Elke saw that they’d reached the steps to the hotel. “Maybe you can show me tomorrow. Right then, I’ll be off.”
“You’re going already?” Ndlela looked surprised. “Why don’t you come on up? You need clean water for your dog. She got hurt, didn’t she?”
Elke hesitated. She’d spent quite enough time on these children and needed to get back to her own concerns, but it was true about Meisje. It would be good to get a look at her in the light.
Surely Noor will object? The girl had been avoiding looking at Elke and had not spoken the entire way back.
Ndlela took hold of Elke’s arm and tugged her towards the stairs. “I’m asking her in,” he said to Noor. “She didn’t have to help us, and her dog saved your life too!”
Elke followed Ndlela reluctantly up the stairs. As soon as they were inside, Crosshatch and Noor settled a sleepy Isabeau into her bed. Crosshatch unwrapped her foot and inspected it, handling it gently. “It’s a sprain,” he said. “Nothing’s broken or she’d have more pain. I’ll bandage it up but she’s going to have to stay off her feet.”
When he’d done that, he took his leave.
Meanwhile Elke had a close look at Meisje’s wounds, with a breathless Ndlela hanging over her.
“Will she be okay?” he said. “Do you need a cloth? Some water?”
“Yes, please.” Elke ran her fingers gently over Meisje’s body. The gardag’s unusually thick fur had protected her from the wolfdog’s sharp teeth but there was a nasty rip down the inside of one front leg. There were some nicks on her face too, and her shoulder was bruised and tender.
“Tough girl,” Elke murmured as she brushed sand and grit away from the wounds.
Ndlela crouched next to her, holding out a damp cloth. “It’s clean. And I’ve got some disinfectant stuff. You need it?”
“It’s okay. I’ve got a first aid kit in my pack, but if you could get me a bowl of water?” Elke didn’t need to look around the little living space to know that these children couldn’t afford to share any of their possessions with her, let alone essentials such as medical supplies.
“You need to go to bed, Ndlela,” said Noor from the far side of the kitchen. “It’s late.”
“But—”
“I’ll get the water for her. You go to bed.” Noor sounded more tired than angry, but to Elke’s relief, Ndlela didn’t argue.
While Elke cleaned Meisje’s wound he made himself a bed on the couch and curled up on it.
“Good night,” he said.
Robby pushed his way in next to the boy. He gave a happy grunt and promptly fell asleep.
Elke had just finished binding Meisje’s leg with a clean rag when Isabeau stirred. “Is Xun okay? Where is she?” She moved uneasily under her bed covers.
“She’s fine,” Elke straightened up slowly, feeling the stiffness in her knees and back. “She’s still back there where we found you.”
“But won’t she be cold?” Isabeau stared sleepily up at Elke.
“She’s been living outside for most of her life. That’s the way she likes it. You don’t need to worry about her.”
“Okay.”
For a moment it looked as if Isabeau would settle into sleep, but then her eyes opened again.
“You’re that woman,” she said. “You’re the one I wanted to warn. I went looking for you this morning.”
“That’s right.” Elke sat on a corner of Isabeau’s bed. “Ndlela told me all about it.” She was uncomfortably aware of Noor waiting impatiently by the open front door. The girl clearly thought that it was time she left and Elke couldn’t disagree.
“He did?” Isabeau frowned. “He warned you, that those people want to shoot you?”
“He did, and thanks for wanting to warn me. That was very brave of you.”
“Oh, well.” Isabeau closed her eyes.
Elke waited until her breathing evened out and she was clearly fast asleep. Then she picked up her bag. “I’ll be off then.”
Noor nodded towards Meisje. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Who, Meisje? She’ll be fine.” Elke pulled gently at one of Meisje’s ears. “She’s pretty tough and she heals quickly.”
“Why did she do it?” Noor didn’t meet Elke’s eyes. “Those dogs would have gone for me if she hadn’t put herself in front of me like that. You didn’t order her to do it.”
“It’s her job to protect people,” said Elke.
