Chapter Fourteen #4
Taio was growing anxious beside me, shifting from one foot to another and glancing over his shoulder. I pounded louder on the door in case whatever was inside hadn’t heard me.
Still nothing.
“Mara.” Taio’s voice was impatient, and my own fear was rising with the sounds of the approaching Hollows as well.
I held up a hand then reached for the latch to the door. I lifted it, pushed the door open and waited for an attack.
Nothing.
No scent of decay, no hissing or chatter of teeth from the darkness.
Only the faint scent of cedar and herbs and dust. I stepped inside, followed quickly by Taio, who went immediately to a rectangular table in the middle of the small room and pushed it up against the door.
The movement dislodged decades of dust, and we both coughed quietly as it swirled about us.
Then the ground began to tremble as the pack entered the clearing.
Fear gripped me like I’d never felt before.
We couldn’t defend ourselves against this many.
If they gained entrance to the cabin, they’d kill us in moments.
I might have felt better if we’d been inside a structure that wasn’t quite so unstable.
I knew by the way one side of the cabin listed that any prolonged attack on it would topple it.
Taio grabbed me about the waist and pulled me against what looked to be the strongest of the four walls.
The hearth was built on this side, and we sank down, leaning against the brick.
Outside the noise of the invading army grew.
Growls and moans like I’d never heard before echoed through the wooden logs making up the exterior of the cabin.
They hadn’t launched themselves at the cabin yet, so perhaps they didn’t know we were inside.
A window was built into the wall above the kitchen area, which was on our right.
Heavy curtains blocked anything outside from seeing in, but occasionally I thought I saw a shape moving on the other side.
Thumps against the walls of the cabin made me jump, and I closed my eyes and tried not to vomit.
Taio reached down and took my hand, and I was grateful for that small gesture.
I held his hand tightly, and he gave me a quick squeeze of reassurance.
Hours seemed to pass as the Hollows trampled through the clearing and milled about the cabin.
They’d lost our scent or the sound of us, whichever they used to track us, and they seemed uncertain where to go next.
I could only hope most of them had followed us so that Yung, Kintle, and Omira had been able to escape.
I glanced at Taio, but his expression was unreadable.
Still, I knew he must be thinking of his sister and his friends.
Gradually the sound of the Hollows faded, and Taio rose.
He put a finger to his lips and moved in that cat-like way of his to the curtains at the window.
Now that the majority of the pack had moved away, I listened for the patter of the rain on the roof.
All was quiet. No light peeked from under the dark fabric, and my stomach told me it was past dinner, most likely full dark.
Standing to one side of the window, Taio very slowly moved a corner of the curtain aside.
I held my breath, expecting a gray face to appear at the window and hiss.
But nothing happened, and Taio slid one eye in front of the small opening he’d made and looked out.
He stood very still for a long time and finally he moved back out of sight and even more slowly lowered the curtain back into place.
I stared at him, wishing I could see his expression more clearly.
But my eyes were accustomed to the dark now, and I saw when he motioned me to join him.
My legs had cramped from sitting for so long, and I took my time standing and moving to join him.
He’d shoved the table against the door, and chairs stood haphazardly in the center of the room.
I sidestepped them and came to stand beside him.
He leaned close, his lips against my ear.
“I count five. They stand and move like trees in the wind.”
I nodded, and he stood aside. Imitating his careful movements from earlier, I slid a corner of the curtain aside and looked out.
The window was dirty, but I could discern several shapes.
I took my time separating those shapes from the trees.
He had counted five, and I counted that many as well.
Of course, that was what we could see. More might be out of sight of the window or waiting in the forest. The ones standing in the clearing were swaying slightly, reminding me of new mothers comforting fussy babies.
What were they doing out there? Listening?
Waiting? In some sort of hibernation state?
I backed slowly out of sight and lowered the curtain with excruciating care.
Taio and I stood still, waiting to see if my movement had been noticed.
