Snapdragon Book II: In the Land of the Dragon Read online

  Snapdragon Book II: In the Land of the Dragon

  Print ISBN: 9781500976750

  Ebook ASIN: B00JZ4SH02

  Copyright 2014 by Brandon Berntson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be copied or sold in any format.

  Cover art royalty free from Dollar Photo Club.

  This is a work of fiction. Any reference to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, places, characters, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events, places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  www.brandonberntson.com

  SNAPDRAGON

  Book II: In the Land of the Dragon

  by

  Brandon Berntson

  This book is dedicated to my mother and father,

  and to Nicholas Andrew Sagan

  BOOK II

  IN THE LAND OF THE DRAGON

  CHAPTER I

  CHAPTER II

  CHAPTER III

  CHAPTER IV

  CHAPTER V

  CHAPTER VI

  CHAPTER VII

  CHAPTER VIII

  CHAPTER IX

  CHAPTER X

  CHAPTER XI

  BOOK III

  BEN

  CHAPTER I

  CHAPTER II

  CHAPTER III

  CHAPTER IV

  EPILOGUE

  BOOK II

  IN THE LAND OF THE DRAGON

  CHAPTER I

  “Do we have everything we need?”

  “I don’t know,” Eddie said. “I doubt it.”

  “Let’s go over it again. You always forget something.”

  Autumn moved in. The cold and wind was cruel at Samuel’s Creek under the cottonwoods. The sky was a dark, leaden tapestry of gray. The leaves were now clusters of orange, red, and yellow scattered all around them. Everyone had dressed for the occasion, wrapped in sweaters, long pants, tennis shoes, and jackets.

  Eddie went over the list again, checking off items one at a time with his pen: hiking boots, long underwear, backpacks, sleeping bags, tents, a hatchet and knife, first-aid kit, food supplies, canteens, rope, twine, even a cooking pot.

  Seth mentioned to Eddie that Kinsey was coming as well, who later related the message to Malcolm. She hadn’t arrived yet.

  Gavin wore a Denver Nuggets baseball cap. He’d been suffering bouts of nausea and got sick several times after they’d gathered at the creek. His face had sustained the brunt end of his mother’s violence, but he was able to walk, despite favoring his left leg with a slight limp. A sling made of torn dishrags cradled his right arm. His lips were bloody and swollen, his right eye puffed shut by an ugly purple/red bruise. Gavin’s mother had miraculously administered these wounds without breaking his nose. It pained Gavin to speak, and he mainly sat on the cool grass without saying a word. The others went ahead with the preparations. When Seth looked at the boy, rage welled inside for Gavin’s mother, and he had to force himself to look away. The others cast sidelong glances at him, and Seth wondered if they felt a similar, vengeful fury.

  Whatever the case, the journey to the palace seemed more vital now than ever before.

  Albert sat at the bole one of the cottonwoods, looking distracted. Whatever thoughts he had, he was keeping to himself.

  “I just don’t know about any of this,” Eddie said. “How are we supposed to carry it all? What if the food doesn’t last? We’re gonna need horses or something.”

  “We’ll be all right,” Malcolm said. He was the only confident one among them. “We can hunt if worse comes to worst. None of us have horses anyway. We’ll just have to make do with what we have.”

  “Have you ever hunted before?” Eddie asked.

  “No. But how hard can it be?”

  “What do you plan on eating?” Eddie said. “Chipmunks?”

  “We’ll be all right. You’ll see.”

  Eddie didn’t know if they’d be all right or not. He seemed to want to start the trip as soon as possible or forget about it altogether.

  “When’s Kinsey gonna be here, Seth?” Albert asked.

  “Should be any time,” he said.

  Albert nodded and looked toward the mountains. He wore a puffy black ski parka and jeans, hugging himself against the chill. He kept wiping his nose.

  They thought of nothing else to add to the list. Most of them owned sleeping bags, hiking boots, and warm clothes, but they’d need bigger backpacks for food, clothes, water, and other supplies. Malcolm said he could splurge for most of it. His grandfather had given him plenty of cash over the last few years, most of which he rarely spent. He could help with most of Gavin’s things.

