While I yanked open the secret tunnel door, Tyrell whipped out the pepperbox, which I’d jammed into his waistband when I’d hugged him in pretended distress. One shot snapped out at the ceiling hole, hitting a musketman. The weapon dropped amongst the mass in the center of the room. His next shot searched for the leader, but he’d already dashed out the door and vanished upstairs. Both remaining bullets dropped men who’d recovered their wits and were aiming at me. Thanks, Cap’n! Pocketing the little gun and snatching the Lemat out of my hand, Tyrell kicked a renegade onto the blazing stairs, tapped Romulus on the shoulder, and followed me into the tunnel. The Marshal grabbed two of the spare bottles of oil and hurled them onto the steps. A wall of fire shot up, engulfing two more renegades. Screams split the hot air as all our enemies rushed for the ceiling hole, begging to be pulled up by their comrades. Flames swirled onto the walls and rafters. I choked on all the smoke. Soon the whole house would go up. We had to move, and quick.
An instant later we were on the other side of the pickle rack, securing three heavy bolts and catching our breaths. I wanted to hoot and holler about whupping up on the entire Hellfiend Legion, but remembered that I was supposed to be a frail Southern blossom and settled for crying instead. While playing my role I still managed to scout things with my Stone senses. Fresh cool air told me that an exit lay ahead, but quite a ways off. Tyrell led us toward it, putting as rapid distance between us and the burning house as he could while feeling his way in the total darkness. I pretended to be as blind, though to my eyes the tunnel looked about as bright as dusk on a summer evening.
Smoke had already begun to seep into the tunnel, which looked to be a good quarter-mile long. We seemed to be moving west and north, though it was hard to tell being underground. I hoped that the Legion didn’t know about the tunnel, or we might be blundering into a trap. Tyrell anticipated my worry.
“Be careful when we get to the end,” he said, reloading on the move. I noticed that despite everything that had happened in the melee, the cavalryman had remembered to grab his saddle. It amazed me to see that he could carry it over one shoulder and still ram bullets into the LeMat, all without being able to see a blessed thing. “I don’t imagine our friends know about this passage, else they’d have used it against us instead of tearing through the floor. But caution seldom slays a soldier.”
The tunnel stood six feet tall, impressive to me but Romulus still had to stoop way over to get through. Its width was about the same, though every now and then that doubled to make a chamber for food or sleeping pallets. All of the walls had been smoothed and the ceiling reinforced with railroad ties. Someone had gone to a great deal of labor and expense to make it. I wanted to ask Romulus about the Underground Railroad, but figured that Miss Mary Williams wouldn’t be the sort of snooty Southern belle who’d speak of such things in front of a Confederate officer. Have to keep in mind that I’m supposed to be for slavery.
After around fifteen minutes of shuffle-footing we came to a slight bend. I could tell from the smell of the air that an opening waited just ahead. Tyrell held up a hand, then a finger to his lips. Why he thought anyone could see either gesture mystified me. To maintain my act I ran into him as if all was black to me. He grabbed my shoulder, covered my mouth, and breathed, “Ssshh!” into my ear. I smiled and did the same to Romulus. We all clumped together and stood still, listening.
Something large blocked the exit. Its heavy breathing rumbled like a locomotive. Every now and then it’d snort. When it moved its bulk shook the walls of the tunnel and made dirt specks rain down on us. Visions of Venoma sprang to my mind. I gripped the Jasper cup hard, ready to swing Morphageus in a death blow before the monster could spring at us. Why can’t anythin’ in my life be simple and easy anymore?
I heard Tyrell cock his pistol. Behind me, Romulus shifted to give himself a better angle to use the cavalry saber. It looked like we had one more foe to vanquish before we’d be free of this cursed house. I heartily hoped that it wasn’t that awful Venoma. Three of us might not be enough. Breathing deep to steel myself for the attack, I’d just started to rock forward when it hit me. Or rather, it didn’t hit me.
The smell. Venoma’s cemetery stench. The thing in front of us didn’t have it. In fact, the aroma in front of me was a hundred percent different. And I recognized it.
