by Bev Allen
Suddenly his head was hauled up and he was hurled backwards onto the bank. Gasping for air he wheezed and wept, frantically trying to escape from whoever had done this before they could change their mind and do it again.
His assailant grabbed him and he was dragged to his feet by one shoulder and pushed in the direction of the slope.
“Up there!” Jon ordered. “Now!”
“I … I …” Lucien gasped, still trying to fill his lungs properly.
“Move!” Jon barked.
Lucien moved.
At the camp site Vlic sat by the fire; gagged and bound hand and foot, his eyes wild with fear. When he saw Jon the fear went and he seemed to collapse in upon himself, his jaw wobbling and his breathing ragged.
There was no sign of Stacey.
Lucien was pushed to a place by the fire, Vlic’s bounds were cut and it was indicated he should join his friend.
“Wait there and don’t either of you say a word or move a muscle.”
Jon stalked off into the nearly pitch black woods and returned a few minutes later with Stacey, she was white-faced and shaking. He pushed her down to join the boys.
“If I’d been the enemy,” Jon began. “All three of you would be dead. I trust this lesson in keeping a proper watch has scared you all shitless.”
There was little point in replying; he knew and they knew he had succeeded.
They watched silently as he finished making the tea and set some smoked venison to cook. He handed each of them a cup of hot tea and spooned in a generous measure of maple sugar.
“Drink!” he ordered.
They obeyed him, Lucien’s hands trembling, Vlic’s teeth chattering on the edge of the cup and Stacey weeping silently into the brew.
Jon smiled grimly when he saw this. He opened his pack and drew out a small bottle.
“Open!” he instructed and held their noses until each one had reluctantly opened their mouth and had a dose of an evil smelling viscous liquid poured in. It was unbelievably vile, so vile Lucien’s stomach thought about getting rid of it the second it got down there, but one look at Jon’s face made it stay put.
A glance at Stacey and Vlic showed they were having a similar problem; they all reached eagerly for more tea, but even that could not get rid of the taste. Within a few minutes they all felt a lot calmer, though.
“By rights I should’ve made you suffer a lot longer,” Jon said, observing the relaxing of faces and easing of trembling hands.
None of them felt much like eating, but were not given the option- they were told to get it down their throats or else. Finally hot sweet tea and food had a reviving effect and, feeling better, Lucien opened his mouth to tell what they had discovered, only to be told to keep silent.
“We’ll talk in the morning,” Jon said, “It’s possible I’ll have calmed down by then.”
“But …”
“You can go to bed with or without a good hiding, Lucien. At the moment the choice is yours, but if one more word comes out of your mouth I’ll be doing the choosing.”
“Harabin, dheillwer …” Vlic began.
“And that goes for you as well, biey,” Jon told him. “And I would be delighted to include you on the list, Miss Wainwright.”
All three went silently to their blankets and made sure Jon did not hear a sound out of them.
They were all still a little whey-faced in the morning, but Jon was totally unsympathetic. He made them eat unsweetened mush, standing over them until every last spoonful was inside.
“Very well,” he said. “Vlic. Go and keep watch. Your father can deal with you.”
Feeling there was much he could contribute to the conversation to come, Vlic opened his mouth to protest, then saw Jon’s expression and changed his mind. Without a word he collected his bow and went up the slope to keep guard.
”There’s no need to tell me what you think you’ve found ahead,” Jon said to the other two. “Or why Miss Wainwright is here. Anyone within a mile radius yesterday could have heard every word. By the way,” he added, turning to Stacey. “You can consider yourself under my authority from now on.”
“You’ve no right,” Stacey retorted, “I’m a tribal member and not subject you your rules.”
“I think we’ll see just what The Lynx Elders has to say about that,” Jon replied. “You may have fooled a couple of silly boys into thinking you had permission to travel alone through the world, but you and I both know different, don’t we?”
She coloured, the blush staining both her face and neck. “They didn’t say no,” she replied.
“But they sure as shit didn’t say yes!” Jon retorted.
“They’ll understand,” she replied, but without much conviction.
Jon laughed and Stacey looked even hotter. “I’d no choice after you turned me down,” she muttered resentfully.
“Rubbish!”
“It’s not rubbish! If I’d had the authority of The Guild behind me and I’d explained a few things, he would’ve dropped the whole thing.”
“Do you really believe that?”
She flushed. “I have to. He’s a fool, but he’s still my father and I have to do all I can to get him out of this mess.”
His face softened a little. “I’m not sure what you thought you’d be able to do once you got here, but you do know you aren’t going to be able get him out of this. There’s not only the abduction of a child to be answered for, but murder as well. Two pretty brutal murders.”
She looked pained. “Dad is a fool,” she said. “And he’s done some things I’m ashamed of, but I don’t believe he had anything to do with that.”
“Maybe he wasn’t directly involved,” Jon said. “But you know he’s involved or you wouldn’t be here.”
“Okay, I do know it, but murder is beyond my father’s comfort zone. He doesn’t like getting his hands dirty.”
She turned to Lucien.
“Unlike yours!”
He was on his feet at this, but Jon held him steady.
