Bella Read online

  “I felt it too,” I said.

  She smiled. “I am sure you did.” For some reason I didn’t understand she looked at Wasco when she said it and I almost think he nodded.

  “Anyway, when dealing with spirits, even those corrupted as I believe The Mother to be, one must know the rules. I do, as did Samrak in a very primitive way. Tenets are the guiding rules that insure the spirits of the world do not destroy each other in constant battle. Certain behaviors are expected, and if they are not adhered to other spirits will shun the offender. Since spirits cannot always avoid each other, those rules are for self-preservation, and possibly the preservation of the world.”

  Wasco rumbled his agreement or something and stood up. “I'll be back in a bit, gonna scout the trail ahead to see if I can find any sign of them bandits. Topher, mind if I borrow that spyglass?”

  I stood up, pulled it from my belt and walked it over to him. He must have seen the question in my eyes. He rested a heavy hand on my shoulder.

  “I know ya want to come, but ya can't. You're learnin’ to move quiet and even shoot pretty good, but not good enough for out here, not for this.”

  “All right,” I said trying to sound casual. “Just seein’ if ya needed help is all.”

  He looked over me to the others. “Keep things quiet and the fire low, we might be closer than we think.” Back to me he said, “And no shootin’ the Movers.”

  He went on foot, moving with a grace that always seemed wrong on a man that size, although his limp was worse, and he kept swinging his left arm around, and holding the shoulder. I watched him till he was out of sight then sat back down and found I didn't know what to do with myself.

  I was exhausted but couldn’t sleep. I pushed the ashes of the fire around a little, straightened my bedroll again, dug in my pack for some candy, found I was out, and cussed. The others weren't saying much either. Not for any reason, things were pleasant enough considering, there was just nothing to say or do. I took out my spitshot and fired a couple of chips into a cactus, but it was getting slow and there wasn’t any Drinker root around, so I stopped.

  I went over and sat next to Jacob. He flinched but didn’t move away. He hadn’t been himself since he woke up from the drugs, but I didn’t think much of it.

  “So, how'd you learn to shoot so good?” I asked.

  “It, well it just came naturally, really. Kinda like you and that spit thing. I was good at it and I got in enough trouble to have to do it a lot.”

  He smiled. The smile I had been waiting for.

  “Why do you think Wasco fought for the Union instead of the Empire? My pa said the Union were all traitors to the Empire and the Empire is the way things oughta be.”

  “Your father said that? Was he African too?” he asked.

  “Of course he was chucklehead!” I said.

  “I, well that is, um. Well the Empire, they view Africans as, well...”

  “Yeah, I know, he telled me, we weren't as good as the white skins. The Enlightened say we were meant to serve white people. Ma says that’s bullcrap. Sounds like bullcrap to me, too. I don’t serve nobody nothin’!” I declared.

  Jacob smiled. “Yes, it is bullcrap, Topher, and don't you forget it. The Union are not traitors to them either. The Terralibre nation is the people that stayed here through the Curse. They had been here so long the Native’s Curse didn't affect them as much, so they could still grow some food is what I heard. When the Enlightened Empire came trying to take over, they fought them with the Africans and the Natives trying to hold them back.”

  “Ma said that our people helped make the Curse too,” I said.

  “That is what they say. I know that many of your people were slaves when the settlers first came over, and that the Curse helped free them. Nobody seems to know how exactly, just that it did. You know that your people are part of the Nations, don't you? You have a country,” he said.

  “I know. No matter to me. I'm happy here with all you white people. Makes my skin look even better!” I rubbed my dark arms. I was so proud of my black skin. “Glad I ain't no slave though.”

  We were quiet for a while, and then I asked, “Were you in the war?”

  “No. My pap was, sort of. He didn’t fight for either side, but for a few years, everybody was in the war one way or the other,” Jacob said.

  “What is the Enlightenment anyway?” I asked. “I mean, I know what my ma and pa said, and what the other kids say, and there are some of them in the Ends that preach about it and give me dirty looks, but why do they think they are better than everyone else? What do they want that I should do about being African?”

  Jacob took a breath and let it out slowly.

  “Did you go to school, Topher?” he asked.

  “Na. Kids in the Ends don’t go to school,” I said.

  “Ah,” he said. “Well, let’s see. The Enlightened came over after the Curse had ended. Those that had been run off by the Curse and still held to thinking this was their land. When they got back to Europe, that’s across the sea where they are from, there was a thing called Enlightenment. It was popular in Europe around then. They didn’t have bad ideas really, not all of them at least, but some of them were convinced only they were smart enough to be in charge.

  “They had some crazy ideas. The folks that fled back to Europe from here when the Curse hit joined that group of crazies and started planning to come back here and start an Empire based on those crazy ideas. When word arrived that the land here was producing again and the Curse was over, they put their plans into motion and left Europe, taking a bunch of the ships and armies of the counties they were from. Mostly England and Prussia I think. Those are countries across the ocean. In Europe.

  When they arrived out east they declared themselves the Enlightened Empire and set about taking over. The Terralibre people had made a sort of peace with the Tribes and were coexisting with them and tried to fight the Enlightened. The Empire mostly whipped them and took over most of the north and east. They were stopped when they got to the southwest and the Natives, who knew something like this was going to happen, had been preparing.

