Forager (9781771275606) (2 page)

There was no way that had been lunch. The governor hadn’t
allowed us a cow for our own table in months. Millie would have
told me if she was planning on making potato salad; she knew I
loved the stuff. As for her special applesauce, well, that part
could be true.

“
So, you want your lunch or what?” Josh stood there with his
finger poised to go down the back of his throat.

“
No!” I yelled in panic, not wanting to smell his puke all
afternoon. “No.” This time much calmer. “You’ve had your fun, Josh.
Now, why don’t you just leave?”

“
You trying to get rid of me?”

Of course I was. I knew better than to say so, though. “Are
you gonna stand there all day and watch me keep watch?”

“
You’ve got a smart mouth. Maybe it’s time for me to make it a
lot dumber.” He raised both fists. I saw sledgehammers. What was I
supposed to say to someone who would just as soon hit me as talk to
me?

“
Not so smart now, are ya? But I’ve got better things to do
than stand around here all day looking at your sorry butt.” Josh
turned and walked out the door, a noticeable swagger in his
step.

Once I was sure he was gone, I let out a sigh of relief. As
soon as it was out, I hated myself for it. I wanted to hit
something—hard. I imagined my fist blasting into Josh’s nose, his
warm blood dripping off my knuckles. The need for revenge filled me
until my whole body shook. Being targeted by Josh and Jason had to
stop. I wanted to pummel the pair of them into little piles of corn
dust and watch the fall winds carry the debris away.

Coming back to myself, I stared out the window again. The
buck, his front legs and neck sticking out of one row, his middle
in another, and his hindquarters in a third, still stood there,
eating corn right off the cob.
You want some butter with that?
I smiled at my
little joke, but the thought of butter reminded me of my empty
stomach. Not that I’d been exactly starving before Josh showed up,
but now, knowing that I wouldn’t eat until after the sun set, my
stomach began to rumble. Loudly.

My blood boiled from too many imaginary victories. Hunger
gnawed my guts. Hitting the buck wouldn’t be a problem, even though
my post rose high above him. He was easily in range of my compound
bow. All of the practice my teachers inflicted on me would pay off.
I could make that shot. But two jolts hurt enough—I didn’t want to
know the pain of eight.

It was stupid. We grew crops, we raised animals, we harvested,
we slaughtered, and we kept it safe, but always for someone else.
Our little community fed thousands. With all the plenty around me,
it would have been nice to have a decent meal, and right here in
front of me stood a deer. I’d be happy to share the meat, but for
the stupid mayor’s no-hunting laws.

Charlie Meyer, our combine driver, often spoke out about how
much of our crops the wild animals ate, because the mayor’s laws
prevented us from thinning their populations. He also spoke about
how useful the meat and hides could be.

The deer continued munching away. The more he ate, the harder
it would be to fill our quotas, and the quotas always came first.
It was just plain dumb. How could we fill the quotas if we starved
to death? Not that we were, but it could happen.

We lived on what grew in small gardens all across town, milk
from the cows, eggs from the chickens, and the “generosity” of the
governor, who gave us a supply of grain—the animals got more than
we did—and the occasional beef cow, or pig. Of course, after
filling the quotas, the leftovers were ours. A nice joke since all
extras were hoarded for the next year’s higher quotas.

The more I thought about everything, the hungrier and angrier
I became. Raising the bow again, I sighted on the buck. Wouldn’t I
be doing a service to my community by stopping him? How was he any
different than the Scavengers who raided our warehouses? Wasn’t he
just another bandit, stealing from us? It might have been the
hunger, or the bullying, or the laws that didn’t make sense. It
might have been all three. I let fly. The arrow raced away too fast
to see. A second later, the buck dropped. Pieces of half-chewed
corn fell from its mouth.

The
twang
of the bowstring still echoed in the empty bedroom when
Josh spoke from the doorway. “Hey, Jason, looks like Orphan Boy
just shot himself a Scavenger. Either that, or he likes getting
jolted.”

