Nuworld: Claiming Tara (29 page)

Patha’s comm beeped
a second time when he headed off
behind Darius’ home.
“The less gossip about this matter, the better.” Darius
said as Patha listened through his comm. “We’ve
accomplished a lot in bringing our two nations together. If
word spreads, it will reverse everything we’ve achieved so
far.”
“Agreed.” Patha decided the lecture Darius had coming
to him would wait. “I’m coming to get you.”

“Hilda, are you here?” Reena let herself in the back door
and moved through the quiet house.
Her friend would be angry, and likely blame Reena for all
of it. Hilda had known from the beginning that Tara was
Reena’s daughter. She’d only seen Tara once, or twice, as
an infant. Lord Jovis had been blindly in love with Hilda. It
wouldn’t surprise Reena to learn that she’d plotted right
along with her claim to have Tara claimed to their oldest
son. None of that happened. But Hilda had a long memory,
and didn’t forget. She would definitely find reason for all of
this to somehow be Reena’s fault. She straightened her
spine, ready to go head to head with her dear friend, and
walked further into the quiet house.
“Hilda?” she called out a bit louder this time.
“Hello?” Syra walked into the kitchen with a white rag in
her hands.
“Ah, it’s a good thing you’re here. Call your papa, child.
He’s worried about you.”
“He knows I’m here,” the teenager said, a bit testily.
Torgo walked through the back door at that moment and
froze in mid-step.
Reena ignored the boy’s reaction and persisted with
Syra. “Tara has left, child. Your papa was scared you went
with her. Call him now.”
“I still don’t understand why I have to check in with him
every few hours.” She stomped over to the landlink that
she’d brought with her from the clan. Her comm was with
it and she wrapped it around her ear.
“What do you mean, Tara has left?” Torgo walked over to
the counter and grabbed a cookie from a plate that had
several more on it. He watched Syra as he stuffed the entire
cookie in his mouth.
“I think Lord Darius should explain the situation. All I
can say is that Tara and the babies are gone.”
“They went out to say goodbye to some of the Runners.”
Syra said, her tone indicating she thought the old lady was
confused.
“Is Hilda upstairs?” Reena wasn’t going to explain
anything to the children. She didn’t feel it was her place,
and she knew Lord Darius would be more furious than he
already was if he came home to a household apprised of
the situation. Reena had been more than willing to not be
part of rescuing the injured lord. It would be bad enough
facing Hilda. Leaving the two of them, she headed upstairs.
“Hilda, may I come in?” Reena tapped on her friend’s
bedroom door.
“Reena?” Hilda was working on a sampler for her
grandchildren’s bedroom wall. “Is something wrong?”
Reena entered the bedroom and shut the door. “Tara
has left Darius.” Reena pursed her lips. “She and the
babies are gone.”
Hilda let her sewing fall to her lap. “What?” Hilda asked
in disbelief. “You say it like she is really gone. They went to
say bye to some of her Runner friends.”
“She caught him, Hilda. He should have known Tara
wouldn’t stand for that behavior.”
Hilda gathered her sewing and stood to face her lifetime
friend. “How do you know she is gone? Where are the
babies?”
“Tara went to the clan site. She came to Patha’s trailer,”
Reena began, watching her friend closely.
Reena then told Hilda about Tara’s visit. She stopped
talking every time she heard a noise from somewhere in the
house.
“She took our grandbabies with her.” Reena concluded.
“Patha went to get Lord Darius. Your son won’t get her
back, not unless she wants to come back.”
Hilda just looked at her friend. “My son has more power
than he can handle. His actions have surprised me more
than once.” Her words were strained, and Reena knew she
referred to her two dead sons. “But don’t think your
daughter’s bullheadedness matches my son’s power. If he
wants it to happen, he will force Tara to return. And he will
get my grandbabies back!”

Torgo
and
Syra didn’t give any thought
to
the
conversation taking
place
upstairs.
They leaned
on
opposite sides of the island counter in his kitchen and
stared at each other.

“So after my clan leaves, I’m
staying here and helping
Tara with the babies.” Syra leaned against the counter and
studied the golden hair on Torgo’s arm. “Of course, I’m
sure I will have plenty of time for other things, too.”

Torgo had just put another cookie in his mouth and
almost choked on it. “Like what?” he asked with his mouth
full and slapped at the crumbs that he spit on the counter.

