Away

CHAPTER 9





THEY MADE GOOD progress the first day. The weather was brisk but dry, and the forest seemed almost friendly. Malgam and Daniel took turns leading the group. Rachel walked with Pathik most of the time, though Fisher dropped back to walk with them often, which seemed to irritate Pathik. When Fisher went ahead to talk to Malgam, Rachel questioned Pathik.

“Why are you being so touchy with Fisher?”

“What do you mean, touchy?”

“Every time he comes back to walk with us you act like he’s contagious.”

Pathik scowled. “He’s not coming back to walk with us.”

“What do you mean?”

Pathik just shook his head. “Fisher always has plans.” Then he was off, heading for the front of the group.

When Fisher saw Pathik leave Rachel’s side he dropped back.

“Problems in romance land?”

Rachel felt her face get hot. She stopped walking for a moment, but Nandy and Indigo were close behind them. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she sputtered.

“Really?” Fisher cocked his head and grinned. “You seem awfully upset. I just thought maybe the romance had—”

“There’s no romance.”

“Ah.” Fisher walked in silence for a bit. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“Hmm.” Fisher watched her from the corners of his eyes. “I just thought there might be.”

“Well, there’s not.” She wouldn’t look at him.

“Does Pathik know that?”

“Of course he does.”

Fisher walked with her for the rest of that day’s trek. He was pleasant enough, but Rachel kept trying to catch Pathik’s eye. He was up front, walking with Malgam and Peter, and when he looked back he didn’t seem to notice her.

It was easy to tell when they were getting close to the Roberts’ camp. They began to see refuse—ragged pieces of plastic tarp, filthy, rooted scraps of cloth, what was left of the rib cage of some animal—strewn in the underbrush. They passed the rusted remains of some sort of vehicle, resting on its side as though it had been tossed there. It was barely recognizable; it had no doors or windows; all that was left of the interior was a skeletal framework of springs and supports, covered with ivy.

Pathik went ahead to scout the area. Rachel saw him leave, and he didn’t look back at her when he did. When they were close enough to detect a stench hanging in the air, Indigo called a halt.

“It will be nightfall soon. We need to find a place we can defend and set camp.”

“There’s a huge boulder just ahead.” Pathik appeared as if on cue. “We could camp at its base and have cover on one side, at least.” His cheeks were flushed from moving quickly through the forest. Rachel felt her own cheeks flush to match, just from hearing his voice. She felt her shoulders relax and realized she had been tense since he left to scout ahead.

Indigo nodded. “That sounds good. Anything else?”

“The stink doesn’t get any better.” Pathik wrinkled his nose. “I think they just dump their waste pots a ways from their camp instead of properly burying them. I didn’t sense any guards. They may be closer to the camp.”

“Let’s make for the boulder, then. Good work, Pathik.” Indigo began to walk, and the others followed. Pathik waited until Rachel and Fisher reached him and fell in beside them. He kept his eyes on the ground.

The boulder was huge. Taller than two men and twice as wide, it was a gray, lichened hulk, crouching on the forest floor. There was a natural clearing around it, as though over the decades no sapling had dared grow too near.

They set up camp for the night.

“We should do it before dark, so I can still see what Daniel sees,” said Malgam.

Nipper was sitting quietly a few feet away, where he had been watching them set up the camp. Nandy called softly to him. He considered her for a moment, then glided to her side. She reached out to stroke him and he closed his eyes, leaning in toward her.

“Nipper, we need to find Daniel. Can you find him? Find Daniel?”

The Woolly opened one eye a slit, and pushed his head harder against Nandy’s hand. He growled low in his throat.

“He doesn’t know what you’re saying.” Malgam’s tone was a mixture of scorn and regret. “It’s too much to expect he would understand what you want, all the way out here in unfamiliar surroundings.” He sighed. “I don’t know what we were thinking. He isn’t even that good at the game back home.”

The low growl became stronger and Nipper’s other eye opened. He turned both of his eyes on Malgam in a baleful glare.

Nandy smiled. “Oh, I think he has quite a clear idea of what I’m asking. Don’t you, Nipper?” She scratched Nipper’s neck. “We really need to find Daniel, Nips. Can you go find him now? Please?”

Nipper fell silent. He turned away from Malgam, clearly dismissing him as insignificant. He pushed his head against Nandy’s shoulder and snuffled her ear. Then he sat back and looked at her.

“Hemmmm,” said Nipper, his expression conveying a question.

Nandy nodded. “I know. But we need to find out.”

Without another sound, Nipper turned and walked away.

“Be careful, Nipper.” Nandy sounded worried. Rachel scooted closer and put her arm around Nandy’s shoulders. Everyone watched the Woolly disappear into the brush.