  “Who has backpacks big enough?” Malcolm said. “We need something bigger, more for winter travel. Something big enough for school books isn’t going to cut it.”

  “I don’t have anything like that,” Eddie said.

  “Neither do I,” Seth said.

  “I think I do,” Albert said. “I went camping with Dad once, and we had to get backpacks.”

  Gavin raised his good arm, letting Malcolm know he, too, needed providing for.

  “I can go into town and get the things we need,” Malcolm said. “I’ll ride back to Eddie and Seth’s house and hide the packs in the bushes after dark. We’re all gonna need to be packed and ready before we head out.”

  Nods emerged all around. Malcolm was making it easier at least.

  Albert said he owned a couple of two-man tents, but food was their biggest priority.

  “I can buy a lot of that, too,” Malcolm said. “Whatever anyone else can bring will help, though.”

  “What if there’s nothing out there?” Gavin asked, his voice a whisper. The others turned toward him.

  “What do you mean?” Malcolm asked.

  “Shouldn’t we bring, like, ten pounds of jerky or something?” Gavin said, wincing as he talked. His swollen lip hampered his speech. “How do we know we’ll run into anything to hunt?”

  “We’ll have to be careful, no doubt about it,” Albert said. “I got a couple of fishing poles. I’ll bring those. When we run into water, we can fish.”

  “What if there isn’t any water?” Gavin asked.

  “Then I’ve got my dad’s rifle,” Albert said.

  “You’re going to bring a rifle?” Eddie asked, in disbelief.

  “Sure. I know how to load it. Dad taught me. I’ve shot it lots of times. And I’m pretty good, if I do say so myself.”

  “Say we do kill something,” Gavin said, and winced with an obvious jab of pain. “Say we get a deer. Who’s gonna know how to gut it and cut all the meat off? Did your dad show you how to do that?”

  Albert flushed red in the face. “Well…I’ve seen him do it lots of times. But I’ve never actually done it myself.”

  Gavin shook his head, too tired to argue, but he did manage to mutter:

  “We’re all gonna starve or freeze to death.”

  “We will not starve.”

  The boys turned, facing south. Kinsey appeared without anyone noticing.

  Silence filled the air when she stepped closer. Her hair was different, parted down the middle, hanging loose to her shoulders. She wore a white and blue football jersey with the number 37 on it under a dark blue fleece. She looked to each of them. “Seth told you I was coming?” she said.

  Seth nodded, but Kinsey looked at the others.

  Eddie pushed his glasses onto his nose and nodded, shivering in his orange winter coat.

  Malcolm stepped forw
ard. “Seth told us you have a lot of experience camping. You might want to help us with our list.”

  Kinsey stole a glance at Seth, and grinned. If there was tension in the air, it vanished.

  Seth found a comfortable spot on the ground by a tree, out of the wind, and sat down.

  “We go camping all the time,” Kinsey said. “But I’ll admit we’ve never done anything like this before. Lots of hiking and stuff, but never, like, fending for ourselves. We have a dry storage with lots of food, raisins, nuts, granola, jerky, stuff like that. But we’re gonna need plenty of protein, so it might be wise to try our hand at hunting and fishing. The jerky will work, but we’re gonna want to eat hot meals whenever we can. We can each carry a food supply, but we need to make sure it isn’t too heavy. Rice is good because it goes a long way, but it’s heavy, too. Also, oatmeal is easy to carry, and you can store a lot of it. We can carry utensils—forks or spoons for each of us, but I don’t think we’ll want to carry a bunch of unnecessary stuff. We’ll need a good knife and a hatchet. The more food we can carry, the better off we’ll be. And we’ll have to be careful with it. And then, there’s clothes.”

  Malcolm nodded. “Are you getting all of this?” he asked Eddie.

  “What am I,” Eddie said, “your secretary?”

  Malcolm smiled. “Camping gear?”

