Dead End (Book 4): A Very Dark Place Page 12

  Then they started the fire, using most of the wood that he'd split, Morris coming up to him as he helped carry it over, a single piece in his own hand. It was neatly stacked in a complex design. All of her friends took one piece and placed it on the blaze.

  "I hear that you stood her brother's duty?" He hefted the wood, to show what he meant.

  "That... was to have been done by Misha. No harm I suppose. Has anyone told him that you're the Ba-Dehist yet? It should make for an amusing facial expression if nothing else. We should get front row seats for it, don't you think?"

  Jake chuckled, waiting for his turn to place the wood, shaking his head.

  "No. If I knew what it was for, I would have volunteered anyway. Besides you're standing for her father, aren't you? That's more important."

  The man looked away, his head shaking ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably.

  "I have no daughters of my own, but if I did, I wouldn't be prouder of them than of our Cameron. She's gone through so much and done much with what she's been given. I feel miserly giving only the third daughters part, but to do more would announce myself her true father, which isn't the case. If it wouldn't shame my love, I'd do it anyway. Did you know that she's only fourteen and already the personal aid to the Ba-Dehist? It's an incredible thing. Youngest such in all history. There is only the one Ba-Dehist, but still, I was never the aid to such a person..."

  The man sounded playful, but his face was serious enough.

  It was Jake's turn to step up and arrange the wood. He didn't have to say anything, just try to get it to a place on the growing fire that wouldn't cause it to topple dangerously. The thing was huge. Hot too, he had to toss it in from a good five feet away. It made a nice thunk when it landed though and didn't slide.

  Morris went next, then his wife, who was right next to him. Morten was a few people back. After that they wandered over to Cam and each gave her a kiss. Morris got one on the cheek, but she kissed Jake on the mouth, hard, but not using any tongue. About half the people laughed.

  She whispered to him quickly, lips almost on his ear.

  "Thank you." She didn't explain what for though.

  Hopefully not for the party or anything, because that was all other people. All he did was the firewood. Well, maybe he helped her take the initial leap, but that wasn't really him either. She earned it.

  There was a feast, which was plain compared to what they'd had for Christmas maybe, but was pretty special for the people at the House. Braised meat and vegetable kabobs along with a really nice cake for dessert. It wasn't too sugary, which was another part of the ceremony, since sweets were a thing of childhood. It was heavily spiced though, and held meaning. Plus expense in the making, given everything.

  "Morten collected the food himself. It took a while I hear." Tansy was sitting away from him, but spoke loudly enough for him to hear, looking at Morris though, who was on a carpet next to him. It was a huge circle of people around the fire.

  Colleen leaned into his side, her body warm against his.

  "It's nice to see you smile again. Really smile I mean. I missed the old Mickey. Not that I blame you, after all this, well, not this, but the other stuff." The end of the world.

  He got the idea and leaned back a bit, just trying to be friendly. No one stared or anything, seeming not to notice at all.

  "It's a good thing. Not the last of them either, maybe. We have a lot of work to do. In the morning though, I don't want to ruin things. People need to have fun every now and then, or they'll forget why they're alive."

  It sounded nearly profound, and got a funny look from Morris, who actually blinked a few times before speaking in his own language. He had a cup of something that was sharply alcoholic in nature and had offered some to Colleen, who had a bit, but not to Jake. He was being served something else, a light fruit punch it seemed. No one mentioned it, but it was probably not meant as a slight. The juice was most likely so rare that they just didn't have enough to share or something. The guy really seemed to be taking the whole "Ba-Dehist" thing seriously now.

  Jake would have to watch out for kidnapping. It was the Teleporter tradition with his kind, he'd heard. That would get in the way though, slowing things down.

  After the food and the first of the wine was done people stood at random intervals and sang, danced or told stories, which were mainly about Cam. Morten was the first one to go, telling the tale of how he teasingly pushed the girl to teleport with many people at once, only to find himself the butt of his own joke when she turned around and did it.

  "Not two months ago. So it isn't a surprise to me that she's now an adult." He raised his drink high and called out loudly in his own language, but took a drink.

  Stander called out after him, repeating the words in English helpfully.

  "To Cameron who walks between the winds!"

  Jake took a drink then too, and so did everyone else.

  There were other stories, ones he didn't know at all. About how Cam had taken a beating at the hands of several of the police to save one of the women from the old police compound from dying. It wasn't someone he knew, but she looked familiar enough.

  "No one else would stand up for me by then, we were all too afraid, too worn down. But she did. It cost her to do it, a lot, but she never blamed me for it, even though I should have died before letting her be blamed in my place. She'd seen me take the extra food, it was for the babies, but..." She cried then, as Tansy translated for her.

  The crowd got quiet then, many of the people looking confused, some pained, imagining the punishment. It was worse than they thought, Jake was sure. By that time the old Chief had taken to having women who disobeyed not just beaten, but raped over and over again. There was probably no way she'd avoided that. The women that had been there all knew what it meant though, and it showed on their faces... as shame.

  It wasn't their fault though, no...

  It was his.

