Shadow of the Knife

by Jane Fletcher

  Hal ran her fingers idly up and down Ellen’s arm, tracing patterns. She looked to be debating with herself whether or not to speak, and how much to say. “Ten years back, when I was fifteen, Maddy and me were on a job one night, robbing a shop. The owner heard and came in, armed with a club, except she wasn’t strong enough to do much with it. So we got the club off her, and thumped her with it a few times to show her how it ought to be done. She was screeching enough to wake the dead. We fled, but the noise set the Blackshirts onto us. Maddy held them off so I could escape. The shopkeeper was in a bad way, but she survived, which saved Maddy from the gallows. But it was the third time she’d been flogged. Did you spot when she reminded me of it?”

  “You’ve been flogged as well.”

  “Not that time. The magistrate ordered two hundred lashes, and said it would be dropped to a hundred if Maddy would name the person with her. Maddy named the town Mayor, which they didn’t believe. When I heard about it, I wanted to go and confess, to take my share. My parents wouldn’t let me. They said my time would come to take one for the family—like Maddy was then. But you never let the bastards make you turn on one another. Afterward, Monday Market was too hot for Maddy, so she moved to Eastford. Once I’d got my own stripes, I joined her. We always stick together, and we never let anyone push us apart. It’s going to come as such a surprise to Ade when she finally works it out.”

  “Ade thinks she’s going to end up as your cousin’s deputy.”

  “Ade has delusions, and she’s worse since I’ve been away. When we first sorted our plans out, it was just going to be Jo at Broken Hills with Aunt Cassie. She used to be a shepherd, until some of her boss’s sheep went missing. But with Cassie doing nothing except sitting and dribbling, once you started your checks, we needed a blood relative on hand.”

  “It’s what you deserve for beating her head in.”

  “No point getting virtuous on me. I’m a bandit. It’s what I do.”

  “And I’m a Blackshirt. I can’t help it.”

  Hal laughed softly under her breath. “I know. But it’s caused problems. Maddy has—” Hal stopped, chewing her lip. “Maddy’s sharp. She’s the one with plans and she knows how to manage folk. She always has. But she can lose contact with reality. It’s the family’s job to keep her grounded. She needs us, and we haven’t been here for her.”

  “Where’s the rest of your family?”

  “A couple of my cousins are here, but it has to be someone she’ll listen to. Not the dimbos, and much as I love my family, I’d have to admit we’ve got our share of them. My sister Wes and our aunt Ozzie could do it, but they’re keeping an eye on things in Eastford. It was my job. I should have been here.”

  “She looks like she’s been coping fine on her own.”

  Hal shook her head. “Ade’s mad. She’s been stirring Maddy up. That night I met you in the Three Barrels, it was obvious what the Rangers were planning. I dashed back here, to get Maddy to abandon the homestead, only to find Ade had talked her into the ambush. She’d convinced Maddy that if she hit the Rangers hard enough, she could frighten them off.”

  “You tried to talk her out of it?”

  “Yes.” Hal sighed. “But she was too...too excited. Sometimes Maddy gets carried away by the thought of blood. She knows it’s a weakness, and normally puts a damper on it. But Ade just keeps stoking the fire, and I couldn’t make Maddy see how dangerous it was.”

  “She pulled it off.”

  “Not dangerous in the fight itself. I could see we’d win that. I’m looking ahead. The Militia you can push around—” Hal held up her hand. “Sorry, but you know what I mean. The Rangers are a whole different game, and I still think we’ve brought more trouble down on our heads than we can handle.”

  “What did you do?”

  Hal shrugged. “What could I do? It was a stupid idea, but at the end of the day, you stick with the family.”

  “You joined in the ambush?”

  “Of course. But it made me realize Maddy was losing her grip. And afterward, her and Ade were spurring each other on. I’ve seen Maddy kill in cold blood before, but not like that.”

  “I saw. I helped pick up the bodies.”

  “Maddy’s not normally so bad. I’ve been trying to talk her around. Hopefully, now that we’ve abandoned Broken Hills I’ll have a chance.”

