“Down there.” Otto indicated a cluster of buildings three-quarters of a mile south. It did not look like a farm. “Bet that’s a roadside inn,” he said. “What do you want to bet that was where he was headed?”
“Silent?”
He nodded, but hedged. He wanted to stick to the track to make sure. We mounted up, let him do what walking remained to be done. I, for one, had had enough tramping around.
“How about we stay over?” One-Eye asked.
I checked the sun. “I’m considering it. How safe you figure we’d be?”
He shrugged. “There’s smoke coming up down there. Don’t look like they had any trouble yet.”
Mind-reader. I had been examining farmsteads as we passed, seeking indications that the lump creatures were raiding the neighborhood. The farms had seemed peaceful and active.
I suppose the creatures confined their preda-tions to the city, where they would cause less excitement. Raven’s track hit the Shaker Road a half-mile above the buildings Otto thought an inn. I checked landmarks, could not guess how far south of the twelfth mile we were. Silent beckoned, pointed. Raven had indeed turned south. We followed and soon passed milestone sixteen.
“How far are you going to follow him, Croaker?” One-Eye asked. “Bet you he met Darling out here and just kept hiking.”
“I suspect he did. How far to Shaker? Anybody know?” “Two hundred forty-seven miles,” Kingpin replied. “Rough country? Likely to have trouble along the way. Bandits and such?”
King said, “Not that I ever heard of. There’s mountains, though. Pretty rough ones. Take a while to get through them.”
I did some calculating. Say three weeks to cover that distance, not pushing. Raven wouldn’t push, what with Darling along, and the papers. “A wagon. He’d have to have a wagon.”
Silent, too, was mounted now. We reached the buildings quickly. Otto proved right. Definitely an inn. A girl came outside as we dismounted, looked at us with wide eyes, raced inside. I guess we were a rough-looking lot. Those who did not show tough looked nasty.
A worried fat man came out strangling an apron. His face could not decide if it wanted to remain ruddy or to go pallid. “Afternoon,” I said. “We get a meal and some fodder for the animals?”
“Wine,” One-Eye called out as he loosened his cinch. “I need to dive into a gallon of wine. And a feather bed.” “I reckon,” the man said. His speech proved difficult to follow. The language of Meadenvil is a dialect of that spoken in Juniper. In the city it wasn’t hard to get along, what with the constant intercourse between Meadenvil and Juniper. But this fellow spoke a country dialect with an altered rhythm. “And you can afford it.”
I produced two of Raven’s silver pieces, handed them over. “Let me know when we’re over that limit.” I dropped my reins over the hitching rail, climbed the steps, patted his arm as I passed. “Not to worry. We’re not bandits. Soldiers. Following somebody who passed this way a while back.”
He rewarded me with a frown of disbelief. It was obvious we did not serve the Prince of Meadenvil.
The inn was pleasant, and though the fat man had several daughters, everyone stayed in line. After we had eaten and most had gone off to rest, the innkeeper began to relax. “You answer me some questions?” I asked. I placed a silver piece upon my table. “Might be worth something.”
He settled opposite me, regarded me narrowly over a gigantic beer mug. He had drained the thing at least six times since our arrival, which explained his girth. “What do you want to know?”
“The tall man who can’t talk. He’s looking for his daughter.’’
“Eh?”
I indicated Silent, who had made himself at home near the fire, seated on the floor, folded forward in sleep. “A deaf and dumb girl who passed this way a while back. Probably driving a wagon. Met a guy here, maybe.” I described Raven.
His face went blank. He remembered Raven. And did not want to talk about it.
“Silent!”
He snapped out of sleep as if stung. I sent a message with finger signs. He smiled nastily. I told the innkeeper, “He don’t look like much, but he’s a sorcerer. Here’s how it stands. The man who was here maybe told you he’d come back and cut your throat if you said anything. That’s a remote risk. On the other hand, Silent there can cast a few spells and make your cows go dry, your fields barren, and all your beer and wine go sour.”
