forward, leaving large puddles of brown ooze in its wake.
The grub’s actions have caught Samuel’s attention. He motions to the others and they advance toward the gap I created. Thresh’s men, obviously confused by the grub, regain their focus and run toward my companions, which includes Phineus and my body. I tell the grub to defend us. It grabs one of the men between its rock-like teeth and crushes him instantly. I’m about to push the grub forward when a painful tug pulls me out of its mind. I expect to emerge in my broken body, but instead I’m floating in a void.
“Hello Amy. I see that you’ve learned how to control my children.” It’s Thresh, although it’s not her voice. Rather, it is an impression of her thoughts wrapping itself around the non-me. “Instead of forcing them, you need to learn to talk with them. Like the creatures you’ve known in the forest your whole life. They know so much. It’s unfair for you to treat them like blunt weapons.”
“Thresh, you unholy wench.” Apparently I can talk back in this airless, lightless space. “What choice do I have when you attack and kill us? I want my child, now. Or I swear I’ll take a grub, hunt you down, and crush you slowly.”
Thresh laughs. Or more accurately it is an echo of a laugh formed in her warped mind. “You won’t be bothering the grubs anymore, Amy. They’ve discovered your trick and are guarding themselves now. You’ve nowhere to go.”
“I have many more tricks in my bag, Thresh. Watch yourself. I will kill you. That’s a promise.” I’m retreating now, falling down a black tunnel. I open my eyes and am slumped on Phineus, lashed to his saddle. We’re galloping through the woods, each impact of his hooves creating a burst of pain in my leg. I lift my head and see the others around me. Theo and Silius are flanking me, guiding Phineus.
“Sprouter, what the hell happened back there?”
“Theo, this doesn’t seem the best time for a long explanation. Where are we heading?”
“South, as far away from that camp as possible.”
“Do you think Eliza’s okay?”
“From what I know, that woman, Thresh, can’t afford to do anything to her. Between you murmuring in your sleep and what Bets told me, I’d wager that you and Eliza are pretty damn special to her.”
The horses slow. Theo looks toward me sympathetically. “Can you handle this pace for a while? We need to make more distance before morning. Bets learned that the monsters — grubs — can’t move well during daylight.”
I nod my head uncertainly. Samuel trots up beside me. “Welcome back Amy. Why’d you want us to knock you out? That seemed stupid until one of the grubs turned on its own. I’d reckon you got something to do with that?”
“Yes, Samuel. I did. I’ll explain later.”
Chapter 52 – Camping
We finally settle in a sheltered spot at the crest of a subtle hill when the sun is high above the trees. We’re much further south and near the ocean. Gulls soar overhead and the air’s muggy. English and Bets head into the woods to search for breakfast. Samuel’s in the mood for fish and has fashioned a pole. Theo lifts me off of Phineus and gently sets my bruised, broken body into a bed of soft moss under a huge, gnarled willow tree.
“Theo, find some pussy willow. There should be some growing near the stream where Samuel’s fishing. Strip the bark and steep it in hot water. That’ll help me get through some of this pain.”
Theo returns about an hour later with a steaming cup. I sip it and the pain dulls somewhat — enough to allow me to think clearly. “Theo, how far are we from the vessel?”
He pulls out his tablet. A brilliant image of the landscape pops up, even in the bright daylight. “If I read this correctly, I’d suspect that we’re about a two-day ride away.”
“Well, we need to get going.” I try to lift myself up.
Theo chuckles. “You ain’t going nowhere for a while. You’re broken up.”
“Theo, I’ve got a bad feeling about Bets — I’m unsure we can trust her.”
“What’re you talking about Sprouter? Bets did her share of killing last night.”
“Don’t you think she escaped a bit too easily?”
“Bets is one tough girl. She’s on our side.”
“Correction, Theo. She’s on your side, not mine.”
Theo doesn’t argue. “Amy, will you tell me what’s going on? Why’d you ask me to knock you out? The others think you possessed that grub and saved us. Is that true?”
“Well, yes. I have no idea how I did it. But I only seem to be able to do it when I’m out cold. That wanked woman, Thresh, can do it too. And she’s better at it than me. I don’t know whether I’ll be able to pull it off again. Thresh’s figured out that I’m able to do it.”
Theo whistles. “I knew you were special. But that’s damn near crazy. What other surprises have you in store Amy Marksman?”
“I’d like to know Theo.”
Samuel returns with three enormous trout on a stringer. He’s giddy as they sizzle on the fire. Bets and English return with a sack full of freshly picked oranges from a nearby grove. For the first time in ages, I’m genuinely hungry.
“Well, good to see you Missus Marksman.” English sounds genuinely happy to see me up.
“English, thanks for saving my ass once again. You too Bets and Samuel. I really appreciate all you’re doing. Believe me, after what we’ve just experienced, we’ve got an uphill battle.”
Theo hands me a peeled orange. He remarks, “Once we find the others at the spaceship, we’ll have an advantage over Thresh and her goons. I hope we can find some towns that haven’t been destroyed. Or other folks wandering the woods like us who want to fight this evil.”
English squeezes a couple of oranges over his cup. Clean, crisp citrus bursts into the air. “What exactly are we up against, Amy and Bets? You met this Thresh. Other than being completely wanked, what’s her goal?”