《The Price of Wishing》The Plan
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Miriam sat down and glared at Davis. She knew exactly what he was up to, why he would say that. But even though she knew he only did it to annoy and to distract her, she couldn't help but wonder about it.
She really, really wanted to hit him. Instead, she sat down.
She couldn't make him any more annoyed with her than he already was. She needed him to be willing to co-operate with her. It was the only way the plan that was forming in her could work. Although, it would most likely fail. It was the only thing she could think of.
Before getting him to co-operate though, she needed to figure out how to tell everyone the plan. The tree woman had told her that she could 'talk' to Davis by having him touch the earring, but she wanted to avoid letting him that close if she could.
She took Echo's bag and looked through it for something to write on. Davis couldn't read but she might be able to draw it out. To her surprise, the bag was mostly empty.
There were a few things Echo had stolen from the agency at the bottom and a little food and water but nothing else. Echo didn't object to her looking through the bag, just watched her curiously as she did.
After what he had done, she stayed away from Davis. There was an angry red mark on her neck after him, where the tooth hadn't quite broken the skin.
Echo didn't seem bothered by it but it bothered Miriam to look at it. Miriam kissed the tip of her finger and then touched it like her mother used to do when she got hurt as a little girl. Echo looked at her.
"Kiss better?" asked Echo, a repetition of the memories touching Miriam's thoughts.
Miriam blinked at her for a moment before beaming and catching the girl by the shoulder.
That was it! Echo knew what she was thinking. Any other time she would have freaked out entirely but it was exactly what she needed. She and Echo definitely had some kind of link, like the one she shared with the earring.
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Echo could tell the others the plan, maybe even ask Davis what how much he knew about Ichabod and why she was brought there. All she had to do now was figure out how to get the other girl to relay her thoughts.
Miriam went to Echo, smiling so the other girl wouldn't run off. She caught her by the shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
Can you nod your head for me?
Echo looked at her, lips slightly pursed, eyes narrowed. She wasn't falling for it. Miriam dropped the act.
I want you to pass on a message. Can you do that or not?
Echo looked left, then right, then up. Miriam let go of her shoulders to catch her by the face and force her to make eye contact. Echo wrinkled her nose but then nodded, not looking very happy about it.
The plan is to sneak in as though Davis is taking Caleb in as a prisoner.
Echo snorted, looked at Davis distrustfully. Miriam just hoped that she was actually responding to what she was thinking and not just doing things at random.
That's the plan, Echo.
Echo pointed to her own neck and made a gesture that made her feelings on the matter clear.
But it will work. We'll get through, see the queen and all be safe and clear before you know it.
Echo dropped the arms she had crossed and looked at Miriam.
"Safe?" she asked. Miriam nodded enthusiastically. Davis and Caleb watched them silently. Echo shook her head but turned to them.
"We are going to play pretend prisoner," she said pointing at Caleb. Then she pointed at Davis, "Pretend hunter bringing us for reward."
"How long exactly could you two do that?" Caleb asked. "Because it would have been useful many times over our travels."
"It probably won't work," said Davis but he was grabbing his hunter disguise out of the bag.
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He said nothing about the apparent telepathy. Instead, he paused and looked at Echo intently. She gasped and slapped him.
"Guess it's not just you," he said to Miriam, with a smirk.
Echo grabbed some rope out of her bag. Miriam stared at it.
Had that been there when she was looking in Echo's bag?
Caleb was caught and turned onto his back, Echo tying his legs together with a look of intense concentration. Caleb hissed and tried to bite her, twisting and writhing.
Davis had to stop her and remind her that it was only pretending so she didn't have to tie those knots quite so tight.
He took Miriam's hands and then remembered that she didn't need to have her hands tied and the remainder of the rope was dropped.
He didn't let go of her wrists immediately. Instead, his hand moved slowly and gently up and entwined her fingers with his. Then he released them and turned away from her.
As they walked towards the camp, soldiers there started to notice their approach. Many of them stopped to watch them, one or two shouted out and pointed at them. Three men walked out of the camp to meet them.
Davis, his face hidden behind the hunter's mask and scarf looked at all of their faces. Miriam walked next to him and saw his eyes go from one to the next, examining their faces.
When he saw the third man, his pupils shrank and he tensed. Miriam heard the gasp just before he stopped walking. One of the men noticed that he had stopped, whispered something to the man in the middle.
She reached down and pulled his hand forward. He looked at her, snapping back to what they were trying to do. He gave a stiff little nod, a mere jerk of the head, to show that he was okay and went back to walking. He didn't let go of her hand.
The men stopped a few feet in front of them. The one that had surprised Davis spoke first.
"What are your intentions?" he asked. Davis's squeezed her hand lightly.
The man was lean but had the muscles of a man who used them. His arms, in particular, were toned and large, leading into big hands with sharp, calloused knuckles.
He was quite tall, but not the tallest of the three. Instead of speaking, Davis held up the wanted posters depicting Echo and Caleb. The man who asked looked at Echo, his grey eyes focusing on her neck.
"Did you injure her?" he said, standing a little straighter.
"Kissed better," said Echo. Two of the three men took half a step backwards. Only the speaker did not move. He narrowed his eyes at Davis.
"I should hope not," he said. "Were you mistreated, my lady?"
Echo made a loud noise and pointed at him.
"No. No. No-no-no. Not it. Echo," she said, holding her hand to her chest, Name is Echo."
The man smiled. Then he bowed.
"Nice to meet you, Lady Echo," he said. It would have been easy for him to mock her, but he wasn't. The bow and the tone were respectful. She beamed at him.
"Lord Kain will want to meet you," he said. "He will want to meet your escort as well before he rewards him for bringing the Guide to us safely. I shall take you to him now."
Davis looked at Miriam, his eyes panicked behind the mask. Her own heart felt as though it had stopped while he spoke.
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.
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