Stars Across Time (14 page)

Theron grabbed ropes and reins, gathering five horses, the most he figured he could lead away, given that they didn’t know him and he would be weaving through the trees. It was enough for the women to have mounts on today’s trek, so long as they escaped the raiders and there
was
a trek.

He rode back as quickly as possible, staying near the highway but not riding on it. Even if the raiders weren’t likely to have turned back so soon, he couldn’t risk being spotted. Still, when gunshots fired in the distance, he gave up on the idea of stealth. Those shots sounded like they were coming from the cabin. Damn Bedene. Had he truly lingered over his breakfast instead of getting on the trail?

Theron veered onto a dried creek bed that should cut across the highway. The growing cacophony of shots made him urge his mount to greater speed. War whoops drifted on the breeze, as well, proof of the raiders’ involvement. The screams sent tendrils of dread through his heart, and he let go of the other horses, no longer caring if they followed him or not. The entire camp sounded like it was at war, and if he didn’t get there soon enough, everyone he cared about might be dead.

He came out on the highway, kneeing the horse to greater speed, its shoeless hooves thudding on the uneven pavement. After less than a quarter of a mile, a rider came into view ahead of him, one of the raiders. Gripping the horse with his knees, Theron lifted his rifle with one arm. He had decided to shoot instead of hiding when an old army truck rolled onto the highway. A dozen more horses flanked it, firing bows and arrows at the rusty vehicle.

Changing his mind, Theron veered toward the woods. The truck and riders were racing in his direction. His horse whinnied, either alarmed by the vehicle roaring toward them or excited to see its buddies. Theron struggled to pull it into the trees, though he didn’t move far from the highway. He squinted through the truck’s cracked windshield, trying to see the driver. Neither Bedene nor any of the men had spoken of having a vehicle, but was it possible it had been stashed in one of those out buildings? If so, did that mean the men and the women were in the back, even now about to drive past him? And did that mean Bedene had sent him off on a fool’s errand? Theron clenched his jaw, tempted to take a shot at the driver as that truck sped toward him.

Instead, he turned his horse, a crazy notion forming in his mind. Even though more than a dozen raiders were following the truck, trying to keep pace as it raced down the highway, maybe he could ride out there and keep up for long enough to jump onto the moving vehicle.

A shriek came from the bushes behind Theron. His horse jerked, and he ducked his head, catching movement out of the corner of his eye. A throwing star sped past, almost cutting a furrow through his scalp. With one hand on the reins, trying to keep his mount from fleeing, Theron angled his rifle into the brush. He fired toward the shivering foliage, then leaped from the horse, afraid he hadn’t struck his attacker.

A wild-eyed man ran out, waving an axe and holding a second throwing star in his hand. Theron fired at the same time as the raider hurled the projectile. He dodged, but the icy metal prongs bit into his shoulder as the star skimmed past. His bullet took his attacker in the chest, but still the raider ran toward Theron, raising his axe overhead. Blood was already streaking down his arm from where the first shot had grazed him. Theron blocked the axe strike with his rifle, then slammed the butt of the weapon into the man’s gut. Finally, his foe stumbled and fell to the ground. Even so, he tried to rise several more times before flopping over onto his back.

Watching him, not trusting the dying man not to whip out one more throwing star, Theron reloaded his rifle. The craziness and hatred in the eyes that stared up at him chilled him. There was pain in them, as well, and fear, but not a lot of sanity. Like many from the civilized part of the country, Theron had wondered more than once if such a lack of lucidity could affect him if he were stuck out in those wild lands. Knowing the wounds were fatal, Theron took the time to end the man’s pain before running to the highway.

By now, the truck was only a smudge in the distance. It rolled around a bend and disappeared from sight. Theron closed his eyes for a moment, his chin dropping to his chest. He had missed his chance. With a vehicle, even on the poor road, Andie and the others would be out of the mountains in less than an hour, on their way to some slavers’ marketplace. A marketplace he had been charged with locating. Yet, he had failed. Why hadn’t he simply dragged Bedene aside and interrogated him for that information?

