Red Leaves and the Living Token (27 page)

To his surprise, she broke off before they noticed her and disappeared between the carriages. Where was she going now? After a moment, she reemerged closer to him. She was coming back! She crawled back under the same Carriage she'd left under.

Handers grabbed her. "What are you doing!" He whispered. "They'll kill us if they see us! Do you understand that?”

She stared up at him, dumbfounded.

He wanted to know what she saw, if anything, but he didn't want to encourage her for running off. She seemed to have been making a habit of it.

"He's not there." She said after a moment.

"OK." He said.

" But those men said some of the people went up the mountain. They took Grandpa with them." She said.

"They did? Did they say why?" He asked.

"Lots and lots of Petra are here too. So they have to stay down here and be quiet."

"Petra? Great!" Handers wasn't particularly fond of the Petra. But then again, who was? Other than Rinacht, of course. He’d surprised himself when he hired Rinacht. Never thought he'd ever work with a Petra let alone take one in by choice. But then, Rinacht had seemed a little different from other Petra he'd met. Less smug. Turned out to be a mistake after all.

The bitterness resurfaced. Rinacht had become his closest friend. The one he trusted above all others. How could he have let that happen? How had he allowed himself to end up with a Petra as his one good friend? He knew better than that! Somehow, somewhere inside him, he knew this was going to come. Not this specifically, but the betrayal. It was inevitable. But that wasn’t fair, was it?

He simply trusted too easily. Take Moslin, look at the damage she'd caused him. It was hard for him to admit now, but there was a time when he had felt quite close to her too. He trusted her like he trusted Rinacht. Now it was clear. Trust was a mistake.

And what of Bedic and Sinesh? They're her family! But he owed Bedic. If he turned on him now, he'd be just as guilty as the Rinacht and Moslin. He'd be unworthy of trust himself. As Bedic, no doubt, felt he was already.

"Lets go around the camp and keep going up the mountain. They can't be too much further." He told her.

-

They'd been climbing up the road another twenty minutes, keeping close to the trees in case they needed to hide, when they heard a faint thumping sound, like the beating of an incredibly large drum, pounding out a slow, steady pulse. Boom. Boom. Boom.

"What is that?" Sinesh asked.

"Someone who wants others to know they're here." He answered. The thumping grew louder as they pushed up the road.

"Should we hide?" She asked.

"Now you want to hide?" He laughed.

After another switch back the trees one side ended abruptly. It appeared they’d come to a sort of ridge where the mountain side beyond the road leveled then dropped down out of sight. The thumping had become so loud Handers was sure whom ever it was, was just over the ridge.

They stepped off the road and climbed up the embankment carefully, so they could see down over the ridge without being seen. Beyond the ridge the mountain side dropped down into a small valley bowl before resuming its steep ascent to the summit still a considerable distance above them.

To Hander’s dismay, in the valley was not empty. Two columns of Petra soldiers marched down the center of a road that wrapped around the perimeter of the small valley. A solid mass of tents and military equipment filled in the rest of the open space from one edge to the other.

Loaded wagons and carts, twice the size of anything he'd seen and made of what looked like some kind of polished stone, were spread throughout the tents. It looked like they were still moving in supplies. And lots of them.

Another group of stone soldiers, in regular formation, made their rotations around the perimeter. This was the second group in only a few minutes. They must be expecting someone, he thought.

The site was pretty impressive, he had to admit. It looked more like a city than a mobile encampment. Roads where clearly cut in between the square, building sized, tents. Rows of oil lamps attached to the top of high posts lined the sides of the roads. From a distance, they looked like regular street lamps.

In the center of the camp, he could see a complex arrangement of more rigid structures, looking like a command center of some sort. If they weren’t up in the top of the mountains, he would’ve guessed they were permanent buildings. They must’ve brought them up in pieces and assembled them here.

People said a lot of things about the Petra, but one thing was certain, they were industrious.

