Crik (33 page)

‘He’ll help us,’ said Bill. ‘He gave us apples to eat, didn’t he?’

The memory of choking on the fruit brought tears to Jack’s eyes. ‘We can’t tell him anything,’ he said, keenly feeling his own disappointment. ‘If he doesn’t know of our escape, the Ghost Walkers can’t accuse him of helping us.’

‘Hush,’ said Bill, waving his arm. ‘Black sees something.’

‘What?’ asked Jack.

Looking cross, Bill said, ‘What does hush mean to you? Ask questions. There’re two Ladies in front of Black. They haven’t seen him or Silver. I’m trying to hear what they’re saying.’

Jack found himself leaning forward, straining to hear something that he couldn’t possibly hear. With intense curiosity, he moved closer to Bill. Yang followed, his ear was the size of a dinner plate.

Listening to a conversation taking place miles from where Bill sat made the chubby boy pensive. His lips moved, articulating the words he overheard.

‘Come on Bill, what’re they saying?’ asked Jack, tired of trying to lip read.

‘It’s not good,’ said Bill. A bead of perspiration ran from his hairline over his cheekbone. ‘I don’t recognise either of them. Both are taller than Justice, with a strong red light obscuring their faces. One called the other a “Red Sister”, and both carry a wooden staff with bones tied to its length. Black heard the clattering of the bones before he saw the Ladies. He’s right to be scared of them; Silver too is lying low. Her nose is in the dirt. They’re arguing about us.’

‘Is it about the animals?’ asked Inara.

‘That’s only part of it,’ answered Bill. ‘They don’t like us being here. They think Justice was wrong by imprisoning us.’

‘So they want us to go,’ said Jack in a hurried whisper. ‘They can help us leave. If they let us go, there’s no chance of us returning.’

Bill shook his head. ‘No Yin,’ he said, ‘they want to take us to the Tree to kill us. Our coming has convinced them that they aren’t safe.’

‘Why?’ asked Jack.

‘We’re from Crik Village. They are angrier than even Kyla. They are biting off their words. They mistrust anyone outside the Wold. They talk about protecting those within the Red Wood. We aren’t safe here.’

‘I thought they wanted us for our Talents,’ said Inara.

Yang nodded.

‘They are angry, they don’t want the animals in the Red Wood,’ said Bill. ‘They say they made the Wold how they wanted it. Every living thing reminds them of the past. That’s why they uprooted the trees. They don’t want any reminders of the time they were alive. Oh my, they called Justice a foolish little girl. How old are they? We’re in trouble Yin; we’ve got to get out of here.’

‘We can’t just up and go,’ said Inara. ‘Without the Syll the creatures in the tunnel will tear us to pieces.’ She rubbed her arms. ‘They would plant those flowers on us.’

‘We’ll die if we wait here,’ said Bill.

‘What’s the point of rushing from one death to another,’ she argued.

‘Look at Yang,’ said Bill.

All turned to see Yang standing away from the group with his arm stretching toward the east. His finger stretched until it disappeared into the distance.

‘Isn’t that where the wolves are?’ asked Inara.

‘Close,’ said Bill. ‘They passed that way a few hours ago. There’s no way through the hedge; I looked.’

‘There’s something down there,’ said Inara. ‘Do you think Yang wants us to go that way?’

Yang nodded, and then clapped.

‘You want to trust him?’ asked Jack. ‘A demon is telling us to follow him, and you want to go with him?’

‘We’ve been through this a hundred times Jack,’ said Inara. ‘Yang isn’t a demon. If your Narmacil is telling you we need to go in that direction then I’m going.’

‘How? You can’t walk, and neither of us is strong enough to carry you.’

‘Then I’ll crawl,’ said Inara. ‘I’m not staying here any longer.’

‘Bring a deer over, you can ride that,’ said Bill.

‘We can all ride one,’ she said. ‘Yang, can you bring us three of the strongest deer from the herd.’

While Yang spread out through the herd to capture them mounts Jack sat down. ‘How can we outrun the Myrms on the backs of animals that are years dead,’ he said. ‘I want to leave here too, but its suicide to leave without a plan.’

‘We followed you into the Red Wood, Jack,’ said Inara. ‘It’s your turn to follow us out.’

‘Shouldn’t we at least wait until dark?’

Inara shook her head. ‘The Ghost Walkers seem more active during the night, so why wait?’

