River: A Novel (31 page)

 “Going somewhere?”
A voice behind me murmured.

 While I
jumped and slid, a pathetic whimpering sound escaped me as a hand grabbed my arm.
Asher’s other hand held tightly to my side, pulling me upright.

 “Saving you
from evildoers,” I breathed out and sagged in relief. My breath came out in
vapors that wrapped around both of us.

 Chuckling
and shaking his head, he let me go and stepped away, gesturing for me to follow. 

 “What was
that all about?” I spoke quietly, still unsure and stumbling after him.

 “False
alarm.”

 I stopped
walking. “Asher,” I said, trying to hide my irritation. “
What was it?
”

 Without
turning, he tilted his head for a moment, and I wasn’t sure if he planned to answer.

 “Footprints,”
he stated in a strained tone. “Not mine.”

 “Oh.”

 “Yeah.”

 “How do you
know that it’s a false alarm?” I hissed, inspecting the midnight woods. 

 “I’m pretty
sure that some of my… friends... snuck out here on an unauthorized visit,” he
retorted, obviously sure of his findings.

 “Okay,” I
returned with a shrug, walking past him toward a break in the trees.

 “You’re not
interested why they would sneak out here?” 
  

 “
Not particularly, as long as we’re
safe for now.”
I continued walking. “Is it this
way
?”

 In an
instant I was spinning around to face the way we’d come. Asher was there, his fingers
gripping my shoulder. I looked at his hand, then at him, confused.

 “Elodie,” he
stared into my eyes, lowering his head to my level, “will you please wait for
me?”

 “But I
thought it was safe!” Forcing my volume level to lower, I looked around
frantically, wondering if we should run.

 Asher shook
me a little to distract me from my panic attack. The anti-Lull serum was having
a strange effect on me. Whenever our eyes met, my anxiety stifled. It was the
opposite of what it had been like when I’d first met him. How many hours had it
been?

 “It’s safer
for
you
if I go first,” he sighed and grimaced at my frown. I was the
collateral damage here. He was the one who needed to stay safe, stay alive.

 I followed
wordlessly, staring at the snow under my feet. When the bare roots and limbs
began to thin under the white, a large clearing suddenly lay before us with
more forest on the other side. Snow glittered in the moonlight, and there was
the light sound of water rushing. Peaceful and secluded, I knew this was the
place. 

 There was a
path of footprints decorating the outside perimeter of the clearing, and in
clusters of trees beyond the field were hut formations made from limbs. They
reminded me of teepees or beehives, sturdy and inviting in spite of the fact
that they were constructed almost like a child’s fort. I could see it then, the
Carav families and the Mutes. The innocents camping out and building fires,
playing music and eating food, like a vacation spot. It was a nice picture.

 I stared sideways
at Asher. Frozen in a scowl until he caught my gaze, his features then shifted to
something more relaxed, but not much. I understood why he was so grim, yet at
the same time I sort of wanted to see him happier—at least less severe and
stoic. The anti-Lull was still coursing through me, and I felt more daring than
usual. I wanted him to feel the hope and joy that the vision in my head had
given me.

 “Wow, Asher,”
I said in a sarcastic tone.

 Still
unwavering and not inclined to talk, Asher headed around the clearing, brushing
away sets of footprints that were not his own. I followed, staring at the white
collar that stuck out crookedly between his dark hair and coat, wishing he
would lighten up.

 “This sure
is hideous.”

 He stopped
and turned around without emotion.

 “Really, I
can’t
believe
you picked this location.” Contorting my face sourly, I
pinched the inside of my mouth with my teeth to keep from smiling. A novice at
teasing, I was sure to give myself away. “This is seriously ugly.”

 Keeping my
pace, I went on, “I doubt anyone is going to want to leave good ol’ comfy River
to move here, free-will or not.”