“At least he’s going in the right direction.” Malgam shrugged. Nandy threw her bedroll at him.

“Shush your mouth.” She glared at Malgam almost as fiercely as Nipper had, even though she knew he was teasing her.

“He’ll be okay,” said Malgam. “The Roberts won’t know him as anything but a Woolly, assuming they manage to catch a glimpse of him.”

“Let’s hope Daniel manages to catch a glimpse of him.” Nandy rose and retrieved the bedroll she had thrown. “Rachel, let’s get our beds laid out. By the time we’ve done that, Nipper should be at their camp.”

Rachel untied her own bedroll. She whispered to Nandy.

“Did he say something to you?”

“Who?” Nandy was clearing small rocks from the area she planned to put her bedroll out on.

“Nipper. When you asked him to go, he . . . he said something. And then you said ‘I know,’ like you were answering him.” Rachel felt a little foolish.

Nandy smoothed her bed and patted a spot next to her. Rachel sat down.

“He doesn’t talk to me, not in that way.” Nandy smiled. “But I’ve known Nipper his whole life.” She spoke softly, so Malgam wouldn’t be disturbed. “When he was just a tiny cub, he got separated from his mother somehow. She was probably killed by some other animal. And I found him, while I was out hunting eggs. He was half dead, standing on wobbly legs, weak from hunger. He should have bitten me the minute I touched him—I told you how vicious Woollies are—but he didn’t. He didn’t even growl. He just watched me come, and I could tell he was thinking. I could tell he knew he was out of options. And so he let me help him. And over the years we’ve learned how to communicate in a way, like you would with anyone, really.”

“Does he love you? For saving him?”

Nandy shook her head. “I don’t know, Rachel. I don’t know if Woollies can love, at least the way you mean it. Malgam thinks they can’t. Most people think they can’t. All I know is that I love him. I get some grief for it, because there’s not much time for that sort of thing out here. But I do love him. And I like to think that if he can, he loves me too.” Nandy looked toward Malgam. “We’d best be quiet now, in case he’s getting close.”

Rachel watched Malgam. Nothing seemed to be happening; he betrayed no indication that he was seeing through another person’s eyes, no twitching, no trance-like visage, no stiffened body, as though he were possessed by some other consciousness. She looked a question at Nandy.

“It might be a while,” said Nandy. “We don’t really know how far Nipper has to go, or how hard it might be for him to find Daniel if Daniel is actually . . .” Nandy didn’t finish the sentence, but Rachel knew what she meant. They could have come all this way for nothing. Even though Malgam insisted he hadn’t been dead last time Malgam tried to see through his eyes, Daniel could be dead now.

They waited, everyone quiet as the light faded more and more.

When it finally happened, it was less dramatic than Rachel had imagined it might be. Malgam began to nod, slowly at first, then rapidly. Nandy dropped down next to him, motioning Rachel over.

“He saw Nipper.” Malgam was smiling. “It is Daniel, and he saw Nipper. I’m seeing . . . bars.” Malgam’s smile was replaced by a frown. “He’s looking at one place on them . . . wait, now he’s looking out through them. I see . . . ah, only one man.”

“What man?” Rachel watched Malgam’s face, trying to solve the puzzle on it. Nandy shook her head and held a finger to her lips.

“He’s got to concentrate. We’ll know soon enough. Just remember what he says even if it makes no sense. Sometimes it helps him later.”

“Just one man, close by. The back of it is solid, rocks, maybe? But the front and the sides are the bars. Back to that place on the bars, he keeps going back to it . . . a lock! A lock of some sort.” Malgam paused. “The campfire is far off. He isn’t in the main camp. Somewhere off a ways. He . . .” Malgam grimaced. He was silent for a long time. When he spoke again, he looked at Nandy, not at Rachel.

“It’s a dirt floor, where they keep him. He wrote in the dirt with a stick. His hands . . . he had a lot of trouble holding the stick. One of his hands is . . . broken.”

Rachel tried not to think about what Malgam had just said. She took a deep breath, and another. She straightened her shoulders. She remembered in that moment how many times she had seen her mother do the same thing, how she would gather herself and face whatever was coming.

“What did he write?”

Malgam finally looked at her. His face was pale, drained.

“He wrote Don’t try it.”

Rachel stared back at Malgam. She felt herself slipping into a strange sort of numbness. Her father was somewhere out there, so close, so close. He was hurt. He would probably be killed. And then it would be as she thought it had been already for so many years. But she would have lost him all over again.

