World in Tatters Ch. 32

The sound of the carriage rocking helps me to focus. Jason kept all this from me for five years. Why would he? It doesn’t make sense. Clearly there is more to the story. I mean…my mother is alive. All this time. All these years, and she’s been alive. How much did Jason know?

I know I have to confront him. I have to hear what he has to say. He’s been a loyal friend. I owe him at least a chance to explain. He must have had his reasons for keeping it from me. From us. To be honest, this whole situation has me running in circles. Things I thought I knew to be true now turned upside down.

Who does Richard think he is anyway? We didn’t need him to rescue us. We would have gotten away on our own. What gives him the right to just appear out of nowhere and flip my entire life on its head?

So many emotions rage through me I can’t process them all at once. Confusion, anger, frustration, fear, joy. But one thought keeps cycling back: my mother is alive.

I should tell Rachel. I should, but I don’t know how. What would she say? Would she be happy? Angry? What if all of this is one big, twisted misunderstanding…or worse? I couldn’t bear it if I got her hopes up only to find out it was a load of crap. I absentmindedly feel my hand slip up to my neck, rolling the ring between my fingers.

At any rate, I have to talk to Jason. I need his side of the story. I stand up in the bed of the covered carriage, moving to the back. I struggle to keep my balance as I climb out. I look up into the bright midday sky, feeling the heat beating down. I just about fall over as I drop myself off the carriage steps onto the dirt road.

The carriage basically leads Richard’s caravan. Richard and Kiera ride beside it while their small army ride scattered behind. I look around trying to find Jason and the others. I notice them riding toward the rear of the caravan, my horse Stormy being led from Jason’s saddle. I stand in the road, waiting for everyone to pass.

My companions slow when they approach. “Have a nice nap?” Came Rachel’s snide remark.

“Didn’t sleep. Couldn’t.” I gesture for Jason to stop and untie Stormy’s lead. Looping my foot into the stirrup, I throw my leg over her back. I take her reins from Jason’s outstretched hand. “Thanks.” Lowering my voice so only Jason can hear me, “Hey. Hang back with me. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Jason flashes me a look of concern, “Is…everything alright?”

“Yeah. Probably. We just need to talk.”

“Alright.”

When the others notice that Jason and I are hanging back, I wave them on ahead. Jason and I trail just far enough behind the others where it’s unlikely they’ll be able to eavesdrop. I ride up alongside him, getting close enough where I can keep my voice low.

“I…” My voice breaking under the weight of my following inquiry. “I need to know what happened…”

“What do you mean? What happened when?”

“Five years ago. The last night I saw my mom.”

“Oh? I mean, you know what happened.” Jason seems shocked, nervous even, not like he’s afraid he’s been caught. More like he wasn’t expecting to have this conversation, not now anyway.

“I think we both know that’s not true. Not completely.”

“Steven, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.” He’s tries to pull away, veering his horse to the other side of the road. I keep pace with him, staying by his side.

“I think you do. Look. I’m not trying to accuse you of anything, but…” I feel my voice rising, forcing calm. “I… I read my mother’s journal. I know y’all weren’t out scavenging that night. I just want to know the truth. Please.”

He stays silent for a long time, never meeting my gaze. When he finally speaks, his voice is almost too low to hear. “It’s complicated. I never meant to lie to you.”

“I don’t care about that right now. I just need the truth.”

“What do you want me to say? You said you read her journal. Did that not tell you what you needed to know?”

“It filled in some missing pieces, but didn’t exactly give the full story.”

“Then what do you want to know?”

“Well, for starters, who were the soldiers that tracked us all the way out west? Why did they want a meeting with my mother? Why were my parents being used as ambassadors to begin with? Should I go on?”

“Let me try to answer those questions before you do.” He takes a long pause, thinking how he should answer my queries. “Your parents weren’t ambassadors. Not usually, but she was one of the few people Nora really trusted. There was a lot going on in Alliance politics. I don’t know or remember all the details.”

“Yeah, drought, famine, raiders. I know that much.”

“Well, for one, they weren’t raiders. Not exactly. We never found out who was paying them. Nora had suspicions that they were being funded from within the Alliance government, but no one could ever confirm it. People were starving. Nora didn’t know who she could trust. So, she sent out three teams in three different directions to try to set up trade. Your parents were one of those teams. I asked them if I could tag along and they obliged.”

“There were three teams? Her journal didn’t mention that.”

“For good reason, probably.” He finally looks my way, but when he meets my eyes, instantly looks away again.

“What about the soldiers?”

“Alliance defectors.”

“Why would the mercenaries track us all the way out there? Why not wait until we got closer?”

“I didn’t say they were mercenaries.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I wasn’t sure until the other day, but I think they must have worked for Elias Drum.”

