Cogling (28 page)

Ahead, Ike hopped from rock to overturned tree to up-heaved root.

Edna thought of the children left with the Nix, removed from their rags and garbed instead with sewn-together leaves. Harrison also wore the “bog wear,” as Ike called it: a loincloth of huge leaves, leggings of giant petals, and a shirt woven of vines. Edna wished they could’ve scrounged shoes. His skin, once soft and pale, had turned thick and black, cracked and bloody around his toes and heels. She’d offered him her boots, but they were too big. When he’d tried to walk, he’d tripped. Luckily he’d only bumped his knee. She’d hate to have him hurt now, when she had him back.

To distract them from the trek, she sang:

“Bloody rats all in a hat,

Upon which Victor Viper sat.

Little feet with little shoes,

Little people with little hues.

Flames and smoke all leaping high,

Upon which we all might die.”

Mud splattered Edna’s back as Rachel shrieked, “I’m stuck!”

Edna turned to find the Lady clinging to a mossy tree, struggling to free herself from a murky hole. Her skirt and petticoats tangled around her legs. Once Harrison would’ve laughed and called Rachel a “sissy” behind his hand. Now he stood beside Edna with solemn eyes and pursed lips.

Edna reached out her hand. “I’ll pull you out.”

Rachel hugged the tree tighter, tears trailing down her filthy cheeks. “I hate all of this!” Snot bubbled from her nostrils.

Edna rolled her eyes. “Grown up, eighteen-year-old Lady Rachel blubbers like an infant.” At least with Harrison nearby, the evil didn’t want to terminate Rachel.

“We all want to leave,” Harrison said. Edna sought emotion in his voice, but he stated a fact, nothing more.

“There’s stuff in my shoes and it squishes when I move,” Rachel wailed.

Edna groaned. “You didn’t have to come along.”

“I wasn’t going to stay with those swamp things.”

“They’re Nix.” Edna stepped along the edge of the hole Rachel had sunk into, careful to avoid falling in herself. “The last thing we need is to pull people free of the swamp.”

When she reached Rachel’s tree, she pried the Lady’s hands off. Rachel fell against her, the hole making a sucking sound as it freed her boot. They tumbled into a leafy bush. Sticky prickles slashed Edna’s cheek like pins. “Leave it to you to get us hurt.”

“We’re almost there,” Ike called.

Edna pushed Rachel off her. She shook out her skirt before she rejoined Harrison, grabbing her brother’s hand. Rachel lay prone before she staggered after them.

Ten minutes of walking brought the group to a dirt road overgrown with weeds. In the middle, a motorized coach rested within deep ruts. The black, box-like vehicle sat on four wheels, with a smaller box in front for the driver and a rear ledge for coal. Two Nix sat on the back beside the fuel compartment, and two others stood on the driver’s seat.

“I finally get to ride in a locomobile.” Edna wrinkled her nose. Pity it had to be under these conditions.

“All aboard.” Ike lifted the handle on the coach door and swung it open.

“Those things are driving?” Rachel squeaked.

“It’s your choice if you want to go or not,” Edna said, wondering if
she
wanted to go. She trusted the Nix in their civilization. That didn’t mean they knew how to drive. “Ike, is this safe?”

“I’ll drive,” he said.

“
Can
you drive?” She pursed her lips. “Hags don’t have vehicles. Even in the city, they take trolleys like the humans.”

“Once we get into traffic, the Nix will look too suspicious, so I have to do it.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.” She folded her arms. “I can’t allow Harrison into a dangerous situation. I didn’t rescue him just to have you murder us in a locomoble accident.”

Ike nodded. “I’ve driven.”

“We have to get home.” Harrison stepped away from her. Ike grasped the child under his arms and swung him into the coach. Her brother disappeared into the shadowy interior.

“Fine. You’ve protected us this long.” Edna drew a deep breath before she interlaced her fingers through Ike’s. He squeezed, smiling, but she couldn’t smile back. Her lips froze into a frown.

“We’ll get through this,” Ike whispered.

She nodded and stepped into the coach. Her boots slid against the mahogany floor. The walls were painted dark gray, with bench seats at either end covered by maroon cushions. Harrison sat on the left bench with his arms folded, eyes lowered. If only he would laugh or bounce.

Edna draped her arm over his shoulder to pull him against her. “Chin up, Harry-boy. We’re almost there.”

He nodded against her side. “I never thought this would happen. We’re really going home.”

She closed her eyes, but tears slipped through her lids. He’d been through so much. The gray had begun to fade from his complexion. Harrison didn’t deserve any of it. He’d always been good, innocent. “I know.”

Rachel sat across from them. Her skirt caught on the velveteen cushion, riding up her legs to expose mud-splattered shins. Ike shut the door with a
click
, sealing them inside with two small windows offering a view of the outdoors.

Rachel parted one of the lace curtains. “I won’t be sorry to see the last of the swamp. I never wanted to come here anyway.”

Edna rolled her eyes.

The engine purred and the vehicle lurched over rocks.

“This is why I hate leaving Moser City. The road’s too uneven.” Rachel combed her hands through her hair, as if that would make her presentable.

“Have you left often? I don’t remember you ever leaving Waxman Manor.”

