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  Wayfarer’s End

  Genevieve Mckay

  Copyright©2016 Genevieve Mckay.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to Mudge and the menagerie; for keeping my feet on the ground and for believing in me. And it is also dedicated to my Mom for first introducing me to the magic and power of the written word.

  Acknowledgments

  Huge thanks to everyone who supported me on this wonderful journey. To the friends and family who cheered me on and to the brilliant and talented folks in my writers group who patiently walked me through the entire process. I am grateful to my editorial team who pushed me at all the right times.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One - On the Mountain

  Chapter Two - A Cold Wind

  Chapter Three - Ramsay Returns

  Chapter Four - Phineas (almost) Returns

  Chapter Five - Aftershocks

  Chapter Six - Into the Dark

  Chapter Seven - On the Run

  Chapter Eight - Into the Past

  Chapter Nine - New Snow

  Chapter Ten - Meeting Colin

  Chapter Eleven - Out of the Dark

  Chapter Twelve - Henry

  Chapter Thirteen - The Sketch Book

  Chapter Fourteen - Uncle Pete

  Chapter Fifteen - House Arrest

  Chapter Sixteen - Old Bones Rise

  Chapter Seventeen - Into the Woods

  Chapter Eighteen - Armin

  Chapter Nineteen - Wheelchairs

  Chapter Twenty - Phin and Henry

  Chapter Twenty-one - Louisa Leaves

  Chapter Twenty-two - Bandage Change

  Chapter Twenty-three - Out to Lunch

  Chapter Twenty-four - Underground

  Chapter Twenty-five - Playing Games

  Chapter Twenty-six - Leo

  Chapter Twenty-seven - Nina

  Chapter Twenty-eight - A (mostly) Happy Ending

  Chapter One

  On the Mountain

  “Stop, Ramsay.” Phineas brought the horse to a shuddering halt and laid a hand on its rain-soaked neck. Hunched into his jacket, he peered into the dark, miserable night. Cold rain sleeted from all directions, blurring his vision. He groaned as the persistent cough lodged in his chest rumbled to life, doubling him over.

  The tiny beam from his head lamp could not penetrate the darkness more than a few feet ahead of Ramsay’s hooves. The old logging road they’d followed ended in a rocky clearing dotted with scrubby trees. He was lost.

  Easing his feet from the stirrups, Phin stretched his aching legs; considered his options. He was alone at night on a deserted mountain with an exhausted, stolen horse, and a rapidly dwindling food supply. The cabin he’d hoped to find was nowhere in sight.

  He should have stopped riding hours ago, as soon as the sun went down. He should have pulled off into the woods and laid low until the rain let up a little. But he hadn’t. Whenever he slowed down, a sharp, anxious pulse woke in his veins, urging him not to stop, but to push always onward up the mountain no matter how exhausted he and Ramsay were. He wasn’t sure what drove him so hard; only that he had to put as much distance as possible between him and the never-ending misery in his old life.

  There was also the uncomfortable feeling he was being followed. Even though he hadn’t seen anyone in days, he couldn’t shake the idea that someone, or something, tracked them silently through the woods.

  Phin had every right to be paranoid; there was a good chance he really was being hunted. He vividly recalled the murderous outrage on Leo’s face when Phineas shot him in the leg. Leo would have killed Phin right then and there if he’d been able. Then the man simply disappeared with hardly a trace. There was no way to tell if he’d fled to another country or lurked around the next bend in the road. The thought made Phineas sick with fear.

  Phineas had made a stupid move stealing Ramsay from Cara. He’d been so angry at her for continuing to befriend the Nzumbe. She’d chosen them over him even after he’d saved her life, and a part of him had wanted to make her pay for her disloyalty. He’d known the first night that it had been a mistake. Cara and Ramsay were his only friends in the world and he hadn’t really meant to hurt either of them. It was only a matter of time before someone from the house came looking for the horse, and when they found him, it would not be pretty. He wasn’t sure who he should be more afraid of, them or Leo.

