As soon as Ril scampered off, Renni turned to Shiny and Jeppy. “Now how about getting busy?” She walked into the clearing and looked around. The empty coffin lay on its side at the far edge of the clearing, the wood scorched and scarred but not breached. She approached it and called out to the two thieves, “Load this up with supplies. You can each take an end of it and carry the supplies to the wagon in it. It’ll save you a lot of trips.”
“And be damn heavy,” Shiny grumbled.
Jeppy scratched his head. “Why’re we taking the stuff back to the wagon anyway, after we worked so hard to bring it up here and stow it in the cave?”
“Because Thornbridge has a new plan, and it requires the wagon. Now I’d suggest you get busy. Thorny expects this done by the time he gets here.”
They grumbled and swore but she didn’t care about that because they were following her instructions, carrying the boxes of supplies and jugs of water out of the cave and piling all they could into the coffin.
She looked around for the coffin lid, spotted it lying on some rocks, and dragged it into the clearing, determined not to leave it behind. It would be needed if—when they recovered Kyla. She got the rope she’d removed from Ril and looped it through the open faceplate to provide a means of dragging the lid. Among the supplies she spotted a couple of large cloth bags full of oats for the horses. Next to them she was relieved to see the oilcloth wrapped rolls that held the two paintings they’d brought. She dragged the coffin lid to them, heaved the bags onto it, and placed the rolled portraits on top of the bags.
Shiny and Jeppy had watched her. “You can see,” she told them, “that I’m planning to help. I’ll drag this down to the wagon while you two carry the loaded coffin. Now get to it.”
They continued to grumble but did as she bid. She followed them down the rocky path, grateful for Dora’s light illuminating the night. Grateful, too, that this work was being done in the cool of the night rather than in the day’s heat. As it was, sweat poured down her arms and ran down her back from the effort of dragging the loaded lid over the rough stones and from having to stop often to reposition the bags of oats before they slid off the lid from the bouncing and jouncing about.
Just before they reached the wagon, Ril came to meet them. “Whew,” he said. “I was scared you weren’t coming.” His eyes bugged out when he saw that they had used the coffin as a carrier. He didn’t ask questions for once, but the wide-eyed look he gave Renni told her he was bursting with questions he wanted to ask.
She turned away from him and ordered Jeppy and Shiny to stow the goods in the wagon and then go back for the rest. She didn’t see Camsen and guessed he’d hidden somewhere close by on hearing them coming. He’d come out to help her in case of danger. She focused her attention to Jeppy and Shiny.
“Where’s Thornbridge?” Shiny asked, gazing all around. “You said he was waiting here for us.”
“He was here when I got here,” Ril spoke up before she could. “He told me to wait here for you while he took his horse to the stream. He rode it hard and it needed water and to be rubbed down.”
Smart lad, Renni thought.
“I wanted to go with him and help him,” Ril continued. “He said for me to wait until you got here so’s I could tell you where he’d gone. Then I’m s’posed to go help him.”
She couldn’t help smiling at that. He knew where Camsen was, and wanted to get out of the way of any possible fire throwing. “You better go ahead then, so you can get there and back in time to help a little bit anyway.” She glanced up at the moon, heading toward the horizon. They needed to get underway at dawn.
“Shiny, Jeppy, go back and get the rest of the stuff that’s left in the cave. No, don’t take the coffin. Between you, you can carry the crates we left behind.”
They grumbled, but Ril’s performance must have convinced them that Thornbridge had indeed returned and left the orders this strange woman was relaying. They headed back up the hill. As soon as they were out of sight, Ril returned and helped her arrange the returned supplies in the wagon. Camsen left his hiding place behind some rocks on the opposite side of the road and helped Renni lift the coffin into and set it in its former place in the center, settling the lid into place on top.
“I wish they hadn’t torn up the lining,” Renni said. “Though if we do recover Kyla, I don’t suppose she’ll mind much.”
“Kyla,” Ril asked, suddenly alert. “Is that the dead lady’s name? How come you talk about her like she was alive?”
“Because she may be,” Camsen said and amended sadly, “Or at least might have been. Who knows what condition she’s in now.”
