Chapter 30
Stella
We walked through the night, only stopping when necessary. Leandro and Alphie had managed to grab four lanterns and three times as many candles from the storehouse, so at least we weren’t travelling in total darkness.
I carried Fae in my arms long after she’d fallen asleep and my body began to ache. Wrapping her on my back made carrying her a bit easier physically, but I wanted to hold her to me.
The rest of us spoke very little, other than directions here or there (watch out for that branch, it’s slippery up ahead, and the like).
When we’d first gotten far enough away from Fort Lately that it felt safe, far enough that we couldn’t hear the screams or see their firelight anymore, we had stopped to go through our retrieved belongings to make sure that we had everything.
The scrapbook journal I’ve been making for Fae was intact, including the map I’d made with Lazlo’s input.
The trail followed the Staulo River west before diverging slightly north toward a town called Xwechtáal.
According to the note I’d scrawled underneath, it was an estimated two-week hike from Fort Lately’s territory.
Lazlo was familiar with Xwechtáal – which he pronounced as Schweck-tall – because they sometimes traded with Emberwood, and he described it as a friendly community. Or at least as friendly as anywhere could be these days.
We followed the river, keeping it to our left. Eventually, we’d part ways with it, but Boden had a compass, and we all had the stars to guide us. So we walked on, pushing ourselves, each of us committed to putting as much distance between us and the Revvers as we possibly could.
As dawn approached, Dougal let out an audible groan and sat down on a fallen log.
“I’m sorry, folks, but I haven’t anymore in me.” He grimaced and put a hand to his head. “I need to lie down or I’ll be out cold standing.”
“We’ve all had our fill of it tonight,” Fergus agreed, and he was already fishing in his bag to pull out a canister of water for his brother. “We should set up camp and get a proper rest in.”
“Sure,” Boden said, glancing around uncertainly. “We’ll just, uh, clear out a spot for our bed rolls and get a fire going, and sure. Yeah. I can take the first watch.”
And so that’s what we did. We set up our makeshift camp in a tired but practiced rhythm, like people who’d done this too many times before.
I slept in my bedroll, curled up around Fae. I only managed a few hours before Boden woke me for my watch, but then Fae was up anyway. As the sun rose in the sky, she crouched down, watching a caterpillar crawl across the ground.
Somehow, through it all, she remained happy and curious, and I knew then that I made the right choice. Unleashing the Loved Ones had been brutal and drastic, but it was the only way I could ensure that Fae and I could be safe, happy, and free.
And I would choose Fae every single time, no matter the cost.
It was still early in the day when everyone woke and we rolled up camp. The main priority was still putting as much distance between us and the Revvers as possible, as quickly as possible.
None of us could move with the same intensity as we had yesterday and last night. The adrenaline was fading with our exhaustion growing. But even with that, it soon became clear that Dougal was struggling to move at all, regardless of intensity.
With his sallow cheeks, his sunken gray eyes looked too large for his face. He’d always been the slenderer of the two brothers, but it progressed to emaciation. He was drowning in the baggy layers of clothing, despite the summer temperatures leaving the rest of us in tank tops and short sleeves.
Over breakfast – where Dougal only had warm water lightly flavored with dried venison – Edie had gone through the medicine she’d heisted from the Wellness Center back at Fort Lately.
All of it was helpful, but she had been disappointed to find the Revvers had stocked the medicine cabinets with bandages, herbs, and crystals, but they were remarkably short on things like antibiotics, antineoplastics, and sedatives.
She had done all she could with what she had, but it was clear by the worry in her eyes that it hadn’t nearly been enough.
After he’d consumed the herbs and used the ointments, Dougal drank water, and he laid down and took another nap in the sun. Even with a flannel shirt, a sweater, and his bedroll, he still shivered underneath, so Fergus added his own bedroll, draping it over his brother.
“We should really get moving,” Boden said as afternoon approached, and his worried gaze was to the east, back where the Revvers might still follow us.
They had definitely been hampered by the Loved Ones and the loss of Nell, but all they needed was one or two guards hellbent on revenge with a horse and a firearm. How long would it take them to find us, especially if they decided to follow the river?
“Could we give it just a small while more?” Fergus entreated. He glanced imploringly between his still sleeping brother and Boden.
“If I thought he would wake up fully rested and ready to go,
I’d give him another hour. Hell, I’d give him another five hours. But…” Boden exhaled roughly and lowered his voice, even though Dougal was snoring softly and couldn’t hear him. “I don’t think he’s going to feel better any time soon.”
“What would you have me do?” Fergus asked. “Walk away from my only brother, is that it?”
“No,” Edie said, answering definitively before Boden could.
She’d been sitting on a fallen log beside me, where both of us had been playing with Fae in between upkeep.
I mended some of Fae’s clothing that was tattered, while Edie was making cordage out of cedar bark.
But as the conversation between Fergus and Boden had grown more heated, Edie had set aside her things.
“We don’t have to leave Dougal behind,” she continued, getting to her feet. “But we need to move quickly. So, we have to figure out how we can bring Dougal along with us.”
“You’re thinking about a stretcher?” Boden asked, and he motioned to the rope she’d made. “Is that what the cordage is for?”
Edie nodded. “It won’t be easy through the trees and over the foothills, but it’s the only way we’re getting him out of here.”
Relief washed over Fergus’s face, and he gave himself a forehead slap. “Why didn’t that cross my mind?”
“You’ve been too busy worrying to think straight,” Edie told him with an understanding smile. “If we’ve got enough cordage, all we need is a couple sturdy saplings that we can lash together, with a tarp for the cot.”
“Come on then, no sense in standing around,” Fergus said, and his attention was already turned to scouting out the trees around us for a suitable sapling.
Everyone scrambled to get to it, with Leandro and I following the others’ instructions since we’d never made a stretcher before. Dougal slept for a while longer, but he woke up when Boden took an axe to a sapling a few meters away.
“There’s no need for all this carry-on,” Dougal said when Fergus explained the plan to him. “If I’m of no use, just leave me where I am.”
“We’re not leaving you, and that’s the end of it,” Fergus replied, undeterred. “Rest up a bit, and you’ll be on your legs soon enough.”
“There’s no reason for us to lose another person, if we can help it,” Leandro added.
Dougal continued to protest a bit more, but honestly, he sounded too weak and tired for much conviction.
Still, while the rest of us worked to assemble the makeshift stretcher, I kept an eye on Dougal. He looked pale and clammy, a sheen of sweat gathering on his brow.
Within an hour, the stretcher was complete, and sturdy enough to hold Fergus’s weight.
The plan was for two of us – one at the head, the other at the foot – to carry him across the uneven terrain.
We would be moving much slower that way, but it was better than not moving at all or leaving anyone behind.
“You’ve made it up grand for me,” Dougal said once he settled back into the stretcher.
The base was made of a canvas tarp, and Edie had put some moss and leaves under a bed roll for added comfort.
“I appreciate it all, folks, but you didn’t need to go through all that bother. I’ll be moving on my own soon enough.”
We all agreed it was no trouble, and that he would be well again soon, and then we moved on. We had far to go.