Reap (The Harvest Saga Book 1) (16 page)

I squared my shoulders and stepped forward with purpose. If this was how it ended, I would be dignified. I could be strong like Lulu. I stepped beneath the rope which was now swaying in the soft breeze. Norris grabbed my arms and tied the coarse, thin rope around my wrists. It cut my skin as it dug in tighter and tighter still. He grabbed my chin and pinched it as he slid the noose over my head and tightened it around my neck. The coarse fibers cut into my neck, while the rope that bound my hands behind me bit further into my wrists.

He moved toward the tree and motioned for Zander. “Pull this. Not too tight, but not too loose. Just make sure it doesn’t fall off the branch.”

Zander nodded, holding the end of my hanging rope.
Cocky bastard.
I could knock the smile right off of his...

Crack!
NO!
I twisted around. Norris stood behind me. The whip cracked loudly again as Councilman and Mrs. Preston looked on from the porch. “Wouldn’t want to get your hands dirty, Councilman!” I screamed.

“We found some damning evidence in your cabin while we were searching for you the other night, Miss Kelley. You are being charged with Treason. Treason against our village and against the Greaters.

Crack! Searing pain shot across my back. “You’re a liar! And a murderer. We all know what you’re trying to cover up. Good luck with that. Don’t you think people will wonder what happened? Don’t you think it’s obvious that you’re getting rid of me for standing up to you? People aren’t stupid, Councilman. They’ll figure this out quick!”

Slash! “Why didn’t you sell tickets? Set me up at the Harvest Festival?”

Another slash bit my left shoulder and tore its way down toward my right hip. “Want a turn, Mrs. Preston?” Another slice. I could feel blood seeping into the delicate fabric wrapped around me. The warmth of my lifeblood cooled when it met the evening air, comforting my skin until another crack of the whip lit it on fire again.

“You’re cowards! You killed her! I know you did! You...AAAHHH!” My body slumped forward. My shoulder was on fire. I looked back toward Norris and he caught the back of my neck. I couldn’t stand up. I tried to shuffle my feet, but he quickened his assault, slashing me from neck to buttocks. The delicate fabric of the gown, stained crimson, fluttered helplessly in the wind, like a wounded bird, trying to fly away. To escape.

Soon, my knees buckled. I felt the noose clench tight on my throat just before darkness swarmed into my eyes, clouding my vision.

“Abby Blue!” Lulu runs toward
me and throws her arms around me and tackles me to the ground. Leaves crunch beneath us. “Lulu?”

She nods excitedly. “Is it really you?”

“Of course, silly. Who else would it be?”

“But...”

“Shh. I had to come see you. When I heard you were coming, I wanted to make sure I was here.”

“I miss you so much!” She hugs me tight.

“I miss you, too, Abigail.”

I hold her for a long moment, savoring how she feels in my arms. She smells like she’s been baking. Sugar and flour, and just sweet.

“Oh, sweetie. I wish you could stay with me.”

“I want to stay with you, Lulu.”

She pinches her lips into a smile. “You can’t. It’s not your time. You have to go back and finish this.”

“Finish what?”

“You’re going to have quite an adventure, Abby. Don’t be stubborn or prideful. Follow your heart.”

“My heart? What are you talking about?” She laughs.

She pulls me to my feet and hugs me again and kisses my cheek softly. “Follow your heart. Don’t forget.”

Suddenly, Lulu begins to fade away, becoming less and less against the brilliance of the fall backdrop around us. “Lulu?”

“Lulu!?” I scream frantically as she fades completely away.

∞

“Oh, no. Oh, God. Abby?
Abby Blue, don’t you leave me!” Kyan. What was he saying? Everything was so fuzzy.

“Cut her down.” Crew?

Everything was black and cold. I wanted to go back to Lulu. It was so warm and nice with her. Something tasted funny. Bad. I remembered this taste. It was coppery and salty. Blood. My blood.

I heard a groan.
What is going on?

“Bind them and lead them into town, now!” Councilman Ward? Bastard. Sided with the devil and didn’t even know it. Or, maybe he did. I didn’t know. Whatever.

I inhaled sharply. Pain washed over my body. I was dying. Or dead. I hurt. Pressure released from around my throat and neck. Someone was trying to lift me up and someone else was sawing at my wrists. No.
Are they cutting my hands off?