  She nodded. “I think our main thing is gonna be food, shelter, and clothing. We’ll need head gear, gloves, hiking boots, and there’s a way to dress, so you don’t sweat too much. It’s better to overdress because you can always take off a layer of clothing. We’ll have to make sure we have the right garments.” Kinsey sighed.

  “It’s a lot to absorb, isn’t it?” Malcolm said.

  Kinsey turned and noticed Gavin for the first time. The sight frightened her, and she widened her eyes. The boy didn’t look wounded so much as scary.

  “What’s up, toots,” Gavin said, and smiled weakly.

  Kinsey was at a loss for words.

  “Don’t worry,” Gavin said. “I ran into a little problem at home. It’ll be taken care of quicker than you can drive a Mack truck through a doughnut shop.”

  Kinsey stared at him for a few more seconds. “Gavin, I’m…I’m so sorry,” she said. Tears gathered in her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  Gavin smiled weakly again. “You’re sweet, Kinsey, but trust me, I’m fine.”

  Kinsey frowned, then nodded. She tried to think of something else to say, but turned back to the others. “We’re gonna be okay,” she said. “It’s gonna be rough. But there’s edible plants, and there’s ways to get water and make shelter if things go wrong. You have to know what to watch out for. I’m no expert, but we have a lot of this stuff. The thing is, we have to make sure we take only what we need while still carrying all we can. But I feel okay about it. We’re gonna be fine.”

  “At least someone’s confident,” Gavin said.

  Kinsey looked at the others. “To be honest, I’m not all that experienced with any of this, either. But we have lots of supplies. I can raid the stuff and get it together before we leave, before my parents notice. I’ve never really roughed it like we’re going to. Especially for this long. I’m scared to death, if you really want to know. But I’m willing to take the chance. For this town. For the rest of us here.”

  She paused. No one said anything.

  “I thought there was going to be a big argument about me coming along,” Kinsey told them, looking at Malcolm. “I’m not trying to sound cocky, but I do think I can help.”

  “No one’s arguing,” Malcolm said. “Seth told us everything. I think I speak for everybody when I say you belong in this. I don’t know if that’s something to be very happy about, though. This isn’t going to be an enjoyable experience, I think.”

  Kinsey nodded. “Thanks.” She breathed deep, and stepped closer. “Well,” she said. “What do we have so far?”

  ii

  The wind continued to blow.

  Malcolm looked toward the mountains. “It’s going to get cold. We sure picked a hell of a time to take a vacation.”

  “It’s either that or wait ’til next summer, when everyone’s probably—” Seth began to say, and stopped before the word came out.

  “This is gonna be a helluva journey,” Malcolm repeated. He looked to the hills again.

  “What’s the matter?” Seth asked.

  Malcolm shook his head. “I don’t know. I just hope we make it. We’re gonna have to be careful, that’s all.” He shook his head. “Extremely careful.”

  “Does everyone have long underwear?” Eddie asked.

  Everyone nodded except for Gavin.

  “I hardly have any of this stuff,” Gavin said. “Are you sure you even want me to go along?”

  “You’re going,” Malcolm said, matter-of-factly. “Remember what you said? You’re going for more reasons than to help us beat this thing.”

  Even when Gavin nodded, it looked painful.

  “Besides,” Malcolm said. “I’m going to pick up some things tonight. Eddie can come with me, and we can carry it on our bikes. We’ll have to share most of the load until Gavin feels better.” Malcolm looked at the list again. “We’ll want our best shoes, hiking boots, in pretty good condition. How about that? Everybody have some?”

  “I think I have some,” Eddie told him.

  “I have two pairs,” Albert said. “I’ll bring the extra for Gavin. Hopefully they’ll fit. I got ’em a couple of years ago, and I was a lot smaller then. In fact, if you want Malcolm, you can come over and get them. That why, when you drop off the backpack, Gavin will have the boots, too.”

  “Okay.” Malcolm marked it off the list.

  “Is there anything you do have Gavin?” Malcolm asked him.