Renni cut off the questions that answer would have evoked, saying, “She’s no concern of yours, Ril. Go keep watch so you can warn us when Jeppy and Shiny are coming. Hurry now. They should be back soon.”
He scampered off, leaving Camsen and Renni to finish piling the supplies more neatly. In moments Ril ran back to announce, “They’re almost here.”
That was Camsen’s cue to rush back to his hiding place. He’d barely disappeared behind the rock pile when Shiny staggered into view, loaded down with a stack of three crates. Jeppy stumbled along behind him, burdened with a single large crate.
Shiny stopped and lowered his stack to the ground in front of Renni. He wiped sweat from his face and looked around. “Thorny ain’t back yet? Then what’s Ril doing here?”
“He sent me on ahead,” Ril said. “He’ll be along real soon.”
“Let’s get those crates stowed in the wagon before he gets here,” Renni urged. “Get the big one first, and put two smaller ones on top of it and the third right beside it.”
Jeppy groaned, but they did as she ordered. She watched from the ground as they heaved the crates into the wagon, then clambered in after them to arrange them as she’d directed.
The wagon was ready. They only needed the horses. She wondered how Dark Star would react to be teamed with the other horse and made to pull a wagon. He wouldn’t like it; she was sure. But her control over him was strong. She thought she could—
Hoof beats. Coming nearer. A tall man rode into view. She froze when he reined his horse to a stop directly in front of her.
Shiny jumped down from the wagon. “You’re here. Now you can tell us why you want all this stuff back in the wagon.”
That confirmed her suspicion as to the identity of the tall stranger. She looked up at him and found his gaze fixed on her rather than on Shiny. Ignoring Shiny’s declaration, he said, “So, horse thief, what have you done with Triumph?”
“For one thing,” she said while doing mental calculations, “I’ve renamed him. His name is now Dark Star.”
“And you’ll be as dead as the woman you had in that coffin if you don’t produce him immediately.” He drew a pistol from his belt and held it carelessly in his hand, a warning more than a threat.
“I know where your horse is,” Ril put in, jumping up and down with excitement. “I can get him for you.”
“Good, do that,” he said without taking his gaze from Renni.
So nice of him to stare into her eyes like that. She met his gaze and dove at his mind, prepared to wipe his memories back to a time before the theft of the wagon.
Her mental strafing hit a powerful barrier and bounced back, sending her reeling. Pain pounded through her head as though she’d been struck with a mallet. She barely caught herself in time to keep from falling.
He was shielded. Which meant he was gifted! He watched her, smirking. Shiny was asking something, but no one paid him any attention. Given her more urgent concerns, Renni didn’t care what he was saying. Jeppy remained in the background, easy to ignore.
And Ril had already scampered off to fetch Dark Star, the little traitor. Of course his first allegiance was with Thornbridge. But he’d seemed totally ignorant of what it meant to be gifted, so he must not know about Thornbridge. Whatever powers Thornbridge had, he apparently kept them hidden from his men.
She
heard the clomp of a horse’s hoofs. Of course Thornbridge heard it too. “To me, Triumph,” he cried.
She didn’t dare call out aloud, but she sent a mental call to the horse she called Dark Star. She suspected that Thornbridge was also reinforcing his vocal call with a mental command. The pace of the hoof beats picked up. The horse appeared, Ril running by his side. He’d put on the horse’s saddle and bridle but was not holding the reins. He led the other horse by its reins but let Dark Star run free.
The stallion bounded into the street and slowed as he approached the wagon. He lowered his head and swished his tail back and forth in what Renni took as a sign of confusion. He must be conflicted as to which mental summons to obey. Renni poured all her strength into the command no one could hear. She could only hope the horse felt the compulsion she was feeding into him.
Dark Star tossed his head and paced slowly to where Thornbridge waited. “Good boy,” Thornbridge said.
The stallion’s tail swished. He stood in front of Thornbridge. “Hah!” Shiny exclaimed. “He knows his master.”
