Lovers in the Woods (9 page)

Ray held his stare. “You made yourself
suspicious. You know that.”

“Maybe.”

“You did. And everyone jumped on it.”

He took a deep breath.

“To be honest, I didn’t trust the police to
handle these people. And who knows if you can trust the police at
all?”

“Yes, I know about the reputation of some
officers. Still, how did you know?”

“
Memo?” Sajitar smiled broadly when she
grimaced. He put some pressure on Tessla’s flanks and the mare fell
into a trot. “Come on, Ray, there’s a lot of ground to cover and
you don’t want to lose my tracks, do you?”

“
Why don’t we go over there, Saji? The path
looks much easier. Considering that it’s the first path I’ve seen
in these damned woods, anyway.”

Rayenne pulled weeds and sticks out of her
hair that she had collected during the ride until early afternoon.
If possible, the woods became denser with every half mile they
crossed, and she longed for a wide open path that would allow her
to sit straight in her saddle and not huddle over the withers all
the time to avoid being pushed off. Her back ached and she flinched
as she straightened up. Her gelding followed the soft pull and
moved toward the open space, snorting happily at the warmth of the
sun-splashed place. There was little grass to feed upon and he
seemed to smell some fodder on the other side.

“A path?” Sajitar stopped Tessla and turned
in the saddle, grimacing at the sharp pain in his side. “There is
no path. Wait!” He turned his B-horse one-handed. “Wait! No!”

Rayenne had reached the rim of the sandy
ground and smiled at the sun she had not seen for two long days.
The sunrays felt wonderful on her face and she willingly ignored
Sajitar’s cries as her B-horse moved on.

Suddenly, Bunty’s foreparts sank into the
soft ground. He tried to rear and sit on his hind-quarters, shaking
his head.

“Get off!” Sajitar shouted.

Rayenne complied quickly, keeping the reins
and watching the hooves sink deeper.

“What’s happening?”

“
That’s no sand!” Sajitar was beside her to
wind a long rope in sling around Bunty’s neck. “Help pull!
Quick!”

Rayenne put her heels in the ground for a
better stand and pulled. Sajitar urged Tessla backwards. Still,
Bunty’s two hooves were embedded in the sand up to the first
joint.

“What the hell is that?”

“It’s alive!”

“What?”

“A beast. The whole place…just one single
beast!”

“
I’ll be damned!” She pulled the harder,
imagining Bunty being eaten alive from the hooves up. “Come on,
Bunty, get a grip!”

The gelding’s hind muscles tensed as he
tried to help himself, whinnying pitifully. Tessla snorted as she
retreated to a trunk, where Sajitar wound the rope around to have a
steadier position. Together they developed enough strength to pull
Bunty free. The gelding’s hooves suddenly popped out of the beast’s
tight grip. Rayenne sat on her behind, panting, but happy. From her
place she inspected her fidgeting mount, still with the image of
her B-horse becoming a monster’s snack. There were runnels in the
hard hooves that made her shiver.

“I can’t say if he’s hurt. He truly moves
like it.”

Sajitar was beside her to calm down the
B-horse and help her up with his free hand.

“What about you?”

“I’m okay. Hold
him for a moment. I have to check.” She caressed the gelding’s neck
until he lowered his head against her shoulder, puffing out air.
“Good boy, you are really tough when it comes to it.” Gently, she
felt along his right leg and lifted the hoof. “The monster nibbled
at him, but there’s no blood. I suppose it’ll mend with the growth
of the hoof.”

“Good.”

She took the reins and smiled ruefully.
Her heartbeat was still racing. “Two more steps and we’d be done
for.” She stood on tiptoe to kiss his bearded cheek. “Thank
you.”

He swallowed and looked away.
“You’re welcome.” He turned around to find a thick dark red fruit
he weighed in his hand. “Watch.” He threw the fruit in the center
of the open space. For a moment it lay there and Rayenne was about
to say
that
it’s always the show effect that ruins the demonstration
when the fruit was
covered by a small wave in the sand. The fruit vanished and the
ground smoothed out, as if caressed by a warm hand.

Rayenne shivered.

“Never trust open space in dense woods,”
Sajitar said beside her. “There’s a reason why there’re no trees
around.”

