Blaze (The High-Born Epic) (40 page)

             
“What is that?” Harold asked as he pointed at it.

             
“Mountains,” Gabby replied.  “You’ve never seen any?”

             
“Just in the High-Born history books,” Harold answered.

             
“Marksville isn’t far from them,” Gabby said.

             
“Are those clouds?” Harold asked as he pointed at the white things above and around them.

             
“Yeah,” Gabby smiled.  “Pretty, isn’t it?”

             
Harold nodded in agreement as he smiled.

             
Soon, they could see Marksville in the distance and as they got ever closer to it, Harold looked all around at the surroundings.  Many ancient roads snaked through the treetops as well as the ruins of family dwellings.  Large fields of crops speckled the landscape near and far and the scenery was not that much different from his first trip outside of Foxx Hole. 

             
It was not long until they reached Marksville and Gabby flew around the community twice, checking for anything suspicious, but everything seemed clear.  And after a few more moments, Gabby landed on the outskirts of town. 

             
He let her take the lead and she quickly organized the children into three columns and they began walking towards the nearest road.  Harold looked across the children as they neared town, and he could see the townspeople gathering in the distance.  It was nearly an identical scene from Foxx Hole.  A mother and father began sprinting from the edge of town, and a little boy ran around Gabby into the waiting embrace of a weeping father.

             
As they walked down the road, people gathered on their porches, and the children began running off in different directions, finding their emotional parents.  And soon they arrived at the town circle where Gabby gave another rousing speech, and they stood as symbols of horrible defiance before the inspired townspeople.

             
Before they left town, several of the women gave them food for themselves as well as the children still hiding in the wilderness.  Then it wasn’t long before they were on their way back to the lake.

             
“Do you think you’ll be able to make it there?” Harold asked.

             
“Yeah,” Gabby replied as she chomped on a piece of cornbread..  “But I’m going to go straight to sleep when we get there.  You think you can handle the kids by yourself?”

             
“I would almost rather deal with a platoon of High-Born,” Harold grinned.

             
“Well, it’s certainly easier to know exactly what to do with them,” she answered.

             
As they continued back to camp, Harold looked at the sky.  His enhanced vision allowed him to make out the tell-tale signs of faraway patrols, but none of them seemed to be any threat whatsoever.  So, he followed the hazy horizon until he found the sun.  Through the dust and far away mist it almost looked dingy.  Several clouds drifted across it, giving it the look of a torn curtain.  He felt comfort when he looked at its fires, and in some small way, he felt that he was a part of it.  Yet, he didn’t know exactly why he felt that way. 

             
As the trip continued, he didn’t bother Gabby with conversation because he could see that the strain on her had become immense.  Harold just leaned back in the over-sized pilot seat and relaxed while slowly eating a piece of cornbread and smoked ham.

             
As if it was almost meant to be that way, Harold finished his food just as they arrived at the lake.  Gabby directed the gunship to the clearing and lowered it into the forest.  As soon as it touched down, she let out a gasp of air, and Harold could see the look of relief on her face.  She practically slumped down in her chair, and just breathed deeply as if she had been running.

             
“Do you want me to get you some water?” Harold asked.

             
As she nodded, her strikingly blonde hair rustled.

             
Harold walked down the ramp of the gunship and toward the lake.  From underneath mats of grass and leaves all throughout the forest, he could see little heads popping up everywhere.  He chuckled to himself as the children peered at him from their cover like field mice checking for hawks.  He motioned for them to stay where they were, and walked to the water’s edge, and filled a canteen.

             
When he walked back into the gunship, Gabby was kneeling by two blankets on the floor of the gunship and fluffing a pillow.  He handed her the canteen, which she immediately turned up.  She took two large gulps, and lowered the canteen.  She smiled and it was plain to see that her strength was already returning.

             
“Feel better?” Harold asked.

             
“Yeah,” she answered.  “But I’m going to get some sleep now.  Keep a sharp eye out.”

             
“I will,” he replied.  “Sleep tight.”

             
“Thanks,” she said, as she lay down on the blankets and pulled them over her.  Then she pointed at a compartment next to the seat he had been sitting in.  “There’s another pillow and some blankets in the there.”

             
He watched her turn on her side and closed her eyes, and then he went to the compartment and swiftly made himself a pallet.  After that, he grabbed the bags of food, and walked back outside.  He whistled and he saw the heads of the children appear all over.  He motioned for them to stay where they were, and then he walked to each of them and gave them each as equal a share of food as he could.

             
It took him close to an hour, but he eventually got them all fed, and even had some left over.  He walked back to the gunship and put down the bag, then took some more food.  Then he found a quiet tree and air-burned to the top of it.  As he sat, he called the fire to his eyes, and then was still.  While he looked across the night sky full of stars he gnawed on a piece of smoked ham, and nibbled on a piece of cornbread.

Chapter 34

              Harold awoke with a stir.  He quickly scanned the night sky around him for the source of the noise that had awakened him...

