Page 60 of Across Space and Time

Anthony grabbed Hugh’s other hand to give him a tug, and Hugh stumbled through the small gap with only a few scrapes. “We need to burn this tree,” he said. In front of them, the Tree glowed with a soft, golden aura. “And any apples on the ground too.”

Anthony nodded and picked up a stick, holding it into the crackling, blue flames until it ignited. “I’ll go this way,” he said, pointing to the right. Hugh turned back to the tree. He could reach a few of the lower branches and leaves and a few of the fruit hanging there, looking so innocent and rosy. He lifted the wood, watching it catch some of the bright green leaves. He stepped to the side and lit another branch, then had to set down the wood against the trunk of the tree as the heat started to reach his hand even through Jack’s cape. He picked up a long stick like Anthony, lighting it and moving around the Tree to try to ignite the leaves and branches.

Something slammed into the fence only a few feet away from him. “Biscuits and hellfire!” he heard Jack swear.

“Jack, are you all right?”

“Just fine!” came the call back. Hugh wished he could do more to help, but Jack was right. He could not fight the creature. He debated for only a moment picking up one of the apples on the ground and taking a bite, in the hopes that he might transform into something useful, but he quickly squashed that idea. He had no idea if he would be in control of himself, and the last thing he needed was to get in Jack’s way, or, God forbid, hurt Anthony or Jack.

Anthony met him halfway around the Tree, his pale face smudged with soot, his eyes red. Hugh threw part of the cape over his head to block out further smoke. “Come on, let’s get away from here.”

Anthony nodded, coughing and holding tightly to him. Hugh ushered him quickly around the Tree, keeping Anthony further away from the Tree with his feet being bare. The Tree was taking longer to burn than Hugh had hoped. It was not dead, and green wood and leaves took longer to catch than dry firewood, even with Jack’s superhuman flames. The air was thick with smoke. They couldn’t stay inside the fence with the Tree combusting behind them. They reached the gap in the fence. Hugh peered out, feeling an immediate temperature drop outside of it. Jack and Adam were nowhere to be seen, though there were several furrows in the ground that looked like someone had been thrown or slid in the dirt. He gave Anthony a nudge through the gap, then squeezed himself out after him.

Anthony moved quickly away, and Hugh followed him. “Here,” he said and pulled off Jack’s cape. He slid it around Anthony’s neck to give the young man more coverage. Anthony tucked it around himself with a grateful smile.

“Thanks. Are you doing all right?”

Hugh nodded. “About as well as can be expected.” He didn’t want to ask Anthony too many invasive questions about that night and how much he remembered from Eden, but he had to make sure the boy was all right. “Are you all right? Anything hurting?”

“I’m okay,” Anthony said, giving him a quavery smile, and Hugh returned it. A strange sound suddenly caught his ear, and it took Hugh a moment to place it over the roar of flames and the crackle of the Tree. Hoofbeats, and the creak of wheels. Horses running on the stone drive that led up to the Duke’s estate. He frowned and gave Anthony a nudge behind a tree.

“Stay out of sight. Don’t come out until Jack or I come for you.”

Anthony nodded and crouched down. In the darkness, with Jack’s cape around him, he looked like not much more than a shadow. Hopefully that would keep him safe. Hugh scanned the area, trying to discern if he could hear Jack and Adam, but the orchard was vast. The trees waved their branches in a strange, ghostly dance in the soft wind, casting hellish shadows over the ground from the flames that were consuming the Tree.

Out of the apple trees just a few yards away burst a large man that Hugh assumed was the Duke. His fancy clothing was in disarray, both because it looked like he had dressed in a hurry and because the trees had ripped at them. In his hands was a long machete. He stared at the flames rising from behind the fence as the Tree smoked. His eyes flickered around wildly until they landed on Hugh. The Duke lunged at him with a loud bellow, swinging the machete, but he was a very large man and did not move fast. Hugh dodged aside, and the machete thunked into the wood of a tree.

The Duke snarled and lunged at him again, but Hugh evaded him. He wanted to lure the Duke away from where Anthony was hidden. He ducked another swing of the machete, though he tripped over his too-large shoes, and he had to roll on the ground to avoid the next downward swing from the Duke. The large man was huffing and puffing like a steam engine, his face red in the light from the white flames that were slowly but steadily licking their way up the Tree of Knowledge.

There was a screech nearby, and Hugh turned to see two forms tackle each other in midair. One had horns, the other a long, pointed tail. In the dancing firelight, he could see Jack’s wickedly sharp claws up and poised to attack, but Adam’s were equally sharp. The two of them rolled across the ground. A smaller apple tree with spindly branches broke as they slammed into it, tipping over to scatter its leaves and fruit all over the ground. Not too far away, Hugh could see the glow of white and blue flames drawing closer and closer. The whole orchard was catching ablaze.

The Duke swung the machete at him again, and Hugh scrambled backward and up to his feet. Something went sailing past the Duke to hit the fence around the Tree with a loud bang; it was Adam. He slumped to the ground, seemingly stunned or unable to breathe for a moment.

Jack was suddenly next to Hugh and growled at the corpulent man. “I am not in any mood to deal with you, Mr. Duke.”

The Duke snarled again. “You traitorous dog! I brought you into my club, and this is how you repay me?”

Jack shrugged. “I suppose those deadly sins I’ve heard about can overrule your judgement.”

The Duke growled, but the noise was answered by an even darker growl as Adam pushed himself to his feet, tail lashing, his violet eyes narrowed dangerously. He gazed at Jack for a moment before he turned his eyes toward Hugh and leaped. Hugh felt like the world stopped for a moment, and all he could see was Adam’s outstretched claws coming straight for him.

Jack sprang between them, catching Adam in his outstretched arms. Adam’s claws raked down Jack’s chest, rending the oilskin there, and several drops of red blood appeared on Jack’s skin beneath it. Jack and Adam rolled across the ground together, Jack’s claws sinking into Adam’s shoulders, and Adam screeched a high-pitched sound like a banshee.

The Duke turned back to Hugh, and Hugh almost didn’t have time to dodge before the man swung the machete again. He dove aside, backing up as the Duke lumbered toward him.

“Hugh!” came a shout from nearby. Hugh turned his head to see Anthony a few yards away, holding something in his hands. It was the double-barrel pistol Adam had dropped earlier that had disappeared in the scuffle between Jack and Adam. Anthony tossed it at him. Hugh watched it arc up, and he reached up and caught it as it descended down. He cocked back the hammer as he turned back to the Duke who was rushing at him like a bull at a matador, the machete upraised to split his skull.

Hugh raised the gun and pulled the trigger. The shot rang out, clear as bell even through the crackling fire. The Duke froze, a scarlet rose blooming on his chest. He stumbled back a few steps. His great bulk hit the flaming fence. The boards fell inward, taking the man with them. His coat caught fire, and, within moments, his entire body was covered in flames, his body jerking only for a few moments before it went still. Fire spread around him, the broken fence feeding the blaze and giving the flames a path out of the enclosed area. A sizzling sound filled the air as the Duke’s skin began to pop and blacken.

Jack came running through the trees. The slashes on his clothes were still there, with drops of blood staining the edges, but Hugh could see that the wounds themselves were nearly closed up and sealed over again. Well, that was a handy trick. “Where’s Adam?” he asked.

Jack pointed behind where he had just come from. “He heard the shot and ran off that way.”

“Coward,” Hugh muttered. “Are you all right?”

“Yes,” Jack replied. “You? And you?” he added, turning to Anthony.

“Fine,” Anthony said quickly.

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