Maggie forgot all about Delos and the slave tradeand put a hand to Cady's forehead. "Oh, God," she said. "You're burning up. You're totally on fire."
Cady blinked slowly. "Yes-it's the poison," shesaid in a foggy voice. "They injected me with something when they caught me-but I had a bad reaction to it. My system can't take it."
Adrenaline flicked through Maggie. "And you'regetting worse." When Cady nodded reluctantly, shesaid,
"Right. Then there's no choice. We have to getto the castle because that's where the healingwomen are, right? If anybody can help, they can, right?"
"Wait a minute," Jeanne said. "We can't go downto the castle. We'd be walking right into their arms.And we can't get out of the valley. I found the passbefore, but that was by accident. I couldn't find itagain
"I could," Maggie said. When Jeanne stared at her, she said, "Never mind how. I just can. But going that way means climbing down a mountainon the other side and Cady can't make it. And I don't think she'll make it if we leave her alone hereand go look for help."
Jeanne's narrow green eyes were on her again,and Maggie knew what they were saying. So we'vegot to give up on her. It's the only thing thatmakessense. But Maggie bulldozed on in determination. "Youcan take P.J. to thepass-I can tellyou howto get there-and Ill take Cady to the castle. How about that? If you can tell me how to get to it."
"Itstinks,"Jeanne said flatly. "Even if you make
it to the castle with her hanging on you, you won'tknow how to get in. And if you doget in, you'll be committing suicide-"
She broke off, and everyone started. For an instant Maggie didn't understand why-all she knewwas that she had a sudden feeling of alarm andalertness. Then she realized that Cady had turnedsuddenly toward the door. It was the quick, instinctive gesture of a cat who has heard something dangerous, and it triggered fear in the girls who werelearning to live by their own instincts.
And now that Maggie sat frozen, she could hearit, too, faraway but distinct. The sound of peoplecalling, yelling back and forth. And another sound, one that she'd only heard in movies, but that sherecognized instantly. Hounds baying.
"It's them," Jeanne whispered into the dead silence of the shack. "I told you. They're hunting us."
"With dogs?"Maggie said, shock tingling throughher body.
"It's all over," Jeanne said. "We're dead."
Chapter 12
No, we're not!" Maggie said. She kicked the heavy cover off and jumped up, grabbing Cady's arm.
"Come on!"
"Where?" Jeanne said.
"The castle," Maggie said. "But we've got to sticktogether." She grabbed PJ.'s arm with her otherhand.
"The castle?"
Maggie pinned Jeanne with a look. "It's the onlything that makes sense. They'll be expecting us totry to find the pass, right? They'll find us if we stayhere. The only place they won't expect us to go is the castle."
"You," Jeanne said, "are completely crazy-""Come on!"
"But you just might be right." Jeanne grabbed Cady from the other side as Maggie started for the door.
"You stay right behind us," Maggie hissed at P.J.
The landscape in front of her looked differentthan it had last night. The mist formed a silver netover the trees, and although there was no sun, the clouds had a cool pearly glow.
It was beautiful. Still alien, still disquieting, butbeautiful.
And in the valley below was a castle.
Maggie stopped involuntarily as she caught sightof it. It rose out of the mist like an island, blackand shiny and solid. With towers at the edges. Anda wall around it with a saw-toothed top, just like the castles in pictures.
It looks so real, Maggie thoughtstupidly.
"Don't stand there! What are you waiting for?Jeanne snapped, dragging at Cady.
Maggie tore her eyes away and made her legswork. They headed at a good pace straight for the thickest trees below the shack.
"If it's dogs, we should try to find a stream orsomething, right?" she said to Jeanne. "To cut off our scent."
"I know a stream," Jeanne said, speaking in shortbursts as they made their way through dew-wetferns and saxifrages. "I lived out here a while thefirst time I escaped. When I was looking for thepass. But they're not just dogs."
Maggie helped Cady scramble over the tentaclelike roots of a hemlock tree. "What's that supposedto mean?"
"It means they're shapeshifters, like Bern andGavin. So they don't just track us by scent. They also feel our life energy."
Maggie thought about Bern turning his face this way and that, saying, "Do yousense anything?"AndGavin saying, "No. I can't feel them atall."
"Great," Maggie muttered. She glanced back andsaw P.J. following doggedly, her face taut with concentration.
It was a strange sort of chase. Maggie and hergroup were trying to keepas quietaspossible,which was made easier by the dampness of the rainforest around them. Although there were fourof them moving at once, the only sound from closeup was the soft pant of quick breathing and the occasional short gasp of direction from Jeanne.
They slipped and plunged and stumbled betweenthe huge dark trunks that stood like columns in themist. Cedar boughs drooped from above, making ittwilight where Maggie was trying to pick her wayaround moss-covered logs. There was a cool greensmell like incense everywhere.
But however still the world was around them,there was always the sound of the hounds baying in the distance. Always behind them, always getting closer.
They crossed an icy, knee-deep stream, but Maggie didn't have much hope that it would throw the pursuit off. Cady began to lag seriously after that.She seemed dazed and only semiconscious, follow ing instructionsas if she weresleepwalking,and only answering questions with a fuzzy murmur.Maggie was worried aboutP.J., too. They were all weak with hunger and shaky with stress.