Storm Season (21 page)

So then we’re stuck.
Tobias fell back on the bed and flung an arm across his eyes.
Sleet. I need to get closer to Samantha.

Jasper lay back next to Tobias with a sigh. “You didn’t reach her?”

No. Maybe I fell asleep too soon, but....
He sighed.
What do we do now?

“I guess we should get cleaned up, since we’re stuck,” he said after a few minutes of companionable silence. “We can wash our clothes, too, if the storm hasn’t let up after we shower.” By then, there wouldn’t be any chance for them to reach the next town if they didn’t leave immediately, so access to the weather tracker would be a moot point. They’d be stuck for at least a day, and though Jasper wasn’t thrilled about it, they could take advantage of their secure stopping place to get some rest and wash the clothes they’d been using since they started out. Yesterday’s particularly needed to be cleaned.

For a moment, Tobias looked like he was going to protest, but instead he rubbed a hand over his face, and sighed.
All right. Do you want to go first?

It didn’t much matter to Jasper, but he could tell that Tobias wasn’t ready to get up yet, so he pushed himself up and swung his legs out of bed. “Sure. Thanks.”

Welcome.
Tobias stretched again, exposing a bare strip of stomach that made Jasper want to stay in bed so he could touch and taste.

He deliberately looked away, standing and placing his hands at the small of his back. It cracked as he leaned back a little, and he sighed as his bones settled into a more comfortable position.

Tease
, Tobias said, looking at Jasper with a raised eyebrow.
Don’t make sounds like that if you don’t want me to do something about them.

“I’m not the one lying there with my stomach exposed,” Jasper retorted, poking at the exposed skin with one finger.

Tobias squirmed away, huffing out a soft laugh that completely ruined the glare he directed Jasper’s way.
I’m not teasing, though,
he said as he stretched again, pulling the thin material of his T-shirt up farther.
If we’re not going anywhere today…

“Let’s wait and see what the weather does.” Tobias’s change in attitude, though welcome, was too sudden for Jasper to believe it. “I don’t want to miss our chance if we can leave.”

Right.
The teasing smile fell from Tobias’s face and Jasper could again feel his worry.
Hurry.

“Relax,” Jasper said, regretting his words already. “Even if the rain stopped right now, we’d still have time to shower.” Cleaning their clothes would be another story, but that was why they were going to wait on that.

I know. Just, hurry. Please.
Tobias’s smile was tight, his tone a clear dismissal.

Jasper nodded and grabbed the last clean set of clothes out of his bag. “Of course.” He couldn’t tell Tobias to calm down, not after riling him up, so there wasn’t much else to say. “I’ll be out in a few.”

T
OBIAS
scurried into the shower as soon as Jasper left it, moving as fast as Jasper had ever seen.
I’ll be out in a few,
he sent, brushing his hand against Jasper’s arm.
Then we can go if the weather clears.

It didn’t sound as though it would, but Tobias wouldn’t be able to hear him over the shower anyway, so Jasper sat on the bed and pulled on his shoes and socks. He’d just finished putting them on when there was a knock on the interior door and he heard the sound of a key turning in the lock. “Yeah?” he asked, heading over and opening the door when he reached it.

The inn’s proprietor stood on the other side, looking rumpled and apologetic. “Sorry,” he said, flashing an uneasy smile at Jasper. “I meant to unlock this last night, after you checked in, but my wife made a late dinner and by the time I was done, I forgot.”

“It’s all right,” Jasper assured him easily, his earlier worry forgotten. “We knew better than to go anywhere.”

The proprietor nodded. “Thank sunshine. I’ve had idiots who tried to go outside in a storm because I was slow getting to the door, and they want to blame me.”

“It’s their own fault for going out in it,” Jasper remarked.

“Yeah, well, try telling that to them.” The proprietor held out his hand. “I’m George. Don’t think I introduced myself last night. If you need anything, feel free to come down and ask.”

“Thanks,” Jasper replied. “I’m Jasper and my friend is Tobias.” He waited for George to release his hand and tucked it into his pocket as he leaned against the door. “You know what the storms are doing?”

