The King's Highway (Days of Dread Trilogy Book 1) by Caryl Mcadoo Page B

know that.
    Besides, she might take it wrong. Cooper would for sure.
    Al leaned, looking at the piece of paper. “What is it? What does it say?”
    Sniffing, she swiped at her cheeks. “A note. It’s from Poppy. He says he loves me and for me to be strong for him and my brothers.” She sniffed again, looked at the note, then carefully folded it up and put it back in her jacket’s inside pocket. “I’m sorry. I’m ready now.”
    While his sister and little brother fussed over Aria, Jackson waited, albeit anxiously. The minute they finished, he stepped off. “Okay, people, let’s move on.” Cutting straight across the course to the King’s Highway, he followed it for quite a ways, then it split, going in two different directions. Great. Which one was he supposed to follow?
    The shade a group of elm trees offered just off the wide green highway afforded a great stopping place after the march he’d had them on. “McKenzie, you still got the old man’s note?”
    Kneeling, she dug in her pack then pulled out her book. The piece of paper must have been marking her place, because she retrieved it and handed it to him, but keeping her finger between the pages. Just like her to use it as a bookmark.
    He studied the numbers for a minute then nodded toward the closest pylon. “Al, go see what that one’s ID numbers are. Coop, you go check the other one. They’re on a little metal –”
    “I know, I know.” His little brother ran off and was on his way back from the farthest one before the know-it-all even got out to the closest.
    The series of numbers Coop recited matched the note. Jackson waited, and sure enough, Al’s didn’t. If he was to follow the note, ‘Follow the King’s Highway’ like it said, then he needed to take his group north, not east. But it seemed that would sure take him the wrong way.  
    McKenzie touched his arm. “What are you thinking?”
    He shrugged. “Nothing. I guess we go north.”
    She nodded then took the note from him and put it back into her book.
    For a few hundred yards, the high wires passed through bottomland, then they cut across the water. He stopped short and pulled out the map. Great; a branch of the Trinity River. “Okay, guys. Drop your packs. Al, you work your way south; Coop, you go north. Stay in the cover. We’re looking for a narrow, and hopefully, shallow crossing, okay? Got it?”
    Coop shrugged. “Yes, sir. Soon as you tell me which way’s north.”
    Jackson pointed to his left. “That way.”
    “Got it.” He hurried off.
    “Sir, maybe I should go with him, and you could take south.”
    “Go on, you can handle it. I want to be here in the middle if anyone needs help.”
    His sister slipped off her pack. “I’ll go with you, Al.”
    “Excellent.”
    Easing to the ground real lady-like made him wonder if Aria might be in pain. She sure didn’t seem real girly-girl. Not as much as McKenzie anyway. A lot like his mother, lady-like but handy and capable enough to handle things. He liked the way she knew she needed either a regular screwdriver or a pair of pliers.
    Not many girls would. His sister for sure. She probably couldn’t tell them apart, not unless she’d just read it in a book.
    “Jackson.”
    He looked at her. “Yes?”
    “Thank you.”
    “What for? I didn’t do anything.”
    “Yes, you did. You saved me. I would have laid there on that island and died if you hadn’t come along.”
    A chuckle escaped. “I was just trying to keep from getting eaten.”
    Her eyes widened. “Know what you mean. That tiger scared me half to death.”
    “Al said it was a lion. I just know it sounded big. He said tigers liked the water, but lions steered clear because of the crocs.”
    “Crocodiles in Texas?” She laughed a little. “No, really, you didn’t have to help me or share your food either. If you’d been one of those bangers…” She closed her eyes and shivered. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
    “Okay, I accept your thanks,