"Where is it?" Bear could barely contain himself. "Let me see it."
Take didn't bother to deny it. He took the purse full of gold coins from his tunic and drew open the draw string so that Bear and Smiles could see the coins.
"Blimey!" Bear said, "We're rich!"
"Twenty Quivers said the gold was for me." Take paused and smiled. "But don't worry, I'll cut you both in for a share."
"We should share it equal." Bear glared at Take with a defiant look.
"Now Bear," Smiles said, "We're partners. Take 'ere, he'll do right by us. An' Muller an' Hilgard. Right Take?"
"Why Muller an' Hilgard?" Bear asked. "They wasn't even here. They're not magicians. Why let them two in on it?"
"Cause we're all together in it, ain't we?" Smiles asked, surprised that Bear would question it.
"Look, it's my decision and I'll decide." Take put the gold back inside his tunic.
"Is not," Bear said.
"Anyway, Muller and Hilgard want to stay until the siege is over," Take said.
"Who tole ya that?" Smiles asked.
"Twenty Quivers. He said they're staying until the siege ends."
"That don't make no sense," Smiles persisted. "Why?"
"How should I know? I'm not a spy. I don't know how they think."
"We could ask 'em," Smiles said. "Could be Twenty Quivers got it wrong."
"We don't know where they are!" Take's frustration was showing. "For all I know they might've already left. But its Twenty Quivers says they are staying, not me. All I know is—the three of us are free to leave and I say, the sooner the better. I want out of this place before the fighting starts."
"I sorta go along with Take on that score." Bear looked sheepishly at Smiles.
"Naw, you fellers don't mean that. Just give me a little while ta find them two. Maybe soon as I tell 'em bout the gold, they'll wanna come with us."
"Don't tell them about the gold!" Bear and Take shouted at the same time.
Smiles wandered off asking soldiers who had no idea what he was saying, if they had seen Muller and Hilgard. Bear and Take made their way back to the archery field to gather up their belongings and get ready for the long trek home.
That evening Smiles returned to the archery field, looking disheartened.
"Did ya find 'em?" Bear asked.
"I found 'em, yes I did. 'An it ain't like Twenty Quivers was sayin'. They don't want ta stay. There's guards keepin' 'em penned in. The Great Khan thinks they might a heard some big secret."
"Did they?" Take asked.
"Nothin' much," Smiles said.
"That's too bad then," Take returned to watching the archers.
"That's the breaks when ya set about bein' a spy," Bear agreed.
"Come on fellas, yer not gonna just up an leave 'em, are ya?"
"There's nothing we can do about it." Take walked over to inspect a bamboo tube. "They'll come home after the siege."
Bear put his hand on Smiles' arm. "Take's right, ya know. They'll be safe here. The Great Khan's not such a bad guy. If he says he'll let 'em go, he'll likely do it."
Smiles sat by the fire, deep in thought, while Take and Bear bedded down for the night. They would begin their long trek home at dawn. Smiles went to stand by Take as he lay sleeping.
"I'm sorry, but I gotta do it," he whispered. He reached into Take's tunic and untied the purse.
The next morning at dawn, Muller and Hilgard followed Smiles to the Fernlanders' campsite. Take was just stretching awake after a night of wonderful dreams. He saw the two men and smiled drowsily.
"Hey!" he shouted. "How did you get yourselves set free?" His smile evaporated as he felt for his purse full of gold. He stared at Muller and Hilgard, then his eyes swept over to Smiles who refused to meet his eyes.
"Noooo!" Take yelled over and over. His shouts echoed off the hills as he jumped from his blanket leaping from foot to foot and pulling at his thin hair with fisted hands.
Chapter 46
Between Helsop and Fernland
Inside the King's carriage, Electra considered how she might convince her family that feigning her own death would be a good idea. She now had Dagon's reluctant acceptance. The difficult part would be the two year absence she needed to attend a school of medicine. She doubted her mother would consent, unless she could think of a better argument than the truth—it was just something she wanted to do. Perhaps she would think of something in the morning.