“Sticking around today.” George rocked back on his heels. “I looked before I came down and it’s pretty much a solid wall. They’re saying we might get a break tomorrow, though.”

“Hope so,” Jasper said with a sigh. “This is a little much for this early in the season.”

George nodded, and Jasper allowed himself a sigh of relief. At least he hadn’t underestimated how bad things got. He’d been basing his guesses on how the storms had been in Crittendon and Brightam’s Ford, but the geography was different here. Eventually, they’d reach the point where the storms that swung up from the eastern ocean and looped over the land would clash with the ones that crossed the continent from the west, creating an exceptionally dangerous wet season for people who lived in their path, but they seemed not to be there yet.

“You can come down to the office and look whenever you’d like” George volunteered. “We have laundry equipment too, if you want to take advantage of the downtime.”

Jasper nodded. They’d have to pay, too, further stretching Jasper’s resources, but they’d deal with that later. “Thank you,” he said, stepping back inside and starting to close the door. “We’ll do that.”

“I’ll see you in a bit, then,” George said as he turned to go. “Take care.”

“You too.” Jasper shut the door before George was completely gone and turned to gather their clothes. Tobias wouldn’t like that they were stuck―neither did Jasper for that matter―but at least they were safe and somewhere they had the opportunity to take advantage of the situation. It could have been much worse.

I
T
ALMOST
seemed like it was ten minutes later when Tobias rushed out of the shower, hastily dressed in the last of the old clothes Jasper had lent him before the trip. He skidded to a stop just inside the room, looked between Jasper and the pile of dirty laundry he’d gathered on the bed, and stalked over to Jasper with an accusatory look on his face.

What are you doing?
He asked, pressing his hand to Jasper’s arm.
We need to go, not wash our clothes!

“We can’t go.” Jasper picked up one of their bags and started stuffing the dirty clothes back into it so he could carry them to the laundry machines. “It’s still storming. The manager came by and said it doesn’t look like it’s going to let up today. We can’t leave.”

We have to.
Tobias planted his feet firmly and glared at Jasper.
Samantha hasn’t answered me. I need to get closer.

“You will.” Jasper set the duffle down on the bed and turned to face Tobias. “Tomorrow, or the next day if tomorrow doesn’t work. It’s not late enough in the season for the storms to be this bad all day every day. There will be a break in them, and we’ll go.”

What if there’s not? What if I can’t get to Samantha? What if we’re stuck here until the wet season is over and―

“Hey.” Jasper cut Tobias off. “That’s not going to happen. I promise, the first chance we get, we’ll leave, okay? We just need to be sure we’re safe when we do, or we won’t be able to help her.”

Tobias sighed, sat on the bed, and stretched out his leg so his foot brushed Jasper’s ankle.
What if those men find us while we’re waiting? They were right behind us, and they’re coming. I know they are. I can feel them.

“Are they here, right now?” Jasper started to rethink his plans about doing laundry. If the men chasing them were actually in town and actively looking, they would have to brave the storm anyway, taking their chances against the elements in the hopes that the rain would protect them from the human threat.

No.
Tobias shook his head.
They’re close, though, and I think they’re moving. It’s hard to tell.
He leaned over to put on his shoes and socks, but lifted his head after a moment and looked up at Jasper again.
We can’t stay here if they come.

“We won’t.” Jasper sat on the bed next to Tobias and pushed his hand back through his sandy hair. “The storms should keep them from getting too close today and―”

The storms should have kept them from getting Samantha!
Tobias balled his hands into fists and jumped up to pace back and forth in front of Jasper. He stopped after a minute, taking a deep breath, and sank back down on the bed so he could press his shoulder against Jasper.
They know how to travel in them. They have to. How else would they have been able to find me? How else could they have gotten Samantha to Shaleton?

“They took her during the storms?” Jasper tilted his head to the side. He hadn’t realized Samantha had been gone that long. “How? And from where?”