“But why me? I’m a stranger to her.” Now Noor looked at Elke, a little less challenging than before.
“She must have decided that you were with me,” said Elke. “She understands more than you’d think.”
“Oh.” Noor bit her lip, looking at Meisje again. “Can I touch her? Would she let me?”
“Sure.”
Meisje came up to Noor and the girl’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “She understood what I was saying!”
Elke smiled. “She likes to be rubbed there, in the long fur around her throat.”
Noor tentatively stroked Meisje’s neck. “She likes it,” she said softly as the dog leaned into her hand.
“She does,” agreed Elke. “But we better get going now. Stay safe. And better lock that door.”
Silently, Noor let them out. The lock clicked behind Elke as she went down the steps.
¤¤¤
Elke pulled her jacket tightly around her as she walked down the steps. The wind had picked up while she’d been in the hotel. The moonlight came and went, dimmed by the clouds scudding across the sky. She made her way along the river wall until she had a clear view of the circus. The tide had come up again so the building was completely surrounded by water.
Not a bad place to choose if you don’t want unexpected visitors. Difficult to get close without being seen. Although from what Ndlela had told her the kids knew of a way in.
Elke found a low wall, half crumbled but still strong enough to lean on and crouched behind it. Meisje, who’d trotted ahead, came back and settled down next to her. Elke took the binoculars out of her bag and focused them.
If they have a heat scope they’ll spot me soon enough, but I’ll just have to take that chance.
At first the building looked deserted. There were no lights in the windows and it was too dark to see whether smoke was rising from the chimney. A scan with the binoculars revealed that Elke was not alone. Somebody stood on the narrow walkway on the near side. It was the big, bald-headed man in the snakeskin jacket. His face flickered briefly into view.
Lighting a cigarette. If he’s on guard, he’s not too worried about being seen. Or being shot at.
The man stood for a while, looking out onto the Muara. Then he paced towards the sea and around the corner, out of sight. Elke moved, careful to stay low. After a moment, the man came into view again at the far side of the building.
He’s keeping watch. She found a more comfortable position, propping her arms on the wall. As she watched she allowed the various questions that had been building over the past few days to surface.
It seemed likely that the quiet young woman Noor had seen when she visited the circus was Skyler Moraes.
The whole thing felt like a trap. But who wants me dead that badly? Moraes? Maybe the feelings she’d had for Moraes were clouding her judgment but Elke didn’t think Skyler Moraes was the one behind all of this. She was the kind of person who looked after herself. She wouldn’t risk her liberty for something as abstract as vengeance.
Then there were the children. Living in the middle of nowhere, barely scraping together enough to feed themselves but with access to some fairly impressive surveillance equipment. Just now, on their way back to the hotel, Ndlela had explained how it was that they’d seen her in the dark the other night. It sounded as if they had a pretty high-quality heat scope.
Crosshatch was another mystery. He held himself with such authority and yet he was just a lonely old man, living by himself out in the Muara. Elke was curious about his history but doubted he’d welcome her questions.
Those scars, now. They look like burn marks. His accent suggested that he was a strangeworlder but he had none of the tattoos that would mark him as a geist, glim, eidola, or any other rank of stranger. It was possible that he was one of the untattooed outcasts, a fugado, but somehow that didn’t seem to fit with his manner.
Maybe he did have tattoos, hidden by his clothing? Up to now, apart from the fugado, Elke had never met a stranger who didn’t have extensive facial and hand tattoos, but that didn’t mean they didn’t exist. If only Diesel were here. She knows all that strange-world stuff inside out.
The clouds parted and the beach was bathed in light. Elke zoomed the binoculars in on the man. It was definitely the one she’d met earlier, with his shaved scalp and flashy jacket. His face was visible now without the large dark glasses he’d been wearing then. She was sure she’d never met him before.
A movement farther along drew her attention and she swung the binoculars. A figure had appeared, moonlight glinting silver in its hair. It was the grey-haired woman. The two of them spoke for a moment, then the man walked away.
