Lyla Brynn's Arc

Chapter 3 of 6

Lyla woke with her bowl empty and the fire low. Clara sat upright against the wall, awake all night, watching the door. Henry slept curled on the floor. Wade stood at the stove, stirring the pot. He did not look like a man planning harm. But Lyla had promised herself she would not trust his face. She would test him. "You said we'd talk roads," Lyla said. "Which way is out?" Wade set down the spoon. He wiped his hands on his stained coat. "You want the truth or the easy answer?" "The truth." "Then come look." He opened the door and stepped onto the sagging porch. Lyla followed. Clara grabbed her arm, but Lyla shook her head and kept going. Outside, the marsh stretched flat and gray in the morning light. Wade pointed across the water. "Firm ground is that way. Half a day of walking. The road sits past it." Lyla studied his face. "Prove it. Show me he's real. Show me the man's shack." Wade went still. He understood what she was asking. She did not believe he was separate from the one who had caged them. He could lie and lead them anywhere. So she had named a test he could not fake. "That's a dangerous thing to ask," Wade said. "If he sees us, he takes you back." "Then you're scared of him too." Lyla crossed her arms. "A man who worked with him wouldn't be scared." Wade looked at her a long moment. Something shifted in his red eyes. He reached inside his coat and pulled out a small thing wrapped in cloth. He unwrapped it. A child's shoe, worn through at the toe, the leather gone stiff and dark. "Found this on my porch last spring," Wade said. "A boy came through. Younger than your brother. I gave him dry clothes and pointed him to the road. Two days later the man came looking. Stood right where you're standing. Asked had I seen a child." Wade's jaw tightened. "I said no. I've kept this since. To remember I didn't stop him sooner." Lyla stared at the shoe. A liar would have shown her a map, a smile, an easy promise. Wade had shown her his shame. That was harder to fake than any kindness. "The boy got out?" she asked. "I don't know," Wade said. "That's the part that sits in me." Lyla let her arms fall. The suspicion that had held her tight all night loosened. "We'll follow you to the road," she said. "All of us." Wade wrapped the shoe and put it away. "We leave within the hour. Wake them. Eat first." Lyla went inside and shook Henry's shoulder. Clara watched her face and read the answer there. The question of Wade was closed. But a new weight pressed on Lyla now. Somewhere across that water stood the man who had kept them. And to reach the road, Wade would lead them back toward him.