CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The camping ground is a one-day journey from the village, and we end up reaching it around the afternoon the next day since we’re all tired. It’s Kathleen who spots it as we’re struggling with a very stubborn thicket that refuses to let us through.

“Wait, what’s that?”

One glance has us all ducking down. The camping spot is not an open ground, but the trees are definitely thinner around there. I can see two tents pitched up. However, they seem to be empty. My attention wanders around, looking for the enemy, and I see a familiar face.

Jesse is sitting against a tree, his eyes lowered, a gag on his mouth. His hands and feet have been chained, and there are two men guarding him. My hands tremble.

“He’s okay.”

“If you call that okay,” Quill mutters. “He looks like he’s lost weight, and his color is off.”

I swallow, my voice hard, “He alive and that’s what’s important right now.”

“What about Rachel?” Beth asks warily. “I don’t see her anywhere.”

She’s right.

I look around, and th