Stranger Spirits

The Next Few Steps [Chapter Eight Part Seven]

The sky was getting a little lighter when our wagon made its final stop of the night. Although we've only been in Sincostan for a short while I could tell that we were in an unfamiliar part of town. We stopped in a semi-illuminated back alley where three women were waiting outside the backdoor for us. All four women bound their way over to the back of the wagon to help us out. Two of the women were together hand-in-hand while the third was a little ways off walking beside Wren.

One of the two women holding hands was petite and had skin lighter than Wren's. He hair was of a light blonde shade though it was cut very close to her head. The woman holding her hand was of a darker skin tone, similar to the Scholar's. She, unlike the Scholar, had hair. Her hair was woven together in thick locks that ran down to a little bit past her breasts. The final woman that was beside Wren was wearing a headscarf that covered all but her striking almond brown eyes. She was darker than myself and Wren but lighter than her comrade with the locks. She separated from Wren and came forward towards us.

"Kids first, we're going to bring you inside and give you warm baths, clothes, and food to eat. We need you three to be rested before you go. It may only be a couple days travel to Port Lundy but if you're not well then you may not make it."

"We need names first before we get out of the wagon." Toth visibly tensed up wrapping one of his arms around Isaac and using the other to smack Lee awake.

"My name is Fátima," She then gestured to the woman with the short hair and then to the one with the thick locks. "That's Moira and Keilani."

Moira separated herself from Keilani and stepped forward looking upward towards the triplets. "Come down, it's been a long night."

Looking at his brothers Toth nodded his head and helped Isaac up. "Isaac," Toth tried to maintain eye contact with his brother but Isaac kept looking down at the ground. "Moira, the nice lady with blond hair is going to help us inside. We need to get ready to return to father. Do you understand? I'll be right behind you." Isaac looked up at his brother expressionlessly for a moment before nodding his head. "Lee, we're going."

"Okay," Lee dusted his knees off and stood beside his brothers. "Let's go."

Lee jumped off and walked towards the home with Moira. Keilani and Fátima moved forward to help the other two boys off the wagon. Being led by Keilani, Isaac shook his hands as if they were wet as he followed her. Toth followed behind and although he was out of earshot I could tell that he was asking Fátima a question because I could see that she was answering him.

"Vaughn, I need your help getting Atticus down." Wren brought my attention back to the wagon.

"How do you want to do this?"

"Scoot Atticus to the ledge and I'll help make the impact hurt less." It took us a couple of minutes but we were able to get Atticus off of the wagon. Now that our adrenaline wore off he was feeling the full extent of pain from the blisters that had formed on his body. "Just breathe Atticus, we're gonna lead you to a bed and then you can get some rest." Without responding we slowly walked him into the building and after going down a couple of hallways Wren led us into a room with two beds.

"There you go Atticus." I said once we got Atticus above the covers. Looking at him in this state just made me feel so hollow. Looking down on the parts of him that were exposed I could see small welts, bruises, and blisters. Taking off my poncho, I flipped it inside-out and wiped the dirt off his feet. I looked back at his face to see him close his eyes and let out sigh. Moving some strands of hair away from his face I felt Wren pull on my shoulder to get my attention.

"Let's step out and discuss what's next."