Sanctuary, page 27
“Let’s try this again,” she said with a breathless laugh. “Slowly.”
They melted into each other. Her last thought before she gave herself entirely to what they were doing was that she was making a memory to last for the rest of her life. Whatever happened, whether Alex went or stayed, if he disappointed her like everyone else, she would always have this.
After they finished, Alex held Aggie closely, his arms and body covering and sheltering as much of her as he could. He tried to analyze his feelings. Happiness, of course, and a feeling that he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life. Was this love? Maybe. But the biggest feeling was . . . relief. He had made the right decision, after all. He stared at the tree branches sheltering them and knew all he wanted to do was create more and more spaces like this, with this girl showing him how. His life had a purpose.
The waving branch reached down from the tree and clutched at him, pulling at his shoulder. He brushed it away, but it didn’t stop, so he grabbed it, grabbed—fingers. His eyes popped open. He felt protectively for Aggie, who stirred in her sleep beside him, while his other hand gripped the hand that touched him. A small, grubby hand belonging to . . .
He looked up into the wide, concerned eyes of Corn Seven. When Corn Seven saw he was awake, he began to shake him even more urgently.
“Ge uh!” he said.
Beside him, Aggie sat up in one smooth movement. Corn Seven began to jabber excitedly at her. Aggie listened intently. Alex wondered if he would ever understand COS speak.
“We have to go,” she said. “Our absence has been noticed. We fell asleep.”
Alex found himself strangely reluctant to move. “Let’s stay here,” he said. “It’s far enough away from COS to be safe. There’s food here.”
Aggie shook her head. “We have to give your mother cover until she is safely away. And I’m not ready yet. I want to take at least one beehive when I go.”
Alex found himself thinking about Rosie. He’d like to take her away before she became goat stew, which he knew his father was reluctantly considering.
“Besides, this is too close to COS to be safe. I want to leave it for Corn Seven and the others while we start something even farther away. We have at least a year of learning and planting first.”
Alex’s heart sank at the thought of returning to the enclave. He would need to keep his head down and avoid the family. Ada didn’t need to know about him and Aggie. Even if she was through with him, she needed to be the one to break it off.
Corn Seven was urging them to dress. If he thought it odd to find them naked together, he gave no indication. His fear communicated itself to Alex, who realized he had risked a lot to come and warn them. He remembered the child from his first night who had been knocked unconscious simply for failing to move fast enough. He pulled on his clothes quickly and followed Corn Seven and Aggie out of the forest. Although the cloud cover made changes less noticeable, he could tell it was darker, cooler. It was almost night. Where had the day gone?
They didn’t notice a figure hiding behind a clump of trees. They dawdled as they walked, holding hands and watching the moon making a rare appearance through the ever-present cloud cover. Corn Seven tried to hurry them along, but the path was completely empty. He was worrying about nothing, and they weren’t eager to get back while it was still daylight.
The figure following them took a shortcut across the barren landscape and reached the wall an hour before they did. Once inside, the cloaked figure pulled the hood back and smoothed her thin hair.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Darwin was restless. Walden observed him shifting in his chair, muttering what were probably curses and shooting dark looks at Peter. It wasn’t good to let Darwin get into this state, particularly since he was so suspicious of Peter and had taken a dislike to the son. Darwin hadn’t spent any time with the boy, but he was aware that Ada was of an age to marry, and that Alex was a suitable choice for Ada. Darwin was smart about some things. Sex was one of them. It never paid to underestimate him.
Walden had gone off the boy a bit himself. He had the arrogance of youth and was very sure he had City of the South all figured out. Walden’s wife didn’t like him and didn’t think him right for Ada. She wanted to find someone from what was left of Asia City. Of course she would. More importantly, Ada seemed less interested, and she was notoriously hard to persuade to do something she didn’t want to do. All in all, it seemed Darwin was suspicious about nothing, but it wouldn’t do to have open warfare between him and Peter. Thanks to his spies, they were reaching the point where Peter was expendable. Good agriculture wasn’t that complicated. The hard part was assembling the tools and the process. Now, thanks to Peter’s training, even the drooling idiots of COS could grow plants. After this season, Peter wouldn’t be a problem.
Darwin stood up from his chair. “And why is the bean crop less this year?” he said angrily.
Peter responded smoothly: “As I just explained, rainfall is down. But planting an additional squash variety for next year will help with moisture retention.”
“Next year doesn’t help for this year,” Darwin roared. “You should have done something for this year.”
“We started a preserving project,” Peter said. “We will have to be careful, but we should have the supplies we need to see us through the year. And next year—”
Darwin strode over to Peter and grabbed him by the throat. “I said, I don’t want to hear about next year. I thought the addition of your precious son was supposed to—”
Peter pried Darwin’s hands off his throat, straightened, and stared Darwin down. “Alex just arrived. He will be a big help, but he can’t solve last year’s rain.” He stepped forward, forcing Darwin to step back in response. It wasn’t a good idea to make Peter angry. Darwin was a bully and, like all bullies, a coward when he didn’t have his gang with him.
