“Stay with… it.” Xeno gestured to Roger. “They might think you’re all one creature.”
Roslyn was focused on the quiet thuds of the approaching feet of the small militia headed their way. Xeno was probably right. He stood slightly to Roger’s right. Roger reached out to sniff Xeno’s head, and Roslyn fought back a smile.
Angry blue faces came closer.
“Why aren’t we running?” Roslyn whispered to him. He looked amused.
“You think you can?”
It was a fair point. It was all she could do to stay in the saddle. And she had done quite a bit of falling lately…
The angry men ran across the stream, and with only one of them slipping and falling on the smooth stones below, they were an impressive collection. The second-tallest, apparently the leader, pointed a knife at Xeno.
“Hello, Clive.”
“You! I might have known you would consort with a diseased, filthy, disgusting, abhorrent-”
“I’m right here.” Roslyn glared down at him. She tried to choose her words carefully, especially with a man in possession of a vocabulary like his. “I’ve had a rough day, and I don’t think you’re being very fair.”
“What is this?” The man moved his arm, and Xeno stepped between Roger and the knife. The horse snorted, and stomped a foot. Xeno glanced back at Roslyn before answering. “This is a Canadian.”
It was brilliant! She wished she could tell him so. “Minotaur” didn’t quite feel right. Roger felt the tension in her legs, and started doing an anxious dance in place. He snorted. She tried to relax, but two of the men began to circle around behind Roger. He let out an anxious squeal.
“Don’t do that!” She begged. But it was too late. He had decided enough was enough.
Roslyn pitched forward as he thrust out his hind legs at the men behind him. One connected with a blue man’s chest, and he crumpled to the ground. Roger rushed forward and clipped the knife-wielding leader on the shoulder.
Roger charged his way across the stream, and Roslyn could hear the men begin to follow. They could leave right now. They’d never be caught by these oafs on foot. They were already far enough away. But where would they go?
Roslyn sighed, and turned Roger around. He let his protest be known by a very bumpy trot back to the group. The men were all standing. Roslyn tugged gently back on the reins, and he stopped right next to Clive.
“When I tell you to do something…” She made her voice be calm, and low. “You had better listen before doing whatever you please.”
“Xeno, I believe your Canadian friend is threatening me.” Clive laughed, and pointed his knife upward at Roslyn. “Perhaps you should tell her… just who I am.”
“Canadian, this is Clive. A man very high up in the radical blue man conspiracy group.”
Clive struck Xeno across the face, and he fell. Roslyn inched Roger further before Clive could turn around. He was forced to take a step back before she leaned toward him.
“I know what you are.”
She narrowed her eyes and fought back a smile when she saw a flash of doubt cross his face.
“Call me whatever you like, but you had better get control of that temper of yours before it gets you into real trouble.”
“How dare you make threats!” The tallest man started toward them. Clive thrust out his arm. The man stopped.
“Vernon, you’re in charge of our guests making it back to Acorn… unharmed.”
Clive’s smile sent a shiver down her spine. She stayed still, and watched the men follow him. Xeno was still sitting on the ground. Vernon scowled at her.
“Help him up.” She snapped.
“What?” Vernon’s question was just short of a roar.
“Do you want to stay here all day, or catch up with your friends? Here’s a hint: If you stay, you’re outnumbered.”
Vernon shot her a look that she was sure was supposed to intimidate her. But she knew what he was, too. A coward.
Xeno waited almost an hour before speaking to her again. He walked just behind her, next to Roger. The group had split. Half in front of them, with Clive, and half behind them, being led by Vernon, who wasn’t paying enough attention.
Xeno sidled up next to her.
“You might want to ease up. These guys are dangerous.”
She glanced down at him. His lip was a bright shade of blue against his dove-gray skin. She frowned.
“Is your blood blue?”
Xeno wiped his mouth, looked at his hand, and sighed.
“Yours isn’t?”
Roslyn checked her wrist, and chuckled at the blue veins leading up to her hand.
“Not all the time.”
Vernon stopped, and waited for the rest of them to catch up.
“What are you talking about?” He demanded.
“You.” Roslyn kept her eyes forward, and Roger switched his tail. He caught Vernon in the back of the head. She heard the rest of the men laugh at him. Vernon had been foolish enough to shout.
