2
The following day they left. They couldn’t stay any longer. Many of the women who had been abducted by the Marauders were eager to return to their homes and families, and Adam, Maggie, and the others weren’t about to let them travel unprotected.
After a final talk with a tall, muscular woman named Elíra who had become the unofficial leader of the women who were remaining at Yoyodyne, and a last visit to the new cemetery in the woods to say their goodbyes to the departed, during which visit Maggie planted some daffodils on Bob’s grave, the group of nearly fifty abductees, plus the four remaining members of the rescue party, set out for Sweetwater with a dozen horses laden with food and supplies. The rest of the horses were left for the use of the Yoyodyne Ladies’ Army, as it had come to be half jokingly called.
The trip back took nearly twice as long as the trip there. One reason for this was Freud’s absence: Without him to guide them across the Badlands, they decided it would be safer and easier to take the extra time to detour around that area. As they did so, they kept watch for any sign of Centivert but saw nothing.
Another reason for the longer trip was their decision to give Happyvale a wide berth, not because they suspected any specific danger still lurked there, but because of the bad memories it held, especially for Dagmar, who was very quiet during that leg of the trip. When they camped that night, Adam headed off alone and returned three hours later bearing the goods the group had stashed under the counter in Suzie’s Stuffed Animal Emporium.
Likewise, they avoided coming too close to Research Lab B, but in this case it was because they knew horrors did still dwell there, even though those horrors were not likely to spread very far from the darkness of the lab.
And on the evening of the tenth day out from Yoyodyne, they came again to Sweetwater.
As they approached the town, the bell above the town hall rang five times, which one of the women who had been abducted from Sweetwater explained was the signal for “unknown entities approaching.”
Adam frowned. “Why was the bell not rung when the Marauders attacked?”
“It was market day,” the woman said with a shrug. “Lots of unknown entities show up in town on market day.”
Adam shook his head. “Your security system needs improvement.”
When they reached the town, they found the streets empty and every window shuttered tight. As the group neared the center of Sweetwater, the door of the general store flew open and Rin ran out, crying “Nala!”
A blonde teenage girl in the group screamed “Mama!” and leaped from her horse. After two weeks of horror and worry, mother and daughter were reunited.
Other doors opened now as the residents of Sweetwater finally realized what was happening. People poured into the street, and more young women were reunited with their loved ones. Rin barged through the rapidly growing crowd and grasped Adam’s and Maggie’s hands.
“Thank you!” she said, her eyes wet with tears. “Thank you so much. I can never repay you for this.”
Maggie glanced at Adam and was amused by his utterly nonplussed look as he stared at Rin.
“And the Marauders?” Sheriff O’Toole asked, a little suspiciously.
“They will trouble you no more,” said Maggie. She dug into her saddle bag, pulled out the Annihilator’s scorched and dented helmet, and tossed it to him. He caught it and stared at it with his mouth agape.
At that a great cheer went up. Everyone wanted to know more, but Rin snapped, “Not now. Can’t you see how tired they all are? They’ve been travelin’ for two weeks. Why, they’re practically fallin’ asleep on their horses. Let’s get ‘em set up with beds and food and save the gabfest for tomorrow.”