Bound Part 10
Visitors and Lies
Mr. Thompson was sitting on the front porch in the rocker as the two children ran up from behind the farmhouse. A long black car was coming up the road, the engine rumbling across the fields and spooking the horses, who shied and reared and ran to the back of the pasture. Mary felt her chest tighten, as if she couldn't breathe. It was a military limo. She could see the green and gold OZ emblem shining on the side.
"Looks like the Lightning Count and His Excellency," Mr. Thompson said, in a calm, unimpressed tone. He took in a puff on his pipe, blowing blue smoke across the screened-in porch. Moths fluttered around the bare bulb over the door. The pipe's light was a tiny red beacon in the darkness.
He looked over at Mary and Tobias as they came up onto the porch. "You kids get up on the porch here. I don't want you runnin' around hollerin' with those military types here."
"Yessir," Tobias answered solemnly. Mary just nodded dumbly, thinking of the two wounded rebels in the barn.
The front of the military limo swung open, and the driver walked around and opened both back doors. Treize Khushrenada and Zechs Marquise got out. Neither showed the signs of a hard, hot, and tiring search; they were both as immaculate and untouchable as they always looked on the military Telnet. They looked like courtiers at a ball. Mary found herself suddenly ashamed of her father's patched, worn work overalls and her own jeans and tee- shirt.
"Evenin'!" Mr. Thompson called out as the general and the lieutenant came forward. He got up out of the rocker, set his pipe on the side table, and opened the door to the porch.
"Good evening," General Khushrenada answered politely, holding out his hand to shake. "I am Treize Khushrenada. This is my lieutenant, Zechs Marquise. I have learned from your neighbors over at the Cale farm that you are Mr. Thompson. That is correct, I assume?"
Mr. Thompson looked them over carefully, narrowing his eyes a little, before taking the general's hand. He gave it one brisk shake. "Yeah, I'm Thompson. And I know who you are."
Mrs. Thompson came out from washing the dishes to see who had come to visit, and was enthralled by the sight of two dashing soldiers on her front porch. As unimpressed with them as her husband was, Mrs. Thompson was thrilled. She shook both their hands, and blushed when Treize smiled at her.
"Have you gentlemen had supper?" she asked. "I have some leftovers I could heat up for you real quick, if you're hungry."
"We've eaten," Zechs said curtly. "We're not looking for a meal, Mrs. Thompson. We're looking for our prisoners. And we're looking for a place to stay. Unfortunately, there are no hotels nearby, and we need to stay in close contact with our troops in the field."
~*~
Mary and Tobias exchanged a look. Marquise did not waste time messing and beating around the bush. He got right down to the bottom of it.
"Well, gentlemen, if it's a place to sleep you need, then we have an extra room. We can move a cot into the guest room, if you two don't mind sharin' one."
Zechs looked at Treize questioningly, who nodded his head. Treize looked back at Mrs. Thompson, a charming smile on his face. "We'd be honored, Mrs. Thompson, if you would put us up for a day or two. At least until the fugitives are captured, or we believe they've left the area."
"You talkin' about those prisoners who escaped from the Arsenal?" Mr. Thompson asked.
General Khushrenada nodded.
"My boy works down at that Arsenal. He was away on a mission when the revolt happened. We're damned grateful he wasn't there."
"You should be," Zechs replied, softly. "We were wondering if you'd seen any signs of the prisoners around here. We have been following their trail, but lost track of them after they waded through a creek nearby here. We have reason to believe they're still in the area. Have there been any dogs barking? Anyone around the place you didn't recognize?"
Mr. Thompson scowled. "No, our dogs ain't barked, and I'd sure as hell recognize one of those pilots. Can't turn on the damned Telnet without seein' them up there."
"What about your children? Do you think they've seen anything?"
Mr. Thompson turned to Mary and Tobias. "Well, that's not mine, that's the Cale boy. This is Mary Beth. She's mine. You kids seen anything?"