“I think we’ll end here,” Walden said smoothly. “Thank you for the report, Peter.”
Peter gave Darwin a long look, until Darwin looked down and mumbled something. Peter strode from the room.
Darwin turned angrily to Walden, but Walden forestalled him. “What are your plans this evening?” he asked.“ Would you like to have dinner with my family?”
“When do I ever want to have dinner with you, your bitch wife, and your brat?” he snarled.
“I figured you probably had plans with your men,” Walden answered smoothly.
Darwin hesitated. “Damn right, I do!” he said, striding from the room to gather whoever he could find for a night of carousing in COS.
Walden heaved a sigh of relief. Darwin was combustible. No one was safe when his energy and his lusts were too pent up. He spared a moment’s pity for the taverns and any unfortunate women who would cross his path. He hoped the cleanup wouldn’t be too onerous—or expensive.
Darwin was dressing for a night out. This didn’t involve evening wear but beltless pants he could pull down quickly when he found a likely girl to throw against a wall—and a knife if she gave him any argument or had a father or husband nearby. He answered a knock on the door with a feral growl.
A cloaked woman entered the room. Servants, particularly female servants, generally knew to stay out of Darwin’s way. His rooms were cleaned, his food set up, when he was out. The woman pushed her hood to one side. Birna. He had what passed for fondness for Birna. She had been his nanny as a child, a very permissive nanny. He liked to play with animals, particularly ferrats. They squeaked really loudly and moved fast. It was almost a fair fight, except there was no way out of the room, and he had the knife. No matter how many he killed, Birna could always find more. And when he turned a strapping fourteen, she went from being a nanny to something else. She had been a good-looking woman when she was younger. He had once toyed with the idea of taking her on a coyote hunt, but his brother had sent her to spy on Peter instead. His eyes narrowed. She had been the one to alert him to the tailor’s visit. This visit must have the same purpose.
“What’s up?” he asked, almost mildly.
“I’ve come about the boy, Alex,” she said, “and that girl Peter is so fond of. The one with the scar.”
His face darkened. She was one of the few who had gotten away. He had always intended to have another go at her, but that goblin face put him off. He didn’t know who had done that to her, but he heartily approved.
“What about them?”
“They’ve started their own garden,” she said, “in competition with COS.”
“Is this Peter’s doing?”
She paused. “I don’t think so. I don’t think he knows. It’s the girl’s doing. He gives her way too much freedom to come and go as she pleases. And she knows too much. The boy hasn’t been here long, but he’s a willing participant.” She paused. “Very willing.” She smiled, making sure he got her meaning.
“How do you know this?”
“They were at the garden today. I followed them. They are still on the way back. I know a shortcut. If you leave now, you can catch them.”
The rage that had been gathering in Darwin for weeks, ever since he caught Walden and Peter plotting, bubbled up behind his eyes. He could hardly see Birna for the red.
“Are any men out there?”
“A couple,” she replied.
“They will have to do. It shouldn’t take many of us to handle those two.” He would finish what he had started with the goblin. It was getting dark, he wouldn’t have to look at her face.
The men came upon them at the turning where Birna’s shortcut began, close to the city gate. Corn Seven was walking in front with a large stick, which he aimed at the man who led the way. Lord Darwin himself. Corn Seven barely came to Darwin’s waist. Darwin easily thrust the stick aside and swung his long knife. Corn Seven dropped to his knees, wide-eyed, blood pouring from his throat. Alex was weaponless, but he grabbed Darwin’s arm before he could slash again. One of Darwin’s companions slammed his meaty fist down on Alex’s head. Alex fell to the ground.
Aggie rushed at Darwin with her fingers extended. She raked her nails across Darwin’s cheek, drawing blood and leaving a wide track that was a good imitation of her own scar. He roared and grabbed her first by the hair and then by the waist. He wrapped his arms around her so she couldn’t claw or kick. Once he had her secure, he turned to leave. His evening’s entertainment was set. He just needed someplace quiet. He didn’t check on Alex. It didn’t much matter if the boy lived. He would probably suffer more in the morning when he picked up the pieces of what was left of the girl.
His two companions watched his retreating back until they could no longer hear the screams of the girl. One of them kicked the little boy. He was gone. The older boy was stirring slightly, but they knew he had been invited to Lord Walden’s party for his daughter, and they had no orders from Darwin. They looked at each other and shrugged. They had been promised a night of carousing and didn’t need Darwin to make that happen. They followed the main path back to town.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Alex woke to the dripping of a light rain on his face and the smell of something meaty and sickly sweet. The ground where he lay was sticky. Opening his eyes sent stabbing pain through his head, so he shut them again. Where was he? Was it time to take the goats out? The events of the previous day came crawling back into his consciousness. He sat up abruptly—and vomited all over the ground beside him as the dizziness took hold and spun his head. Just a few feet in front of him, he looked into the empty eyes of Corn Seven. Eyes that would never see another harvest.