  “When your cousin was talking about cutting my head off, after I’d...” Ellen turned her face into Hal’s shoulder, but there was no point pretending she had not done it. Hal had seen her. “After I’d licked her boot. I felt the tension. Was that part of the same thing?”

  “Not really. That was your fault.”

  “Me?”

  “Okay. If you want we can blame Terrie Rasheed.”

  Ellen pulled back and looked at Hal. “What had I done?”

  “Been in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Hal paused. “Actually, you were in my bed, which is the right place for you. But you were definitely there at the wrong time.”

  “At Broken Hills?”

  “Yes. Terrie was supposed to contact me when she got out of the infirmary, but she didn’t. I told Maddy, and she thought she’d take some of the girls into town to pay a nighttime visit—just rough Terrie up a little and get her into line. They found the asshole had legged it.”

  “She hadn’t been in work that day either.”

  “Maddy guessed the Militia would be looking for her. Terrie’s too stupid not to get caught, and she’d rat on me in an instant. So Maddy rode straight out to Broken Hills to warn me and Jo. When Maddy heard you were upstairs, she wanted to bring you back here. I said no. That’s what we’d argued about. But it’s a sign of how much she’s changed that she wouldn’t let it drop until I’d said she was right and I was wrong.”

  “Why did she agree to start with?”

  “Because I made a stand. And she wasn’t going to argue with me in front of the girls.”

  “I’m surprised she lets anyone argue with her.”

  “I’m family. I get some leeway.”

  “Will she hold it against you?”

  “Not now. Especially since she got what she wanted in the end, even after giving me the ten minutes to get rid of you.”

  “I’m not so easy to get rid of.”

  “No.” Hal’s eyes scrunched closed. “I stood on the steps, praying to the Goddess that you’d keep going. Not that the Goddess would normally listen to someone like me, but I thought she might help, for your sake.”

  “The Goddess doesn’t step in much to help the Militia either.”

  “So why bother being good?”

  “That’s not the point.”

  Hal buried her face in Ellen’s shoulder. “I could have died when I saw you walking back and I knew what was going to happen. I’ve seen enough women get worked over by Maddy—even helped out a few times. It doesn’t give me the same kick some of the others get, but it’s never bothered me before, but seeing you—” Hal broke off breathing sharply. “If I could have swapped places with you, I would have.”

  Ellen lifted Hal’s head and pulled her into a kiss. When eventually they separated, Ellen was surprised to see tears on Hal’s face.

  “It’s okay. As you said, I’ll mend. I don’t blame you.” The words were not completely true, but Ellen wanted them to be.

  “At the start, I thought it was all such a big joke, and I was being so clever. And then—” Hal broke off. Ellen waited for her to continue. “After the fight by the ford, I suddenly thought, supposing you were there, one of the injured and...” Hal shrugged, swallowing back words. “When you came out to Broken Hills I tried to put you off.”

  “You didn’t want me hurt?”

  “No. Of course not. But more than that, I didn’t want to lose my heart, and I knew I was going to, if I kept on seeing you. It hurt, but I thought I could cope. Then the Rangers took you on as their pet Blackshirt. Terrie came charging out to Broken Hills panicking that she couldn’t get any information. It just
happened Maddy was there at the time and she ordered me to get back with you.” Hal took several deep breaths, clearly fighting to re-gather her composure. “It’s just a fucking mess.”

  “Yup.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be able to get Maddy to set you free.”

  “It’s not...” necessary. Ellen’s voice died as her thoughts ran on.

  “Unless you want to work for us. How about it? Now that Terrie’s gone we need someone inside the Roadsend Militia.”

  “You’re joking, aren’t you?”

  “We pay well.” Regardless of how serious she was being, Hal’s voice had regained some of its normal strength and humor.

  “No.”

  “Do you want to know the really sad thing?”

  “What?”

  “Part of the reason I’m so crazy about you is knowing that would be your answer.” Hal released her breath in a sound that might have been amusement, might have been despair. “How did I fall for someone as absurdly honest as you?”

