High Flyer - Michelle Diener Page 0,56
supposed to share a hut with her tonight.” Hana watched Grimms kick a rock into the fast-moving water, and then put her hands on her hips.
She turned slowly, looking up the hill at where they lay hidden, and then toward the camp, and then up the valley.
A waterfall, just a thin ribbon of water far in the distance, fell from the juncture where two of the mountains met. It gleamed golden red in the morning light, as if molten.
Grimms called to her companion, and after what appeared to be the back-and-forth of conversation, they both turned and headed toward the camp.
“Well, well, well.” Hana saw the flash of movement a moment later, and focused on the spot on the other side of the river.
“What is it?” Iver looked over at her.
“Someone's watching them. Following them. Look.”
Two people moved out from behind the low trees that squatted close to the river bank. Both of them were in dark clothing, with hooded jackets pulled up.
One crossed the river, almost directly opposite where she and Iver were lying, while the other kept to the other side.
“They're hedging their bets, taking both sides of the river, which means they don't know where Grimms and her friend are going,” Iver murmured. “They look like smugglers.”
“Not as tattered as the others, but yes. Same general uniform.”
“If they're part of the same group, that ambush was more coordinated than it appeared.” Iver leaned closer to her as they followed the progress of the smugglers as they trailed the two camp crew.
“They're keeping well back. They don't intend to grab them.” Hana knew intellectually that the camp, which she'd seen from the inside, was in the field to their left, but when Grimms seemed to jump into the air and disappear, she couldn't help the gasp of surprise that escaped.
The two following Grimms were obviously just as shocked.
The person on the camp side of the river was clearly a woman, although with the hood up on her jacket, Hana couldn't make out her face. The woman crouched down in surprise, and the man, following on a parallel path on the other side of the river, froze.
They glanced across at each other, and then turned in time to see Grimms' friend disappear the same way.
The two smugglers stayed where they were for what felt like a long time, and then the woman crept along the path to the general area where the camp crew had jumped into invisibility.
She touched the wall, her hand coming back in shock to find something she could feel but couldn't see. Hana saw her take a deep breath and then pat her way up the wall until she found the top, then slowly lift up and lean over.
Half her body disappeared, and she drew back so fast she fell on her backside.
She moved clumsily into a crouch and then ran, bent low, back the way she'd come.
Her friend across the river gave up being quiet and shouted something at her, a warning, and when Hana looked over, she saw Grimms and a huge man were racing down the path.
The man leaped to the riverbank as the woman began to cross, and lifted both hands as the two camp guards came into range.
“He's got a SAL.” Hana realized her whole body was tense, just watching what was happening below.
The dart must have hit Grimms, because she went down, and her partner leaped over her and then jumped down the bank, but the woman had made it to the other side by then.
Her friend shot again, much closer this time, and the man fell back.
Hana held her breath as he fell, but he landed mostly on the river bank, not in the water.
There was another shout as three more people came racing down the track, and she relaxed.
They'd at least make sure their friend didn't drown.
The two smugglers ran up the hill and disappeared.
Hana rested her chin on her folded hands and watched the guards from the camp haul the big man out of the river, and then cross to the other side for signs of the smugglers. After fifteen minutes, all three of them came back empty-handed.
“Guess the smugglers know where the camp is, now.” Iver handed Hana a nut bar and she chewed thoughtfully as the camp crew dragged their friends back behind the shield.
Everything looked the same as it had half an hour before, but it wasn't. Things had changed completely.
The camp was discovered, and Bret had some decisions to make--
A whoosh from