  Ramsay lowered his head to the ground, snorting unhappily. The horse wasn’t used to such hard work; he was a pampered pet at home, happy giving trail rides to Cara and Caleb, not a seasoned trail horse.

  I’ll have to find shelter for him soon, Phin thought. He needs to rest and eat, and so do I. If we haven’t found a place to hide in the next hour, then I’ll have to turn back. Otherwise, we’re going to freeze out here.

  He’d given up any plans of finding a cabin. It was there on his map, but he’d circled the mountain for days, seeing only rock, trees, and abandoned logging equipment. He must have misread the map or made a wrong turn somewhere.

  “All right, Ramsay.” He sighed, wiping the rain from his eyes. “This is as good a place as any to stop.”

  Phin leaned forward in the saddle, painfully swinging his leg over Ramsay’s back and landing on the ground with a grunt. The impact jarred his lungs, starting the coughing again; his chest wracked with deep spasms. He clung to the stirrup leather, leaning his forehead against the horse’s ice cold shoulder, waiting for the fit to pass.

  “Come on, boy.” The leather reins were slick between his fingers as he pulled the horse into the dense brush. The rocky, uneven ground shifted under his boots and he stumbled, swearing as the wet ferns slapped at his face. Eventually the woods opened into a small clearing just big enough for him and the horse to fit inside. At least the trees gave them some protection from the wind and freezing rain.

  He hadn’t expected the plunge in temperature when he ran away; he’d dressed to keep dry, not warm. At first it was bearable, but as they climbed further and further into the mountains, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. The rains turned into a sharp, driving sleet he couldn’t escape.

  At least it was unlikely anyone would search for them in a storm like this.

  Fumbling with the bulging duffle bag attached to Ramsay’s saddle, he pulled out a thin rain sheet and flung it over the horse’s back, saddle and all, covering the animal from neck to tail. He fastened it loosely, then ducked underneath the fabric, huddling against the sodden horse’s shoulder, hoping to share a bit of warmth.

  Five days, he reminded himself. I’ve been out here five days and I’m almost out of food. What was I thinking?

  The truth was, he’d bolted. He’d given in to panic and fled into the night with just the ghost of a plan. He only wanted to escape that house full of freaks and keep running until he erased the image of his father’s startled eyes closing forever. No matter what Phin did or how far and fast he rode, that image always hovered somewhere nearby. How was someone supposed to get over seeing their dad killed in front of them? Was there an antidote, a cure for the pain every time he thought about what happened? Adrian mightn’t have won a Father of the Year award, but he never harmed a fly; he certainly didn’t deserve to be shot
in cold blood by that psychopath, Leo. Despite all his father’s crazy moments, Phin loved him. With one tiny squeeze of the trigger, Leo erased Adrian from the world like he’d never existed. The cold finality made Phin queasy.

  And my mother just watched it happen, he thought with a stab from that old bewildered rage. He was still baffled. How his free-wheeling hippy mother, Nina, turn into the cold, calculating woman she’d become? Having affairs, kidnapping and killing people, trying to raise her own pathetic army; it wasn’t like her at all. His whole life was turned upside down by Leo.

  No, not just Leo, he told himself fiercely. It was the Nzumbe, too. If it hadn’t been for those freaks, none of this would have happened.

  Thinking about the Nzumbe made his blood boil. He wished heartily he’d never heard about the nasty creatures.

  Phineas ground his teeth and pressed his forehead hard into the horse’s steaming, wet shoulder. The rain sheet helped trap their body heat, warming them slightly. Outside, icy sleet pelted around them. The dying light from his headlamp reflected on the green rain sheet, casting them in an eerie light.

  Phineas closed his eyes and sighed. The downpour wasn’t letting up like he’d hoped; if anything, it was worse. The horse swayed on its feet, front legs splayed in an effort to stay upright.

