Chapter 9
The minute she got clear of the store room, Anna set off at a run down the bridge away from Penelope Ann’s house. Her heart pounded in her chest, and she fought for every breath. Her stomach turned at every step in case someone saw her. She was safer inside the store room than out in the open village.
She raced from one bridge to the next, past three platforms, before she let herself slow down and look back. Golden sunshine touched the treetops and the roofs of the houses. The first doors and windows opened, and the Avitras poked their heads out to view the day.
Anna smiled at some people she knew and set off on a circuitous route back to Penelope Ann’s house. She moved with casual slowness and stopped often to chat and smile and look around at the forest that, until a few days ago, had been her home. At the last platform, she turned—and stopped. Penelope Ann crossed the bridge toward her with a basket in her hand, and she didn’t return Anna’s greeting. “Where have you been?”
“I woke up early,” Anna told her. “So I decided to go for a walk.”
Penelope Ann didn’t react. “Your bed wasn’t slept in.”
Anna pretended to be surprised. “What do you mean?”
Penelope Ann lifted her basket. A scrap of cloth covered the bottom. She tossed the cloth aside, and Anna stared down at the collection of egg shells in the bottom of the basket. “You forgot to get rid of these.”
Anna lifted her eyes to Penelope Ann’s face. “Why didn’t you tell Aquilla about the eggs?”
Penelope Ann brushed her question away. “You’re playing with fire. You’re going to get burned one of these days.”
“What are you going to do?” Anna asked.
“I’m going to get rid of them,” Penelope Ann replied. “I don’t know where I can put them where Aquilla and his men won’t find them, but you can’t leave them lying around in your sleeping roll without getting caught.”
Anna let out a shaky breath. “Thank you.”
Penelope Ann shook her head. “Did you visit him again last night? Is that where you were?”
“Can you blame me for wanting to help him?” Anna asked. “I put some kelep salve on his wounds and on his wrists.”
“You’ll stay away from him from now on if you know what’s good for you,” Penelope Ann told her. “You’ll get yourself in trouble—or worse. He’s an Ursidrean. He’s an enemy of our faction.”
“He’s a person who feels the same pain and hunger and fear we do,” Anna countered. “You would be upset if one of the other factions kidnapped an Avitras and held them captive.”
Penelope Ann shook her head. “It’s not the same.”
“You just told me I could get in trouble—or worse—for helping Menlo,” Anna went on. “So you admit Aquilla is capable of killing anybody who stands in his way. He’s not the benevolent patriarch he made out to be when I first came here.”
“How can you say that about him?” Penelope Ann asked. “He’s given you everything you could wish for since you came here. He spent weeks searching for Frieda when she disappeared. He even let your other sister come to visit you.”
“He didn’t let her come,” Anna argued. “He was away at the time. It was Piwaka that let Emily come to visit me, and you made her leave early so Aquilla wouldn’t find out an Ursidrean and the Lycaon came with her.”
Penelope Ann stiffened. “Don’t quibble with me, Anna. Is that the gratitude you show Aquilla for his hospitality to you and Frieda since you came over from the Lycaon?”
“I don’t want his hospitality or yours anymore,” Anna replied. “He’s not the man I thought he was, and if you’re going to stand there defending him, you’re not the person I thought you were, either. You told me a big story about how you used to be some kind of martial arts champion back on Earth, and how you fought against the Romarie and all that nonsense. I thought you had some backbone, but I can see you’re just as twisted as Aquilla. You’re weak and spineless. You haven’t got a bone in your body, and I don’t want to have anything more to do with you.”
Anna turned away. A lump stuck in her throat, and her foot trembled when she put it onto the bridge to walk away. She didn’t really despise Penelope Ann or Aquilla, but how else could she get through to them? Everywhere she turned, doors once opened to her closed in her face when she tried to help Menlo. Something had to give. She couldn’t live on this knife edge much longer.
She wasn’t sure she could keep her balance on the branch, and she hesitated to take the first step. Penelope Ann grabbed her hand. “Wait, Anna. Don’t walk away.”
Anna couldn’t look at her. “Leave me alone. I’ll help Menlo on my own. I don’t need any help from you.”
“I helped you by keeping these eggs secret,” Penelope Ann murmured. “If you give me a chance, I’ll help you again.”
Anna’s head whipped around. “You will?”
Penelope Ann’s cold expression softened. “I never knew Aquilla could be so cruel. I never would have believed he could do to anyone what he’s done to Menlo. I didn’t want to believe it, but now that he’s doing it, I see it’s wrong. You’re right. We have to stop him. Don’t ask me how, but we’ll find a way.”