I cackled with glee. Tyrell, alarmed, turned to shush me. Shoving his hand away, I laughed out loud, all of the tension caused by terror and death released at finding out who shared our tunnel. Tyrell and Romulus both stared at me as if I’d escaped from the loony bin. Still giggling, I pushed past the captain to confront the fell beast that blocked our path to safety. My companions both sucked in their breaths and raised their weapons to defend me from the demon.
“Hey, cutie,” I said, holding out my hand. A velvety nose snuffled into my palm, looking again for an apple and finding none. Alcibiades made a disgusted sound.
“Cap’n Tyrell, it’s a poor cavalryman who’s afraid of his own horse,” I snickered.
While the Reb officer absorbed my gentle abuse and hugged his mount, Romulus and I eased past him to the tunnel mouth. Two large bushes blocked the exit from easy outside view, where it came out of the side of a low hill to the west of the house. Looking back east, we watched it burn. No renegades were in sight. But the stars were, bright and clear. We were safe…for now.
18/ New Rules
“When demons lie, their noses run.”
The tunnel turned out to be the safest place to be for a while, so we stayed put just back of that final bend. Amongst the stores that the unfortunate owners had put up for runaway slaves were lamps, cheese, water, salt pork, matches, and a whole host of other handy items. We filled up every pocket, haversack, and saddlebag (and stomach) with as much of it as we could. I set some cheese aside for Ernie, knowing I’d never hear the end of it if I didn’t. No one came down the tunnel from either end, but we kept a new watch schedule anyhow while sleeping for what was left of the night. Those lightly-padded pallets made for a better rest than the bare floor of the parlor had. Some of my aches eased up a bit. The new dream came back, but sort of fuzzy and disjointed. Maybe if someone sent it to me, the tunnel interfered with the process somehow.
Just after dawn, while we were all stretching and yawning, a troop of Union cavalry rode up to the ashes of the house. Tyrell got anxious, but they were just curious. After poking around for a bit they seemed to decide that it had just been an everyday house fire, not a military concern, and moved on to the north. If they’d fully investigated the basement, which they couldn’t get to because the big house had collapsed on top of it, things might’ve gotten sticky for us. Finding heaps of uniformed bodies with weapons could only have made the soldiers look around with serious intent. I couldn’t see any sign of the Hellfiend Legion, so they must’ve figured out that their big reward had escaped them, and sure wasn’t worth the trouble anyway. Even if they’d thought otherwise, a hundred Yankee troopers would’ve persuaded them to move on to safer hunting grounds.
When everyone had left the area Tyrell moved to a nearby clump of trees that shielded him from the sight of the house. He fed and watered Alcibiades, cleaned his weapons, and washed himself. Me and Romulus kept an eye out for Roberta and Ernie. They were due back soon and would be alarmed at what they’d find. Romulus said he’d use his mirror to signal them where we were. I still didn’t want to put all of my trust in the Reb, so letting him see our scouts didn’t strike me as a wise move yet. There were plenty of unanswered questions that bothered me, like why the horse just happened to be in our tunnel and who Tyrell’s ‘people’ were that he seemed so sure could outbid the Honourable Merchantry.
I’d slept through the previous morning and was glad to not miss this one. Bright and clear, the air smelled of flowers and smoke. Life and death in one sniff. The sun smiled through puffy white clouds that reminded me of Ma’s big feather pillow. Dew sparkled on the tall grass, making me imagine that fairies had sprinkled jewels
there. Heck, that’s not even a crazy thought anymore, Verity. All that natural beauty made it easy to forget that I’d just been through more violence, horror, and death since Saturday night than any kid should have to see in three lifetimes.