The two sticks Tandor had carefully carved to make wolf prints lay on her lap. He had done a fine job. The sticks were of sufficient length to hold while standing. Without bending over, she could stamp the print of a wolf into the ground. Right and left paw prints. She would have to run to the cliff's edge, then carefully step backwards into her own prints while stamping the wolf prints all around her. It would be good if the ground were slightly wet, but not too wet. If the ground were too wet, a very good tracker might become suspicious that the tracks were so uniform.
Her mind slipped from the wolf prints to the coming meeting with Odval, Bataar's first wife. She wondered if Odval knew of Bataar's plan to take a second wife. And why had she come to Fernland? Had Bataar summoned her? Was he required to introduce the two? Electra despaired of ever making sense of Barburee customs.
The carriage began to slow. She looked out to see Tandor motioning to her driver. He glanced at Electra.
"I think we should stop here for the night. There's a good place to camp by the stream."
"Good." She placed her two sticks back under the seat, got out and stretched her back and legs, then made her way to the stream to splash water on her dust-covered face and arms. As Electra washed up in the stream, Tandor and the driver gathered wood for a fire and brought out food for an evening meal.
Electra caught a whiff of wood smoke and glanced over to see how the two men had managed to start a fire so quickly. Tandor was still pulling fallen limbs from the underbrush and the driver was unpacking.
Electra followed the scent of smoke downstream. Tandor watched her as he gathered sticks until she neared a bend in the stream. When she rounded the bend out of sight, he stopped his work to follow her.
"Where are you going?" he called.
"I smell smoke."
Tandor stopped and lifted his chin, sniffing the breeze.
"So do I." He called out to the driver and the three of them followed the river downstream.
Before long they could hear voices. As they rounded another bend, they came upon the campsite. Five men lay wounded around a small fire. Some looked to be in very bad shape.
"It's Bataar!" Electra said, her voice betraying her shock at seeing him like this.
Bataar looked up when he heard his name. His eyes were feverish and he moved as one in pain.
Electra rushed to his side. "You're hurt."
"See these," he said, motioning to the four other men around the campfire. One had a broken leg and was barely conscious. The other three had wounds and one still had the shaft of an arrow in his shoulder.
Electra was horrified. She began giving orders as she moved from man to man.
"We need splints. And boiling water. And pots, bowls, rags. I need my bag."
She rushed off into the forest to find the herbs she would need to make broths and compresses.
"Tell your men we will be back to take care of them," she called out to Bataar.
By the middle of the night, Bataar and his men were resting, their pains alleviated somewhat by Electra's herbal brews. With Tandor's help she had reset Long Life Destroyer's broken leg and salted his infection with herbal extracts. All their wounds were in various stages of infection. Electra was not sure they would all survive. She hoped never to see another arrow imbedded as cruelly as the one she had removed from one of Bataar's would-be assassins.
"What do you suppose made those marks on Bataar's back?" Tandor asked, obviously fearful of running into such
a creature.
"I don't know," Electra said, "but they were clearly claw marks. Big claws. He was lucky he didn't bleed to death."
"You'd better get some sleep," Tandor said. "Do you think we can travel by tomorrow?"
"I think we should give them tomorrow to rest," Electra said. "I don't like to move them with fevers. You should get some sleep too."
"The driver's asleep. I'll take first watch. He'll relieve me in a bit."
"All right. Let's hope their fevers are down by morning."
Electra was very tired by the time she found blankets and made her bed. She fell asleep at once and slept until dawn.
By the next morning the men did look a bit improved.
Bataar sat up, testing movement in his shoulder. "We go Fernland."
"Tomorrow," Electra said. She did not tell him his wife had arrived in Fernland, suspecting he would insist on leaving if he knew she was there. "I'll be back soon." She left to gather more herbs before Bataar could insist on traveling today.
