Red Leaves and the Living Token (26 page)

“Lets not get ahead of ourselves.” The officer said, then motioned for Rinacht to return to the transport. Two large Petra soldiers stepped up behind him and gestured in the direction of the transport.

They still didn’t trust him. He thought. But then he couldn’t blame them. Not after what he’d done.

-

Emret lay face down in the forest, waiting. He had no idea how much time had passed, but it seemed like an eternity. He couldn't see what was happening, nor could he hear anything useful. The Petra soldiers standing over him weren’t talking. He didn't understand what they were waiting for. He'd rather get it over with, what ever it was going to be. But waiting. It made it so much worse.

And then they told him to stop talking. Who did they think they were? Suddenly, he doesn’t have the right to talk? It's not like it would make any difference anyway. They weren't answering any of his questions. They wouldn't tell him why the Botanns got to go somewhere else while he and Moslin had to stay. They wouldn't tell him what they were looking for when they made him and Moslin stand up and empty their clothes.

He had tried to keep the shining token tucked away in case that wasn't what they were looking for. If they saw it, he was sure they'd want it, so it was best to keep it out of sight, he thought. But they found it anyway and wouldn’t tell him what they wanted it for or what they were going to do with it.

A new Petra voice, loud and bossy, brought Emret out of his thoughts. Gauging by the way he was talking to the others, he was probably somebody important. That was a good sign. Maybe they’d get things moving, he thought.

After a loud discussion with some other Petra, he could hear the bossy one coming towards them. To Emret’s surprise, the man suddenly dropped down on his knee, so Emret could see his face.

"I apologize for the rough treatment,” He said. “There must have been some kind of misunderstanding." Then Emret felt himself moving. Strong hands had lifted him up from behind and set him on his feet.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw an enormous mass of stone working to untie the knots on his wrists. "Thank you." He said. Another helped Moslin to her feet a little ways off.

This new man asked the Petra that were guarding him a few questions about the Token. They told him how they had found it tucked away under his clothes. It was weird hearing people talk about him when he was standing right there.

And he couldn’t believe they just took it. Big stupid rocks! It wasn't there's! It took a lot of work to find, and he and Moslin took a lot of risk coming up into the mountains. And they just take it? That wasn’t right. He told them that when they took it, but they just ignored him. Typical adults. Just because he’s a kid, nothing he says matters, right? He bet they’d listen to Moslin’s explanations. If she offered any. So far she’d hardly said anything.

"Lets get you both a warm meal and a comfortable place to stay for the night. Its getting rather late. We can make further arrangements in the morning if you don't mind."

"Sir, do you think I could have my little tree back now?" Emret asked the important man with as much of a pitiful look as he could make. Sick, helpless kid, was the only thing he had going for him.

The bossy Petra chuckled. “You don’t have to call me sir. My name’s Commander Paklin. I'll see what we can do. Maybe we can talk more about it after you've had a nice meal." He walked beside Emret, escorting him towards a group of soldiers who were waiting for them a little further down the sloped forest. "It’s truly a remarkable thing, you know. How did you come into possession of it, if you don't mind my asking?

Emret was reluctant to explain. He was shown were to find it by an imaginary tree. Certainly, that gave him more right to it than simply being the one who found it lying in the forest. He was guided to it. He was supposed to have it. How could he explain that to this man? It wasn't just something he found. It was something he was meant to find. Yet if he told the man that, there’s no way he’d believe him. But then if he lied, it may not sound like he had much of a right to keep it.

Perhaps he could give only some of the details. "I was told where to find it by someone trying to help me." He said, still making his pitiful face.

That seemed to work. The Commander raised his eyebrows. "That's really interesting. It must be pretty important to you then," he said.

"It is! I wouldn't be up here if it wasn't." Emret pointed at his wheel chair. “Not exactly easy to get around.”

"No I supposed you wouldn't. I wouldn’t want to be pushing around up here in a wheel chair either. You seem to know much more about this than I do. Maybe you could help me understand. Why did you need to find it? You said someone was helping you? What is it that you need help with?"

"Oh, well...” He liked that he looked sick and pitiful and maybe he could use that. But what he didn’t like was actually talking about being sick. It reminded him that he was actually sick instead of just an act to get people to do what he wanted. "I got sick a little while ago. I need help to get better."

"I'm sorry to hear that, young man. I hope you do get better. If there anything we can do to help you, let us know.”

“Well, you could give me the tree back.” Emret said boldly.

“The tree's going to help you get better?”

“Well, that's why we're here.” Emret answered.

“That's remarkable. How will it do that?” The commander asked. Then he reached into his front pocket and removed a small bundle. He unwrapped it and held it down where Emret could see it.

Emret’s eyes lit up. It was his tree carving. He reached up for it, and as he did, it started to glow. The tall grass around his feet started to react, to bend into the shape of a path extending out in front of him.

The Commander’s face went wide as he noticed the grass moving in front of him. “How?” He stepped back in a jerk reaction.

Emret pulled his hand back. Great, he thought. How was he going to explain that? How was he going to explain any of the rest of it? Where the little tree was taking him, why he thought he would be healed when he got there. "Its sorta taking us to a place that can make me better." He tried to explain.

The Commander recomposed himself, masking his previous wonderment. "So someone told you that this little tree was up here on the mountain. And you came up here to find it because it's going to take you someplace to make you better?"

Emret nodded.

"How did you know it would do that? Did this friend that sent you tell you that?"

He supposed that would be right. He saw himself being healed during his episode in the Red's plaza. Red Leaves, he could say, told him where to find the token. The rest he just kind of figured out. He nodded again.

