Chosen (18 page)

“We must be moving. Do you need assistance in mounting your horse?”

The girl refused to answer. “You must get back on your horse. Now. The Horde will have a search party out looking for you three. We can't get caught out here because of your refusal to cooperate. Either get on your horse, or you will be tied across its back like a sack of oats.”

“I will do as you say, but please let Valery go. It
was
only playing, like she said.” She met Ted's eyes for a brief moment before darting to their accustomed habit of staring at the ground. “I'm to blame. I am frightened of all the men about and you took my reaction to be fear of Valery.”

The General stared hard at the girl. She was lying. He knew how to read people and to gauge the truth by a person's body language and other subtle hints they gave without even knowing, rather than relying on the words they spoke. This skill had come in handy many times during his stay here on Earth.
Humans bare their souls for all of the world to see.
Some of his Protectors had learned to read people the way he did, but only a few were as adept as he. Oddly enough, the one man he had never really been able to figure out was Sloan.

Amber's body language screamed that she was not being truthful. The girl was frightened, but he doubted that she was scared of the men. None had so much as looked at her since her arrival in the camp, except to offer food.

“Amber.” He tried to sound pleasant, but he was afraid that he only sounded angry and impatient. “You do not have to lie to protect Valery.” He held up his hand as she started to protest. “The Jhinn do not treat people as such. You have left the Horde behind for good. If you are frightened of Valery and do not wish her to harm you, I and these others will protect you.”

The girl met his eyes for a brief moment, then darted up to Valery, still tied up and gagged on the back of her gelding. “I do not need protecting. I told you, Valery was only playing. I over-reacted. Please let her go and we will cause you no more trouble.”

Ted Smith moved away and signaled Tess and Robert. “What do you make of all this?”

“Amber is definitely lying.” Tess answered quickly and surely. “But why would she protect
Valery
?” She said the name with obvious scorn. She had not trusted either girl from the start. She and the General were of a like mind; too many things about their story did not add up.

“Fear of retribution? She may be afraid that if she speaks the truth Valery will find a way to get revenge. We have our man back and these two may be more trouble than they're worth. We could always leave them behind,” Robert suggested.

“Of course we aren't going to just leave them here. I imagine any of us would be driven mad if we were forced to live with the Horde and take part in the unspeakable things they do,” Tess snapped. She hated having to stick up for the mean-spirited girl, but she couldn't imagine leaving the defenseless girls in the woods. They could die of starvation or exposure, be eaten by a bear, wolf, or mountain lion, or be captured again by the Horde. No option had a pleasant outcome.

“There's much that isn't right about this, sir. Valery barks out demands like she's a general…” He cleared his throat and blushed when Ted raised an eyebrow. “You have to admit that there is something off about those two girls. Amber's reactions seem overly dramatized, like she's been practicing.”

Ted nodded. “Agreed. If either of you have any suggestions as to what we should do with them…”

“We have to take them with us and keep an eye on them. And…” She bit her lip.

“It's alright. You can say it. Sloan needs watching as well.” Ted was pleased she had picked up on the man's subtle clues that he was also not being completely honest about his escape from the Horde camp. “Robert, I want you to keep an eye on Sloan. And you will watch the women.” He pointed at Tess. “Report any suspicious behavior to me at once. Understood?”

The three made their way back to Valery and Amber and the dozen Protectors in a wide circle around the girls, watching all directions, keeping an eye out for a Horde search party. Ted gave the order to mount up.

He whirled No Name, trotted to the head of a game trail he intended to follow, and signaled for a fast-paced forward march. Ted
caught Sloan's eye as the Protector took his place riding point. The man's green-eyed gaze was flat and emotionless. Sloan turned away and rode ahead of the column.

Forka watched Sloan disappear among the pines and wondered again why one of his Chosen would lie about his escape from the Horde camp. The answer flitted just out of reach. The General knew the pieces to the puzzle were all there: Sloan, the two women, their story, the behavior of the girls, as well as Sloan's own. The more he thought about how all of these things fit together, the more the answer eluded him.

