*
We set off. Donna seems stronger today. I guess she can’t have slept much if she was a terrified prisoner of the Hunters. But whatever she is—wannabe freedom fighter, spy, or just some sad teenage White Witch with parents who’ve joined up with Soul—I really don’t care. Greatorex can work it out.
We make good progress all day, keeping up a steady pace, stopping frequently but only for a few minutes at a time. At one stop I give Donna the last chocolate bar and she takes it, breaks it in half, and offers me half back.
I tell her, “You have it.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m not being nice. I’m being practical. We won’t be eating until tonight and you need the calories.”
She does one of her little smiles and says, “OK.”
Then she says, “The Hunters who caught me were horrible . . . scary. They put the hood on me and gagged me and then it was like they forgot I was there. And . . . they talked about things. They talked about how they were setting a trap for this witch called Nathan. He’s famous. He’s the son of Marcus. Half Black Witch and half White Witch. They said he’d killed lots of Hunters. But famous or not, they said, he wouldn’t stand a chance against them. Apparently two of them were some special elite. The trap was that they’d make it look like there were only four Hunters, so he’d think he had a good chance against them. But they could all go invisible and one of them had this weird Gift that makes you double up in pain and another one could blind you. So they were going to catch him and then take us both back to the Council and have us executed.” She glances at me and then looks away. “Anyway, that Nathan guy sounds really nasty but he’s working for the Alliance so I’m glad he didn’t fall for the trap and I’m really grateful that it’s you who found me and rescued me, Freddie.”
I have to rub my face to cover my smile. “Yeah.”
“Anyway, I know that you don’t trust me, and that’s fine. It’s understandable. But that doesn’t mean I’m not grateful.”
“Did they say if any other Hunters were nearby?”
“No. Well, I mean they didn’t say there were or there weren’t. They talked about ‘base’ and getting information to base and things like that but I’m not sure how close it was.”
“We need to go. Wherever it is, it’s too close.”
We set off again. It’s early afternoon but very gloomy. The rain starts and quickly turns to sleet. The trees are protecting us from the worst of the weather but it’s muddy and wet and cold. If I didn’t have Donna with me I’d be back with Gabriel by now, but we’ll be lucky to make it by tomorrow night. And it’s impossible not to leave tracks in this mud.
When it gets dark, I find a place to camp. The rain has petered out but everywhere is wet. The least wet and muddy place is under a large tree. We sit there and shelter for a while, but Donna starts to shiver.
“We need wood for a fire. Come on.” I pull her to her feet.
“I’m too tired. Can’t I wait here?”
“No. You need to help and you need to keep moving until we get the fire going.”
We wander off together and Donna does help, soon getting an armful. But I tell her, “Most of that’s too wet.”
“It’s better than nothing,” she replies, looking at my empty arms. “I’ll take it back.”
I let her go and carry on searching. The rain starts again, heavier than ever, and I realize it’s impossible. There’s no dry wood.
I go back to the shelter of the big tree. Donna is bent over the rucksack, her arm inside it. Some of the contents are tipped out. There’s a gun by Donna’s side. I run at her, sending a flash of lightning to hit the ground close to her. She cowers down.
“What are you doing?” I shout.
“I was looking for food! I’m starving.”
I’m breathing hard. She looks up at me. “I’m just hungry. This is all dehydrated stuff. I thought there might be some energy bars or chocolate or something.”
I swear at her and grab her wrists, zip-tying them behind her back. “Don’t ever go in my stuff again.”
I pack the rucksack back up, cleaning the mud off things as best I can. The ammo is all packed at the bottom. None