  Rachel had that happen to her too, and then she was beaten to death, unwilling to back down, even as it killed her. The ghost he'd seen had told him that she blamed herself for everything that had happened, but that wasn't true. Not at all.

  Oh, she hadn't loved him and that had hurt, sending him into an odd place mentally for years, but if he hadn't been so selfish, so self-centered and stupid, then he might have stopped all of it from happening in the first place, like the ghost had said.

  So it was all his responsibility. Every punch they'd taken, every kick. Everything else that was too dark to name. All him. For failing to remember to love. For thinking that his own pain was somehow more important than everyone else.

  It caused tears to come to his eyes, which he hid behind his cup, hoping that whoever spoke next had a less harrowing tale. It turned out that it was a song. Colleen stood, stepping forward, and started singing without accompaniment, her voice loud and true, so that everyone could hear her. It was a wonderful thing, not hushed or restrained, filled with pain and a feeling of lost love.

  The last line trailed off, almost too quiet for anyone to hear, except that the only sound was the roar of the fire. Even the drunks had gone silent. It was a moment of awe.

  "And if you cannot see me, I guess that I'm not there, I wish that you could love me, please let me know you care."

  It wasn't anything he'd ever heard before at all. Something she'd written most likely. Given the words it was about someone close to her, that had loved her sister and not her. The words were specific enough for him to get it though.

  It wasn't about him.

  It was about Derrick Holsom.

  Well, that was a wonderful thing. Then, she was a little drunk, so probably hadn't been considering anything but her own feelings and pain was always real, even if others didn't want to understand it all the time. It was fine, he decided after a bit. At least she'd gotten to feel love. Maybe it was worth it, even if things didn't work out? Then again, Derrick had slept with a whole lot of women, even while he was married. Probably her too the
n, if she was making up songs like that about him.

  For a half second he wondered who the creep hadn't had sex with.

  Jake stood up himself, sober and not willing to let Cam's night be ruined by his mood. He focused with his eyes closed, not knowing what he was going to say at all, just hoping it would be right to the moment.

  Then he sang a song himself, letting it rip out from deep within his soul. It was a powerful thing, filled with emotion too, but his words were of pride, and the joy of knowing someone as wonderful as Cam. It just came out, the words all true, not a misstep in the whole thing. It wasn't long, a couple of minutes, but by the end even the people that didn't know the language it was in cheered.

  "Who walks between the winds? Who wanders betwixt the storms? You know the name, you know her fame, a thing you can't ignore." It had a nice quick rhythm to it too.

  Then he sat down, hoping that it hadn't sucked too badly. Really it was a horrible plan to perform without practicing first and he just hadn't for that one. Not ever. It did get him a hug from Cam, who ran around the outside of the circle to do it.

  She smelled of alcohol herself and seemed a little sloppy as she did it, but didn't lose herself enough to kiss him again.

  "That was incredible. I have my own song now. Matilde is going to be so jealous. Who walks betwixt the storms..." It was off key, but cute enough that everyone that could hear it chuckled a bit.

  After that some instruments came out and people danced for a while, it was pretty late when everyone started trying to find a bed and Cam, being legal in her society, got more than one offer to share. She picked a likely looking guy that didn't seem that much older than she was and went off with him readily enough. It meant that he wasn't crashing on her floor, no doubt, so he just kind of curled up near the fire. It was warm enough and he found his jacket to use as a pillow. It wasn't like he was the only one doing that, including a few people that lived in the area.

  Jake got up before the first real light and changed back into this own clothes, noticing that he'd gotten the ones he was wearing all dirty from the ground. A pebble had dug into his cheek somehow, which had to be pried out and he sort of needed a shave, but no one looked at him too funny when he asked where the shower was. True, most of the people he saw just didn't understand him, but that was fine, a nice girl that looked to be about his own age and had pretty orange eyes with tawny colored hair led him to it without any problem and even got him some soap and a razor.

  "You are one of the people that come... strangers for the ceremony being night last?" She spoke pretty clearly as to each word, but the order was a little awkward and scrambled.

  Still better than he could do in her language. The only word he remembered at the moment was "paka" which he was pretty sure wasn't something nice to say to a kind person helping you out.

  "Yes. Cam is my friend. I'm Jake, what's your name?"

  "Willa I am called. We talk, after you..." She gestured to the shower instead of naming it.

  Why not though? Maybe she wanted to volunteer for the effort or something.

  "I'd love too. It will just take a bit."

  The woman walked away though, smiling back at him. He wondered if they'd just had a major miscommunication somehow.

  Chapter five

  There was no one waiting for him when he got out of the shower, shaved and refreshed. It would have been great to be in clean clothing, but he'd been dirtier before, so it wasn't some huge deal either. What he needed to do though was to find someone that could help him start moving the devices and people around for making the compound. It was ambitious, but if possible he thought they should have it started that day. Of course everyone he knew that could teleport had gotten fairly drunk the night before, so he doubted that they'd be ready for a long while.

  In that he was wrong.

  All of them, Morris, Morten and Cam, found him not twenty minutes later, looking miserable and sipping at cups of black coffee, but standing on their own feet, bathed and ready for the day.