Lighting flashed, throwing a flicker of light on the intricate little city. Soldiers buzzed to and fro as though it were the middle of the day. What ever they were doing, it was urgent. No body was sleeping.

Sinesh picked herself up and scampered down the ridge. The double column of soldiers had passed, leaving enough room to move in towards the camp without being noticed.

Handers scrambled after her. "Sinesh wait!” He hissed as loud as he dared. The girl had absolutely no sense of danger. “We don't know if your grandpa's down there."

He had no idea if Lord Valance had the same kind of business relations with the Petra that he had with the Botann. If he did why did he leave half his men down the hill hiding in a dark camp? So Bedic was either down in the make shift city surrounded by a million boulder sized soldiers or somewhere in the woods with Valance.

He’d guess Valance was hiding somewhere in the trees just like they were. Watching to see what the Petra were doing. That would mean, all they'd need to do was walk around the perimeter of the camp to find Valance.

If he came up the same road they did, he couldn't be too...

"MOM!" Sinesh yelled. She was still a good distance in front of him. He was trying but hadn’t been able to catch up to her. He followed her glance. Sure enough, marching down a wide road between the rows of massive tents was a small group of soldiers. In the middle of those soldiers was a tall Botann woman. Moslin!

Handers’ heart pounded with sudden intensity. It felt like he was going to collapse in a panic attack. Moslin meant... He scanned the crowd trying to see in between the soldiers.

Lighting flashed again, and he saw a small boy peak in and out behind the front row of stone men. Was that him? Was that his son? As he hurried closer down the hill, another gap formed in between the soldiers. This time he was sure. It was Emret being wheeled down the road in his chair alongside Moslin. "Emret!" He yelled.

What was he doing here? Was Bedic right? Was he truly being drawn by the Token? And the Petra? Why were they here and why did they have Emret and Moslin? What was going on? What if Emret was in danger? They wouldn't hurt a child, would they? Zo or not.

He quickened his pace. "We have to get down there." Sinesh was still ahead of him, making a straight line for her mother.

A little off to their left he noticed what appeared to be an entry station to the camp. A new column of outer perimeter guards like the ones that had just passed by were filing out of that station.

If he understood one thing about the Petra, it was their affection for order and law. There were laws protecting parents and their children. He was a law abiding citizen. He'd done nothing wrong. They'd have to give him custody of his son. They couldn't keep a thirteen year old child captive for no reason.

That was it then, he'd just go straight to the entry guards and explain.

"Sinesh!" He called. She looked back, and he signaled her to veer to the left towards the entry gate. "We're not going to sneak in this time."

She eyed him pensively, then nodded her head. “OK.”

-

The narrow entry checkpoint was crowded with the wide bodies of soldiers returning in a line of soldiers from their rotation. The two station guards leaned back against the gate posts, bored, only half watching.

Handers wasn't sure the best way to approach this. He wanted to avoid startling anyone. Perhaps the best way, he thought, would be to walk straight in like he belonged there and talk to the station guards.

He took Sinesh's hand and marched out of the trees, cut across the road, and made straight for the gate. If any of the soldiers in the line took notice, they didn't say anything and he didn't turn to look.

When he and Sinesh finally reached the gate, the two guards looked up at them with slightly more interest than they'd shown the rest of the soldiers coming and going.

In fact, he suspected now that the only reason they took notice of him at all was because he stopped. He could've just as easily kept on going. They must not be too concerned with security. That or the guards didn’t think the entry gate was a concern given constant flow of soldiers coming in and out.

"Yes?" The ranking guard asked with indifference.

Handers was a bit surprised. Who did the guard think he was? A civilian traveler?

“I'm sorry to bother you so late, sir. We camped not too far away from here, and it seems my son has gone missing. I believe my son wandered into your camp by mistake.”

The guard got up, obviously bothered at having to do something. He noticed Sinesh.

“Is this your daughter?” He asked with a sudden look of suspicion.

“No. She's... Her family's traveling with us. She was the last one to see my son.”