‘Besides,’ said Bill, ‘I don’t fancy riding into a rusty shard. I want to see what’s in front of me.’

The three deer Yang brought to them at least had meat on their bones. One only had one eye; the deer given to Jack had none, and its dirty skull poked through loose fur. Yang lifted Inara onto the fittest animal, which sported an impressive array of antlers. Grabbing a clump of fur, she righted herself.

‘This is crazy,’ said Jack. He smacked his mount and a cloud of dust and dirt filled the air around him, making him cough. ‘All the Myrms need to do to find us is follow the cloud of dirt.’

‘Where’s Mylo?’ Bill asked, looking around for Inara’s pet rabbit.

‘He ran off during the night,’ she said. ‘I suppose to find a home.’ She looked worried.

We are planning on running for our lives, and a dead rabbit has her concerned. Jack shook his head. I must be crazy. He vaulted onto the deer. He expected the deer to collapse under him, but the animal took his weight.

‘We have to hold onto their necks,’ said Bill, when his deer trotted forward. ‘If we don’t, we’ll fall off as soon as we get going.’

Great, thought Jack, circling his arm around the decayed throat of the dead animal. He had the maddening urge to cough and sneeze, as the musty smell of the rotted fur assailed his nostrils.

‘Well let’s not wait around.’ Inara smacked her mount, making the deer run forward.

‘They’ll kill us for sure if they capture us,’ said Jack.

Bill, looking over at him, gave a tight nod. ‘I guess they will. Then you’d best not get caught.’ He followed Inara.

Sighing, Jack dug his heels into the exposed bones of his mount. With Yang holding onto his back, he followed the others, sneezing as the wind carried the dust back into his face.

With the dust billowin
g
off the deer, showing no sign of abating, Jack believed his coughing fit would never end. Added to that, the jostling motion of the deer’s awkward run almost dismounted him at every turn. Both he and Bill struggled to keep hold of their mount’s necks; ahead Inara laughed with abandon.

The other deer had scattered before them as they started their escape. Peeling away from the startled herd, Inara led them eastward. Ahead the rusted foliage that bordered the barren valley grew to become a foreboding barrier.

‘Come on,’ cried Inara, eager to leave the valley.

They easily avoided the towering metal trees, yet the smaller plants, tore at the running deer, scoring their flesh with short barbs and bundles of wire wool. Watching a daisy with razor sharp petals slice into his mount’s hoof, Jack could only marvel at the beast’s tenacity. Despite the obstacles, the swift deer carried them through the Red Wood. Inara laughed loudest when her deer leapt a copper bush, or one of the few red streams running like arteries throughout the Wold. Looking behind, Jack could no longer see the valley. Deliberating whether leaving their prison was the best course of action, and coming up with no answer; he swung forward, knowing the need for haste.

Inara led them into a grove of silver oaks. The orderly rows of trees allowed the deer to run faster, slipping past the giants with ease. Silver trunks rose cathedral-like around them, shepherding them farther away from the Hanging Tree and their captors. Even Jack’s coughs became hushed as they threaded their way down the long corridors. Unsettled by the unnatural neat rows, Jack kept his gaze averted. Where was the diversity in this quiet wood? They moved in silence, only an occasional directional arm from Yang broke the monotony of the ride.

In time, they cleared the oaks and stumbled upon a monstrous beast with a bronze horn rising from a large head. The immense size of its body, supported by four sturdy iron legs, brought the deer up short, halting their run. Gnawing at a tin plant, the horned creature stared at them with deep-set steel eyes. It was in no hurry to finish its meal, chewing slowly it grinded the metal between blunt teeth. Under Jack, his deer pranced nervously as the metal beast snorted through its nostrils, making the sound of a blacksmith’s bellows.

‘Ahh, you cannot beat a bit of tin in your diet,’ said the horned beast, after swallowing its meal. ‘And I thought Huckney was squishy looking. You three would not be able to dent my hide with a hammer. What brings you to my grove? Speak quickly; I want to finish my breakfast.’

Jack wanted to speak; only his tongue had glued itself to the roof of his mouth. Thankfully, Bill rescued the moment by saying, ‘You’re a rhinoceros.’

‘I have never met anyone who knew what I am. Some call me a unicorn.’ The rhino sniggered. ‘I wonder whether my winning smile makes them think I am something I am not.’ Grey metal slabs, lumped on its gums, showed as the rhino opened its mouth.

