Blood Red Road (43 page)

I set him on fire, I says. Accidentally.

Nice touch, he says. Don’t s’pose you could of killed him?

What was it Ike said? The devil ain’t so easy to kill? No. I don’t think so.

Too bad, he says. Still, it might buy us a bit of extra time.

I take a deep breath. Sit up straighter. Let him come, I says. I ain’t come all this way jest to let that bastard win.

That’s the spirit, he says. That’s my girl.

We ride on in silence.

Saba? Lugh’s voice. Hoarse. Confused. Saba? Is that you?

A jolt goes through my heart. Lugh, I says. It’s me. I’m here. I got you.

Yer really here, he whispers. He takes my hand an kisses it. Tears start to my eyes.

He’s awake! I call out. Lugh’s awake! I pull up my horse. Him an me’s ridin at the rear. Th’others wheel around an gallop back to join us. Jack swings hisself down.

D’you think you can stand? he says to Lugh. I’ll help you.

Who’re you? says Lugh.

I’m Jack. A friend of Saba’s.

I’m another one, Ash says. The name’s Ash.

Me too, says Ike. Ike Twelvetrees.

Lugh glances around. I never knew you had so many friends, he says to me. Thank you. Thank y’all.

Jack helps him down. I slide to the ground.

We’ll leave you two to say hello, he says.

After they’ve moved away outta earshot, it’s jest me an Lugh. We look at each other. We stare at each other fer a long long moment by the bright white light of the midsummer moon.

His face looks thinner. He looks older. Harder. My heart twists.

My golden brother. Still so beautiful. But changed. He ain’t that Silverlake boy no more.

Are y’all right? I says.

A bit dizzy, he says. But … yeah, I’m … I’m good.

Good. I … Tears start to my eyes. Roll down my cheeks. I dash ’em away. Sorry it took me so long, I says. I got … delayed.

There’s tears on his face too. He takes a couple of steps towards me. Holds out his arms.

I run at him. I throw my arms around him. I hug him to me fiercely. I’m weepin.

Lugh’s arms go around me slowly. Lightly. Like he ain’t quite sure I’m real. Am I dreamin? he says.

No, I says. No. It’s real. I’m real. Here. Feel. I hug him even tighter. Then he clutches me to him. We hang on tight. I found you, I says. I said I would an I did. I did. I found you.

They told me you was dead, says Lugh. They said they killed you an Emmi.

An you believed ’em? I says.

Not at first I didn’t, he says. At first, I kept thinkin … she’ll be here soon. She said she’d find me. She always keeps her word, she’ll find a way. So I waited fer you. I waited an I hoped an I kept on hopin … fer a long time. But you didn’t come. An I thought … I know Saba. She’s so gawdam stubborn th’only thing that ’ud keep her from comin is if she was dead. That’s when I started believin what they told me. An then I stopped hopin. That was the worst bit. When I thought you was dead. When I didn’t have no hope.

You really think death ’ud keep me from findin you? I says. You know me better’n that.

I do, he says. Guess I shouldn’t of bin so impatient. Is Emmi okay?

She’s fine, I says. Still annoyin.

I touch his cheekbone. His birthmoon tattoo jest like mine.

Did they hurt you? I says.

No, he says. I mean, not … nobody laid a finger on me. I never bin fed so well in my life.

Suddenly, it’s like he properly notices me. What happened to yer hair? he says.

I’d fergot all about my hair bein shaved so short. I run a hand over it. It feels longer, softer. Must of grown some since I left Hopetown. But I won’t tell him about the Cage. Or anythin else. Not now. It’s a long story, I says. I’ll tell you later.

It suits you. There’s a pause. Then he says, You look different.

I know, I says. My hair.

No, he says. It’s more’n that. It’s … you. You’ve changed, Saba.

The day the Tonton rode into Silverlake, everythin changed, I says.

Guess we’ll jest hafta git to know each other all over agin.

Guess we will, I says.

It’s bin two hours or so since we left Freedom Fields. Now that Lugh’s able to ride, we’re coverin more ground.

Meetin point’s jest ahead, says Ike in a low voice.

We’re comin up to the Wrecker tire dump where Emmi an Tommo’s gonna be waitin with Hermes. It’s a big one. A hunnerd foot ahead, the piles loom high in the darkness by the side of the trail. Ike holds up a hand an we stop.

He does a high pitched squeak like a bat. It’s the signal to
let Emmi know it’s us. When she hears it, she’ll do one back. That’s what we agreed.

There ain’t no answer.

A shiver runs through me.

Where are they? Lugh whispers.

Ike signals agin. Nuthin.