“Enough! I heard what you said last night and I will admit I was uncomfortable with some of the things I saw in your home, Lucien, but it’s not proof of anything. Let’s accept that whatever happened and whoever is behind it, has nothing to do with either of you personally. So pack it in.”
“Yes,” she said, sadly. “Nothing to do with either of us, but he got to be a TLO and I didn’t.”
Lucien was surprised at her tone of loss and might have done his wondering out loud, but Jon’s eye was turned his way.
“Your turn,” Jon said, “What’ve you got to say for yourself?”
“I was right!” a resentful Lucien growled. “They did come this way.”
“I know,” Jon replied. “I found plenty of sign as I followed you.”
Deflated at this, Lucien muttered, “Told you so.”
“Don’t push your luck, son,” Jon warned.
“We found their camp,” Lucien continued, deciding discretion was probably called for at this point. “It’s up ahead by a beaver lake.”
“Did you see them?”
“Some of them. They were tribal, at least the ones in the tents were. We weren’t sure about the one from the cabin, I wanted to go and look, but …” He stopped, unsure of just what reception this disclosure would bring and instead finished with, “We didn’t go near them.”
Jon stirred up the embers of the fire for a bit. “So you’ve no idea how many of them there are?”
Lucien shook his head. “We didn’t see the girl either.”
Jon thought all this over for a while and then called Vlic back to join them.
“Okay,” he said. “This is what’s going to happen. I’m going to investigate the camp and take whatever action the TLG would think appropriate. You three are going to stay here until Iesgood arrives.”
The storm of protest began immediately, but Jon crushed it ruthlessly.
“Don’t you dare argue! You’re all in serious trouble and don’t run away with the
idea last night pays for it, because it doesn’t, not by a long stretch. Vlic! Your father will follow me in a day or so. If I don’t return he’ll know you brats were right. In the mean time he’s going to do some more looking upstream, but it won’t take him long to realise it’s a fool’s errand and come this way. When he does, my lad, you’re going to wish you’d stayed at home.”
“But Geelbrie said it was okay!” Vlic protested.
“And she’s as foolish and irresponsible as the two of you,” Jon replied. “Their status may give those girls authority, but it doesn’t necessarily give them brains. She’s heard my opinion of her and when I tell Bweriit liedwer she’ll get another roasting.”
Vlic scowled at Jon, but he started chewing his lip. “I think Dad will be okay about everything,” he said, but he did not sound confident.
Jon did not bother to hide his amusement.
“And as for you,” he said, turning to Lucien. “You and I are going to have a reckoning over this when I’ve the time. And the same goes for you, young lady.”
Lucien was bitterly disappointed about being left behind and it had taken some of the high courage out of him.
“I suppose you’re going to sack me,” he said in small voice. “Because of this and my father and everything.”
“I’m not going to sack you.” Jon replied. “Don’t be such a bloody little fool!”
At this Lucien got almost cheerful, but Jon was still grim and obviously was not in the mood for either apologises or thanks.
“Has it ever occurred to you how very much your father’s son you are?” he asked.
“What!”
“Think about it,” Jon ordered. “And stay here! You wait until Iesgood comes. If one of you goes further than the stream I’ll make you wish you’d never been born. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Lucien murmured.
“Yes, what?” Jon demanded.
“Yes, sir.”
“Vlic?”
“Yes, Harabin dheillwer.”
“Stacey?”
“If you’d just let me ... yes, Master Harabin.”
They sat and watched as he prepared. After a moment’s hesitation he handed his rifle to Lucien. “Look after this until I get back.”
“Jon!” Lucien protested. “You might need it.”
“I’d rather settle this diplomatically if I can. Should a situation arises where I need a gun, I’ll be in such trouble it won’t make a lot of difference. And it would only be putting a firearm into enemy hands.”
“I don’t like this,” Lucien said.
“Neither do I,” Stacey added. “You’ve no idea who could be there with my father. It’s far too dangerous.”
“If he’s there, and I’m not convinced he is, he’s had some sort of tribal aid,” Jon told her. “That makes it my business. I’m not sure who the cabin belongs to, it could be anyone. They could be a nuisance, but they may be innocent bystanders. I know you believe it’s him, but I can think of plenty of others it might be, anything from missionaries to anthropologists to zoologists.”
She wanted to argue, but he would not let her.
“They’ve obviously been here sometime, so I’m inclined to think they must have permission. I can’t keep track of all the so called ‘special interest’ groups who have managed to wheedle their way up country in the last decade.”
“But what if it’s Devlin,” she said, shooting a look at Lucien.
“It won’t be,” Lucien stated. “He might get dirt under his fingernails.”
Stacey threw up her hands in disgust. “You really don’t know anything about him, do you?”
“Enough to know he wouldn’t go anywhere he might have to rough it,” Lucien retorted, but even as he said it there was a little seed of doubt in his head. “At least ... she might be right,” he said to Jon.
“I know she might be and I’m not discounting any of it,” Jon replied. “I’ll be honest with you, Lucien; I was unhappy with some of the things I saw in your father’s house. He might be involved in some very dubious things. So might your father, Stacey, but they couldn’t have done anything without tribal help. Do you know who it might be?”
