"Long enough," the farmer answered. He rooted through our bag of supplies. "What do you want in exchange?"
"We need mosquito netting. And bug spray, if you have it. Maybe something for bites," I said.
He looked at me. "That's it?"
Alex spoke, "Maybe one of those water filtration systems, if you can spare it."
The farmer looked at us, eyebrows furrowed. "Are there more of you? A child, maybe?"
My blood ran cold. "What?"
He shrugged. "Just seems like if it were the two of you, you wouldn't be so concerned about bugs." He walked over to a pile of supplies under a tarp and pulled out a mosquito net. "We ran into someone a few weeks back. He traded some things, then said to be on the lookout for another group coming this way. Said they'd have a child with them. So I ask again, do you have a child with you?"
I looked around at the women and children. They looked back at me, eyebrows raised, hands fidgety. They painted a picture of reserved excitement and anticipation.
They must have Micah somewhere, I thought.
Alex came to the same conclusion more quickly than I did. The knife appeared in his hand.
The three men backed away.
"Whoa, whoa – hey. It's not what you think," the farmer said. He retrieved the bow on his back.
I reached out for the wind, sending a strong enough gust their way to throw them all on their backs. The bow and arrows went flying. I disintegrated the bow with a well-aimed fireball. Tightening my weaves around the arrows, I managed to catch them mid-air. Carefully controlled, it took a lot of energy. The arrows moved position, first up then down, settling into place. They wavered in front of the men's faces. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Alex's shoulders sag. Properly out-gunned, he put away his knife.
"Where is he?" I took a step forward, fists clenched.
"He…he left. Safely – I swear!" the farmer stuttered.
I released one of the arrows at the farmer's son. It shot just past his head, nicking his ear. A trickle of blood ran down his shoulder.
"I ask again, where is he?" Now I aimed all my arrows at his son.
The farmer's eyes went wide, "He told us to follow you. He said there would be a child named Bee. And that there would be more allies, along the river. He went ahead, recruiting for you." The words tumbled out of his mouth, "And he said if you didn't believe me, to tell you…"
"What? Tell me what?" I wanted to strangle it out of him.
"Dirty boots."
My eyes widened, and a small burst of adrenaline shot through me, settling at the pit of my stomach like a heavy weight. That phrase struck close to home; too close.
I looked at Alex. "I think he's telling the truth."
Alex stepped over to my arrows, still hovering in the air. The longer lengths of his hair blew, giving away what held the arrows in place. "Okay, but we're keeping the weapons for now." He plucked them out of the air and I released the energy.
Alex walked over to me, hissing in my ear, "Where did you learn to do that?"
I glanced at him. "I've been practicing." Truth was, I slept very little. Practice kept the nightmares away. I turned to the farmer, who was picking himself up off the ground. "What's your name?" I asked.
"Robert. And this is my son, Robert Jr. – we call him Bobby. And this is my cousin, James." Each of the men nodded as they were introduced. Bobby held his ear with a rag. He avoided my gaze.
"What about all the women and children? You have collected quite a few." I studied them again. Their eyes were still wide, but not with shock or surprise. It seemed more like…approval.
And then I noticed the higher levels of energy that buzzed within the small clearing. "They have powers, don't they?"
"So I've been told." Robert grimaced.
I looked at the gardens behind the tent again, growing with more intensity than I'd seen in the past year.
"They're all Earths. This here's my wife, Margie." The eldest of the women stepped forward and nodded her head. "And her two cousins – and their kids." Robert pointed down the line. "Micah brought the rest. Said he's been collecting them along the way."
I flinched as I realized Micah had been doing what I had just accused Robert of.
But why just Earths?
Earth magic was slow, steady, and ran on much lower frequencies. It was very hard to detect. Perhaps it would easier to sneak past whatever detection rings Shawn set up.
"And what about the children?" I asked. There were several, ranging from infants up to teenagers. "Do they have powers?"
"Some of the older ones do – we're not sure about the babies."
I nodded. Still none of the women spoke. Robert ran a tight ship. "How long ago was Micah here?"