11

An arrow cut through the air, sinking into the chest of the leaping coyote. It fell dead on top of Cleon, who yelled, pushed it away, and repeatedly stabbed at it, probably not realizing that it was dead. Selah, her breathing out of control, scrambled away as another arrow shot from the trees, felling another coyote. The force of the strike drove it into the animal beside it, which yelped and, with the other three, ran off in the opposite direction.

“Are you hurt?” Selah grabbed her brother and hugged him so hard that for a second she thought her arms had locked up. Tremors rolled along her extremities, making her hands shake uncontrollably.

“I’m okay. Did you get bit or anything?” Cleon snorted out deep breaths, trying to get himself under control as he looked over Selah.

“No.” Selah stared at the dead animals and looked around. “Who did this?”

“I did.” A voice came out of a tree.

Selah peered at the tree, thinking it had to be her imagination. Cleon put his arm protectively around her shoulder. The underbrush rattled, then separated, and a suntanned woman with long, cascading golden curls fluidly worked her way through the branches. Just her movements impressed Selah, because not a single tendril of the woman’s hair got hung up in the branches, where Selah had to keep her own pulled back or it constantly snagged.

“Thank you for saving us. Who are you? Where did you come from just in time?” Selah asked as she and Cleon scrambled to stand.

“Mari Kief, Regent of WoodHaven.” Mari navigated the last of the tree limbs and stood eye to eye with Selah. Carrying a vicious-looking crossbow, dressed in tanned buckskin from her shoulders to the heavy boots on her feet, she sported a leather quiver on her left forearm and looked completely natural in the wild.

Selah held out her hand. “I’m Selah Chav—Rishon, and this is my brother Cleon Chavez. Thank you again.”

Mari looked down at Selah’s hand, hesitated a moment, then shook. “I don’t like killing animals when we don’t need the meat, but you’re welcome. You didn’t have much of a chance after they smelled those rabbits. That’s why we hunt and trap in parties.”

“Is this your land we were hunting on?” Selah looked down, shame filling her. At home, upsetting another’s food source was a major offense. She didn’t think Cleon realized this was someone’s land.

“Yes, but you didn’t know. We rarely interact with passing travelers, for safety reasons.” Mari looked directly into Selah’s eyes, searching them till Selah felt self-conscious. “But I’d like to invite you back to our community for the evening meal.”

Selah relaxed. Mari was looking for something, the way she drilled a stare into her—some recognition, or truth maybe. Apparently she found what she was looking for.

“Oh, no. We couldn’t be a bother to you and your folks. We have two rabbits that will feed the four of us for dinner,” Cleon said.

Mari pointed behind him. “No, I think your dinner gathering has been canceled.”

Selah and Cleon spun. The rock sat empty. The coyotes had relieved them of the kill in their speedy retreat.

Selah’s shoulders slumped. They would never catch another rabbit tonight. Not after all the noise they’d made. “I think it would be wise of us to take her up on her offer,” she said to Cleon.

He nodded his agreement. “I’d better go back and get the others. We have an—”

“AirWagon, yes, I know,” Mari said. “I will send a couple of my men to help you navigate through our secret access points to the colony.”

“How do you know about an AirWagon? And how did you know about ours?” Mari seemed to know major details about Selah’s group, but she knew nothing of this woman.

“I traveled widely to the Lander settlement at TicCity and south to the Mountain before and since my father disappeared. I have an exact memory for details and sounds. I recognized yours right away.”

Selah liked Mari’s mannerisms and her soft-spoken ways. She appeared regal with her flowing mane, and if Selah wasn’t mistaken, the term regent meant someone standing in for a monarch. Mari’s father must have been the king or something. Funny to think of that term in this country, but since ancient times, many things had changed. People with their own kingdoms didn’t seem outlandish.

Selah looked at Cleon and nodded. It would be all right—she sensed nothing devious. “How long will we have to wait for your men?” she asked Mari.

“Oh, they’re right here,” Mari said. She raised her arm and whistled a sharp, loud call. Four men materialized silently from the forest, all moving just as quickly as Mari had and carrying weapons just as deadly. One bald man, clad in a dark green-and-brown-splotched one-piece with a knife sheath belt, wielded a wide blade about two feet long. A shaggy-haired man dressed in faded black carried an old-fashioned rifle. The last two men with short dark hair, one in buckskin like Mari and the other in dark green, carried crossbows.

Selah took note. She’d seen more rifles in the last day than she’d seen in all her years in Dominion. Curious.

“You two go with this gentleman and help him navigate his AirWagon and the others to the colony,” Mari said to the dark-haired men.

