It was only a flash of movement retreating back into the trees but it told him all he needed to know.
With great care he laid the branch down and moved away from the river. On a sun bleached log he made himself comfortable. He could hear the quiet of the woods now. Only the sound of wind in the the aspens disturbed it.
"A pleasure to see you again, Casey." He said, his tone gentle.
There was no response. Nothing moved in the trees. But she hadn't fled. He could still feel her eyes. Something kept her there. Whatever it was gave him a small advantage. He must make the most of it.
The wound was sending waves of pain to his finger tips. He pulled back his coat and examined the dark, spreading stain on his shirt. This fatigue he was suffering was more than mere physical exhaustion.
He lifted his eyes and suddenly she was there, standing at the edge of the tree line. He could sense the tension in her from across the short distance. At any moment she could be gone, vanishing as easily as she had appeared. He held himself still as they watched each other warily. Though he could not see it he knew she still had the gun. If she intended to kill him it would be easy enough.
She was watching him carefully, her eyes bright, body tense. One wrong move and she would run. She wanted to run. The wild world in which she lived infected her. She was more part of it then she was of civilization. She may have always been.
"You've gone through such a lot of trouble to find me." He said. "You might at lest say hello."
She didn't reply but the tone of his voice softened her a bit. She'd expected him to be angry, seeking retribution. He could sense relief but the suspicion remained. The how and why of his presence troubled her. It also intrigued her. A curious mind will take chances.
He allowed her to see his pain and weariness. He was hurt. And by her hand. Fear might be replaced with compassion. Or even regret. If she were capable.
Clinging to the trees, torn between easy escape and curiosity, she hesitated. A long tenuous moment passed and then she came, cautious as a deer. She stopped just out of reach and looked at him. Up close the brutality of her existence was unmistakable. She was gaunt, her face burned by sun and wind. Youthfulness had been stripped away be the elements, leaving her hollow. But a fire still flickered at the back of her eyes.
In a voice made brittle by lack of use she asked. "Why did you come?"
"To take you back."
Stiffening, she shifted away from him, inclining towards the safety of the woods.
"I won't go."
"You will."
Her face was full of defiance but she made no move to leave. She may not want to return to the torments of The Village but neither was she eager to be alone again.
"How bad is it?" she asked.
He looked up at her a little surprised at the question. Perhaps she could still feel something.
He said. "I'll live."
"It's bleeding."
"Yes."
She looked away, clearly making a calculation. The sun was moving lower and the trees made long shadows stretching across the rocky ground towards them. He was tired and the world seemed vast and lonely. It was a long way down the mountain. A very long way if Casey chose to make a fuss.
"My camp isn't far." She said finally, her voice just audible. "I have some bandages and food."
He doubted her generous offer was more than a tactic. She was trying to forestall the inevitable but he didn't mind. At present she was armed and very much on edge. She wasn't likely to give him the opportunity he required. Safe in whatever lair she had made for herself she would be more apt to drop her guard.
He got to his feet, making no effort to hide his weakness. The less of a threat she thought him the better. He waved a hand, "Lead on."
She backed up several cautious steps, giving herself a safe distance before turning her back on him. The gun was tucked in the waist band of her slacks. He could see the bulge of it under her shirt. Getting it away from her should prove interesting.
Casey moved back into the trees with the grace of a practiced woodsmen. For her young age Casey had obviously spent a lot of time in the wilderness. She was at home here.
The game trail she led him to was more heavily used then the one he had followed previously. It took them through the trees flanking the river. The distant rush of water came to him dimly. They were climbing. The girl kept a stiff pace. Neither spoke, there was not air nor energy for it. Fatigue and pain accompanied Six's steps like dogged companions.
The sun hit the mountains at a low slanting angle turning the tree tops above them to fire. They climbed on. The trees thinned and grew stunted. He became aware of the pounding roar not so far off. Forest floor gave way to rocky broken ground. The game trail now scarcely visible in the hard rocky earth took them out round an outcropping of rock and onto the naked side of a mountain face. In the setting sun the rock was turned red. They were quite high. The thin cold air scarcely filled his lungs. Even Casey had slowed. The roar was closer and he recognized it as the pounding of water. The path they walked was little more then a ridge jutting out over an abyss. Yet there was evidence animals had come this way. Deer or mountain goats. Their tracks showed in the gritty soil amid the rocks along with the occasional droppings. He strained to see ahead, to guess where it might lead. But only sheer cliffs of bare rock greeted him.
Far below their feet were the tops of trees. The river was a bright flash amid the green. Brilliant sunlight illuminated the harsh peaks above them as they walked in the shadow of the mountain, clinging to its steep side like insects.
The pace had become plodding. Casey, out of pity stopped from time to time. Her eyes, when she looked back at him, were sorrowful as if she thought he might collapse. Whatever fear she had had of him was gone. She allowed herself to be quite close. It was careless of her.