The carriage driver came into camp with a wild turkey he had shot. The spirits of the wounded men were revived by a hot meal. Their fevers had broken and they all showed signs of being fast healers. Their infections, too, seemed to be in retreat. Electra was most worried about Long Life Destroyer and his infected leg. The early signs of gangrene were fading, but she wished she had more knowledge of restructuring bones.
Bataar ate ravenously. He seemed to gain strength by the moment. He looked at Electra and smiled as he gnawed on a turkey leg. "You good girl. Be good wife."
Electra smiled back but said nothing.
A tremor of worry passed over Bataar's face and he threw his turkey leg bone into the river. He seemed to be trying to find the words for what he wanted to say. Finally he put his hand over his face and bowed his head in what appeared to be a formal gesture to signify shame? embarrassment? guilt?
"No kill witch."
Electra caught the meaning and gave a shudder of realization and relief. He had tried to kill Serafina.
"Two times," he said. "This," he pointed to his wounded back, "witch be big cat." He raised his hands to indicate how big the cat was.
Electra could not imagine what he was talking about or what kind of cat could have made the deep gouges on his back.
She nodded, hoping he would say more, but he did not. She realized he was apologizing for failing to kill the witch and wondered, not for the first time, if she were somehow responsible for all this misery.
The next morning Electra made sure her wolf track sticks were carefully hidden and invited Bataar and his assassin to ride with her in the carriage. Long Life Destroyer was tied down on the roof of the carriage with blankets wedged around him to hold his leg in place.
Bataar hesitated at the carriage door. "Better, I ride." He walked slowly to his horse.
Electra had planned to tell him about his wife as they rode, but decided it would make no difference if he were surprised. If all went well, they should arrive at the castle by dusk.
Chapter 47
Port of Taz
Muller, Hilgard, Smiles, Bear and Take started off on their long journey back to Fernland. Take mumbled to himself as he cast sullen glances at his companions. He rode alone, too angry at all the others to tolerate their presence. Muller and Hilgard were in good spirits, free from imprisonment and on their way home. Bear was peeved at Smiles for giving away their gold, but his loyalty to his friend overpowered his temper. He was not sure Take would have shared his gold anyway. Smiles was very sad to have Take so angry with him. He had never taken something that did not belong to him before. He fervently hoped Take would forgive him. The men headed west with no map and no plan. When they were out of sight of Barburee's army, Muller called a halt. Take rode back to find out why they were stopping.
Muller dismounted and motioned for the others to join him.
"We have no guide and we don't know what lies ahead. We may find streams and food along the way, or we may find ourselves back in the desert once we leave the river valley." The men looked worried at the thought of being alone in the desert with no knowledge of where to find an oasis. Muller continued. "I have another plan to propose."
"We could use a plan," Smiles said.
"You have a plan?" Bear puffed out his chest. "Seems like yer last plan landed the two a ya in chains. An lucky fer us we wasn't with ya at the time."
"Spies are paid to take some risks," Muller said.
"I don't recall hiring you to take risks," Take said, "yet it's my money paid to get you free."
"And Hilgard and I are grateful. I'm sure King Geoffrey will be grateful as well."
"When cows fly." Take spat on the ground.
"So what's your plan?" Hilgard asked.
"I say we circle back to Taz and take a ship home from there."
"What? Are ya crazy?" Bear asked. "Them Taz folk'll kill anyone on sight what gets close to their wall."
"They can tell from our appearance we're not Barburee men. Hilgard can speak a little of their language. We can ask to see the Caliph," Muller said.
"What's a Caliph?" Bear asked.
"That's what the generals called the head man of Taz.
"They're pretty busy what with the siege an all," Smiles said. "I don't know as how the Caliph would take ta makin' time ta make our acquaintance just now."
"He would if we had something he wanted." Muller's expression took on a sly look.
Take began to turn red in the face as he stared at Muller. "Yeah, maybe if we had something he might want, maybe like gold, except that SOMEBODY TOOK MY GOLD!"
