Scavenger Girl: Season of Toridia

by Jennifer Arntson

  “Why are you hiding things from me?” the officer demanded with a voice that rattled the walls.

  “Tell him I’m not lying, Calish!” I begged, yet he stood silent, his eyes fixed on the floor.

  “He’s not the one talking to you, is he?” Graken moved himself to stand directly between us.

  “I remember some of the guards by name, the Priests in the Reading Room, the nurse, the boatman, and the guard who took me to Blue’s house. The awful woman in red, the young couple who claimed to be brother and sister, um, the dead guy with the melted face and his friend with the beard, the red-haired man, and…”

  “And?” he prompted, tapping the pen in his hand against the pad of paper in the other.

  “And a bunch of other people I never talked to!” I said, exasperated. “I don’t understand why you’re badgering me about this! Don’t you think I’ve already gone over it a million times?”

  He stood, tucking his paper inside the breast pocket of his uniform. He paced across the floor and stopped suddenly. Leaning against the dresser, he drummed his fingers for a moment. He pushed himself off and unfastened his belt. “Who was in the laundry with you?”

  I glanced up at Calish who finally made eye contact with me.

  There was no one else. After I killed the guard, I cleaned up and ran from the scene. I couldn’t remember what I said to him and Reinick in the hall that day, just that they were the first people I saw.

  I told them there was another man, but what else did I say?

  Graken stood waiting for my reply. “Who was in the laundry with you the day my guard was murdered?”

  “I don’t remember,” I stammered.

  He pulled his belt free from his trousers. “Try harder.”

  Calish finally decided to come to my defense. “I don’t see how this is relevant. I’m sure she’s blocked most of the attack from her mind, anyway.”

  “It is relevant, sir. It’s relevant because someone in her circle of influence in prison was Kash. Whoever killed the guard may have been working with him.” He flicked his belt like a whip and made the end of it snap.

  I yelped.

  “Wouldn’t that mean Una owed him a favor, not the other way around?” Calish asked.

  “Not if they needed a reason for him to die and she provided a convenient excuse,” he said as if we were all ignorant. “So, it must have been another guard, not a prisoner. What did the other man look like?”

  I began to fiddle with my fingertips, trying to figure out a vague description to give him. I couldn’t picture anyone. There was no one to describe!

  “Stop protecting Kash and his men, and tell me who it was!” He slapped the leather strap on the bed next to me, and I yelped.

  “Me! I did it!”

  Graken cocked his head to the side.

  “There was no one else; I did it. I defended myself.” I hid my face from Calish, suddenly ashamed of what I’d done. I never offered him details, but the current situation demanded it be told. A full account would be the only proof I acted alone. “He made his intentions known, so I tore my tunic, I made him believe I wanted him as much as he wanted me.” I pulled my knees together tight and pushed myself back further on the bed and away from Graken’s belt. “When he came to me, I just did it.”

  “You just did what?” Graken folded the leather in his hands and gripped it with hungry fingers.

  “I bit through his neck and watched him bleed out on the floor,” I finished softly.

  Graken studied my face for a moment before throwing the chair over. “I will not be made a fool! You expect me to believe you, a girl, seduced a seasoned Authority Officer of his caliber and killed him, just like that?” He snapped his fingers. “Forget it; I’m done with this nonsense. When you’re ready to figure this out, then we’ll talk.” He turned to leave, but Calish wouldn’t move from the door.

  “Graken, you need to sit down for a moment,” Calish said calmly.

  “With all due respect, sir, I will not.”

  He righted the thrown chair and pointed to it. “Sit.”

  “Please don’t, Calish,” I begged.

  Marsh came and sat by my side.

  “What is he going to do, Una? You’re my wife, you’ve been branded by the Woodsmen, and you’re pregnant. If there was ever a time you were most protected, it would be now. He can be trusted, but I can’t let him think this guard’s death has something to do with Kash.”

  “What if it does?” I shrugged.

  “Then it does.” Calish sighed. “The details of the event will be based on fact, not some theory about a second guard.”

  “What are you babbling about?” Graken sat, his frustration mounting.

  “She was attacked by a wolf,” Calish said.

  Marsh sat on the bed next to me, grabbed my hand, and gave it a squeeze.

  “I knew that already.”

  “Did you know she killed it?” he added.

  “So what?”

  Calish asked, “Have you ever heard the legend of the Wolf’s Spirit?”

  He furrowed his eyebrows. “As a child.”

  “Well, she’s got it. The wolf transferred himself to her the night she was arrested.”

  Graken’s eyes darted from one of us to another. “You’re claiming you killed the guard with your wolf-spirit?”

  I nodded.

  “You are crazy.” Graken stood.

  “Then test her!” Marsh challenged.

  “And exactly what should I do to test her, you dumb fucking giant?”

  “Ask her to find something personal, like you would a search dog,” Marsh suggested. I should have been appalled he referred to me as a dog, but it was a fair comparison when I thought about it.