Clive led the other half of the group back to them.
“What’s wrong?”
“This… beast!” Vernon rubbed the back of his neck. It was turning a slightly darker shade of blue. “It assaulted me!”
“That’s no way to speak of a lady.” Roslyn squared her shoulders, and turned away. The rest of the men snickered. The were silenced by a look from Clive. Then he turned his gaze to Roslyn. Then Roger.
Roger groaned. Roslyn felt him push out his belly. She heard the poop hit the ground. By the sound of it, it was probably a fair size. Good for him. Unfortunately, it reminded Roslyn of her own needs.
“You jerk!” she whimpered. “That’s not even a little fair!”
They had to stop soon, or she was going to burst. She caught a look from Clive. Her heart skipped a beat. Had he figured it out?
“Never seen poop that big.” Clive muttered.
He gave the order to keep moving. Roslyn clenched her legs, and Roger hopped forward. She strained to stay in the saddle. She really, really had to go.
Roger stopped again, and she heard him start to pee. It was too much. She shut her eyes and tried to avoid listening to the splash. He stopped, and she opened her eyes again. The men had kept going.
They bent the stalks of the long white grass, and made plenty of noise doing it. Roslyn tugged at the reins and took off toward the woods. It didn’t take them as long to miss her as she had hoped.
She didn’t care anymore. She needed to pee.
They ran farther and farther into the woods. The shouts of the men had grown faint. Roslyn decided it was safe to get down. She was caught in a stirrup, and hopped a little on one leg before twisting away. She ran over to a tree and crouched down.
She had only just finished zipping up her pants before she felt an arm grab her from behind. He jerked her backward. She gasped. The arm around her was gray. She stopped struggling, and turned around. It was Xeno.
He pointed up to the treetops. She still didn’t understand. He sighed, picked her up, and started to climb the tree with a vine and one free hand. Roslyn didn’t catch her breath until he sat her on a branch.
“What?”
Xeno put his hand over her mouth. She pulled it away.
“How did you do that?”
“Shut up.”
Xeno was right. Roslyn heard the men’s voices, and she watched helplessly as Roger took off into the denser part of the woods. She felt an urge to call him back, but fought it. The blue men ran after him.
Everything would be fine. There was no reason to worry. Roger was a smart boy, and could take care of-
She heard a scream. Not a man’s scream. A horse’s scream. The men stopped yelling. It was a quiet as deafening as an avalanche. The next scream would be hers.
Xeno leaned against the trunk of the tree, and pulled her to him. His hand was on her mouth again. Her struggles were halfhearted, and he knew it. She pressed his hand tighter over her mouth and tried not to sob. It wasn’t working so well.
Roslyn didn’t pay attention to anything. It was a shock when Xeno eased his grip.
“All clear…almost.” He whispered.
She couldn’t hear anything. There must have been sounds, but nothing rose above the pounding in her ears. She swayed, but Xeno held her up. It was agony to wait.
Her shoulders still shook after he let her go. He helped her down the tree trunk. She brushed the gray chunks of bark that had chipped away off her shirt. She sat down on the ground, and covered her face. She let out a sob.
“He’s dead! I wish it was me!”
“Don’t say that…” Xeno patted the top of her head. “I’m too old for this.”
“How old are you?” Roslyn asked.
“I’m 57.”
Roslyn stopped. She took a good look at him. Dark brown hair, gray skin, almost a blue gray. He definitely had muscle. She had felt him through his clothes when he carried her up the tree. His forearms were pretty smooth-looking. But really? 57?
“How is that possible?”
“I know I’ve got about 250 years left to go, but right now, I’m just so tired-”
“Are you just messing with me?”
“No, I’m really 57.”
Roslyn saw a slight crease in his forehead, but he still looked relatively young. She had an idea. She dug into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
“How many days in a year?” She asked. After figuring for the 225 days in a Venusian year, and 365 days back home, she concluded that he was, in earth years, only about 35.
“According to my math, I’m 24 on earth, and 40 on Venus. Talk about a time warp.”
“What is that?” He pointed to her phone. She looked at it.