“No!” I tried to scream, but it came out raspy and strange.

“Don’t cut...hands...off... NO!!!”

“Shh. Abby, it’s Ky. We aren’t cutting your hands off. Your wrists are bound by a rope above your head. Crew is just trying to saw the rope in two. The bastards have some sort of knot that we can’t loosen from the ground.”

I groaned again. It hurt so damn bad. My wrists screamed. My back was on fire. My legs were jelly, they just wouldn’t work. “Help me.”

“Shh. Evelyn’s coming.” My wrists dropped and fell heavily down and relief washed for me for a moment. I heard footsteps rushing toward me. “Oh my...”

Evelyn. “Get her inside on a mattress now!”

“Evelyn?” I croaked.

“I’m here Abby. Be gentle, but hurry Kyan. She’s lost a lot of blood.”

“Just let me go back. Lulu…”

∞

“Ohh.” That was my voice
. My entire body hurt.

“Abby!” I felt a weight on the mattress beside me.

“Ky?”

“It’s me. I’m here.”

“Ky?” I whimpered. I was so afraid.

“Shh. I’m here. Crew’s here, too. Laney just left to help her mom with something but she’ll be back soon.”

“Where am I?”

He cleared his throat. “You’re at Norris’s cabin.”

“No!”

“Shh. He isn’t here. It’s just us. Crew’s parents and Evelyn are in the kitchen.

“I need water.” I felt like my tongue was made out of sandpaper. I tried to find moisture in my mouth, but come up dry.

I heard footsteps leave the room and two sets return.

“Abby?” Evelyn said.

“Water.” I croaked.

“Okay. We can give you a drink.” She positioned a small porcelain tea cup by my mouth and I managed a few drinks, though more fell onto the blanket below me than actually found purchase on my tongue.

“What happened?”

She felt my forehead. “No fever. Abby, do you remember Norris bringing you here?”

What?
Flashes filled my head. The black horse, the black night, the knife cutting into my stomach, being chained to the wall, Mrs. Preston braiding my hair and helping me get into the dress, Zander holding a rope, the noose I had been sure was meant for my neck, the rope biting into my wrists just before the whip did, the awful cracking noise, followed by that of my flesh being torn from my body, the hot pain, Lulu.

“Lulu. I saw her.”

“Sweetie, do you remember what happened to you? Lulu is dead. You didn’t see her. Mr. Preston had you beaten to within an inch of your life.”

I nodded. “I remember it all. But, I saw her. I talked to her. Hugged her.”

Evelyn crouched down so that I could see her face. Concern wrinkled the skin around eyes that found mine. “I did. I wanted to stay with her.”

“Well, I’m glad you came back to us, Abigail.”

I drifted off to sleep again, my last thought of hoping to find Lulu again.

∞

Whispered words floated into my
ears and at first, I thought I was dreaming. Then I heard Crew. Then his father.

“You need to make a decision. The harvest will happen.”

Harvest? We finished. Didn’t we?

“I know, Father.”

“If she is your choice, you need to tell her. She won’t like having been lied to. I doubt she will accept you when she finds out.”

“I know.” Crew said, sounding exasperated.

“Guthrie is here with the healing balm.”

“Thank you. I don’t know how to thank you, father.”

Silence.

“Make your decision final. That is how you can thank me. You must decide before she goes into the program, or you won’t get the opportunity. If you do not select her, then she will go in anyway. Once she’s in, it’s final, though. No pulling her out of it. You understand?”

To whom is he lying? What decision does he need to make? What program?

“Very well. I will send Guthrie in now. She should be healed by week’s end and we can proceed.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The door to my room opened and closed. I was so sore from having lain on my stomach so long. I wished I could stand and stretch, but Evelyn had advised against it. I turned my head and see Evelyn and a very rotund man, entered the room. His hair was stark white and he wore thin, eyeglasses made of silver wire, an intricate design situated at each corner. The man’s cheeks were red and he used a small white cloth to wipe sweat from his brow, upper lip, and neck. His shirt was white and crisp, his pants creased perfectly down the center of each leg. Evelyn moved a chair to the side of my bed and the man seated himself in it and opened a small leather case, removing a metallic jar from inside.

Evelyn sat beside me on the bed and even the small change in position made my back scream in protest. She leaned down to my ear. “Sorry,” she whispered.