 Asher had
swiveled around to walk ahead. Speeding up to deliberately pass him, I tipped
my head to the side. “I mean jeez, what a letdown,” I said in a monotone voice,
even as I marveled at the little structures. Asher stopped again, motionless in
his tracks. 

 Unable to
go on, I twirled to face him, hands on my hips. “You know, I’m not so bad at
this!” I exclaimed, confusion finally breaking his unaffected expression.

 When skipping
closer, my charade faded, and I felt the grin across my face become absolutely
huge. Danny would’ve been so proud. I had actually played a joke on someone,
and he’d fallen for it. I chuckled to myself while beaming at the second most
gullible person in the universe. Asher was staring at me as if I’d grown horns
and a forked tail. 

 “I’m just
kidding around, Asher,” I whispered conspicuously. Ducking my head, I poked his
chest lightly, in complete disbelief of my actions. Without looking directly at
him, I began to laugh at the whole situation. Asher let out a sigh and ran his
hands through his hair, finally cracking a tiny smile. Grinning, I decided to
let him off the hook and turned back toward the snowy little huts. “C’mon,” I
said, still chuckling, “let’s take a look at what you’ve done.”

 As we hurried
around the huge circular field, I realized that it was solid, but not earth. It
was ice. The gurgling water sounds gave it away, though the water’s edge didn’t
slope much from the footpath. If I hadn’t been with Asher, I would have walked
straight into the middle of it, probably crashing through to the frigid water. Asher
let me lead, and I gasped a little when we finally reached the other side. There
were approximately fifty huts throughout the immediate stretch of woods. They
were so well hidden within the trees that only the front few had been obvious. Larger
than I expected, I stopped in awe at the sight. If there were six to eight in a
hut, we could fit well over three hundred people in these. 

 “This is amazing.”
I smiled up at Asher as he opened the door. “Did you do all this?”

 He
shrugged. “I wasn’t alone.”

 “Amazing,” I
repeated, entering the simple dwelling. In just two short weeks, Asher and
company had created a refugee town in anticipation of a mass exodus. I couldn’t
imagine the danger they had faced running out here so often, though we had escaped
easily enough in the dead of night. It explained why Asher had barely batted an
eye when I’d suggested our little mission. This run was routine for him. River was
such a small community; any absences would’ve been noted by the census or time
clocks, but not so much at three in the morning.  Immediately, I thought of
Petra punching in at a time clock for her maintenance shift. Danny and I had to
find her, and then somehow convince her to follow us during the chaos. I only
hoped she wouldn’t run away again.

 Asher lit a
small lantern as soon as we entered, and I began to feel warmer while asking,
“How do you know how to build these?” The huts were almost like sturdy little
houses. There were four elevated hammocks in a semicircle, and a small table
was next to a fire pit opposite the doorway. I could easily stand, but Asher
had to hunch a bit.

 “One of the
families inherited the design. The majority of Carav people had been constant travelers
in centuries past,” he said quietly. “Once the materials are gathered, they
only take an hour to set up.”

 I shook my
head slightly. “This is just perfect.” There wasn’t much room to walk around,
so I turned a little circle, taking it all in. A small cache of canned goods
and a homemade first aid kit were hanging in a basket by the fire pit. The
medical supplies brought me back down to earth suddenly. “We will need more than
this after tomorrow,” I whispered, lightly touching the basket with my fingers. 

 “I know.”

 Trying to
stay positive, I turned back to him and smiled. “Everyone will be so happy
here.”

 His eyes
tightened a little. “Only if they really let us go.”

 A chill ran
through my body as I murmured, “Why do you say that?” Still trying to sound
upbeat and failing miserably. “Dan is going to engineer the Lulling to keep the
Speakers confined.” 

 Asher paced
in the tiny area. “There are a million things that can go wrong with the plan. Not
to mention what happens after. We don’t know who… or
what
is really out
here.” 

