I see Colm, Tobias, and Jilly ahead of me looking in wonder at the sea. There is no sign of the Quest. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe we were farther away than I thought. Maybe there’s another clearing along the trail. But then I hear the creak of metal, and we walk silently by the catwalk. I look to the left and see the trampled ground and the shorn grass from our campsite.
There is nothing except for the lonely sound of a gull soaring over the water. My heart sinks. We are doomed. Despite the pain from the rope around my neck, I twist around to look at Levi. He looks at me with eyes full of remorse and confusion. How could Lyon abandon his own nephew? And where are our friends? Have the rovers captured them? If so, then we are going to them. If so, then some of them are surely dead. And what about the children? The ponies? And my dear friend Jonah the cat?
I feel as if I’ll be sick. And still we march onward. I know how far it is to the rovers’ settlement. It will take us most of the day to get there.
Our guards seem much more relaxed once we enter the forest again. Why shouldn’t they be? There is no one to stop them. I recognize the area as we move on. We pass the place where Levi and I first hid from the rovers with the deer, and then the place where we fought against them.
Jilly is limping badly. Colm and Tobias don’t seem to be doing much better. They are so weak. The rovers press on. I hear Ellen crying behind me. The sun is directly overhead now. I can feel the heat of it on my shoulders. I am warm in my jacket. Jilly stumbles and falls forward, reaching out with her bound hands to catch herself. Her escort jerks roughly on her rope.
“Stop!” I say. The rovers ignore me as they laugh at Jilly, who struggles to rise. I crouch down in the middle of the trail.
“Get up.” I am ready for his jerk. I already have my hands on the rope and when my escort moves to tug on it I pull back. He trips over his feet and I help him along by rolling beneath his legs as he falls toward me. He crashes into the underbrush along the trail. I jump to my feet, my heart pounding. Should I run? The thought of all the guns aimed at my back keeps me still. And right now there are several aimed at me. Everyone is silent, except for Jilly, who sobs softly. Levi gives me a half smile and Pace’s eyes show their gratitude. I know he is worried over his mother.
“We need rest,” I say. “What good will it do you if some of us drop dead before we get to wherever it is we are going?” I don’t want them to know that I know anything about where we are going. I’ve killed some of them, and I am afraid if they know that they will seek retribution. I know they have a purpose for us, or they would not have come. Whatever it is, I am certain it’s not good, but that doesn’t mean they want us to die yet.
The rover who met with my father and the woman walk back to where I stand by the trail. He must be the leader of this expedition. I see the intelligence in his eyes, and he’s somewhat cleaner than the rest. His hair is dark blond, and he wears it tied back with a piece of leather. He wears a beard, but it is trimmed, not wild and unkempt like the rest of them. The woman wears a hide vest that bares her muscular arms. Her hair is arranged in a series of braids that lead back to a thick tail of hair that sits high on her head and falls halfway down her back. The weight of it on her head must be heavy to bear. She wears hide pants and several gold chains around her neck that remind me of the delicate locket Zan loaned to me the night I dressed up for dinner. She is pretty in a wild and primitive way, yet her hold on her rifle is sure and the knives in her belt are lethal.
He goes to where my captor is still picking himself up and kicks him in the gut. He falls with a grunt, clutching his belly. The one who kicked him turns and speaks to me. “What’s your ah-name?”
“Wren,” I reply.
“The sir back there said not to ah-listen to your ah-nonsense.”
“When I speak nonsense, I’ll let you know,” I reply. “But this isn’t it. This is the truth. You want us alive, then you have got to let us rest.”
He looks at the woman. She nods in agreement. “Let them ah-rest,” he says to the rovers. “Set ah-guards forward and back,” he instructs the woman, and she goes to assign the tasks. Then he walks over to where my guard is still trying to catch his breath and helps him up. I suddenly see a resemblance. They have to be brothers. He probably would have shot him if they weren’t.
We are all guided rather roughly to the side of the trail. Colm and Tobias sink gratefully to the ground. I go to Jilly, and Levi joins me. Before I kneel next to Jilly I look over my shoulder at Pace. He is tending to his mother, but he senses my look and flashes me a grateful smile.
“Let me see your foot,” Levi says. Jilly winces as he picks it up. Her feet are dark with dirt and there is a gash in her arch. “You must have stepped on a broken root,” he says.
“I felt it,” Jilly says. “I didn’t know what it was.”
“There are some splinters still inside,” Levi explains. “I need to get them out. We can’t risk infection.” I hand him my kerchief. We still have miles to go, and I don’t know how Jilly is going to make it.
“Do what you must,” Jilly says bravely. She winces as Levi dabs at her injury with my kerchief. It is amazing that he can do as much with his hands bound. “Do you know where they are taking us?” Jilly asks me.
“I think to their settlement,” I say. I look over my shoulder to see if anyone is listening. The rovers are all gathered on the other side of the trail while a few stand guard on the trail in both directions.
“What about your friends?” Jilly asks quietly. “Won’t they help us? I thought they were close by.”
“They were,” I say.
“They are,” Levi corrects me. His warm brown eyes are sad, and I see the doubt behind them. Is he trying to convince Jilly and me or just himself? He rips a strip of Jilly’s dress off and ties it around her foot and she tries not to wince.
“If I had known we were going on a trek I would have dressed properly,” Jilly says as she inspects the bandage. I smile, admiring her spunk. “Don’t worry, Wren,” she says. “This is still better than marrying that yob they picked for me.”
“Now I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to meet him.” I stuff my kerchief back in my pocket.
“Hopefully before this is all over with you will.” Jilly smoothes her tattered skirt over her knees and adjusts her shawl. I’m glad for the trees so she doesn’t burn and most glad for her spirit, but I am afraid that we are yet to see the worst of it. “I don’t suppose we can get some water, do you think?”
I look at the rovers. They are drinking from hide bags that they wear strapped across their chests. The thought of drinking after any of them disgusts me, but I am thirsty, and I know Colm and Tobias have to be after their struggles. I look at Ellen. She leans against Pace and weeps quietly. If it were just the three of us, Pace, Levi, and I, I’d take my chances and run. But with Ellen and Jilly, I know we can’t leave them. They would never make it on their own.
Where are Lyon and all of our friends?
“Could we have some water, please?” Levi asks the rover in charge. He frowns, but he does hand Levi his hide. I am surprised at this kindness. Levi gives it to Jilly to drink, and she does so gratefully. Then he hands it to me. There is plenty in the hide but there are those of us in more need. I take it to Ellen.
Pace rises to stand next to me as she drinks. “I can’t believe they are gone,” he says. “I never dreamed they would abandon us.”
“Levi thinks they haven’t,” I say.