  "My duty as an adult." Cam muttered, slurping at her beverage just a bit. That got a nod from the other two.

  Apparently that was something they took seriously then?

  "Good. As soon as everyone is able we need to get things going then. Return the people to the House for their own chores and then see if we can beg places for everything else. Um, Morten? Would you do me a favor?" It was kind of a big thing to ask, but the guy was solid and strong enough for it. It also wouldn't hurt that he was Morris's son, most likely. People seemed to act like that was something of a big deal anyway.

  "Of course, Be-Dehist. Anything you need."

  "Could you be in charge of seeing to the spread of this compound? I don't know the best way to do it, but we have guards for it, so people won't have to go alone. Yalla is in charge of that. It's a lot of work, but... you know, it's basically the part where you guys save the whole world." Jake shrugged, hoping the guy wouldn't feel too put out by the idea. It was a huge thing and probably meant a thousand headaches or more in the coming days, weeks and years.

  He smiled instead, and so did Morris. The older man, back in his black work clothes patted his son on the shoulder once.

  "Hah! Practically like being in charge of something even. At this rate you'll be important one day and everything." He looked pretty pleased though, for all the words teased.

  Cam nodded sagely.

  "Yeah. This is huge Morten. Maybe the most important job ever. I should have put in for it, but no one would listen to me yet. Well, our people, but the leaders of the world, they have different ideas about who should be in charge. Now all you have to do is get Tansy to let you sleep with Yalla or something and you'll be all set." She sipped at her cup, grabbed her head and winced.

  "Sorry, that was a joke. Yalla doesn't need you to bribe her that way. Just be brave and she'll work with you, no problem."

  It was a good point. The warrior types tended to view physical bravery as a big deal. More than toughness even. They were all strong and good fighters in their own way, but they'd practically glow if someone they thought of as small or weak did something that took courage. It came in handy form time to time.

  Mort nodded his head though, toward Jake.

  "As you say, so shall it be done, Ba-Dehist. I'll go and roust people for it now. How many should I get?"

  That would depend, of course, but the short answer was easy enough.

  "Everyone that you can Mort. We'll even take kids if they can move others under two minutes or so." Shifting to Morris he tilted his head.

  "Only with guards and to places that are safer already, I don't want them to be at risk, well, not more than we have too. If we send in really good people the first time, we can use those cleared zones as bases of a sort and work outward from relative safety. I hope it will work that way."

  The leader didn't look all that happy about the idea of children going out into the world like that, but he didn't tell Jake to stuff his idea anywhere in particular either, so maybe he'd at least think about it? See for himself if it was safe enough perhaps? Jake knew he was going to go out with the first group to make sure it would work that way. Probably for a while to make certain there were no mistakes and that people didn't take unneeded risks.

  After he explained that the two men nodded for a bit, considering everything.

  Cam just shrugged.

  "So, back to the Linsters, then delivering things all morning?" She gulped the rest of her cup, then playfully tried to hand it off to her leader, who surprised her by taking it, then doing the same with his own, knocking it back in one go.

  Morris just looked into his and shook his head, "that means I'm with Winsor all day. He's still a bit upset with me for having ordered the previous materials taken like I did. Well, a little groveling never killed anyone. Wish me luck?"

  Jake did and so did the others.

  Cam had him to the Linsters a minute later, right inside their cave complex, everyone else standing by, rea
dy to go already, right next to an assembled silver unit. It was almost militarily sharp looking, except that the bodies were all at ease.

  "Cam, get Dave and his, um, plant, to Valhalla please?" She had that done in five minutes but wasn't back immediately.

  He looked at the crew and sighed, since at least three of them looked ready to mutiny at any second once Dave left.

  "OK. Someone raise your hand." He waited, looking at the three that would probably be trouble, but it was Barb that did it, not anyone else.

  Jake laughed.

  "Off to Nevada then, with the Telepaths. Is that alright? I don't think they can clearly read your mind anyway." A lot of the women from the police compound had that going on. They were just so traumatized that nothing all that clear came out.

  "Cushy assignment though. Nice people."

  "Cool. That's the old guy with the weird suits?"

  Jake smiled, happy that she was good with it.

  "Lamont, yeah. He's a good person. You'll get guards too though, just in case. A team of others too. Try to work in shifts. Supplies should start coming in today or early tomorrow." Or in three weeks, depending on how hard they were to get. Not his area, but they needed to push a little and be ready.

  He had to go with Cam when she got back, reporting that the visitor center had been changed to the place Dave was working already. They set up a cot at the back of the room so that the boy could be there to guard his machine twenty-four hours a day. He'd insisted, which had apparently made Yalla pretty happy. Duty was a big thing with her.

  Lamont didn't have a clue they were hosting anyone of course, and it took a while to dig the man up, since he was still sleeping. The woman that met with them seemed flustered, but was sharp enough not to argue, clearing a small building for Barb and her crew immediately. People boiled out to help with it, and, to Jake's pleasure, started trying to learn to use the machine.

  Barb explained it all to them, which got her a working crew of eight people to tend it, not the three the other places were going to get. that had to make it all easier. Then he did say it was a cushy assignment, hadn't he?