  “It’s okay, Ramsay,” he lied, patting the animal’s side. “One more night and then we’ll find the cabin. Then everything will be okay.” He fumbled again with the flap on the water-logged duffle bag and reached around until he found the last of Ramsay’s food, a battered apple.

  His stomach growled and he couldn’t resist taking a bite. He swallowed it without chewing, then offered Ramsay the rest.

  “Here, boy,” he said softly, holding his hand under the horse’s muzzle. Ramsay lipped half-heartedly at the bruised fruit. When his searching lips accidently knocked the apple to the forest floor, he stared at it listlessly, not bothering to pick it up.

  Phineas’ heart sank. Ramsay loved food. If he wasn’t eating, something was seriously wrong. He should have never taken him away from home.

  “I’m sorry, Ramsay,” he whispered. “I’ll take you back down tomorrow. We’ll find a place to put you so that you’re found right away. I probably should have stolen a bicycle, instead.”

  He fished the sodden backroads map from his jacket pocket and peered at the torn page. He’d stolen the map months ago, back when his only worry was how his parents wouldn’t let him go to school, and he dreamed about running away and living in the wilderness by himself. At the time he’d imagined it would be easy to hike up into the mountains without telling anyone. He would stay hidden until they stopped looking for him and he’d be free to start his life over again.

  In reality, it was much more difficult; none of the logging roads had names and many weren’t on the map at all. Every so often there was a sign with some numbers on it which didn’t mean anything to him. The snarled trails twisted and turned up the mountain until he hadn’t the faintest clue where he was anymore. Finding his way in the dark proved to be impossible.

  The route to the cabin should have taken a good hiker three days on foot; on a horse, only a day and a half’s hard ride.

  He’d done his best to follow the trail. But the abandoned logging roads he chose all led to dead ends, and the ice and rain slowed him to a crawl. After days circling around the mountainside, he had to admit it; he was officially lost.

  A branch cracked behind him. Ramsay stiffened and lifted his head, nickering. Phin’s heart seized. He ducked out from under the sheet, fumbling for the kitchen knife he’d stuck in his raincoat pocket. One of Cara’s special cooking knives handmade in Japan. He’d taken it because they always stayed sharp and, he hated to admit, because it made him feel like a part of her was with him.

  He pulled the headlamp off his head and held it tightly in one hand. He stood with his back against Ramsay, peering intently into the inky darkness. He couldn’t hear anything over the falling rain. After a minute, he relaxed. It was nothing, after all. The rain weighed down the trees. It was perfectly natural for the weaker, dead branches to fall from time to time. He couldn’t let himself get carried away imagining things like cougars stalking him. Or Leo. Nobody but he and Ramsay would be out on a night like this.

  “Hello, Phin.”

  Phineas spun around with an undignified yelp, stabbing the knife wildly into the air, narrowly missing Ramsay’s flank.

  “Louisa!”

  She crouched on an overturned log, staring at him with her head tilted to the side, an amused smile playing across her face. Oblivious to the icy rain running over her, plastering her jet black hair to her forehead, Louisa watched him with unblinking eyes. Phin gulped. In the trembling flashlight beam, her face reflected something ancient, feral, and completely merciless. Her lips parted slightly, the light glinting off her unnatural, pointed teeth.

  Despite being terrified, Phin forced his shoulders back, meeting her gaze head on.

  Don’t be afraid, he told himself grimly. If Louisa wanted you dead, she could have killed you by now. She just wants Ramsay. He’d lived in the same house with her for months. She’d saved his life the day Leo kidnapped him and Cara. She was not about to kill him even though he’d discovered she could easily kill others in cold blood.

  Phin’s last memory of her was on the night he’d run away; when she’d dumped a blood-soaked body in the woods under the light of the full moon. He’d been so scared and angry that his only thought had been to get as far away from that freakish place as possible.

  “You found me,” he said as calmly as he could manage.

