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He had a point. A fair amount of the food we’d been able to take from the college kitchens would spoil within a week. There was plenty of food that wouldn’t spoil, though. All the same, we needed more.
“If they have it, do you think your family would be willing to give us more food?” I asked Appius as Horacio turned down the long approach to a farm.
“I’m certain they will,” Appius said, practically dancing in the back of the wagon, he was so eager to be home.
That eagerness vanished as soon as we drove into the cluster of buildings that made up the center of the farm. It was abandoned. There were no people and no animals, and no sign at all of what might have happened to them.
“I don’t understand,” Appius said, hopping down from the wagon ahead of the rest of us.
I jumped down behind him, the others following.
“What don’t you understand?” I asked.
“Where they are,” Appius said.
He marched ahead of us, heading into the barn, but after only a quick look around, he stormed out again, then on to the small, stone house. I noted that the thatching was dark and matted with mildew from the winter, and that no one had bothered to replace it. One of the windows was broken as well, which sent an uncomfortable chill down my back.
I walked into the house behind Appius, Leander and Darius following me. The inside told a similar story to the outside. The furnishings were all still there, but many of them had been piled in the center of the room, away from the windows, and covered with canvas. The curtains had been drawn, but Appius opened one of them to let light into the room.
“Well, they weren’t taken out of here by force,” Leander said, looking around.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
Leander shrugged. “They stored all of their things, like they planned to leave and didn’t know when they would be coming back.”
He was right. If something violent had happened to Appius’s family, or if they’d been forced to leave their home, they wouldn’t have had time to stack and cover the furniture.
Appius had gone into one of the bedrooms, but as he came out, he shook his head and repeated, “I don’t understand. Where have they gone?”
“Into Aktau?” I guessed.
“Maybe,” Appius said, rubbing a hand over his chest.
“So where are these mountain-climbing supplies?” Darius asked.
Appius blinked out of his confused stupor and glanced to him. “In the barn.”
We headed out of the house and across to the barn. Mara and Lucius were already there, and so was Horacio. They were apparently looking for something to tend to the oxen.
“It looks like Appius’s family knew they would have to leave their house,” I told Mara as Appius, Leander, and Darius climbed up into a loft to fetch the climbing equipment. “But there’s no sign or anything about where they could have gone.”
Mara frowned. “Maybe everyone from the countryside moved to the town for the winter?”
I thought that was the answer for about three seconds before I shook my head and said, “If that was true, then we wouldn’t have seen so many other farmers out plowing their fields.”
By the expression on her face, Mara didn’t like this turn of events any more than I did. “We’re going to have to make a decision soon, you know,” she said in a quiet voice, grabbing my arm and walking me as far from Appius as we could get. “Lucius might be an ass most of the time, but I think he’s right about soldiers coming after us eventually.”
“Because as soon as your uncle learns you fled with the rest of us, he’ll want you back,” I said. I’d been thinking that for the last few days.
Mara nodded. She glanced to where Appius was explaining to Leander and Darius what some of the climbing equipment was. “We might get away with staying here one night, but honestly, I think we need to pack everything we can immediately and head straight for those woods to see if we can make it up to what’s left of the mountain pass.”
I sighed heavily and crossed my arms. “I agree,” I said, looking at Appius as well. “He’s going to have to decide whether to come with us or whether to go looking for his family.”
Saying that aloud hurt. I didn’t want to leave Appius behind. I’d spent the last several weeks telling myself he was just my temporary bedmate and that Dushka was my lover. But that wasn’t fair to Appius. Especially since I didn’t want to give him up. Neil and Peter made a marriage of three work, so why couldn’t I?
I shook my head. We had a long way to go before I could worry about the dynamics of a domestic relationship. Anything could happen between here and Kettering.
“I’ll tell him,” I said, letting my arms drop heavily to my sides.
