Chapter 23
Reece studied the boy. He appeared so sure of himself. “But, we haven’t seen one single person since we got here.”
Nathan turned his head so he could look directly at her. “Just because you haven’t seen them, doesn’t mean they aren’t out there. We just haven’t run into them yet. I worried while I dug up the potatoes and the whole time we’ve been on the road that we’d run into them. Now, that I’m, stuck here for a while, I’m even more worried.”
“Do you think they’re the same men you ran into when Scottie ran away?” asked Sean.
Nathan nodded once. “They’re probably men from one of the encampments.” His eyes were open and he was talking, but he couldn’t even sit up yet.
“We’ll get help,” Reece said. “But, we don’t know how to get to your camp.”
Sean voiced what both children feared. “What if we run into those men?”
“I’ve already thought of that. You’ll have to wait until it gets dark.”
Reece shook her head. “We don’t do dark.”
“No, we’re not allowed to do dark.”
“Then, you’ll have to leave soon,” said Nathan seeming to understand their reluctance. “After those men left, I looked for Scottie, but I didn’t dare stay out in the open for long. I knew I couldn’t keep walking down this path, so I took to the woods.” Nathan paused for a few seconds. “I’ve walked through these woods my entire life, but I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I didn’t want to get lost. So, I kept the road in sight the whole time I walked.” He turned his head and pushed the grass to the side, then lifted his head off the ground and pointed. “There should be a large tree stump not far from here. You don’t want to get farther than that distance from the road or you’ll get lost.”
At the words, ‘you’ll get lost’, both children dropped their heads and totally lost heart.
You see, here’s the problem. The children were desperately worried about something they knew nothing about but dared not ask many questions. They were terribly torn. This was a chance to escape and try to make their way home. It’s one thing to offer to help if there’s no risk, but quite another if great danger is involved. Yet, how could they leave Nathan all alone and helpless if what he said about enemy encampments and men scouting the area were true. They looked down at his weary, strained face, then they looked at each other.
Reece stood up. “I’ll look for the stump.”
“No,” said Sean, scrambling to his feet. “I’ll go.”
Reece smiled at her little brother. “Okay, I’ll watch you from here.”
Bear looked up at Reece then at her brother as he walked away. The dog hopped up and trotted after Sean into the woods. Thankfully, he found the tree stump while he was still within eyesight. He ran back and squatted down beside Nathan. “I found it.”
“Good, now don’t forget, I kept to the woods keeping about the same distance from the road as that stump. Do not lose sight of the road.” He stopped and looked at the children. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” they both said.
“Since I was constantly on the lookout for someone following me, I was afraid I’d walk at an angle and get lost. That’s why you have to keep the road in sight at all times, so that you don’t begin to walk at an angle.”
“We know all about walking at an angle,” said Sean.
He looked at them oddly then continued. “When you get to the stream, turn left. Now, remember, turn left and follow the stream, but make sure you stay inside the cover of the woods but not so far that you can’t see the stream. Do you understand what you’re supposed to do?”
“We walk through the woods, but we have to keep our eyes on the road at all times,” Sean began. “Then when we get to the stream, we turn left.”
“Right.”
“How far do we walk along the stream?” asked Reece.
Nathan closed his eyes for a few seconds. “After you turn at the stream, you’ll walk about a mile, and then you’ll see a huge rock. It’s about as tall as I am. Cross the stream there and go straight through the woods for about four hundred feet. You’ll find my camp there. Although, most likely, someone from my camp will see you first and want to know what you’re doing there.”
Sean frowned. “What if they don’t believe us?”
Nathan frowned too. “Good thinking.” He reached into his pocket and drew out a small ribbon with a round metal attached to the end. “My grandfather gave this to me. When we had to leave the house, I put it in my pocket, because. . .I didn’t want to lose it.” He handed it to Sean. “Ask for Samuel. He’s my brother. He’ll know this came from me.”
“Samuel,” said Reece. “Does your family call him Sam?”
“No, we call him Samuel. Nathan looked at both children then at Bear. “Does he bark much?”
“Not much,” said Sean. “Only when people come to our house.”
“But, he might bark if he felt that you were threatened. You’d better leave him here.”