“This friend sounds like a really great person.” The commander said. Then he leaned in closer as if he was going to tell him a secret. "You know, I don't tell many people this, but I have a little sister who's taken ill herself. I've been trying to help her, but I didn't know what to do. Do you think, maybe your friend might help her too? Could she meet him?

Well that made things tricky. He didn't know if the man was lying. He was making the face that adults make when they’re talking to kids and think the kids are idiots. But then maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe he did know someone who needed help like he did.

"Maybe I could help her when I find what I'm supposed to find." He offered.

The man smiled. "OK. Well lets get you to bed. And maybe you could tell me more about your friend tomorrow."

He was glad the conversation was over. He did know how much longer he could keep it up.

-

Handers ran along the edge of the plaza keeping out of the light. He hoped Lord Valance and his entourage had moved on despite missing two of their soldiers. That was probably just wishful thinking though. So he planned on finding another way out of the village.

He stopped abruptly. Someone was crossing the lighted center of the plaza. Someone else, it seemed, had business at this ungodly hour and didn't mind being noticed.

They had covered themselves in a heavy cloak, apparently trying to make themselves look bigger. A child? It was a child, he was sure of it. Why would a child be out alone in the middle of the night?

He watched them hurry back to the door of the inn that he'd just left. Sinesh? It had to be. She must have followed after him when he left to warn Bedic. He decided to risk exposure and called out, "Sinesh!"

The cloak stopped and turned towards the darkness that was he was hiding in. Two little green hands pulled the hood of the cloak down. He was right! It was her!

He stepped out of the darkness and rushed towards her. "I told you to stay in the room!"

She frowned at him. "Where's my Grandpa?"

"I don't know." He scolded in an angry whisper.

"But I saw you with him." She pointed past the night gate. "Before those people came."

"Good grief, you know how to get in the middle of trouble. Did anybody see you?"

"No." She answered.

"Good." He said. "Did you see them leave? Did any of them stay behind?"

"I don't think so." She said.

He knelt down and put his face at her level. "Listen, you're Grandpa is fine. They just wanted his help to find the Token."

She shook her head. "No." She turned towards the mountains beyond the night gate. "They were hurting him. Because I helped him run away. They were punishing him."

Handers felt a sudden knot of guilt welling up. Bedic had helped him twice now, and still he was reluctant to rush into the mountains to help him. He imagined that he was the reason that Valance was interested in Bedic in the first place. Valance must have been watching him when he visited Bedic’s church.

"Do you have any family here?" He asked her. Surely he couldn't drag this little child up into what was sure to become a dangerous situation. But who could he leave her with in the middle of the night?

"No.” She answered.

Then again, maybe he was just looking for reasons not to go. Either way this was bad.

"Lets go look for your Grandpa." He said.

She reached up and took his hand. "OK."

-

Handers hurried up the mountain road caring Sinesh in his blackened arm. He slowed at each switchback to check up ahead. He didn't think they'd catch up to them for quite a while. But it didn’t hurt to be cautious.

A half hour up the winding steep road, he froze. His heart started pounding in his chest. Above them, through the trees, a single torch light made a swipe in the air then vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"Shhhh!" He whispered. "There's someone up there."

He knew they couldn't keep going up the road without being spotted. So what did they do now? Should they hide somewhere a little further down and wait for morning? What if it wasn't Valance and they waste the night waiting?

They had to get a closer look to confirm what it was they were dealing with. Bedic needed them now. If they waited out the night, they might loose him. He knew this, yet he couldn’t seem to convince his body to move forward. He heart was still pounding.

Sinesh squirmed out of his arms. "Let’s go look." She put her fingers to her lips. "Shhhh!"

She was braver than he. And that, as he thought about it, was a little shameful. He was being led through a dark forest, in the middle of the night, towards what was most likely a source of extreme danger, by a 6 year old girl.

He shook his head and stepped past her, taking the lead. They covered the distance quickly and, to his surprise, rather silently. When they had gotten pretty close to where he thought he saw the light, he reached his hand out to stop Sinesh.

A flash of lightning from the storm still raging at the top of the mountain lit the mountain side for a brief moment revealing one of Lord Valance's shiny black carriages about a dozen yards in front of them.

Beyond it there was a small collection of tents. There were no fires, no lamps, no torches. Everything was dark and quiet. Apparently they were intent on not being noticed.

There was a pretty decent chance that Bedic was in that camp. He had to think of what to do now. He hadn't really formulated much of a plan. Perhaps he should take a minute and think this out, he thought. Should they wait for morning, so they could see where he was? But then they’d be easily spotted as well.

He glanced over at Sinesh. The thought actually crossed his mind to ask the six year old if she had any ideas. But to his horror, she was gone.

"Sinesh!" He whispered. Wow, this little girl was so much trouble! Then he spotted her as she snuck under the carriage. He knew bringing her up her was going to be a mistake. What was he going to do now? Follow her. Again?

He hurried through the bushes and then pushed up against the carriage that she had crawled under. He dropped down to look under it, but she wasn’t there. She had already moved on. He got up and crept around the side. There she was! She was peering in the back of another carriage. She hoped down from the bumper of one and then climbed up on the bumper another, peering in quickly before jumping down again..

He shook his head. She had no idea what would happen if she actually got caught. He convinced himself that that was the source of her courage. If she knew what he knew, she’d be just as immobilized.

Two soldiers came around from behind the tents, walking around the perimeter. He was too far away to call out to her to warn her. But then, it didn't look like he needed to.

She saw them as she climbed down from one of the carriages and quickly tucked herself underneath as they passed.

Handers stood up. What was she doing now? She had crawled out after they'd passed and was following them! Why? This wasn't going to end well for either of them, he was sure of it.