  “How did I fall for a total villain like you?”

  Hal’s lips brushed Ellen’s cheek. “There’s no hope for us, is there?”

  Tears filled Ellen’s eyes. “None.”

  The Rangers were coming. In another day they would arrive. Their advance scouts were probably already monitoring the homestead, but if Hal left that night under cover of darkness, she might escape the net. They could never be together, yet life would be more bearable, knowing that Hal’s smile was not gone from the world.

  Yet, supposing Hal warned the rest? How many other murderers and thieves, the Butcher among them, would also escape, to bring more misery on the honest citizens Ellen had sworn to protect? Ellen had to get Hal to promise not to pass on what she was told, before she knew what she was promising. But how? The simple line “Hal, don’t ask me why, just run” would not work. Ellen knew she would have to phrase her initial gambits exactly right.

  She ran the words around in her head, but her head was not as clear as she would have liked. The past two nights with little sleep were making themselves felt. For the first time since arriving at the homestead, and even though she knew it was an illusion, Ellen felt safe. Hal’s body was so solid in her arms. Hal’s heartbeat was a steady comforting rhythm. Ellen put together a sentence in her head, only to have the words dissolve into a jumble as she sank into a sea of darkness.

  When Ellen woke up, Hal was no longer there and her hands were again bound together.

  Chapter Seventeen—Hope and Despair

  Ellen deposited the last shovelful of horse dung on the pile. The corral and stable were finally clear. She straightened her back and wiped the sweat off her forehead, using the collar of her shirt as a towel. Presumably cleaning up after the horses was another of the jobs that had difficulty attracting volunteers. The mucking out had definitely been way overdue and if nothing else, the horses ought to be appreciative. Ellen flexed her shoulders to ease her aching muscles and gave a sigh, relieved that the job was complete.

  One of Ellen’s minders wandered over and examined her efforts. The woman rubbed her chin, parodying deep thought. “You know, now that I think about it, the shit pile would be better over there.” She pointed to a spot, fifty meters away. “It’s too close to the house here.”

  Her companion laughed. “Yeah. Well go on, Blackshirt. You heard what Jackie said. Get on with it.”

  Ellen kept her face impassive. She did not want to give her tormentors the satisfaction of seeing her react, and the more they thought it troubled her, the more likely that when she had moved the pile, she would be told to shift it again. She took a second to compose herself for more effort—just time for a deep breath and a quick glance around.

  All day, the sun had shone from a cloudless blue sky, hot on Ellen’s back while she worked. Now it was sinking, and the breeze was cooling. In two hours it would be dark, and then, regardless of where the pile was, she would be permitted to stop. Tomorrow, the gang would have other things to worry about than the location of a dung heap.

  Around the homestead, a dozen or more Knives were lounging in the sunshine, talking, drinking, or sleeping. On the opposite side of the yard, the Butcher was sitting under the porch of the main house, chatting with three women. One of them was Hal. All the time while Ellen had been cleaning the stable, she had battled with herself not to look in Hal’s direction, and every time she had lost the fight, tears had stung her eyes. It was too late for any warnings, too late to save Hal.

  As Ellen watched, one of the Knives must have made a joke. The Butcher laughed and Hal smiled, etching deep lines around her mouth. The pulse kicked in Ellen’s stomach. Hal’s smile was unique. It summed up everything that Ellen loved about her, and soon it would be gone forever.

  Ellen’s vision blurred. She tore her eyes away, dug the wooden shovel into the pile, and lifted.

  “Boss! Boss!”

  The cry made everyone turn. A rider was pelting up the track on horseback. The animal’s flanks were heaving and foam flecked its muzzle. Even before the horse had come to a stop, the rider had leapt down, stumbling in her haste.

  The Butcher stood up, shading her eyes against the sun. “What is it?”

  The woman pointed back the way she had come. “They got Sasha. I couldn’t...they...” Her arm was shaking, due to either exertion or panic—and she was certainly panicking. There was no mistaking the agitation in her voice.

  The Butcher grabbed the woman’s shoulder and shook her. “What?”

