Croft's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

The voices swelled behind them. Trin ran, and Croft ran with her. The ground was flat gray dirt with no wall, no ditch, nothing to hide behind. His lungs burned. The knife slapped against his hip. He kept his eyes on Trin's braids and matched her stride. Every second the men gained. There was no cover, no way to slip loose. They could only run, and running was not enough. Trin cut hard around the base of a broken tower. Croft followed close. He came around the corner and stopped dead. A group of men blocked the way ahead. Trin froze beside him. Croft's hand went to the knife, but his fingers shook too hard to draw it. They had run straight into worse. Behind them the other men still came. He thought this was the end. One man stood in front. He was tall and broad, dark hair, a thick beard clotted with dirt. His green eyes fixed on Croft. Croft did not know him. He braced for the man to raise a weapon. "Croft!" The voice hit him like cold water. Croft stared. He knew that voice. He searched the bearded face, the hard jaw under all that hair. Then the eyes. He knew those eyes. He had grown up looking into them. "Dad?" The beard had hidden him. Months of it, and dirt, and a body gone lean and hard. But it was Reggie. It was his father. Croft's legs moved before his mind caught up. He ran across the open ground and slammed into him. Reggie caught him and held on. The arms around Croft were the same. Croft pressed his face into the filthy shirt and shook. "I looked everywhere," Croft said. His voice broke. "I thought you were dead." "I've got you." Reggie's hand gripped the back of his neck. "I've got you now." The men behind them rounded the tower. They pulled up short when they saw the crowd. Reggie stepped past Croft and faced them. The other men fanned out at his side. Croft understood then. These were not enemies. This was his father's group, and they had numbers. The pursuers looked at the wall of standing men, backed away, and were gone. Croft turned to find Trin. She had not moved. She watched the reunion from a few steps off, one hand still on her pack strap, her face careful. She did not know these men. She did not know if she was safe here. Reggie looked her over. "Who's this?" "Trin," Croft said. "She kept me alive. She's with me." Reggie held Trin's gaze a moment, then nodded once. "Then she's with us." Croft breathed for the first time in what felt like hours. The men who hunted them were gone. His father was alive. But part of his family was still missing, and now there were more mouths, more choices, and a group of strangers he did not yet trust.