MAYFLOWER

CHAPTER FOUR

Glinda had to admit that she was lost. She had walked with purpose but it had been a delusion. She had been taught the vastness of the planet. More land than old-Earth or at least whole continents of land if the dark half was not included. Her idea was to follow the river, but it forked and forked, and at one of the forks she had followed the wrong branch. She had avoided the tracks. They were unsafe because of the raiders.

There were only rolling hills in front of her and no sign of people. She sat on some ruptured stones and worked to calm herself. Her best idea was that she had to go back. She had some food left. Bread and biscuits. Her course had been dotted with fig plants. They were good to eat as long as there was plenty of water. She had the river for that. Her desperate desire was to sleep. She must have been walking for several old-Earth days. But, where to sleep? She had no bedroll. There was clear land along the river that would be good to camp, but looking at the breadth of the river, there would be drowners. Away from the river there were some rocks. They would provide a barrier against the tentacles of a drowner. The ugly beasts could only drag themselves so far out of the river water and their slimy tentacles could only reach so far more.

She settled with a rock at her back, ragwort underneath, and the rifle at her side. It was a spot protected from the wind but not the cold. She had nothing to start a fire with and bunched herself for warmth. For a time, she kept her eyes half-lidded. The unsettled areas were unsafe. This unknown area that she had lost herself in would be as bad.

Her thoughts returned to the village, Branston. She was not a prayerful person but she felt a strong want to. It was not possible. It was a sin to pray outside. She had heard enough of the church arguments to know this. This was the rule. They were so far from the planet they were created for that God could only hear them if they prayed inside a building. If you prayed outside it was worse than not praying because under the foreign sky the evil lurked and it would hear your prayers and use them for its own ends.

How would Gideon find out about his mother? It was not certain that she had been in the village at the time of the attack and this is what she wanted to pray for. She had not seen her like she had seen the old maid, the Haber boy, and many others. Gideon's mother was known to wander from the village for long times.

There was too much to think of. She needed to rest and then hurry to find other people. Her head dropped and her eyes fully closed. Sleep came to her for only moments. She jolted upright. A piercing scream had split the forest. It was not human. Her eyes moved quickly from spot to spot. The noise wailed again. She realized it was from high, but then saw the drowner half out of the river. Its silver, fleshy belly was like muck on the riverbank. One of its tentacles was pulled up like a kite. Its bulging, fat eyes pointed upward. Something was entangled at the end of the stretched tentacle among the treetops. She crouched to see. The drowner had other tentacles that could be whipped her way.

It had caught a catbird. She could tell by the stout body, short legs, and desperately flapping wings. She had only seen the strange animals twice. They kept away from humans. Although they could fly, they were mainly in trees, using their wings to spring from tree to tree. It howled again. The drowner had pulled it closer and had another tentacle ready to curl and strangle the animal.

She bent to pick up her rucksack, felt her rifle, and looked up. A second tentacle now had the catbird and it was being reeled in, struggling and squealing for every iota left of its life. The drowner would take the catbird and go. The area would be safe. Her fingers felt along the wood of the rifle. She had been the best marksman in the school.

Glinda stepped out from behind the rock, took a few steps, braced her legs firmly, and aimed the rifle. She fired. One of the eyes of the drowner exploded and black ink splashed. Its tentacles dropped. The catbird hit the earth but rolled free. The drowner slithered into the murk of the river with its tentacles pulled behind.