Read Online The Humming of Numbers by Joni Sensel - Free Book Online Page B

scythes and sickles at hand. Together they might have a chance of protecting themselves or their women and homes. Pressing that hopeful scenario into his heart, Aidan shoved aside the urge to know what really had happened. Unarmed, it would be suicide to go down into the smoke right now to find out.
    â€œWe can’t,” he repeated, trying to convince his twitchy legs. They wanted to run and know the worst. “Not yet.”
    â€œWhat do we do, then?” Lana choked back her tears.
    â€œWe’ve got to find somewhere to hide,” he said, thinking aloud. “They might not move on right away. Or they may keep going upstream and return.” He scoured the riverbanks for boats. He couldn’t spot any through the smoke, but it would not have been hard to conceal them on the reedy and willow-draped banks.
    â€œMy father’s house,” she sniffed, wiping her dripping nose. “His guards will protect us. If he’s not already d—”
    Aidan spoke quickly before she released that word into the air. “We’d never cross the upper meadows without being seen. They’ll get there long before we could—if they’re not there already, laughing and drinking mead at his fire.” He shook his head against the more likely scenes of pillage his mind had suggested.
    â€œOh! I know where we could go,” Lana declared. “Follow me.”
    She scrambled back toward the cover of trees. Halfway, she cast a glance over her shoulder and stopped. She jerked her hand, not understanding why he hadn’t followed.
    Aidan hesitated, feeling the weight of the decisions before them. A wrong choice, an unlucky choice, might lead to an ax in the head. He jumped after her, not to
follow but to confer. She didn’t wait. The moment she saw him move, Lana was running again.
    As he ran, crouched, to catch up, Aidan prayed for ideas. Lana was fleet, so they were dodging trees by the time he caught her and pulled her to a stop.
    â€œWhere are you going?” he demanded, trying to keep his voice low.
    â€œI know somewhere safe in the woods below my father’s house. Raiders would have no reason to go there, if they weren’t actually following us, and they couldn’t find it in any case.”
    â€œWhere is it?”
    â€œâ€™Tis secret. I’ll show you.”
    â€œThe beekeeper’s cottage?”
    â€œNo. You’re wasting time.” She pulled from his hold and darted ahead. “You’ll have to trust me. Come on.”
    Aidan didn’t trust her at all, but he didn’t have a better idea—at least, not until they had the cover of night. He did convince her to slow their pace for quiet’s sake. She led him back down the hill and roundabout through the woods. When a bird flushed unexpectedly or the forest rustled too loud, they both froze. The first time, Lana’s hand clutched Aidan’s. Even once they moved on, he kept gripping her fingers. With that physical link between them, he could spend less effort following her and more sorting the light from the shadows. Afternoon sun mottled
the branches and trunks all around them, and every movement hinted of danger.
    Lana stopped twice to try her divining rod, which she’d carried the whole time. The first time, the result was roughly the same as before. The second time, though, the rod pointed almost directly ahead in their path. She blanched and dropped to a squat where she stood.
    Aidan hunkered alongside her.
    â€œThey’re close. I think they’re coming this way,” she breathed.
    â€œWhy do you say so?”
    â€œI can feel it in the wood, through my hands,” she replied. She crushed the rod to her chest and her eyes darted at the trees in their midst, looking for a way to escape. Aidan could see from her jerky trembling that she was approaching a panic. He put a hand on her shoulder.
    â€œWe’re still all right,” he assured her.