David Baldacci - The Keeper

Then he turned and attacked the rock wall behind him.

Harry Two had cut through his rope. Delph was just about done with his, which left only one.

I gripped it in my hands and pulled with all the strength that Destin provided me. The metal peg that the rope was attached to had been driven deep into the rock. But with one mighty tug, it came free. I fell over backward and hit my head on the fire contraption. I rose up at the same time the carriage did. It was a surprisingly fast ascent. But not fast enough.

The roar of the cannon came an instant later, followed by the door and the crates being blown aside as though they weighed nothing.

Delph screamed.

Harry Two barked.

I ducked.

The cannonball shot between the carriage and the bottom of the bladder.

When I rose back up, I couldn’t believe our good fortune.

It had missed us completely and we were very nearly through the opening that would lead us to the outside. But when I looked at Delph, I knew I’d been wrong. The cannonball had hit the rock wall, and a chunk of stone had flown off and slashed Delph’s arm. He had dropped to the carriage’s bottom, clutching his limb. The blood was pouring down his front.

I knelt beside him and held out the Adder Stone.

“Where’d you get that?” he cried out, his face twisted in pain.

“Nicked it from Thorne’s robe when we were cartwheeling across the sky.”

I waved it over Delph’s wound and thought good thoughts and the blood ceased and the slash healed. Then I used it to fix my wounds from fighting Thorne. I heard shouts and looked over the edge of the aero ship.

Thorne was down there with his fist upraised and his features awash in fury. I could only smile, though, as I looked at his battered face and broken nose.

Then I saw movement to the right of Thorne. It was Sieve. He had stuck his head out of a hole, apparently to see what was going on.

Before I could utter a warning, Thorne, who seemed to have eyes in the back of his head, had turned and fired his morta. The projectile caught Sieve full in the face. He slumped down in the hole, dead.

“You bloody murderer!” I screamed at Thorne.

“I will kill you too!” he roared back.

Then we were through the hole and out into the open expanse of the Quag, where we were quickly slammed by the wind. It was pushing us back toward the cliff. That was not what I wanted.

“Delph,” I called out. “The oars.”

He dropped down onto the bench, gripped an oar in each hand and pulled.

“The other way!” I shouted over the blasts of the storm.

“Right,” he said, and he reversed his sitting position and tugged on the oars.

I snatched the wheel and did my best to guide us where we needed to go.

Every sliver, I looked down at the ground to see what was going on. Then I finally saw what I knew I would. Thorne and his army of ekos. They were about fifty feet behind us.

“Okay, Delph, you can stop rowing.”

“Are they catching up?”

“Yes.”

He dropped the oars and joined me at the side of the aero ship.

I looked ahead of us. The Quag had changed yet again. The mountains, the river and the ridges all had exchanged places. I could feel a current of energy in the air. And for some reason, I didn’t think it was from the storm.

I looked behind us. A column of ekos was aiming their long-barreled mortas directly at the aero ship. Thorne was right behind them, gazing up at us with great delight. I turned to Delph and nodded.

He gripped the cord dangling near the wheel and pulled it, releasing the air from the bladder. We began to lower.

I hoisted Harry Two into the harness. “Delph, take my hand. It’s time.”

He grabbed our tucks with one hand and gripped my hand with his other. I led him over to the far side of the carriage, away from Thorne and the ekos.

We held hands, each of us looking at the other.

“If this don’t work,” said Delph.

“It will work,” I said firmly.

“Right, but if it don’t, well.” He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek.

The mortas fired and projectiles tore into the bladder, riddling it with holes.

“Now!” I screamed. I kicked the contraption holding the fire, knocking it over. The wooden carriage quickly became ablaze.

We clambered up on the edge of the carriage and leapt.

Another round of mortas fired off, blasting into the carriage.

I looked behind us and saw that the aero ship was starting to fall.

Right before we were about to hit the ground, I straightened out and we zoomed along just above it. I looked back again and saw the aero ship hit the ground with a tremendous crash, and as the remnants of the bladder fell on top of the carriage, there was a mighty explosion. The flash of light and geyser of smoke towered above us.

Well, I thought, that was the end of Thorne’s chance to attack Wormwood. Even if he somehow managed to escape Luc and the other ekos, he would never be able to build another aero ship.

When the smoke cleared away, Delph called out, “Vega Jane, look!”

I turned and saw a sight I will never forget.

Hundreds of armed ekos were racing toward Thorne and his much smaller band. And leading them was Luc. And held aloft in his hand was... the book — the proof of Thorne’s crimes against the ekos, unmistakably written out in the miserable bloke’s own hand.

I turned to Delph, a smile a mile wide on my face.

He gazed back. “I think this is the end of old King Thorne.”

“Bloody well overdue,” I said firmly.

I turned back around and flew along as fast as I could. About three miles farther on, I was exhausted from toting Delph and Harry Two and our bags of supplies. I aimed my head and shoulders down and we landed a sliver later.

I unhooked Harry Two from the harness and we all sank to the ground and just lay there. I was astonished that we were actually alive. As I looked over at Delph, I could tell he was thinking the exact same thing.

He said, “Well, we done it, didn’t we? All the things coulda gone wrong with our plan and we done it.” He looked down. “ ’Cept for Sieve gettin’ killed.”

“I know, Delph. We never would have made it out except for him. But he died fighting against Thorne. He was very brave.”

“Suppose you’re right, Vega Jane.”

Harry Two gave a sharp bark and we both jumped. But my canine was grinning. It was like he was agreeing with me.

I touched my cheek. “You kissed me right there, before we jumped.”

He glanced down, his eyes half-shut. “I... I...”

I reached over and kissed him on his cheek in the exact same place he’d kissed me.

“Thank you, Delph.”

He opened his eyes fully and gazed at me. “For what?”

“Just for being you. Which is pretty bloody wonderful.”

And then it happened. From nowhere a dark cloud descended upon us. I could see nothing. I heard Harry Two bark. I heard someone gasp. And then the cloud was gone.

And so was Delph.

I jumped to my feet and screamed. “Delph? DELPH!”

I looked frantically around. He was nowhere. He... he was gone. The cloud! I looked to the sky. There was nothing up there except the storm. I rushed around in all directions. I looked behind trees and rocks, and raced over little knolls with Harry Two right behind me. I kept calling out for Delph until my lungs were exhausted. I collapsed to the dirt, my mind racing so fast I couldn’t think clearly. Then, as the slivers passed and there was still no Delph, I started to weep, and then cry and then sob. I sobbed so hard I vomited.

I lay there in the dirt, Harry Two curled protectively around me.

I just kept mumbling over and over, “Delph, Delph, Delph. Please come back. Please come back. Please.”