Blood Red Road

I lean aginst Hermes’ head. I stroke his soft nose.

Saba, says Jack. Time to let him go.

I look into his wise brown eyes one last time. Thank you, I whisper. Then I stand back. Go on, I says.

He trots a few paces away. He stops. He turns to look at me. I raise my hand in farewel . He tosses his head an whinnies. Then he heads of after th’others.

As I watch him go, I know I’m watchin my best chance of reachin Lugh by midsummer disappear. I wanna blame somebody fer the mess we’re in, but yel in at Jack or Ike or anybody else ain’t gonna change nuthin. We’re al in this together now.

I turn around.

So, Jack, I says, what’s the plan?

We work fast. We ain’t got much time before the dark comes.

My hands move, my feet move. I push down the fear that’s risin in me. There ain’t no room fer it, ain’t no time fer it. Jack’s in charge. He says to do somethin, we al do whatever it is right away. We don’t ask no questions, don’t ask him what his plan is. We’l be ndin out soon enough.

He gits us to gather as much wood as we can nd. Branches, twigs an trunks of long dead trees blown here by the mountain winds. No mat er how big or smal , we find ’em an carry or drag ’em to Jack an Ike.

Then we bundle together al the smal bits an tie ’em with net lecord. We break up what bigger branches we can by hand an them that’s too big, Ike chops with his hatchet. Then we start to lay ’em out in a big circle.

Jack cal s me over. Count how many arrows we got, would you? he says.

I empty my quiver. Lucky Maev sent me o with a ful load. Then I go around an count what’s in Jack’s an Epona’s an Ash’s quivers. Ike’s got a bolt shooter as wel as a crossbow, but he’s only got a few bolts fer ammo so we’l hold the shooter in reserve. Emmi an Tommo both got slingshots. I do a quick arrow count. Then I count agin to make sure.

Two hunnerd an eighty eight, I tel Jack.

He flashes me a tight grin. That’s bet er’n I thought, he says. Wrap the heads in bits of cloth, whatever you can find.

I reach fer the bot om of my shirt. It’s soaked through with sweat from the climb an the heat, but I should be able to rip a strip from it.

No, he says. Dry cloth. It’s got a be dry. See how many bot les you can scare up. An ask Ike fer some of that pine sap vodka of his.

Now I know what his plan is.

Fire. We’re gonna fight ’em with fire.

The wood’s laid out how Jack wants it. It’s heaped in a big circle ready to be lit the moment he tel s us to. We’ve left a good-sized open

The wood’s laid out how Jack wants it. It’s heaped in a big circle ready to be lit the moment he tel s us to. We’ve left a good-sized open space in the middle. That’s where we’l stand an fight. Inside our fortress of fire.

We’ve made torches with bundles of twigs tied to the ends of branches. Now, with one eye on the darkenin sky, we’re al workin fast to tie cloth strips around the arrowheads. We’ve torn up bits of our bedrol s, even our shirts an tunics. Whatever we’ve got that’s dry.

Ike’s poured some of his precious vodka into bot les, two fer each of us. As soon as we git a pile of arrows done, Emmi an Tommo take

’em away an stick ’em, head down, into the bot les. Ready to be pul ed out, lit an shot. We only manage to t a handful of arrows in each bot le, so once the action gits goin, it’l be their job to keep ’em fil ed up. That an slingshot duty.

Ike’s workin next to me. You crossed the lake that night with Jack, I says. Where’s yer scars?

Jack took the hit instead of me, he says. I wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t of got between me an the wurm.

Wel , you was movin so slow I had to do somethin, says Jack.

You was away, says Ike. You was clear. You should of left me to fend fer myself, not turned back an nearly got yerself kil ed.

I’m stil here, ain’t I? he says. He goes over to help Tommo an Emmi.

Damn wurm nearly kil ed him, says Ike.

Jack’s … dif erent from what I thought when I first met him, says Epona.

Yeah, says Ike. There’s more to Jack than meets the eye.

Jack hands his last bundle of arrows to Tommo an slaps him on the back.

That’s it, he says. We’re ready.

There’s a hot clench of fear, deep in my bel y. I know it wel . I used to git it al the time, jest before I went into the Cage. An I know how to use it. A slow smile spreads over my face. I look around at everybody.

I dunno about you, I says, but I’m feelin lucky tonight.

We wait.

We sit on the ground, spaced out evenly jest inside our circle of wood. We face across the lake. I got Jack on one side of me an Epona on th’other. Ike an Ash cover the rest of the circle. Emmi an Tommo crouch in the center next to the piles of stones they col ected fer their slingshots. I clutch my flint in my hand, ready to set my section alight.

The night starts to drift in. The crimson fingers of the dyin sun bleed into dark gray. The first stars blink down at us. Not long to wait now.

If I ask you somethin, says Jack, wil you tel me the truth?

Maybe, I says. Depends.

What made you come after me? he says. Back at Hopetown, I mean. How’d you know where to find me?

I’m about to give some kinda smart answer, somethin that’l keep him at a distance, like always. But I don’t. The heartstone’s burnin aginst my skin. An I’m feelin brave. Reckless.

I had a dream, I says. The night before the fire.

You dreamed where to find me?

We talk in low voices, so th’others cain’t hear us.

In my dream, I was in the dark, I says. I couldn’t see, couldn’t hardly breathe. There was smoke an re an the heat was somethin erce. An I was searchin fer somebody. I didn’t know who, I jest … knew I had to nd him. But I couldn’t an it was … awful. Frightenin. Then I … woke up.

You was … lookin fer me? says Jack.

I think so, I says. Yeah.

But you did find me, says Jack. You found me even though I was locked inside the Cooler. How?

I move over, kneel next to him. Feel this, I says. I take Jack’s hand an bring it to the heartstone around my neck.

It’s hot agin, he says.

I take a deep breath. It’s a heartstone, I says. It only gits warm when I’m near you. The closer we are to each other, the hot er it gits. That’s how I knew where to find you.

He don’t say nuthin. It’s the first time I ever seen Jack lost fer words. After a moment, he takes his hand away.

Must be kinda annoyin, he says.

I’m used to it by now, I says. Listen, Jack. I jest wanna say I—

Shh! He holds up his hand.

We wait. Listen.

Silence.

Silence.

Then. A faint rumble. Like thunder in the distance.

They’re awake, he whispers.

Light the fires! Jack says.

I scramble to my knees, hold my flint to the tinder at the base of the wood circle.

I strike my int. A spark arcs onto the dry tinder. It catches an I blow on it gently til I git a ame goin. It licks quickly up the twigs an branches. I check over my shoulder. Everyone else is doin the same with their own section. In no time, we got a strong re goin an we’re standin inside our fortress of flame.

We’re lucky with the night. The sky’s high an clear. The moon hangs low over the mountain tops an throws a wide silver path across the lakebed. We got a clear view in al directions.