“Oh, wow! I’m such a…” Roslyn jumped up. “This is my phone! I can do all kinds of things with it, I just used the calculator. Look at… I have reception!”
How was this not the first thing she checked?
Xeno was clearly humoring her, but had no idea what she was talking about. She had a voicemail from Claire.
“Roslyn, please call me back. I don’t know where anyone is, most everyone is dead, I just need to know if you are, too. If I don’t hear from you soon, I’ll know what to think.”
“Dead?” She whispered.
“What’s wrong?” Xeno crossed his arms. “What did that thing say to you?”
“My sister left me a message. She says most everyone is dead. And now, so is Roger.”
There was a very indignant snort that blew her hair into her eyes. She turned around. It was her baby boy.
“Roger!” She flung her arms around his neck, and he took a step back. She planted a kiss on his nose. “Look at you!”
“I’m very happy for you both.” Xeno’s voice was flat. “Who is dead?”
“I don’t know.” She stared at the phone in her hand, and watched the battery die. “The phone is dead now, I’m not surprised if it had to eat up the battery to send me that message. I think something happened right before or right after I left. Something… bad.” She sighed. “And I am so tired.”
Roslyn shook herself, squared her shoulders, and sighed. “It’s time to go home.”
She was about to climb back up into the saddle, and make a weary journey back to her truck. But the realization hit her again as she caught a glimpse of the glowing white clouds against a darkening purple sky. She had no idea how to get home. “Too bad I can’t…”
“You’re lost?” Xeno smirked at her. She ran her fingers along Roger’s reins, and shuffled from one foot to the other. “Lost” didn’t begin to describe it.
“Come on.” He started to walk, bending new stalks of the tall white grass as he went. “It’ll take a while, but my sister is in Acorn. She’ll put up with us for a night or two. You’ll figure out what to do in the morning.”
It was as good an idea as any. She led Roger along behind her on foot, grateful for a chance to stretch her sore legs. The sky grew steadily darker, with no moon to guide their way. There was only the clouds, giving enough light to resemble the glow in the dark stars she had in her bedroom when she was little. Roslyn was glad not to be on Roger, since he would have been as spooky as she was tense.
Following a strange man on an alien planet home was not her favorite idea. But what choice did she have? He was handsome, probably. But that had no influence on her decision, she was sure. She trusted him, just enough.
Xeno had her wait at the edge of the field while he went in the house. Roslyn looked around for anything resembling a fence. There was nothing. Roger might stick around. He might not. There was no guarantee. She looked over at him. He grabbed mouthfuls of the tall grass and munched on it happily. She snickered at him and patted his neck.
The cottage door opened, and Xeno waved them over. Roslyn tugged at the reins, and Roger followed, swinging his head as he walked. Xeno watched as she undid the girth strap and stripped his saddle and blanket off. Now was the moment of truth. She took off his bridle, and watche to see what he would do.
Roger snorted, shook his head so hard it traveled down the rest of his body, and trotted off a few steps. He ducked his head down and started to take greedy mouthfuls of grass. He’d stick around.
“You brought a dragon?” A woman whispered to Xeno, and Roslyn couldn’t help but chuckle. She drew a scowl from the woman. Xeno introduced her as Tiana, his sister.
Roslyn sank down into one of the chairs, and closed her eyes. She listened to Xeno and Tiana’s hushed arguments about her being a Canadian, not dangerous, and only there for one night.
“Why is there no fire?” He asked. Tiana sighed.
“I just haven’t lit one yet, that’s all.”
Roslyn heard Xeno place the logs in the fireplace, and light a match. She heard Xeno and Tiana shuffle around the house, and she started to dream.
The door opened with a bang, and Roslyn opened her eyes. Three blue men stormed the living room. One of them jerked her out of her chair, and held her hands behind her back. He marched her out of the house.
“No! Not him, you promised!” Tiana pleaded with the men. But they brought Xeno out of the house anyway.
Roslyn tried not to stumble in the dark as they steered her toward a hut in what looked like the middle of town. She didn’t resist when they put her inside. Neither did Xeno.
“They must have got here just before we did. To take over the prison, they must have taken over the town.”
“So what now? Do we get executed?” She didn’t like the idea, but right now, she was too tired to care very much.
“How do you feel about a jailbreak?”
