Free Banshee Worm King: Book Five of the Oz Chronicles by R.W. Ridley

a hundred miles away from
the start. Bringing him back here won’t fix that. You best let him work out
what he’s got to work out.”
    Wes stood in the doorway.   “Take that harness off, Lou.   You
too, Oz.”
    I fastened the harness.   “Tyrone’s out there...”
    “I heard,” Wes said.   “Bostic is right on this.   Let him
be.”
    “Let him be?” Lou said astonished.   She fastened her harness and reached up to
hook up to the zip line.
    “Damn it!” Wes said stomping towards us.   “I said take those harnesses off!   You’re not going after him!   No one is!   It’s dangerous and foolish, and I won’t allow it!”   His face was red.   Spit formed on the corner of his mouth.   He was madder than I had ever seen him.
    “But we can’t just let him run off like that.”
    “We can, and we will,” he said.   “The boy’s full of mad and hate and him
taking off was pure selfish.   You going
after him will just make what he done worse because you’re liable to run into
trouble and pay for his stupidity.   We
gotta start acting like a team. That only works when all the parts are working
together. You understand me?”
    Lou looked at me and waited for me to respond.   I held the hook up to the zip line and then
let it drop.   “Wes is right.”
    “He is?” Lou asked.
    “More or less. Besides Tyrone can take care of himself,” I
said stepping out of my harness.
    Lou hesitated and then followed suit.   She would have gone out on her own looking
for him if she didn’t agree with us.   He’s probably lucky she didn’t go looking for him because she would have
come down hard on him when she found him.
    We walked back into the house and gathered around
Gordy.   He was struggling to eat his
jerky. His head snapped back every time he tore off a chunk with his teeth.
    “You feeling better, Gordy?” I asked.
    He looked at me glassy-eyed and nodded.   “Little fuzzy on where I am and how I got
here.”
    “You’re in my humble abode, young man,” Bostic said
stepping forward.
    “I kind of remember that.” Gordy tilted his chin up and
squinted his eyes as he examined the tree-sized man.   “Good Lord, you’re big.”
    Bostic chuckled.   “So
I’ve been told.”
    “You’re the one who gave me the jerky?” Gordy asked holding
up a piece of the dried meat.
    “I am.   How is it?”
    “Awful and disgusting and horrible,” Gordy said sliding the
empty plate across the counter.   “You got
any more?”
    Bostic picked up the plate and approached the pantry.
    “You remember about the man with the monkey?” I asked
Gordy.
    He took a sip of water. “Man with the monkey?”
    “He told you there was food in the forest.   Remember?”
    He shook his head.   “Doesn’t ring a bell...” He snapped his fingers.   “Monkey dude!”   His eyelids fluttered, and he grabbed hold of
the counter to steady himself.   “Head
rush.”
    April put her arms around his shoulders and helped him off
the stool.   “You should lie down.”
    He nodded and then gazed at her momentarily.   I could practically see him get a vision of
April biting his leg.   He yelped and
pushed her away.   “Get away from me!”
    April’s face drained of all color.   She was devastated by his reaction.  
    “Gordy,” I said, “take it easy.”
    “Take it easy?   She
tried to eat me!”
    “We all tried to eat each other, buddy-boy,” Wes said.
    “Yeah, well nobody else took a bite out of anyone.”
    April reached for him, but he pulled away.   “I’m sorry, Gordy.   I’m truly, truly sorry.”
    Lou stepped between them and draped Gordy’s arm over her
shoulder.   “I think he just needs some
rest.   That’s all.   He’s not thinking clearly.”
    “Lou,” Gordy said excitedly.   “Pretty, pretty Lou.”
    April looked even more hurt.
    “Oh my, someone definitely is not feeling like themselves,”
Lou said.
    “If you weren’t Oz’s girlfriend I would have totally kissed
you by