Page 20 of Hollow Valley

“Where was this?”Boden asked.

“Fort Lately,” Alphie explained.“It’s a town to the north where the Revvers made their base.She didn’t seem to like it there much, not that I really blamed her, so she didn’t stay for long.”

“Did she say where she was going?”Boden asked, and all of his attention was completely fixed on Alphie.He was like a bloodhound locked on a scent.

“She mentioned Glacier Valley,” Alphie said.

Boden shook his head, unfamiliar with the name.“Where is that?”

“It’s in the far northwestern corner of British Columbia, almost to the Pacific Ocean,” Murphy replied.

“Doesn’t Cold Shore have an outpost in Glacier Valley?”Bianka asked xer.

Xe nodded.“It surely does.What does Remy want with Cold Shore?”

Boden hesitated, jaw working, and staring down at the table as if it held the answers.Both of us knew of one reason that Remy might hold interest to some place like Cold Shore, but neither of us could imagine what possible interest they could hold forher.After what she’d been through at the last government quarantine zone, she never wanted anything to do with organizations like that or even anything medical.

“All I know,” Alphie continued since neither Boden nor I answered, “is that she was in a hurry.I’ve never seen anybody look so determined and so lost at the same time.”

A heavy pause settled over us.The tabletop candelabra flickered, drawing shadows along Boden’s cheekbones.

Finally, he got to his feet.“It’s been a long few weeks, so I want to get some rest.Tomorrow, I need to go have a talk with Lazlo.”

14

Lazlo

Our second home in New Emberwood was larger than the first had been, or the old house on Nova’s homestead.All of the houses around it were destroyed in the attack, and we’d turned the surrounding empty lots of burnt soil into gardens for our family and those who make this town home.

This was our second summer, and all the plants were coming in much better this year.Tending to the garden has become nearly a full-time job.Well, that and caring for our animals, livestock, and of course, our daughter, Sage, who turned six this past February.

My wife Nova was busy rebuilding the town.Hundreds of people lived here, with many of them returning and others moving for the first time.We hadn’t set up an election yet, since everyone was still re-settling, but Nova has become the de facto mayor.Most days, she leaves early in the morning, and I won’t see her again until it’s almost dark.

I spent the morning weeding between the neat rows of carrots and chard while Sage chased chickens and darted between the berry bushes, her laughter adding to the soft haze of summer.The bees were humming, the chickens were clucking, the town faintly bustled.

Despite the revival all around us, a tension lingered beneath the surface.It was one I felt most in the quiet moments, hands deep in the earth, listening for the distant sounds of death groans.

Today, though, it wasn’t death groans but the sound of hoofbeats I heard rapidly approaching.I lifted my head, and over the leafy greens of the garden, I saw a familiar horse.He was a gelded quarter that briefly belonged to Nova before she traded him to someone on the Barbarabelle.The rider, however, had already dismounted by the time I saw the horse.

“Hello?”I straightened up slowly, with my bad knee letting out an anguished complaint.

“Hi, Lazlo,” Stella replied cheerily as she came out from around the horse.She wore her young daughter on her back in a sling, the fabric knotted tight across her chest and shoulders.Fae’s legs wrapped around her ribs with her head peaking curiously over her mother’s shoulder.

Beside Stella, Boden was busy tying down the horse.The last time I had seen Boden things had very nearly come to blows.Well, more accurately, he had wanted to punch me, and he very likely would’ve, had Harlow and Stella not been present.Ever since that very heated conversation, the two of us had been avoiding each other.

Not that I completely misunderstood his anger.That had been back in December, right after Remy had left, and Boden blamed me because I’d given her a mule.Really, though, he was raging at me because I was here, and Remy wasn’t.

“How are you all doing?”I asked as I limped over to greet them.“Is everything okay on the riverboat?”

“We’re all doing well,” Stella said.“The boat’s okay.”

“Glad to hear it,” I said, then looked over to Boden, who’d finished tying up the horse.“To what do I owe the pleasure for your visit?Or were you enjoying the lovely summer afternoon?”

Boden’s reply was direct and gruff: “We’re here to talk about Remy.”

I nodded.“Why don’t we go inside, and the kids can play together?”

I called Sage, and she followed us into the house.In the kitchen, I invited Boden and Stella to have a seat while I poured a few glasses of iced tea.