The side wall of the barn is directly opposite the shed. Set into it, at the top of a long ladder, there’s a hatch door to the cornloft. It’s open. Somebody’s scuttlin down the ladder. It’s Emmi.
Jack snatches up the whistle that hangs at his neck. He blows it. He’s raisin the alarm.
My feet start to move. Two great arms grab me from behind. One hand clamps over my mouth, th’other one hauls me tight to him. It’s Bram. Not a sound, he whispers in my ear. We watch.
Em’s jumpin the last few feet to the ground, jest as more Tonton come runnin. One from the back of the barn, four from the front, includin the commander.
Gotcha! Jack yells. He lunges at Em an plucks her from the ladder. He swings her about, then backhands her across the face. Her head snaps back. She goes limp. He dumps her on the ground.
It’s happened in a blink. Bram drags me further into the shed. We crouch there, listenin.
She must of bin hidin in the cornloft, Jack’s sayin.
She looks a strong, healthy one, says one of the Tonton. If you ain’t broke her neck, that is. He picks her up an heaves her over his shoulder.
Naw, says Jack, she’s okay.
Let’s hope she makes a good breeder some day, says another Tonton.
Nice work, brother, says the commander.
Jack salutes, clenched fist to his heart. I serve the Pathfinder an New Eden, he says.
They disappear around the front of the barn.
Bram hangs on to me. Keeps his hand over my mouth. My breath shudders. My body twitches. It’s lucky he stopped me. Lucky fer me, fer all of us, that he’s as strong as he is. When Jack blew that whistle, when I realized Em was in trouble, the red hot kicked in an I jest went. An then he hit her. Knocked her out cold. If I’d of bin free, I would of gone fer him. With my bare hands, I would of tried to kill him.
Bram keeps his voice low an calm. We’re gonna keep cool, he says. I know where they’ll take her. We’ll make a plan to git her back. Is she a smart girl?
I nod.
Then she’ll be fine. Now, we ain’t gonna make a fuss. We ain’t gonna draw attention. That’ll jest git us all in trouble, includin yer sister. We’re gonna walk around the corner an wave ’em off, like the good Stewards they think we are. Nuthin’s happened here, nuthin outta the ordinary fer New Eden. D’you unnerstand? Nod if you do.
I nod.
Okay, he says. C’mon.
As I follow him outta the darkness of the shed, Cassie slips outta the little door from the barn. The music rackets out behind her.
They found Emmi, says Bram. They’re takin her.
Are we in trouble? says Cassie.
Nope, he says. We’re grateful they found her. We knew somebody was hidin around here, we bin havin trouble.
Cassie takes one arm, Bram takes th’other an they walk me around the corner to the yard. We’re jest in time to see ’em leave. The cart with the girls fer the baby house rattles outta the yard. Em’s on horseback. Small an limp, she rides with the man who picked her up, his arms circled around her. The commander’s last to ride out.
Bram raises a hand in thanks. We knew there was a mischief maker hidin around here, he says. Grateful fer yer help. Long life to the Pathfinder! Him an Cassie salute. The commander does the same. Then he heels his horse to catch up with his patrol.
Jack. He was smilin at the man next to him. Laughed at somethin he said.
The night swallows ’em. Folds around the sound of their hoofbeats. Then they’re gone.
Emmi’s gone.
The heartstone’s still hot on my skin. The music an laughter an light spill outta the barn. Molly, Creed an Tommo hurry over to us. Where’d you go, Saba? says Molly. What’s happened?
They took Emmi, Cassie tells ’em.
I feel dazed, like I’m in a dream. Jack was with ’em, I says. He hit her. Knocked her out.
What? says Molly.
He’ll know she ain’t here by herself, says Creed. He knows yer here, Saba, that Maev found you.
He took her, I says.
He didn’t hafta, says Bram. He was by hisself. He whistled fer help.
He’s turned, Saba, says Tommo. Lugh was right.
I back away. Strangers. Everywhere. All around me. My throat’s tight. Where is he? I whisper. I want Lugh, where’s my brother, I want my brother, where is he?
My body’s shakin. I don’t know none of these people, they ain’t my people an all I want is Lugh an he ain’t here, he’s off somewhere with Maev when I need him an I ain’t got nobody.
Hush. Cassie touches my arm. Come with me, she says. We cain’t do nuthin fer now.
She starts leadin me towards the house. I can hear Bram sayin somethin to the men by the pigroast pit, hear them laughin.
We’re passin by the stables. There’s a couple of horses standin outside. I shove Cassie hard. As she staggers back, I leap onto the nearest horse an we take off. He’s facin the fields, so that’s the way we go.
We fly over the stubbled cornfields.
I jest go.
Nowhere. Somewhere. Anywhere that’s away from here.
Nobody follows.
I ride. An ride. An I cry. I sob my rage to the night. Nero flies above. Silent companion. My head’s thick. It pounds. I’m trapped in my thoughts.
All this fer Jack. All fer Jack. I believed him. Defended him. An this is what he does. This is what he is. He’s deceived me. Betrayed me. Lugh’s bin right all along.
What d’you know about him? Nuthin. He plays whatever side suits him at the time. He’s a hollow man. A trickster. He’s betrayed you. Betrayed you an deceived you. You got a price on yer head, an Jack’s a man with his eye on the main chance. How fine would that be? Make his mark with the Pathfinder by handin over the Angel of Death.
If Bram hadn’t of grabbed me, if he hadn’t of stopped me, I’d be in Tonton hands right now.
Trickster.
Betrayer.
Deceiver.
Jack lied about everythin. Who he is. What he is. How he felt about me. A means to a end, that’s all I ever was.
I cain’t stand to think about it. How stupid I am. What a blind fool.
Who cares what Molly says about him? What does she know, anyways? Look at her, stayin in that gawdfersaken storm belt years on end, waitin fer Ike Twelvetrees to come back to her.
The heartstone. It’s a liar too. I wish Mercy’d never gave it me.
Without it, I’d never of looked at Jack twice. Never saved him from the Hopetown fire. I would of found Lugh on my own an we’d be out west by now. Him an me an Emmi. Everythin’s wrecked. Ruined.
I wish I’d never met Jack.
I hate him.
Hate him.
Deceiver. Betrayer. Liar.
After a while, I cain’t keep up the wild pace. I let the horse do what he wants. As he slows to a walk, I lie aginst his neck, worn out an cried out. We wander through the night. I don’t pay no heed to where I am, to time passin.
The roar of fallin water rouses me. I lift my head an look about me. We’re in woods now, followin a rough track. The horse slows, stops. I slide off. I stumble through the trees. Suddenly, I’m in the open, on the edge of a high, rocky cliff. The cool spray wakes me. Water shoots out from the cliff face below. It thunders into a wide pool, a dizzy fifty foot drop straight down.
Nero shrieks as he circles above. Clouds clear the moon. I rip the heartstone from my neck. I throw it. It arcs. It falls.