  Gavin thought about it. “I have a sleeping bag, coat, and gloves. I don’t have any long underwear. I definitely can’t bring any food.” He closed his one good eye, leaning to the side, as if drifting off to sleep. Seth wondered how he’d it made here on his own.

  “I think that’s it,” he finished.

  Malcolm looked at him, studying the damage, his swollen eye, the purple bruise on the side of his face.

  “What?” Gavin asked, looking at each of them. “It’s not as bad as it looks. My legs are okay. I can walk fine. I just get a little sick sometimes. It’s just my face and arm mainly. I think she sprained my arm.”

  Malcolm, Seth saw, had tears in his eyes, but held them back. Hot anger emerged on his face.

  “What?” Gavin said. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  Malcolm took a deep breath. “I hope you’re mother pays for what she did to you, Gavin. I’m sorry. But I do. I hope she pays dearly.”

  Silence followed. Kinsey nodded to herself, agreeing with Malcolm.

  Gavin looked at the ground. He was sitting Indian style, plucking at the grass with one good hand. He looked up, forcing a smile, and winced. “Thanks,” he said. “I shouldn’t say that, but…I keep thinking…well, she’s my mother. I should love her still, right? I should forgive her. But I can’t. I can’t forget about what she is, how she lives. How terrified I am of her. I…I just want to be left alone…to not be scared anymore, you know? I don’t want her around. And sometimes, like the last time…when I saw her…”

  “Yeah?” Albert asked.

  “When I saw her,” Gavin went on. “I saw him.”

  “What do you—?” Malcolm said.

  “You saw him?” Albert asked, his eyes going wide.

  Gavin nodded. “I saw his face. In her.”

  Seth felt a chill and shivered.

  “Is that possible?” Eddie asked. “Could it be working through others?”

  “I don’t know,” Malcolm said. “But it explains a lot. And maybe it gives us an edge.”

  Gavin looked at the grass again.

  Malcolm took a deep breath, trying not to think about it. “Well,” he said. “I can’t think of anything else. Anyone?” He looked around, but no one replied. �
��Okay then. Tonight we go home and get ready. I’ve already got all my stuff together. Does anybody else need anything?” Malcolm looked around, but no one said a word. “Gavin, if you can, come with me today…unless you feel uncomfortable going out with…”

  “It’s okay,” Gavin said. “I’ll come.”

  “Get everything you can into your backpacks,” Malcolm said. “I’ll have to get four of them. I’ll drop them off by ten o’clock tonight after it’s dark, so your parents won’t see me. You can sneak out, grab them, and start packing. We can tie the sleeping bags and tents on later if we have to and organize our packs along the way. Kinsey can probably help us with how to do that. Albert and I can carry a little extra.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean,” Albert said, trying to sound offended. Gavin cracked a smile.

  Malcolm didn’t reply. “Is that it?”

  “I think so,” Eddie said.

  Everyone nodded, agreeing.

  “Okay then,” Malcolm said. “When do we meet?”

  Everyone looked up. Faces turned pale. The reality of their situation finally dawned.

  “We’ll have to leave at night,” Seth said, looking up. “We don’t want anyone to know what we’re doing. We need to be able to get far enough away, too, that they won’t find us when they realize we are gone.”

  Malcolm nodded. “How about we get everything together and meet here at midnight,” he said. “Our parents should all be asleep by then, shouldn’t they?”

  “Midnight!” Eddie said, aghast. “You mean tonight?”

  “I think we’ve put this off long enough,” Malcolm said, looking at Seth.

  Seth told the others what had happened the night before outside his window. He’d also told them about his latest visit from Ben.

  “We can say we’re spending the night at one another’s houses,” Malcolm said. “If our parents don’t call to check up, we can get a lot of ground behind us, and I think we can spend the rest of today getting everything we need. We’ll spend the evening packing and preparing. It’s going to be a busy day. If we need to go later than midnight, we can. Pack in secret. Make sure your parents don’t find out. If you have to wait until they go to bed, fine. Do that. But we have to get out of here. We have to leave. The sooner the better.”