Silent did one of those nasty little tricks which amuse him, One-Eye and Goblin. A ball of light drifted around the common room like a curious puppy, poking into things.
The innkeeper believed me enough not to want to call my bluff. “All right. They was here. Like you said. I get a lot of people through in the summer, so I wouldn’t have noticed except like you say, the girl was deaf and the guy was a hard case. She come in in the morning, like she traveled all night. On a wagon. He come in the evening, walking. They stayed off in the corner. They left next morning.” He looked at my coin. “Paid in that same funny coin, come to think.”
“Yeah.”
“Come from a long way off, eh?”
“Yeah. Where’d they go?”
“South. Down the road. Questions I heard the guy ask, I figure they was headed for Chimney.’’
I raised an eyebrow. I’d never heard of any place called Chimney.
“Down the coast. Past Shaker. Take the Needle Road out of Shaker. The Tagline Road from Needle. Somewhere south of Tagline there’s a crossroad where you head west. Chimney is on the Salada Peninsula. I don’t know where for sure. Only what I heared from travelers.”
“Uhm. Long hike. How far, you think?”
“See. Two hundred twenty-four miles to Shaker. Round two hundred more to Needle. Tagline is about one eighty on from Needle, I think. Or maybe it’s two eighty. I don’t rightly recollect. That crossroad must be another hundred down from Tagline, then out to Chimney. Don’t know how far that would be. Least another hundred. Maybe two, three. Seen a map oncet, that a fellow showed me. Peninsula sticks way out like a thumb.”
Silent joined us. He produced a scrap of paper and a tiny, steel-tipped pen. He had the innkeeper run through it again. He drew a crude map that he adjusted as the fat man said it did or did not resemble the map he had seen. Silent kept juggling a column of figures. He came up with an estimate in excess of nine hundred miles from Meadenvil. He knocked off the last digit, then wrote the word days and a plus sign. I nodded.
“Probably a four-month trip at least,” I said. “Longer if they spend much time resting up in any of those cities.”
Silent drew a straight line from Meadenvil to the tip of the Salada Peninsula, wrote, est. 600 mi. a. 6 knots =100 hrs.
“Yeah,” I said. “Yeah. That’s why the ship never left. Had to give him a head start. Think we’ll have a talk with the crew tomorrow. Thanks, innkeeper.” I pushed the coin over. “Anything odd happened around here lately?”
A weak smiled stretched his lips. “Not till today.”
“Right. No. I mean like neighbors disappearing, or what-not.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Less you count Moleskin. Hain’t seen him in a while. But that don’t make no never-mind.”
“Moleskin?”
“Hunter. Works the forest over east. Mainly for furs and hides, but brings me game when he needs salt or something. He don’t come around regular, but I reckon he’s overdue. Usually comes in come fall, to get staples for the winter. Thought it was him when your friend come through the door.’’
“Eh? Which friend?”
“The one you’re hunting. That carried off this feller’s daughter.’’
Silent and I exchanged glances. I said, “Better not count on seeing Moleskin again. I think he’s dead.”
“What brings you to say that?”
I told him a little about Raven faking his own death and leaving a body that had been confused for his.
“Bad thing, that. Yep. Bad thing, doing like that. Hope you catch him up.” His eyes narrowed slightly
, cunning. “You fellers wouldn’t be part of that bunch come down from Juniper, would you? Everybody headed south talks about how....” Silent’s glower shut him up.
“I’m going to get some sleep,” I said. “If none of my men are up yet, roust me out at first light.”
“Yes, sir,” the innkeeper said. “And a fine breakfast we’ll fix you, sir.”
Chapter Forty-Six: MEADENVIL: TROUBLE
And a fine breakfast we had. I tipped the innkeeper another piece of silver. He must have thought me mad.
Half a mile up the road One-Eye called a halt. “You just going to leave them?” he asked.
“What?”
“Those people. First Taken comes down this way is going to find out everything we did.”
