Dragon Sleeping (The Dragon Circle Trilogy Book 1) (7 page)

“Carl, please,” his wife said in a small voice. She backed away as she spoke.

Jackson whirled around to face her, as if he had found something to hit at last.

“Come on, now,” Mary Lou’s father interrupted, his face full of his peacekeeping grin. “I’m sure this must all be some sort of misunderstanding. There’s got to be some way we can work this out.” Mary Lou’s mother smiled, brushing a hand through her recently dyed hair. No matter what, her mother always managed to look her best.

“We most certainly can work this out,” the man in blue replied smoothly. “But I’m being impolite. You have walked some distance.” He clapped his hands. “We’ll prepare a meal, find someplace for you to sit.” As the man in blue spoke, three of the soldiers passed quickly into the structure behind him. “We’ll have all the time you want to talk. After we’ve eaten, I’ll make a proposition. I can help you. But you can help me, too.”

He paused, letting the neighbors talk among themselves. Some of them, her parents included, wanted to hear this fellow out. Mary Lou was amazed. What were they thinking? He—or his men—had killed Mr. Sayre! How could they even talk to someone like that?

Two of the soldiers reemerged from the building, each carrying a pair of long, rough-hewn benches. Placing these before the neighbors, they went back into the structure and returned with a table of similar design; sort of a picnic table, Mary Lou thought, although the wood looked more green than brown.

“I appreciate the difficulties you’ve had coming here,” the man in blue remarked as his soldiers continued their preparations. “I’m very glad you’ve decided to hear me out.” Had they? Mary Lou couldn’t remember the adults coming to any decision. Still, no one contradicted the man. “I understand that some of your fellows were not so polite. But, by running away from my men, they could inadvertently hurt themselves.”

“What do you mean?” Nick’s mother asked with a frown. “This is a different place,” he replied simply, as if this was all the explanation that was needed.

Nick’s mother looked very upset. “But—” she began. “What—” she added, but couldn’t find words to continue her sentence.

“We’ll find them,” the man in blue said reassuringly. “This is our home, not yours.”

He strolled before the line of neighbors, regarding each one in turn. For some reason, Mary Lou thought he was going to ask for a volunteer. He paused by Mr. Mills, and then walked over to Mary Lou.

She found herself staring into the eyes of the man in blue. For an instant, his eyes looked perfectly normal. And then they seemed to cloud over, and darken, so that her gaze was pulled deeper and deeper within, as if she was forever falling.

“Mary Lou,” he said. She started.

“So nice of you to share your name.” She had? She didn’t remember speaking.

“You may call me Nunn,” the man in blue continued. “See? We only want to work together.”

Mary Lou shivered. Who did he mean by “we”?

“So, if we’ve all agreed to work together,” Nunn continued, as if the neighbors had made another silent consensus, “I think we should eat.”

Some of the neighbors murmured in agreement. Mary Lou’s mother laughed, as if she wanted everybody here to be fast friends.

All three soldiers emerged from the building, each carrying a great, steaming bowl of something that looked like stew.

“We fight when we must,” Nunn remarked conversationally, “but isn’t it much better when we can work together?”

“I wouldn’t worry about the boys,” Todd’s father added with a rough laugh. “They’re all cowards. If they’re like my son, they’ll show back up here with their tails between their legs.”

“Tails?” Nunn asked with his perpetual half-smile. “Ah, like animals, I see. Well, I certainly hope so, for their sakes.”

Other soldiers had brought out smaller bowls and spoons for distributing the stew. Mary Lou couldn’t help but wonder what the steaming bowls really contained. What did they use for meat around here? She remembered the small creature that the Captain had shot from the trees. It had almost looked human. Would they eat something like that?

She realized then that she hadn’t seen the Captain since Nunn had begun to talk. Underneath his bravado, she couldn’t help but think that the Captain had been very afraid. She wondered what had happened to him. She looked back at the bowls.

The stew could contain anything.

She shouldn’t let her imagination run away like this. Still, she didn’t think she could bring herself to eat anything. She wished again that she had run away.

Her parents and the others sat down on the long benches. Some, like Mr. Mills and Nick’s mother, seemed guarded in their movements, while her parents seemed to want to treat the soldiers like they were old friends.