“Abigail, this is Mr. Guthrie. He’s here to help your wounds. He has come all the way from Olympus and just arrived by train this morning.”

Olympus?
Why would Olympus send someone to help me? I’m a Lesser.
We were completely expendable to the Greaters. Weren’t we?

Evelyn must have sensed my thoughts, because she continued. “Councilman Cole sent word to the Greater city about the events that unfolded regarding your injury and of the corruption of the former Councilman Preston. The city leaders sent Mr. Guthrie to remedy your injuries in an attempt to show its support of our village and encourage its healing as well.”

She looked nervous. I was, too. I’d never seen a Greater before. The lenses in his glasses were dark, shrouding his eyes. I couldn’t determine their color, and I loved to see people’s eyes. Lulu always said that the eyes were the bearers of truth–the windows to the very soul of a person.

“Hold still, Abigail Kelley. This will be painful, but your back will heal very quickly.”

“Okay.”

He and Evelyn quickly unraveled the maze of bandages that crisscrossed my torso and soon, my back was bare.

“Gracious!” Mr. Guthrie exclaimed. “In all of my days I have never seen anything like this.”

Well that makes me feel so much better.
Evelyn squeezed my hand in confidence.  At least that was what I thought, until the first swipe of the cool gel across the wounds on my back. Fire spread over my flesh and I literally panted in pain. I couldn’t get enough breath in my lungs to scream. Evelyn positioned the handle of a wooden spoon at my lips. “Bite down.”

I did. I tried to chomp the damn thing in half. He methodically swiped the strange gel onto my back, then went back over it again. Halfway through, I passed into unconsciousness. Thankfully.

∞

I woke at noon the
following day. Kyan sat beside me in a chair he had pulled next to the bed. His head was pillowed on his arms and he snored lightly. My back didn’t hurt. I stretched slightly waiting for pain that never came. Then stretched, eagerly, languidly, and groaned in relief. Ky stirred and sat up, copying my motions.

“You’re moving!” He leapt from his chair, overturning it behind him.

“I know. My back feels so much better!”

“Evelyn!” he yelled.

The door burst open. “What’s the matter?” Evelyn looked disheveled. Has anyone slept around here lately?

Kyan smiled brightly and announced to her that I could actually move. “My back feels much better.”

Mr. Guthrie entered the room and smiled lightly. “Feeling better, my dear?”

“Much.”

“We need to check your back to ensure healing and ward off infection.” I nodded and lay flat again. Bandages were peeled off slowly and when the last layer, a large square, was lifted, gasps sound out from Kyan and Evelyn. “What? Is it bad?”

Their eyes were wide. Evelyn covered her mouth with her hand. Kyan’s mouth gaped open.

I looked to the other side where Mr. Guthrie smiled knowingly. “You are healed, my dear.”

“Healed?”

“Healed,” he affirmed.

“Evelyn, can you assist her with getting dressed. Her body will be stiff and sore from having lain in the same position for so long, but she’s good as new.”

Evelyn was silent. Mr. Guthrie and I both looked at her and she finally nodded. “Of course. I’ll help her. Kyan. Kyan,” she nudged his shoulder. “Go. I’ll help her get ready.”

He shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

That made two of us. The men exited the room and closed the door behind them. Evelyn’s feet hadn’t moved. Nor had her hand. It was still clamped over her lips.

“Evelyn?”

Her eyes found mine. She moved over to the bed and grabbed hold of my shoulders and helped me up. I was so stiff. “Abigail. Your back is healed.”

“He said it was. It feels better.”

“No, baby girl. It’s healed as in...flawless. It looks as if nothing happened. There are no scars on your back at all. Not from the prior whipping and not from this one.”

“What?”

She nodded. “I don’t understand. I know the Greaters have advanced medicine, but I’ve never seen anything like this.” She moved toward the dresser and pulls out drawer after drawer, before moving on to the small table beside the bed. “Here!”

She pulled out a small hand mirror and then helped me up. The chest of drawers had a small mirror sitting atop it and she pointed it on my back. I held up the mirror and gasped. There was nothing on my skin. It was perfect. In fact, it wasn’t even tan anymore. It was pale as the day I was born. My eyes found Evelyn’s, tears springing into my eyes.

“How can this be?”

“I honestly don’t know,” she admitted, softly.