Aggie! Alex looked around wildly, but she was gone. He remembered the men. Three of them, and one of them had been Darwin. Then everything had gone dark.
He forced himself first to his hands and knees and then upright. Nausea and pain washed over him in dark, cold waves. He vomited some more but forced himself to look around through squinting eyes until he got his bearings and figured out the way back to town. He was sad and horrified about Corn Seven, and he would do something about it later—at least give him a proper burial—but nothing mattered right now except finding Aggie. And if she was—his mind refused to think the word “dead”—nothing would matter except taking the life of whoever had done it, regardless of what happened to him. But it couldn’t be. She was too smart at navigating City of the South. Whatever had happened, they would get through it. He just had to find her.
His thoughts were as scrambled as his walk as he made his way shakily back to the city. He saw a tall figure in the distance and hoped it was Darwin. He clenched his fists. He would make Darwin tell him where Aggie was, what had happened to Corn Seven, and then he would wrap his fingers around his beefy neck and . . .
The figure got closer. Through blurry eyes he saw the spiky hair and slender frame of his dad. He broke into a stumbling run.
“Dad! A terrible thing has happened! Aggie and I were ambushed on the way to COS. And Corn Seven. Corn Seven is . . .” he broke down crying. He threw himself at his dad. Peter held him briefly at arm’s length and then let him go.
“What were you doing outside the walls?” he asked, his voice taut with anger. “It’s strictly forbidden. You know that. Agarita One certainly knew that.”
Alex froze at Peter’s use of the past tense. “Is she—?”
“Dead? Not yet, no thanks to you, but definitely in danger. What were you thinking? You’ve ruined everything. A decade of work. I don’t know if I can smooth this over.”
Alex stared at his dad. “Corn Seven is dead,” he said.
“I heard you.” His father brushed that impatiently aside. “I don’t think you realize the damage you’ve done, Alex. You’ll have to leave now. Fortunately, your mother and her guide, the mercenary, are still here and can take you back. This was obviously a mistake. You were too old. Sanctuary had already ruined you, made you too soft.”
“If caring about my friend makes me soft, I’m proud to be that way. You don’t give a shit about your workers.”
“I’m sorry about Corn Seven,” his father replied. “But this is his third harvest. He knew the rules better than anyone. If he’d followed them, he’d still be—”
Alex hauled off and hit his father in the mouth. Peter reeled back and clenched his own fist into a ball. He raised his hand, then dropped it.
“Bringing you here was a risk,” he said quietly. “I took it, and it’s my fault things didn’t work out. You can’t help who you are. You are your mother’s son. There isn’t much of me in you. I sensed it, but I didn’t want to see it.”
“If you think that’s an insult, you’re wrong,” Alex said. “I can’t wait to leave, but not without Aggie. Where is she?”
“She’s in jail,” his father answered. “She’s going to get thirty lashes at noon today. Darwin’s doing. She broke the law, and this is the result. Another one of my mistakes. I gave her too much freedom. I could trust her mother with my life, and I did. But Aggie is not her mother.”
“She knew better than to trust you,” Alex said bitterly. “She’s smarter than I am.”
“I’m going to do my best to get her punishment changed to banishing. Let’s hope she’s smart enough to keep quiet until I can arrange something.”
He looked at Alex through narrowed eyes. “You are going to wait at the door where I brought you into COS for your mother and her guide. I will get Agarita One and bring her there. Then the four of you need to head as fast as you can to Sanctuary. Darwin knows the outside well, and once you are beyond the walls, you are beyond any protection Walden can provide. Do you understand?”
Alex shook his head stubbornly. “I am going with you to rescue Aggie,” he said. “I won’t step one foot outside the city without her.”
In answer, his father grabbed his shoulders and shook him. The movement made the nausea rise again in his throat, and he turned away to be sick.
“You are in no condition to come with me,” Peter responded. “Besides, I intend to tell Walden and Darwin that you’re dead. They will be more inclined to show leniency to Agarita One if I tell them that.”
Alex didn’t respond.
“I know you think I don’t care. About you. About Aggie. I do. I admit I care more about the work that will outlast all of us, that will heal the planet we damaged, but I loved Aggie’s mother, and I promised to take care of her daughter.”
“Did you love my mother?” Alex asked.
His father was silent.
“Your loss,” Alex said bitterly. “She was too good for you.”
“That’s probably true,” his father responded. “We’d better get going if I am going to put a stop to Aggie’s punishment.”
Miranda sat by the stove. A child brought Murray a message of some kind. Miranda recognized her from school. She was upset about something, but Miranda was too dispirited to get up and investigate. She was grateful that Da had gone back to his bed for a nap. She needed to be alone with her grief.
“I have to go out for a bit,” Murray said. Miranda nodded. He didn’t tell her more, but she figured it couldn’t be about Alex or he would have said, so it didn’t matter. She stared into the smelly stove and poked the burning trash whenever the flame seemed to be dying out. She didn’t hear Murray return until he loomed over her.
“You’re back. What do we need to—?” She looked up and fell off her stool in surprise. He reached out a hand to help her up.