Syra shrugged. “What do you do around here for fun?”
Torgo had a hard time looking at her face and not her
rather large breasts. She looked soft and curvy. He wasn’t
too sure what he’d do, exactly, if he had a chance to be
alone with her. And he meant really alone. The opportunity
to find out sounded like it couldn’t happen soon enough.
“I dunno.” He shrugged. Torgo tried thinking of one
thing he did at his house, just to answer her. But he saw
breasts, his groin hardened, and he knew he couldn’t move
from where
he
leaned
over
the counter. “I could do
something with you…uhh…I mean, maybe
show you
around…”
Torgo jumped when Patha and Lord Darius bounded
through the back door. He panicked that he’d permanently
injured himself when his hardened dick banged against the
cupboard door beneath the counter.
“Tell Reena to come here,” Patha yelled, in spite of the
teenagers being in the same room.
Syra ran from the kitchen.
Torgo looked at the blood on his older brother’s foot. He
wasn’t wearing his boot. “What happened to you?”
“Not now.” Darius gestured to Torgo, looking seriously
irritated. “Help me get upstairs.”
A second look at his brother and all thoughts of large
breasts and personal injuries vanished. Darius was really
hurt. Torgo became a human crutch for his older brother
as he helped him to the stairs.
Once Darius was in his room, Reena had Syra on the
run gathering necessary items to mend his wound. Torgo
loitered in the hallway, catching bits and pieces of the very
alarming news.
“Send out four of your fastest riders,” Patha said into his
comm, as he shut Darius’ bedroom door behind him. “She’s
not to be hurt, you understand? Those babies are with her,
and I want them all back here before nightfall.”
“I can’t believe she didn’t take me with her,” Syra whined
later as she joined Torgo. The house had settled a bit, and
they stood in the stairwell, leaning over the banister that
opened below into the front entryway. Torgo wanted to
suggest they go to his room, but didn’t have the nerve and
couldn’t imagine what he would say to her once they got
there. At least she was talking to him, so all he had to do
was nod and watch her. “My clan is leaving. Now Tara’s
left, and I’m stuck here.”
“I don’t mind you being stuck here.” Torgo blushed so
deeply he looked down at the ground. He was grateful for
the deep shadows in the hallway. “I mean, I get really bored
most of the time. It’ll be nice to have someone my age to
talk to, uh, sometimes.”
Great, now he was talking like a bumbling idiot
.
He
glanced sideways at her, hoping she hadn’t noticed. Just
being near her raised his body temperature.
Syra guessed from Torgo’s actions that he hadn’t been
around many girls. She’d love to teach him a thing or two
.
It brought a smile to her face that she made him blush and
feel awkward. He was so cute, already pretty developed.
And, he was a lot taller than she was—that in itself was a
bonus—especially since she was taller than most boys her
own age.
“My papa and I travel around a lot, and there aren’t
many people my age to hang out with either.”
There were boys her age in the clan, but she didn’t want
Torgo to think she’d been with a whole bunch of them. And
she hadn’t, really, just a few.
“He’s really lucky she just shot him in the foot,” Syra
continued, dropping her tone so as not to be overheard.
She wanted to keep their conversation going.
“I know. If she shot his foot then that is where she
wanted to shoot him.”
They were quiet for another moment or two, trying to
figure out what else to say to each other.
“Maybe you could show me…” Syra began, but stopped
talking when footsteps sounded on the stairs.
Patha approached them and passed, not seeming to
notice they were there as he entered Darius’ room. It was
easy to overhear the conversation beyond the partially open
door. “They found her, but she easily got away from them,”
Patha said.
“I’m not surprised. She isn’t going to get caught unless
she wants to. Still, I can’t let her get away from me like
this.”
“You’ve made a mess for yourself, son.”
“No lectures, please. Things are bad enough as they are.”
“I suggest you let me look for her when we leave
tomorrow. We know she headed south, and she’ll probably
pass through one of the towns to restock. I’ll be able to find
her.”
“Ah, but will you be able to bring her back?”
“Son, you’re going to have to do that. You’ve made a
terrible mistake, and she’ll not forgive you easily. I’ll find
her for you, but you’ll have to do the convincing.”
Patha came out of the room, and Syra and Torgo tried to
look as if they hadn’t been eavesdropping. Patha still
seemed uninterested in them, but he paused and turned to
address them before he reached the stairs. “Syra, I guess
you should come with me, and I’ll take you back to your