Theron spun, slamming his palm against the closest tree. His odds of finding Andie or any of the other women now were almost zero.

“No,” he growled, spotting the horse a few dozen meters away. He would follow them. He
would
find them.

• • • • •

“Andie?” came Min-ji’s voice from the front of the cargo bed. There was uncertainty and pain in those two syllables.

Andie tore her gaze from the highway behind them, where rain had started to fall, spattering off the broken pavement. It wasn’t as if there was anything back there to see, aside from dense green foliage choking the road. The raiders had fallen behind and wherever Theron was, he was far behind too.

“Are you all right?” Andie asked.

The men who had flung themselves onto the floor of the truck bed had risen, most of them sitting on the benches lining the sides or sitting on the floor and leaning against them. The other women were huddled across the front, their legs curled up to their chests as they doubtlessly wondered if they had been saved from one horrible fate only to be delivered to another. Min-ji’s legs weren’t curled up. One stuck out in front of her, and blood dripped down the side of her bare calf.

“Sort of,” Min-ji said. “How are your first-aid skills?”

“Passable if I have a first-aid kit.” Andie glanced at some of the men as she made her way up the cargo bed, the truck bumping and jerking from side to side on the uneven road. “Anyone have any bandages?”

Some of the kidnappers had lost their packs in the chaos, but a few had made it into the truck with gear other than weapons. At first, nobody answered her, but Min-ji looked around with her eyes large, pained, and imploring. It was a hard expression to ignore.

“You can use my bandages if you patch me up afterward,” one man said, pushing a pack toward Andie. He jerked his chin toward his bloodstained sleeve.

It was hard to tell with his shirt on, but Andie thought he might have a bullet embedded in his arm. That went beyond the basic medic training she had, and she couldn’t imagine removing it while in the truck. She wasn’t qualified to remove it on the ground, either.

“At the least, I can bandage you,” she said.

He grunted and nodded. The first-aid kit, a metal box with rusty hinges, was stamped with Cascadian Alliance Army. Andie wondered if he had bought it or stolen it. Did they have army surplus stores in this century? Who knew? She spotted a miniature injector gun with a couple of doses of a sedative and wondered if she might palm those to use later. The problem was that she didn’t know where she might stick the items. She couldn’t possibly tie anything else to her thighs. The next time she had to wear a man’s shirt for her sole article of clothing, she would request one with pockets.

Andie sat down beside Min-ji.

“Was that what made you fall earlier?” she asked, examining the deep gash in the side of Min-ji’s calf, an inch above her ankle. The joint was swelling, too, so she might have twisted it when she fell. “I wondered why you tripped when you were standing still.”

“As you know, I
am
talented enough to do that,” Min-ji said, her eyes tight, though she managed a quick smile, “but this time, I think someone’s stray arrow got me.”

“At least it didn’t stick in there.” Andie found a small bottle labeled antiseptic and doused the cut liberally. Min-ji gasped with pain, but Andie was thorough, not wanting to risk an infection. She had no idea what the medical facilities were like in this time period, but nothing she had seen thus far told her to hope for state-of-the-art operating rooms or state-of-the-art antibiotics, either. Besides, these louts weren’t likely to drive them to a hospital. “I wouldn’t want to try and remove an arrowhead.”

“I wouldn’t want you to, either. I’ve seen you with chopsticks.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Andie fell silent as she bandaged the wound. Though the threat of infection was real, especially out here in the wilderness without access to soap and water, she was more worried about her friend’s swollen ankle than the cut. Escaping would have been hard enough with all of them healthy, but what if Min-ji’s injury kept her from walking? Andie feared she had missed her chance back at the cabin. Maybe it would have been foolish to run into the woods with all of those raiders in the area, but if they had sprinted off then, they might have disappeared in the chaos.
And
she could have potentially reunited with Theron. As a scout and a talented fighter, he might have had the knowledge and skill to keep them from being found by the raiders.

“Andie?” Min-ji said softly, her voice barely audible over the creaks and groans of the jostling truck. “If you get the chance...” She nodded toward the back of the vehicle. “Don’t worry about me. Just go.”