With no warning the horse reared and struck at Thornbridge’s chest with his hoofs, knocking him backwards. He fell flat on his back, and the horse plunged downward to plant its hoofs squarely on his erstwhile master’s chest. Thornbridge did not move when the horse stepped off him.
Dark Star turned and stepped proudly back to Renni’s side. “Very good, Dark Star,” she said, throwing her arm over the horse’s neck.
“Good?” Ril’s voice squeaked. “He hurt Thorny. Maybe killed him.”
Shiny moved to Thornbridge’s side. Renni thought he was checking to see whether his leader lived. But he stood and faced her with Thornbridge’s gun in his hand. How could she have forgotten the gun?
Camsen rose from his hiding place. “Get down,” he yelled and shot a narrow stream of fire at Shiny. It struck the hand that held the pistol, making him drop the weapon and howl in agony. He stared in disbelief at the charred flesh of his hand.
Renni had no time for sympathy. She ran and kicked the gun well out of his reach. Camsen crossed the road. “I was afraid for you,” he told her.
“With good reason. I could be dead if you hadn’t acted when you did.” She walked to the gun she’d kicked and bent to retrieve it carefully, knowing it would be hot from Camsen’s fire. Using the edge of her tunic, she picked it up
“Is he dead?” Camsen nudged the Thornbridge with his foot.
“I haven’t had time to check.”
Still howling and cradling his burnt hand, Shiny moved well away from the wagon to stand beside the cowering Jeppy. Renni guessed they were conferring about what to do, but she sensed no imminent threat from them.
Camsen bent down and felt Thornbridge’s neck for a pulse. “He’s alive,” he announced. “Probably has cracked ribs, and he fell hard. The force that his head struck the stony road with may have given him a concussion. I’d say we won’t have to worry about him for quite a while. We can leave him here for his men to take care of and get on our way. And take the horse he was riding so the stallion won’t have to help draw the wagon. I don’t think he’s suited for that.”
“I’m sure he isn’t. But Thornbridge’s horse needs to rest. Thornbridge had to have ridden him hard to get here this early. He’ll need water and a rubdown and— Hey, what are you doing?”
This last was directed to Ril, who had knelt beside Thornbridge and was examining him closely. Ril stood quickly. “Nothin’. Just seeing if he really was still alive.”
Was he up to something? Before she could investigate, Shiny darted off. He had no weapon and with his wounded hand he wasn’t much of a threat. Renni decided to let him go for the present. She had more important things to worry about.
She hadn’t heard anything from Zauna in a long time. The older woman was probably sleeping. She’d worn herself out yesterday gazing into her crystal ball for hours on end. Even if she wasn’t asleep, she would need to build up strength and power before being able to mindsend. But Renni had set out to find Lore and thus far had done nothing to find him. Was he alive or dead? She’d gotten no response to her mental sendings. Had he even received them? She had no confidence in her ability to use that newly discovered talent correctly. She had to find him. And Kyla had to be found. Even if she was by now definitely dead, her corpse couldn’t be just left lying around somewhere. Or eaten by wild beasts.
She shuddered at those thoughts, was distracted from them when Jeppy sidled up to her. His eyes were wide with fear. “You know, miss, Thornbridge’s men probably aren’t far behind him. He was bringing back the rest of our crew. But they’re probably going slower than he liked. He was s’posed to be getting a pack mule and other stuff, and they’ll be bringing it while he rode on ahead. Shiny’s run off to wait for ’em and warn ’em about you. They’ll be armed. I don’t know whether they’ll come and try to get revenge and rescue Thorny or maybe go back to Marquez. If they think Thorny’s dead or dying, they’ll probably go back. Hard to tell for sure, though.”
Not the news she wanted to hear at this time. “Why are you warning me? What do you have to gain?” Suspicion made her voice sharp.
He cringed. “I know you and him,” he nodded fearfully toward Camsen, still standing near Thornbridge, “you got some kind of weird power. I don’t understand it, and I don’t know what you did to me and Shiny to make us help you like you did, but I figger you can protect me if those guys go wild because of what you did to Thorny.”
“You mean, what the horse did.”
