“Of course not!” he declared. “I’m just not going to take off running without a plan. Let me think about it. We also shouldn’t leave before supper.”
“Can you get out of the house tonight?” Her mind was already scheming.
“I guess so.”
“I’m sure I’ll have to leave after supper with Patha and Reena. Leave half an hour after we do and meet me at the edge of the clansite, on the west side. I bet we could be gone for at least an hour before anyone missed us. Maybe longer.” She smiled at him to see what he thought.
Torgo couldn’t think of anything better. He nodded and headed toward the house. There was no way he would back out or give her any indication, but he was scared to death to take off on his own. He’d never been outside Gothman territory, and the stories he’d heard did not make him want to leave.
Syra left with Patha and Reena and headed back to the Runner’s camp. She didn’t speak to either of them, but then she never did very much. They were so old and never understood! Instead of sulking however, her mind was making a list of things she would need. She walked back to her trailer with her bag that already had her clothes in it. Quite convenient, she thought.
“Ah, there you are, my girl,” Balbo said, as Syra entered their trailer. “Hard to believe you could be missed after being gone only a day.”
“No one to show you how you are always wrong?” Syra rolled her eyes at her papa, but couldn’t help smiling.
“I felt lost without anyone to argue with.” Her papa returned her smile and reached to pull at her headscarf.
She ducked past him and headed for her room. Syra grabbed the portable landlink her dad had given her a few cycles before. Stuffing it into her bag, she thought about how she would get food.
“Syra, I’ll be back shortly.”
“Okay, Papa.” This was perfect.
In the kitchen, she took things she thought would not be missed immediately if her papa were to look. She did most of the cooking, so she hoped he didn’t know what was there. She filled a bag with food, grabbed her bag of clothes, and left the trailer.
Torgo was on the west side of the clan when she got there, looking nervous as he sat on his bike. He had side bags into which she stuffed her belongings. Then she climbed on behind him. Her heart jumped as she edged her legs along his and then slowly inched her hands around his waist.
“I thought you’d never get here.” He slowly drove them away from the clan.
Chapter Thirteen
“This isn’t on the map.” Tara clicked from screen to screen on her landlink as she spoke aloud to herself. She’d driven all night and halfway through the next day. The babies were grouchy and so was she.
The Runners weren’t familiar with the southern part of Trueland. They knew of scattered towns, but that was it. All morning long she’d been traveling through uncharted land, having already crossed the prairie of the Freelands. Now, a wide river blocked her path.
The river flowed from the west and curved in front of her, heading south as far as she could see. Shrugging, she determined that her only choice was to ride alongside it. There wasn’t any way to cross. She added the river to the landlink map, taking it upon herself to chart the area.
After traveling for more than an hour, Tara spotted a barge moored at a small port. Several buildings stood next to the river, and she saw a handful of people. She pulled up to one of the buildings and parked.
Tara put Andru into the back carrier then shrugged into the shoulder straps. She lifted Ana into her arms, and the three walked to the dock. A large man ambled off the dock and tossed several bags onto the ground. He didn’t look at her until she cleared her throat.
“Where does this ferry go?”
“South all the way to the border, if you have money.” He took a good look at Tara and her babies. “Been travelin’ a while, have you?”
“Long enough. How much does it cost?”
“Six Dorsels a person, no matter their age.” He eyed the babies.
“I have gold.”
“Change it over at the building, that way.” The large man rubbed his hand over his unshaven face and studied Tara. He couldn’t quite figure out her accent but knew he’d heard it before. She’d been traveling awhile…and so pretty…odd she didn’t have a man with her. Those two babies would turn most men away, but with her looks…he scratched his whiskers some more.
“I need Dorsels,” Tara said, dropping several pieces of gold on the counter in front of a small wiry man.
He handed her a stack of paper and she studied it, not familiar with the currency. The sheets were thin, dyed red, and there was a numeral two in each corner of the rectangular shape. She counted the papers by two and came up with twenty.
“Are you sure this is right?” She looked as if she expected him to shortchange her.
The man grunted and handed her three more pieces of paper.
“How much to haul a jeep and bike?”
“Ten apiece.”
“How far will you take me?”
“To the border. The ferry don’t go past the border.” The wiry man tapped the counter with a bony finger. “You pay to come back, too.”
“And meals? They’re included with this outrageous price, I assume.”
“Yeah, but I don’t know that the cook will be fixing food they can eat.” He aimed his longer finger at the babies.
Tara gave the man the gold he needed and took the Dorsels. She returned to the large unshaven man now loading bags onto the ferry.
“Where you heading?” He took her money and rubbed his whiskers as he stared at the jeep and bike Tara pointed to.
“South.”
“There’s a lot to see down that way.”
“Have you been south of the border?” Tara could stand for some good stories, and as unappealing as this man was, he was the first adult to whom she’d spoken in over twenty-four hours.
* * * * *
Taffley studied her once again. She was quite browned from the sun and in dire need of a shower. Her hair was stringy from sweat, and her dress hung on her. She was beautiful, though. In fact, she was quite sexy. He liked dirty women.
He didn’t entertain too much hope of catching her eye. Women like her seldom had much of an interest in men like him.
His thoughts returned to her accent. It bothered him when he couldn’t tell what race a person was. You knew a lot about a person when you knew where they were from and what their people were. Then he noticed a necklace around her neck. It was a circle with a very nice looking ruby in the middle of it.
“Yeah, I’ve been to a town or two south of the border.” He looked at the necklace one more time, and then it dawned on him. Panic attacked his entire body. “You can take the cabin on the left side of the hall.” Taffley spoke quickly, unable to look at her and afraid his fear would register through his words.