  “So, they joined with Terralibre to fight them. Called the army the Union. That was the war Wasco fought in. The last of the wars for the country that sort of settled things as they are now. You grew up in Edge City, which is the only place not claimed by either Natives, the Enlightened Empire, or Terralibre, all because of Ember.”

  I didn’t say anything after that, just sat thinking deep thoughts.

  Li and Ying sat across the fire and talked in their own language once in a while. The afternoon became evening and Wasco returned.

  “Yeah, we're right on top of them alright,” he said after taking a seat and handing me back my spyglass. “Just over the ridge there. A fort or somethin’. One of them airship things was takin’ off, so I'd say it’s our man. They got a big building that looked to be a chow…harrr oof glurgh...”

  He crumpled over face first into the fire, showering the evening sky with sparks. Jacob was on his feet and firing his pistols that were again somehow in his hands.

  On a rock the direction Wasco had come from was a monster that made my skin crawl. At first, I thought it was a Native, but its lower half was a giant snake. It held a short bow in its hand and was reaching for another arrow while it dodged the hail of bullets from Jacob’s guns. I grabbed the Winchester and added my bullets to the air. They all missed. The snake-man-thing was too fast to get a bead on.

  Li was on the move with his own bow, maneuvering around to flank the thing. Wasco hadn't moved, and the fire was roaring around his head. I desperately wanted to help him but couldn't stop shooting or that thing might have time to shoot back. It spun on Li and fired an arrow at him that careened off his armor. Li fired back and barely missed. That gave Jacob a chance to reload just as I heard the click of my own ammo running out.

  The thing drew a bead on me and I froze. Everything froze. Jacob had just finished dropping the last bullet into his
pistol and snapping the cylinder closed, but his other he had holstered after reloading.

  “Drop gun,” the thing slurred to him. “Or the boy dies.”

  Jacob dropped it. The thing looked at Li's bow and swung his head to indicate he should toss it. He did. Ying had been trying to pull Wasco from the fire.

  “Leave him,” came the command in broken English. “Now you come.”

  He indicated with his bow for Ying to move over by Li, and then he did the same to Jacob.

  “I do not think I will,” Jacob said.

  The thing looked back at him. “I will kill the boy.” His bow locked on me again and he drew back the arrow.

  “Yeah, you said that, but I don't think you're fast enough.”

  Snakeface just stared at him.

  “You gave me too much time see. I got your measure now. And, you did not think to address this fine Cooper double-action pistol sitting in my left holster. You are some kind of snake-man I see. Some people say I am too. So, I’m thinking I can draw this pistol out of my holster and shoot you before you can let loose of that arrow you got there. What do you say we give it a go?”

  Nobody moved. All the snake thing had to do was open his fingers and I was dead. I heard a pop as Jacob flexed his finger. I jumped. The snake thing let loose his arrow; I heard a shot, then another. It happened so fast that they almost sounded like one shot. The arrow exploded about halfway to me, showering me with splinters but not hurting me. I opened my eyes and watched the snake man as it fell off the rock and landed with a thud. Li leapt on it and Ying ran to Wasco. I shook.

  Then I turned to Jacob and yelled, “What the hell was that chucklehead? Ya coulda got me stuck through with an arrow! How the hell did you shoot an arrow?”

  My fear let loose of me when I saw Wasco out of the corner of my eye, blood was frothing out of his back where Ying had removed the arrow. That wasn't good, I knew that. He was probably all burned up too. I ran over to him to see, but his head and face were fine. Like nothing had happened. Except for a small bone ring stuck in his ear that was glowing reddish orange. I reached out to touch it and yanked my hand back. It was hot to the touch! He groaned and turned his head.

  “Damned poison.” Then his eyes closed.

  Ying smeared some of the sweet-smelling salve she had used before onto the wound then forced a vial of the nasty tasting stuff down his throat.

  “The arrow hit his lung. Only time can properly heal a wound like that. If the lung collapses, then he will die. The poison will need an antidote. Did Mr. Wasco not say the Apache Natives used sand lizard oil to poison their arrows? That...thing, I think was once Apache. We need to find a sand lizard. Come with me Topher, I will need your quick hands.”

  She stood and walked out of the circle of rocks holding onto my arm to look for sand lizards. The sun was almost down, and the night chill was setting in fast. I had forgotten to grab my jacket and was shivering. The shadows made it hard to see details and we didn't see a single living thing for a long time. We had wandered out of the rocky hill and onto the dunes below.

  “Perhaps they seek cover at night?” Old Ying offered.

  I flipped over one of the scattered stones and fell backwards as something came flying out at me. A flying scorpion landed on the hat Wasco had bought for me. I ripped it off my head and threw it and the scorpion flew off into the night.

  “I am so glad that didn't land in my hair!” I said.

  Ying picked up my hat and held it out to me; I took it gingerly, inspecting every inch and tapping it a few times before putting it back on.

  “I'm going to go and get a stick to flip the next one,” I said then trudged back up the dune toward the camp where the kindling was stacked.

