Chapter 19
Stripped to the Bone
The second time the barn door shrieked open, Decker sighed. “I suppose you want to come along?”
Laurie stood stiffly at the door. “I know the workings of the church.”
Decker raised his eyebrow at the large, overstuffed carpet bag Laurie clutched and yanked the last tie on his saddlebags. “We’re going to Silver Creek, not back East.”
“I packed what was necessary.”
“How many Bibles you got in that thing?”
“Only one,” he said, sidling past Decker to hang his bag off the saddle horn.
“Are you going to try and walk home like the last time you rode with me?”
A tired smile played on Laurie’s mouth. “Depends on what new things you tell me there.”
Decker smiled and swung up into the saddle. His offered hand lay empty as Laurie climbed up behind him.
His knees pressed against the back of Decker’s as they rode out of town, away from the shattered bridge and gathering clouds.
The wind picked up, whipping his hair into knots as they trotted into the striped hills, sky barren aside from the magpie soaring overhead. The bird followed them for miles until the wind dragged in rumbling clouds.
“Looks like Sister was right. The plagues are moving in fast,” Decker said over his shoulder to Laurie, who’d foregone decency and huddled into his back a mile ago. He only nodded, the nudge of his chin into Decker’s back an odd comfort.
Sitara picked her way down crumbling slopes of muted russet and snapped her teeth at the bristling tail of a gangly jackrabbit as it sprang from the sagebrush and darted away. Mid-morning sun darkened under the clouds, jostling and leaping until they tumbled into a wall of bulging grey behind them.
The first drops of rain stung like bullets and Laurie hunched lower behind him, face pressed into his shoulder blades. The hailstorm moved towards Ender’s Ridge and thesnapof lightning bristled the hairs on his neck as he brought Sitara to a halt, gaze drifting back.
Laurie’s arms unfurled from his waist, as if suddenly conscious of how close he’d been. “They had a warning this time. They’ll be alright.”
Wind whipped against them in a furious attempt to silence Laurie’s words. The plagues were too unpredictable to ensure anyone’s safety; but the slow brush of his hand down his arm convinced Decker more quickly than words could. Safine and the others would be fine, and they would return with answers.
Failure couldn’t be an option.
The river rushed above its banks and Decker reined Sitara into a slow walk.
Sand crumbled underneath her hooves. She steadied her footing and picked her way down the hill into the rushing current.
“This isn’t an attempt to rid the town of me, is it?” Laurie’s breath was hot against Decker’s ear, steaming in the rain.
Sitara lurched, striking into the water as Decker gave her the reins and sat deep in the saddle. “There would be easier ways than this,” he called back.
Decker grit his teeth as the icy water bit into his boots, seeping into worn leather, then crawling up his legs and waist. Ifhecould feel it, Laurie was already twice as cold. He urged Sitara forward, planting his hands at her crest and pushing her towards the opposite bank.
The current clawed at her, dragging them further downstream and she snapped at the seething water with long, sharp teeth. They’d forged the river at this crossing before, but never with a second rider. And not in weather like this.
Keep your head, my star.
Rain pelted Decker’s shoulders and he hunched over her withers, whispering to her and keeping her aimed towards the opposite bank which was visible in flickers of lightning.
Decker’s shirt clung to him as Sitara sank, plunging them chest-deep, then lunged off the bottom. She thrust her nose above the rapids, steam puffing from her nostrils like she was one of Lee’s horses as she swam diagonally to the current, powerful legs churning the water to a froth beneath her.
Laurie’s grip loosened around Decker’s middle and the river’s roar drowned out Laurie’s panicked yelp as the current ripped him away from the saddle.
Decker swore.