She’s taking over his watch. Elke zoomed the binoculars so that the woman’s face filled her view. Old, but not as old as Elke had thought at first, and although her face bore the marks of a hard life, she had a sort of ruined beauty that hinted at what she had been in youth.
The woman stepped back into the shadows and disappeared from view. Elke had no doubt she was still there, still on guard. She clearly took her duties more seriously than her companion.
Elke lowered her binoculars. The glimpse she’d had of the woman’s face tugged at her memory.
Who? I’ve seen that face before. Somebody she’d met when she worked as a gardag handler, perhaps? That was almost twenty years ago. No. Earlier than that.
One of the older girls from the reform school? There had been some rough characters there. Elke tried to imagine the ravaged face younger, unhardened by years. The hair blond instead of silver. Long hair drawn ruthlessly back from a delicate face. Elegant hands handling a rifle, demonstrating how to clean and maintain it. China blue eyes watching her progress, a firm nod whenever she got something right.
Elke stared sightlessly into the dark and shivered as the memory bloomed within her.
Missy.
Missy Cloete.
But she’s dead. I saw her body.
A warm touch pulled Elke out of her thoughts. Meisje was sniffing at her face, whining softly under her breath.
“You’re right, girl,” said Elke. “Let’s go find a place to sleep.”
The Cathedral
The next morning Elke asked Meisje to show her the way to Crosshatch’s home. He had to live somewhere close by and Meisje found his trail easily enough.
It was a clear and windy morning. Gulls sailed overhead and tiny, long-toed birds scuttled over the sand like balls of fluff bowling along in the breeze. The sand was damp and stitched with the tracks of many small creatures.
Meisje trotted ahead, nose on the scent trail but Elke didn’t really need her. Crosshatch’s firm, deep footprints marked a clear path for her to follow.
As she walked, Elke paid close attention to the small signs of life all around her. The creatures she’d seen last night, the shrimplike things Ndlela had called pippets, disturbed her. They didn’t look like realworld insects and the fungi she’d spotted had looked like some of the growths she’d seen in the Eye.
Now that she was paying attention she spotted several more anomalies. A tiny creature that looked like a crab at first glance, but closer inspection showed that it must be something quite different. It had only four legs and a scorpion-like tail pincer.
In places a maze of pencil-thin tube-tunnels spread over the surface of the sand in delicate interlocking fans reminiscent of a coral reef. The patterns they formed were nothing like anything she’d seen on a beach before.
It worried her. During the years since the portals had opened between the worlds, there had, inevitably, been some crossover of Strangeworld life forms to the Real, but during the past few decades the authorities had been strict about regulating the influx of biologicals. This was something else she’d have to look into.
Soon Meisje turned away from the sea and wove her way between the overgrown dunes and rubble. They could smell their destination before they reached it, the unmistakable scent of pigs and goats. Elke and Meisje looked around with interest at Crosshatch’s yard and his half-submerged house.
Two goats balanced on a wall, staring at her with alien eyes. A pig grunted and snuffled, enjoying the early morning sun. The canvas and plastic that roofed the yard flapped in the breeze. A dead tree propped up one corner of this awning and in its dry branches a flock of yellow-and-black finches were weaving their nests. Tiny brown sparrows fluttered everywhere, hopping on the ground and clinging to bird feeders. Here and there were contraptions made of bits of pipe and wire. Elke wondered what they were until she saw the body of a rat in one of them. Rat trap.
Dead rats hung in clusters from awning too. Something about their dried-up bodies reminded her of the severed heads on display in the Babylon Eye and she had to suppress a shudder.
Footsteps crunched behind her. A moment later Crosshatch came striding in through the gap in the dunes. He had something slung over one shoulder, an object made of bits of pipe and an old gas canister. A homemade air gun. In his arms he cradled a bundle of striped fur.
Crosshatch seemed unsurprised to see her there. He nodded at Elke, shot a measuring glance at Meisje and made for a large work table that stood near the entrance to his house. He deposited his burden there.
Three cats. Two striped grey, and one large ginger tom. All three limp and obviously dead.