 “Hey.” Startling
him by grabbing his arm and making him pause in mid-step, I surprised myself
when I grazed his other arm. “Asher. You’ve done the impossible. It is entirely
likely that there is no one and nothing for miles, but the world has to be
better out here, right? And you heard me when I was… hypnotized. I grew up
elsewhere. You needn’t be afraid of the unknown. The Speakers just can’t
control people the way they have been. Not any longer.”

 He sighed a
little and looked down at me. I let go of him, folding my arms across my chest.
Suddenly, he sat in a hammock, as if the weights of his worry had pushed him
down. I imagined being out here in the silence, night after cold night,
building an entire settlement. Tilting my head, I considered him. Asher had
much more hope than he thought. It was what drove him. It was why this was
going to work—because he willed it to be. 

 “I will
never forgive myself if someone gets killed or captured,” he mumbled into his
hands. Hardly able to discern his words, though his tall frame was closer to my
height than before, I slowly, silently moved toward him, again confused by my boldness.
When I pulled his hands away with some effort, a crumpled expression he was trying
to hide lay underneath. He clutched the hammock on either side of him and
looked away, probably to recoup his previous austerity. I could hear the light
wind rustling the tree branches outside and nothing else.

 “We don’t
know what will happen tomorrow, but we have to try. Danny knows what he is
doing, and so do you.” Due to the fact that I was not used to comforting
someone who had made me feel so uncomfortable, I was fairly clueless in my
attempt. So I didn’t tell him what he wanted to hear, but what he needed to
know—what I believed. “The people of River need someone who will fight for them
and lead them. They need the man who not only knocked out, but kidnapped a
completely innocent bystander he’d only
suspected
was a threat to the
cause.” The corner of his mouth twitched minutely, even as he shook his head,
disagreeing.

 “This town
is suffocated by the Lulling and Speakers—it has to end,” I continued
fervently; trying to convince him how capable he was, though he was technically
a stranger to me. “You have been working so hard… and absolutely cannot blame
yourself if someone gets hurt. It sounds like people are hurt and killed on a
daily basis in River for simply being human, and—”

 Asher took
my hand in his own then, stopping my words. I felt a flush of warmth radiate
through me as he pulled my hand slowly toward him. He breathed once, warming my
fingers before holding them against his lips, looking me straight in the eyes. Awkwardly,
I cleared my throat, not even trying to remember what I had been going on about.
After turning my palm up, his finger traced the scars that were still there, and
his forehead creased with questions. I froze, startled, hoping that he wouldn’t
ask me about them. The barely-healed wounds were a frightening mystery to me. One
I was trying to ignore.

 Examining me
curiously, he lowered my hand into both of his, covering it. I hadn’t noticed
he had taken off his gloves until just then. Asher’s hands were very warm and felt
good on my icy fingers. My awareness zeroed in on the fact that our legs were
also touching, and that a thin, warm sheath began to hover on the surface of my
skin, nullifying the cold. His voice broke me out of the notion that I was
floating somehow, this new sense consuming all others.

 “Thank you,
Elodie. Seeing you here, listening to compliments I don’t deserve, it’s all very
real for me right now and… well, I’m worried.” His eyebrows creased together.

 “Of
course,” I croaked out in reply, hearing my voice from a distance. “I am too. I
haven’t been here long, but I know that the Speakers won’t be happy with this
little defection.” He crinkled his forehead again, and I regretted my honesty,
but it was all I knew how to be, at least with Asher. “I really believe it will
all work out.”

 “Well,
then, if you believe it…”  

 Asher’s sad
half-smile reminded me of Dan, which reminded me with a jolt that our
expedition was under a bit of a timer. Unwilling for our conversation to end, I
was also reluctant to repossess my hand. But people I loved were back in River.
I admitted to myself that I was terrified to face the Lulling again. And then put
everyone in danger with my non-performance tomorrow. Asher had apparently seen indecision
cross my face, and his distressed smile stretched to a tight frown as he stood,
dropping my hand.