Just before the storms last year. And north. Over the mountains.
Tobias shrugged.
I don’t know where, exactly. It wasn’t on the map you showed me.

Jasper blinked incredulously, revising his entire view of how far Tobias had traveled. He’d known it had to be far―he’d never encountered anyone who communicated the way he did before―but it had never occurred to him that Tobias would have crossed the northern mountains. They were steep and jagged, believed by most to be impassible, and covered with snow from the wet season for the vast majority of the year. Jasper hadn’t even known that there was anywhere suitable to live north of them.

“You crossed the mountains?” he asked, just to be sure he’d heard correctly. “How?”

Walked.
Tobias folded his hands in his lap and looked down at them.
It took a long time, most of the dry season, to get across them. That’s why I had only gotten as far as your place when the storms started.

“You walked.” It was hard to believe, but Tobias was here, sitting next to him, so Jasper had to accept it. “What about the people who took Samantha? How did they get across? And how would they get her to Shaleton and make it all the way back for you?”

They had a head start.
Tobias didn’t look up.
Samantha was—away from town. We thought that maybe she would find her way back, but she didn’t, and then when I couldn’t sense her anymore, I tried to follow. I think someone stayed back from the people who took her, waiting to see if anyone would come, and I got all turned around trying to hide from them and I got stuck in the mountains when the wet season started. If they knew their way and had someplace to hide from the weather…

“They could have made it,” Jasper finished, trying to work out the timeline in his head. “This was before the last wet season, right?” In that case, they might not have traveled during the storms at all. If they’d kept Samantha subdued, they might have waited out the wet season and taken her to Shaleton during the dry.

Tobias picked at a loose thread in his pants.
Yeah. Samantha was chosen to perform the ritual to appease the forest spirits last year. I don’t know what she did—no one does until they’re chosen—but she had to spend several days in the forest, away from our town. She was happy and excited, but when she was supposed to come back, something happened and—

“And that’s what you showed us in my safe room,” Jasper guessed, finally putting the pieces together. The forest spirit Samantha had gone to appease couldn’t have had anything to do with her abduction. There were men coming after them now, so men had taken Samantha. Even if the spirit had been malevolent, those creatures were tied to their homes, and the most it could have done was keep Samantha there.

Yeah.
Tobias flashed a grateful look at Jasper then immediately returned his gaze to his hands.
I followed as soon as I knew she wasn’t coming back, but they almost caught me too. Those men, they’re not right. They feel dark. Dangerous. I ran and hid and then the storms started and I had to find shelter. I spent most of the last wet season in caves, trying to move as best I could, but I got lost, and didn’t get out of the mountains until into the dry season, and then I had to walk.

Jasper filled out the timeline in his mind. It would have taken Tobias most of the dry season to walk from the closest place in the mountains to Brightam’s Ford. Adding on the time he’d likely spent wandering around in the mountains, it was a miracle he’d made it that far. “Hailstones,” he murmured as the true amount of time Tobias had spent traveling dawned on him. “They’ve had your sister for a year.”

That’s why I have to find her.
Tobias finally looked up and met Jasper’s eyes.
I can’t let them capture me too.

“They won’t,” Jasper promised. “Even if they can travel during the storm, they won’t know where we are. They can’t knock on doors, they’ll just be pulled inside the first place they try.” He squeezed Tobias’s knee. “If we leave as soon as the storms break, we’ll be fine.”

Are you sure?

“As I can be.” Jasper stood and grabbed both bags full of their dirty clothes. “Come on. Let’s start the laundry and check the radar.” It wouldn’t do much good yet―the storms that could keep them in tomorrow wouldn’t show up for hours yet―but it seemed to make Tobias feel better, because he nodded as he stood and took one of the bags from Jasper.

Okay,
he sent, forcing a smile Jasper could tell was fake.

He ignored that, though, focusing on the fact that Tobias was smiling, and hoping that the radar would show them good news before their laundry was done. He didn’t think Tobias would stand for anything less than leaving as soon as the sun rose in the morning.