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  “I am!” I shouted back. I heard Robert’s panicked voice yelling from somewhere behind me.

  “Pick him up!” He ordered. “Don’t leave him!” Terror filled my mind. Someone was hurt but who? Not Robert; maybe the colonel or Marshal or Cornelius. I kept running, hoping we could get to the mine before they spotted us.

  Chapter 20

  We made it! We got back to the mine before any of the Blood Demons spotted us. We even had a chance to untie Cocoa and send her on her way. It was easier than I thought it would be, too. It was if the horse knew that something bad was happening and couldn’t wait to be untethered. Once we took her bridal off, she ran further into the woods away from the direction of the demons. We also had time to cover the entrance with tree branches and now, hopefully, we were hidden enough that they wouldn’t see us. We needed time to figure out what to do. We also needed to save Marshal’s life.

  When I heard Robert give the command to ‘pick him up’, I had no idea who got hurt or how badly they were hurt. Max had a hold of my hand and was pulling me and urging me to go faster and faster. I didn’t find out that it was Marshal who got hurt until after we cut Cocoa loose and started piling up branches in front of the mine. By then, Colonel Al and Cornelius arrived carrying an unconscious Marshal. I felt my heart drop as I stared at my friend. The crazy redhead was the only reason I was still alive. He took me into his underground fortress when I would have surely died in the winds that followed the 360.

  “Marshal?” I ran over to him and couldn’t believe how pale he was. “What happened?”

  “He was shot,” said Robert. I looked at Marshal searching for the bullet wound. I noticed blood on the colonel’s hands and realized the bullet must have hit Marshal in the back. “Come on, get him into the tunnels. Take him...”

  “To my room,” finished Colonel Al. “We can put him on my bed. I have some bandages and alcohol in my trunk.”

  That was fifteen minutes ago and now we all sat in the colonel’s room keeping as quiet as possible and watching Marshal’s chest rising and falling with each breath. As long as he kept breathing, we still had time to help him. How we were going to do that, I didn’t exactly know. The bullet had entered near the bottom of his ribcage, just narrowly missing his spine. There was no exit wound, so, that meant the bullet was still inside somewhere. None of us had the knowledge nor the expertise to help him. What he really needed was a doctor or, at least, someone with medical training. Robert and Cornelius could think of no one. It didn’t matter, though, because we couldn’t risk leaving the mine and having the demons find us. So, now we were sitting in the colonel’s room, looking at one another with no plan to get us out of this situation.

  “Are you sure it was them?” I asked Max.

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “How could you tell?” I asked.

  “I could see Howling Wolf,” he explained. “You can’t miss the long, black hair. It was him alright.”

  “But I only saw about twenty men,” said Colonel Al. “I thought he had an army of a hundred men?”

  “He does, trust me,” Max said, angry that they were doubting him. “I was in their camp; I saw them. But I was thinking...”

  “What?” asked the colonel.

  “Well, I was thinking that he and his best fighters rode ahead,” Max said. “Maybe he actually believed some of the things I told him about there not being many people here. If he came here quickly and unexpectedly, he wouldn’t need a lot of men to conquer us.”

  “And the rest of his men?” I asked.

  “Will be coming in a few days,” he said, “after the land has been taken. Then they’ll come and set up their community.”

  “It’s a bold move,” said the colonel. “Taking the chance that we would not be ready for them. A sneak attack. It’s what I would have done. This Howling Wolf is smart; a good leader.”

  “Yeah, well, lot of good that does us,” I said. I was getting sick of how these guys were in awe of this guy. He was a psychopath and only killed people because he liked it. Our biggest concern right now was helping Marshal and we weren’t going to do that by sitting here waiting to be found. I had an idea and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it.

  “Nicole?” Robert sensed my anger and he knew that when I was angry, I did crazy things. “What are you thinking?”

  “I have an idea,” I said.

  “What?” asked Robert, leaning in closer to listen.

  “Well, I think we should make a run for the portal,” I said.

  “What?”

  “How?”