Her father thanked the soldier for the steaming bowl placed in front of him. The soldier grunted back.

Mr. Jackson laughed. “Just like the army.”

“I understand you have already met my brother,” Nunn addressed the others. He frowned when he saw the confusion on their faces. “Ice cream?” he added. The neighbors smiled as if they understood. They passed the bowls of stew down the table.

“Time may be very short,” Nunn continued. “There are certain things that need to be done before the arrival of—well, something that’s very important. We shouldn’t let that confuse you.”

“Then you sent for us?” Mr. Mills asked pointedly.

“Oh, no. We’re not strong enough to do that. You were brought here—” He paused, as if thinking better of what he might say next. “— well, by others. I’ll explain it to you soon enough.”

He looked pointedly at the teenager. “Mary Lou? Why don’t you join us?”

She saw a bit of that same emptiness in his gaze. She quickly looked away. It was strange how quiet all the neighbors had been since they had come to this clearing; no stranger, she supposed, than anything else that had happened to them in the last few hours. She wondered if there was something about this Nunn that was affecting them all. Couldn’t her parents, Mr. Mills, and the others see what was happening?

Perhaps they needed somebody to show them.

She remembered how the boys had run. Maybe, she thought, she hadn’t lost her chance. Maybe the real battle would be here, facing this stranger.

Maybe, she thought, and the idea both scared and excited her, there were a lot of different ways to fight.

“W
e’re never going to get home, are we?”

Mrs. Smith was the first to say it. Although she was the oldest among them and sometimes had trouble walking, she had a lot sharper mind than half the other adults.

Mary Lou always hoped she’d have some of Mrs. Smith’s spunk when she got that old. She looked at the faces of the others around the table. All had stopped spooning the stew into their mouths. Some looked at the old woman, while others were very busy looking somewhere else. For a moment, nothing moved but the wind.

“Nonsense,” Mr. Furlong said. He made a noise that started as a laugh but ended as a dry croak. “We don’t know that.” Mary Lou’s parents nodded from where they sat farther down the table, glad to agree with anything that was being said.

“What
do
we know, Leo?” his wife asked pointedly.

“I think this Nunn guy is here to protect us,” Mr. Jackson said loudly. Mary Lou had noticed that Jackson almost always made firm statements like that, rather than asking others for advice.

“Did you see the way that guy talked?” Jackson insisted with his all-too-eager grin. “If we stick with him, we should all get back easy.”

“But what about Bobby?” Mrs. Furlong said. “He’s run away,” she added quietly. She glanced out at the forest for only a second, as if the trees might object if she stared at them too long. “All our sons—what will happen to them?”

“And there’s Jason, too,” Mary Lou’s father piped up. “But I’m sure the boys will be fine.”

“Maybe they’ll get some sense scared into them,” Jackson replied. “The four boys went off together, but I’m sure Todd put it into their heads. Just wait until I get my hands on him—”

“We have to find them before we can do anything!” Mrs. Blake snapped with a surprising amount of anger.

“Nunn can find anything,” the Captain interrupted from where he stood at the end of the table. Somehow, when he had disappeared a few minutes ago, Mary Lou hadn’t expected to see him again. His expression was sour, almost angry, as he looked out over the neighbors. He seemed almost an entirely different person from the brash and boastful man who had brought them here. “How?” Mr. Mills objected. “You haven’t—”

“Nunn will tell you everything.”

The Captain’s sharp voice silenced everybody. Or maybe it was his mention of his master.

Nunn had disappeared after the food arrived, stalking inside the hut. Mary Lou now realized that, when he left, everyone— neighbors and guards both—seemed to relax. Nunn had certainly frightened her. After his strange actions, and his eyes that seemed to show the stars, the Captain and his soldiers appeared almost normal. And apparently, from the uniformed men’s actions, getting to know Nunn better did not help ease that tension.

Some of the people around the table tried to get the conversation going again. Mr. Furlong made a remark about the kind of rations he used to eat in the war. People stared down at their stew. Mary Lou’s mother looked up at her daughter and said she should eat something. Mary Lou sat down at the end of one of the benches and took one of the offered bowls. The food had done nothing to the other neighbors, except maybe quiet them down. “This isn’t bad,” Mr. Furlong murmured.