  “Just lay ‘em down right there will be fine. That's right, nice and slow.”

  The voice filtered out from our camp on the wind, barely audible. It was no one I knew.

  “Shit,” I said, then froze and listened.

  “He dead?” Another voice I didn’t recognize.

  “No, but he is gravely injured,” Li said.

  “Well, pick him up; if he lives maybe the boss'll want him.”

  I heard Li grunt in effort then say thank you, presumably to Jacob.

  “Shit, shit, shit.” I ran down the hill.

  CHAPTER NINE – BELLA

  “ What are we going to do Ying? Those, those things have got them! Are they gonna eat them?”

  “No child, they are not animals, they have at least some humanity in them. Had they wanted them dead they would have killed them by now.”

  We were in the cover of the rocks looking with the spyglass as the last of the sunlight slowly faded. A group of six, men, I guess. I don't know how to describe them. Like Snakeface they were people but had animal parts too. There was another snake-man, a man top-half on a giant scorpion body. Probably had wings, too, I thought. The others were hard to make out in the fading light; at least one I think was just a man. I don't know why I thought that. Jacob and Li were walking next to Old Shit with Wasco thrown over his back bobbing along.

  “We need to follow them. Quickly child, gather up what you can.”

  I ran over and picked up the Winchester. I had dropped it when I had run to check on Wasco after the fight. They must not have seen it.

  I had not had time to reload and the bullets were in my bag on Old Shit with my damn coat. I didn't see any other weapons, but there were some rations lying around and the bedrolls were still there. I gathered up two bedrolls and an extra blanket for Old Ying and rolled the rations into them using some cord to make shoulder straps.

  Shouldering the pack, I went back to Ying. She smiled and took my elbow.

  “Do not worry child, we will find a way,” she said.

  It was a long and depressing walk. We were both exhausted from lack of sleep. For whatever reason, I wasn't worried about the creatures of the Blacklands attacking. Maybe because it didn't feel like we were alone. The things that took the others were not our friends, but they were at least out there.

  The fort had a tall wooden picket fence but no gate. Inside was a long wooden building surrounded by close to twenty tents. I hadn't realized we had come back so close to the cliff face again, but on the other side of the city. I could see its lights a few miles away and hundreds of feet up.

  The fort was at the foot of a small dam in Black River. Black River really wasn't a river. At least not a natural one. It was anywhere from a trickle to a fast river that formed from the runoff water they used in the mines to wash away rock and dirt. It was almost constant these days, with water pouring from numerous openings day and night. The water came out black and steaming as bits of Ember activated when they were washed over. Most were caught in massive nets, but enough got by to activate in the falls and cause the steam that constantly enveloped the Ends and Chinatown.

  Why the water was so black even this far away nobody knew nor cared. Yet these yahoos had bothered to dam it up. Surely nobody was fool enough to drink it I thought.

  Ying and I snuck around the camp as close as we dared. By now we had guessed that Wasco had been seen when he was scouting, so we were especially careful. There were fires inside the fort so with the spyglass I was able to see in. They took the others across the camp and then I lost sight of them.

  “What do we do?” I asked.

  “I think,” Ying said, “that I have something that might help. But I can make only a small amount. Enough for perhaps a small girl?”

  “What is it?”

  “Come, let us get to those rocks and out of sight, and I will show you.

  We moved over to a small bunch of rocks that had been stacked, probably when they built the dam, and Ying started setting out little packets and vials.

  “This will call the spirits of the water to you. With all the steam in the air from the river, they should be enough to hide you for a time, so you can sneak in and find our friends,” she said.

  I looked at her like she was crazy, rememb
ering the thing that had killed the man in the wagon fight and gulped. She looked up at me.

  She said, “That spirit was of air and only acted the way I had asked of it. Most spirits are neither good nor evil; they simply are what they are. I asked that one to take the air from that man and it did so, not knowing why or what it would do to the man. It did so because I have for many years talked to the spirits and they know me.”

  She mixed some powders into a vial, put a cork into it then shook it. She then opened a small clay jug and dumped the vial into it, while stirring it with a small stick. Then she set it aside. Steam started gathering around the top of it, but it was not coming from inside the bottle, it was gathering from the air around it. She held a small vial in front of my eyes and I blinked. I had been mesmerized by the gathering steam being pulled into the jar.

  “This one is for Mr. Wasco or anyone else that is hurt. If no one else is, tell them to give the whole thing to Mr. Wasco. If someone is, have them first take a sip then give him the remainder,” she said. She held another out. “This one is in case something happens to you. If you are injured drink it.”

  I took the vials and stuck them into the pocket of my deerskin vest.

  “This,” she said as she held up the stuff she had made, “is not for drinking. We will rub this onto your skin and clothes. You should take off your shoes too and do your feet. This will call the water spirits in the air to you and mist will surround you.”

  I made a face of disgust.

  “Do not fear the mist; it will be pure from the spirits of water, not the foul stuff of the river. But the stuff from the river will help conceal you as well, so stay in the mists as much as you can. With it on your feet it will muffle the sound of your walking, but you can still be heard if you speak or make too much noise, so be stealthy.”