Sandstorm Box Set Page 17

  He felt a pang of grief. It felt as if he were speaking to his parents, instead of mounds of dirt. Or that’s what he told himself, whenever he had conversations like this. Raj sighed, looking between the two graves, focusing on his father’s empty one.

  Raj remembered the ceremony they’d had for Dad. At the time, he had felt too strange to cry.

  When he closed his eyes, he could still remember those first few weeks after his father left, lying in his bedroll and wondering if his father would return. That made him remember all the times he’d asked Neena about it. The more that Raj thought about her answer, the more certain he became that Neena had held something back.

  Maybe he would ask her about it again.

  Blotting away a few tears before they fell, Raj got to his feet.

  A fist struck him in the back.

  Pain seared through Raj’s body.

  Several rough hands threw him to the ground, near his father’s hard grave marker. More than one person knelt, rolled him over, and pinned him. Raj struggled and screamed, but a hand clamped over his mouth. Through the glare of the sun, he saw four figures surrounding him: the boy with the pointed nose, a stern-faced boy, a shaggy-haired kid, and a tall one.

  Bailey’s boys.

  Frantic, Raj looked for the people he’d seen earlier, but they were gone. The Watchers were on the other side of the cliffs, out of sight. Of course, they were. Bailey and his boys had picked this moment on purpose.

  Bailey walked out of the glare, standing over him with a sneer.

  “What are you going to do now, orphan boy?” he spat.

  Raj tried lashing out with his arms and legs, but the kids held them.

  “I told you this wasn’t over,” Bailey said.

  Leaning down, Bailey plucked Raj’s knife from its sheath and held it up in the sunlight, examining the blade, as his eyes lowered back to Raj.

  “Did you come out here to cry, like a sissy?”

  The others laughed.

  “He came out here to cry over his dead dad,” said the kid with the pointed nose. “Maybe he wanted to ask him why he didn’t leave sooner.”

  The boys laughed harder.

  Raj screamed into one of the sweaty hands over his mouth. He squirmed and bucked. He spat every foul word he knew, even though no one could hear him. He wouldn’t let them intimidate him, even if it meant his death.

  “Maybe we can cut out your eyeballs, so you won’t have to cry anymore,” Bailey said with a smile, lowering Raj’s knife toward his face.

  New fright bit through Raj’s stomach. His hands and legs coursed with an instinct to flee, to fight, but he could do nothing except watch Bailey lower the knife. Bailey got within a few inches of Raj’s cheek, twisting and turning the blade.

  “Wait,” one of his friends interrupted. “I found something.”

  Bailey looked up, distracted. “What is it?”

  The kid with the pointed nose said, “I’m not sure. It’s in his pocket.”

  “Make sure he doesn’t move,” Bailey ordered. “I’ll see what it is.”

  Bailey fished a filthy hand into Raj’s pocket, digging around until he found the item to which the other kid had drawn attention. Triumph lit Bailey’s face as he pulled out Adriana’s round keepsake. He held up the object, inspecting its surface and turning it over, rubbing at the indents with his thumb.

  Raj yelled harder into the hand over his mouth, screaming for Bailey to put it down, but his words were muted. A new joy took over Bailey’s face as he saw the anger in Raj’s eyes. Each muffled word prompted more interest.

  “Was this your daddy’s?” Bailey asked.

  Raj screamed a curse word into the hand stifling his mouth. Of course, he wouldn’t tell them the truth. He wouldn’t tell them anything.

  “Maybe it belongs to that old woman he hangs around with,” said the taller kid. “Maybe she smooths out her wrinkles with it.”

  A few more kids laughed.

  “Whatever it is, I like it,” Bailey said, as he made a show of turning it over. “Maybe I’ll keep it.”

  A worry crossed the pointed-nosed kid’s face as he looked past Bailey, up toward the cliffs.

  “He might go to The Watchers. He might say you stole it.”