Elias Drum? There’s no way I heard him right. “Drum? Really? Kilik and Butch’s boss?”

“Yeah. One and the same.”

Heat rises in my blood. What is with this guy? What does he have against my family? “Who is Elias Drum?”

“I never met the man, but he was at court in Atlanta before we left.”

“Okay? Anything else?”

“Steven, you have to believe me. If I knew anything useful about him, I’d tell you.”

“Fine. What makes you think the defectors worked for him? What happened that night?”

“What brings this up all of a sudden? Why are you suddenly so interested in the past? You’ve never asked me before. What’s changed?”

His words catch me off guard. He’s right. I never asked. Maybe I didn’t want to know. My hand drifts up to the ring at my neck. “I… I have…” I think for a moment whether I should tell him the truth now, but decide it’s not the right time. Not until I know for sure. “I told you. With everything going on, I started reading my mom’s journal. I thought it might comfort me, but it just gave me more questions. I’m glad I did, because clearly it’s all connected to our current situation.”

“I get that. I do. But you know all the useful stuff. There’s no need to dredge up the painful parts.”

“I need to know. I need to know the whole story. I deserve to know.”

“Okay, okay.” Jason takes a deep breath, looking up into the sky. “You know about the soldier who approached your mother. He told her to meet them alone and unarmed at an abandoned school building. Your dad and I wouldn’t let her go alone. Your dad sent me in with her while he set up a sniper nest nearby.

“I can still remember the stench of the place.” He wrenches his neck, clenching his eyes tight. “Like death and mold. We got there ahead of the goons, making sure we could control the meeting place. It was one of the classrooms. Big windows, easy line of sight for your dad. The guy showed up with three or four other defectors. Only reason I know they were defectors is because I recognized a couple of them from Nora’s Secret Service detail.”

“Wait, they were Secret Service? Like Bertrand?”

“Yeah. Elite soldiers. Not anyone we wanted to screw around with.”

“What did they want?”

“They wanted to make a deal with your mom.”

“What kind of deal?”

“They knew about your mother’s close friendship with Nora. They also knew that we were supposed to make it back to Atlanta within a couple weeks. They wanted your mother to feed them information in exchange for leaving the supply caravan untouched.”

“They were holding the city’s food hostage?”

“Yeah, pretty much. But considering they were one of the reasons we needed those supplies so badly to begin with, kinda par for the course.”

“So clearly, my mother refused.”

Jason lets out a pained chuckle, “Your mother pulled a gun on them and started shooting. We had to jump out a broken window. Your mom took down one, your dad took another two, but they had backup. Your mom was shot in the back while we were trying to get away. We…I couldn’t go back for her. They winged me in the leg. I was bleeding pretty bad. Milton and I staggered back to camp… to you kids… The rest you know.”

Jason averts his gaze. I see a single tear glistening on his cheek. Seeing the pain he’s in now just affirms something I always knew: Jason cared very deeply for my family. I can’t keep it from him. “I… I think my mom might be alive.”

Jason immediately snaps out of his memories. He pulls his horse ahead, cutting me off. I rear back on my reins to bring Stormy to a halt. Jason locks eyes with me, many emotions crossing his face at once. Mainly confusion. “What are you talking about? What makes you think that?”

I tentatively remove the chain, slipping it over my head. I hold it out, letting the ring dangle in front of him. “Richard gave me this last night. He said that she was the one who sent him.”

“And you believed him?”

“I don’t know, but it’s her ring.”

“Christ! That’s why you agreed to go with them, isn’t it!?”

“How on earth could he have gotten ahold of my mother’s wedding ring? Think, Jason. Is it at all possible that she could have made it out?”

“I…I don’t…I don’t know. I guess. Maybe. But she was definitely shot. I saw it happen. I had…I had her blood on me.”

“People survive being shot all the time. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as you thought.”

“I don’t know. Steven, I don’t know. But even if it’s true…”

I look up to see Rachel and Alice turn their horses around, heading straight for us. “Crap. Look, Jason. You can’t tell Rachel. Or Alice. No one else can know. Okay? Promise me.”

“I don’t know if—”

“I said, ‘Promise me.’”

“Fine. But only because it’s not my place.” He barks, “But you need to tell her.”

“If it’s true, she’ll find out soon enough. They’re coming. Remember, not a word.”

With a last glare from Jason, I throw the chain back around my neck, hiding the ring underneath my shirt.

“Hey, you two.” Shouts Rachel. “What’s the holdup? You’re gonna lose the caravan.”

“Yeah, yeah. We’re coming.” Jason responds. He pulls his reins and kicks, trotting his horse straight past the other two without another word.

“What’s his problem?” jeers Alice.

“A lot on his mind, I guess.” I say, avoiding their stares.

I spur Stormy into action pushing past them to catch up to the others.