Tagan's Child (36 page)

She joined me
on the bank.

“I’m afraid
it’s a bit of a walk to the truck.”

Now that the
initial adrenaline had subsided and we seemed to have made a
successful escape without being stunned or peppered with bullets,
my head hurt and I felt weak with exhaustion. I looked back at
Bazeera’s fortress and sent up a little prayer for Galius, Ahran
and Toby. I had never asked for God’s help as much as I had in the
last week. I just hoped he was listening.

Feeling like I
had lead boots on, I let Elaya lead the way. She had torn up her
sweatshirt and bound my feet to offer some protection against the
thick undergrowth but over the next couple of hours the fabric of
the sweatshirt offered little protection against some of the
sharper sticks and debris on the jungle floor. By the time we came
across the truck sitting under a camouflage net, my legs and feet
had been ripped to shreds.

“We’ll see to
those when we get to the safe house,” Elaya said
sympathetically.

She pulled off
the camouflage net and we both got in. I laid my head back against
the seat not quite able to believe we had got out alive. Elaya
reversed out of the truck’s hiding spot and we bumped along uneven
ground until we finally came across the gravelly surface of a more
established track.

“Where are we
going?” I asked, stifling a yawn.

“There is a
vacant farm cottage belonging to a friend of Galius’s, you should
be safe there until we get back.”

“You’re not
staying with me?” There was a panicky edge to my voice.

“No, I’ll need
to go back and pick the boys up.”

“Shouldn’t we
wait for them?”

“Galius hasn’t
called me yet and it’s better that I get you to safety first. They
might have to wait until nightfall again before they can attempt to
leave.”

Where were
they? I was pretty sure that the picture of Ahran bound and beaten
was going to haunt me for the rest of my life.

Once we had
left the jungle behind, we drove for another forty minutes. By the
time we got to the cottage it was almost light. I felt more tired
than I had ever felt. We turned off the road down a farm track and
came across a detached cottage nestled in an overgrown garden about
half a mile down. Elaya jumped out and got a bag from the boot. I
carefully climbed down out of the cab and she helped me to the
cottage. The front door had been left on the latch for us. Inside
it smelt slightly musty like it hadn’t been lived in for a while
and it was basic with the minimum of furniture.

“I’ll switch
the hot water on so that you can have a bath,” she said as she
eased me down onto a couch in the kitchen.

“Thanks.”

“Let me make
you a hot drink whilst the water heats up.”

“No let me do
it,” I said, standing up.

“You stay
there,” she insisted. “I can manage.” She smiled and turned to
switch the kettle on.

“There should
be something in here to help with the pain,” she said rummaging
around in her bag. She pulled out a small black bag with a
zipper.

“Here put this
on your tongue,” she instructed, shaking a disc of paper out of a
small plastic dispenser. “It should make you more comfortable.”

I laid the disc
on my tongue. Within thirty seconds the pain in my legs, feet and
head started to ease, but not only that, I didn’t feel quite so
tired and felt mildly more cheerful. It must have been the same
thing I had been given in the doctor’s emergency clinic.

“I’ve had this
stuff before,” I explained. “It’s amazing.”

Elaya nodded
but made no comment. I suppose Ramian medicine was commonplace to
her. She made me a cup of coffee for which I was grateful although
I would have almost swum back across that swamp for a decent cup of
tea. She tested the hot water and satisfied that it was hot enough,
filled a bowl.

“Put your feet
in here and I’ll clean your wounds,” she said as she knelt down in
front of me.

I felt
embarrassed by her attentiveness. “No, don’t be silly you don’t
have to do that,” I said and reached down to take the gauze she was
soaking from her. She was probably just as tired as I was.

She swatted my
hand away. “Sophie, don’t be difficult,” she said with a hint of
humour in her voice. There was little fight left in me so I gave
in.

Elaya gently
dabbed at my wounds, I braced myself, waiting for the sting but it
never came.

“I feel I owe
you an apology,” she began.