papa. There’s no reason for you to stay here.” He
disappeared down the stairs.
“Great, more time alone with my papa,” Syra groaned. “I
wish I went with her. This isn’t fair.” She stamped her foot
on the ground before following Patha.
They didn’t leave right away, however. Hilda insisted
Patha and Reena stay for supper, as it was about ready.
Darius hobbled downstairs with his wrapped foot and
endured the looks his mama gave him as she set the table.
She
finally
started
to
cry
over
the
loss of
her
grandbabies and the woman who had taken them. Torgo
didn’t want to hear his brother yell at his mama, so he
slipped out into the backyard. His brother had made his
mama cry one too many times, and it was more than he
wanted to hear right now.
When Syra saw the opportunity, she followed him.
“You know, you’re complaining that you have to leave,
and I wish I didn’t have to stay.” Torgo leaned against the
shed staring at the star-filled sky. He switched his gaze to
her as she approached him.
“Is this yours?” Syra ran her hand over his bike.
“Yeah, and it was Tara who taught me to ride.”
“That’s why I was here, to earn money to buy my first
bike.”
The two were silent then Syra had an idea. It was really
awful, and she didn’t want Torgo to get the wrong
impression if she brought it up. He’d started shining his
handlebars with his shirt. His blond hair was a mass of
tousled curls and his gray eyes were lighter, not as deadly
as his older brother’s. He’d be nice to have as a boyfriend,
she decided.
“Don’t take this the wrong way or anything,” she began
and looked back toward the house to make sure no one
else had come out. “Why don’t we go find her ourselves?”
“What?” Torgo whispered the word. “There’s no way we
would get out of Gothman. Both of us together don’t have
half the skills Tara has.”
“It’s not like they are going to hurt us if they catch us. It
would be an adventure, and I’m going to be bored to death
if I have to spend a couple cycles alone with my papa.” Syra
looked at Torgo slyly. “Are you scared?”
“Of course not!” he declared. “I’m just not going to take
off running without a plan. Let me think about it. We also
shouldn’t leave before supper.”
“Can you get out of the house tonight?” Her mind was
already scheming.
“I guess so.”
“I’ll have to leave after we eat with Patha and Reena.
You’ll leave half an hour after we do and meet me at the
edge of the clan site, on the west side. We’ll be out of
Gothman before anyone missed us. I’m sure of it with the
speed this bike probably has. I bet it takes the rough
terrain a lot better than a Runner bike.” She smiled at him
to see what he thought.
Torgo didn’t have a better plan. The thought of listening
to his brother scream and yell at everyone because he’d
made a mess out of his life sounded worse than running
away. He nodded and headed toward the house. There was
no way he would back out or give her any indication, but
he was scared to death to take off on his own. He’d never
been outside Gothman territory, and the stories he’d heard
didn’t make him want to leave.
Syra left with Patha and Reena and headed back to the
Runner’s camp. She didn’t speak to either of them, but
then she never did. They were so old and never understood
anything she talked about. Instead of sulking however, she
made a mental list of things she would need. She walked
through her trailer with her bag that already had her
clothes and landlink in it. Quite convenient, she thought.
“Ah, there you are, my girl,” Balbo said, as Syra entered
their trailer. “Hard to believe your papa missed you when
you were gone far less than a quarter-cycle.”
“No one to show you how you are always wrong?” Syra
rolled her eyes at her papa, but found herself smiling. She
guessed as far as papas went she had a pretty good one, for
the most part.
“I felt lost without anyone to argue with.” Her papa
returned her smile and reached to pull at her headscarf.
She ducked past him and headed for her room. Once in
there she began
pacing as four walls closed in around her. Somehow she
needed to get food, and enough for both of them for at least
several days.
“Syra, I’ll be back shortly.”
“Okay, Papa.” This was perfect.
In the kitchen, she took things she thought wouldn’t be
missed immediately if her papa were to look. She did most
of the cooking, so she hoped he didn’t know what was
there. She filled a bag with food, grabbed her bag of
clothes, and left the trailer.
Torgo was on the west side of the clan when she got
there, looking nervous as he sat on his bike. He had side
bags into which she stuffed her belongings. Then she
climbed on behind him. Her heart leaped as she inched her
legs along his and slowly moved her hands around his
waist.
“I thought you’d never get here.” His bike rumbled
noisily as he left the clan site.