She was flustered by this. “No, but ...”
“Have you ever seen your father with anyone from The People?”
“No, but he ...”
“How about you, Lucien? Have you ever seen your father with someone from The Tribes?”
“Not with a real tribesman,” Lucien replied. “But I saw someone trying to look like one.”
“Could have been a tourist,” Jon said. “I’m sorry Stacey, but without proof, I have to assume you might be mistaken.”
“I’m not,” she replied.
“Nevertheless, until I’ve investigated, you three will remain here. Vlic, can you handle my rifle if needs be?”
“I can, Harabin dheillwer,” Vlic replied with more than a touch of pride.
Jon pulled out his ammunition and handed it over to the boy.
“How about you, Stacey? Can you fire one accurately?”
She nodded.
“Then I’ll collect it when I get back,” he said.
Lucien watched as Jon checked his bow and arrows, tucked his war axe into his belt and checked his knives.
“Be careful,” he said gruffly. “Promise!”
Jon gave him a surprised look and Lucien clenched his teeth, turning his head away so Jon could not see his face.
“Come here,” Jon ordered, and gave the boy a quick fierce hug. “I promise,” he said. “Behave yourself until I get back.”
With that he melted into the trees and was gone.
Vlic turned his head away for a while, he had been surprised by the emotion he had just seen and did not want to embarrass his friend or Stacey, who had wrapped her arms around her body and was rocking back and forth, as if trying to comfort herself or contain some powerful inner emotions.
When he turned back he was shattered to see Lucien packing!
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
Stacey’s head jerked up and she stared for a second and then began to gather her belongings, swiftly stuffing them into her own pack.
“You didn’t think for one second I was going to let him go alone, did you?” Lucien replied in astonishment.
“He ordered us to stay here!” Vlic wailed.
“Would you stay if it was your brother?” Lucien asked hotly.
“But he’s not your brother.”
“Isn’t he?” Lucien replied. “It feels like he is to me.”
Vlic watched him checking his rifle and then Stacey’s preparations and he sighed.
“We’d better give him an hour’s head start,” he said.
Chapter 17
The three of them went back to the head of the valley slowly and cautiously, afraid of treading on Jon’s heels and being sent away with their tails between their legs.
Keeping well down in deep cover they scanned the scene below for any sign of him, but there was no movement, just the haze of smoke rising from the fire pit in the centre of the clearing.
Lucien studied the cabin in more detail this time. He noted the workmanship and the lack of proper packing between the logs. It would be draughty in there and there was nothing across the windows wooden shutters to keep the weather out.
He caught a glimpse of the latrine standing twenty yards from the building; it looked as if it was nothing more than a hole screened from view by couple of panels of woven willow.
He gave a snort of derision. “There is no way my father is down there,” he whispered.
“How do you know?” Vlic asked.
“He thinks we live like pigs back at The Settlement,” Lucien replied. “He wouldn’t put up with this.”
“I hope you’re right,” Stacey said. “Mine’s down there, I’m sure of it.”
Lucien was not as certain, or did not want to be sure. To admit she might be right would be to accept everything she said and, until he had bette
r evidence, he was not prepared to do that. However, this was hardly the time or the place for them to start arguing again, so he kept this to himself.
“What now?” she asked.
“I … I’m not sure,” Lucien admitted.
“We should stay put for a while,” Vlic said. “Harabin dheillwer will want to scout the whole camp to see how many of them there are and who they are, before he makes any move. If we go down there, he might find us.”
Lucien’s old grin crept out, despite the situation. “He’d probably make me eat my indenture papers,” he said, with a soft laugh. “Then he’d kill me.”
Even Stacey, who was not finding anything about the situation to amuse her, found herself smiling at this and said, “He must have been mad when he took you on.”
At a suggestion from her, they found a tree well covered in leaf and helped each other up into its branches. From this place of concealment they had a better view and hoped if Jon did come by, he would not spot them.
Lucien was not happy; he wanted to keep a closer watch to make sure Jon was safe. He did not want to be discovered or to jeopardise the mission, but found being ignorant of potential danger was unbearable.
After half an hour he said, “I’m going to scout around a bit, like Jon.”
Vlic took his arm before he could leave the tree. “Once he lets them know he’s there, they’ll be watching for others,” he pointed out. “We don’t want to get caught.”
“Then wouldn’t it be better if we moved about, rather than staying in one spot to be found?” Stacey said.
She was as anxious as Lucien to know what was going on down there, but Vlic, far more conscience of Jon’s orders than the other two, was reluctant; he felt he ought to make some effort to keep them from further disobedience.
“Perhaps we could find a closer place where we could watch without being seen.”
“Good idea,” Lucien replied. “And we can scout about for a bit while we look for it.”
Vlic gave up the struggle at that point.
The open meadow created by the beavers gave little or no cover. They retreated back up the stream and then waded across to take advantage of the tree line on the opposite bank. They kept well back in the woods, treading carefully to leave as little sign as they could, stepping into each other’s foot prints to disguise how many they were.
