Visions by James C. Glass

Author:James C. Glass
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: science fiction
Publisher: Wildside Press
Published: 2011-02-04T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

SEARCH

It was dawn when the tracking began. Ed’s two bloodhounds had gone all over the wagon before dragging him to where the men waited by the rocks. The dogs went frantic when they smelled blood and whatever else was spilled in the grass, and then they took off in a straight line up the hill, pulling Ed behind them in a stumble. Pete had already started up the hill because he had seen the faint gouges of the travois, saying nothing. The dogs raced by him, Ed grinning wildly, but Pete’s mind raced in a different way, and he felt despair at what he was certain they would find at the end of the chase. He had seen a skull crushed before, during a fight in the caves, and whether Tenanken or Hinchai the stuff that splattered out from the blows was all the same. Maki was involved. The townspeople would seek revenge, and the time for bringing out the children and young adults would have to be soon.

Jake moved up beside him, bleary-eyed, a rifle slung over one shoulder. Several of the men had gone back for weapons, and the group was now heavily armed. “Don’t like it at all, Pete,” said Jake. “Normal man can’t carry someone the size of Tom up this hill, even two men. It’s the critters again, Pete. They’ve killed Tom, and carried him away to hide. Must not have known his wagon was there.”

“That’s pretty speculative, Jake.”

Jake spat on the ground, and looked straight into Pete’s eyes. “No it ain’t, and you don’t think so either. All the time you spent with old Savas Parkos in that cabin of his, and you never heard or seen nothin’? Come on, Pete, there’s some weird folks living in these mountains, and you don’t want to admit it.”

“Right now, I just want to find Tom.”

“Yeah—so do I.”

They puffed up the hill, leading the others into the trees, the hounds baying ahead of them. “They’re headed back towards town,” said Jake. “Stupid—or very smart. All I want is another shot at ’em.”

Not likely, thought Pete. With a travois, a Tenanken could run uphill and not be out of breath, and the grass was already straightening where the travois had passed. They were probably a day behind them, and Pete knew where they would likely be now, for above them the trees would soon disappear, giving way to gentle, grassy slopes with outcroppings of granite leading to the canyon which was the home of the Tenanken. What if there was a battle? Could he watch his own band destroyed, especially the children he had worked so closely with? The sense of desperation was there again; he wanted to run ahead and warn them. Run away—run away! The Hinchai are coming to destroy you! Baela, save yourself! Strange, how he thought of the blonde girl at this moment, and then of Bernie, with her long, blonde hair. Would his child be like Baela—or a brute with heavy brow ridges, and no chin.

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