  “That’s crazy!”

  “Give me a minute,” I knew they would question my idea but it might be the only way out of this. “I think we take the rock powder and sneak out in the dark. We can head north through the woods until we get to the edge of the forest. Once in the field, we’ll start heading east. I have an idea where Calgary should be and we’ll go that way. When the sun comes up, we’ll use the powder to lead us directly to the portal. If you’re right Max, and most of his army is still days away, I think we have a chance.”

  “How?” Cornelius sounded doubtful of my plan.

  “Let her finish,” Max said, sticking up for me.

  “Well, I think this Howling Wolf will stick by Marshal’s,” I explained. “He doesn’t know that there’s a portal. He’ll be expecting us to fight our battle somewhere between Marshal’s and the forest. He won’t have any patrols north; what would be the point?”

  “Nicky,” Cornelius started, “we don’t even know if there is a portal. We’re going off of flying rock dust and a dream!”

  “Well, I believe there’s a portal,” I said. “And we have to find it and go through it because there’s no way we’ll ever defeat one hundred men.”

  “What about the assassination plan?” asked Emma Lee.

  “I think that went out the door when they killed the children,” said Robert. “If they could kill Billy and Kitten so easily, they won’t hesitate to kill Nicky if she even tried to approach them.”

  “I agree,” said Colonel Al. “I think Nicky’s right; we go for the portal. The private can help with that. He’s been through it enough times, he can show us how.”

  “Barker?” asked Max.

  “Yeah,” I said. “It seems my dog knows a lot more than any of us. If he could talk, we probably would have been out of here a long time ago.”

  “What about Marshal?” asked Cornelius.

  “We take him,” said Emma Lee. Everyone looked at her as if she were insane. “Well, we can’t leave him! Besides, when we go through the portal we should be able to find a doctor right?”

  “She’s right,” I said. “We have to take him.”

  “It will slow us down,” said Cornelius.

  “So, it slows us down,” said Colonel Al. “You’re a man, you can handle it. We should never leave a fallen comrade behind.”

  “I was only pointing out that carrying a wounded man was not going to be easy,” Cornelius didn’t like the way the colonel talked to him. “We need to find a way to stop the bleeding before we go because; first, moving him will make him bleed more, second, if he keeps losing blood, he’ll bleed to death and third, the blood will leave a trail in the snow. Now, does anyone know how to sew?”

  “Sew? I know how to sew,” said Emma Lee.

  “Good,” said Cornelius, “you can stitch him up.” Emma Lee’s face grew pale and I could tell that sewing wounds wasn’t what she had in mind.

  “Duct tape,” I said. “Colonel, do you have any duct tape?”

  “I have tape, yes,” he answered. “In the communication room. Why?”

  “Because, we can put duct tape over the wound. It will stop the bleeding. I saw it on one of those emergency room shows,” I said, then took off down the tunnel to the radio room.

  I returned minutes later with the wide, silver tape. I went over to Marshal and turned him on his side so I could see the wound. The sheets and bed were covered in blood
. I reached to the pile of towels Colonel Al had gathered and dipped one in a bowl of water that had also been brought when we first got here. I carefully wiped away all the blood on Marshal’s back and then dried it as best I could. He felt cold to me. I would wrap him up in whatever clothes and blankets I could after I taped the wound. Colonel Al helped me with the tape and watched in fascination as the blood stopped seeping out of Marshal as soon as I taped it up.

  “Amazing,” he said, looking closer at the wound. “How long will this last?”

  “Hopefully, until we can find a doctor,” I said. “But we’ll take the rest of the tape with us just in case.”

  “Ok, let’s figure out what we’re going to do,” said Max. “I presume you dropped the powder when the gunfire started?”

  “Yes I did,” said Colonel Al. “I was in the middle of getting more powder when the first shot rang out. I dropped it then. I’m sorry.”

