The Green Tower by J. B. Simmons

Author:J. B. Simmons [Simmons, J. B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781949785043
Publisher: Three Cord Press
Published: 2019-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

26

THE NEXT MORNING Baron sends out hunting groups like before. He leads three of us: Fugger, Tom, and me. We’re armed with bows and arrows and bone knives tucked into our shorts. Baron tells us to be silent, with eyes on the shadows.

We follow the creek that runs by the village and winds through the trees. It narrows upstream to a dribble of water, only a foot wide. The underbrush is so thick that I wouldn’t notice the creek unless I stepped right over it.

“Look!” Baron whispers ahead. He kneels down and points to marks in the dirt. “Hooves. Going that way.”

“Could be a deer,” Fugger says.

“Or the stag,” Baron says, smiling.

Fugger shrugs. “We can eat either one.”

“So we hunt both!” Baron rises and leads us further into the trees.

We pass through a stretch of pines standing like sentinels around us. The forest is eerily dark and quiet, with pine needles softening our footsteps. The underbrush fades to nothing. Mist hangs at the edges of our sight, obscuring the forest beyond.

Baron doesn’t slow. I don’t see another track or sign of life. Eventually the pines give way to leafy oaks and maples, with underbrush growing thick again. We weave steadily through the forest as shadows lengthen.

A solid shape appears ahead of us. As we approach I realize it’s an immense stone wall, stretching in a straight line as far as I can see. The trees grow almost to the edge of the wall and reach to its top, but the branches come to a stop a dozen feet from the stone. It’s like there’s an invisible barrier preventing the forest from getting too close.

Baron pauses at the edge of the trees. “It’s the Yellow Tower’s wall,” he says.

“What’s on the other side of it?” I ask.

“Other than the Yellow Tower? Don’t know. Don’t care.” Baron eyes the wall like it’s an enemy. “Not worth trying. Yellow archers patrol along the top. They’ll shoot anyone who approaches.”

There are no archers in sight. Something about the wall fascinates me. What could it be hiding, protecting? It looks like we could make it over. With all the resources of the forest, we could make a rope from vines, or even a ladder.

“Can we try to get past them?” I ask.

“No, trust me. I have tried it. An arrow went clean through my foot. The Wolves dragged me back to camp. We didn’t have a healer then. I had to sit around or hobble through the woods until the next Jubilee. Couldn’t hunt. Couldn’t fight. It was terrible.”

Curiosity about the wall tugs me forward.

“Hey, wait,” Baron says.

“I’ll be right back.”

I step out of the forest. The ground goes from leafy decay to a smooth carpet of grass. Nothing tries to stop me as I approach the wall. I reach the base and press my hands against the stone. It is warm to the touch. The light feels good on my face, lifting my gaze upward to the blue sky.

Someone yanks my arm, pulling me away from the wall and into the shadows beneath the trees.

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