“And no animal to search for fodder. What
kind of beast is this?”

“
It doesn’t have a name.
Maybe the scientist died asking for it. Call it a
sand monster,
if you like. It fits
pretty well.” His face still showed strain. “It lures animals to
its home like a spider does with its net. The sun hits the ground,
and for most animals that’s a great reason to come into the
open.”

“And then they get eaten alive?”

“I never asked.” He went to fetch his mount
and asked Rayenne with a glance to help him up. When they both sat
in the saddle again, he hit the B-horse’s flanks with his heels and
urged Tessla on, back into the dark and ominous woods. “There’s
much to learn, hmm?”

“
No need telling me.” She shuddered again
when she thought about being eaten alive, the horse first and
herself second, without a chance to be saved. “And now what?
Shunning the open till we reach the outskirts of the
city?”

“You ask too many questions.”

“Police habit.”

“Did you want to kiss me this morning?”

Rayenne swallowed sharply.
“Pardon?”

Sajitar bent backwards to avoid being pushed
off the horse by a large branch that whipped over Tessla’s head.
Rayenne smiled and hoped the distraction would last, but Sajitar
stopped his B-horse and looked straight at her.

“
Be honest. I felt your
presence. There was something… I sensed you getting closer to me.
Much closer, that is, than the
thank-you-kiss
you gave me.”

“I was about to wake you up, but that wasn’t
necessary.”

He lowered his head.

“
For a police woman, you lie pretty
badly.”

“That’s an insinuation, Saji, one that I
don’t like.”

“Take it as a
compliment, then. I think you wanted to kiss me just to know that
I’m okay.”

“Of course I…” She closed her mouth,
realizing that the sentence would convince him even more of his
assumption. Exhaling, she urged Bunty to step around the large
branch and pull in behind Tessla. She wanted to be grumpy with
Sajitar, but it had been her fault. Getting close to a suspect was
a mistake. As it always was a mistake to become personally involved
in a case.

“Say it.”

There was that look in his eyes, only a part
of it amusement, that took her breath away. Her heart beat faster.
Reason told her to just nod and be over with it.

“I checked if you were okay, Saji. That’s
all.”

“I’m already out in the open, Ray, you just
have to come.”

He turned back and left her cursing over low
branches and the mischance of this journey.

* * * *

Sajitar
pointed toward a
small pond that had been hidden from sight until they almost
stumbled into the marshlands at its rim. Tall trees with wide
tree-tops cast long shadows across the quiescent surface. The sun
was setting, touching the place with an exotic beauty. Much was
hidden from sight and he wanted to figure out what waited for
them.

The image of a large Horlyn came like a
rising wave to his mind. He flinched and held still, eyes shut
tight, teeth clenched. The Horlyn in his vision, bathed in colors
of dark red and orange, moved cautiously, silently, until a large
track vehicle appeared, rumbling across the uneven terrain. Two men
stood in the center cabin, holding their weapons at aiming
position. The Horlyn pivoted, but Sajitar could still see the men.
They pointed toward the beast and shot. Shrieking in pain and
terror, the Horlyn and some other, much smaller animals fled
between slim trees, leaving its cursing pursuers behind, as the
vehicle couldn’t drive on.

Sajitar felt its pain as if it were his
own.

“Are you all right?”

Moaning, Sajitar opened his eyes again. He
hung on Tessla’s withers, hugging himself as if he were cold. His
body quivered and he couldn’t speak. Rayenne’s worried face was
immediately in front of him. She touched his forehead and then his
cheek gently.

“What happened? You almost fell off. Did
anything hit you?”

Just the memory of a
Horlyn,
he
wanted to say, but the words didn’t leave his dry lips. He watched
Ray dismount and come around his B-horse to help him down. He knew
he would fall before his numb feet hit the ground. He sat hard on
his butt, grimacing.

“I didn’t see any beast around. Are you
hurt?”

“No.” The word came out as a harsh whisper.
He had never before experienced such a vivid image. Breathless, he
tried to unclasp his arms. “Water.”

Rayenne hurried to oblige. After a few sips
from the waterskin Sajitar felt the numbness abate.

