A Touch of Death by Rebecca Crunden

Author:Rebecca Crunden
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781543210217
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2017-02-24T00:00:00+00:00

The sandbar came into view on the fourth day, a dark stretch of land with sparkling ocean water on either side. The horses were less frisky than they had been when they first began their journey and seemed to have accepted their new owners. Catherine stroked Pie’s mane and gazed up as a bird let out a wailing call. It was a bright green bird with long wings and a shiny beak. She smiled at it. Birds were a rare thing in the cities these days. When humankind came up from the ground and began burning everything inside the Kingdom, the birds took flight. The few that remained were the descendants of those who had been kept in the Belows’ aviary. The rest of the birds had sought sanctuary in the Outlands and she had only ever seen captures of them in books.

Her mother’s father had trained hawks for King Franklin during the war and thus it became their family mark. Taking a piece of bread from her bag, she poured a small amount of water onto it and threw it into the wind. The bird swooped down and caught it before it hit the ground. She laughed loudly, enchanted. Its long wings spread wide and flapped twice before it landed on a tree branch.

‘Beautiful,’ said Nate.

She glanced over at him. ‘I’ve never seen such a lovely coloured one before.’

‘I meant your laugh,’ he said, not looking at her. ‘You haven’t laughed like that in months. It’s nice to hear.’

She gave him a small smile. ‘I’m glad the mountains are gone. They’re nice to look but I prefer the forests.’

‘Same,’ he agreed. ‘I love trees. They’re so comforting’

‘Do you ever think about what it was like before?’

‘Before the war or before the Devastation?’

‘Before the Devastation,’ she said. ‘No place starts with buildings and bridges and trains and houses and such. It was land like the rest of the world. I used to walk around and try and imagine what it looked like before people, or when our ancestors first came up from the Belows and the only ones to touch it were the mutants, the rabids and animals, none of whom made dwellings. Imagine the rolling hills and tall grasses. Imagine no buildings or hovers or people. Such a strange thought.’

‘I was a bit nervous at first on the other side of the Wall, I’ll be honest. I think it helped that I didn’t care if I died, so I didn’t bother worrying over it. I just drank.’

‘And nothing happened?’

‘Nothing happened.’

‘And you never saw a mutant?’

‘I saw some. I kept to myself and stayed quiet. I slept mostly in the trees or caves and hid whenever I heard anything. If they saw me, they let me live.’

Catherine thought about that as they ate. The Outlands had been so frightening to her when Nate had first suggested it in their kitchen in Anais. Now it did not seem so daunting. So long as he lived to show it to her.

After another hour, they repacked their things, put out the fire and mounted.

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