  She nodded and raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t hard. You’ve been going in circles for days and left quite the trail. I would have been here earlier, but I had to clean up Leo’s mess.”

  She narrowed her eyes and shifted positon on the log. “I’m shocked you’d treat Ramsay so badly, Phineas. He’s exhausted and hungry. Can’t you see he’s sick?”

  Phineas gulped and pressed closer to Ramsay, his knife hand resting on the horse’s icy neck. “I planned to take care of him,” he said defensively. “It was only supposed to be a day before we found the cabin. I got lost.”

  She didn’t answer, merely stared at him with unwavering eyes eerily like her cousin Leo’s.

  “Did you find them,” he said. “Leo and my mom, I mean. Are they dead?”

  Something flickered across her face and she blinked slowly before answering. “No, Phineas, they’re not dead. Not yet. I tracked them as far as South America, but they flew out of Buenos Aires and I had to turn back. My place is here.”

  Phin’s knife hand shook. So she was not infallible. He’d been sure she could take care of anything. Which meant Leo was loose in the world, maybe hunting him. He shrank closer to Ramsay, glancing at the dark forest around him.

  “So, you just gave up.” He hated how weak he sounded.

  Louisa shifted again on the log, her boot knocking wet moss tufts to the forest floor.

  “I’m so sorry, Phin. It’s outside of my territory. My hands are tied unless he comes back here. Leo is sneaky, but he is not smart. It won’t be long before they’re caught. There have been a few cases like this in the past and the outcome is, inevitably, euthanasia.”

  “Oh.” Phineas ducked his head, staring at the matted forest floor until he’d squashed his urge to cry. Why should he care if his mother died? She’d watched Leo kill her husband and was involved in some insane plot to take over the world. Even if the whole plan had been Leo’s idea, she was still willing to go along with it.

  Rage blossomed in Phin’s chest. “You’re one to judge,” he cried, his voice dark and bitter. “You killed someone and left the body on the road. I saw you!”

  Louisa breathed in sharply. “Oh, Phin,” she said almost sympathetically. “Is that why you ran? That’s what you get for skulking in the shadows instead of facing things head on. We could have explained everything if you’d only asked.

  “Car
a’s teacher, Henry, drank the experimental drug we’re developing to help the Nzumbe. It was too much too soon, though, and it hurt him quite badly. Cara lost her three best friends in one night when you and Ramsay disappeared. You nearly destroyed her, Phin.”

  Phin’s mind worked feverishly, going back over the events during that horrible night. The body wrapped in blood-soaked sheets. Louisa’s face cold in the moonlight.

  “You—you didn’t kill anyone?” He flushed. He’d clearly made a mistake. Despite all Louisa did for him, he’d branded her a murderer without letting her explain. Running away was a coward’s way out, and he’d hurt Ramsay and Cara. But maybe it wasn’t too late.

  He could leave with Louisa, go back to the Inn, and pretend nothing happened. There was a chance they’d welcome him with open arms.

  Even if they reject me, I could convince Cara to come with me. With her beloved Nzumbe teacher dead, her strongest tie with those rotten creatures is broken. Maybe with him gone, she’ll listen to me now. We can run away properly and make a new home for ourselves, together. We’d find a place where no one would ever bother us.

  “Phin.” Louisa’s gentle voice interrupted his thoughts. “I have lived a long time. I can see when someone has reached a crossroads in their life. You are at the point where you could easily move in either direction. You can follow the dark path or the light. The path of kindness, tolerance, and doing what’s right, even though it’s hard. The way you did when you defied Leo to protect Cara, even though it meant losing your parents. Or you can follow the path that allows hate, prejudice, and ignorance to rule you, like when you willingly left that brave Nzumbe to die in Leo’s laboratory, just because of his condition.”

  Phin kicked the ground viciously. “He told you, did he?” He spat angrily. “Of course you’d believe his side over mine. I don’t know why everyone gets tied up in knots over these damn Zombies. Just kill them all and be done with it.”