C’mon, Emmi, Ash mutters.

Ike does the bat squeak once more.

This time, there’s a soft whinny. A horse.

Somebody steps out from between two hills of tires. It’s Tommo. He’s leadin Hermes.

But there ain’t no sign of Emmi.

My heart clutches.

We ride to meet Tommo. I’m the first to jump down an run over to him. The rest of ’em’s right behind me.

Where is she? What happened? I grab Tommo’s arms.

The look on his face tells me what I already know. She didn’t make it this far. You can tell he’s bin cryin.

You left together, says Ike. I saw you off safe. What happened?

Tell us, Tommo, I says. Go on.

Emmi made me turn back, he says. She wanted to wait. See Lugh. I couldn’t make her go.

Gawdammit, I says. Why cain’t she ever do what she’s told?

So we see Lugh an then Emmi says let’s go, says Tommo. But there’s too much noise an Hermes … he gits skeered an he … takes off.

He bolted, I says. An Emmi fell off.

Tommo nods. He wipes his eyes with his sleeve. I went back, he says, but the men …

Men from Freedom Fields? I says.

They took her, he says. I wanted to follow an git her back, but Ike, you said—

I said no matter what happens, keep on goin till you git to the meetin point, says Ike. An that’s what you did, son.

He pulls Tommo in an gives him a hug.

I’m sorry, says Tommo. Sorry.

It’s okay, I says. You did the right thing.

Emmi’s a good fighter, he says. She kicked the men. She yelled an punched ’em.

Relief floods through me. I look at th’others. She’s alive, I says.

You mean she was alive then, says Lugh. If that bastard hurts her, I swear—

I don’t think he will, says Jack. More likely he’ll use her to bargain with.

Bargain fer what? I says.

Yer guess is as good as mine, he says. He looks up at the moon. Time’s movin on. They’ll be after us by now an they’ll follow our trail easy enough. We ain’t bin hidin our tracks.

I want Emmi back, says Lugh.

We all do, says Jack.

So we’ll meet ’em, I says. We’ll meet Vicar Pinch an the Tonton. We’ll git Emmi back.

But we decide the where an the when, says Jack. We find somewhere to take a stand.

What’s a stand? says Tommo.

It’s when you meet yer enemy on yer own terms, son, says Ike. Not let him hunt you down like a beast.

I don’t like the odds, says Ash. At Freedom Fields, at least they wasn’t expectin us.

What else can we do? says Lugh. We cain’t jest march up to him an demand that he hands Emmi over. This way, at least we got a chance.

You think so? she says.

There’s silence. We’re all thinkin the same thing. That this is a different order to anythin we’ve bin through so far. My stummick’s squeezed tight.

No point pretendin it’s gonna be easy, says Jack.

It ain’t possible, says Ash.

It ain’t impossible, he says. Nuthin’s impossible.

Without thinkin, I glance up at the sky. As if Nero might
be flyin across the moon at this very moment. But there ain’t no black crow comin to save us.

I say we do it, I says. I say we take a stand.

Where? says Lugh.

Pine Top Hill, says Jack. Due north of here.

If you gotta take a stand, says Ike, you could do a lot worse.

You can see anybody comin at you from a long way off. There’s a good slope on it fer the last hunnerd foot, says Jack. An if I remember rightly, it’s loose rock. Bad ground fer horses. They won’t be able to charge at us uphill.

We wanna be set up there well before they show, says Ash.

What’re we waitin fer? says Lugh. Let’s go.

We ride due north through the night.

Jack pushes us hard. He don’t let us stop till we come across a little trickle of a stream. We all slide down to water the horses an ourselves.

We’re nearly there, he says.

Lugh shivers. He rubs his arms an hugs hisself. Th’only clothes he’s got on is his britches an boots.

You should of said you was cold, says Jack.

He reaches over his head an reefs off his shirt. He tosses it to Lugh.

Sorry it ain’t cleaner, he says. I’m a bit behind with my laundry.

I cain’t take yer only shirt, says Lugh.

Go on, says Jack.

But now you’ll be cold, says Lugh.

Oh I’m warm blooded. Jack grins. Anyways, Saba likes to look at my bare chest.

Lugh looks at me. Frowns. Is that a fact? he says.

I feel myself go bright red. It is not a fact, I says. You stinker, Jack.

They all laugh. All essept Lugh that is. He’s still frownin as he pulls Jack’s shirt over his head.

I glare at Jack an he winks at me. I go even redder.

See? he says. She cain’t help herself.

I could kick him fer makin me look foolish. But I could kiss him fer liftin the gloom a little bit.

Considerin what might lie ahead, that’s a good thing.