Recruits (Keeper of the Water Book 2) (9 page)

“It’s okay, this is normal,” Anne whispers to me. “Don’t fight it.”

I try to let out a deep breath but the pain has become so severe that it must sound like I’m moaning. While my last drink of water took away a few of the wrinkles in my hands, this cup of water takes away the rest, making them completely smooth and soft. They haven’t looked this way since before I was kidnapped, before I was given to Toussaint. I feel the same thing happening to the rest of my body and when Anne finally lets go, I’m stronger than ever yet equally exhausted.

I look at my reflection in the water and see a face I haven’t seen in a long time, a young face that glows with youthful exuberance. I’m not usually self-centered but can’t help being in awe of my beauty. I no longer feel so weak and homely compared to the rest of the women around me.

“You’ve now shared life with the rest of my protectors,” the Keeper says. “You
are
an Amazon.”

I’m so overcome with different emotions that tears begin welling in my eyes. The only time I’ve ever cried since escaping Toussaint is when I thought of my children. But I don’t have time to deal with these feelings. The other Amazons no sooner approach to properly welcome me when we’re interrupted by a loud
rustling
in the nearby brush. Before I even see what causes the noise, I rush toward the Keeper, shielding her with my body. I’m not the only one. Within seconds, there’s a wall of Amazons two deep protecting the Keeper.

Anne is at the front of the group, the Amazons once again lining up in order of seniority. I am closest to the Keeper though I should probably be farthest away. Cassie clearly doesn’t like me taking her place so I wiggle my way through the wall and take my rightful place beside my mentor.

A man emerges from the trees and comes to a stop so quickly that he falls down. He’s surprised – and with good reason – to find a tribe of beautiful, exotic women in the middle of nowhere. He probably thinks he’s dreaming. The situation – especially the look of shock on his face – might be humorous if it wasn’t for the musket he holds. He wears a gray uniform and several weeks worth of facial hair growth, though it’s so patchy that he can’t be more than eighteen or nineteen years old. I hope he’ll be friendly and just leave but the lascivious grin that appears on his face tells me he’s looking for trouble.

He has
no idea
the kind of trouble he’s run into.

“What do we got here?” he asks with a slow drawl. His rotting teeth look just as nasty as the rest of him. Even from ten feet away, I can smell his putrid breath. My senses are more acute than ever, though it proves quite disgusting at the moment. The young soldier’s body odor smells just as rancid as his breath. “What
are
ya’ll? Bunch of runaways?”

“That is none of your concern, boy,” Anne says, her voice calm though her choice of words is combative. I suppose this is her way of being diplomatic.

“Ain’t too smart bein’ out here in these woods without no man,” the young soldier says. “Lots of angry soldiers with guns out here. We’s in a middle of a war, ya see.”

“Your conflict is of no interest to us,” Anne snaps back. “You would be best suited to just move along.”

The young man still looks confused when Anne talks to him – the words she uses are probably too big for him to understand. It’s unlikely that a woman would talk back to a man in such a manner where he comes from. I hope Anne’s beauty is enough to distract him into looking beyond her rudeness. But that’s not meant to be. His confusion turns into a scowl. I would feel much safer if I had my bow – or if
any
of the Amazons were armed. Our weapons lay in the same circle around the spring, abandoned during the ceremony.

“You can’t tell me what to do, woman,” he says. “You ain’t even sound like you an American – some of ya’ll don’t even look like you from here, North
or
South. I could go back to my regiment right now and tell them that ya’ll is hidin’ here.
Or
I could take care of ya’ll myself.”

The young soldier licks his lips and raises his gun, pointing it straight at Anne’s face as he takes a step forward. My instinct is to protect her – to give my life in exchange for my mentor’s – and my mind tells my body to take action. I feel so strong and quick now that I want to attack the soldier. But Anne senses what I’m about to do before I even budge. She grabs hold of my wrist to stop me from striking while never once taking her eyes off the young man and his gun.