Mary glanced at Tobias, then spoke in a stammer, heart pounding. "T-those pilots? H-Here on this farm? I ain't seen any soldiers of any kind on the farm all day. 'Til these two came along." She stepped forward, hesitantly.
"It's true. We hadn't seen nothin' over at my place, either," Tobias added, his voice stronger than hers.
The general, the lieutenant, and Mr. Thompson looked at the two children. Hard.
"Well... if you see any sign of them around here, Miss Thompson, young Mr. Cale, then we would be appreciative if you did not approach them. In fact- " he added, looking back up at Mr. Thompson, "-it would probably be best if they did not wander around outside until the fugitives are apprehended."
The General looked back at Mary, bright blue eyes the color of a perfect summer sky. "If you do see them, you'll tell one of us or an adult, won't you dear?" She looked back up at him mutely. Didn't speak. Didn't even nod her head. She would never promise His Excellency that. Ever. She had only known the pilots for a little while, but she already knew she wouldn't give them over to a man with such a soft voice and soft hands and a smile that didn't reach his sad, worried, cunning blue eyes. Her father said that a man with soft hands wasn't to be trusted, and she thought he was right.
"You hear what he asked you, Mary?"
She looked over at her father. "I hear him."
Tobias was looking up at Zechs with a mix of fear and awe. "Do you really pilot the Tallgeese, Lieutenant?" he asked softly, a reverent tone in his voice. "You really killed all those pilots by yourself?"
Zechs turned from Mr. Thompson and Treize, looking down at the boy. "You want to be a pilot, boy?"
"Yessir!"
"Join OZ?"
Tobias nodded enthusiastically. "I wanna go up into space, sir! Soon as I'm old enough, I'm gonna join up!"
Zechs nodded back, slow and thoughtful. "Hm." He kneeled down and put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "You ever kill anything, boy?"
Mary saw the smile on her friend's face fade. Tobias had never killed anything in his entire life that she knew about, and they'd be friends since the crib. His family was vegetarian, the only vegetarians she'd ever seen. His daddy was a vet. Tobias didn't even hunt for food, and he sure as hell didn't hunt for sport.
"Nossir, I haven't," Tobias answered, truthfully.
"Do you think you could kill a man?" the Lightning Count asked, quietly.
Tobias thought about it for a moment, then lowered his gaze and shook his head. "Nossir, I guess I... I never really thought about it that way."
Zechs patted the boy's shoulder and straightened up. "Good boy. Keep it in mind." He looked to Mrs. Thompson. "If we can stay here, mam, we'd probably want to turn in early. It's been a hard day."
Mrs. Thompson nodded. "Of course, I know you boys are tired, I'll get the cot ready and put some clean sheets on the beds."
Treize turned to Mr. Thompson and started to reach into his jacket to pull out his wallet. "For your trouble..."
Mr. Thompson put his hand on it, gently but firmly. "No sir, now, we don't need pay to billet soldiers for the cause."
"I must insist..." Treize replied.
"No, now, that ain't the way we do things down here. You either come in on hospitality or you can sleep in your stretch limo over there."
Zechs laughed softly as Treize became flustered. He took a deep breath and calmed, with an effect of a bird settling its feathers. "As...as you wish. We thank you for your hospitality."
"Right." He turned to Tobias and Mary as if he had forgotten they had been standing there. "Tobias... it's late. Why don't you call your pa and ask him if you can sleep over here tonight? I'll drive you home in the mornin' after breakfast. We got a sleepin' bag in the closet. You know where it is."
"Yessir."
~*~
When Duo awoke in the barn again, he was shivering and it was completely dark. Shuddering. Teeth chattering. Cold? No, it wasn't that cold, was it?
The shakes grabbed him, squeezed him. His teeth chattered uncontrollably, and he pressed himself more tightly against Heero, hearing the Wing pilot moan softly in his sleep.