  Something that looked like worry flashed through Bailey’s face. “You wouldn’t go to The Watchers on me, would you?” Bailey asked Raj. Lowering the keepsake, he held the knife to his neck. “‘Cuz if you did, I would make sure it would be the last words you spoke.”

  Raj tried sucking in a breath to shout again, but he couldn’t find any air.

  “What does it do, anyway?” the tall kid asked, curiosity crossing his face as he leaned over Raj to take a look at the keepsake.

  Bailey shrugged. “I don’t know. I think it’s just pretty.”

  “I think it would look prettier as a knife, or a spear-tip,” said the boy with a smirk.

  “I don’t know, Bailey,” said the boy with the pointed nose. “What if someone catches you before you melt it down?”

  Bailey thought on that for a moment. Indecisiveness went through his face, before he arrived at a decision. “Maybe I’ll bury it where no one can find it, so the orphan boy won’t squeal. And I’ll bury his knife, too.”

  Raj screamed uselessly.

  “I said I owed you for what you did at the river,” Bailey said, his indecisiveness turning into a grin. “And I meant it.” Holding up the knife and the keepsake, he said, “Consider these payment, for threatening me.”

  Bailey’s triumphant smile grew wider.

  Without warning, he socked Raj in the stomach.

  The rest of the wind escaped from Raj’s body.

  Bailey punched him several more times, hitting his ribs and his chest, until Raj’s eyes blurred with watery pain. He kept hitting him, until flashes of light blinked through Raj’s eyes.

  And then the hands released Raj, and he gasped to regain his breath.

  “If you follow us or say a word, you’ll regret it,” Bailey spat. “And so will Samel.”

  Raj wheezed a retort no one could hear.

  The boys walked away.

  Through the sun’s glare, Raj saw their silhouettes making their way back through the gravesite. A few looked over their shoulders as they left, snickering.

  And then they were around the cliffs, and out of sight.

  My knife.

  My keepsake.

  Raj struggled for breath. He pushed with all his strength, managing to get to his feet. His ribs and stomach ached so badly he thought he would collapse. His lungs screamed.

  He staggered through the sand, barely putting one boot in front of the other. Each footfall brought new pain. Several times, he almost collapsed, but he managed to make it a ways from the graveyard and around the rock formation, catching sight of Bailey and his gang passing the Green Crops and heading for the bridge. Raj opened his mouth to cry out, but he produced only a muffled cry.

  Halfway across the bridge, the boys stopped.

  Helplessly, Raj watched Bailey lean over the side of the bridge, look in a few directions, and drop two small objects into the river.

  Pain flashed behind Raj’s eyes again.

  He collapsed.

  He didn’t move.

  Chapter 45: Neena

  “We’re almost there,” Neena said, pushing faster.

  She shielded her eyes from the sun’s glare. For most of the morning, she and Kai had trekked without stopping, leaving behind the alcove that had sheltered them for the night. Now, they traveled a landscape with rugged hills, covered in sparse vegetation and infrequent, craggy red rocks. Those rocks served as landmarks when Neena hunted. Each formation brought her a wave of nostalgia, as she looked at them.

  She couldn’t remember a time when she’d missed Red Rock more.

  Too often on this trip, she’d been certain she wouldn’t return. And now the trip was ending.

  Kai smiled, wiping some sweat from his brow. “I won’t lie, it will be ni
ce to finish this journey and get to your colony.”

  Neena nodded and readjusted the bag on her back.

  Still, she was anxious.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d say to her leaders. Too many words threatened to spill out of her mouth, as she tried putting the experience of several days into a story they’d understand.

  The only times she’d been in close quarters to Gideon and his men was at her parents’ funerals, or a few gatherings. The Red Rock leaders made her nervous in a way that even the hunt did not. Their presence signified order and fear. And now, she had to address them with news that might be unbelievable, at least in the case of the monster.

  She looked for hunters, or other silhouettes far away on the border of the ground and sky, but she saw nothing, other than a few roaming insects and some sand rats.