“Now git me some of that there water to drink,” the young man says, trying to sound intimidating. “It looks cold and I sure is thirsty.”

Anne does not look worried in the least and her calmness relaxes me. She suddenly smiles widely.

“Do you think that’s the first gun ever pointed at me?” she asks him.

“Yeah, we’re not afraid of you, coward,” a voice calls out from the back of the tribe, as if daring the soldier to react.

I recognize Cassie’s mocking tone; she sure is brave when she’s safely away from the danger. She succeeds in enraging the soldier, who jams his gun so close to Anne’s face that I’m afraid she’ll be hit. But she doesn’t flinch, not even when the end of the big musket stops less than an inch from her nose.

“I was tryin’ to be nice but I ain’t doin’ that no more. Maybe I’ll take somethin’ else I want from ya’ll women instead, starting with you, Red.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” another member of the Queen Clan calls out.

“Watch me!” the soldier shouts.

He pulls the gun back and swings it toward Anne’s head. He moves quickly for a mere man but every normal movement seems slower to me now. I’m about to reach out to block the blow but Anne reacts even faster. In one quick motion, she snatches the barrel of the gun, rips it out of his hands and turns it around on him. I have a feeling she could’ve disarmed the young man at any point during the altercation.

The soldier looks shocked, his bravado instantly evaporating, replaced with utter fear. He falls to his knees again, putting his hands together in prayer as he starts to beg.

“Please, ma’am, I wasn’t gonna hurt ya. I was just bein’ real dumb and I’m sorry,” he says. “I’m just a simple runner but my regiment
will
come lookin’ for me if I’s gone too long.”

“You’d do much better if you stopped talking,” Anne say. She grabs the metal musket from both ends and uses her incredible strength to bend it in the shape of an oval. She drops the piece of metal to the ground. “Such a crude weapon. Any ideas about what to do with him?”

Anne turns to the rest of the Amazons for advice about how to proceed. I also turn to see what they say but do so a split second after Anne does. This tiny difference ends up saving her life. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the young soldier reach into his sock. He’s not as dumb as he seems. He hurls something toward Anne and instinctively I react. The entire scene moves in slow motion and at the last second, I snatch the knife out of mid-air, catching it by the handle just inches from the side of Anne’s neck.

I look at the soldier and shake my head.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I tell him.

He’s so surprised that he doesn’t say a word. Anne turns to see the knife dangerously close to her neck and for a split second, her usual confidence is gone.

“Thanks, Recruit. See how sharp the water makes you?” Anne says before turning to the Keeper. “What should we do with him?”

“Kill him,” Cassie interjects. “He will tell the other troops where we are. We don’t need that sort of trouble.”

“No, please, I don’t got no more weapons,” the young soldier pleads. “I won’t say nothin’ to nobody, I swear.”

“You’ve already ruined your chance to garner our trust,” Cassie says. “And for that, you must pay with your life.”

I know the foolish young soldier tried to hurt Anne – twice – and probably had worse plans than that for the rest of us. But it still appalls me to hear Cassie so willing to kill an unarmed man. I look toward Anne to talk some sense into the Queen Clan but she has to pick
now
to agree with them.

“She’s right. It’s for the best,” Anne tells me.

“Please show me mercy. My mama already lost my two brothers to the war – don’t make her lose the last child she’s got,” the soldier pleads.

Anne retrieves her spear and my stomach turns. I look to the other Amazons for help. Some appear sympathetic – the woman with the short curls even turns away – but nobody says or does anything to stop her. This must be the way things are done; they take so few risks that I feel lucky that Anne didn’t kill me the first time our paths crossed years ago. I
should
just keep my mouth shut and let them do things as usual but I can’t let the young man die without trying to help.

“We could tie him up and hide him until the troops pass through,” I suggest. “We can make sure he doesn’t make a sound.”