I’m in
troubllle
! I’m in
big
trouble!
The blood drained out of my face, and a chill dropped
through me as all the blood pooled in my feet, freezing my shoes to
the floor.

I glanced out the window, praying I was wrong, hoping the deer
had moved on to die somewhere else, or at least blended in with the
yellowed cornstalks and the brown earth. For a moment my hopes were
realized. For one brief glorious second I thought the deer had
actually walked away.

Reality sank in a moment later. The deer was lying right where
I shot it. Its coat blended in a little, but no one who gazed out
that window was going to miss it for long.

I turned my head toward the doorway as Josh and Jason entered
the bedroom. The twins weren’t hard to tell apart. Though still
big, Jason’s shoulders appeared narrow next to Josh’s. and where
Josh wore a crew cut, Jason preferred a full mop. Josh’s voice, a
nasty bass, was easy to tell apart from the rich and pleasant
baritone Jason had when he wasn’t talking to me.

“
So, Orphan Boy, what did ya shoot?” Josh asked.

It was the third time that day he’d called me Orphan Boy,
and it made me want to punch him in the face. I’d just shot a deer,
and in a moment I’d be caught.
These two
bullies reminding me of the rats that had infested our storehouse
there years ago,
and the puking and fever that had followed was the last
thing I needed. I didn’t like being told how “lucky” I was to have
survived when my parents and forty-six others hadn’t.

I waited too long to answer. Josh took two steps and grabbed
my upper arm. He jerked so hard, I stumbled and would have fallen
if not for his crushingly secure grip. He leaned down, put his nose
an inch from mine, and yelled right in my face. “What did ya
shoot?”

The stench of his breath staggered me. What had my lunch been?
Maybe it was a good thing he’d saved me from it. It smelled like
he’d eaten a skunk—rear end first.

If I opened my mouth I’d gag. Good thing my stomach was
empty.

My left hand shook. My right went numb from the force of
Josh’s grip. My voice was gone. In its place was a dry lump I
couldn’t swallow. Instead of answering, I pointed my wavering left
hand at the window.

Josh walked over to
it
, and Jason
made his way across the empty room toward me. He sauntered. He
strutted. Could he really hate me that much? Yes, he could. He
punched the meaty part of my left shoulder. My left hand quit
shaking, or at least I think it did—I couldn’t feel it anymore. Now
both arms were numb. Lucky me.

What were they doing here, anyway? Hadn’t Josh gotten enough
fun out of eating my lunch? Had he brought Jason along just to
torment me further?

Josh’s sharp intake of breath came from the window. My heart
sank even further. He’d seen the deer.

“
Nice shot, stupid!” Josh snatched the bow out of my hand, and
then ripped the quiver off my back. I ducked my head, but the
quiver’s strap still scraped painfully across my scalp. He flung me
toward the bedroom door. “Let’s go, eagle eye. You and me are going
to see my father. I can’t wait to see his face when he finds out
about this.” Josh turned to Jason, handed him my bow, and said,
“Stay here and keep watch.”

“
I’m not staying here. Besides, I want a look out that window.
What did he shoot?” Jason asked.

“
Deer, good-sized one, too.” Josh waved Jason to the window.
“Have a look, and then I’m taking him.”

Jason stepped to the window, gave a low whistle, and said,
“Why do you get to take him? You keep watch and I’ll take him to
Dad.”

It didn’t matter to me which one took me to see the mayor. I
was as good as dead either way. I thought of making a break for the
staircase. My arms might have been a bit numb from Josh and Jason’s
rough treatment, but my feet worked fine. If these two morons
continued to argue, I might get a chance. Of course, they both ran
faster than me and I probably wouldn’t get very far, but any chance
was better than none.

Josh killed that idea almost before it got started. “Whatever,
Jason—we can both go. It might take the pair of us to drag him
there, anyway.”

“
We shouldn’t leave this post unmanned. What if Scavengers show
up?” Jason asked.

