Ghost Towns

Twenty Eight

"This is a horrible idea," Alex grumbled, pulling his arms out of his jacket's sleeves. He bundled it and tossed it at Rye, who only just barely managed to catch it.

"I can't think of a better way," Rye pleaded, "and Adrian is not going to let us have the time to think of something foolproof,"

Alex scowled but did not refute her. Rye took it for a good sign - that he would do what they needed him to. The plan so heavily depended on trusting Alex, a thing that Rye felt that she objectively should not do. The right hand man of the wolf who had kidnapped her and held her hostage all these months had become the hinge on which her freedom swung. No matter how he had confided in her that he felt conflicted about her imprisonment, Rye couldn't imagine that he'd risk his life to help her.

Stop, she scolded herself.

This was not a time for second guessing. Alex and Lisa were all she had right now. If she never took any risks, she would never win her freedom. And anyway, Rye was one to trust instincts over rationality any day. She could trust Alex. 

"You know my signal," Alex said, shuffling his feet. He turned to look through the trees again, for the millionth time staring at the town.

Lisa nodded at Rye's side. "Yes."

Alex shrugged, as if to deny his discomfort. "Okay," he said, "that's all I have to say, then. Turn around, you two,"

Rye and Lisa spun to face the wall of a hollow formed by an overhanging root. The ground was dry and covered in yellow leaves. It did not offer much in terms of safety, but if Alex did his job competently, they wouldn't need to worry about being discovered.

"He didn't take the perfect opportunity to make a gross joke," Lisa pointed out in a whisper.

Rye felt her heart sink a little in her chest. "He's worried."

Behind them, clothing rustled as Alex changed. A short, wolfish bark announced that he was finished, and Rye and Lisa cautiously turned back to face him.

For the second time, Rye found herself face-to-face with the sleek black wolf that was Alex. The electric blue of his eyes shifted between the two girls and the direction of Goldcrest, uncertain. Feeling the true weight of what insanity the three of them were about to attempt, Rye found herself overcome. She knelt in front of Alex, reaching a hand out slowly to pat him gently on the neck.

"Be careful," she said, with as much surety as she could muster. "Do your best but not more than that. All three of us have to make it out of this, or else it's not worth it at all. Does that make sense?"

He dipped his head, acknowledging her words.

"Good," Rye said, pulling her hand back into her lap. "Go, then. We don't have a lot of time before dark."

He sprung off his hind legs and into the forest, leaving nothing behind but leaves fluttering in his wake. A long moment passed before Rye realized that she had just given him orders. And even more bizarre, he had followed him wholeheartedly. She blinked, and tried not to dwell on it. No matter how much it pricked at her, she would go insane in waiting if she was overthinking.

She settled beside Lisa, their backs to the cool dirt of the small natural alcove, facing outwards. The only thing left to do was wait.

***

Three hours later, the sun was beginning to dip low in the sky. The shadows of the yellow birches and the golden oaks stretched far across the floor of the woods, long ago having cast Lisa and Rye in darkness. Alex's signal had not come yet, and it was just long enough since his departure that Rye was starting to worry about what that meant.