Escape From Riddler's Pass by Amy Green Page B

us,” Silas said. “Or see traces of our camp. Matted grass, displaced stone. We can’t assume all the Patrol are as careless as those two. Never underestimate your enemy.”
    It sounded sensible when he put it that way, but Jesse suspected Silas really just wanted to get to the headquarters as soon as possible. With the Rebellion in sight, sleep wasn’t important to him anymore.
    Jesse picked up his walking stick from the ground beside him. Rae offered him her hand, but he waved it away and tried to stand on his own. His head throbbed a little, but the dizziness was gone. “I won’t be able to move as quickly as I did before,” he admitted.
    â€œNever mind,” Silas said. “The main thing is getting away from here. It sounds like the Patrol will be camped here for a while.”
    Making sure we’re dead . The thought chilled Jesse, more than the cool mountain air, and gave him enough motivation to pack the supplies, cover up all traces of their camp, and leave the grove of trees behind.
    â€œI didn’t want any sleep tonight anyway,” Jesse muttered to himself. He knew it was a lie, but it didn’t matter. If Silas said to move on, they would move on until they reached Riddler’s Pass. After that who knew what they would find?
    Jesse remembered Noa’s story about the Patrol member who went mad, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out.

 
Chapter 8
    Jesse began to hate traveling in the mountains even more than he had hated the desert. Besides being exhausting, the travel was dull and tedious. Every path looked the same, and even the mountains seemed like taller or shorter versions of the same exact rocks. Jesse found himself hoping the Rebellion headquarters were nearby. At least then we could stop and rest.
    He hoped so, anyway. With Silas’ current state, it was hard to say for sure.
    They walked all through what was left of the night, until the sky got lighter and the air warmer as dawn approached. Every few minutes, Silas would pull out Noa’s map and glance around at their surroundings.
    Once, Jesse heard Silas muttering to himself as he walked
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Jesse asked.
    Silas didn’t even stop. “Counting paces,” he said. “That way I know the distance.”
    It made sense to Jesse. Silas always thought of everything.
    Except, of course, that a wounded cripple would have a difficult time walking quickly. It was all Jesse could do to keep up with Silas. Despite what he said about traveling slowly, Silas pushed them ahead. They even ate while they walked.
    We’re supposed to be rescuing Parvel from the Rebellion, not following Silas’ quest for revenge . Jesse almost said it, almost asked Silas if he had forgotten the purpose of their mission. Then he decided that would only make Silas angry. “How much farther?” Jesse asked instead.
    â€œWe should reach Riddler’s Pass soon, if this map is accurate,” Silas said.
    Jesse was glad to hear it. He had never been so sore, not even after traveling through the desert. His leg was throbbing with pain, but he kept going. Silas would probably leave him behind if he slowed.
    For a while, he counted his own paces, more to keep his mind off the pain in his leg than to track how far they had walked. Suddenly, right before Jesse reached a thousand paces, Silas stopped in the middle of the path, staring into the sky.
    â€œThere it is,” he said, pointing to the east in awe. “The fist pounding the mountain. Just where the map said it would be.”
    Sure enough, the rising sun just beyond the mountains showed a clear silhouette of a rock formation stacked on top of a plateau. It truly did look like a fist, with four boulder knuckles and a rounded rock thumb jutting out of the hand. It would only be clearly visible in the dawn light , Jesse realized. Otherwise, it would blend in with the rocks behind it in the distance.
    Rae and Silas