* * *

The rest of the journey to the Jhinn encampment was long and cold. The girls were not used to lengthy periods of travel on horseback and the men had to stop frequently to let them both rest. Game was scarce, and the Protectors riding a perimeter around the travelers came back empty handed. They ate dried meat and biscuits, rationing carefully, taking into account the three extra mouths to feed.

They arrived at the encampment just past midday on the fifth day of their journey. When the townfolk caught sight of the rescue party, they began to cheer. They sent the young ones off running to spread the world that Protector Sloan had been rescued. The Jhinn surrounded Sloan's horse and he soon found himself cut off from the rest of the group. He was very uncomfortable with all of the attention. He mumbled his thanks to the people as they told him how they had prayed for a successful rescue. When asked about the other two, he told the folks that they hadn't made it. They patted his leg and told him there was nothing he could have done, and to be thankful the good Lord saw fit to bring him back home.

The girls were a little surprised to be the center of attention as well. When the townfolk heard that it was Valery and Amber who had brought Sloan out of the Horde camp, they showered the girls with applause and cheers.

Sloan slipped away while the women distracted the crowd. He made his way to the bunkhouse, drawing his typical silent demeanor
about him like a heavy cloak. He did not acknowledge any of the greetings shouted to him by his fellow Protectors. He dismounted by the stable and wordlessly handed the reins to a young boy from town who helped with the horses. Sloan walked slowly in through the back door of the bunkhouse. A slight, pretty girl was standing over the stove, the sleeves of her dress rolled past her elbows, sweat beaded on her forehead, strands of chestnut hair clinging to her face and neck. She asked if he would like some supper but he refused with a shake of his head. He walked to his pallet, stripped to his smallclothes, and lay on his back with one arm covering his eyes

As he lay waiting for sleep to claim him, a single tear slid down his chiseled cheek.

* * *

Sloan sat up and rubbed his eyes. He grabbed his coat, slid his feet into his boots, and crept past the sleeping Protectors and out the back door. The cold hit him like a dozen knives stabbing his body. His breath misted in the frigid night air. He made his way to the side of the bunkhouse and opened the front of his smallclothes. His urine stream melted the snow in front of his feet and steamed in the air.

“Pretty impressive package, my dear.”

Sloan jumped at the sultry voice speaking out of the shadows to his right. He finished his business and buttoned back up. He turned to the voice and the woman stepping closer to him, wrapped in bearskins from ankle to chin. Her eyes shone in the dark.

“What are you doing here?” Sloan hissed. He expected Protector Roberts to appear any second. The man had been his shadow for the last few weeks, following him everywhere. “Do you want to get us both killed? And Amber too?”

“There is no one about but you and me, my love. I managed to slip a little something into my shadow's drink. She will sleep like the dead and have a large headache come morning.” She approached and put her arms around his neck. He grabbed her in a fierce embrace as they kissed, their foggy breath mingling in the night air.

Sloan pulled back. “We mustn't do this. Someone will see.”

“The General doesn't suspect a thing.”

Sloan pulled her in for another long, lingering kiss. His hands found her buttocks. She moaned breathlessly as much from the cold on her bare skin as to a reaction to his touch.

“Having fun without me? How rude!” Amber appeared from the right, covered in skins to keep out the chill.

“What are you doing here? We cannot be seen together,” Sloan growled.

“I got lonely.” Amber stood in front of Sloan and reached up to touch his face. “I missed you.”

Sloan groaned inwardly as he reached for Amber and held her close. Valery took up position under his other arm and the three stood there for a moment.

“I am tired of having to play the role of the poor frightened girl. Why can't we complete our mission and go back to the Horde camp? Back home,” Amber said.

“You play the role so well, Amber darling,” Valery mocked.

“At least one of us is playing their role!” Amber snapped.

“Excuse me for becoming physically ill at the thought of acting like a sniveling child!”