  Graken crossed his arms in front of his chest and tightened his jaw. “Fine! I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he mumbled under his breath. “Last night, I needed to take a piss but didn’t want to wake the children by walking over them, so I went outside to do it. Show me exactly where I went, and then maybe, maybe I might think about believing your ridiculous story.”

  Calish opened the door. “After you, Una.”

  “I need to blow my nose,” I apologized, and Graken threw his handkerchief at me. I cleared my nostrils as best I could and offered it back to him.

  “Keep it.”

  “All right.” I set it on the nightstand. “Just one thing first.” I stood uncomfortably close to Graken, closed my eyes, and took in a deep breath of his scent.

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” he grumbled.

  I stepped back and looked up at him for a moment. He broke our eye contact.

  Is he nervous?

  I took shallow breaths to retain the scent until we got downstairs.

  “Good!” Jeorge stopped us at the front door, relieved to see us.

  “Not now, Jeorge.” Calish brushed him off.

  “What?” he protested.

  “I said, not now!” Calish ordered as he opened the door.

  I inhaled the fresh air, and it warmed my core. As I stepped down from the porch, I felt the sun’s warmth. Toridia had a few mild days, and that day was one of them. Too bad it hadn’t started out better than it had. A potpourri of odors swirled in their own areas, occasionally reaching to tickle my nose with temptation. Someone near us had baked bread, and the power it had conquered the more subtle odors of the community. Taking in short bursts of air, I ruled out all the distracting scents and focus on the one standing out as Graken.

  He stood here before in this very spot.

  That wasn’t a surprise, though. He’d come and gone so many times it only made sense to smell him at the porch. As I focused on his essence, several paths made themselves known in front of me. Some directions were stronger than others, although if he required privacy to empty his bladder, he would have used a more private route.

  I could almost see his scent. I stepped off the porch with Graken and Calish in tow. Marsh, still hurting from his beatings, opted to wait for us
at the house.

  The paths I followed split, so I took the less common one. “Most of the time you go that way, and occasionally you go over there toward the gate. This way isn’t traveled as frequently, although I can tell by its strength you walked here recently. Since there isn’t anything over here you’d normally visit, I’m assuming this leads to the place we’re looking for,” I started to follow the trail.

  “All that proves is you’re watching me from your window more than I’d care to admit.”

  “For the record, I don’t, but it doesn’t matter.” I led them to the edge of the house and along the side of it. The heat of the sun baked the odor, making it pungent and repulsive. “Ugh, the smell is stronger that way.” I pointed to the left. They continued to follow me past two other houses across their backyards. The trail ended at a little patch of dirt under a leafless tree. There, on top of the freshly turned soil, sat a decent-sized rock.

  “Is that a grave?” Calish asked.

  Graken nodded. “It’s a dog’s grave.”

  We both looked at him, confused and a bit disgusted,

  “Why would you urinate on a pet’s grave?” I asked.

  “That damn dog crapped all over the neighborhood but loved the barrack’s lawn the best. One morning after I got tired of cleaning his shit from my boots, I saw him there with his back hunched over. I swear the little bastard was smiling at me, so I kicked him. After that, it was war. He would yelp at me and bite me whenever he found an opportunity.”

  “Did you kill him?” I asked.

  “Unfortunately, no, although I’d like to buy an ale for whoever did.”

  “Excuse me. Can we focus on the whole reason we’re out here, please?” Calish reminded us. “So? Do you believe her now?”

  “I’ll admit, it’s a neat party trick. You have my attention.”

  “But you still don’t believe me?”

  “Look, you’re claiming you took down a guard singlehandedly. Look at you. If what you’re saying is true about this wolf-thing, how could you possibly overpower a man?”

  “Graken,” Calish said, “are you honestly telling me that a woman never, ever used the power of her sex to make you vulnerable?”

  Graken stared at me.

  “I mean, the best part is when they want you more than you want them, right?” Calish admitted.

  I blushed at his confession.

  “But you’re so…” Graken stammered.

  “Innocent?” I finished his sentence for him.

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s what that monster thought, too.” The thought angered me. “How many women did you let him attack?”

  Graken said nothing.

  “He was an animal, an out of control beast with a badge and a bunch of colleagues who turned a blind eye. I did what you refused to do. I made him pay for his crimes. And you rewarded me for it.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Who’s the innocent one now? Maybe this will be a lesson to you; no one is innocent. We all do what we need to do to survive in this world. You want to know how I got my mark? Because I believe some innocence is worth protecting. I don’t care if you believe me or not about anything. But know this, if I am given the opportunity with Kash like I was with that guard, I’d do the same to him.”

  “Come on,” Calish said. “Let’s get back to the house.”

  As we approached the porch, Marsh asked with a grin, “So, did you find it?”

  “Yeah. Surprised?”

  Marsh put his arm around me. “Nope. Don’t doubt this one,” he warned Graken. “She’s unpredictable.”

  My brother and I walked back into the house, leaving Calish and the guard outside. The children were busy in various areas of the first floor, and I assumed the things they had in their possession came from the empty crate lying turned on its side in the parlor. Two boys nearly tripped over it as they ran from one room to the next, using the newel post to tighten their rotation.

