Blood Red Road

one horse an rider, that they’re headed away from me. Then I step out into the open, an take aim with the slingshot.
    I wanna unhorse him, not kill him. I let fly. But my hands is too shaky. I hit him in the arm. He yells out.
    I gotta have that horse.
    I run at him. I leap at him, pull him offa the horse. He goes without a fight. I git him in a headlock an he starts screamin in a high screechy voice an kickin at my ankles.
    An all the time I’m pullin an headlockin, I got all these thoughts runnin through my head. Like … what’s a puny weed of a fella like this doin out here on his own … what a thin little voice … sounds more like a girl than a man … wait a minute, who does that voice remind me of? An then his hood falls back an—

    Let go! she shrieks. Lemme go, you bastard!
    Emmi? I says. I don’t believe it. My heart jest about stops from shock. Emmi! I says. What the—?
    I haul her up by one arm an grab her chin so’s I can see her better. It’s Emmi an no mistake. My blood boils over so fast I think the top of my head’s gonna blow right off.
    What’re you doin here? I yell.
    Saba? she says.
    Who the hell else would it be?
    I thought you was a sand spirit, from Pa’s stories! She points at my face. Yer face is all white!
    I brush at my cheek. Sand. I must be all coated with sand.
    What’re you tryin to do, kill me? That hurt! she says, rubbin at her arm where my shot hit her.
    When I git finished with you, I says, you’ll wish I had killed you. What the hell’re you doin here?
    I’m gonna help you find Lugh! She glares at me, with her stubborn chin. He’s my brother too.
    Gawdsblood, Emmi, I told you to—argh! I grab my hair with my hands. What’ve you done? You got no idea what yer doin!
    Neether do you!
    Don’t you be pert with me! I grab the horse’s rope bridle. I know what the answer is but I still ask the question. Is this Mercy’s horse?
    Emmi folds her arms over her chest. Scrinches her mouth all tight.
    I grit my teeth. Did. You. Steal. Mercy’s. Horse. Answer me this second.
    No! she says. No, I never! Stealin’s wrong, I know that! I … borrowed it.
    You borrowed it, I says. You said, Oh, by the way, Mercy, I’m jest goin after Saba, d’you mind if I borrow yer horse? An she said, Oh no, please, go right ahead! An don’t you worry fer one second about my crippled old ankle an how th’only way I can git anywhere is on my damn horse. Is that it, Emmi? Is that how it went? Is that how you borrowed Mercy’s gawdam horse?
    No, I—oh, why don’t you jest go to hell! She claps her hand over her mouth. Too late.
    Gawdammit, Emmi, don’t you swear! Don’t you ever let me catch you swearin agin!
    You swear all the time!
    I do not!
    You do too! Anyways, I’ll swear if I want!
    Oh no you won’t! An you know what? If Mercy dies, it’ll be yer fault.
    Don’t say that, she says.
    Why not? It’s the truth.
    Yer the meanest person I ever met! I hate you!
    You cain’t hate me half as much as I hate you right now!
    She starts to cry. I watch her, feelin all cold inside. I’m so damn mad at her, she can cry herself to death fer all I care. Then she chokes out, I was afeared you’d left me ferever. Jest like everybody else. Ma an Pa an Lugh. I know you don’t love me, not like you love Lugh, but … please don’t leave me, Saba. Please. Yer all I got.
    My heart twists.
    They’re gonna need you, Saba. Lugh an Emmi .
    I feel a heavy weight start to crush down on my chest. I try to push it off.
    You cain’t come with me, I says. It’s too dangerous. You gotta go back to Crosscreek. But I ain’t got time to take you. You’ll hafta manage by yerself. You remember the way, don’t you?
    No, she says, crossin her arms over her chest.
    Got enough water? I says.
    She holds her waterskin upside down. Empty.
    Food? I says.
    I et it, she says.
    Fer pity’s sake, Em … what did you bring?
    She pulls Fern from her pocket. The little peg doll that Pa made her.
    I look at her. A doll, I says. You brought a doll.
    I left in a hurry, she says.
    I close my eyes. The weight thumps down on me. You, I says, are completely useless.
    I am not! I found you, didn’t I?
    Stay here, I says. If you so much as move a finger, I’ll kill you. An wipe yer damn nose.
    She wipes it on her sleeve. Are you takin me with you? she says. To find Lugh?
    What I’d like to do, I says, is leave you here fer the vultures to pick over.
    I collect everythin from inside the flyer—Nero, my