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“Hup!” I call out, shaking the reins even more vigorously. “Hup!”
We burst into a gallop just as Kugara reaches out for the rear gate of the wagon. She reels her arm back and hurls the axe—and I duck just in time to avoid being beheaded.
“Lo’zar!” Kugara shouts after me. “Gusak is going to kill you for this!”
And he probably will, if he can get his hands on me. But if there’s anything in life I can say I’m good at, it’s swiping the treasure and getting away with my hide intact.
I can’t help but holler back, “Let’s see him try!”
Chapter6
Rimi
When he let me out of the cage, I thought about running. It could have been my chance to be free, perhaps even to find my way back home.
But when he told me to stay, I thought of the big brown creature that came out of the water. There are many unknown dangers out in the jungle, but Lo’zar? He seems to have a plan, and after what I’ve seen him do so far, I want to know what that plan is. Besides, now that it’s only the two of us, it’ll be easier to run if I need to. I could simply whack him over the head with a pan and take off into the jungle if things turn south.
Lo’zar pushes the horses hard for the first few miles, and small objects fall off the wagon as we bump and bang along the uneven road. But he doesn’t stop to retrieve them, so I hold on and try not to bounce right out.
I wonder if he’s just running off with the loot. Or maybe he plans to deliver me to my destination alone and take the money—and the credit—for himself.
Yet I can sense that’s not true. His sharp eyes are focused on the road ahead, his mouth in a tight line and his tusks drawn high up on his face as he concentrates on making our escape. He’d been brash as we ran off with the wagon, but now his tense shoulders belie a deeper fear. Whoever we left behind, I have a feeling it’s not the last we’ll see of them.
So why would he risk all this? It can’t be... for me?
Even if I’m just a casualty in his heist, at least I’m no longer in a cage. I wish I could convey to him the bright light of hope he’s kindled in me. But I can’t, so I stay quiet, trying not to distract from the uneven road ahead of us.
I don’t realize that I’ve started to drift off to sleep until my head lands on something soft. I jerk and sit up to find that I’ve been leaning on Lo’zar’s big arm. He glances down at me, and a mischievous grin plays across his face. Lifting up his arm, he gestures at me to get closer.
I frown. What is he going to do? So far, though, he hasn’t tried anything untoward, so I scoot towards him on the bench and his arm drapes over my shoulders. He pulls me against his side, then tilts my head so it’s leaned on his chest. He says something in his language, something soft and sweet, and I think he’s telling me to go to sleep.
Not all trollkin are monsters, I decide then. There is something good in this one, even if I don’t understand it yet, even if he can’t tell me what we’re running towards—or away from.
As the sun starts to rise in the distance, bathing the jungle in soft orange, my eyes fall closed and I drift off with Lo’zar’s arm wrapped around me.
* * *
I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep when the wagon comes to a halt. It’s daylight now, and it warms my skin wonderfully. Combined with Lo’zar’s comforting smell, I’m loath to wake up.
Then voices echo off in the distance. Lo’zar jumps out of the wagon with fear on his face, then picks me up and tosses me into the back like I’m a sack of goods. He grabs a cloth, handing it to me, and mimes covering himself with it. So I do as I’m told, lying down in the back of the wagon and drawing the cloth up over my body. My shoulders are shaking, hoping that I’m not seen. If we were discovered now, everything Lo’zar’s risked so far would be for nothing.
The wagon rocks when he hops back into the driver’s seat and we continue at a walking pace. There comes the sound of hoofbeats. Lo’zar says a greeting, and unfamiliar voices return it. Then we continue on, and relief washes over me when no one comes to tear the cloth off of me. We did it.
After a while Lo’zar calls out, “Ree-mee,ag kagaz.” I don’t know what it means, but he did say my name, so I poke my head out of the cloth. He’s grinning as he pats the seat next to him.
This is our new routine as the wagon continues on down the road. Anytime we hear other people coming, I jump into the back and carefully disguise myself as part of the cargo. But after a while, I notice Lo’zar’s eyelids are drifting farther and farther down. Driving the horses all night and day is catching up to him. When his head suddenly lolls forward, I reach out and grab his shoulder, taking the reins before they can fall and jerking them back. The horses neigh, confused by my rough hand.
His head jerks up and he looks around with confusion. I wave my hands in front of his face, giving him a concerned frown. He needs rest, I realize. So I mime sleeping, just resting my head on my hands, and then point at him.
But Lo’zar doesn’t look too sure. He glances behind us, as if expecting the other two trollkin to appear at any moment, even though we’ve long left them behind. I shake my head,no, and make the sleeping gesture again. We both need some real rest. Surely there’s no way the others will catch up to us on foot. Finally, Lo’zar acquiesces, and we pull as far off the road as we can without getting the wagon stuck in the dense foliage. First he hobbles the horses, spreading grain on the ground, then he unrolls a bedroll on the jungle floor. He sits back, rubbing his chin as if noticing for the first time there’s two of us and only one bed.
That’s when he gestures at me to get into it. The one bedroll, for me? I shake my head, but he’s insistent. He lies down on the hard ground next to the bedroll, then stretches and yawns contentedly, as if to assure me that he doesn’t mind it.
I can’t help but smile at this strange creature who has decided to be kind to me. I never expected chivalry from a trollkin.
Sun drifts through the impossibly thick foliage overhead, dappling his face with little bright spots of light. His eyes close and almost immediately, his breath evens out.
What’s going through his mind? I study him in the light, and it reminds me of an oil painting that would be hanging in our home. I wish I knew where we were going, or who we’re running from. But I have no way to ask him, so I settle down into the soft bedroll that smells like Lo’zar and quickly follow him into sleep.