“What else would he say?” Indigo’s voice brought Rachel back to the place she was, in a strange clearing by a huge rock. He smiled at Rachel. “I told you he was good man. He doesn’t want us to put ourselves at risk. But we will do what’s right.” He stood, slowly, as if his muscles were stiff. “You,” he said to Malgam, “need to rest. As soon as we have some food and make a plan, you need to sleep.”

“Do you have a plan?” Malgam looked grim.

Indigo smiled. “Not yet. But once we have some food in our bellies and we have all heard what you saw, we will. I’m going to fetch Pathik and Fisher, and we’ll eat.”

They built no fire; they were too close to the Roberts’ camp to risk it. They made a dinner of dried meat and dried fruit. Malgam shared what he had seen.

“You said he was in a cage?” Pathik looked thoughtful. “What kind of cage?”

“Remember the book with the pictures of the old incarceration centers? Like that—the metal bars. But smaller, for some sort of animal, I think. And the back of it was solid, like they piled rocks against it.” Malgam ripped a shred of dried meat from his piece and chewed while he thought. “The campfire was far off, but not so far we’d have much time to dig under, assuming that the cage doesn’t have a bar floor under the dirt.”

“First thing we’ll need to do is kill the guard.” Peter spoke quietly. Malgam scowled in Peter’s general direction. Pathik just shook his head. Rachel made a hmmph sound before she could stop herself.

Indigo was the one who replied.

“We don’t need to kill anyone, Peter, not unless they are trying to kill us.”

“The Roberts would as soon kill you as look at you, from what you say about them.” Peter spat the words. He turned from Indigo to Rachel. “They tortured your father. As far as you know they plan to kill him, or worse, trade him to the government. Doesn’t that make you angry?”

Rachel nodded, her eyes wide. She was angry. She could feel it, a hot, hard place in the back of her throat. It had been there, really, for as long as she could remember.

“So we turn into them?” Indigo wasn’t addressing Peter any longer. He was asking Rachel. “We decide that we can kill them because what they do is wrong?”

Rachel took her time, turning away from Peter to look at Indigo. She could not speak.

“You know the answer in your heart, Rachel. Or maybe it’s in your head. I find it’s usually a combination of the two that leads me best.” Indigo smiled, that gentle, kind smile of his. Then he turned back to Peter.

“Let’s hope nobody gets killed, Peter. Shall we?”

“We can use Rachel’s cutter.” Pathik jumped up and got his pack. He dug through it, removing a blanket and a pair of socks, and then the laser saw. “It worked on the sheet metal back at camp. I bet it will work on the cage bars. We’ll need to knock the guard out.” Pathik gave Peter a pointed look. “Then we can cut through some bars and get Daniel and go.” Pathik bit his lip, thinking. “Best if we hit the camp as soon as it gets truly dark. That way they’ll all be inside and we’ll have less chance of being seen.” He looked around to see if the others agreed.

“Here’s Nipper.” Nandy sounded relieved.

The Woolly bounded out of the forest and into the center of the group. He stood for a moment, assessing the state of things, and then sat elegantly next to Nandy. He looked at her, clearly awaiting her gratitude, and Nandy gladly gave it.

“So wonderful, Nipper. We thank you so much. And we are so sorry we ever said anything derogatory about your skills, aren’t we, Malgam?” Nandy stroked Nipper’s head. Malgam grumbled. Nipper growled.

“Based on how long it took him to get back here, we should be able to get an hour’s rest, go get Daniel out, and head back to camp before the next dusk. While we’re gone, you’ll need to keep watch and pack up. We’ll want to be ready to move.” Malgam pointed at Rachel. “Maybe you can take first watch, and then Indigo, since you two will be staying here.”

“I’m going,” said Rachel.

“You’re too young for this, Rachel.”

“Pathik’s going. We must be around the same age.” Rachel spoke calmly. She wasn’t going to let Malgam stop her from going.

“You’ve no experience out here. You’ll be more trouble than good there.”

“She did pretty well on the trek to camp from the Line.” Pathik wouldn’t look at Rachel. “I mean, just okay.” He snuck a sidelong glance at her, a ghost of a grin touching his mouth. “She did slow us down a day.”

“I’m going—”

“She should go.” Indigo decided it. “Daniel is her father. Whatever happens, she should have the chance to be a part of it. You, Malgam, are not going. You’re too weak yet to really be of help there. You and I will stay here. Peter, Pathik, Rachel, Nandy, and Fisher will go.”

“Heemmmmmm.” Nipper made his sound, a cross between a hum and a growl.

“Nipper’s in.” Nandy grinned. “Malgam, you should take first watch if you’re to be lazing about here.” She ducked to avoid the wadded-up cap Malgam threw at her.

Soon all who were not on watch were asleep. Even Rachel, who felt so tense she couldn’t imagine sleeping when she lay down on her bedroll.