Railroad! Collection 2 (The Three Volume Omnibus) by Brown Tonia

Author:Brown, Tonia [Brown, Tonia]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction
Published: 2013-02-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

On the Prowl

In which Dodger worries about unwanted company

Dodger woke with a start. He sat up in the cot and glanced nervously about. His foggy mind searched through half-formed memories, leaving him unsure as to who or where he was. Outdoors. Campfire. Tents. Good heavens. Was he back on the front?

“Hello?” he asked of anyone who would listen.

A growling rose in the darkness. Steady and rhythmic. No, not growling. Someone snoring. A soft sound rose to his left: the whisking of movement through tall grass. Something big. Something coming his way.

“Dodger?” a woman whispered.

“Lelanea?” he called in return. The reaction was automatic, as if the very name had been etched into his soul.

“I’m here,” she whispered.

Thank God she was real. Let the rest of his world be a lie as long as she was real.

A soft hand touched his. He drew it to him and clutched it for dear life.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“I …” Don’t know where I am, he almost said. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t sound fine. Let me have a look at you.”

The hand released his, leaving him alone once more. There came a grinding noise over the snoring in the darkness, followed by a sudden bright light. Dodger winced and covered his face.

“Sorry,” she said. The light faded to a soft glow. “Is that better?”

“Yes,” he said. And it was better too. The bright light cleared the fog, exposing his memories, which came flooding back in a torrent of good deeds, bad deeds and dreadful deeds. The gas. The camp. The doc snoring. It all came back. “Much better. I was confused when I first awoke, but it’s passing.”

“It’s probably the gas mixed with the sleep aid. Let me see your eyes.”

Dodger held still while Lelanea checked his pupils.

“Even and reactive,” she announced. “Are you sure you’re well?”

“Yes,” Dodger said. “I’m sorry to have worried you.”

“I wasn’t worried. I was just … you startled me. That’s all.”

“Then I’m sorry to have startled you.” Dodger stretched full length along the cot. “In fact, I’m feeling a whole lot better. That rest was just the thing I needed.”

“I told you so.”

He pushed his sheet aside and sat up, propping himself on the edge of the cot. The night was clear, with the stars shining down in bright twinkles of jeweled wonder. “It’s a beautiful night.”

“Yes. It is.” Lelanea looked to the sky with a sigh. “You missed the moon. She was gorgeous.”

“Full, was she?”

“No. She’s in her waning phase. Won’t be full again for a few more weeks. Still, she was beautiful nonetheless.”

“She always is.” Dodger stared up at Lelanea, admiring her curvy silhouette in the thin moonlight. “If you hadn’t drugged me, I would’ve loved to have watched her rise with you.”

She looked back down to him and gave a tight smile. “If I hadn’t drugged you, you wouldn’t have gotten any rest. Speaking of which, lie back down. Sunrise won’t be for another hour or more. You have loads of time to get more rest.”

“Actually, I think I might need to walk around a bit.

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