“
Sniveling child
? We are supposed to be acting like tortured souls, scared to death of everything. I'm surprised the general didn't leave us behind in the woods with the way you were acting.”

“Who was the one carrying on as though I were
murdering
her…”

“Will you two stop? Amber's right. You both were supposed to be acting like slaves escaping from a life of torment, not strutting around like you own the place.”

Both girls glared at each other. Sloan sighed. “We must wait a little longer, give everyone a chance to grow accustomed to your presence.”

“Wait? I have had about as much as I can stand of this
encampment.
” Valery pulled away and stood facing Sloan, arms crossed, eyes blazing. “I want to go
home.
These people are so…. stuffy and pious!” Her red lips pouted.

Sloan couldn't help but laugh. “Stuffy? Is that all you can complain about? They have welcomed you both as if you were long lost relatives.”

“All they do is work and pray. Pray for rain, pray for good health, pray for their souls and everyone else's.” Valery rolled her eyes. “It is pitiful how they bow and scrape and live their lives for some invisible man that they think is in charge of everything. It was God who made the bad things happen. Everyone knows that.”

“We believe God saved some humans instead of letting us all die. We must show Him we are worthy of this second chance,” Sloan whispered.

Amber's eyes widened just as Valery's eyes narrowed. “You are having second thoughts about our mission, aren't you? These people have gotten to you! You actually think like one of them!”

“No…that's a lie. I want to go home too.” Sloan turned away so she could not see the lie in his eyes. “We will complete our mission. We will be heroes.” He tried to add some excitement to his voice, to convince the girls that he was as excited as they.

“Remember your family, Sloan. Remember what these
good people
did to them. We cannot do this without you,” Amber spoke softly, yet her words hit him like fists hammering at him. Not a day went by that he didn't think of his family. His mother, father, and two sisters, all killed by the great General Ted Smith. He closed his eyes.

He and his family had been living with some others out on the plains. The Cowboys had attacked, burning the crops and killing the livestock. His family was the only ones to survive the winter. Once the snows melted enough to allow travel, they had set out for the Jhinn encampment.

The family had camped for the night in a cave they had found in a small gully. It was big enough to house them all comfortably and there was even a small spring nearby. Sloan, a boy of six, was given the task of filling the water skins. He took special care to not let any dirt or sediment enter the skins. He wanted his family to enjoy clean water. Once they were filled, he stood and began to walk back, proud of himself for doing such a good job.

Just then, he heard his mother and sisters' scream and his father shouting. Sloan ran and hid behind a tree that had been uprooted by a storm. There was plenty of dirt and detritus among the roots. A
part of him wanted to run away and never look back, that whatever had made his mother scream must be big, and mean, and scary, and would probably enjoy eating a little boy. Another part wished to come to his family's aid. He carried no weapon. He had only the water skins, lying on the ground, forgotten. And still another part told him to lie ever so still and make no noise. This voice spoke of survival and living to see another day.

He saw a man emerge from the cave, wielding a knife with a long blade, covered in blood. The man was tall, with ice blue eyes and long scraggly hair. The man stood still, looking around. Then he loped off toward the east.

After a time, Sloan emerged from behind his hiding place. He walked on wooden legs toward the cave, his mind completely numb. His mother and sisters lay on the ground, their throats slit from ear to ear, blood making red quick sand underneath their heads. His father lay on top of them, on his back, as if he had tried to protect them. The front of his shirt was soaked with blood.

Sloan stared at his family, strange thoughts racing through his head. His mother's hair had come undone from her accustomed bun at the nape of her neck. His sister, Maras, had lost one of her shoes in the struggle. He ran back out of the cave and threw up. He retched until his stomach ached and tears flowed from his eyes and his throat was raw.

I need to bury them.
He made himself walk back inside. He grabbed his father by the arms and tried to drag him out of the cave. He was too heavy for Sloan to move. Sloan tried until he felt as though his arms were going to be pulled from their sockets, sobbing quietly all the while. He made animal noises of frustration. He finally gave up, panting from the effort.