“Tell me what happened.”

“There’s…”

“Don’t say there’s nothing to tell. You’re
whiter than Helan-Sek marble.” She caressed his face and the worry
did not leave her eyes. “Please, Saji, did you see anything?”

“
See?” He exhaled, still clinging to the
waterskin as if it were his only connection to the real world. “If
I told you, you’d put me in an asylum and not a court.”

“
You suddenly cried out as if something
attacked you. Then you sank on Tessla. I thought that the bullet
maybe…”

“It got nothing to do with the bullet.” He
closed his eyes for a moment. “The pain’s in my head, not my
belly.”

“A headache of sorts?”

“I don’t know if I’m going mad on this trip.
I’ve never been here for so long.”

Rayenne took a deep breath. Still her voice
sounded sharp.

“Saji, we’re together on this journey, don’t
forget that. If you tell me what’s happening to you, I might
help.”

He looked up to her. “Take away the visions?
I doubt it.”

“You get visions? Of what? Why?”

“Of beasts. Of these woods. Of men fighting.”
He shook his head and regretted the movement. The pain was an axe
trying to hack a way out of his skull. “I don’t understand anything
of it or why these images haunt me. Get me my flagon, please.”

She stood to fetch it for him. “Does it
have to do with being in these woods? I mean, do you only have
these images when you travel here?”

“Yes. That’s why I’ve never stayed for months
or longer. I don’t want to become a part of these woods. Not in any
way.”

Rayenne opened the flagon. “And now these
visions are back. And there’s no way to…avoid them?”

Sajitar smiled wearily and drank. “Thanks.
Do you think I’d keep them if I knew how to avoid them?”

“Right.” She bit her lower lip. “I got a
headache of sorts the same moment you almost fell. Does that mean
that it’ll get worse for me, too?”

“No.” He swallowed and tried for a smile.
“It’s just a side effect. I am the one getting the full doses, if
you want to put it like that.”

“And I?”

“
You might have nightmares or a headache or
sudden fright.” He wet his lips and wiggled his brow. “With me at
your side… You’ll be okay.”

“Do you think you can ride on?”

He took another swig of the sweet wine that
went smoothly down to his belly. He felt better already. When he
looked around, he decided to stay on the ground.

“No. We pitch camp here for tonight.” He let
her help him up, but when he stood he suddenly doubled over. “Oh,
god, that’s the pain in the side I missed for so long.”

“The bullet’s moving around.” Rayenne cursed
under her breath. “Come, let me help you lie down. I’ll pitch our
tent.”

“We…we need to hunt. There’s not much left of
our supplies.” He grimaced as he curled on the ground. “The lake’s
perfect for…”

“Fish?” she prompted.

“There’s a fishing-tackle in my saddlebag.
Try and…” He moaned, closing his eyes. “Let me rest for a
while.”

“I’ll take care of you,” she said and quickly
avoided his astonished glance.

* * * *

Birds
flew up on the other
shore, whistling their family tune while they gained height. She
shaded her eyes to watch their flight, smiling while she thought of
better times. Sitting at the pond, the fishing-tackle in the water,
she felt the good memories come back to her, memories long before
she had left her family home to become a police officer.

Her father had taken the family on long trips
through bush land and swamps, teaching his kids everything they
needed to know to survive. Rayenne had learned how to fix a fishing
rod, create a hook if none was handy and light a fire by using
fire-stones or any other material that would create a spark. Her
mother had taken care of their camp, always busy, and always
cheerful. Rayenne could not remember a day when her mother had been
grumpy or angry with one of her kids. Looking back, Rayenne
cherished her childhood as one stream of happy events. Maybe that
was why she had refused to become a part of the famous Whiteclaw
Corporation. Choosing a career in the police had sounded more
demanding and more promising than staying amid a group of cheerful
and successful partners who shared everything and knew everything
about each other. Her father had objected sharply and started a
long ramble about family honor and obligations. To him, leaving the
family had been an act of betrayal. Her mother, listening to the
conversation, had simply added that there was no way to become
unhappy if the way had been chosen for the right cause. With these
simple words she had effectively ended the rambling and Rayenne had
left the family home with her parents’ blessing.