glow and begin guiding us up the path. If Sam finds it suspicious, he doesn’t let on.
I stop to listen. Nothing. We continue on, weaving through the trees. I turn the light off.
“Sarah!” I yell.
I stop to listen and hear nothing but the wind blowing through the branches and Sam’s heavy breathing.
“How many people are with Mark?” I ask.
“Five or so.”
“Do you know which way they went?”
“I didn’t see.”
We push on and I have no idea in which direction we are headed. From far off I hear the groan of the tractor motor. The fourth ride is starting. I feel frantic inside and want to sprint, but I know that Sam can’t keep up. He’s breathing heavily already and even I’m sweating despite the temperature being only forty-five degrees. Or maybe I’m mistaking blood for sweat. I can’t tell.
As we pass a thick tree with a knotted trunk I get tackled from behind. Sam yells as a fist hits me in the back of the head and I’m momentarily stunned, but then I pivot and grab the guy by the throat and shine the light in his face. He tries to peel my fingers away but it’s useless.
“What is Mark planning?”
“Nothing,” he says.
“Wrong answer.”
I thrust him into the nearest tree five feet away, then I pick him up and lift him a foot off the ground with my hand again around his throat. His legs kick wildly, hitting me, but I tighten my muscles so that the kicks do no damage.
“What is he planning to do?”
I lower him until his feet touch solid ground, loosening my grip to allow him to speak. I sense Sam watching, drinking all of this in, but there is nothing I can do about it.
“We just wanted to scare you guys,” he gasps.
“I swear I will break you in half if you don’t tell me the truth.”
“He thinks that the others are dragging you two to Shepherd Falls. That’s where he took Sarah. He wanted her to see him beat the crap out of you, and then he was going to let you go.”
“Lead me,” I say.
He shuffles forward and I turn my light off. Sam takes hold of my shirt and follows behind us. When we walk through a small clearing lit by the moonlight overhead I can see that he’s looking at my hands.
“They’re gloves,” I say. “Kevin Miller was wearing them. Some sort of Halloween prop.”
He nods but I can tell he’s freaked out. We walk for nearly a minute until we hear the sound of running water just ahead of us.
“Give me your goggles,” I say to the guy leading us.
He hesitates and I twist his arm. He writhes in pain and quickly rips them from his face.
“Take them, take them,” he yells.
When I put them on the world turns to a shade of green. I push him hard and he falls to the ground.
“Come on,” I say to Sam, and we walk ahead, leaving the guy behind.
Up ahead I see the group. I count eight guys, plus Sarah.
“I can see them now. Do you want to wait here or come with me? It might get ugly.”
“I want to come,” Sam says. I can tell he’s scared, though I’m not sure if it’s because of what he’s seen me do or the football players ahead of us.
I walk the rest of the way as silently as I can, Sam tiptoeing behind me. When we are just a few feet away a twig snaps beneath Sam’s foot.
“John?” Sarah asks. She’s sitting on a large rock with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She isn’t wearing goggles and squints in our direction.
“Yes,” I say. “And Sam.”
She smiles. “Told you,” she says, and I assume she’s talking to Mark.
The water I heard is nothing more than a small babbling brook. Mark steps forward.
“Well, well, well,” he says.
“Shut up, Mark,” I say. “Manure in my locker was one thing, but you’ve gone way too far with this one.”
“You think? It’s eight on two.”
“Sam has nothing to do with this. You scared to face me alone?” I ask. “What are you expecting to happen? You’ve tried kidnapping two people. Do you really think they’ll keep silent?”
“Yeah, I do. When they see me whip your ass.”
“You’re delusional,” I say, then turn to the others. “For those of you who don’t want to go into the water, I suggest you leave now. Mark is going in no matter what. He’s lost his chance to barter.”
All of them snicker. One of them asks what “barter” means.
“Now’s your last chance,” I say.
Every one of them stands firm.
“So be it,” I say.
A nervous excitement plants itself in the center of my chest. As I take one step forward Mark steps back and trips over his own feet, falling to the ground. Two of the guys come at me, both bigger than me. One swings but I duck his punch and send one of my own into his gut. He doubles over with his hands holding his stomach. I shove the second guy and his feet leave the ground. He lands with a thud five feet away and the momentum pushes him into the water. He comes up splashing. The others stand rooted, shocked. I sense Sam moving over toward Sarah. I grab hold of the first guy and drag him across the ground. His errant kicks slice through the air but hit nothing. When we are at the bank of the brook I lift him by the waistband of his jeans and throw him into the water. Another guy lunges at me. I merely sidestep him and he lands face-first in the brook. Three down, four to go. I wonder how much of this Sarah and Sam can see without goggles on.
“You guys are making it too easy for me,” I say. “Who’s next?”
The biggest of the group throws a punch that comes nowhere near hitting me, though I counter so swiftly that his elbow catches me in the face and the goggle strap snaps. The goggles fall to the ground. I can only see slight shadows now. I throw a punch and hit the guy in the jaw and he falls to the ground like a sack of potatoes. He looks lifeless, and I fear that I’ve hit him too hard. I rip his goggles from his face and put them on.
“Any volunteers?”
Two of them hold their hands up in front of them in surrender; the third stands with his mouth gaping open like an idiot.
“That leaves you, Mark.”
Mark turns as though he intends to run, but I lunge forward and grab him before he can, pulling his arms up into a full nelson. He writhes in pain.
“This ends right now, do you understand me?”
I squeeze tighter and he grunts in pain. “Whatever you have against me, you drop it now. That includes Sam and Sarah. You understand?”
My grip tightens. I fear that if I squeeze any tighter his shoulder will pop from its socket.
“I said, do you understand me?”
“Yes!”
I drag him over to Sarah. Sam is sitting on the rock beside her now.
“Apologize.”
“Come on, man. You’ve proven your point.”
I squeeze.
“I’m sorry!” he yells.
“Say it like you mean it.”
He takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he says.
“You’re an asshole, Mark!” Sarah says, and slaps him hard across the face. He tenses, but I’m holding him firmly and there isn’t a thing he can do about it.
I drag him to the water. The rest of the guys stand watching in shock. The guy I had knocked out is sitting up scratching his head as though trying to figure out what has happened. I breathe a sigh of relief that he isn’t badly
