Dragon! Book Two: "Revenge"

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Gareth sensed both the glee and evil humor in Belcher’s response. The snide evilness in knowing he was better and more powerful than everyone else. And he may be, Gareth admitted to himself. But getting into a mental argument only allowed Belcher to know him better and perhaps find a chink in his armor. That was all Belcher needed to win, and Gareth determined to keep his distance.

There were a hundred things Gareth wanted to tell Belcher; no, a hundred things he wanted to shout at Belcher until Belcher understood what he was doing violated everything a sane person believed. Gareth knew it would do no good, and perhaps cause harm. Besides, the snide attitude was like the bully on the playground taunting, “You can’t catch me.”

So Gareth cut off the minimal communication and closed down the umbrella restricting Tad and Ramos from answering Belcher if he directed any thoughts to them. They could hear his broadcasts as all sensitives could, but Belcher would receive no responses, and he couldn’t attack them.

It had been a long and tiring day climbing the slopes of the mountains. Gareth suspected his legs would protest moving in the morning. He said good-night to all and closed his eyes.

Gareth sank down into a deep, self-critical sleep that gave him little rest. Although he’d never seen Belcher, his mind created a plump boy with pouting lips and pig eyes. The resulting image was an indication of how much he disliked Belcher. For most of the night, he tossed and turned, and more than once choked back a shout or scream.

When he awoke in the dawning light, he lay there, still and unrested. Deep in the valleys of his mind, he heard laughter without humor. It was Belcher at his worst.

Throwing his blanket aside, Gareth leaped to his feet expecting to find enemies charging. Instead, he found Ann and Tad sleeping fitfully. On the other side of the dead fire lay Ramos, eyes closed, skin blue. Dead.

The boy wore no coat. His blankets, both of them, had been tossed aside, and Ramos lay on the bare, icy ground. Belcher had somehow penetrated Gareth’s defenses, probably because he knew the boy so well. He must have convinced Ramos in his sleep that he was too warm, perhaps just the smallest crack in the mental shroud Gareth placed over them, but that is all he needed.

Belcher had told Ramos to remove his coat and place the blankets to one side. Then he had probably told Ramos over and over that he was warm. Belcher was familiar with the boy’s mind and could easily slip inside and convince him of being too warm if he found only the smallest crack in the mental locks Gareth put in place.

Gareth stumbled to the boy’s side and knelt. He touched the skin and found it cold and frozen hard. The boy had been dead for hours. Gareth spun to make sure Tad and Ann were alive. In the process, he found his prediction about the waterfall freezing had been right. In other circumstances, he would have spent the time admiring it.

Scooping Ramos into his arms, Gareth stumbled into the nearest trees. Placing the boy gently behind some rocks to conceal his frozen body, he cried. I let you down, and I’m sorry.

The cold also seeped into Gareth, as did a cold like none he’d ever experienced. He was filled with a cold fury that had him gritting his teeth so hard they might shatter. He made your life miserable and then he took it from you. I’ll repay him.

Gareth spun and strode back into the camp. He couldn’t allow Tad to see Ramos, and he didn’t know what he was going to say when Tad woke. Leaving Ramos on the mountain couldn’t be helped, and he had nothing to use for digging into the frozen ground.

There was a pile of firewood and Gareth stirred the coals and found enough to ignite the twigs he spilled from his fingertips. As he was placing larger sticks on the fire, Ann woke. She flashed a smile of greeting, read his face and knew something was wrong. She spun to look at the boys. Seeing the empty bedding belonging to Ramos she leaped to his side.

“During the night.”

“He ran off?”

“Belcher convinced him it was too hot. He removed his coat and blankets. Froze.”

Ann settled on the cold ground, her jaw set and her eyes smoldering. After a short while, she spoke in a soft voice. “We will not tell Tad. We’ll just say he ran off. Where is he?”

“I placed him behind those trees over there, behind some rocks.”

“You must promise me one thing.”

Gareth expected her to demand he return the boy to the lowlands or another impossible task. He waited for her to tell him.

“When we find Belcher you will kill him. But if he is alive and we are together I want satisfaction. I will do the deed. Do not get in my way.”

“Because you think I may be too weak? If that is the case, you are wrong.”

“No, that is not the reason. It is the only thing that will allow my mind to rest, to give me the satisfaction to go on. Promise me.”

“I tried to kill Belcher last night. I thought I had him cornered in my father’s house. Blackie burned it to the ground while we watched to make sure he didn’t escape.”

She turned to face him wearing an expression that scared him. She snapped, “Well, you didn’t and look what he did. Promise me.”

Gareth could do nothing else. “I promise.”

“We need to leave this place. Not because of Ramos because we want to be across the highest part of the mountains by tonight.”

Gareth woke Tad, wondering what he was going to tell him about Ramos. Tad climbed from his bed and ate a handful of nuts while rolling his blankets and getting ready to walk. When he sensed Ann and Gareth watching him, he turned away.

Gareth said, “There’s something we have to talk about.”

“Is it about Ramos dying?”

Ann turned away from Tad so he couldn’t see her face, but Gareth could. The tears were falling, but she didn’t comment or wipe them. Her eyes turned to Gareth and waited.

Gareth said, “How did you know?”