Selah tensed. Had she said she was going along with this woman? What if it was some weird kind of plan to separate them? She didn’t want to offend her new host. Cleon saw her indecision and looked like he didn’t want to leave her behind.

“I’d rather you came back to camp with me. Are you sure this is the best plan, Sissy?” Cleon frowned, his eyebrows drawing together.

Selah thought for a second. Her instincts about women were pretty good. Men . . . not so much. As fate would have it, she’d instantly liked this woman’s demeanor. “Yes, I’m sure.”

Cleon and the two men walked off toward the waterfall and camp. Selah looked around at the two dead coyotes. “I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to upset the balance. I should probably tell our security to inform people traveling this way to be mindful that these lands are claimed.”

“Actually, I’m sure they already know, but it’s not something that we want advertised,” Mari said as she made a hand signal to the man with the blade. “It might bring unwanted intrusions.”

“Can anything be done with them?” Selah pointed at the carcasses, noting the long fangs in the open mouths. She shuddered at the damage they could have inflicted had it not been for Mari.

“Yes, my man is going to field-dress them. I’ll send a wagon back for him and the meat.” Mari pointed in the direction they were going to travel.

Selah’s stomach flopped. “But you’re leaving one man alone with only a knife. What if the pack comes back? I don’t want someone else hurt because of us.”

Mari touched her wrist. “Raif, secure the site.”

The man pushed up his left sleeve and fingered the screen of a wide black band encircling his arm.

Selah flinched, quickly putting her hands over her ears to shield them from the piercing sound. Neither Mari nor the man reacted to the high-pitched screech.

Mari looked at Selah. “Does that bother you? It should pass in a few seconds.”

Selah nodded. The sound had already started to dissipate. It felt like her ears were going to pop. She opened and closed her mouth several times, working her jaw against the pressure. Slowly it eased. “What in the world was that?”

“It’s an ultrasonic short-range security system we developed for personal safety. It’s very odd that it affected you. The shortwave, high-frequency sound waves are too high-pitched to be heard by humans, but the coyotes and other large prey animals avoid them at all costs.”

Selah perked up. That was a device that would be truly innovative in Dominion. “Where did you get technology like that out here in the woods? How is it made? Can others get them?”

Mari shook her head. “Sorry, our colony has a law against sharing technology that could be used against us. Years ago, before I was born, my people took components from TicCity and technology from the Mountain and developed the device ourselves. And in recent years we were able to add upgrades to the program to be able to tweak the settings for intensity. We are not backward country melons.”

Selah realized her question had been taken as an insult. “I didn’t mean—”

“I’m sorry. As soon as I snapped at you, I knew from the look on your face that you didn’t mean any harm.” Mari motioned for Selah to follow her. “It’s just that people look at the way we live and automatically assume we sit on logs all day drinking corn mash alcohol when our technology could rival what they have in the Mountain or TicCity.”

Every once in a while Selah glanced around to see if any animals were following them as she traipsed through the forest, staying close to Mari. It was a very tall forest with wide trees. If she had to guess, they were thirty feet around and maybe 160 feet tall. True to her nature, more than once she got her hair snagged on a branch even though it was secured in a ponytail. Mari noticed her distress and pulled out a tiny mesh bag from her pocket.

“Here, use this. I brought it with me just in case it got windy.”

Selah took it, spreading the loosely woven springy net between her fingers. “What do I do with it?”

Mari showed her how to wind up her ponytail in a little bun and put the mesh over it to secure it in place. “We will wait at my home for your friends to arrive before we go to the community lodge for the meal.”

Selah could see around the huge trees for a distance into the woods but saw no houses or huts. Her spirits deflated. It was going to be a long walk to this community. “How long before we get there?”

“We’re here.” Mari laughed softly.

Selah glanced left and right, squinted, and planted both hands on her hips. “Where’s here? There’s nothing anywhere.” She gestured around. “Oh no! Do you live underground?”

Mari chuckled. “No, up there.” She pointed up.

Selah’s gaze followed her finger up into the tree they stood beside. Her jaw went slack. A whole house, thirty feet in the air! With porch and railing all the way around, glass windows, and even little dormers set in separate sections of a neat wooden-shingled roof.

The base of the tree had grown from the ground up as three separate trunks, and the house nestled neatly in and around the growing tripod. A long straight tree pole, with steps winding up and around it like a bristle brush, provided entrance to the sky domain.

“What do you think?” Mari asked.

“I think I’m speechless for the first time in a very long time. This is built in the style wealthy families use in our Borough, but in a tree! I can’t believe you live in a tree! My brother will go absolutely dog-eared over this.”