“No. This is why.” She rolled her eyes.

“I wanted to travel.” Harrison sighed. “Not anymore.”

“We’ll never leave home again once we visit the king.” Edna kissed his forehead.

Rachel groaned. “You’re living in the clouds. The king won’t care what any of you have to say. The hags want you now.”

“They want you too.” Edna bit her tongue to keep from continuing. King Elias would terminate the hags. His army would gather them.

Swamp passed by, a blur of trees and fog. Edna’s eyelids drooped. Harrison snored against her, and across the coach, Rachel shut her eyes. Edna rested her head back.

Something thumped the wall, and she jerked upright.

Rachel moaned. “Did you hear something?”

Edna rubbed the back of her neck, tangled curls catching in her fingers. A faint hum reached her ears.

Not a hum—a growl. An animal snarled. Her heartbeat quickened and she tugged on a curl. The oily strand slid between her fingertips.

“What was that?” Rachel’s eyes widened.

Edna yanked the curtain back. Forest passed by rather than swamp; a mixture of dark trees and sun-dappled hills. The jolts, which had soothed her, became more vicious as the coach moved faster. Her shoulder bumped the wall. “Odds bobs!”

Rachel jerked the tiny window open near the top of the coach, which led into the driver’s compartment. “What’s happening?”

“Stay down,” Ike grunted.

Edna’s heart leapt into her throat, so she tugged on her gloves to calm her nerves. “The hags sent wolves after us.”

Rachel sighed, settling back onto her seat. “Then we’re fine if we stay inside.”

“Should we bring the Nix in?” Edna asked. “There’s the two up with Ike, but the others are shoveling coal.”

“We need to keep moving, and they have their arrows. They can help protect us.” Panic clipped Ike’s words. “They’re coglings shaped like wolves. Their jaws are strong enough to break this coach apart.”

What is written in the sky.

here’s no such thing as a mechanical wolf,” Rachel shrieked.

“Believe what you will,” Ike said through clenched teeth, “but they’re coming.”

Edna pressed her face against the window, breath steaming the glass. Amongst the blurring greens and browns of the passing trees, a dark shape streaked by. It kept low to the ground, its body as long as she was tall. Black fur with red streaks covered the thick form, snout and pointed ears identical to a real wolf’s features. Edna bit her lower lip to keep from crying out.

The end of their journey, torn apart by metal fangs piercing their bodies. Her skin crawled, stomach constricting. Harrison pressed his knees against his chest, huddling on the bench. Edna’s hand trembled so, she dropped the curtain to hide the forest. Pressure built in her skull, the need to cave to hysterics, and the evil ravaged her body. A knot formed in her throat and a scream rose behind it. All sense of calm oozed away. She yearned for her mum’s embrace, the safety of her bed.

A cogling crashed into the side of the coach, followed by a snarl that made Edna’s belly cramp. Rachel screamed. Edna grabbed the wall to see Ike through the driver opening.

“We’ll outrun them, right? We can go faster?” she panted. “The hags can’t win.”

“We fight,” one of the Nix said. The other opened the door in the driver compartment and the two leapt out, their arrows notched. A cogling snarled.

Edna ached to pull the Nix back. They shouldn’t put themselves in danger.

Another cogling thumped the coach, and the vehicle wavered on its wheels. Edna’s shoulder smacked the wall, sending pain through her arm and back. She gritted her teeth.

A Nix squealed before its body struck the window. Blood spattered and the glass cracked. Rachel screamed louder. The Nix slid downward, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle and his right hand only a bony stub. A roaring built within Edna’s ears. Edna slapped her hand over Rachel’s mouth, extinguishing her scream. “We need another plan. We escaped the gin house and destroyed the factory. We can vanquish mechanical wolves. Ike, use your magic on them.”

“I don’t have enough power,” he grunted.

A cogling attacked from the other side. The coach tipped left, skidding on the road. It teetered before righting, and the occupants slid. Edna’s head thumped the wall. Images of the dead Nix flashed through her mind. She glanced at the blood-spattered window. Soon they would all become a gory smear.

A cogling crashed through the cracked glass. Its golden eyes glowed. Blood shone on metallic, spiked fur. The wolf snapped its jaws, but couldn’t fit more than its broad head inside the coach. Its back legs flailed, digging chunks oout of the wall. She could kick it, but it might bite off her foot.

Trees didn’t blur by the window as fast as before.

“Why are we slowing down?” Edna rasped.

“We need more fuel,” Ike called.

“Can’t they pump it in faster?” Rachel scrunched into a ball as a cogling howled nearby.

“They…”

Edna’s heart plummeted. “Oh no.” There weren’t any Nix left to shovel coal. More were dead because of the hags.

Charles, and now the Nix.

Someone had to refuel for them. They couldn’t let the coach run out in a slow roll to demise.

“I’ll go work the fuel.” It couldn’t be too hard: lean over, scoop coal, toss it inside the boiler. Her hands trembled, though. A wolf could snatch her off, like what they’d done to the Nix.

“We can’t slow enough for you to get back there.” Ike thumped his fist against the seat.

“I’ll climb out the window. I have to do something other than wait to be torn to slivers.”