“I can’t hear him anymore.”

“You heard him yesterday?”

“Yes, and before that.”

Gareth wasn’t sure of what Tad meant. Gareth could listen to people, feel their emotions and reactions, but not hear them unless they were communicating. What Tad seemed to be describing might be subtly different—and important.

But they had a mountain pass to cross, in one day if possible. Gareth nodded to Ann, and she took the lead. As they left the clearing Gareth’s eyes were drawn to the extra pair of fur leggings, the extra blankets, and the place where Ramos had died in his sleep thinking he was warm and snug so he kicked off the blankets and wriggled out of his coat.

A fierce desire welled inside him. A pledge to himself to make things right. He had not especially liked Ramos, but he hadn’t had time to know him well, and their short time together had been while the boy was drugged. However, he was a young boy, and if Gareth had left him where he found him, the boy would still be alive.

Possibly alive, Gareth amended his train of thought. The mistreatment of Ramos and the callous treatment by Belcher indicated Ramos probably had a finite lifespan that was nearing its end. The boy would not have lasted another winter probably, but who can be sure?

As he lost himself in recriminations and deep thoughts, the path grew even steeper, climbing up the side of a white mountain. Before their muscles were stretched out for the morning, they found snow on the shaded sides of the road and some on the road itself. They came to a place where the snow covered the entire road and paused to wrap their legs in the fur leggings, tying the leather thongs securely to keep them in place. They would keep their pants dry to the knee, the feet and ankles warm in the snow and their travel slightly easier.

The steep incline and thin air prevented casual talking. Each of them huffed and puffed, fighting for each breath and each new step. They moved slowly, not by choice but by necessity. The snow covering the ground grew deeper, obscuring the trail in many places. A layer of ice lay below the fresh snow, making each step a test of their balance.

The trail wound around the base of a smaller white mountain and then continued to climb. They paused three times to eat small amounts. None wanted a full meal, but all needed the energy. They wore the fur hats with flaps pulled down over their ears and when the wind started blowing they covered their heads and faces with blankets wrapped around, keeping their fingers inside where it was warmer, but still it was cold and dangerous to halt.

Ann motioned for his attention. Gareth moved closer. “Look at the sun.”

He already had. The position of the sun indicated it was late in the day, and they were still climbing. Spending a night at the top of the pass would be more than dangerous. He already felt light-headed and had been nauseous for all afternoon. A headache was pounding, and Tad complained his head hurt, and he didn’t feel good.

Gareth said, “Let me contact Blackie.”

She looked at him as if she didn’t understand his intentions, or if she thought it an odd time to contact his dragon. Gareth ignored her and stumbled ahead as he touched the mind of the dragon. Blackie was behind them, huddled on a cliff where he was protected from the wind.

“Will flying ahead of us so I can see where we’re going be a problem for you? Is it too cold or too hard to fly in these mountains?”

Blackie responded by leaping from the ledge and flapping his wings as he flew directly at them. As he passed over a short while later, Gareth watched himself trudging in the snow below through the eyes of Blackie. It was not the first time he’d watched himself from above, and it was no less awkward. On impulse, he gave himself a friendly little wave.

Blackie followed the trail ahead around the sheer cliff on their right and rounded a bend in the trail. It started to descend. The trail wound around more hills and obstacles ahead, but also dropped lower and lower. Instead of breaking the news to Ann right away and finding out later that the trail then went up another mountain, he allowed Blackie to fly further.

The path went down the other slope until the snow was scarce. At that time, Gareth ordered the dragon to find a deer for his dinner and a place to sleep for the night while waiting for them to arrive.

“Ann, good news. Just up ahead is the top of the pass. We’ll reach it long before dark. Moving down the other side should be faster, and easier on us.”

She nodded, too tired and winded to talk. Tad had overheard and tried to smile. His footsteps were becoming ragged, and he stumbled more than the adults. Gareth hoped the boy could make the summit without help.

They all reached the summit with daylight left. Tad tripped again, his seven-year-old body exhausted. Gareth tossed Tad over his shoulder like he was carrying a small sack of grain. The boy weighed little and walking down the other side of the mountain used different muscles, ones not already tired and wore out. Before dark, he heard Tad softly snoring even while being carried. Gareth pulled the blanket tighter around him and continued. He walked without observing what lay around. One weary footstep in front of the other.

He counted his steps for a while to keep his mind awake. When he lost track, he started over. The weight of Tad on his shoulder didn’t exist. The twilight at the end of the day didn’t slow him. One more step. Then another.

“I think we should stop here,” Ann’s voice sounded as weary as he felt.

Gareth looked around at the darkness in near awe. Snow still existed under a few trees where the sun couldn’t reach, but otherwise, the ground was clear. He drew in a breath and felt it fill his lungs, unlike the thin, cold air on the summit. He set Tad down and made a complete turn.

There was no water, shelter, or clear space to make a camp, which was just as well because he wasn’t going to make a camp. A blanket unrolled for Tad to sleep on and another thrown over him was enough for the boy. Gareth made his own bed and pulled the blanket over his head, both for warmth and so he didn’t have to talk.

He heard his old friend the Brother trying to speak to him in his mind, but didn’t answer. There was nothing that couldn’t wait until morning.