Andie must have been wearing her thoughts on her face for Min-ji to have guessed. “Thank you, but that’s not going to happen. Who’s going to tutor me if you stay in the future?”

Min-ji’s smile was bleak this time.

“This isn’t that bad.” Andie patted her on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine by tomorrow.” Maybe.

“Over here, woman,” the kidnapper who had let her use the first-aid kit said. “I want to be fine by tomorrow too.” He patted the hard wooden slats of the seat next to him.

Andie made her way past other men, her jaw tightening when someone swatted her on the butt and said, “Good girl,” on her way by. She contemplated a kick to his family jewels, but given how much the truck was bumping around, she would probably fall over if she tried. She felt a touch gun-shy, too, knowing she didn’t have Theron around to watch her back anymore.

“We’ll get her domesticated yet,” someone said when Andie sat on the bench next to the injured man, tugging her shirt down so none of her improvised weapons would be visible. She was relieved none of them had fallen out during her sprint for the truck, though once again, she felt a surge of disappointment that she had missed the chance to use them earlier.

“Not sure about that,” another man said. “Her hands are free again. Don’t we keep tying her?”

Despite the question, nobody approached her with a rope. Someone
did
approach her with a cut. Apparently, she had been designated the nurse. She handed out a couple of bandages, then spent the next fifteen minutes stopping the first man’s bleeding. He did have a bullet lodged in there, but she couldn’t do anything about it here. She bandaged him and was putting away his kit when the truck slowed down and turned, gravel crunching under the tires.

“Where are we going?” Andie asked, feeling like she should have gathered more intelligence by now.

“Where you’ll fetch a high price,” one kidnapper said, winking at her.

“I guess that means you don’t know. What would you have done if Bedene got shot back there?”

The wink turned into a scowl. “We know enough.”

Andie raised her brows in a silent challenge, hoping he would feel the need to prove it.

“Avoiding the border guards,” another man said.

“Border guards?” Barbara muttered from her corner of the truck.

The idea of a border between Snoqualmie Pass and Seattle
was
a strange notion.

“Who guards the border?” she asked. “The army?”

“Yup.”

“And they don’t like women being sold against their wishes?”

“Some of them don’t. Others don’t care. Others probably got their wives that way.” That elicited a few snickers from the men.

Andie recalled Theron’s shock when he saw his general walk into that cave. If Andie showed up at his fort, would the soldiers there truly help her get home? Or would they simply put her to work in some capacity? Who would even believe she and the others had come from the past? She doubted the time machines were widely known about.

Theron knew the truth, she reminded herself. Assuming he survived walking through raider-infested territory, he would make his way home eventually. If she waited for him there, she could remind him of his promise to help her.

Her original plan had been to return to that cave, but that had been before they had hopped into a truck. Unless she could steal the vehicle, it would be a long walk back to that part of the mountains. By the time Bedene stopped, the group might be closer to the fort than to the cave, if it wasn’t already. She supposed she should find out where the army headquarters were and if there was more than one fort—if she did make that her new target, she needed to make sure she got to the one where Theron was stationed.

“Why do they bother guarding this side of Puget Sound?” Andie asked, almost biting her tongue as the truck pitched into a pothole the size of Africa. “Didn’t I hear that their fort is over on the Olympic Peninsula?” Theron had said something about a peninsula, anyway.

“Puget
Sound
?” one of the kidnappers scratched his head. “You mean the sea?”

“Uh, I guess.”

The name must have changed in the passing centuries. If she had been riding up front, instead of back here, the city might have come into sight by now, with the waterway stretching beyond it, but the back of the truck didn’t offer much of a view. She hadn’t seen any buildings or gas stations along the highway, though, so she wondered how much of the familiar remained.

The truck rolled to a stop before she got an answer to her question.

“Everyone out,” came Bedene’s order after a moment. “Time to go swimming.”

As the others climbed out, Andie lingered in the back to help Min-ji to her feet.

“Swimming,” Min-ji said. “I was worried I wouldn’t be able to keep up if we walked anywhere. Swimming sounds promising.”