“What for?” I
couldn’t for the life of me think why she should be apologising. If
anyone should be apologising it should have been me.

She paused. “I
had no right to say anything to you about your relationship with my
brother.”

“Did you tell
him about our conversation?” I asked a little surprised.

“He wanted to
know why you were upset yesterday at the hotel.”

And I thought I
had done a good job at covering up my feelings.

“I told him I
had asked you about your relationship with him, he was really angry
with me.”

“Don’t blame
yourself Elaya, you were only looking out for him, he’s your
brother.”

“I know but it
was none of my business. He cares about you Sophie, I have never
heard him talk about anybody the way he talks about you.”

My heart
joyfully pole-vaulted around in my chest.

“If you make
him happy then none of what I spoke of matters.”

I sighed. “But
I couldn’t live with myself if he lost everything, he has worked so
hard to get what he wants.”

“He’ll find a
way of making it work, he wants to be with you and that’s all there
is to it.”

“I can’t see
how it can work, we are literally worlds apart,” I said
forlornly.

Elaya looked me
in the eyes.

“Just follow
your heart, Sophie, and everything else will fall into place.”

“If only it
were that easy,” I said with a sigh. “But thanks anyway. That means
a lot.” I felt Elaya and I could be friends but I wasn’t going to
let Ahran ruin his life for me even if it meant mine would never be
the same again. I had made up my mind that I would walk away once
this was all over. It would be best for everyone.

“There, that’s
better.” Elaya gently patted my legs dry.

“Thank you,” I
said.

“My pleasure.”
She jumped up and took a small canister from her bag. She sprayed a
fine mist over my legs. “This will help the healing process. Why
don’t you go and have a bath and try and get some sleep?”

“You must be
just as exhausted as I am Elaya, I can wait. You go and have a
soak,” I urged.

“I need to get
the truck back in case Galius and Ahran decide to make a run for
it,” she said.

She returned to
her bag. “You’ll be safe, but I’ll leave you with a gun just in
case.” She pulled out a small handgun and handed it to me handle
first.

“Just point and
shoot,” she said as casually as if she was explaining how to use a
digital camera.

“Okay,” I said,
taking it from her. It was contemptible how quickly I had been
forced to accept the use of a firearm, but then my life had changed
beyond all recognition in the space of a few days.

“I better get
back.” She hesitated.

“Don’t worry
about me, you go on,” I said. The quicker she got going the quicker
they would all return, God willing.

She bent down
and gave me a squeeze. “Try not to worry.”

Now that was
easier said than done.

I sat there
listening to the sound of the truck’s engine as she drove back down
the track until I couldn’t hear it anymore. I could be seeing Toby
and Ahran in a matter of hours. Please, please, please let them be
safe. I was putting all my faith in Galius, a man I had only just
met.

I began to
search through the kitchen cupboards in search of something to eat
and found some unopened but stale crackers. I made myself another
coffee to help wash them down and then went upstairs to the
bathroom to run a bath. I placed the gun on the floor next to the
bath, took off Salara’s blood-stained nightdress and lowered myself
into the steaming water. The cuts on my legs had already begun to
heal.

Closing my eyes
I savoured the heat, it felt so good. I had a long soak until the
water had almost gone cold and then I got out and wrapped myself in
a towel. I washed Salara’s nightdress with some shampoo I’d found
and picked up the gun before padding into the bedroom and spreading
the nightdress out on the radiator to dry. Someone had made up the
bed with some fresh bed linen and I slid between the sheets
grateful to whoever had been so hospitable. It was heartening to
know that there were at least some people in this world who were
kind and thoughtful and good.

I don’t know
how long I had been asleep but it was dark when I woke up. It took
a second or two to remember where I was and how I’d got there.

Where were
they? I couldn’t hear any noise downstairs. Surely they should be
here by now? I switched the bedside lamp on, and sat there for a
few moments. Where the hell were they? My anxiety increased as the
seconds passed. Something must have gone wrong. My mind raced
through a number of scenarios none of which ended well. I tried to
take a few deep breaths to calm my rising panic. Okay, Sophie,
breathe! Elaya did say that Galius would probably wait until it got
dark again before he attempted to rescue Ahran and Toby. There was
no clock in the room, it may have only just got dark. I got out of
bed, took Salara’s nightdress off the radiator, and slipped it over
my head.