“
Stay here if you’re that worried, but I’m taking Orphan Boy to
Dad.”

Their arguing gave me time to come up with a new plan. “Why
don’t the three of us butcher that deer and split the meat? We
don’t have to tell the mayor anything.” It was a long shot, but
desperation drove me. It made me shudder to picture myself shackled
in the jolting ropes with the Bull, Eric, a grin of eager evil on
his face, holding the stun baton charged and ready in his
hand.

“
Nice try, Orphan Boy, but even if we agreed to split the meat,
you’d be the one to do the slaughtering,” Josh said.

I grabbed for that ray of hope. “Hey, I’ll sweeten the deal.
Give me a day to slaughter the deer and you guys can have all the
meat. All you gotta do is keep quiet.”

It was the wrong thing to say. “What? You saying we’re
loudmouths, Orphan Boy?” Jason snarled.

“
No, of course not,” I lied.

“
You can forget about slaughtering that deer! We’re taking you
straight to Dad. Who knows, maybe it’s your carcass that’ll get
cooked over a fire. A burial fire.” Josh’s wicked chuckle sent a
chill up my back.

The sun shone bright as they frog-marched me off to the mayor.
The clear day’s gentle autumn breeze carried the soft chirping of a
swallow somewhere off to my left, and the smell of corn dust filled
the air, but not as heavily as earlier.

Walking became even more uncomfortable when the numbness in my
arms wore off. Hot pins and needles of pain pushed their way out of
my skin. It reminded me a bit of what it felt like to get
jolted.

I wanted to claim my shoelace needed tightening, or fake a
cramp, something, anything to slow this psychotic parade. I racked
my brain for ideas, but each forced step was one step further from
the house and one step closer to the mayor. Finally, inspiration
struck.

“
We should go back and get the arrow.”

Jason stopped. Josh kept walking and pulling. For a moment I
thought I was going to be ripped in two. That would solve all my
problems. Finally, after several seconds of Josh pulling on one arm
and Jason holding firm to the other, Josh stopped.

“
We really should get the arrow. You know Dad’s gonna want it
back,” Jason said.

“
Fine, but make it quick. I’m tired of fooling around with this
idiot,” Josh snapped.

They might have been in a hurry, but I wasn’t. Deliberately, I
walked as slowly as possible.

“
Hurry up, Orphan Boy!” Josh yelled.

“
I’ve been standing all morning—my feet hurt,” I said. It
wasn’t a lie. My feet actually did hurt. A little.

“
Who cares about your smelly feet?” Josh shoved me in the back.
I decided it might be a good idea to walk a little
faster.

We walked behind the house and past the rusty swing set into
the field. I could just make out the deer through the corn, but
once in the field, the highway was lost from sight. “Hey Josh,” I
said. “Why don’t you take a look at the road and check for
Scavengers?” He frowned, but for a change he actually heeded one of
my suggestions. It was in all our best interests to make sure the
highway was clear.

Cornstalks surrounded me. I kept my eyes on the uneven furrows
of ground between the rows. Many of the yellowed leaves from the
stalks covered the ground, disguising the rough terrain of the
fields. After everything else, keeping my feet was essential.
Falling on my face would only give the twins another reason to
bully me.

Amazingly, I reached the deer without falling. Up close, the
sight of the dead deer left me a little queasy. I knew the bow was
powerful, but I never realized it could punch an arrow completely
through the body of a full grown buck and still bury itself three
inches into the ground. I put my forefinger and thumb together and
placed them over the hole in the buck’s flank, right behind his
forelegs. It was close, but the puncture in the buck was slightly
bigger than the circle I’d made with my fingers. Stepping over the
deer, I tugged on the nock of the arrow to pull it out of the
ground. A shiver ran through me when I realized that it could make
the same hole in a human.

Josh spoke behind me, “Good, you got it. Now, let’s get out of
here. I got better things to do than to babysit your butt all day,
Orphan Boy.”