Derelict

It Is Better to Dwell in the Wilderness

Chapter Four

****** This chapter is dedicated to ziggylong who has written one of the most enjoyable stories I have come across on wattpad or anywhere else for that matter. It is a rare author who can write a tale that manages to combine sly humor, action, sterling prose, a great story, and do so with success, but he has nailed it! I have to laugh every time I remember a few distinct passages and characters he has created. The story is called King of the Woods--I recommend you read it immediately (well... immediately after you finish Derelict, that is). And after you read his story, maybe you'll understand why this particular chapter was chosen for this dedication.

Everything hurt. The pain was a living, breathing creature feasting on what remained of his body.

There was that. And then, the intense heat.

Beyond that dwelt nothing but blackness.

Time slipped forward and he was aware. Sensations tickled at the periphery of his consciousness yet he was unable to muster a response or acknowledgment. Fragments of voices, bits of conversation, a string of angry curses drifted through his mind, never forming into any logical or cohesive form. There was the realization of movement. He was moving but not walking. He felt the sun warm on his face as he drifted along, borne by some unseen force and powerless in its embrace.

Still, the pain and heat lingered, clinging like a pair of bloated ticks dug in deep. Thirst followed the intense heat and his tongue felt like an oversized wad of dried leather lodged behind his teeth. Occasionally, his mouth would be pried open and a blessed trickle of liquid flowed in. He would gasp and choke, desperate for more but it was never enough.

"Wyatt! It's about time for you to be waking up." He recognized the voice and he wanted to respond but his body refused to cooperate.

It was that boy... er, girl. Rison. His eyes fluttered open to a brilliant sky, nearly blinding until she loomed over him to block the painful light. He was floating, it seemed, for he was horizontal as if carried along like the wispy clouds drifting far overhead. He became aware of the familiar sounds of draft animals, creaking leather, and wooden wheels on the road. These served to comfort him and he realized he was in a cart, gently jostling and swaying as it rolled along.

Another shadow drifted into view. It was a faded green sign, spotted with rust and listing to one side. The number 105 was faintly visible, outlined in an oddly shaped white box and covered by centuries of grime and corrosion. He raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glare and read the word "Charleston."

It was puzzling but incomprehensible.

What also puzzled him was the realization he had been sleeping in the back of a horse cart, his throat dry as sun baked pavement with his entire body aching like he had been thoroughly beat with the stick.

Stick?

Where was Boss? Is the stick looking at me? In a moment of panic, he grabbed the rail of the cart and pulled himself up to a sitting position, fearful Boss would catch him having a slothful moment. "Boss?" The word sounded little better than a croak and his head reeled leaving him dizzy and weak.

Rison was there. "Hey, you're awake." She patted his arm. "He ain't gonna hurt you no more. Never, ever again. You're with us now and he's long behind us." Wyatt knew in some obscure way her words should provide comfort, and on one level they did. Somehow, he was gone from Boss and that was surely a gift he would never take for granted. Then he slumped to the bed of the cart, remembering with embarrassment how he had cowered before the stick, whimpering like a baby too scared to defend himself. She had seen him for what he was; weak and cowardly, a Speck. He was worthless. While Rison leapt into action, taming the wrath of the stick and forcing Boss to back down, he had crawled under the wagon to hide. Yes indeed, the memory came flooding back in all its agonizing and humiliating clarity. Boss had been driven to submission by a girl not even half his size.