"I'm talking about something more valuable than gold." Muller raised his palms in an attempt to calm Take.
The men looked at Muller as though he had lost his mind.
"And ah, what kinda thing is that there?" Smiles asked.
"I'm talking about intelligence." Muller tapped his head with his finger.
Take stared at him for a second and then began a hiccupy sort of laugh.
"You think the Caliph cares how smart you think you are? It's pretty clear to me you have finally lost what's left of your mind."
Muller gave an exasperated snort and shook his head. "I'm talking about military intelligence. Secret military intelligence."
Hilgard's expression brightened. "You mean what we overheard at the tent."
"Exactly."
"But I thought ya didn't hear nothin' that mattered," Smiles said.
"Of course that's what I said. I am a spy. We never admit to knowing anything!"
Take gave Muller a look but stayed silent.
"Ya mean the Great Khan was right about ya?" Bear asked. "Ya really did hear a thing that matters?"
Muller smiled a mysterious smile.
"You mean about the river," Hilgard said in a hushed voice.
Muller glanced at him with a warning in his eyes. "Let's save it for the Caliph."
"I don't think so." Take advanced to stand toe to toe with Muller. "We'll be putting our lives on the line, going back to Taz. I want to hear this secret worth more than gold before I agree to anything. And if I don't think the Caliph will go for it, neither will I."
"Maybe the Caliph is just a little more desperate than you are, when it comes to information that could save his life. I say he'd take the intelligence over gold right now," Muller insisted.
Take thought about this for a moment. "You are certain it's good enough to buy us all safe passage home?"
"I am certain."
The men looked off to the west. Out there lay a long ride home, through unknown country. Bandits, desert wastelands and sand storms were probable. The chance of finding a guide who spoke their language, improbable. They slowly turned their horses back toward Taz.
They kept to the edge of the sea to avoid being seen from the hillside where the Great Khan's army was spread out. When they could see the point where the great wall reached the sea,
they stopped to find enough rags to make a parley flag. They rode on holding their flag aloft until they were just outside the range of arrows. A few minutes later an answering parley flag waved from atop the wall. The men advanced cautiously. They were within shouting distance and still no arrows had been launched into their midst.
"Does anyone speak English?" Muller yelled as loud as he could.
The man holding the flag put his hand to his ear and shook his head.
Muller advanced to the bottom of the wall and yelled out the same question. The man on the wall shook his head.
"Tell him we have a message for the Caliph," Muller said to Hilgard.
Hilgard shouted up a few words in the Barburee tongue and listened carefully to the man's reply.
"He wants to know who the message is from," Hilgard said.
"Tell him..." Muller paused to think of something that would take them to the Caliph. "Tell him, a friend."
Hilgard shouted out the brief sentence and waited for an answer. When the answer came, Hilgard hesitated. "I'm not sure, but I think he said you and I could come up."
A rope ladder descended a moment later and Hilgard and Muller began to climb up it. A crowd of archers watched with their arrows aimed at the three remaining men down below.
As Hilgard neared the top of the wall he looked down at Take, Bear and Smiles. "He might have said you would all be killed if you try to ride away."
"Might of? There's a big help. What if the two a ya don't come back?" Bear's voice was heavy with sarcasm.
Hilgard shrugged. Bear, Smiles and Take got off their horses and huddled in the shade at the bottom of the wall.
Chapter 48
Taz
Muller and Hilgard stood at the top of the wide wall that protected Taz from attacks by land. For the first time the two Fernland men were able to see down into the heart of Taz. The city was beautiful, with gleaming white buildings, blue tile courtyards, carved marble screens and flowering trees. Fountains that once sprayed jets of water into the warm air now lay dry and silent. They must have been lovely to see. Flowers and shallow rooted plants were now dead or dying from lack of water. It was still the most beautiful city Muller or Hilgard had ever seen. They could see why the citizens of Taz refused to surrender, even to the mighty Khan. One of the soldiers gave Muller's shoulder a shove to start him walking.