Runners could smell fear.
* * * * *
The man who owned the ferry seemed nervous about something, but Tara was too worn out to worry about him. She walked onto the ferry and down a hall with several doors on each side. The farthest door on the left was slightly open. She peeked in and saw a bed sprawled in one corner. A table with two chairs pushed under it filled the other corner. An old dresser stood next to the door. One half-open window provided dim light blanketing the wooden floor and walls. She left her bags in the room and carried her children out to watch the crew bring her jeep and bike on board.
* * * * *
Taffley drove the jeep with attached trailer up a large plank and parked them on the back of the ferry. His hands shook as he worked. That sexpot he’d been drooling over was a Runner. He recognized the symbol of the Blood Circle Clan. The motorcycle matched the clan as well. The most dangerous race in the world. That clan called themselves that because they didn’t hesitate to draw blood. He’d heard all the stories.
Why was she dressed like that? This was not the way a Runner traveled. For some reason, she didn’t want anyone to know who she was, he guessed. This bothered him even more. No doubt about it, she definitely had to be trouble.
He looked at Tara briefly and walked off the ferry, muttering something about being right back.
A few moments later, he entered the wooden building. “Saffle, d’you see that lady that come this way with those babies?” Taffley spoke to the wiry man.
“Yeah, she had gold.”
“She’s a Runner.”
“Taffley, you’re going daft, she wasn’t dressed like no Runner.”
“I tell you she’s a Runner. I know that accent, and she had the sign of the Blood Circle Clan around her neck.” He scratched his whiskers and turned to look at his ferry.
“If what you say’s true, you’ve a problem on your hands.” Saffle pulled a piece of paper from under his desk. “This came through with all the mail today. They’ve been passing ‘em out, from what I hear.”
Taffley took a wrinkled piece of paper from Saffle’s bony hand. His face fell as he looked at the contents of the paper. The top of the page said
REWARD
and a description followed. Oddly enough, it was Gothman writing, and the reward was Gothman currency. It was large: ten thousand Gothman gold coins offered for the whereabouts or return of a lady and two babies. The woman was described as a Runner, but it was said she might not appear in Runner clothing. The babies were twins, a boy and a girl, seven cycles old.
“That’s a lot of money.” Taffley scratched his beard.
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to take her to the border. She’s a Runner. I’m not going to cross her.” Taffley smiled. “You put a wire through and let them know our destination and where they can pick her up. You say I expect payment in full before I turn her over.”
* * * * *
Inside her room, Tara pushed the table in front of the door and began exploring. She found a small, connecting bathing room—with only one door. Relieved, she realized she wouldn’t have to share the facilities with another passenger.
Fatigue was taking over, so she decided to wash herself and the babies, and change clothes. Perhaps the activities would revive her. She left her gun on the bathroom counter and began filling the tub.
The children splashed the water as Tara scrubbed the dirt and grime from all of them, using a washcloth and soap she’d brought along. She rinsed herself after cleaning the babies, letting the water cascade over her head and back.
Suddenly, the water in the tub splashed to one side and her babies slid off kilter. She grabbed them as she realized the barge had just pushed off from the dock. The ferry rocked as it slipped into the river currents. Tara held her infants close to her body until the movement slowed.
After dressing the rambunctious babes in matching one-piece outfits, she put on a clean dress. A bell sounded, and the large man she’d encountered earlier yelled that supper was ready.
A long table was set up in the open area of the ferry. Tara was obviously his only passenger. There was a chair set at each end of the table and to her delight, two highchairs were set on either side of one end of the table. The menu consisted of fried fish, new potatoes, and a leafy green vegetable on each plate.
“I don’t really have food for the babies.” Taffley sat at his end of the table. “I found some bread and squash. You can feed them that, if you want.”
“Thank you.” She sat after putting the babies in the highchairs. She quietly smashed the squash on two plates and tore tiny bits of bread to feed Andru and Ana.
The babies made a mess, and the man ate loudly. Tara didn’t mind either. The hot food gave her energy. She enjoyed every bite and willingly accepted a second helping of fish. The babies also ate well and contentedly sucked on bottles of juice after the meal was over. Tara sat back as the man lit several torches and cleared the table. The large wheel rotating under the ferry made a soft swooshing sound in the water. It was peaceful, and Tara began to relax for the first time since she’d left Gothman.
Later, she sat on the edge of the bed rocking her two children until their bodies grew limp in her arms. She’d taken two of the drawers out of the dresser and filled them with blankets. Her babies looked beautiful, as they lay asleep in their makeshift cradles. She admired them in the moonlight, and for a moment, her mind went to Darius.
A noise on deck forced her to push him out of her thoughts. She reached for her laser and held it low as she walked down the hallway.
Creaking boards told her someone was there. She stood very still using the shadows in the dark hallway to hide her position. Taffley was leaning over the front of the ferry, apparently fishing, as a pole extended out over the water. She heard another creak coming from above the doorway which set her instincts to humming. Whoever was there chose that moment to jump down onto the main floor with his back to her.
The noise startled Taffley, who turned around as the intruder raised a gun.
Tara didn’t hesitate, she shot the intruder in the back. The sound of a yelp followed by a splash alerted Tara to the presence of another, much less brave, attacker. She chuckled when she thought of his shock when he hit the cold water. Tara stepped out of the shadows.
The large man approached the dead body. He reached down, picked up the limp figure and dumped it overboard. “Much obliged.” He looked wide-eyed at her as he walked to the other end of the boat, evidently making certain no one else was in the water. “Damn thieves.”