Free Eagle People by W.R. Benton Page A

remove our tracks, and they might never find us if it rains hard enough. Please God, let the rains come.
    An hour before dawn, she awoke Theo and it was still dry. However, rain they would have and it would arrive soon, most likely within an hour or so.
    As soon as Theo returned from making water, Ada said, “Cook enough meat on the small fire I have burning now for lunch and supper. If the rains last long enough, we may have to do without a fire all this day. It's good we have the storm coming because it might wash all our tracks away.”
    “Oh, I've already thought of rain, but not food. Usually I hate getting wet, but this is one time I hope we get a real toad floater.”
    Once the meat was cooked, the two women mounted, and began moving west through the trees.  While the route was harder and slower because they were often forced to ride around logs, limbs, or other debris, it'd make things harder for the men tracking them. If the rains washed away their tracks, they'd never be found.
    Suddenly there was a bright flash of lightning, followed by a sharp crack of thunder, and Ada's horse danced in fear. Speaking in a soothing tone, she had the animal calmed down a few minutes later.  There was a slight gust of wind and a light rain began to fall.
    Theo asked, “How long will we keep riding?”
    “We ride until the mud gets too deep for the animals to move safely. This is a good chance to cover some ground and have our tracks washed away.”
    All day rain continued to fall, and lunch was a cold chunk of deer meat eaten while in the saddle. Nothing was moving around them, which pleased Ada. It's very likely the warriors after us are under a shelter right now, waiting for this storm to pass. I see no indication it'll stop anytime soon, but we may have to stop because the mud is getting too deep. Actually, stopping may be a good idea. We lose a horse and we're screwed.
    “Theo, pull up and move into the trees on our right. We need to make a shelter from brush and logs, but it'll lead to better sleeping overnight. I'm afraid we'll lose a horse in this mud.” Ada almost had to yell to be heard over the rain, which had grown stronger the last few minutes..
      In an hour a crude, but effective, shelter was up, the horses were cared for, and the two women moved out of the rain.
    “Do we need a guard tonight will all this rain?” Theo asked.
    “Yep, we'll have a guard every night until we reach safety. Now I'm glad I cooked all three meals this morning, because there is no way a fire would burn tonight.”
    “Speaking of food, I'm going to eat.”
    Pulling a large chunk of meat from her shirt pocket, Ada joined Theo as they ate the simple meal.
    “Will the deer meat keep long, as wet as it was today?” Theo asked.
    “I'm not sure, but I doubt it. I know we'll get a couple of more days of meat before we have to get rid of it. Hopefully we'll be with our people by then.”
    “Do you have any idea where they are, except west?”
    “No, not really, b—”  Ada quit speaking and then whispered, “I just spotted movement right in front of me and about fifty feet out.”
    Using sign, Theo said, “I don't think it is those who trail us. It could be Dog Soldiers of our people.”
    “Just so you know, I will not be taken back alive.”
    “I'll join you in death here, because we'll be killed anyway.”
    “Let them contact us first, then we'll know who they are.” Ada said, and her heart was pounding as she signed.
    An arrow flew toward them; Theo ducked out of instinct, but Ada sat looking in the direction the arrow had come from. The arrow stuck in a big oak near the women, and Ada knew no one had tried to kill either of them. It was a warning, and the arrow was made by the Eagle People.
    “We are people of the Eagle!” Ada said.
    “We know who you are, but you can't enter the village. What are your names?”
    “I'm Ada and the other is Theo, but you are our people, so how can you turn us away? Come to our shelter