Page 50 of Mattox
“Do we go after her?” Lucien asked softly.
Atty reined in the horse.
“We can’t let her wander out there alone and in this heat,” Mistelle softly begged.
“It’ll also be dark within a couple of hours,” Fortune pointed out. “If she’s been wandering out there on her own since the storm came through, there’s no telling how far she’s gotten. Or even if she’s still alive.”
“She could be injured from the fall,” Lucien pointed out.
“If she survived that storm, it’s very possible Mattox did, too,” Atty murmured, more to herself.
“Mattox didn’t have a tent protecting him,” Renken remarked.
Atty shot him a scathing look, but the ex-mercenary refused to back down.
“I’m just as anxious to find Matt as you are, but you have to be prepared to face the possibility that, one, we won’t ever find him, or, two, if or when we do, he won’t be alive.”
“Is there a three?” she asked in a hard voice.
“Yeah. That if hedidsurvive, he could be so badly injured, he’ll never fully recover. He’d be just a shadow of himself for the rest of his life.”
“I’ll take number three over one and two any day,” she replied through gritted teeth.
“There’s also a number four, but you already knew that.” Turning his horse around, Renken rode over to where Fortune was awaiting the battle lady’s decision.
“So, what do we do, Mom?” Mistelle inquired. “Do we follow the woman’s tracks? Or do we keep pushing on, searching for Matt?”
“Give me a moment.” Sliding off her horse, Atty knelt in the dead grass and placed a hand on one of the depressions. Closing her eyes, she reached inside herself and sought out the comforting, life-sustaining presence of her husband. “Talk to me, beloved. What do I do? Do I continue to look for our son? Or do I go after the girl?” she murmured, and waited.
He came as a thought in her head. His emotions echoed strong and loving, to where she could almost hear them spoken in his voice. Although they weren’t able to actually converse, he’d read her emotional plea. A plea he could hear as clearly as words, and responded with one of his own.
Find the girl. Always make the living your first priority. When you find her, have someone return her to the compound. Then you can resume your search for our firstborn.
But what if he dies while we’re tracking her? What if, in that time, he expires, when our finding him first could have saved his life?
You said you couldn’t feel him.It was like a knife in her heart, but it was the truth.
You’re right. The living comes first…if she’s still alive.
Trust your heart, my Atrilan. It’s never steered you wrong.
Wiping away the tears with the back of her hand, Atty took a deep, steadying breath and stood. “We find the girl and hope she’s still alive. Then we’ll continue our search for Mattox.”
She couldn’t tell if the others were happy or disappointed with her decision, especially her son and daughter. They were carefully masking their emotions, preventing her from sensing them. It was a trick they’d learned from their older brother when they were younger, in order to keep her from knowing when they were up to no good.
The memory was bittersweet.
Climbing back into the saddle, she joined them as Fortune led the way.
26
Confessions
Caralas sighed contentedly. “Oh, that was so good! I never knew snake could taste like that.” She pointed to the fire. “Are you going to eat the rest of that tail?”
Chuckling, Mattox picked up the stick spearing the last of the snake and held it out to her. “Be my guest.”
“Thanks.”