“What can we do?” Anna asked. “Will you try to talk sense into him?”
Penelope Ann shook her head. “Talking won’t do anything. Piwaka already tried to talk to him, and you heard how well that went. If he won’t listen to a seasoned warrior like Piwaka, he won’t listen to you or me.”
“But you’re his mate,” Anna pointed out. “Would he free Menlo if you asked him?”
“Free Menlo?” Penelope Ann repeated. “He’ll never free Menlo. He’ll twist him around until the Ursidreans give up the man who killed his brother, and then Aquilla will kill him.”
Anna’s hand flew to her mouth, and she sucked air between her teeth. “He wouldn’t do that, would he? He would never get away with it.”
A soft smile played on Penelope Ann’s lips. “He’s already talking about it. He’s got it all planned out. Menlo is a dispensable pawn in his scheme to get revenge against the Ursidreans.”
Anna stared at her. “Then there really is no hope. We’ll never convince him to back down.”
“No, we’ll never convince him,” Penelope Ann agreed. “The only solution is to subvert his plan ourselves.”
“How?” Anna asked.
“I’m not sure,” Penelope Ann replied. “But you don’t have to worry about doing it all yourself. I’ll help you come up with a plan.”
Anna threw her arms around Penelope Ann’s neck. “Thank you! Oh, thank you! You don’t know what this means to me.”
Penelope Ann pushed her off. “I’m beginning to understand.”
“Just tell me what I have to do,” Anna replied. “I’ll do anything you tell me to do.”
“I’m not telling you anything,” Penelope Ann returned. “I never said I’m taking over the planning of this rebellion. I only said I would help you if I could. I’m counting on you to spearhead this operation. I won’t be able to do much with Aquilla around all the time. You’ll be able to do more than I will.”
Anna stood back, but she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. “Knowing I don’t have to keep this a secret from you anymore is a big help. Thank you.”
“Stop thanking me.” Penelope Ann shoved the basket into her hand. “Now get rid of these egg shells. That’s the first step. I suggest you take them back to wherever you found them and hide them there, and whatever you do, don’t make another mistake like that. It was only by sheer luck that I found them before Aquilla did.”
Anna took the basket. “Right. Sorry about that.”
Penelope Ann turned away. Then she glanced back over her shoulder. “What did you do last night? Did you take him some more food?”
“I didn’t have any to take,” she replied. “He can’t eat the nut mixture we eat. That’s why I had to bring the eggs. I just took the salve, and I sat with him while he slept. He can’t sleep with his hands tied behind his back, so I untied him. Then, when I woke him up this morning, I retied him the way he was. That’s all I did.”
Penelope Ann cocked her head. “And that’s what you call helping him?”
“Those eggs are the first food he’s had since he left the frontier,” Anna told her. “And last night was the first decent night’s sleep he’s had since Aquilla captured him. Yeah, I’d say I’m helping him. I’m helping him a lot more than anybody else around here.”
Penelope Ann studied her. Then she nodded. “I guess you’re right.” She walked away.
Anna watched her disappear into her house, and in a moment, Penelope Ann’s laughter rose through the air mingled in conversation with Aquilla’s voice. Once, Penelope Ann came to empty a bundle of sweepings over the side of the balcony. She blushed with pleasure and laughed over her shoulder to Aquilla inside. She caught Anna’s eye on the platform across the bridge, but she didn’t miss a beat. In a flash, she retreated into the house.
Anna stared at the empty doorway. Then she nodded. Penelope Ann’s message was clear, and she had her own job to do to keep up their charade. She clutched the basket and hurried away.
At the next tree, she gripped the basket handle in her teeth and started climbing down the trunk to the ground. She found her way back to the same stream bed and buried the empty egg shells in the mud where she first dug them up.
She swung the basket on her way back to the village. She had at least one ally in the world. Her shoulders relaxed and lifted back. She hadn’t realized how tight and hunched they’d become in her anxiety over Menlo. Now, whatever happened, she could turn to Penelope Ann for help. The basket in her hand proved that. Penelope Ann might not be able to get around Aquilla enough to help her, but at least Anna could talk to her. That alone was the greatest gift anyone could give her right now.
Her step quickened. The future opened up in unlimited possibilities, now that she no longer faced it alone. She found her way back to the same tree and set the basket handle between her teeth. But the instant she put out her hand to take hold of the bark, a figure stepped out from behind the tree and she found herself looking up at Piwaka, the Captain of the Guard.