I picked the
gun up from the bedside table and went downstairs into the kitchen.
If the kitchen clock was correct it was eleven o’clock. “Where the
bloody hell are they?” I muttered to myself. I had slept for over
twelve hours and it had been dark for the last three, why weren’t
they here yet?

I had no way of
contacting them. All I could do was wait. My hands shook filling
the kettle as I mechanically went through the motions of making a
coffee. My imagination flashed with all sorts of terrifying images
and the room started to spin. I gripped the edge of the kitchen
surface to steady myself. I drew in some shaky breaths and blew out
my cheeks to try and combat the swimmy feeling that had come over
me. I resisted the urge to cry. Perhaps I should go to the nearest
farmhouse. Wherever that was? I could try to get hold of Halsan, it
was better than sitting here fearing the worst. I started to go
through the cupboards to see if there was an old coat or something
that would be more presentable than a nightdress. There was no coat
but a pair of old overalls hung on a hook in the cupboard under the
stairs. I stepped into them and wrinkled my nose at their musty
smell. I went back into the kitchen and started to rummage through
the drawers hoping I might just be lucky enough to find a
torch.

I heard the
latch go on the front door and stopped in my tracks. My heart
lurched hopefully and I straightened waiting to hear the babble of
voices that would undoubtedly follow.

Nothing.

My heart
started to beat faster with that now all too familiar feeling of
fear. I hadn’t heard a vehicle arrive.

I snatched the
gun off the kitchen table and aimed it at the closed door leading
to the passageway and the front door. My heart beat in my ears as
the door handle turned and my finger hovered over the trigger ready
to pull it the second the intruder was in. The door swung open
making me flinch.

“Don’t move!” I
screamed.

The young man
standing in the doorway nearly jumped out of his skin, his face
freezing into a mask of horror when he saw the gun. His hands flew
up automatically in a gesture of surrender.

I hesitated as
we stared at one another. Who was this guy? He couldn’t have been
much more than eighteen and was wearing a worn t-shirt, jeans and
work boots. He wasn’t like any of Bazeera’s people I had seen and
he looked as startled as a rabbit in the headlights.

He spoke to me
in Ramian but didn’t take his eyes from the gun in my hand. I
didn’t have a clue what he was saying and stood there debating
whether it was safe to lower the gun.

The boy was
getting more and more agitated as he spoke. He shook his head in
frustration. Warily he lowered his hands. He didn’t appear to have
a weapon and I didn’t feel overly threatened so I followed suit.
“Galius!” he cried, pointing to his watch and beckoning for me to
follow him.

“You know
Galius?” I asked.

He nodded and
tapped his watch impatiently, turning towards the front door and
beckoning for me to follow him again. He was literally hopping from
one foot to the other. Wherever he wanted us to go, he wanted us to
get there quickly.

“Okay,” I said
and followed him to the front door. He looked back a couple of
times to check I hadn’t changed my mind, his anxiety was almost
tangible. I wondered whether it was too early to feel relieved that
he seemed to have had some contact with them. Parked outside the
front of the cottage was a state of the art hover bike, it looked
like a quad bike but with no wheels. That’s why I hadn’t heard him
arrive.

He straddled
the machine, started it and held out his hand to help me on. I
climbed on board and grabbed his waist as we sped off. We flew down
a series of farm tracks and as we approached an open gateway, I was
pretty sure I could hear the distant rumble of an engine. We raced
through the gateway and into a large field with an airstrip running
down the middle of it. There was a small aeroplane at one end, its
engine idling loudly. As we got closer I noticed there was nothing
state of the art about the plane. Even to my untrained eye it
looked old. The boy stopped the bike by the wing of the plane and
indicated for me to get off.