The growls and groans did not increase, but I became more aware of how close I was to Taio.
We’d been sitting together for hours, leaning against each other, our hands joined.
At one point, I’d put my head on his shoulder, and he’d put an arm about me.
Now I stood facing him, and I couldn’t seem to stop my body from leaning toward his.
He opened his arms and pulled me against him.
The embrace was more out of a need for mutual comfort than anything else, but I couldn’t stop my nose from detecting the scent of him.
That scent always made me want to bury my face in his chest.
Before I could give in to that impulse, I pulled his head down so I could whisper in his ear. “Do you have any food?”
He shook his head but set me aside and began carefully feeling along the wooden counter where whoever had lived here had most likely chopped vegetables and other foods to prepare meals.
I followed his lead, touching what felt like a mixing bowl and then a wooden spoon.
A towel was crumpled nearby, and I lifted it, thinking we might use it later.
Taio crouched down and pulled at some sort of fabric hanging from the top of the countertop.
I knelt beside him and helped him find the opening to the fabric.
Together we parted the two sides. I reached gingerly forward to touch the shelves, praying our movements had scared away any biting spiders.
My fingers touched cool clay, and I closed one hand on a smooth vessel with a wide base and a tapered neck.
At the top of that neck, a cork held the contents inside.
The clay jar was hefty, and when I lifted it, I saw Taio held something as well.
I leaned close to him and whispered, “Preserved fruit.”
I placed the jar silently on the floor between my legs and held it steady while I pried the cork out.
It came out with a quiet pop, and I stilled.
But there was no reaction from the Hollows outside.
Perhaps the sound had just seemed loud to me and hadn’t carried outside the wooden walls. I lifted the jar and sniffed. Berries.
I had no idea if they were still edible, but there was one way to find out.
I reached for the serving spoon and bowl I’d felt earlier, then used the towel to wipe both off.
Next I upended the jar, pouring the contents into the bowl.
The light was so poor, I missed slightly and ended up with some berries on the wooden floor.
I set the jar aside and lifted the spoon.
Before I could dip it into the preserves, Taio snatched it away.
“Let me,” he whispered. “Could make you sick.”
They could have just as easily made him sick, but if he wanted to be a hero, who was I to argue? He dipped the spoon into the berries and lifted it to his lips.
For a long moment, he said nothing. He also didn’t spit the berries out, which was a good sign. Finally, he took my hand and placed the spoon in it. “Eat,” he whispered.
I felt for the rim of the bowl and dipped my spoon inside then tasted the contents of the jar.
The berries were sweet, not at all tart and certainly not spoiled.
They were delicious. Once I’d started eating, I couldn’t seem to stop.
I had four or five more bites before I forced myself to give Taio the spoon.
He pushed it back to me, and I finished the jar.
He emptied another into the bowl, and I forced him to take the spoon and eat.
While he ate, I searched the shelves for more jars and placed them where he would not knock them over. Then I felt something else. It was not a jar, but a square thing with glass sides and metal framing. I pulled it out and held it up.
Taio said something in his language and took it from my hands.
He rose and carried it to the hearth, where we’d left our packs.
While he rummaged around, I found the spoon he’d abandoned and ate the contents of another jar he’d emptied into the bowl.
This one seemed to be some sort of tart vegetable.
I did not care. I was hungry enough to eat the pinecones littering the forest floor.
Light flared near the hearth, and I drew in a quick breath, chancing a look at the window to be certain the curtain was drawn.
The window was covered by the thick material, and I could see that clearly because a small flame danced in what I now saw was a lantern.
Taio had managed to fuel it and light it, and its fragile flame flickered over the cabin.
I spread my arms, silently asking him how.
He held up a small container of what was most likely some sort of fuel and a tinder box.
I didn’t usually carry such materials in my pack, but then only the patrol leader was allowed to decide when we might light a lamp or build a fire.
Only he or she had the materials to make a fire.