Until I touched my Stone. Then memories of Ma and Eddie swooshed through my mind in a red swirl. So much had been happening, like trying not to be horribly dead every five minutes, that my worries for them hadn’t been able to compete for attention. But now that survival was assured for a little bit at least, anxiety for my family started to choke me. What to do? I had four weeks to get to London to save Eddie. Was that even possible? With a sturdy steamship, a strong current, and no interference, maybe. And if I managed to arrange all of that, what about Ma? Is she okay? How can I help her? All I had was “Croatan” written in sugar. That suggested the Lost Colony in North Carolina, which sat more or less in the direction we were heading. Nothing else came to mind from the word. What to do? Assuming I made it through the battlefields around Richmond in one piece, which direction would I go? To Roberta’s ship and then to Europa? Or to Roanoke to fumble around hoping Ma would turn up? The latter seemed a long shot, but darn it…it was Ma.
What to do?
“I’d say that you should go with the sure thing,” said Jasper out of the blue.
I jumped a little, then looked around to see if Tyrell had seen me start. “And where’ve you been, mister?”
“Right here. Where else can I go? Tahiti?”
“I mean I didn’t hear a peep outta you while every lunatic in Virginia tried to massacre us last night.”
“You got through it all right. You made good decisions in the heat of battle. Proved you could get along without relyin’ on magick…much. Pretty good for a new Stone-Warden.”
I gritted my teeth at that. “So last night was some kind of test?”
“Oh, no. The Stone doesn’t make things happen, much as it seems to sometimes. It just worked out that way.”
“Well, glad I impressed you. Now what’s the sure thing?”
“Eddie. You know he’s in London. Your Ma’s an unknown.”
“If Venoma told the truth.”
“No reason not to. Besides, when demons lie, their noses run.”
For some reason that struck me as the funniest thing I’d heard in days. Controlling my urge to laugh out loud, I moved farther back down the tunnel. “Really?”
“Really. If more humans knew about that, think of how much misery could’ve been avoided down through the centuries.”
“So don’t sign a deal with a devil if he’s carryin’ a hanky?”
Jasper did laugh, since nobody but me could hear him, cheering me up a lot. “Now there’s a scene Goethe seems to have left out of Faust.”
Glancing at Romulus, I saw him peer up at the sky and squint. Maybe Roberta and Ernie were coming back. “You’re awful well-read for a sword-spirit.”
“Yeah, well, playin’ solitaire loses its charm after the first three hundred years.”
I wondered how Jasper could read anything, stuck in a wall for ages, but didn’t press the point. Romulus had turned away from where Tyrell buttoned his jacket and brushed his boots. His mirror looked the size of a postage stamp in his big paw. He wagged it back and forth, shining light up into the sky. Yep, they’re here. “So to London it is, then?”
“That’d be my suggestion. Not easy for you, I know.”
I fingered the Stone, warm against my hand. “Not easy, no. Neither way.”
“We can arrange to have Marshals watch the house while you’re gone, see if she makes it back on her own.”
That made sense. Maybe Ma would solve her own problem. She’s nobody’s fool, that’s for sure. “Okay by me. First chance we get I’ll see if Roberta can fly off to set that up. Unless we run into a Marshal out here who can get word to whoever is in charge of that sort of thing.” I frowned. “Don’t even know how you recognize a Marshal. Do they have code words and secret handshakes like the Masons?”
“You’ll have to ask Ernie or Romulus about that. It’s all I can do to keep the magick swords straight.”
I started moving back toward the entrance. Tyrell had finished cleaning up and headed back toward us. Romulus saw what I wanted and turned toward me before the captain got within earshot. He pocketed the mirror and smiled.
“They’s all right,” he said, quiet as his big voice could manage.” I messaged ‘em to follow us once we sets out south. When you heads fo’ the trees to take care o’ business, they’ll land and report.”
“Sounds good,” I told him. “That should be soon, I think. The cap’n looks ready to go.”
Right I was. Tyrell ducked into the tunnel and motioned us out. “Looks safe enough, Miss Mary. The Bluebellies are out of sight and I think you took the fight out of the Legion. We can get on the road and see if we can find your brother.”
“Fine by me, Cap’n. Your horse okay for the trip?”
“Oh, he’s fine. Take more than a little dustup to fluster Al. He’s done this before.”
“Done what before?”
“Untied himself from the tree and took a walk. Smelled food and water in here and stayed till the trouble ended. He’s trained to come to me only if I whistle, so he won’t blunder into a situation and maybe make it worse. ”
“Sounds like a special horse.”