  “It doesn’t matter, now,” said Max. I didn’t like the accusatory way he said it. Anyone would have dropped the powder under those circumstances. “We have to make more. We should do that before anything else but we have to do it quietly. We should grind them rather than smash them; it makes less noise. Did you hear that, Billy? No, loud...” We all stared at him as he realized his mistake. It was always so easy to tease the little boy for being over enthusiastic in tense situations. It was automatic to warn him before he did something without thinking. Max turned and headed for the tunnels to gather rocks for grinding.

  “I hate this world,” said Robert as he turned down the tunnels to follow Max.

  A half an hour later, we had grinded enough rocks into powder to fill a cup three quarters full. It was more than we had before and it would have to do. Cornelius and Max had just returned from the entrance and informed us that it was now dark. So far, no one had found us. I changed Marshal’s shirt to one of the Colonel’s. He would have to wear black; the colonel had no yellow. I could only imagine what Marshal would say when he discovered this horrible mistake when he woke up. If he woke up. I quickly flushed the thought from my mind and continued dressing Marshal as warmly as I could.

  We had to figure out how we would carry the redhead and who would carry him. I volunteered but knew they wouldn’t let me. I was strong but not strong enough to carry Marshal. He weighed about 140 pounds, thirty pounds more than I did. I could barely drag him let alone carry him through the trees and the snow. The men would take turns; Robert would go first. Max, Cornelius and the colonel were better at fighting and we may need to do just that as soon as we left the mine.

  We packed a backpack with some water, a little bit of food and some extra matches. I put some extra rocks in my pockets and carried the backpack. At least, I could do something to help. We all had a gun now thanks to the well-prepared Colonel Al. He had a cache of guns hidden in the calendar room. We strapped Marshal to Robert piggyback style and headed for the mine entrance. It was now or never.

  Chapter 21

  The first few feet out of the mine were the scariest. If Howling Wolf had any idea where we were, he would most likely be waiting to attack us when we emerged. No one was there. Our hiding place was still hidden. Max tried to keep the entrance covered in case we needed to come back. We went slow, trying not to make any noise. It was a little easier with snow still covering all the dead branches and twigs that would have snapped under our feet. We had no light, agreeing that a lantern would surely give up our position to the Blood Demons. It all reminded me of when Robert and I left Madge behind in the out-of-towners’ camp. We had been trying to find Marshal’s hidden cave then. I never thought I’d be sneaking through the forest in the middle of the night again.

  We let Barker take the lead simply because he was faster in the dark and more agile through the bushes and trees. Besides, he seemed to know exactly what path would take us out of the woods. I wondered if he could find the portal without the powder. It didn’t even occur to me that he could probably lead us all the way. On the other hand, maybe he was just as lost as I was in the city or, rather, without the city and all the streets and avenues to navigate by. We made our way through the trees, crouched low to the ground, single file. Max led the way followed by Colonel Al, Cornelius, Robert, with Marshal on his back, Emma Lee and me. I kept turning and searching behind me, hoping no one was following us. So far, so good.

  After about ten minutes everyone stopped. I could hear a small whimper come from Barker and wondered what was wrong. I tried to see what was going on but, being last in line, I couldn’t see anything. As I got closer, I saw the men standing in front of something, their guns lowered. ‘Did something happen to Barker?’ I wondered. He whimpered again and I heard Colonel Al’s voice.

  “Shhh, Private,” he whispered. “You’ll give our position away!”

  “What’s wrong?” I tried to see what had stopped them but they were blocking me.

  “Nicky,” said Max. He gently grabbed my arm and tried to lead me away. “You don’t want to see this.”

  “See what?” I tried to break free of Max.

  “No, Nicky,” he said. “We’ll go another way.” Then I heard Emma Lee gasp and cover her mouth.

  “What happened?” I asked thinking that if Emma Lee could see why couldn’t I? I pulled away from Max and went over to see what they were looking at.