Suddenly they rounded a corner and the trail widened into a bench of stone. A waterfall crashed down from the stony peak. They were nearly at the summit. Below the cascade the air was wet with spray. He was quite cold. Casey had stopped to wait for him to catch up. She was relaxed. Wherever this place was she regarded it as safe territory. Her territory.
Six walked to the edge of the stone shelf and looked over where the water pounded downward. Far below it poured in a white torrent into a frothing pool. From this height the river that spilled out of it was a thin silver ribbon winding through the trees.
Casey was clearly waiting for him to follow. To where he could not tell. The shelf on which they stood stopped at the face of a sheer cliff. Stunted trees and brush crawled part way up it, finding toe holds in the jagged rocks. Apart from that there was nothing but a wall of rock and the crashing water spilling over it. If there were somewhere to go beyond this point it was not obvious. He was curious, but this was as good a place as any for what must be done. He lingered at the lip of the abyss.
He was aware that she had came to stand beside him. He let her settle. Let her mind be drawn to the dizzying drop and the wild cascade of water that drowned all sound and filled the air with energy. Watching it was mesmerizing. He watched with her as he shifted his position. Then his hand snaked out and closed around the butt of the gun. He stepped away from her quickly and the gun came up in his hand just enough so she could get a good look. Without it she was suddenly vulnerable. She could either run or comply with his wishes.
Her hot, angry eyes flew to it then to him. She stared at him in a near rage. But she made no move. He held the weapon for a moment considering the options. It would be of no use to him in The Village. His plans did not include a shoot out with the guards. But it might be of some good out here against predators. It felt as if it still held a few rounds, though he dare not check. Just now Casey might see that as an opportunity and make a try for it. In fact as long as he had it she would be tempted. He should like to avoid hurting her if possible. Without the hope of regaining it she may prove more reasonable.
He looked at her. She was ridged under his gaze. Her eyes ate into him like acid. He had violated what little trust she afforded him. At this moment she considered him an enemy. And that might never change.
With a flip of the wrist he sent the gun spinning out towards the waterfall. The sun glinted off it for a brief moment before the white water consumed it and drove it down, down into the violent pool.
Casey looked after it then away to the rock wall that hemmed them in. The tension had gone out of her. She did not look back at him.
He watched as she went to the cliff and disappeared into the heavy brush at its base. He followed cautious now. The animal trail was faint here, easily missed, but it lead into the bushes. He couldn't see the girl.
He ducked into the foliage. There was a narrow ledge in the stone, created by a deep fissure. Soil had found its way here and the tiny seeds of the vegetation that now grew precariously along it. He had to clamor over roots and round tangles of branches and brush. But animals had come this way, pressing through the growth.
When he emerged from the brush and trees he was on the edge of the world with the waterfall still above him. He stopped, winded and faint, leaning against the rock wall for support. His head rung. Fighting trough the tangle had gotten the wound to bleeding worse. If Casey were leading him on a merry chase he was indeed in trouble.
She was still nowhere in sight. The narrow trail led to the waterfall and seemed to disappear. She must be beyond it. Waiting on the other side. To ambush him?
As he regained his breath he looked out. From here he could see the ocean. It lay like a smooth sheen of light under the setting sun. The beach and the rocks were tiny, nearly lost in the distance. But sharp eyes could easily see a man entering the woods. The rocky ridge he'd walked along and the sweep of river bed widened by flood water where Casey had found him was also in clear view from Casey's high perch. It had been an easy matter to track him.
The Village nestled among the trees was also laid out below. Anyone taking the road past the hospital and into the mountains would be seen. He spotted the place where the road ended abruptly at the edge of a cliff. Number Two's search parties had been tracked as easily as she tracked him.
His eyes looked back to the crashing waterfall and the tops of the jagged rocks from which it spilled. Snow and ice still clung in the deep shadowy ravines feeding the torrent. Up there it was yet winter, colder even than here. Much less survivable. Where had Casey been hiding all this time? Where was she hiding now?
Reluctantly he resumed the climb. It grew steeper still. The spray of the waterfall was heavy, gathering on the ledge and running down. The fissure had become bare rock made slick by the thin trickle of water. He moved cautiously, the smooth soles of his shoes offering little traction. He was quite close to the falls now. A lip of stone forced the cascade of water out away from the cliff face and he saw the trail did indeed pass under it. Casey remained hidden from sight.
He stopped. The deafening roar of the water filling his ears. It was dark under the torrent. The icy spray had soaked him, causing him to shake. He didn't have much strength left and he was aware of his own vulnerability. If Casey were up ahead, waiting, she could take him by surprise. A well placed stone would send him tumbling from the narrow ledge. She was, after all, a girl who fancied revenge.
Yet the only way was forward. He stepped under the falls. The dark mouth of a cave, scarcely visible in the wet darkness, opened in the stone. In the faint light beneath the thundering water he stared at it. The trail continued on, going no doubt, over the peak to whatever was beyond. But this narrow opening in the rocks was Casey's lair. She had led him to her hiding place.