  Hoping to distract from her nerves, Neena pointed at a few of the familiar rock formations.

  “Do you see that one?” she asked, gesturing at a rock formation with two, spear-like pieces sprouting from the top. “Once I found a male Rydeer at its base.”

  Kai nodded as he appraised where she pointed. “Did you catch it?”

  “I speared it shortly after I saw it,” Neena explained. “That was one of the shortest trips I’ve taken.” Farther along, Neena pointed out another rock formation. “I hid next to that rock once, during a lesser sandstorm, a year ago.”

  “I see.”

  Passing a pair of small, ragged hills, Neena recalled how spectacular the view had seemed when she was younger. She didn’t bother voicing her story, due to her increasing nervousness.

  “Will we see your colony soon?” Kai asked, noting Neena’s quicker pace.

  “Yes,” Neena confirmed. “We should see more familiar landmarks once we crest this hill.”

  Her feet couldn’t take her fast enough as they hiked up the last incline that stood between her and Red Rock. She envisioned Raj and Samel at home, probably waiting for her, or helping Helgid with chores. At the moment, a meal with her family felt like a gift from the heavens.

  They crested the hill.

  Dozens of tall, auburn rock spires rose in the air, like spears dropped from the sky. Some of the tall, pinnacle-like formations were as thin as the width of several people, while others were even wider. All rose majestically into the sky, with smooth, unclimbable sides. Most were red, with hints of brown and orange.

  Eventually, the spires segued to a patch of sandy desert, where two final spears sat like two sides of an enormous, natural door. Through the gap between them, rising high above on the horizon, were the enormous stone walls that protected Neena’s colony, and the canyon in the middle, where her people’s homes were nestled. The sight of those tiny, distant homes gave Neena a wave of nostalgia.

  “This is Red Rock,” Neena told Kai. “This is my home.”

  Chapter 46: Neena

  Neena and Kai trekked between the rock spires, taking the most direct route, until they reached the last batches of them, passing between the two that looked like a natural entrance.

  Kai looked beyond them with awe.

  A slew of distant, tiny homes and buildings came into better view, tucked between the rock wall barriers in the canyon. Neena appraised the mud brick homes, and several wider buildings in front, which were the tithing buildings and the storehouses. Tiny figures milled in front of them, or on the main path that cut through the colony center. More people traveled between the hovels.

  Her people were alive.

  “They survived the sandstorm,” she said, with more relief than she ever remembered feeling.

  Wonder clung to Kai’s face as he looked at the homes and the formations, but mostly at the colonists. “It is unbelievable to see so many people that I never knew existed.”

  Neena smiled. She’d feel the same way, if the situation were reversed.

  Eventually, they closed within a hundred feet of the front row of buildings.

  Neena looked between the tithing buildings and storehouses. The large, wide doors of the tithing houses hung open, as they usually did during the day, when hunters came in to count their game. Inside those buildings, she saw the familiar, long wooden tables, where a few burly men she recognized chatted with some hunters.

  Down the main path, several people glanced over, noticing them. Most turned away, until they realized something unusual.

  Their attention returned to Kai.

  Neena looked over at her companion. At a closer glance, anyone with eyes could see his darker clothing, and the symbols on his head.

  Neena swallowed as more and more people tapped their friends’ shoulders, joining what was quickly becoming a larger audience. A few of the hunters in the tithing buildings turned from their conversations or their tables to look through the wide doors. Children pointed and whispered as Neena and Kai got close enough to verify Kai was a stranger.

  Fear crossed their faces.

  They were scared of him. And they were scared of her, too, because she was with him.

  All at once, Neena remembered the whispers that surrounded that visit with the strangers, when she was a child.

  The decision to warn her people had been much easier when she was out in the desert, frantically trying to make it back. Now that she’d gotten here, she had no idea how to proceed. She wanted to yell warnings and shout her story to anyone who might listen, but inciting a panic wouldn’t help anyone. She recalled Kai’s words.

  Panic is the easiest road to death.

