Joshua and the Arrow Realm (15 page)

We entered a cavernous room filled with lit candles along the edges of glistening walls and the smell of stale sweat—and dozens of kids staring right at us.

Oak pointed. “Them.”

O
ak set the sack on the floor and the kids pushed Charlie and me aside to hug him. The lines in his face softened as he smiled at them, wrapping his long, thin arms around as many as he could. They yanked on the sack but he shook his head and threw it over their heads to the side. The kids jumped on it, their long stringy hair hanging against dirt-smudged faces. One tall kid shoved the mob away, making them form a line. He started distributing food from the bag to the kids, and the crowd soon dispersed, darting off to darkened corners, hugging their meals with starved desperation. The rush of running water echoed around the sloped walls of crumbling rock along with the munching of food. I backed up into sharp stone, my feet crunching on scattered bread crusts and apple cores, and tore my hands away from the feel of slimy moss.

“Where'd they all come from?” I whispered, rubbing
my fingers on my pants and sucking in musty air. They glanced at me with curious eyes as they fed their hunger. In all this ordered chaos, not one word was spoken, as if they'd been trained to be silent in the dark earth that hid them from life and death.

“Their parents are slaves of the WC,” Oak said.

“Like you,” Charlie said to him in a tight voice, then looked at me. “And your mom.
C'est terrible
.”

“Terrible, yes, but wonderful because they are alive … unlike my boy,” Oak said with a broken voice and red eyes.

“I've heard of the WC underground slaves,” Apollo said. “These kids get a second chance.”

“Second chance to what?” Charlie said, blinking fast.

“To live.”

In this moment, it seemed like weeks since I was zapped to Nostos, but I'd left barely four days ago. I came to free Apollo but there were so many here to free. With these lives at stake, one absolute truth filled me: I came here to save them all. Not in one realm this time—but an entire world. Every path I'd been on led to that truth. Whether I was this Oracle or not, I had a part to play on Nostos.

Apollo left our side to go to the kids. He walked the cave, stopping at each group to talk with them. Their conversations were too faint to hear, but he worked the room like a king with his royal subjects. He touched some on the head and the shoulder.

“Stay here with the others,” Oak said while watching Apollo with curiosity. “There's food and water. An underground river runs through the back of the cave but stay away from it. You'll be safe in the cave for now. Only the WC underground knows of this place. I'll come for you after the raid is done.”

Oak turned away but I pulled him back. “You didn't tell me about my mother.”

“There's no time.” He placed a hand on mine. “I have to get back to my room. If they find me gone, they'll think I'm out after curfew—or worse, escaped—and set the beasts after me.”

Charlie shuddered. “Fire-breathing mutts.”

My woeful face must have softened Oak for he squeezed my fingers. “Your mother was beautiful on the inside and out. Her laughter was infectious, and it's why Leandro was drawn to her. She carried a shining hope despite the dark circumstances she suffered every day. She knew how to love well. She would've loved you very much.”

I let go of his hand, filled up inside but still wanting more—it was all I'd get for now. Oak turned again, opening the door, but my instinct kicked in: we couldn't stay here.

“Wait!” I watched the kids scarfing down dinner with their fingers. “Maybe we can come up with a plan to get these kids out.” It sounded too huge to comprehend as it flew out of my mouth.

Oak stepped toward me. His head grazed the ceiling and clods of dirt rained around him as he curled his long fingers around my fist. “My top mission is to keep them alive. One step at a time, Joshua.”

Charlie nodded. “
Oui
, one step, but Joshua is good with coming up with plans.”

The gushing water gave me an idea. “What about this river? Let's ride it out of here!”

Oak grasped my hand and bent his head to mine, blowing sour breath on my cheek. “Do. Not. Go. In. The. River.”

“It's a way out.” I struggled to free my hand, but Oak's boney fingers crushed mine with hidden strength.

“It's a river of death.”

He saw my pained face and dropped my hand. “When we first found the subterranean river and moved the children to this cave, one desperate boy jumped in.”

Charlie leaned in. “Did he get out?”

“No, he came back.” Oak plucked both our shirts now, pulling us toward his stricken face. “Dead!” He flung us away from him. “Flippin' dead, I tell you!”

“It's a chance.”

“No! The river loops around. He came back to us from the other direction. His head bashed in. There's no way out, except in death. Get it?” Oak twirled his mustache into vicious points.

“All rivers lead somewhere,” I said, not ready to relinquish hope of a watery escape, but the wind from the river shrieked around the hollows of the cave, predicting our death if we did.

Apollo returned to our side from his cave tour. “Let me go into the river. I have a powerful alliance with Poseidon; if I can get to him, we can work together.” He looked at all the kids, then back at us, flexing his muscles. “My father would've wanted it.”

Oak snatched Apollo's hand and flipped his royal ring around, his mouth dropping open when suddenly the creak of the door scratched the air and a familiar voice called out. “What you been hiding down here, Oak?”

Ratchet! He strode right in with a big smirk.

Oak jumped around. “How did you find this place?”

“You've been sneaky lately so I followed you. The raid chaos gave me cover to see what you were doing and check up on my Reekers. Took a wrong turn but backtracked
and found you now–and the Reekers.” Ratchet's smile grew wider. “This is why you hoard your food. Like you always say Oak, one for the many, eh?”

I backed up with Apollo and Charlie, who'd flicked out his knife and held it behind his back.

“Oh, you're not going anywhere, boys,” Ratchet said with a twitch of an eyebrow.

I believed him.

O
ak rushed to shut the door behind Ratchet. The candle flames flew sideways casting darker shadows. “Ratchet, you can't know about this place!”

“What's he mean one for the many, Oak?” I said. How did a Wild Child rule work here?