His wife giggled nervously. “He never eats this well at home.” No, Mary Lou thought, the neighbors hadn’t changed at all. She grabbed one of the wooden spoons the guards had provided and scooped up some of the dark brown stew from her bowl. She sipped at the gravy. It was both a little sweet and a little salty. Her mouth watered. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was.

“Are you finished?” the Captain asked Mr. Jackson, who had placed his spoon inside his empty bowl. “When you are done, my men and I will eat.”

Jackson patted his stomach and stared up at his captor. “I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs. Maybe take a walk around the neighborhood.”

Some of the other neighbors laughed at that.

The Captain didn’t even smile. “You don’t want to leave. It is far too dangerous out there. Here you have protection. And Nunn wouldn’t like to lose any more of you.”

“You killed one of them?”

The Captain stopped moving at the sound of his master’s voice. He stood absolutely still, his gaze fixed somewhere beyond the clearing.

Nunn stood directly behind him. Once again, Mary Lou had been unaware of his approach. Instead, he had simply arrived.

“When you explained the escape,” Nunn said softly, “there was no mention of a death. You will answer me now, Captain.” The words seemed more ominous because of Nunn’s very pleasant smile.

“I thought it best to ensure the others’ obedience,” the Captain replied. “The one we dispatched was obviously of no consequence—”

“Obviously?” Nunn interrupted, his smile showing even more teeth. “You, then, are gifted with that judgment?”

“Oh, no,” the Captain said quickly. “I am not gifted at all. I am nothing but your soldier, doing my best to fulfill—”

“Your best?” Nunn nodded serenely. “Yes, you are only human, are you? All people make mistakes?” He sighed. “We need them all. Until we see them together, we have no idea who is chosen and who is not. You indicated that you understood that.” He held his hands out before him. Mary Lou could swear that his fingertips glowed softly. Nunn chuckled, as if delighted with the sight. “But you will be happy to know, my Captain, that even this error is not irreversible.”

“Sir?” the Captain asked after Nunn had paused.

“You can take a life, I can give one back,” Nunn replied in a singsong tone. “There is one small problem. The restoration of life is a costly matter. However, I would think that, as the man who made the mistake in the first place, you would be more than happy to pay some restitution.”

The Captain blinked. His mouth opened, then closed. A single bead of sweat danced the length of the scar on his left cheek.

“Sir,” he replied at last.

“I am glad you agree.” Nunn’s smile was so broad by now that the lower half of his face looked like nothing but teeth. “But come. As I’m sure you realize, this conversation will best be concluded in private.”

Both Nunn and the Captain turned toward the hut behind them, their movements so close that they looked like two puppets controlled by the same string.

Nunn strode quickly to the hut. The Captain followed, his walk almost too stiff, and no less direct. In a moment, both had disappeared into darkness.

“May eat?” one of the soldiers asked to break the all-too-familiar silence.

“Pardon?” Mrs. Blake looked up. The soldier pointed at the bowl before her. “Oh, certainly,” she answered as she rose from the table. “I wouldn’t want any more. Not now.” Other neighbors followed her, one by one retreating from the table.

Mary Lou had lost her appetite as well. It sounded as if something horrible would happen to the Captain. She pushed the toe of her penny loafer into the packed earth of the clearing. She had seen the Captain order someone killed in cold blood. Why should she feel sorry for him? Mary Lou knew the answer as soon as she thought of the man in the dark blue suit—the Captain’s master. The Captain, at least, appeared to be human—human like Mary Lou and the rest of the neighbors. Who knew what Nunn was?

Half the soldiers sat at the benches that the others had just vacated.

The other half of the men hung back, weapons in hands.

“Must stay,” the new spokesman announced as he sat down among the other men. His accent seemed Slavic. He grabbed a spoon and waved it at those soldiers still standing. “Understand?” He pointed the spoon at the neighbors. “You go, our death.” He screwed up his nose as if he smelled something bad. “Not pleasant. No.” He turned back to the table, rapidly ladling stew into a clean bowl. “So quiet, please. We all live one more day.”

With that, the soldier began to slurp his stew.