My heart flip-flopped. I knew what he was getting at. I had thought about it earlier. But I could not order it. “No point,” I said. “Everybody in Meadenvil is going to see us put out.”
“Everybody in Meadenvil don’t know where we’re headed. I don’t like the idea any better than you do, Croaker. But we have to cut the trail somewhere. Raven didn’t. And we’re on to him.”
“Yeah. I know.” I glanced at Asa and Shed. They were not taking it well. Asa, at least, figured he was next.
“Can’t take them with us, Croaker.”
“I know.”
He swung around, started back. Alone. Not even Otto joined him, and Otto has very little conscience.
“What’s he going to do?” Asa asked.
“Use his magic to make them forget,” I lied. “Let’s move along. He can catch up.”
Shed kept giving me looks. Looks like he must have given Raven when he first found out Raven was in the body business. He did not say anything.
One-Eye caught up an hour later. He busted out laughing. “They were gone,” he said. “Every blessed one, with all their dogs and cattle. Into the woods. Damned peasants.” He laughed again, almost hysterically. I suspect he was relieved.
“We got two days and some gone,” I said. “Let’s push it. The bigger head start we have, the better.”
We reached the outskirts of Meadenvil five hours later, not having pressed as hard as I wanted. As we penetrated the city, our pace lagged. I think we all sensed it. Finally, I stopped. “King, you and Asa wander around and see what you hear. We’ll wait at yonder fountain.” There were no children in the streets. The adults I saw seemed dazed. Those who passed us moved by as widely as they could navigate.
King was back in two minutes. No lollygagging. “Big trouble, Croaker. The Taken got here this morning. Big blowout down at the waterfront.”
I glanced in that direction. A ghost of smoke rose there, as if marking the aftermath of a major fire. The sky to the west, in the direction the wind was blowing, had a dirty look.
Asa returned a minute later with the same news and more. “They got in a big fight with the Prince. Not over yet, some say.”
“Wouldn’t be much of a fight,” One-Eye said.
“I don’t know,” I countered. “Even the Lady can’t be everywhere at once. How the hell did they get here so fast? They didn’t have any carpets.”
“Overland,” Shed said.
“Overland? But...”
“It’s shorter than the sea trip. Road cuts across. If you ride hard, day and night, you can make it in two days. When I was a kid, they used to have races. They stopped that when the new Duke took over.”
“Guess it doesn’t matter. So. What now?”
“Got to find out what happened,” One-Eye said. He muttered, “If that bastard Goblin got himself killed, I’ll wring his neck.”
“Right. But how do we do that? The Taken know us.”
“I’ll go,” Shed volunteered.
Harder looks you cannot imagine than those we bent upon Marron Shed. He quailed for a moment. Then: “I won’t let them catch me. Anyway, why should they bother me? They don’t know me.”
“Okay,” I said. “Get moving.”
“Croaker....”
“Got to trust him, One-Eye. Unless you want to go yourself.”
“Nope. Shed, you screw us over and I’ll get you if I have to come back from the grave.”
Shed smiled weakly, left us. On foot. Not many people rode through Meadenvil’s streets. We found a tavern and made ourselves at home, two men staying in the street to watch. It was sundown before Shed returned.
“Well?” I said, signaling for another pitcher of beer.
“It’s not good news. You guys are stuck. Your Lieutenant took the ship out. Twenty, twenty-five of your guys were killed. The rest went out on the ship. The Prince lost....”
“Not all of them,” One-Eye said, and tipped a pointing finger over the top of his mug. “Somebody followed you, Shed.”
Shed whirled, terrified.
Goblin and Pawnbroker stood in the doorway. Pawn had been carved up some. He limped over and collapsed into a chair. I checked his wounds. Goblin and One-Eye exchanged looks that might have meant anything, but probably meant they were glad to see one another.
The tavern’s other customers began to fade. Word who we were had gotten out. They knew some bad people were hunting us.
