balance.
Fucking spooky. He tipped backwards, tumbling into the sand, his finger tightening reflexively around the trigger. The bow twanged and hurled its bolt harmlessly into the orange sky.
'There!' he heard Ravensmith shout, saw him pointing toward Foxworth,
Foxworth knew he was only seconds from a volley of arrows aimed in his direction. He thought of the excruciating pain, the sharp point of an arrow clefting skin, tissue, slicing muscle, puncturing organs. Or, God no, his face! The shaft burrowing into his brain, gnawing through the soft jelly of his eye. He felt warm urine soaking his pants leg. Suddenly he leaped to his feet, tossed the heavy crossbow over the top of the saltbush, threw his hands into the air. 'Enough! Enough!'
Eric smiled. 'Are you scared?'
'M-Maybe. A little.'
'Sure, a little. That's good.'
'What do you mean?'
'Respect for pain is a good thing. Especially now.'
'I don't get you.'
'I'm about to fill you with a lot of respect.'
Foxworth swallowed. 'Whataya gonna do?'
Eric ran his finger lightly along his scar.
'Shit, man, no need for any of that. I'll tell you what you wanna know. Just fucking ask, okay? Just ask?'
'But how will we know it's the truth? You might be lying. No, I'm afraid that won't do. You see, the Hopis have a saying. A tongue in pain always speaks the truth.'
'I swear, Mr. Ravensmith. Honest to God, I'll tell you the truth. Tell you first time. Really. Ask me. Go ahead.'
Rydell trudged wearily up the hill. Joseph Baldwin was beside him. Both carried shovels.
'We buried them both,' Rydell said. 'I hated to put them both in the same hole.'
'Won't matter to either of them,' Joseph Baldwin said, clapping Rydell on the shoulder. 'Couple weeks and they'll both be grown over with a patch of Mormon tea.'
Season adjusted the red bandanna Tracy had taken from her head and wrapped around the wound. She winced slightly from the pain, but made no sound. No tears.
Molly and Tracy stood on either side of Eric, each with a crossbow aimed at Foxworth, who sat trembling on the ground. His legs were folded under him and he kept wiping the sweat from his palms onto the thighs of his pants.
'What's your name again?' Eric asked, cupping his hand to his ear.
'Foxworth.'
'What's your first name?'
Foxworth hesitated. He hated his first name as much as he hated tall niggers or raw fish. He looked down, mumbled.
'What?'
'Ariel. My old lady's idea.' He didn't add that the rest of the guys used to call him Airedale because he skinned the dogs and usually smelled like one.
'Well, Ariel. You can stand up and take off all your clothes.'
'Yes, sir,' he said, jumping to his feet and unbuttoning and removing his shirt. He stripped off his pants, leaving on his boots and underpants.
'You can leave the boots, but not the pants.'
'Jeez, Mr. Ravensmith. Can't you just ask me what you want to know, man to man. Do they have to be here?' He nodded at the women.
'You've got something against women, Ariel?'
'Well, shit, all this isn't gonna change my answers any. I swear.'
'The underpants.'
Foxworth squared his shoulders, summoning some defiance. 'At least send her away,' he said, pointing at Molly. 'I don't want no goddamn gook staring at my naked ass.'
Rydell crossed the space between them in two steps, his face glowering with rage, then swung the shovel into Foxworth's jaw. The jaw shifted like a slammed drawer and Foxworth fell moaning to the ground, clutching his face. Rydell raised the shovel over his head as if to hit him again, but Tracy's hand at his arm stopped him.
'You damn fool,' Eric snapped. 'If you had to hit him, why not in the kneecap so he couldn't walk. Not the jaw which he needs to talk.'
Rydell held the shovel in both hands like an axe, stared down at Foxworth as if noticing him for the first time. He looked over his shoulder at Eric. 'Sorry, I… Sorry.'
'Actually,' Molly said. 'I kind of preferred the jaw.'
'Help him up,' Eric nodded to Molly.
Molly shifted the bow to one hand, wedged a hand behind Foxworth's back, and pushed him to a sitting position. 'Don't mind us gooks.'
Foxworth's jaw hung at an odd angle, obviously broken. He cradled it gently between his hands like a baby bird fallen from its nest.
'Now, Foxworth,' Eric said, his smile gone, his eyes narrowing. 'Maybe now you're ready to tell the truth.'
Foxworth nodded enthusiastically.
'Does Fallows have my wife and son?'
'Yes.' Speech made him wince.
'Has he hurt them at all?'
Foxworth shook his head.
Eric leaned over, his face inches away. 'Hasn't touched them or abused them?'
'No.'
Eric grabbed Foxworth by the shattered jaw and yanked it back and forth twice. Foxworth howled and cried. 'Again. They haven't been abused or touched?'
'Just the colonel. He's… been… with her. In his tent. No one else was allowed. The kid hasn't been touched. I swear to God.'
'Where's Fallows heading now?'
'North, Me and Toomey were supposed to meet up with him near Santa Barbara. Depending.'
'Depending on what?'
'On where the new coastline is.'
Eric stepped back, his face slightly ashen. His fingers tapped along the scar on his cheek, as if they were playing a tune. 'North, huh?' he mused, staring off in that direction.
'Yes, sir. Santa Barbara.'
Eric nodded slowly, turned to the others. 'Let's get the gear together. We're moving out in a few minutes.'
'Maybe we should wait a little longer,' Tracy said. 'Give Season a chance to rest. Recover from her wound.'
'If she wants to rest she can stay here. Try to catch up with us later.'
Tracy glared at him. 'Christ, Eric. Why are you acting so damn hard-core?'
'No, really,' Season said, 'I'm fine. Fine. Besides, I haven't been to Santa Barbara in years. Since Daddy filmed that spy flick there.'
'We're not going to Santa Barbara,' Eric said, swinging his pack onto his shoulders. 'We're going south.'
'What?' Rydell said.
Tracy pointed at Foxworth. 'But he just said-'
'I know what he said. But it's not the truth.'
Foxworth twitched nervously, panic twisting up his throat like a fat snake. 'It's the truth. I ain't lying. I swear. North. That's what he told us. Santa Barbara.'
'That's what he told you, Ariel. But that's not where he's going. You see, you weren't meant to join them later. In fact, you weren't even meant to kill me.'