Threatened? The children looked at each other then Reece said. “How can anybody threaten us if there’s nobody around?”
“Yes, and I don’t want to leave Bear here,” said Sean.
“You won’t know somebody is nearby until it’s too late! If Bear barks, that will give away your position. He stays here.”
Well, they were pretty well ticked now. It was their dog, and they had no say whatsoever in what happened to him. Yet, what if Nathan was right? So, they remained silent.
“There’s something I’m forgetting.” Nathan closed his eyes for nearly a minute as he rested and thought. “Oh, where’s the canteen?”
Sean picked it up and held it above Nathan’s head.
“Take it with you and refill it at the stream. We’ll need it later.”
Reece shrunk inside. So, the water in the canteen was thoroughly disgusting, filthy stream water that all the nearby animals used as a. . .well couldn’t go there. Anyway, she wasn’t sick or heaving yet. She slipped her arm behind Nathan’s shoulders and managed to lift him a couple of inches off the ground then nodded at her brother. “Give him a little more before we take it.”
Sean unscrewed the cap and lifted the canteen to Nathan’s lips. After the older boy swallowed all he wanted, Sean screwed the cap back on then drew the strap through his arm and over his head.
Nathan looked up at the tree tops and blinked. His eyes narrowed and he rolled his head slowly back and forth looking at the surrounding area. “You need to put some leaves and branches around me and the cart.”
“I already checked,” said Reece. “You can’t see anything unless you looked directly at it.”
“You can’t see me from the road, but anybody passing through the woods will spot me in a second,” said Nathan. “Unless I completely blend in with the woods they’ll find me and the food supply in that cart.”
Reece and Sean stared at Nathan then at each other. He couldn’t be serious. Wasn’t he taking this a little too far? They hadn’t passed as much as one single person looking anything like an enemy. In fact, except for Nathan, they hadn’t seen one single person since they’d left the Professor. Sometimes they felt like laughing at him, and if he hadn’t been a high schooler, they would have. Other times, he positively scared them to death. And, now he was sending them through the woods telling them that they may run into those terrifying men. So, it wasn’t any safer there after all.
Time past and the children just stood there. In fact, they either looked at each other or stared at the ground. “Look, I cannot be captured. Even if I hide and no one finds me, the men at my camp are counting on me getting the cart through to them. And, they definitely need to know about the two encampments. So, you have got to cover me and the cart with leaves and branches and be on your way.”
Nathan wasn’t the only one who was hot and tired, but he expected them to do the work of two men. For over a mile, they’d pushed a cart that weighed at least two thousand pounds. He
couldn’t budge another step, so these two children, yes, nine and seven, had to march through enemy territory to get help. But, before they left, they had to drag branches that were twice their weight so the imaginary enemy wouldn’t capture him and his cart.
“Please, do this one last thing for me.”
He would have to put it that way. Okay, they could somehow manage to do one more thing. Sean laid the canteen down and they dragged, shoved and grunted as many fallen branches as they could over to the cart then to Nathan. They walked in a circle around both and decided that if a person knew it was there, he’d see it. But, it wouldn’t draw attention in and of itself. They collapsed wishing someone would mop and fan their faces.
Nathan looked at them through the tangle. “It looks good. Now, you’d better be on your way.”
On their way? The children looked at each other. They hadn’t exchanged these many looks their entire lives. If they thought for one second that Nathan was dead wrong about the enemy lurking behind every tree, they’d walk, no muster enough energy to run, down that road towards the other side of the woods and head for home taking their dog with them. They both drank more stream water from the canteen, and that did help. . .a little. Struggling to their feet, they turned in the direction of the tree stump.
Bear tried to follow, but the kids came back and took him inside the barrier surrounding Nathan. The older boy took hold of the dog’s collar, and Bear whined piteously, but the children reassured him that they’d be right back. They stepped outside the circle of branches while their dog looked at them with pleading eyes.
“Thank you,” said Nathan for the first time. “And, godspeed.”
Sean drew the strap of the canteen over his head. “Godspeed? What does that mean?”
“You never heard anybody say that? It means,” Nathan thought for a moment. “It means God be with you and may you have a safe, successful journey.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds before adding. “Be careful.”