  They kept walking, until they reached the head of the main path. Before she could consider the next step of a plan, five men worked their way through the crowd, cutting toward them.

  The Watchers.

  Of course, they’d seen them coming.

  Neena’s apprehension became a thick pit in her stomach as the men strode with importance, holding their spears.

  “Wait here,” she told Kai, as they halted at the cusp of the main path and waited for the men to approach.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Kai tensed. Neena kept her head straight and her focus on the oncoming men, waiting until they were close before she cleared her throat and said, “We need to speak with Gideon.”

  Chapter 47: Gideon

  Gideon sat at the table in the center of the Comm Building, staring at the round, metal centerpiece. His Heads of Colony sat all around him. Plates of food lined the table, remnants of the meal they’d had over their discussion of the crops. All around him, his men chatted and held private conversations, finished with the important business of the meeting.

  The door burst open.

  Thorne and a Watcher entered.

  Heads turned as the rest of the people around the table sensed that something of importance was happening. The two men took quick, purposeful strides toward Gideon.

  Getting within a few feet of the table, Thorne stopped and announced, “Someone is here to speak with you, Gideon.”

  Feeling the weight of all the eyes in the room, Gideon asked, “Who?”

  “A hunter girl, returning from the desert.” Thorne’s voice took a grave turn as he added, “She is one of ours, but she is with a strange man. We think he might be from New Canaan.”

  The last of the conversations ceased as people heard the last of those words, and processed them.

  An unexpected dread rose in Gideon’s stomach. “We told their people to stay away. We told them not to visit us again.”

  Thorne remained quiet. It wasn’t his question to answer.

  Gideon looked between the worried eyes of Wyatt, Brody, Saurab, and Horatio. They all knew what had been discussed.

  “Is he one of the people with whom we met?” Gideon asked.

  “No, he is a strange man, whom we have never seen,” Thorne said. Turning to the other people in the room, he addressed them all. “He wears the markings of his people.”

  Chapter 48: Neena

  Neena and Kai stood on the edge of the dirt path. Almost a hundred people streamed fr
om their homes, gathering on the main path from the mouths of the alleys, fighting for a better view of what was surely a scene that none would soon forget. Most kept a cautious distance, watching and waiting. Three of the five Watchers remained in front of Neena and Kai, holding their weapons cautiously as they waited for the leaders.

  Neena and Kai had already handed over their spear and knife.

  Now, they waited.

  Glancing up at the cliffs, Neena saw more Watchers turned in her direction. She had never felt more pairs of eyes on her. It felt as if she were standing in front of a procession, or leading one of the colony’s ceremonies. She wanted to push through the growing crowd, find Raj and Samel, and make sure they were safe. She wanted to forget about the message she had come to relay.

  In just a few short moments, she had transformed from a lowly girl whom no one respected to a person off of whom no one could take their eyes.

  Commotion from farther down the path drew her attention. Men, women, and children parted. Some of the whispers grew quiet, as a new group emerged, striding with importance.

  Gideon, his Heads of Colony, and more Watchers.

  Gideon and his men took a few confident steps ahead of the others, stopping in front of Neena and Kai.

  Neena swallowed as she faced a row of leaders she’d never met alone. She looked between them for a moment, her nervousness growing as she surveyed their stern faces.

  She focused on Gideon.

  Gideon’s steely gaze felt even more severe up close. His gray, slicked-back hair spoke of his years of leadership and knowledge. For all of her life, Neena had known him as the face of Red Rock, making decisions and giving orders, but she had never captured his individual attention. Standing before him now—with so many colonists watching, as well as his Heads of Colony—felt surreal.

  Clearing her throat, mustering up her courage, Neena said, “We need to speak with you in private.”

  Gideon watched her, silently judging, as was the crowd.

  For a moment or longer, no one spoke. The Watchers looked as if they awaited an order, or perhaps another word from Neena or Kai. The crowd shifted from foot to foot. To Neena’s surprise, Gideon turned and addressed Kai.