“You’ve been an Amazon for less than five minutes and already you think you know more than the woman who’s been here longest?” Cassie snaps. The Keeper clears her throat. “I’m sorry, my Keeper, I meant the second longest.”

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, I just thought – ”

“This is
exactly
why our recruits are made to wait before being accepted. I hope you don’t try causing more dissension among our ranks,” Cassie says, her Queen Clan nodding with every word she speaks.

“I don’t want to cause trouble, I – ”

“Save your excuses for trying to help the man that tried to kill your mentor. And do you see how he repays you for your act of mercy?” Cassie asks.

I turn back to the soldier, who’s no longer kneeling at our feet. Instead, he’s scrambling back toward the woods. The predawn sky is still dark and the soldier can barely see. He clumsily trips over every rock, root and branch he encounters. His sight – and coordination for that matter – obviously isn’t as good as mine. It’s a miracle he’s survived the war up to this point.

“Kill him, Recruit!” Cassie orders, making her way toward the front of the tribe.

“With what? My bow is all the way over – ”

“Look in your hand,” Cassie says. “It’s only fitting he dies by the same weapon he tried to kill us with.”

I don’t bother to point out that there was no
us
. The soldier tried to kill
Anne
, while Cassie instigated him from a safe distance. I’m hesitant to follow through with such a final order and look to the Keeper for guidance. I expect her to come up with a more peaceful course of action but that’s not the case. She frowns and nods her head, thus giving the kill command.

The soldier runs farther away and would’ve been well out of range for the old me, even if I had my bow instead of just a knife. But with my enhanced abilities, I have no doubt I could hit him from here… at least no doubt
physically
. But my mind still can’t get over the idea of stabbing an unarmed man in the back. I take aim and throw the knife, unsure whether or not I’m actually trying to hit him.

My subconscious must’ve influenced the throw. The knife smashes into a tree just inches beside the soldier’s head. He’s so startled by the sudden noise that he trips yet again. I missed on purpose, a fact that doesn’t escape the rest of the Amazons. I never imagined I could feel so bad about
not
killing someone.

“Don’t worry, I’ll go get him,” I tell the tribe, excited to prove my worth to them. I know I can chase him down and subdue him. But I don’t take a single step before Cassie steps forward and reaches for my arm.

“It’s too late for that,” she says.

But
I’ll
be the judge of that. Before she can stop me, I take off after him. If the situation wasn’t so awkward already, I would revel in my increased speed, the way I can run so fast that my feet barely touch the ground. There are countless thoughts on my mind but the most prevalent one is how my two recruiters didn’t run
nearly
as fast as they could have after finding me on the plains. They must’ve moved at half-speed just to let me keep up along our journey.

The soldier has a head-start of at least a few minutes but he still has no chance to get away from me – he’d need at
least
a few hours for that. A couple seconds is all I need to cut the distance between us in half. Knowing that the Amazons are watching fuels me to run even faster, to prove my worth. But just as I reach out a hand to grab him by the back of his uniform, I hear a
whoosh
speed by my ear.

The soldier crashes to the ground before I realize what happened. He rolls several times before finally coming to a stop, an arrow sticking out of his back. He coughs out a mouthful of blood. I’ve been a hunter long enough to realize he has zero chance of surviving.

I look back at the tribe. They’re far away but I have no problem spotting Cassie in front of the group, holding a bow –
my
bow. As soon as our eyes lock, she sneers and drops the bow triumphantly. The soldier groans. With his last bit of strength, he raises his head to look at me.

“Tell mama I sorry,” he whispers with his dying breath.

I feel a sickness in the pit of my stomach that no amount of special water could cure. I’ve shown the Queen Clan enough weakness thus far so it would be better for my reputation to head back and pretend like nothing bothered me. But I can’t stop looking at the dead soldier, just a kid really. He probably wasn’t smart enough to survive this war anyway but I think of his poor mother, which in turn makes me think of my own children…