Wade returned to the cage and women brought them meats and furred blankets for the nights ahead. Sheridan remained cowed under the coverings and caked in dried blood with his hands shaking at the faintest echo of chanting monks and the hollering of warriors. Not wanting to stay silent, Wade informed Sheridan of his visit to the prophet.
“Will he let us go?” asked the older man.
“I don’t know,” said Wade.
“Then what will happen to us?”
“I can’t say.”
Sheridan gnawed on charred deer meat and drank water while Wade stayed seated with back towards his fellow prisoner. “What is this place? What are they doing here?” Sheridan asked.
“I reckon they’re hiding from the nighthawks.”
“And what of Josea?”
“He’s a charlatan.”
“Of course he’s a charlatan! I mean what’s his angle?”
“What’s the angle of any charlatan? He claims he sees visions of Jonny. That’s what brought him up here.”
“But we can’t be far from the Nain.”
“We ain’t. It can be seen from Josea’s temple.”
“Is that what you’re aiming for? An escape?”
“What other option we got?”
Another young woman of browned skin and dark hair flowing over her exposed breasts brought the night’s food wrapped in hide cloth and she handed it to Wade. Wade took it and asked her her name but the girl meekly looked down and didn’t answer. Before she left, Wade called for her. The girl turned around and he reached into his pocket to pull out the ring taken from the hermit and he offered it to her. She cautiously approached the cage and reached out her hand. Wade placed it into her palm and he clasped her fingers into a fist and he held it. “Thank you for the food,” he told her. She briefly made eye contact and flashed a faint smile then departed.
“Where do you think she came from?” asked Wade.
“I can’t say for certain,” said Sheridan. “Possibly from the Sanalands to the west.”
“Think she speaks English?”
“Not a chance.”
TO BE CONTINUED…
The Internet Ruined Everything 