Vicious Memories

Chapter 34

Mads came home the next morning.

Box sniffed in exasperation as I sat up and I set him gently to one side. My cave was full of the directionless gray light, and as I got to my feet I cracked me knuckles and washed up quickly using the bucket of warm water in the corner.

I noticed the buzz of conversation as I exited my small nook.

"What's going on?" I asked the first person I saw.

"Someone came out of the jungle. Collapsed by the graveyard tree. I didn't want to crowd in."

I was already jogging away.

The trees at the edge of the village were alive with morning activity; birds cried, rodents scurried through the underbrush, insects buzzed in a quilt of infinite leaves. It was the coldest morning I had experienced thus far, and I rubbed my forearms with my hands.

"Finn! Where is Finn!"

I approached the group clustered by the base of the monkeypod tree, anxious. People milled under the huge canopy like a children beneath a mother's protective arms. The tree's leaves were unfurling for the day as I arrived and shouldered my way through the circle.

I stopped dead in the front row.

"Holy shit."

"Where is Finn?" Mads repeated.

"Hush sweetheart," Bev said. "Arun went to get him. Now hold still so I can have a look at you."

Mads was kneeling on a thick patch of grass, her entire body covered in dirt, her expression dazed. The red bandana that usually covered her head was gone. Without it, her blonde hair fell in tangled tressed like frayed wires. There was a nasty half-healed gash on one of her shoulders.

Bev knelt next to her, her face intent, poring over every inch of Mads' lower body, moving her legs back and forth, periodically asking if anything hurt.

"Finn," Mads mumbled again. "Finn."

Across the circle from me, Gabriel's dark eyes narrowed as he examined Mads. I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. They were the same wheels turning in mine.

The sound of pounding footsteps preceded a yell.

"Where is she? Let me through."

Finn forced his way through the crowd and fell to his knees.

"Oh my god," he said, reaching for Mads.

Their arms clutched at each other frantically. Bev took a half-step back and the next two minutes flew by under a barrage of tears. I looked away, feeling like I was intruding on something intimate. More villagers started to gather around the tree.

Gabriel stepped forward and laid a hand on Finn's shoulder. "Bev needs to finish looking her over," he said. "And we need to know what happened."

Mads got to her feet, her face lined with vertical tracks where her tears had cut through the grime. "I don't remember," she stammered. "Anything. Not anything. Je ne sais pas ce qui s'est passé. Je ne peux pas. Je ne peux pas. Je suis désolé. Finn." She broke free of Bev's arms and turned to him. "I'm sorry."

He took put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "Don't be sorry," he said. "I'm just happy you're back."

"No," she said. "No..."

Oh god...

For a second it felt as if the ground had dropped out beneath me and I was falling through empty space. My stomach flipped over. The whole group held their breath, waiting to hear what would come next. I thought I might be sick.