  “Oh, my god,” I felt my legs go numb as I looked at the mass in front of me. Cocoa lay on the ground, her neck twisted at an odd angle, her eyes wide open. Her chest at been cut open, her heart ripped out. Barker was lying on the ground beside her, licking her, trying to wake her up. I went numb and fell to the ground beside Barker. She must have thought it was safe to come back. She was so loyal to me, to us. I had saved her from her terrible life with Butcher and she trusted me. She must have thought it was safe to come back. I stared at her body and twisted my fingers into Barker’s fur. He turned and looked at me. He tilted his head, cocked his ears and let out a quiet whimper. He wanted me to wake her up, but I couldn’t; no one could.

  “Come on, Nicky,” Max had his hand around my arm once more, trying to pull me up but I couldn’t move. I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds. “We have to go! If they killed Cocoa here, that can’t be too far away. Come on!”

  “I-I...,” I couldn’t form any words as I continued to stare at Barker. He looked at me and dropped his ears. He turned back to Cocoa, gave her one last lick and then stood up. He reached out his paw to me. I touched it and knew we had to go. If I could have dug her a grave, I would have but there was no time for that. Somewhere, out there were the Blood Demons and I hated them for what they had done. What cowards they were! Killing two children and a horse made them less than men and I hoped this world would be their eternal hell.

  We kept low to the ground and made our way north, purposely staying in the trees as far as possible. The trees provided some kind of cover for us. Robert carried Marshal quite far before finally letting someone else take over. It was Max’s turn now. He carried him effortlessly, still able dart in and out of the trees. He said it was because he had travelled so long carrying a full backpack while searching for the Blood Demons. Still, he was a strong man.

  “We have to stop,” said Cornelius.

  “Why?” I didn’t want to stop. We should keep going, get to the portal as fast as we could.

  “We’ve reached the edge and should rest,” the Englishman said. “We should wait until daybreak so we can see the powder. It’s too hard in the dark. Besides, we should be totally rested before we step into the open field. What if we have to run? We should be ready to run or fight if we have to.”

  “I guess you’re right,” I gave in, “but someone should stand guard. I’ll do it. There’s no way I can relax yet.”

  We tried to stay together around some bushes which would provide some kind of cover. Max lay Marshal down under a part of the bush where there was no snow. He tried to pour some water into his mouth but it just dribbled down his cheek. He was deathly pale now, with dark
patches forming under his eyes. We needed a doctor now. I hated that we had to stop. I wished we could just keep going but Cornelius was right. We’d just be guessing at which way to go if we went out now. I walked a few feet away from everyone and sat with my back against a tree, gun across my lap, watching for any sign of the Blood Demons. Barker stayed with me and was lying on his stomach while I stroked the fur on his back.

  “Need company?” It was Max and I smiled at him. Not long ago we had been in an embrace that neither one of us wanted to break. Now, we were running for their lives. I reached up for his hand and pulled him down beside me.

  “I would love to have company,” I said, shifting over so he, too, could rest his back against the tree.

  “Not the way I wanted our relationship to begin,” he said as he reached for my hand to hold.

  “No?” I replied sarcastically. “You mean running from a group of psychos doesn’t turn you on? How else would you start a ‘relationship’?”

  “Well, I did have other plans,” he gave me his half smile and I felt my heart race. “They didn’t involve Blood Demons, or running through the woods in the middle of the night unless, of course, we were naked and the moon was a little brighter. No, I wanted you all to myself where I could seduce you properly.”

  “Is that so?” I could hardly get the words out through my halted breathing. He was good at rendering me speechless. “Well, all of that will have to wait. There’re more important things to do first.”

  “Yeah, I know,” he turned serious, no trace of the flirtatious smile on his lips. “Do you really think there’s some kind of veil across the worlds?”

  “You mean a portal?” He nodded his head. “I’m not a hundred percent certain. I do know that Barker must have come through it more than once.”

  “How can you be so sure?” Max looked at the shepherd-cross lying beside me.

  “I know that Colonel Al’s been with him for a few years,” I explained. “I also know that he’s wearing a dog tag on his collar from my time. Someone had to put it on him. I think he went back to our world and was rescued by one of those pet rescue people. He was probably adopted and given the collar by his new owners.”