             
...And to his surprise, he couldn’t find anything.  Then he called his fire into his eyes, and began looking across the starry heavens.  It didn’t take long for him to find the origin of the barely noticeable noise.  In fact, he didn’t know how he had even heard it himself, or if he had just simply felt something was amiss.

             
It was very far away, and he stood up on the branch and focused intensely on it.  There was a faint bluish tint to its exhaust, but he doubted anyone but someone like him or Gabby could have even noticed the dim light it emitted.  Its shape didn’t look right for any of the High-Born equipment that Harold had encountered so far, and he couldn’t even discern its true form.  He watched it move slowly across the sky for several moments and realized that it was moving away from him.

   
              So, he carefully scanned the rest of the sky...

             
...And he thought he saw another one far in the distance, but he only saw it for just a moment before it disappeared altogether.  After that, he continued looking back and forth across the sky for quite some time... but never saw another one.

             
It was still a couple of hours before the sun was going to rise, so he settled back down despite now being wide awake.  Whatever he had just seen reminded him of the encounter with whatever he had seen in the woods around Foxx Hole a few days before the children were taken.  However, he couldn’t be sure.

             
Harold’s thoughts raced.  Was it some sort of High-Born scout unit he had never seen?  Was it an A.I. Drone?  Was it something else entirely?  Was it a figment of his imagination?

             
Then Harold sat there, pondering the various questions until just before dawn.  He turned when he heard some clanking behind him, and just after that an ever so slight hum as the engines of the gunship activated.  Gabby was awake and getting ready for the return trip to Marksville.  He quickly air-burned to just outside the door, and then walked inside.

             
There, he found Gabby tinkering with the green grid on the control panel at the front of the aircraft.

             
“Good morning, hottie,” she said without even turning her head.

             
“Good morning, Gabby,” he answered.  “You get enough sleep?”

             
“I think so,” she said.  “I feel great.  Think you can get the young’uns ready?”

             
“I’ll get right on it,” Harold replied.

             
Harold walked back outside and whistled several times, and it didn’t take long for the children to begin getting into lines.  And before the sun had risen, the first group of the day was on their way to Marksville.

             
Over the course of the next several hours, Harold and Gabby made five trips from the lake to Marksville.  Though there was some evidence of increased High-Born patrols, they didn’t even have a close call on any of the trips, mostly due to Gabby’s carefully planned flight paths.  And though the last of the groups was severely overloaded and extremely cramped, they landed in Marksville for the final time just after noon.

             
The adoration that Harold was receiving was all so sudden that he scarcely knew how to handle all of the attention.  People clapped him on the back, shook his hand, and some just stopped and applauded him.  Amidst the commotion, Harold saw a skinny, black woman motion to Gabby, and she swiftly grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd toward the woman.

             
As they broke through the ring of people, Gabby smiled and gave the woman a hug.

             
“Oh, Gabby!” the woman said.  “I just knew you were going to do it!”

             
“I had help, momma,” Gabby replied.

             
“So I’ve heard,” she said as she put her hands on her hips and looked at Harold.

             
The lady grabbed Harold’s arms and said, “And, my oh my... what a handsome thing he is too!”

             
Harold began to blush and felt it hard to look at Gabby.

             
“Ohhhh...,” the woman said as she pinched Harold’s cheek.  “And he’s modest too!  Why, child, this boy here ain’t the kind that you just throw back!”

             
“Momma,” Gabby said and gave her a stern look.

             
“Oh for heaven’s sake, child,” she said.  “I’m just a havin’ a bit of fun... Y’all come on now, I’ve got a good lunch cooked for y’all back at the house.”

             
Gabby looked at Harold and motioned her head.  As they made their way through the town, Harold would’ve thought he was in Foxx Hole had he not known that he wasn’t.  Soon, they arrived at a house that was slightly larger than the others, and the three of them all walked inside.

             
The kitchen area was alive with activity, and more than a dozen children of various ages were all running around doing different tasks.  A little girl with black hair and blue eyes was setting a large table, and a boy in a pair of dirty overalls was helping her.  Two of the older girls were at a wooden stove cooking, and Harold recognized them as Deanna and Christie.  They both waved and smiled at him before returning to their cooking duties.  There were several other children no more than twelve years old sweeping or doing some other type of cleaning chore.  Gabby walked to the stove and began helping Deanna and Christie.

             
“No, ma’am,” Momma said.  “I’m not havin’ you doin’ no work or no cookin’ today, child.  You’ve done enough.  Now y’all two just go on and sit down,”

             
Momma shooed Harold and Gabby away from the kitchen as if they were two stray cats.

             
“Lily!” Momma shouted.  “Get these two somethin’ to drink.”

             
Harold and Gabby seated themselves next to one another, and in just a few moments, and girl who reminded Harold of Ollie came bouncing in the room with two wooden mugs of water.