Chapter 51

The heavens opened up just as Mother White’s heliobird reached the outer boundaries of their front line. She could see the transport vehicles coming up the roads to the far east and west of her current location, but with nothing but forest beneath them, the pilot reminded her she would not be able to touch down here. “With these winds, I think we should turn back,” the woman, Mother Robin, said through the headset.
“That won’t be necessary. We’ll take a wire down.” Mother White was already preparing to do just that, ignoring the looks of fear on the faces of the other Mothers who had accompanied her from headquarters out to the front, including one of President Violet’s closest advisors, an older woman named Mother Willow. Even with helmets and visors on, it was evident the Mother didn’t want to use a guide wire to deposit herself hundreds of yards beneath where she was currently sitting, dodging between trees to reach the ground. She wouldn’t have a choice. None of them would. They needed to be at the front when the Motherhood approached Dafo, and if the only way to get there was to slide down a thin wire, they could all get over their fear and get on with it or die trying. She didn’t have room in her ranks for women controlled by their fear anyway.
Ensuring the drop cord was attached tightly, Mother White grabbed hold of it. “I’ll go first. I expect the rest of you to join me on the ground quickly so that this helio can return to Michaelanburg before it’s detected by the enemy.” She knew Dal had some sort of technology that had allowed him to eliminate several of their drones. Whether or not it would also work on the larger, much more expensive helio was a question she wasn’t looking to answer, especially not while she was standing on it.
The other Mothers answered her with a resounding, “Yes, Mother White,” and she dispatched herself from the utility door, letting the cord slide through her gloved hands effortlessly as she lowered herself to the terrain below, dodging a few branches that stretched up to grab at her boots.
The ground was already quite damp from the rain, which made for a softer landing than she otherwise would’ve experienced. Mother White let go of the rope and moved out of the way, expecting the next woman to come down right away. It took longer than anticipated, but eventually, she heard the approach of a pair of boots moving much more slowly than she’d hoped. Attempting not to roll her eyes, White moved away, trying to locate Jaguar quickly so they could discuss the current situation. The rain wouldn’t deter them from moving forward against Dafo. With any luck, this would go smoothly, they could move through the territory quickly, and be back in pursuit of the girl and her friends without having to dispatch too many of Dal’s forces--not that she would let anything stop her from reaching her goal.
Two rifle barrels greeted her as she stepped between the trees. They were quickly lowered as the Mothers realized who they were pointing them at. “Mother White,” one of them said as she lowered her head. “Mother Jaguar is expecting you. Right this way.”
Ignoring the fact that they should’ve heard the helio and known who was approaching, thus keeping their weapons at their sides as they came through the trees, White followed the one who had addressed her. To the other she said, “Please await the rest of my party before delivering them to the front as well.”
“Yes, Mother,” the woman said, making the sign of honor across her chest. White passed her by and headed off into the dense woods to find Jaguar and figure out exactly what they were facing without any more delays. Already, the cities on the southern border of Michaelanburg had received word that troops from Spanish-America were poised for attack. She didn’t know for certain if the intel was correct, but the idea that they could be invaded from the south soon was all the more reason why the threat to the north needed to be eliminated without any further hassle. As it were, she had a feeling Violet was about to call off the hunt for what seemed to be four individuals with so many miles between themselves and an organized government, the chances they would ever make it to Quebec, let alone find a sympathetic ear there, were slim. With an actual threat to the south of them, it would make sense for President Violet to focus her efforts there. White couldn’t let that happen. She needed to find Rain immediately before the opportunity to stop the girl slipped through her fingers.
* * *
The rain continued to come down in sheets for hours, drenching them completely, save their waterproof backpacks. After the road Crit had pointed out to them became more dirt and grass than asphalt, splatters of mud from the impact of missile-like raindrops sent splashes of mud up their legs so that despite being drenched, Rain found herself coated in muck and mire.
Uneven terrain also had them sliding down patches of earth, practically rolling down some of the steeper hills. How she could be caught in a torrential downpour and end up caked in dirt was a notion Rain couldn’t quite conceive of, but by the time it finally stopped raining, as the sun was disappearing behind the tops of the trees, all of them were filthy and exhausted.
“How much further do you think it is to the river?” Walt asked. It was the first question anyone had asked that wasn’t a necessity in hours.
Mist slowed slightly to gaze off in the distance. “That looks like a narrow tributary ahead. We should begin to run into more of those as we near the river. I don’t think it will be too much longer.”
“Are you planning to keep us moving through the night?” Walt wanted to know.
Before Mist could answer, Adam said, “As this dirt dries, I feel like I can’t move as freely It’s really starting to bake on.”
He was right. The sun wasn’t overhead anymore, but they were beginning to dry out, and she could feel her pants stiffening with the caked on mud, as well as her elbows and knees losing their flexibility.
With a glance over her shoulder back toward Dafo, which was no longer in sight, Mist let out a sigh. “I’m really surprised we haven’t heard anything from the city. I expected to hear… something.”
“Bombs?” Rain asked. That’s what she’d expected to hear. Explosions. Gunfire. Heavy machinery. Would screams travel that far?
“Something like that,” Mist muttered. “Let’s check out that tributary in front of us and see if there’s any way we can use it to rinse off. Come on. If we run, we should be there in a few minutes. Maybe the Mothers are waiting for cover of night.”
It had crossed Rain’s thoughts that the enemy could be waiting until it was dark, too. Without another word, she followed behind Mist as she took off running toward what they all hoped was fresh water, the kind that could wash away the layers of grime from the downpour and free them up to move even more quickly out of no-man’s land and into Oklasaw. While the Mothers might have no qualms about attacking Dafo, surely, they would hesitate to attack a sovereign country, even if it wasn’t strongly governed or well-organized.
Sloshing through the mud, Rain ran as fast as she could toward the point Mist had indicated. If the rest of the way to Oklasaw was as muddy as the path they were on now, rinsing off in the water would do them little good.
“Look! There’s the road up there,” Walt said as they crusted a rise in the countryside.
“It stretches pretty far, too,” Mist added.
Rain paused to scope out what she could from the highest ground they’d encountered in a while. The area ahead was more wooded than where they were now, certainly more tree-covered than the land closest to Dafo. The sky was a soft pink, but there was enough light left to reveal what appeared to be a ribbon winding its way through the land, far in the distance. Rain thought that might be it--the River Red--but she didn’t waste what was left of her breath to ask Mist.
“Come on, Rain,” Adam said, pausing for her at the bottom of the hill.
Picking up her pace, she let her momentum carry her down the hill. Through the trees before her, she could see a meandering stream of what appeared to be freshwater. They were almost there. Even if she ended up getting coated in mud again, the idea of rinsing herself clean from the rain was enticing, so Rain ran even faster, the prospect of washing away the dirt weighing her down as inviting as the soft scent of freedom teasing her from the distant shore.