“Sit, Goblin,” I said. “King, you and Otto go get some fresh horses.” I gave them most of the money I had. “All the staples that will buy, too. I think we got a long ride ahead. Right, Goblin?”
He nodded.
“Let’s hear it.”
“Whisper and Limper turned up this morning. Came with fifty men. Company men. Looking for us. Made enough fuss we heard them coming. The Lieutenant sent word to everybody ashore. Some didn’t get aboard in time. Whisper headed for the ship. The Lieutenant had to cut loose. We left nineteen men behind.”
“What’re you doing here?”
“I volunteered. Went over the side off the point, swam to shore, came back to wait for you guys. Supposed to tell you where to meet the ship. Ran into Pawn by accident. I was patching him up when I seen Shed poking around. We followed him back here.”
I sighed. “They’re headed for Chimney, right?”
He was surprised. “Yeah. How’d you know that?”
I explained briefly.
He said, “Pawn, better tell them what you know. Pawn was caught ashore. Only survivor I could find.”
“This is a private adventure with the Taken,” Pawn said. “They snuck down here. Supposed to be somewhere else. Figured it was a chance to get even, I guess, now we’re not on the list of the Lady’s favorites.”
“She doesn’t know they’re here?”
“No.”
I chuckled. Despite the gravity of the situation, I could not help that. “They’re in for a surprise, then. The old bitch herself is going to turn up. We got another black castle growing here.”
Several of them looked at me askance, wondering how I would know what the Lady was doing. I had not explained my dream to anyone but the Lieutenant. I finished patching Pawnbroker. “You’ll be able to travel, but take it easy. How’d you find that out?”
“Shaky. We talked some before he tried to kill me.”
“Shaky!” One-Eye snarled. “What the hell?”
“I don’t know what the Taken told those guys. But they were cranked up. Wanted our asses bad. Suckers. Most of them got killed for their trouble.”
“Killed?”
“Prince what’s-it got righteous about the Taken walking in like they owned the place. There was a big fight’with the Limper and our boys. Our guys practically got wiped out. Maybe they’d have done better if they could’ve rested first.
“Funny. We talked it over like those men and we had not somehow become mortal enemies, sympathizing. And, in my case, feeling bitter toward the Taken for having turned and squandered them.
“Shaky say anything about Juniper?”
“Yeah. They had a real old-fashioned blood bath up there. Not much left of anything. Counting us, the Company was down six hundred guys when the Lady finished with the castle. Lot more guys wa
s killed in the riots that came after, when she cleaned out the Catacombs. The whole damned city went crazy, with that Hargadon leading the rebellion. Had our guys trapped in Duretile. Then the Lady lost her temper. She wrecked what was left of the town.”
I shook my head. “The Captain guessed right about the Catacombs.”
“Journey took over what was left of the Company,” Goblin said. “They was supposed to pull out with the plunder as soon as they got it all together. City is so wrecked there isn’t no reason to stay around.”
I looked at Shed. A bleaker face could not be imagined. Pain and questions twisted inside him. He wanted to know about his people. Did not want to speak for fear someone would accuse him. “Not your fault, man,” I told him. “The Duke asked the Lady in before you got involved. It would have happened no matter what you did.”
“How can people do stuff like that?”
Asa gave him the odd look. “Shed, that’s dumb. How could you do all the stuff you did? Desperate, that’s what. Everybody’s desperate. They do crazy things.”
One-Eye gave me a how-about-that? look. Even Asa could think sometimes.
“Pawn. Shaky say anything about Elmo?” Elmo remained my main regret.
“No. I didn’t ask. We didn’t have much time.”
“What’s the plan?” Goblin said.
“We’ll head south when King and Otto get here with the horses and supplies.” A sigh. “Going to be hard times. I got maybe two leva. How about you guys?”
We catalogued our resources. I said, “We’re in trouble.”
“The Lieutenant sent this.” Goblin deposited a small sack on the table. It contained fifty silver castle coins from Raven’s horde.
“That’ll help. Still going to make it on prayer, though.”