Becoming Calder (A Sign of Love Novel)(97)

Again we stuck to the areas next to the road that provided the most cover. Luckily, even though the large rocks were few and far between now, the vegetation had increased, so we moved between groves of trees and behind brush where we could.
When we had been walking for a couple hours, we saw bright lights moving closer to us in the distance and all stopped and moved behind some large, flowering bushes. The red and blue lights on top of a fast-moving car shot by us and as we watched it move away, the lights turned off, but it continued to drive in the opposite direction. I let out my breath.
"Police," Xander said.
I nodded. "It was going toward Acadia. Do you think Hector called the police?"
"Maybe," Calder said, standing up and taking my hand.
About three miles from the edge of the city, Calder's sandal gave out. He made an angry, frustrated sound and threw the broken straps into some brush. He dropped the useless sole onto the ground and turned around, putting both hands on the back of his neck and looked up at the sky.
"Here," I said, ripping off the hem of my skirt.
"What the hell are you doing?" Calder asked. He moved around me quickly to block my suddenly bare legs from Xander.
"I'm making you a shoe," I said. "My legs aren't going to get torn up on the road for being bare, but your foot is."
Xander chuckled. "She's right, Calder. Sit down. I'll use it to attach the sole to your foot so you can walk. We're so close."
Calder sat down on the road and let Xander tie my skirt hem around the sole and over his foot and around his ankle. When he stood up and tried it out, he shrugged. "This one feels better than the other one now."
I smiled. "Well good, I've got enough skirt to go around if we need more."
"Oh no you don't," Calder said, but a corner of his lips quirked up. He took my hand and we started walking again. Holding hands hadn't been something we could do before that moment. It made the sense of freedom that much sweeter.
The dirt road turned onto a highway and we walked along it for a while, keeping as far away from the actual road as we could so we were mostly out of sight by drivers passing by. Very large trucks went by with different names written on the sides in bold, bright lettering, their engine noise swelling and then receding as they passed by us in what seemed to be a flash.
We made it to the edge of the city just as the morning sun crested the horizon, shooting out golden rays as if in welcome. We'd walked all night long, but we had enough energy to grin at each other and grasp hands tightly as our feet stepped onto the first sidewalk I'd walked on since I was a small child. I supposed Xander and Calder had never seen a sidewalk, but I was too tired to ask at the moment.
After another half hour or so, Calder pointed. "There," he said. I followed his finger to a sign that read, "Holiday Inn" and the word "Hotel" beneath that. I wanted to weep with relief and happiness.
We stopped and Calder pulled me in to a large doorway and Xander followed, groaning softly as if in pain and leaning back against the wall.
"Listen," Calder said softly. "I think Xander should go in and try to buy us a room. He knows the most about money and talking to people. Plus, he's in regular clothes and his shoes look better than ours since he didn't walk for as long in them." Calder looked at Xander. "Eden and I will walk inside in twenty minutes or so and you wait somewhere where we can see you. We'll follow you from there."
Xander shrugged, his face pale. "Sounds like as good a plan as any."
Calder studied him for a minute. "Let me see your back."
Xander looked like he thought about protesting, but then turned around. Small dots of blood stained the back of his shirt, making the dark material darker in spots. I sucked in a breath. "It's really not that bad," Xander said. "I think I just need to change the dressings."
Calder lifted up Xander's shirt and checked under an edge of the cotton dressings. I couldn't see what he was seeing from where I was, but Calder frowned and put the shirt back down. "Okay, we'll get you cleaned up when we get inside." He pushed Xander gently toward the hotel and handed him the canvas bag, I guessed so it looked like he was a traveler. "Make me proud," he said, winking.
Xander laughed. "Don't I always?" He turned around and walked backward for a second, "Twenty minutes," he said. We nodded and he turned and walked quickly to the front door as we watched.
I sighed and leaned back against the doorway like Xander had just done.
"How you doing, Morning Glory?" Calder asked softly, walking over to me and leaning into me as he put his arms around my neck.