Fever, that's what it was. A fever. And Heero was practically glowing with his own fever, his back through the torn tank top feeling like a bank of hot coals against Duo's cheek. He realized the girl and the boy had brought water, cold water, a big bucket of it, and that they had left it up in the loft somewhere. He didn't dare turn the flashlight on, so he sat up blearily in the darkness and fumbled around until his hand hit the bucket.
His hands shook as he picked it up and allowed himself to drink a little. Just a little bit. When he had gotten it down and was sure it was going to stay down, he drank a little more. Then he took a handful and splashed it over his face.
Duo moved around in the dark as his night-vision got better, crawling back over to Heero and pulling the Wing pilot over to lie across his lap, trying not to jar his fractured arm.
Heero looked terrible, much worse than him. His cheekbones looked prominent and harsh, reminding Duo that neither of them had eaten in at least two days. He dipped his fingers in the water and rubbed them across Heero's parched lips, dribbling water into the Japanese boy's slightly slack mouth. He used the water to wet Heero's face; it was so hot he expected it to steam.
/ C'mon buddy... wake up... you gotta drink something. Gotta feed the machine. /
Just thinking about food made his stomach rumble. He rummaged around in the hay until he found the plate of food the kids had left them. He took one bite of a chicken leg and realized he was ravenous. He ate the leg and then a wing before he decided to stop. It wouldn't do any good to eat all the food they had in the first sitting. Besides, Heero had to eat, too. If Duo could only get him to wake up.
He was still tired, but he didn't go back to sleep immediately. He just leaned up against the wall of the hayloft with Heero's head and upper shoulders in his lap, stroking the bangs back from his unconscious partner's face absently, tracing his fingers over Heero's fevered skin. He couldn't go back to sleep. Not yet. He had to lay a watch. He could still hear the Ozzies in the distance.
They were searching...
~*~
Mary laid awake in her bed, listening to the soft, murmuring voices of the OZ soldiers in the guest bedroom next door. Tobias laid on the floor next to her, curled in his sleeping bag.
"Can you hear what they're saying?" he whispered.
"I thought you were asleep."
Tobias snorted softly on the floor next to her. She heard him rustling around in it, trying to get comfortable. "Hell, what makes you think I could sleep any more than you? So? Can you hear what they're saying?"
"No. I mean, I hear 'em, but I can't understand it."
They laid there in the darkness for a few minutes, listening to the OZ soldiers. No car lights swept the walls, and there were no street lights coming in the window. The Cale house was the closest farm, and it wasn't close enough to throw light into the room.
"You reckon they think those two are here?"
"I dunno."
Mary folded her arms behind her head, thinking. She hadn't lied to His Excellency when she said she hadn't seen the rebels in the yard; it was true, the soldiers had been in the woods, and the barn wasn't in the yard, it was way back out behind the pastures. But she hadn't told him the truth, either. She knew what lying by omission was. "Toby?"
Tobias's voice was muffled, sleepy. "Don't call me that."
"You really think they'd kick Lonnie out of OZ?"
"I dunno. Little late now, huh?"
"Yeah... I guess so."
Mary lay tense in her bed, wondering if the rebels were getting sicker. Dying, even. Wondering if maybe they'd make any noise that would make Turnpike bark. She'd locked Turnpike up in the corncrib, just to make sure, and her pa had given her a funny look for lockin' up her dog, but he didn't say anything.
"Tobias?"
"Hm?"
"I think we should check on 'em. Everybody's asleep by now. What if they've gotten worse? They looked pretty bad."
Tobias moaned, covering his head with a pillow. "Damn, MB, it's after midnight. Can't we just check 'em in the morning."
"If you don't come with me, Tobias Everend Cale, I guess I'll just have to go by myself," she whispered back resolutely.
"Uh... fine. We gotta hurry, though. Don't want your folks to catch us sneakin' out."
They got up and opened the window, walking across the grass and pine needles in their bare feet, sneaking back out into the fields. The night wind was cool, and blew across their faces. Out in the woods, far off, they could see faint lights strobing through the trees, and hear the dogs barking. It was the middle of the night, and they were still hunting.
TBC...
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