The guard folded his arms, then stared them up and down. "What's wrong with your arm?"

Handers had forgotten about his torn shirt. The sleeve over his blackened arm had ripped up the middle. Fortunately it was dark and hard to see much more than that.

"That, oh, I had a little trouble trying to fix a broken wagon wheel," He lied.

The guard stared at him another moment before turning back to the camp. "Wait here." He turned and disappeared down a road that passed behind a large tent.

After a few minutes, a larger Petra returned with the first. His uniform indicated some sort of rank. Handers had no idea which, exactly.

“I understand you're looking for a missing child?” The officer asked.

“Yes. We think he wandered into your camp.” Handers explained again.

“I see.” The officer said.

“He's Zo.” Handers added nervously.

“Yes, I imagine he would be. About what age?” The officer asked.

“He's thirteen.” He answered.

“Anything identifiable? Backpack, color of shirt?”

Handers debated. Should he say the boy was in a wheel chair? If he did, they’d know exactly who he was talking about. But that was the plan, wasn’t it? He wished he knew why they had Emret. If they had a compelling reason would they ignore his parental rights?

Or would it be better to mislead them into thinking he was looking for some other child? How would that help? They'd probably just turn him away right here, tell him they'd keep an eye out. He had to make it was clear that it was Emret he was looking for and that he knew they had him. Maybe this plan wasn't so great after all. His nerves started to get the better of him. He felt his hands start to shake.

Sinesh looked up at him. Apparently, he had paused too long.

"He's in a wheel chair," He answered.

The Officer raised his brow. "A wheel chair? I see." He stepped around the half wall protecting the entry guards and gestured for Handers to follow him into the camp.

"Yes, I believe we maybe able to help you." He said.

Handers face lit up. He couldn't help but feel a little hopeful. He was so close to his son now. Although he’d never admitted, the thought had crept into his mind that he may not ever see his son again.

Finding him had started to seem like such an impossible task. So many things had gone wrong that now he imagined everything ahead would be difficult in the extreme. No, he hadn't imagined they'd be difficult, he'd seen that they'd be difficult, over and over. The token had shown him.

A sudden weight lifted off his heart. The idea that the token was wrong, that he could simply return home with his son without worrying about anything else that he had seen or that had happened, it almost overwhelmed him to the point of collapse. Everything would be alright after all! He smiled. Emret was here, he’d found him. All that was left was the formalities of his release, and they’d be on their way home.

He and Sinesh followed the officer to the back of an enormous tent. They waited as the officer knocked on a post hidden beneath the canvas.

A soldier came out through a flap next to the post. The Officer whispered some instructions to him that he couldn't make out. He turned his attention back to Handers and beckoned he and Sinesh to follow him into the tent.

Was this where they were keeping Emret? Seemed a little extreme for a small boy. He noticed the soldier that the officer had whispered too didn't follow them in. He glanced back and saw the large Petra hurrying over to another tent. He wondered what that was all about.

The interior of the tent was impressive. The sheer size made him feel small and insignificant. Even the ground was covered with canvas. Tall posts topped with Oil lamps circled the outer walls of the tent, casting a warm light on a table and three chairs sitting in the middle.

The officer pointed at chairs. “Please have a seat.”

Hander sat down. Were they going to bring Emret in to him here? Was this somewhere they brought him to wait? Sinesh climbed up onto the high chair next to Handers.

The officer sat down across the table from them. "I'm sorry, tell my your name again?"

"Raj Handers." He said.

"And your missing child?" Asked the officer.

"Emret." He said.

"And you last saw him how long ago?"

"We noticed him missing a few hours ago." Handers said.

"And where were you traveling from?"

"Pipfe." Handers answered.

"And your destination?"

Handers hadn't thought about that yet. This wasn't working out to well. If they'd asked any of the same questions to Emret, they'd be entirely different. He didn't even know where the road they had been on led to. He was such a terrible liar. What about the small border village they just left. What was it called? Upper Archtlier? "Upper Archlier." He answered.