He shrugged. “Somethin’ made that horse act that way. I never seen him do anything like that before.”
Ril looked up then and nodded. Pointing to Camsen, he said, “Him and that other guy that stole the horse, they called it being gifted, whatever that means. They never would tell me.”
“Yes, well, I suppose they didn’t think you needed to know,” Renni said. “And I don’t think so either. If you cooperate with us and help us, I may decide to tell you more later. But you have to prove yourself first.”
“What do you want me to do? I’ll do whatever you say. I promise.”
Although Renni didn’t think his promise worth much, they did need his help. To Camsen she said, “You can’t go anywhere until the horse Thornbridge rode here is watered, rubbed down, and rested. I think we need to send Ril to take care of that.”
Camsen frowned, but before he could object, Renni gave Ril the necessary instructions and sent him off with the horse. As soon as he was out of earshot, she said, “I don’t trust Ril. He’ll stick with the winning side, whichever that is, but right now I think he’ll be glad enough to stay out of the line of fire if Thornbridge’s men do come in shooting.’
“I agree,” Camsen said. “He can’t be trusted, but he’ll put self-preservation ahead of all else.”
Renni tried again to mindsend to Zauna, but got no response, nothing to indicate that Zauna even received the message. Next she tried sending to Lore. Again no response. She walked to Camsen. “He’s still alive?” she asked, looking down at Thornbridge.
“Yes, no change at all that I can see.”
“His men haven’t come yet, and with luck they won’t. I hate to do this to you, Camsen, but I’m going to take Dark Star and go looking for Lore. I don’t like leaving you here alone, but I feel strongly that I must find Lore, that his life may depend on it. Zauna and I have both learned to mindsend. It would help greatly if you could receive and send as well so we’d know ”
“I think I may be able to receive. When Zauna warned Lore to duck, I heard that call too, shouted in my mind.”
“That’s wonderful! If you can receive, you can almost certainly send as well. I wish we had time to test it, but I think I should leave immediately.”
He nodded and said, “Do what you feel you must. We can test it as you go. I’ll stay here and cope with the men if they come. If they don’t, when the horse Ril has is ready, we’ll hitch the two horses to the wagon and go—where? Back t
o Marquez? Or forward? This isn’t the road we should be on if we were keeping to our original itinerary.”
Jeppy had been listening to this exchange with great interest. To him Camsen said, “I have a map of the route we were taking. If I show it to you, can you show me where this road is in relation to the route we want?”
“Sure,” Jeppy said a bit too enthusiastically. “I know this area real well.”
Camsen got the map and pointed out the road from Marquez to Harnor, not imparting the information that they had planned to leave that road to take a less traveled route that veered to the north, going through Pescatil to Hillcross. Jeppy studied the map for a few moments, then pointed to a road intersecting with the Marquez to Harnor route. “This is the road we’re on. See, it forks a little bit farther on. Take the right fork to go straight back to Marquez and the left one to go on to Harnor. That way merges with the main road, the one you were taking.”
“Any idea where Blue was heading when he took off with the corpse?” Renni put in.
Jeppy shook his head. “Blue took off to the east, that’s all I know. He wasn’t on no road.”
That much she knew. And from what Zauna had seen in the crystal ball, both Lore and his quarry had ridden along narrow trails or through brush, not taking a road. “It’s a good thing I badgered Zauna into describing carefully all she saw in the crystal,” she told Camsen. “It gives me an idea of the kind of terrain I have to look for. I know it isn’t much to go on, but it’ll have to be enough.”
”So you’ll be heading east,” Camsen mused. “I think that’s the direction I should go in the wagon. It’s heading toward our original destination. But that will leave Zauna stranded and alone in Marquez. I don’t like that.”
“Zauna is resourceful and can take care of herself. I think she’ll find a way either to join us or to return to Port-of-Lords. Now I need to get on my way. I can’t ride through the night. If I don’t find Lore by nightfall, I’ll have less of a chance tomorrow, and far less after that. I’ve packed food and a blanket in the saddle bags, but it won’t last long.”
Deniably Dead (Arucadi Series Book 4) Page 9
