They rested by slowing to a walk, but never for very long. By the time the sun lowered behind them and to their left, Lena was exhausted. She couldn’t imagine how the girls felt, and Rose carried a double load in spite of her own condition. She admired the woman’s strength, even as she was aware of Rose watching her with hooded eyes.
At some point in the late afternoon, Lena overheard Alex tell Roddric they’d be splitting up soon. Their way home lay to the west of the canyon. Though her feet were like lead, she increased her pace to catch up to them.
“We’ll be taking the girls,” she told Roddric, her voice uncompromising. “They need to be taught, and I’m the only one who can do it.”
He looked over, tilting his head down at her. “You sure you don’t wanna come with us? We could use a woman with your talents.”
She smiled, but it felt dark.
Alex raised his head and opened his mouth to speak, but she waved him down.
“It’s an intriguing offer,” she finally told Rodddric, “but I’m…invested…in what Fort Nevada’s trying to achieve now.” She exchanged a long look with Alex. There you go. Mission accomplished. After a moment, she returned his small smile.
Roddric nodded. “I can appreciate that. You ever change your mind, you head out toward Tahoe. We’ll find you.”
Alex lost the smile he’d shared with Lena and swung his head around. He gave Roddric a long look. “Tahoe? You wouldn’t be the group we hear about causing so much trouble for Canev, would you?”
“We’re not in the business of causing trouble. We’re in the business of surviving.”
Lena waited, but Alex let the comment pass as they reached the edge of the canyon. They slid down into it, one by one.
At the bottom, Alex nodded up at the wall across from them, angling up and away. “Our way out is over there. The girls will make it fine,” he told Roddric. “Safe journey. Long life.”
Roddric nodded. “The same to you.” He turned to Lena. “If you, any of you, ever need shelter, remember us.”
“Thank you,” she said. She placed her hand on the blanket over Lydie’s back, then turned away to watch Alex lead Marissa, the smallest of the girls, from Rose.
Lena returned Rose’s gaze. “Good luck,” she told the other woman.
Rose said nothing.
Lena started up the canyon wall, helping Alex and Jackson herd the girls up the slope of the canyon. They slipped and slid, but made their way to the top.
At the top, she turned to look back. Rose and Roddric faced each other. Rose’s hands moved emphatically in the air between them as they talked. She pointed at Lena and the others. Finally, Roddric closed his eyes and nodded once. Rose hugged him tight before turning away to trudge up the slope to join Lena and the others. Roddric didn’t wait, and Rose didn’t look back. Relieved of the extra weight of the girls, they jogged down the canyon.
Rose made it to the crest of the canyon. Alex growled surprise, but she ignored him. She stopped in front of Lena. “I’m coming with you.”
“No, you’re not,” Alex said.
“I’m one of them.” She nodded her head at the younger girls. She meant she was like them. Like Lena. Her focus never left Lena, as if only she mattered. “Are you going to teach them to do what you do?”
“I’m going to try. To control it. To explore it. As best I can, yes. I’m not very good yet.” Lena admitted.
Rose laughed. “Well, then, I can’t wait to see what I can learn from you when you are very good.” Rose gave Alex a hard look. “I’m coming with you. I want to learn, just like them. I have as much right as they do. I’m like them. I was locked up like them. Treated like them.”
Alex sighed and shook his head. “I understand. But you’re also different.”
Rose lifted her chin and she sneered, “Because I’m a barbarian?” Dismissing him, she turned back to Lena. They all looked at Lena.
Jackson spoke up, although he was clearly reluctant, not wanting to be the one to upset Lena again. “Councilor Five will never agree to this.”
“He doesn’t have a choice.” Lena said. “She’s right. She comes. Or I stay.”
Alex closed his eyes. “This is a very bad idea.”
“I’m full of bad ideas. You should be used to it by now.”
He looked at her again. They stared at each other. Something had changed for Lena back there beside the Snake River. The men of Fort Nevada didn’t know it yet, but it had changed for them, too.
Alex seemed to sense it. The muscle in his jaw jumped. He backed away. “Let’s go, then. Before they catch up and it’s all academic anyway.”
They ran on, moving across the plain, trying to beat both the night and the men pursuing them. Before they were halfway across the plain, it was clear they wouldn’t make it. The distance to Mountain Home was further than the distance between them and the Council men pouring down into the canyon behind them. Lena looked back to see Alex and Jackson exchanging a look.