Yellow Wind by Julie Rollins

Author:Julie Rollins [Rollins, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gyroscope Books
Published: 2016-05-09T22:00:00+00:00

8. Driven

“It’s too bad Kaln-Wen didn’t take all his soldiers down to Lenu-Shan,” Sut noted. “He left just enough to keep us from heading south or west.”

“Then we shall go north,” David announced.

Sut clicked his tongue. “This can’t last forever. Soon we will run out of mountains. Food is low too.”

David rubbed his oily scalp. “Is there any place where the villagers can retreat?”

The bony chinwai scratched his gray mane as he looked about them. His aged fingers pointed to a mountain north of them. “If Kaln-Wen would move his scouts off that peak, we might have a chance to reach the Retu Valley. There’s a lake and plenty of freshwater mollusks to eat. The forest would be large enough to hide us for a while.”

David pointed to a nearby spire of rock. “What if you hid up there until the sweep line moved past? It’s flat on top and should have enough room to hold all the villagers. I can scale it and drop down a rope, like when we fled the village.”

Sut moved his head up and down like a rocking horse. “That might work, but how will we stay out of sight from the scouts on the higher peaks?”

“We will climb at night,” David said. “Cover your sleeping rugs with dust and hide under them during the day.”

Fayn swished his tail. “How will you get the sweep line to move?”

“I’ll draw Kaln-Wen away from here, presenting myself as a tempting target.” David sighed. “I can’t stay and endanger everyone.”

“May your god continue to deliver you, David-Wen,” Sut spoke in a reverent tone. “You deserve far more pockets than you wear. Here, please take this small gift.”

He pulled a fistful of brass bars—chinwai money—from one of his pockets.

Smiling with gratitude, David humbly received them. “The sooner I leave, the better. When it is dark, I’ll haul you onto the rock.”

* * *

Kaln-Wen surveyed the flaming oil that engulfed most of the buildings of his garrison. “How did he do this? What machines did he use?”

“We found no vehicle tracks,” Gelen, the head scout replied. “As for the water tower, the valves to the tank were closed and the burner turned up high.”

“A classic boiler explosion,” Kaln-Wen mused. “It must have been quite a sight.”

Gelen eyed the scattered shrapnel. “And quite a sound, too.”

Kaln-Wen approached a four-foot piece of torn metal. He crouched down and fingered its ragged edge. “The who-man David is a powerful foe. We must drive him from the Red Mountains to the desert. Then he will be too far for his god to help him.”

* * *

Dr. Williams scowled as he looked at the scale. “He’s not gaining weight. I don’t understand why every plant-derived protein has failed.”

“Is this … serious?” Nancy asked, picking up the baby.

Dr. Williams reached out and put his big gentle hands on Nancy’s shaking shoulders. “We will work and pray until we find a formula Donavon can tolerate!”

Her green eyes searched his face. “You sound so sure of yourself. What if we fail?”

The doctor cleared his throat.

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