“I wish I could believe that so easily,” Krysty muttered to Ryan, keeping her voice low so that only the one-eyed man could hear.
Ryan studied her. The redheaded woman’s hair had flattened to her scalp and curled into her neck, giving her a worried look that echoed that which her mutie sense was telling her.
“You know what it is?” he asked.
“Could just be that Markos is a bit too over confident. They don’t really know what it’s like out there and he’s making assumptions about the area just because it looks like the island.”
“Yeah, that’s got me a little concerned,” Ryan mused. “Figure we should mebbe give them a little hand.”
“I don’t know if Markos will like that,” Krysty commented.
Ryan smiled. “Who says he has to know, unless it’s really necessary?”
The one-eyed man gathered his people from where they sat or lay around the camp. When they were together, he explained the situation as it stood. He continued. “The best thing for us to do is try to shadow the sentry posts and follow the patrol. Which won’t be easy, ’cause they’re not stupes, just not used to the mainland yet. Hopefully, they won’t have to learn the hard way, but…”
“I follow patrol.” Jak spoke with an assurance that prevented his next comment from sounding like arrogance. “Mebbe they know others behind them, not me.”
Ryan agreed. “If you follow them, I’ll take one post and J.B. you take another. Then Krysty can cover one and Doc and Dean the last.”
“What about Mildred?” Krysty asked with a frown.
Ryan looked over to where Mildred was in conversation with Markos and Sineta. “You know, I think this is one time when we really shouldn’t say anything to her. She’ll feel obliged to tell Markos, and then it could all be shot to shit. If nothing happens, then no one need be any the wiser.”
“And if it does? Will the good doctor not feel betrayed?” Doc quizzed.
Ryan grimaced. “That’s a chance I’ll have to take.”
“Not just you,” J.B. said quietly, “all of us.”
The one-eyed man shrugged. “If things go triple-red, then I figure they’ll be too glad of the help to say anything.”
J.B. wasn’t entirely satisfied with the answer. He knew that Mildred would feel betrayed initially, and although she may understand the reasoning behind Ryan’s action eventually, it would only serve to put more distance between them when they had some to repair. But, as he looked across at Millie in conversation with the Pilatan baron and sec chief, he knew that there was no other practical course that Ryan could take.
“Okay, let’s do it,” he said finally.
The companions slipped away from the camp one by one, to avoid calling attention to themselves. Ryan went first, to take the north sentry point. It was in a heavily wooded area and he had to tread carefully to avoid making any sound. Once he had them in sight, he shinnied up a tree and waited in the branches, with a good view of the area surrounding. Krysty took south and followed a similar course.
For Doc and Dean, it was slightly harder. The eastern sentry post was on the edge of an open plain and the sparser covering of foliage meant that they had to hang back farther than they would have liked to keep concealed and not give away their position.
“I just hope it doesn’t kick off here, if there’s going to be trouble,” Dean whispered. “We’re a fair way away from them.”
“My dear boy,” Doc countered, “if we are going to see any action from the local wildlife, it’ll probably come through us before it reaches them.” He smiled wickedly. “Let that be a consoling thought.”
Meanwhile, the Armorer had made his way to the western point, where the sentry post was set up by a stream, giving a wide view of the opposite bank. The soft gurgling of the stream gave him good cover as he made his way toward the post, keeping in the cover of rushes that had sprung up by the bank. He settled there, figuring it was a good position for concealment, although the cold water and mud around his ankles promised a freezing night ahead.