“Never you mind,” he said, his voice like gravel thrown at me.

“Why, the honorable Oak and I catch runaway kids to exchange at the auction pit for food, don't we?” He patted Oak hard on the shoulder while staring at me with slitted eyes.

I'd forgotten about this but defended Oak. “Yeah, so what? We know.”

He sneered at us. “What you don't know is that he sells them for a higher price as bait for the queen's Wild Lands hunt. A bigger gold mine of food for us, right, Oak?”

Oak flung Ratchet's hand away with a stormy look
but refused to answer and wouldn't meet my eyes.

Ratchet laughed and went on. “We split the food, but now I see why he's so skinny—he gives it to these Reekers.”

“You're a Reeker too,” I said.

Ratchet pulled me to his side. “No, I'm a survivor.”

I shoved at him but Ratchet gripped me harder. “I'm taking this one up top for reward, Oak. One for the many, right?”

“No!” I kicked at Ratchet.

He shoved me away and grabbed Charlie and his knife. “Maybe this one instead.” I punched at Ratchet until the glint of the knife flashed at Charlie's throat.

The huddled kids seemed closer to us than a moment ago. I blinked and they were closer still.

“Turn me in, Ratchet, but leave them alone,” Oak said.

His friend snorted. “You're not worth anything.”

“I can tell you where there's more,” Oak said quietly.

“You lie.” Ratchet waved the knife, holding Charlie tighter by the throat, his eyes popping. “You're weak, Oak. My friends died in the volcanic mines in the Fire Realm because they were weak. That won't be me. Come to think of it, exchanging this bunch will feed me for a long time.”

“No, you can't trade them!” Oak sucked in a warbled breath. “I made a promise to myself … to their parents.”

Ratchet shook Charlie. “I take him now, and we trade them one by one and add to the stash—or, trade them all now, I turn you in, and your hide-n-seek game is over. Your choice.”

The water dripped from the cave walls in a sullen drum.

Oak gave a heavy sigh. “One … for the many.”

“Let me—” Charlie said but was silenced by the knife tip pressing deeper into his throat where his vein pulsed.

“Oak, do something!” I shook him but he stood there, limp. “How could you turn kids in as bait?”

He stooped over. “It's a cross I bear to feed them all. One traded child feeds them all for weeks. We hardly get enough rations for ourselves to live on. It was the only way.” He looked up, his face a grimace of pain. “After my son died, I swore I'd never let another child die in the WC again. Not by birth. Not by murder. Not by starvation. But I found I had to sacrifice one in order to save the many.”

Like the Wild Childs.

“I try to pick the weak ones who might not make it.” He put his face in is hands, then looked up. A lone tear fell down his cheek. “I'm so sorry,” he said to the kids. They nodded as if they understood it must work this way.

My chest tightened for the fate of the kids. They never knew what they were missing: sunshine, a comfortable bed, a family to love. Pain ricocheted through my heart with renewed thoughts of home, my friends, and my grandfather. Looking at these filthy kids growing up in the dark, I swore like Oak I'd never let another one die—I'd get them out no matter what.

“What's it going to be Oak?” Ratchet sang out, his knife hard against Charlie's throat. A drop of blood welled and trickled down. The breath of the kids pulsed in a single beat, matching Charlie's nostrils flaring in and out. Water pinged off rock walls as seconds marched by in slow motion.

Oak wiped his face and opened the door. “Go then.”

Ratchet twisted around with Charlie, who dragged his feet on the ground. Oak flicked his eyes past me and
threw his hand up. A warm wind rushed. A low screech swelled. A flurry of arms and legs whirled past us. Charlie was ripped away from Ratchet, who disappeared beneath a mass of angry kids. His muffled cries echoed around the cavern. I helped Charlie up, who reclaimed his knife and Ratchet's, while Oak barred the door shut and towered over the quivering, kicking mass that clawed at the traitor.

“They know you're down here!” Ratchet's words cut through the angry kids.

“Children, off!” Oak commanded. They scattered like cockroaches to hide in dark corners, their gleaming eyes watchful.

Ratchet twitched on the floor, a lump of torn clothes, then slowly stood, scowling at us with a puffy eye while blood ran down his cheek. “The soldiers are already searching the WC for the Oracle. The word on the street is he escaped the queen's hunt.”

Oak's eyes flashed to me.

“It's him isn't it?” Ratchet stumbled toward me, but I moved behind Oak.

Apollo stepped forward, a fist in the air. The A on his ring glinted clear in the lantern light. “I'm King Apollo. I can help free you. If you let us go, we can raise an army, fight Artemis and Zeus, and open the WC.”

Ratchet wheezed with laughter, blood bubbling at his mouth. “Think I believe you? You stole that ring, thief.” He lunged at Apollo. “Give it to me!”

I cut him off, my bow readied, an arrow aimed at his chest. “I'll stick you good.” My words came out strong while I shook inside.

Charlie clicked open his knife and held it against Ratchet's throat. “So will I.”

Ratchet clawed at his side and moaned in pain. “You
better run, little Reekers. The WC is no place for kids.” He moaned again and swayed.

“You were one of us,” I said.

“Now a traitor to your own kind,” Apollo said.

The drip of water from the cave walls tick-tocked as Ratchet threw his head back and laughed. “They'll find the tunnels, Oak. I left the secret hatch in your room wiiiiiide open.”

“No!” Oak cried in a terrible, deep voice, seized Ratchet by the shoulders, and dragged him to the back of the cave.

A sharp cry and a splash told us all what happened.

Oak hunched toward us from the shadows.

“What if he comes back?” Charlie said, breaking the silence.

Oak, punched a fist to his palm. “He'll be dead—by river or by me.”

Charlie handed Ratchet's knife to him. “Then you may need this.”