“Oh, you have no idea, miss.” He jerked his head toward the exit. “Shall we?”
We loaded Alcibiades and Romulus down with all of our supplies. It pained me to treat my friend like a slave, but he’d made it clear to me that he was willing to play the part. As his owner I wouldn’t be expected to soil my hands much, and Tyrell would get suspicious if I did. So I walked beside the cavalryman’s mount, a step ahead of ‘Tom’. Tyrell rode, saying he wanted to get a feel for things and be up high where he could spot any trouble and react to it quick. We took the nearest road that went south. It was a narrow track but well-drained and level. Our guide seemed perfectly familiar with all of the territory we passed through. No doubt a year of war had acquainted him with every bush and path in his area of operations.
For a war zone near the northern capital city it looked awful quiet. We met nobody all morning as we trudged along. I didn’t say much, not wanting to risk making a mistake with my cover story. Whenever Tyrell asked me a direct question I’d take as much time as I could arranging my answer in my head before speaking. He didn’t seem to notice. The captain was in his element, as they say—mounted on a fine horse, armed to the teeth, escorting a young damsel in distress whose brother had given his blood for the Confederate cause. Strong foes had been vanquished the night before and he looked literally flushed with victory, face all pink with pride and glory. I wished I could have as simple a life.
After a couple of hours of traveling through the beautiful green rolling Virginia countryside, I decided that the time had come to reunite with my scouts. Telling Tyrell that I had to answer the call of nature, I skipped off of the road into a hedgerow. In less than a minute I heard the flapping of heavy wings and a flutter of red and blue dropped in on me. Roberta looked none the worse for having been out all night, perched on a rock with her spectacles a bit askew. Ernie adjusted them for her and scampered onto my outstretched palm.
“Hey!” I grinned, “how y’all doin’?”
“Better than yer, I expect,” the mouse said with a yawn, knitting needle tied across his back with a piece of twine. “No sooner do we leave you alone than yer burns the bloody house down.”
“Run outta firewood, did you, matey?” asked Roberta, her head turned sideways while she dug her beak into an itchy wing.
“No, Romulus wanted some smoked ham, so I decided to oblige him,” I shot back, keeping an eye on the road. I didn’t want Tyrell to surprise us if he thought I was taking too long. “Find out anything about my escort?”
The parrot nodded. “Seems to be on the up-and-up, as far as me contacts know. Joined the army before Sumter’s guns cooled.
Has a reputation in the cavalry as a man with a future. Cool customer in a fight.”
“That’s for sure.” I sketched out the night’s events for them.
“Whooee! Wish I’d been there,” Ernie declared. “Haven’t had a good scrap since I gave that cat what-for.”
“Be glad you weren’t,” I said. “Darned close call, that was. And there weren’t even any monsters involved.”
“Not all monsters look like Venoma, girlie. You’ll find that out if you get to Merchantry headquarters.”
“Speakin’ of that…what else did you find out. Did you get into the Reb camp?”
Ernie put his hand on his tiny bosom like he was having an attack. “How can you doubt me, child? Piece o’ cake, it was.” He put on a thick Southern accent. “Ya jist moseys in like ya owns the place, see? Up and ask questions o’ the local mice, and a coupla rats if ya don’t mind slummin’, and pretty soon yer in the know.”
“Wow, that’s scary. They teach you that in Marshal school?”
“No. But I have been livin’ in a bloody theatre, you know.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Roberta jerked her head toward the road. “You’re boyfriend’s gettin’ antsy, matey. Best wrap this up for now.”
Ernie spoke in a rush. “Big doin’s in Richmond. McClellan’s great attack bogged down and turned into a siege. Gave the Rebs all the openin’ they need. They’re movin’ everybody with a trigger finger down there. Jackson’s men are hot-footin’ it from the Valley. Soon as he’s in place that new general, Lee, is gonna attack. Hard.”
I frowned. “When? Did they say?”
“The mice I talked to didn’t have an exact date, but any day now.”
Brimstone and Lily (Legacy Stone Adventures) Page 18