‘I’ve seen pictures of you in a book,’ said Bill. ‘I thought you didn’t exist. Like dragons and,’ he paused, looking awkward.

‘Unicorns,’ laughed the rhino. ‘I am prettier than a unicorn, do you not agree?’

‘Huckney made you,’ said Bill.

‘No doubt from the same book you read. I have no way of knowing whether there are any others like me,’ said the rhino. ‘If they do exist, they are not here in the Wold. Beyond the Hedge Wall perhaps – I do not know.’

‘What’re you doing all the way out here by yourself?’ asked Inara.

‘Trying to enjoy my breakfast,’ replied the rhino. ‘I have seen more squishy things during the last few days. Rising from the ground, they interrupt my mealtimes. They do not talk to me. I trampled one by mistake. Being so very small, I did not notice it until I felt the crack of bones beneath my hoof. When I stepped away, the little thing I stepped on, did not hop like the others, only dragged itself away. Watching I could not understand how something so soft did not die.’ The rhino sounded sad.

Shifting uncomfortably, Jack observed Yang sitting in silence. His shadow returned his look. Satisfied his demon would cause no mischief, he returned his attention to the rhino, who rubbed its horn against a steel trunk. The rhino grinned as sparks flew from its horn.

‘Do you know where the blacksmith is?’ asked Jack.

‘I have not seen him since he took his wagon through here a few days ago. He gave me a piece of tin from the load he carried and then he went. Have you got any tin to give to me?’ asked the rhino.

‘I’m sorry we haven’t got anything,’ said Jack.

‘Thought I would ask, you never know.’ The rhino bent down to find something else to eat.

‘We’d best go,’ said Bill. ‘The Ladies could discover us missing at any time.’

Looking back, Jack tried to gauge the distance they had travelled. Not far enough, he was sure. He had not forgotten the speed the Myrms travelled through the metal branches.

‘Do you know a way through the Hedge Wall?’ Bill asked the rhino.

The great horn swayed to the side. ‘There is no way through the Hedge Wall. I tried running through it once, only to get my horn stuck.’ The rhino began to munch on what little tin remained on the plant.

‘Come on,’ urged Jack, steering his deer around the metal rhinoceros.

They left the rhino to eat the rest of his breakfast in peace. They moved quickly through the glade, only Jack knew once the brutes started the chase they would never outrun them. The Myrms would spring through the trees, using the magnets to keep from falling. Casting his eye over his shoulder, he scouted the treetops for any sign of pursuit; nothing followed them. How much longer could they expect not to see anything? An hour, two at the most, if lucky they would reach wherever Yang was leading them before the Ghost Walkers caught up with them. Yang swept his arm forward and to the left of where they were running. Altering their course to follow the shadowed arm, the group naturally bunched together as boulders hedged them on both sides.

‘I wonder what else Huckney has made,’ said Bill, riding to Jack’s right. ‘How wonderful, I can’t wait to tell my grandfather that I’ve seen a rhinoceros.’

If you see Grandpa Poulis again, was the gloomy thought that immediately sprang to Jack’s mind. Bill looked so content, almost happy riding his withered deer, and Inara rode with absolute glee. Don’t they realise we have yet to escape. At least he had stopped coughing. He sneezed. ‘Damn it,’ he cursed. ‘Where’s Black?’

Bill let go of the deer’s neck and with one arm pointed. ‘Straight ahead,’ he said. ‘They’re still quite a way in front of us.’

‘And the Ghost Walkers?’ asked Inara.

‘The Red Sisters,’ added Jack.

‘Nowhere near the wolves,’ said Bill, pushing back his glasses. ‘Before moving the wolves away I heard them say they want to share the Wold with Huckney’s beasts, but your animals Inara. That’s very different. They don’t like what you’ve done here at all.’

‘That’s tough,’ she replied. ‘These animals were here before they came. It’s more their home than the Ghost Walkers, no matter what they’ve altered here since they came.’

‘I’m not arguing,’ said Bill. ‘They won’t listen to you if they catch us.’

‘I don’t care.’ She spurred her mount to greater speed.

They followed her into tight passages that led through overbearing rocks. A swarm of insects crowded the tight route hovering higher than the deer’s’ hooves. The children instinctively lifted their legs.

‘I forgot how disgusting having all these insects around you is,’ said Bill.

