Free From Across the Clouded Range by H. Nathan Wilcox Page A

sun was fading over the
mountains. It would be night soon, and the last thing she wanted to
do was trek through the roughest part of the Great Western Forest
in the dark, but she could not have stayed with her aunt for
another second, could not listen to another word. She had to get
away, had to have some time to think without having to see her
aunt, without having to acknowledge the truth.
    Absorbed in her thoughts, Teth nearly
ran straight into the cluster of boys waiting at the head of the
path. She snapped from her revere and pulled to a painful stop. A
quick count revealed a dozen young men with more running in from
the village to join the mob. The boys seemed as surprised to see
her, as she was to see them. They stumbled back. That was her
opening. She knew that she should have used it to disappear into
the trees, but she was too tired, too angry, too defeated to hide.
She wanted to either fight or lay down and die. Maybe both, she
couldn’t decide.
    “ There she is!” a boy at
the front yelled. “She’s come to us. This’ll be easier than we
thought.” The boys behind him grumbled their agreement and spread
out around her.
    An hour ago, Teth would
have led them on a chase. She’d have separated them, laid traps,
ambushed straggler. A few fingers would be broken, ankles twisted,
welts given, and heads cracked, but no one, including her, would
have been seriously hurt. Then Counselor Torpy would blame her for
everything, and she’d spend her time locked in his small school
transcribing The Book of Valatarian until it all started
again. She seemed to play this game with them every few months, but
none of them ever seemed to learn.
    Only this time, she didn’t feel like
running. She wanted it all to end, to just be over. One way or
another she was done with them. She looked at their faces, saw the
hatred in their eyes. Her aunt was right. There was no place for
her. She would never be accepted as she was, could never be part of
their world. The thought filled her with anger. Why did it have to
be this way? Why couldn’t they just let her be?
    She growled, dropped her
pack, and drew the long knife tied to her leg. She drop into a
fighting crouch, held the knife before her. So this is how they want it , she
thought. Well, let them
come . I don’t
care anymore. I’m already dead, but at least I’ll take a few of
them with me. She hissed at them and
lunged forward with the knife. She was not nearly close enough to
hit anyone, but it sent the boys scrambling back.
    They began to grumble, seemed to lose
their courage. “She’s finally lost it,” one of them whispered.
“Look at ‘er, like a wild animal or somethin’.”
    “ That’s what happens ya
fight the Order long enough,” another stated. “Yir mind ‘ventually
snaps. Just like the Exiles, all ya can think on is chaos. Let’s
get outta here. She’s not worth it.”
    Teth was panting between growls. If
they wanted to think she was crazy, she’d be happy to accommodate
them. She swung again with the knife and laughed as the boys
tumbled away from her, all except one. The largest boy in the
village, Pete Magee, stepped forward. “Looks like an animal that
needs ta be tamed ta me,” he drawled. “Best thing for a bitch that
bites is a beatin’. That’s what my da’ always says.” He pushed up
his shirt sleeves revealing thick, hairy forearms. He was tall,
broad, and strong as an ox, had won most of the events Teth didn’t
enter. His fists were clenched into great hammers. One blow from
those would put Teth down to stay.
    The other boys began to form a circle
around the combatants. Having found their champion, their
confidence returned and the jeers resumed. Teth snarled, but her
hands were wet with sweat. She could barely grip her knife. Her
legs trembled. It took her every ounce of will to keep the knife
blade from shaking, from giving away her fear.
    “ Come on, bitch,” Pete
snarled, “time to learn not to bite yir betters.” He lunged