Crosshatch looked at them impassively. He cupped the tomcat’s head in his hand, stroking his thumb over the domed head. Between the cat’s eyes was a tiny hole where the bullet had gone in.
“They go after the birds,” said Crosshatch without looking up. He unslung the homemade gun from his shoulder and hung it from a hook in the wall. At last he turned to look at Elke.
“Your dog hunt?”
“Not unless I tell her to.”
They both looked at Meisje, who was watching the entrance to the yard with pricked ears.
“Someone’s coming,” said Elke.
A moment later Isabeau and Ndlela came into view. Ndlela had Isabeau by the arm, supporting her as she struggled along on a crutch made from a forked branch.
“Oh good!” said Ndlela when he saw Elke. “Elke’s here.”
“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Elke looked pointedly at Isabeau’s bandaged ankle.
Ndlela rolled his eyes. “Fat chance of that.”
“I’m perfectly fine.” Isabeau let go of her brother and balanced on the makeshift crutch. “As long as I don’t step on it.”
She hopped closer, her eyes on Meisje. “Hi there.” She held out her hand, which Meisje sniffed politely. “So she’s the one who tracked me? What’s her name?”
“Her name’s Meisje. Watch it—” Elke grabbed Isabeau’s arm as the girl lost her balance. “Maybe you better sit down.”
“Hello, Meisje,” said Isabeau as Elke helped her toward a bench, her attention still on the dog. “Thanks for finding me. And for saving Noor from Fenris and Anubis.”
Meisje closed her eyes briefly in acknowledgement, which made Isabeau smile. “She’s so pretty, but she’s such an odd colour. All white around their eyes.”
“Tell Isabeau she’s got to stay away from those gardags of hers,” said Ndlela. “She’s obsessed with them.”
Crosshatch frowned at Isabeau.
“Oh, don’t you start too.” Isabeau laid her crutch down at her feet. “I just want to know that Xun’s okay.”
Crosshatch’s expression didn’t change.
“Why can’t I go see them?” Isabeau turned to Elke. “You understand, don’t you? I just want to go make sure they’re fine!”
“Xun and the
other two have been looking after themselves for a very long time now,” said Elke. Seeing Isabeau’s jaw jut and her lips tighten, she added, “I’ll send Meisje round to scout that area, if you like. Chances are they’ve moved on already, but she can tell us if they’re still there.”
“Oh, would you?” Isabeau’s frown vanished. “That would be so great.” She looked at Meisje again. “She’s clever, isn’t she.”
“But you’re not to go out looking for those dogs all by yourself,” said Elke. “That’s the deal.”
For a moment she thought Isabeau would argue but then the girl gave a theatrical sigh. “Okay. It’s a deal.”
“Well, good.” Ndlela dragged a chair closer and sat in it. “That’s sorted then.” He looked at Elke. “But should you be hanging around? If what we heard from those circus people is true, they’ll be hunting you. You should probably leave.” He looked suddenly self-conscious. “I mean— I don’t mean that we want you to go—”
“No, it’s fine.” Elke sat on the bench next to Isabeau. “I understand.”
Crosshatch was still standing. “Maybe it’s time you answered some questions for us.”
Elke looked up at him, shading her face against the sunlight. “That’s fair,” she said. “I have some questions of my own.”
“Do you know them?” Ndlela leaned forward eagerly. “Those circus people. Who are they?”
“I do know them,” said Elke. “At least, I know who two of them are. That young woman that Noor saw. I met her about a year ago.”
“In the Babylon Eye,” said Ndlela.
“That’s right,” said Elke.
Isabeau’s eyes went round. “You’re really from the Eye then?”
“I am.”
Isabeau glanced at her brother.
“And the other one?” said Crosshatch. “You said you knew two of them. Who is the other one?”
“The old woman we saw yesterday,” said Ndlela. “She was looking at you like she wanted to take a bite out of you.”
“Yes.” Elke was intrigued that Ndlela had noticed this. He was more perceptive than she’d thought. “She did, didn’t she. I’m pretty sure I know who she is.”
The Real Page 15
