remind me a lot of myself when I was your age. Every kid
wants to prove himself. The problem is that most of them take
unnecessary risks. Don’t be like that. This mission has enough
risks as it is. Don’t go looking for more.”
We were almost back to the school where we’d left the
wheelchair and crutches. The search for Chane seemed to be waning,
and fewer people ambled around looking for her.
Right as we passed under the pole that held the speaker for
the civil service siren, its deafening blare sounded and spooked
Fred. She startled away to the right so
quickly, it threw me sliding to the left. Thankfully Sawyer swung
his arm around and kept me from being tossed over the side like last
week’s laundry.
There were only two reasons for that siren to be going off—bad
weather or Scavengers. I didn’t have to look up. I’d been outside
most of the afternoon. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
Chapter Ten
Sawyer looked at me and, over the noise, mouthed the word
“where.” He knew it, too. Scavengers. The alarm spooked me at least
as much as it had Fred, and I’d failed to pay attention to its
sequence. Holding up a hand, I waited for the order to repeat.
Three mournful howls later the siren paused. I immediately pointed
south.
“ Hang on!” Sawyer shouted. He put his heels
to Fred. She took off so fast it reminded me of the old bottle
rockets Dad found when I was a kid. He’d used an old piece of pipe
stuck into the ground and a plastic lighter to ignite the fuses.
The sparks sizzled as the fuse burned. Then, all at once, whoosh . That was Fred.
A bit more warning would have been nice. Sawyer must have
thought I’d be better prepared for Fred’s acceleration after
my…incident earlier. Not a chance. I slid halfway off the sack of
oats before I managed to get my fingers in Sawyers’ belt. It was
still touch and go for a bit.
Flinging my arms around Sawyer’s middle, I hung on. The wind
in my face stirred up the smell of dried leaves and Millie’s
cooking smoke. Tears leaked from my eyes. I’d never gone this fast.
Everything streaked by in a blur. I wasn’t sure how Sawyer could
see clearly enough to direct Fred, but she never faltered. The pure
speed of our passage stole my breath. Fred’s muscles rippled under
me. I didn’t have anything to compare it to. I only knew that it
was awesome.
We passed a lot of the townsfolk frantically running toward
the armory. Everyone was spread out searching for Chane; this
attack couldn’t have come at a worse time.
In a few short minutes, we arrived back to where we’d started
yesterday. Had it really only been a day ago? It seemed it must
have been a week at least.
We were the first to arrive. I’d have much preferred to have
several hundred of my neighbors already there. Peeking out from
behind Sawyer’s back, I looked for the Scavengers, but even from
atop the horse, I couldn’t see them. Hopefully, it was a false
alarm, though I doubted it.
Failing to see the Scavengers, I spotted the deer I’d shot.
Something, coyotes most likely, had torn into it during the night.
Its carcass was mangled and ravaged. Why hadn’t it been taken to
the slaughterhouse? My stomach twisted in remorse over shooting the
buck. If I’d been able to make use of its meat, or even its pelt,
it wouldn’t have bothered me, but seeing the buck lying there half
eaten and decomposing made me wonder if I deserved my forthcoming
punishment. I shook off the thought. I was responsible for killing
the buck, not wasting it. My punishment was to satisfy the mayor’s
sense of right and wrong. Not my own.
The amount of damage the house had received in yesterday’s
attack surprised me. Bullet holes riddled its wooden siding and the
last remaining window on the ground floor was shattered. The three
arrows embedded in the second-story window frame almost made me
glad Josh and Jason forced me from the room.
I started to dismount. Fred was blowing hard and I
wants to prove himself. The problem is that most of them take
unnecessary risks. Don’t be like that. This mission has enough
risks as it is. Don’t go looking for more.”
We were almost back to the school where we’d left the
wheelchair and crutches. The search for Chane seemed to be waning,
and fewer people ambled around looking for her.
Right as we passed under the pole that held the speaker for
the civil service siren, its deafening blare sounded and spooked
Fred. She startled away to the right so
quickly, it threw me sliding to the left. Thankfully Sawyer swung
his arm around and kept me from being tossed over the side like last
week’s laundry.
There were only two reasons for that siren to be going off—bad
weather or Scavengers. I didn’t have to look up. I’d been outside
most of the afternoon. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
Chapter Ten
Sawyer looked at me and, over the noise, mouthed the word
“where.” He knew it, too. Scavengers. The alarm spooked me at least
as much as it had Fred, and I’d failed to pay attention to its
sequence. Holding up a hand, I waited for the order to repeat.
Three mournful howls later the siren paused. I immediately pointed
south.
“ Hang on!” Sawyer shouted. He put his heels
to Fred. She took off so fast it reminded me of the old bottle
rockets Dad found when I was a kid. He’d used an old piece of pipe
stuck into the ground and a plastic lighter to ignite the fuses.
The sparks sizzled as the fuse burned. Then, all at once, whoosh . That was Fred.
A bit more warning would have been nice. Sawyer must have
thought I’d be better prepared for Fred’s acceleration after
my…incident earlier. Not a chance. I slid halfway off the sack of
oats before I managed to get my fingers in Sawyers’ belt. It was
still touch and go for a bit.
Flinging my arms around Sawyer’s middle, I hung on. The wind
in my face stirred up the smell of dried leaves and Millie’s
cooking smoke. Tears leaked from my eyes. I’d never gone this fast.
Everything streaked by in a blur. I wasn’t sure how Sawyer could
see clearly enough to direct Fred, but she never faltered. The pure
speed of our passage stole my breath. Fred’s muscles rippled under
me. I didn’t have anything to compare it to. I only knew that it
was awesome.
We passed a lot of the townsfolk frantically running toward
the armory. Everyone was spread out searching for Chane; this
attack couldn’t have come at a worse time.
In a few short minutes, we arrived back to where we’d started
yesterday. Had it really only been a day ago? It seemed it must
have been a week at least.
We were the first to arrive. I’d have much preferred to have
several hundred of my neighbors already there. Peeking out from
behind Sawyer’s back, I looked for the Scavengers, but even from
atop the horse, I couldn’t see them. Hopefully, it was a false
alarm, though I doubted it.
Failing to see the Scavengers, I spotted the deer I’d shot.
Something, coyotes most likely, had torn into it during the night.
Its carcass was mangled and ravaged. Why hadn’t it been taken to
the slaughterhouse? My stomach twisted in remorse over shooting the
buck. If I’d been able to make use of its meat, or even its pelt,
it wouldn’t have bothered me, but seeing the buck lying there half
eaten and decomposing made me wonder if I deserved my forthcoming
punishment. I shook off the thought. I was responsible for killing
the buck, not wasting it. My punishment was to satisfy the mayor’s
sense of right and wrong. Not my own.
The amount of damage the house had received in yesterday’s
attack surprised me. Bullet holes riddled its wooden siding and the
last remaining window on the ground floor was shattered. The three
arrows embedded in the second-story window frame almost made me
glad Josh and Jason forced me from the room.
I started to dismount. Fred was blowing hard and I
Similar Books
