Forsaken An American Sasquatch Tale - By Christine Conder Page 0,14

for desire, found none, so she relaxed. She felt a little guilty, hoped the relief hadn’t shown in her face.

Lying on her side to face him, she let him cover her up. She nudged his legs with a foot and he opened them to entwine her colder ones with his.

The lines around his eyes and on his forehead stayed even after his smile dimmed. He looked rough, way past tired.

“The air get any clearer after I left?” she asked.

“Eh. You know how chatty Katie can be.”

Liberty pressed her lips together, nodded. She didn’t ask for details. Instead, she told him about the slideshow. She spoke of Mitch and how he hadn’t looked good. At all.

“Katie and Gabe aren’t leaving for a couple more days, but I’ll make a point to stop in tomorrow,” Nathaniel said.

“Good. We’ll go together.” She pondered a moment, then, “Since Gabriel and Katie made the generous offer on behalf of Cutler, did you happen to mention we’d already made new arrangements?”

He shrugged slightly. “Not really.”

She reached out and smoothed the frown lines on his forehead, “Maybe when you see Mitch, you can mention it to him. See if he knows of anything.” Neither she, nor Nathaniel had broached the subject with Mitch yet. They didn’t feel comfortable forcing him to think of their move. His impending death.

“What if I can’t find us anything else?”

Nathaniel had found a cave, not far from where they were now, but it was incredibly sloped and small, and didn’t have water. Their first cave, the one they’d lived in when fate delivered Mitch and Ellie to them, didn’t have any either. And Liberty hated to haul water.

“You think it’s possible you won’t?”

“Anything is possible, Liberty.”

Well, obviously not, or he’d have discovered a livable place not too far from Mitch’s property, with water, where she’d be nearby in case Sage ever turned up. And even if not, she’d be close to her memory.

“What about up north? The mountains? Surely an untouched treasure or two can be found?” Plus, she thought, it’s still only a day, two at the most, from Montgomery Woods.

“Yeah, maybe. But we’re running out of time,” his weary expression made Liberty think his heart wasn’t really in it.

“We’ll stay at the little place across the way if we have to in the meantime, but I doubt it’ll come down to that.” She smiled at him. “You’re the best scout in the world.”

She knew he took his obligations seriously, and admired him for it. He’d taken a hit to his ego when he’d lost Sage. Hadn’t really been the same since.

He ignored the compliment. “I’m not saying it’s going to happen, but I think we should maybe, possibly, consider attending the assembly. Get a feel for things. And, depending on how it goes, think about a move back to Proem.”

Proem, there it was again. She’d never escape it. Every fall, the assembly was attended by colonists from as many as four caverns in the state. Parents with children of age came together for a mixer, of sorts. Like they would have done with a sixteen-year-old Sage. Liberty wasn’t interested. Had no reason to be anymore.

She sat up in bed. “You want to work for Cutler? Are you nuts?”

“I never said that.” Nathaniel sat up and faced her. “But I do want for us to be safe.”

“I won’t be safe at Proem. My sister has it in for me. You work as Council and you’ll end up taking me for a walk. Is that what you want?” She turned her back to him. “I can’t believe you think I’d even consider it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Only hounds get put down.” He caressed her shoulder.

Hounds, the reckless sorts who brought attention to the colony by the chances they took. Them and the unstable.

“Anyway,” Nathaniel continued. “Gabe told me Proem is a lot different now. There are new colonists and many of them are…” He paused. “Forward thinking, like us.”

“Sure, right.” Liberty rolled her eyes. “And then there’s Katie. And, more importantly, Patience, the political princess. She’s neither forward thinking nor new. If you’ll remember, we go way back.”

“Maybe. But Gabe also said that Cutler has found a way to use some of the new technology. Like computers. Can you believe that? And he wants to find ways to help the Sasquatch develop a network to help ensure our safety and maybe even research a cure.”

A cure? He was mad. There was no cure. Being Sasquatch wasn’t a medical condition for crying out loud.

Liberty