  We navigated over wooden blocks, games, and instruments just to get past the threshold. Pais, one of the girls, sat upside down in the oversized chair, reading a book from the study. A couple of the girls strung a sheet over chair backs and played nurse with yarn dolls and stuffed animals I didn’t know were here. In the corner, the mute girl sat alone and watched the others from a safe spot.

  “What’s her story?” Marsh asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You didn’t do your mind-reading thing?” he said, dropping his arm from around my shoulders.

  “I figure she’s not talking for a reason. I’m going to try and respect that.”

  Jeorge headed for us as soon as he saw we had returned. Marsh avoided him completely by following the group of rowdy boys running toward the study.

  “Thank the gods you’re back.” The butler moaned. “What do I do with all of them?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “They seem to all be doing fine on their own.”

  “But they’re making a mess!” He snatched the crate and tossed in the random toys within his reach. “I mean, shouldn’t they be studying or something?”

  “These children have been tied up for days, maybe longer. Just let them relax and enjoy being children for the day.”

  “Tied up?”

  “Yes, they were the Woodsmen’s display.”

  Jeorge coughed, unable to catch his breath.

  “Don’t worry, they all belong to me now. At least, that’s what the Woodsmen told me when we were released.”

  “You purchased them, my Lady?”

  I bobbed my head. “I guess you could say that.”

  “What did it cost you?”

  Calish entered the house.

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  Chapter 24

  I tried for the rest of the day to forget about the mess I created and enjoyed being with the children. When Kash called me Mother Una, I was sure he meant it sarcastically. The words rolled off his tongue dripping with ridicule and insult. These children didn’t know how to refer to me and accepted his example as proper. When they started using the term, I felt uneasy. They had parents. I never intended to replace them. Still, deep down, I kind of liked it. So much of what I experienced on this side of the social spectrum made me uncomfortable. I didn’t feel like a ma’am or a Lady. All my life, outside my family, I wasn’t credited a name other than Scab or Girl. For some reason, Mother Una seemed like a regal title. I called Redena Mother, and she had to be the strongest, most honorable woman I’d ever known. Kash created a new title for me. A more fitting one. Whether he meant to or not, he changed me into something better, at least in speech.

  For whatever reason, these children had no guardians, or if they did, they’d been abandoned as soon as the Woodsmen took them captive. I’d adopted them by the order of the Lord of the Woodsmen, or whatever he was referred to by. Like it or not, endorsed by the Authority or not, they were my responsibility, or they would have no one at all. With that thought in mind, what else would you call a woman responsible for the care, livelihood, and wellbeing of a child?

  Having Calish home felt odd. His general presence under this roof seemed rare. I assumed his guilt kept him away more than his work. Letting Graken threaten me the way he did had to have been difficult to watch. It certainly was difficult to endure. The whole thing made me wonder what they did during the day. Did they grill people often? I know I promised Calish not to read him, but the way he stood there while Graken went at me…

  Stop it. That is not who Calish is or ever will be.

  Other than the three days of our Lover’s Discovery following our wedding, Calish hadn’t taken a single day to stay at home that I knew of. He worked from sunup to sundown, until today. How long had it been since I heard that laugh? When had he played so wildly, giving chase and rolling around pretending to be trapped? Had he ever been this joyful? Keeping his attention balanced between purpose and play, he not only kept the children entertained but also managed to keep Jeorge from beating himself silly with a heavy skillet
.

  No matter where I happened to be during the day, Calish found a way to keep me in sight. He’d deny it if I called him out on it, but I knew him well enough to know he needed time to process everything made permanent by my actions. Well within his right to be heated with me for leaving the house the way I did, he wasn’t heartless enough to condemn me for freeing children. If I had a chance, I’d tell him I wasn’t angry he left them there to die or worse. I was disappointed. Given time, my bitterness would sweeten. We needed space to come to terms with the situation. Even so, his presence comforted me.

  It didn’t matter what had been done before. There were plenty of variables that led to, or may have prevented, my marking. In the end, was it his actions or mine that led us to where we were? Both of us had chances to make things different. But here we were. Arguing what could have been wouldn’t matter. I bore the mark. I didn’t know what ideas Calish had to deal with it, but I had a few of my own tumbling around in my head. Maybe in the next few days we’d have a civilized discussion about how to proceed.

  As hard as it was to ignore the inevitable, I tried my best to enjoy the time I had with the children. There would be a day soon when things would not be this carefree. At some point, people in the neighborhood would ask questions. The knowledge of my mark would be known, and things would become unstable. Jeorge already pointed out the fact we didn’t have the food to keep this number of guests, not that we had a choice. I couldn’t just send them on their way. Trisk and the others were at my parents’ property waiting for us. Every day we didn’t show up was another day putting them at risk of attack and another day wondering what kept us occupied. For so many reasons, we had to leave this house. As much as I knew we must, I expected Calish to argue to stay.