“I can’t even think that far ahead,” Mildred replied. As she spoke, she realized what she was saying.
“Well, isn’t that interesting?” J.B. said, a deceptive mildness to his voice.
“J.B., leave it,” Ryan counseled. It wasn’t an order. There was a rare softness and an understanding in the one-eyed man’s tone.
Krysty moved across to J.B. and took his arm. “We can talk about this later,” she said softly. “Right now we’ve got work to do, and I’m sure Mildred has, too.” With which the redhead shot Mildred a look that asked her what the hell she meant, before leading the Armorer away.
“Yeah, mebbe we should talk about this after we get across to the mainland,” Ryan said quietly. “Seems to me that you’ve got some decisions to make.”
Mildred chewed her lip thoughtfully before answering. “Yeah, maybe I have,” she said simply. She turned to Markos. “We should get on. Sineta wants to know how the whole of this operation is going.”
She turned away to follow the sec boss through the clearing to the next sector of the felling operation. She didn’t see Dean follow until she felt his hand. She whirled, ready to defend herself and wondering why she suddenly felt it necessary.
“Whoa, easy!” the youth exclaimed.
“Sorry, Dean. You just surprised me,” Mildred replied.
“It’s okay,” he said. “Look, I just wanted to say that, well, I guess the others just haven’t thought of it, but this island… Well, I just figure that mebbe you don’t feel so lonely anymore.”
“Lonely?” Mildred queried, puzzled.
“Yeah. Mebbe that’s not what I mean,” he answered, struggling for the right words. “I don’t know, mebbe I mean more like… Well, you don’t feel so alone.”
Mildred sighed. “Yeah, I think I see what you mean. You might be right. But in some ways, I’d be alone without you guys. It’s a difficult one to call.”
Dean shrugged, then looked past her to where Markos was waiting impatiently. “He’s waiting, and he’s not happy about it. But I just wanted to say it, that’s all.”
Mildred grasped Dean’s arm. “Okay, thanks.”
“What was that about?” Markos asked her when she joined him and Dean had returned to the work party.
“Nothing to concern you,” Mildred answered. “Let’s get on with this.”
They moved away through the trees, and the sec boss turned to Mildred with the intention of speaking. However, he froze, causing Mildred to stop dead.
“What—” she began, but he cut her short with a gesture. Indicating that she stay quiet and wait. He moved sideways from the path and into the denser growth of trees.
Mildred was suddenly very aware that she was alone in the woodlands and unarmed. Since working with Sineta, she had taken to not carrying her Czech-made ZKR, which was stored safely in the home of the baron’s daughter. She scanned the lands around and listened intently. There were the sounds of the work parties, but little else she could differentiate.
No, to the left of her she could hear someone coming through the trees. She moved around and fell into a combat stance, crouching to prepare herself for an oncoming attack. She almost laughed with sheer relief when Markos appeared out of the trees, particularly when she saw the expression of surprise on his face when he took in her defensive stance.
“I thought I heard someone follow—stealthy like a true stalker, but still clumsy enough to trip some roots and move the undergrowth,” he said.
“But who—” Mildred began, only to be cut off by the piercing sound of a man in mortal agony.
Mildred and Markos moved as one. Both were able to pinpoint the direction of the cry, and both ran toward it. Markos had his H&K drawn and in his hands, ready for any attack. Mildred may have had no weapon for whoever had been attacking, but her thoughts were with whomever had been attacked: to offer assistance if she could.
The cry had come from the area they had just left. Mildred felt a qualm of apprehension. Was that one of her friends? She hadn’t recognized the voice that screamed, but it had been distorted by pain, forced high and keening.