  “Rangers. Dozens of them. Whole squadrons.”

  “Where?”

  “Three, four kilometers. Me and Sasha rode smack into them.”

  “That can’t be—”

  Ellen rested the tip of the shovel on the ground. Across the width of the yard, her eyes met Hal’s. The rest of the scene vanished. I’m sorry. Ellen mimed the words although she doubted that Hal would see, or care. She heard uproar break out around her, but nothing mattered except for Hal. Already the surprise on Hal’s face had faded, replaced by resignation and something that might even have been relief. Her eyes held Ellen’s—twin still points amid the chaos.

  The blow that knocked Ellen off her feet came without warning. Dazed, she looked at the Butcher, standing over her, holding the wooden shovel like a club. Ellen rolled to the right, half dodging the descending blow, so it struck her shoulder rather than her head.

  “You fucking lied.”

  The shovel landed again, stronger and square on, hitting her stomach in an explosion of pain from previous injuries. More strikes followed.

  “Maddy.”

  The battering stopped. Ellen’s arms were over her head, in an attempt to shield herself. She parted them slightly, so she could see. Hal was there, wrestling the shovel from her cousin.

  “She lied.”

  “So. What did you expect?”

  The Butcher released her grip on the shovel, then reached down, grabbed the front of Ellen’s shirt, and hauled her to her feet. “Now, tell me the truth.”

  Ellen had no reason to evade the question. Events were too well advanced for the answer to matter. “What I said first off. They’ve got eight full squadrons surrounding you.”

  The fury left the Butcher’s face, to be replaced by a more frightening calm. “Then the first thing they’ll see when they arrive will be your head on a post.” She raised her voice. “Someone bring me a saw, and make sure it’s a blunt one.”

  “Maddy. There’s no point,” Hal said.

  “It’ll make me feel better.”

  “She might still have a use.”

  “Such as?”

  “I don’t know. But if you think of it later, you can’t fit her head back on.” Hal’s voice dropped. “We need to think. We need to plan. Pointless revenge is for when all other options are gone, and we’re not finished yet.”

  The Butcher’s expression softened. “You’re right.” She shoved Ellen away, then turned and shouted to the two minders. “Take this bitch back to th
e cave. Don’t break anything or do any permanent damage. Anything else is up to you.”

  *

  Ellen lay in utter darkness. Nightfall was well past. She shifted around awkwardly, feeling the sting of newly inflicted damage. Her ribs had borne the worst, but thankfully, none of it was serious, and given the circumstances, the women who had taken her back to the cave had been very restrained, adding no more than a dozen bruises and a cut over her eye to her catalogue of injuries. The Knives had clearly been more anxious to get back to the main house and find out what was going on than to spend time venting their anger on her. Nobody else had visited since they left.

  Would the Butcher, as a last act of spite, take her life? Would she see Hal again? The two questions circled in Ellen’s head with equal importance. Would she see the sun set tomorrow? Would Hal? Tears trickled down Ellen’s face. Would she be able to kiss Hal one last time? And even if she got the chance, would Hal want to kiss her?

  The faint rasp of metal caught her ear. The bolt on the door was being eased back, but when she turned her head, Ellen could see no lamplight shining through the gaps in the wood.

  “Ellen?”

  “Hal.”

  Then Hal was beside her, holding her close.

  “Hal. I’m sorry. I was going to warn you last night, while you still had a chance to get away, but I fell asleep.”

  “You knew the Rangers were coming, and when?”

  “We had a briefing in Roadsend. Since the moment I got here, I’ve known I only had to last out four days. I wish I’d told you.”

  “You didn’t tell Maddy, despite the beating.”

  “I tried to, but she didn’t believe me, so I told her what she wanted to hear.”

  “Maddy’s always been prone to overrate how well violence works.” Hal gave a soft laugh. “To do her justice, it usually works very well. How did the Rangers know where we were?”

  “After the barge was captured, the Rangers followed Ade. They put one of their top trackers on her.”

  “It’s all Ade’s fault. I’ll enjoy telling her.”