Although Inara remained quiet, Jack noticed her looking at her shortened legs with trepidation anytime the brown haze drew close.

‘The swarm will cover our tracks,’ shouted Jack. He listened to his echo, hearing his hollow words of comfort career around them.

The canyon twisted and turned. Sometimes the valley opened up, allowing the group to build up greater speed, other times the stone walls closed in, making progress painfully slow. Always the steady hum of the swarm pressed in. 

The canyon ended at a red lake surrounded by iron birches. Jack paused to look at the rusting trees. Split trunks, and splintered limbs, lay submerged in the polluted water that lapped the stony shore.

‘It’s blood,’ said Bill, as the hooves of his deer sent ripples across the lake.

‘This entire place is bleeding,’ said Inara, studying the old plants. ‘If this is the heart of the Wold then it’s rotten.’

‘Huckney’s father must’ve made these trees,’ said Jack, knowing the trees grown from the metal seeds Huckney made, would last longer than those crafted by the blacksmith’s father, who had relied on just his hammer and skill to create the trees.

‘They should’ve used silver.’ A puff of rust exploded as Inara strode along the shore. ‘Silver doesn’t rust.’

‘Shame silver doesn’t grow on trees,’ said Bill.

‘You can smell the iron in the air,’ said Jack.

He noted, as they picked their way around the lake, that the fallen trees still held crudely crafted leaves on their broken branches. The entire place felt rushed. Was Inara right; was this the birthplace of the Red Wood?

Saddened by so much decay, the group wound their way through piles of rust. Vigilant of the protruding shards littering their path, they slowed their pace. As they neared the far edge of the lake, they glimpsed silver and gold amongst the rusted sentinels. These thin saplings, arranged around the lake, only just managed to clear the thick layer of insects.

‘I know where we are,’ said Jack. ‘Look.’ He pointed at the silver sprouts, and then the gold maple trees mingled throughout the oak. Raising his sights higher, he saw copper trees, already half-grown sending spindly branches, full of leaves, over the water. ‘These must’ve grown from the seeds Huckney made.’ He counted five oaks and seven maples, while the more mature birches outnumbered them at ten. ‘This is the Mere of Ashes,’ he said. ‘The last time we saw him, Huckney gave Raglor the seeds for these trees.’

Bill glanced at the burgeoning wood. ‘I don’t like this. What if Raglor is still here?’

‘He won’t,’ said Jack. ‘It would take time for the seeds to sprout.’ He still looked around, suspicious of every tree and dark place. Just knowing the Myrm chieftain had come here made the lakeshore more ominous. ‘I think we best carry on.’

‘Which way do we go from here, Yang?’ asked Inara.

The shadow had spread across the red water, disturbing the surface as he curiously delved its depths. Finding nothing of interest Yang rushed back to the group. Forming himself into the shape of an arrow, he pointed to the northeast.

‘What’s out there?’ said Jack. ‘We already know there’s no way through the Hedge. Unless our demons can make us fly, the Ghost Walkers will eventually catch us.’

‘He brought us out here for a reason,’ said Inara. ‘If we had stayed in the valley the Red Sisters would have killed us. You know that. What choice did we have? We couldn’t sit and wait for them to take us to the Hanging Tree. Unless you have a better plan, we’ll carry on following Yang.’

‘Alright,’ said Jack, as his shadow urged them to move away from the Mere of Ashes and its blood red water.

They travelled a further twenty minutes through the rusted foliage when they heard a roar to their rear. Twisting around, the group waited to hear the cry again; when with a fright each heard the distant ringing of magnets striking metal.

‘They’re coming,’ said Bill.

‘Then let’s not wait here for them,’ said Inara, spurring her deer forward.

The others followed, unmindful of the dangers peppering their path. Jack’s arms ached as he furiously gripped the neck of his mount. With his face planted into the decayed back of the deer, he prayed the animal knew where it was going. Remembering his mount had no eyes filled him with dread.

In counterpoint to the clip of their mounts’ hooves, rang the clap of magnets striking trees. They urged the dead deer to ever greater speed. The deer responded, leaping over rusted logs and dancing deftly around other obstacles with a grace that defied their frightful appearance. All the time the sounds of pursuit grew closer. Harried, the group dared not slow down for an instant, fearful that their pursuers would descend from the trees and capture them once more.

‘Which way?’ shouted Inara to Yang, as a fork in the track slowed her headlong flight. The shadow sent an arm down the right trail.