“What does he mean test us?” Ellen asks in a panicked voice. “What are they going to do?”
The crowd jostles around us and the band that brought us in surrounds us and herds us to the edge of the platform while two long lines form. Men pick up the baskets of rocks and begin to pass them out.
Jilly stumbles as we are pushed into an awkward line. The sun is gone now, lost behind the trees to the west, and the large fire casts an eerie glow along the endless line of rovers.
“Ye must ah-run,” Ragnor says. “Or ye will ah-die.”
I look down the long line of people, most with rocks in their hands. Some hold stout branches. I recall the ride I took with my father in the city through the workers’ quarters and the things that were lobbed at us. Findley protected me from the worst of it with his body. Jilly will never make it, and I have serious doubts about Ellen too. Her skin is deathly pale and she is visibly trembling. I can only imagine that I look the same.
“Jilly can’t do it,” I protest over the calls from the crowd.
“I will run the gauntlet for her,” Levi says to Ragnor as the noise grows louder. Rovers of every age, man and woman alike, call out for our blood.
“I’ll run for both of them,” Pace has to shout. “My mother and Wren.”
“Ye can’t ah-run for a woman,” Ragnor replies. “Only she can,” he says and points to me. “A woman for a woman. A man for a man.”
I have no choice. Jilly and Ellen will surely die. “I’ll do it,” I say, even though fear holds me in its grip. “I’ll run for Ellen too.” I shiver as if I am cold, but it is merely fear, a constant companion.
“That’s three times,” Pace puts his hands on my shoulders. “Wren, you can’t.”
I look into his beautiful blue eyes. “Which one would you choose to die?” Ellen stands beside him with her knuckle in her mouth as if it will stop her sobs. To my side I see Jilly, shaking her head in denial. Whether it is to me or to the situation, it does not matter. Pace knows there is no choice. I am the only one who can do it. I can save their lives by doing this, and it is not lost to me that I may lose mine by doing so.
“Wren,” he says, saying all the unspoken things, the unresolved between us in my name.
I have no reply. I can’t. If I say what is on my mind, I might not have the courage to do what needs to be done. I take my kerchief from my pocket and tie my hair back. “Let’s do this,” I say to Ragnor.
He studies me, and as he does I notice his eyes. They are pale blue, like the sky. I see the intelligence in them and know that if we can convince him to help us, he would be a strong ally. But first we have to convince him. He will not risk his life, or his wife’s. “If ye fail the ah-first time, then they have to ah-run,” he informs me. “If ye fail the second time, then ye choose one to ah-die. The third time, ye are the only one to ah-die.”
I nod. I understand. Ellen and Jilly do also. I can tell by their frightened faces.
He puts his hands up in the air, and the crowd quiets. “This girl will ah-run for the others,” he shouts and the people roar in approval or anticipation, I cannot tell which. The leader on the platform dips his head in acknowledgment.
“Keep your head down,” Levi says into my ear. “If you fall, you must get up or they will beat you to death. Whatever happens, you just keep on running until you reach the end.” Levi pauses for less than a second. “You can do this, Wren. I believe in you.”
I look at the long row of people. The line curves away from me so I cannot see the end of it. How will I do this three times? I have no choice. I have to do this. I take a deep breath and start off.
They scream at me, long and loud. They beat at me with their branches, whacking them across my back as others throw them at my feet in an attempt to trip me. The rocks are the worst. They sling them at me and they land on my arms as I hold them up to protect my head. My side and back take a beating, and I can feel the bruises blossoming as they thud against my body. All I can do is concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, staying on my feet and making it to the end. I do not even know I have until Janna grabs my arm and spins me around to keep me from running out of the village.
“Ye did well,” she says, as if she is congratulating me. I can only nod as I try to catch my breath. She leads me around behind the line, and the crowd roars to life once more. I see a flash of gold and know that Levi is running, much faster than I did. So fast that the blows barely catch him and he is through before I make it back up to the start of the line. My heart is still pounding in my chest and my breathing is ragged. The noise starts again and I see Pace fly by, as strong and as fast as Levi, and I have no doubts both will survive this.
I still have two turns left.
“Oh, Wren,” Jilly sobs as I come round again. She leans on Ellen, who has her eyes on her son with her lips moving in a silent prayer. “To say thank you isn’t enough.” All I can do is nod. I haven’t survived yet, which means their lives are still in the balance. The crowd seems angrier now. They want blood and neither Levi nor I gave it to them. I pray Pace didn’t either.
I take off again, before the crowd has gathered itself after Pace’s run. It was my hope to take them by surprise, and I did. I run almost a quarter of the way before they realize it. But when they do, I pay for it dearly. Rocks come at my face as the people down the line see me coming and aim at me. I run awkwardly and slowly with my hands before my face and my head bent. One blow with a rock hits my kidneys and staggers me sideways. I stumble into the line and am pushed back. Whoever pushed me, saved me, I am certain, because it was the only way I stayed on my feet. But I also lost momentum and the blows land with more frequency. A rock hits my temple, where I was hit in the past, and stars shoot across my vision. I taste blood. The impact made me bite my tongue. I don’t know how I stay on my feet, but I do and nearly run into Janna, who is once more waiting for me.
“Keep yourn ah-head up,” she says, as if she wants me to succeed. Does she? Does my success mean more profit for her when I am sold as a slave? Will this be my father’s ultimate revenge on me? That I am once more a slave? Only he would think of this. Giving me what I asked for while taking it away. It is a shame he will never see it to fruition. But I am sure he will think on it and smile.
Either Colm or Tobias is running now. My vision is too blurry to make out which, and I have to concentrate just to stay upright as Janna hustles me back to the front of the line. I put my hand to my temple and come away with blood on my fingers. My head hurts so bad that I feel like throwing up. The crowd shrieks in excitement, and I know whoever it is has fallen.
How will I ever make it through again? At least this time, the only life I risk is my own.
“Wren!” Levi and Pace both call out my name as Janna and I arrive at the front of the line. Neither of them have a mark on them, a benefit of being so fast. I stand between them as they alternate between looking at my temple, smoothing my hair, and desperately looking for a way to stop the madness. I can only look at them and blink, because their faces seem strange to me, distorted, as if they are floating in a heavy cloud.
“She must ah-go now,” Ragnor says from far, far away.
Levi has his hands on my shoulders and is talking to me, but I can’t quite make out the words. I see Pace over his shoulder, shaking his head, his beautiful blue eyes brimming. I just want to lie down. I want to close my eyes and my ears to the spinning and the noise that feels like a pickax pounding in my brain.