Mari led the way up the circular stairs, showing Selah how to hold the pole as they rose. At the top they stepped onto the porch, and Mari led her around the outside of the house. “You can see for a good distance up here in the wintertime when all the leaves are gone, but the founding fathers added a lot of evergreens in the forest and at the perimeter of the colony to make it harder for outsiders to spot.”

“How? Why? I would never in two lifetimes think of living in a tree.” Selah followed Mari inside. The house was furnished and as comfortable as her family home, with a large living space, a kitchen and eating area, and two doors that she assumed led to a bedroom and toilet chamber.

“It was how they survived the flood 150 years ago.”

“The flood? Oh, you mean the waves from the tsunami.” Selah nodded.

“Yes, it’s part of our history. The water washed away everything on the land. And the seas rose many feet. Only the people who managed to make it to the forest and climb trees survived the deluge.” Mari motioned Selah to sit on a long cushioned seat against a wall.

Selah had never entertained the thought of people escaping the tsunami. She’d only had dreams of death and destruction, not survival. She made herself comfortable on furniture that felt like it was stuffed with goose down and asked, “But the trees back then couldn’t have been as big as this, were they?”

“No. There weren’t as many large ones as there are now. It’s against the law to cut trees in this forest. We must travel many miles to bring back wood to build homes when necessary.” Mari puttered in the kitchen area and returned with a plate of cheeses and meats cut in finger-sized chunks.

Selah looked at the meat. She really didn’t want to eat coyote. “Can I ask what kind of meat that is?”

Mari looked down at it, a question enveloping her face. Then she brightened. “Oh, no, it’s not coyote.” She threw her head back and laughed. “This is the summer sausage my family is famous for. It’s a mix of pork and venison seasoned with mustard seeds, pepper, salt, and sugar. We make it dried or smoked. The dried sausages last all winter, and we eat the smoked now.”

Selah expelled her breath. “Now that I can deal with.”

They ate and talked for about twenty minutes. It amazed Selah how easily they meshed, laughing at the same things and making the same gestures. She actually felt more comfortable with Mari than she did with Treva. The thought gave her a lump in her throat.

As they laughed at a story Mari told about a rambunctious squirrel that insisted on living inside the tree near her bedroom wall, a group of voices drifted up from the ground. Mari held up her hand for quiet. Selah tensed. Did they have problems with bandits here?

Mari went to the door and looked over the railing. “Welcome to my home. Come on up!” She motioned to her men. “See you at the evening meal. Thanks for bringing them. Take the wagon out to Raif and help him take the coyotes to old man Rumen. He’ll think it’s his birthday. He won’t have to hunt all winter.”

Selah rose from her comfortable seat, wishing she could rest here for days but feeling the urgency of her mission pulling through her weariness. One by one Treva, Cleon, and Jaenen poked their heads up over the porch, big smiles on their faces and wonder in their eyes.

“Can you believe this house! In a tree!” Cleon seemed beside himself with joy. He scampered about the porch, checking how the house was put together and what held each part in place. Running his hands across objects as though committing them to memory, he looked up from what appeared to be a pipe. “Water! How do you get water in and out of here?”

Mari smiled and pointed up. “Look near the top of the tree. There’s a water collection tank up there. It’s gravity-fed to here by those green pipes, and gravity-fed to the ground in the brown pipes. The brown pipes drain into tanks underground that lead the water away from the tree.”

Cleon bolted around the outside to inspect all the applications.

Selah grinned at Mari. “Is this house strong enough for all of us, especially energy boy over there?”

Mari nodded. “No problems at all. We could have four or five others before I’d get concerned. This house is made to last through my lifetime and a few others.”

“This is like a beautiful dream. Now my only problem is going to be convincing your brother to keep our marriage home on the ground,” Treva said as she explored the inside and walked to the closed doors. Mari nodded her permission.

Selah didn’t want to appear nosy, so she stayed in place even though her feet were itching to see the other rooms Treva explored.

She looked at Jaenen. He hadn’t said a word since he came in. She tried to get his attention, but he seemed preoccupied in looking out the window on the side where Mari had said the colony stood. Cleon had suddenly become babble boy. He had a hundred questions for Mari about the construction of the house, and he wanted detailed explanations. Selah felt sorry for her but wasn’t going to rescue her yet because something about Jaenen’s manner concerned her.

She walked over and touched his shoulder. He tensed. She yanked back her hand.

“Is something the matter? You’re awfully quiet. You didn’t even say hello when you came upstairs,” Selah said.

He turned. Either his eyelids had shrunk or his eyes were bulging as though something were pushing on them from inside his head.

Selah gasped and pulled back to a safer distance. What was happening here?