Chapter 17

Some distance ahead of Ally, the dog had lost the scent, not surprisingly, given she'd not got that far in her explorations yet. The human yanked the animal's leash, making the dog yelp in pain. The unnecessary violence provoked an instant dislike for the foul smelling male. Her upper lip curled as she watched the male yank the dog around more, incompetently urging it to seek the scent.

Back at home they had dogs, and even some cats. The animals were well appreciated by all in the city, and those watching their open borders utilized the animals' natural territorial instincts in alerting them to any uninvited guests. Leashes weren't used. Ally smiled at the memory of training young pups at academy, one of the many methods used to show Promethean children, and the human children that joined them, how to gain the trust and devotion of another, and how to listen to the instincts of another species instead of assuming they thought and acted in ways you would understand. Those lessons had been some of her favourites.

A crunch of footsteps closer than she expected made Ally blink, mind reasserting itself to the present. Dragged along behind the enthusiastic dog, the human brought a small square box to his lips. There was a crackle of static before he spoke, and Ally was able to understand the few Hindu words.

'Found the trail.'

Insides cringing, Ally tensed, fingers and thighs gripping the branch she lay on as the two crashed through the bushy undergrowth, closer and closer to her tree, the dog whining and crying in excitement.

Staring upward, fighting the urge to shout her name, Eoin clenched and unclenched his fists, his gut in agonizing turmoil. Flinging aside his scientist instincts to wait and watch, Eoin moved to the closest wall and stared up the mess of tangled vegetation growing down the pitted sides of the hole. Nostrils flaring, he inhaled and exhaled sharply then with a grunt of effort, launched himself up the side. Dirt and debris scattered as he roughly climbed, scrabbling for hand and foot holds, forehead wrinkled with concentration as he attempted to calculate the best routes. It helped distract from the almost overwhelming anxiety that rose at the thought of Ally out there by herself.

Stretching out as long as possible, body tight against the branch, Ally breathed shallowly as the male and dog moved closer, standing beneath the tree. Closing her eyes, she relaxed as much as she could, attempting to counter any excess of body electricity, or odour that might give her away to the dog. Beneath her the man yelled at the dog, voice harsh with excitement. 'Where are they? Seek! Seek!'

Normally she thought of Hindu as a smooth language, not like the Russian she'd heard Eoin attempt once, but the way this male shouted it sounded violent.

A soft sound a short way off caught the dog's attention, the male's too. They crashed off, away from her tree and toward the hole.

The soft slithering sound rose again and Ally sat abruptly, looking frantically for something, some way to distract the male from getting too close to the hole. The hole that she knew all too well Eoin would be climbing out of shortly, creating all sorts of noise as he disturbed the growth down the side.

Finding a decent footing, Eoin paused to rest his arms and re-evaluate the rest of the climb. A tentative glance over his shoulder made him grip tight. He appeared to be about half way up. Breathing in firm exhalations he stared at the wall, trying to relax enough to continue with his momentum, to relax the muscles that'd instantly seized at that awful view down.

A crunch caught his attention.

The repetitive sound made him look up, a sudden feeling of relief sweeping over him. Eoin opened his mouth to call to her.

Nothing in her immediate proximity presented itself as a good distraction, and Ally began to consider the very last option. Disposing of the male would very likely antagonize the dog to a degree that she'd be required to kill it too. That was a thought Ally found truly distasteful; killing a creature for doing the job inflicted upon it.

Determined to make that her very last resort Ally turned neatly, swinging her legs so she faced the opposite way, eyes searching again, for something, anything that might work.

Her gaze settled on several large elongated fruits in a tree growing near her tree. Following the line of her branch, she could see she might, if the branch would hold her weight, be able to reach them. They looked big enough to make a decent amount of noise if she hurled them away.

Pushing to standing with the ease and balance of an acrobat, Ally held her arms out at her sides and with her eyes on the prize, gently stepped along the branch.

Midway along the branch a protesting creak then groan from the limb made Ally freeze.

Her name died in the back of his throat when a scent, arid and sour, caught his nostrils so strongly he found himself shaking his head while resisting the urge to gag.

Male. Human male. Not her.

The thoughts rammed home and Eoin flattened himself as much as possible against the wall, an instant sheen of panicked sweat spreading across his brow as tiny bits of dirt crumbled from his hold. The ominous crunching of footsteps drew closer. He belatedly realized he could hear two sets, one a human male, the other a dog, its dry musky scent much preferable to that of the human.

With absolutely nowhere to go, nowhere to hide, Eoin slowed his breathing and made himself still, willing his bodily responses to slow too, to stop any spread of his own scent.

Eyes closed, Eoin listened to the encroaching steps.

Once again spread flat across the branch to keep her weight distributed Ally inched forward. Her clothes clung against the rough bark and she wriggled slightly then cringed at the warning creak the branch made. Stretching an arm out, she grunted, her fingers only centimetres from the green yellow oval hanging nearest her. Wincing and inwardly begging the branch to hold, she forced herself forward.

CREAK!

Snatching the fruit, stuffing it under her chin, Ally grabbed another and shunted backward like a retreating squid, coming up hard against the trunk moments later. Relief and panic swirled as she risked a glance back, seeing the human only meters from the edge of the hole and she pushed to her feet, bracing herself in the same moment and with a strong arm flung the first then the second fruit at a sharp angle through the canopy. Seconds ticked by then the fruit crashed down almost a kilometre from her tree.

The human and dog shouted and yelped, the human yelling into that static black box as he was dragged past the tree Ally stood in by the enthusiastic animal.

'They're running! Get the bikes ready!'