by John Booth
Annelise knew that part of her irritability was caused by her inability to find Camilla Burns. Her contacts had been able to discover the agent’s real identity, but she was not at any of Military Magic’s safe houses. She had a feeling that Camilla would be at the wedding, though for what purpose she could not imagine. This bothered Annelise because she liked to be in control of events.
It was early afternoon before the Hubris reached Rennes. Tom handed over flying duty to French and went back to the observation room where he found the children staring out of the windows.
“Me too,” Ebb said, just getting ahead of Tricky’s words.
“I want a ship like this.”
“The buildings look like toys,” Edith said.
“Gather round, kids. I need your help.”
“Nothin’ new there,” Tricky said.
The children gathered around Tom as he outlined his plan.
“We are searching for Laura and Daisy and suspect they are somewhere along the border between Brittany and France.”
The children gave him bemused looks.
“The land we will be passing over shortly.”
“Got you,” Alice said.
“I want Edith to try to Faresee them, while Alice sends a Telepathic message for them to signal us. Alice, it is important no one else hears that message.”
Alice shrugged. She knew she could target her telepathy precisely at anyone she had met.
“If we find them in time, they will be badly injured,” Lucy said quietly. She was a Precog whose gifts Tom felt were similar to Daisy’s.
“Do you know where, Lucy?” Tom asked eagerly.
She shook her head and grabbed hold of Ebb’s hand.
“If you foresee anything at all, you come and tell me at once.”
“I’ll go get Mr. French,” Ebb said before Tom could get the words out.
“What do I do?” Tricky asked.
“Stay with the girls and let me know if they have anything to report.”
“I can do that,” Tricky agreed.
Tom met French and Ebb at the bridge door. French gave Tom a quizzical look.
“He can see five seconds into the future and then change the result. Think about it.”
French looked puzzled and then grinned. “Well, I’ll be a son of a gun. This is sure gonna be fun.”
It was late afternoon when Laura and Daisy reached the camp. They were exhausted and Laura’s feet felt like bloody stumps. They had encountered two patrols early on their walk. The first stayed with them to help Muldrow guard them and the second returned to the camp ahead of them. Someone must have decided the walk would do them good because horses were not sent to bring them in.
The first thing Laura saw was the whipping post erected in the centre of the camp. Two iron rings hung down from its top, one on each side of it.
General Brent-Smyth stepped out of a tent to greet them. He looked extremely happy.
“How nice of you ladies to come back to see us. As you can see, we used the time it took you to walk here to provide you with a suitable place to stand.”
“I am sure your orders are to bring us back alive and unharmed,” Daisy said calmly.
The General’s eyes seemed to glitter and Daisy saw a hint of madness in them.
“My orders are my business not yours, and I will not be made a laughing stock, do you hear me?”
“I think it’s far too late for that,” Laura said with a malicious smile on her face. “Even I have heard you had the curse after I changed you.”
The General stepped closer and slapped her across the face so hard that she spat out three teeth when she hit the ground. Her face became swollen and bloody.
“First we plan to whip you to within an inch of your life and then you will spread your legs for every man in this camp. If either of you are still breathing when we finish, we will draw lots to decide which of us will slit your throats.”
The General stomped away, though not fast enough to avoid hearing Laura’s mumbled reply.
“You big girl.”
“Get us lower,” Dougal instructed Daisy. “And slow us down to ten miles an hour. Any faster and we could go past without seeing them.”
“We are relying on this girl, Edith, to spot them? I did not think any Farseer was that good.”
Tom kept his eye on the terrain below as he answered Antonia. “Tricky said she directed Arnold straight to your sister and she knows Laura and Daisy a lot better than she knows Andrea.”
“How long until we get to the Army Camp?” Baum asked.
A little over an hour at this speed,” Dougal answered.
Laura and Daisy were taken to the whipping post. Their hands were tied to the rings and their feet to the bottom of the post. They stood facing the post on opposite sides.
The General came up behind them and ripped their dresses so their backs were bare.
“Give them fifty each to start,” he ordered and stood back to watch. Two officers had stripped to the waist and held long rawhide whips in their hands.
The first cut was agony and on the second Laura started to scream. Daisy lasted to the fifth before she joined in.
Wainwright watched from behind the officers. His pistol was a five shot Adams revolver and there were seventeen officers in front of him. He checked that gun was properly loaded as he was going to look a fool if it wasn’t.
The men were chanting the numbers of strokes each girl had taken and they shouted, “Fifteen,” as he stepped forward.
“I think you gentlemen should stop this now.”
Captain Cardrew was one of the men using a whip. He laughed at Wainwright and raised the whip to strike again. Wainwright shot him in the chest and he fell to the ground. The other officers backed away.
Wainwright stepped towards the women. Both were hanging from the ropes and strips of the flesh from their backs were hanging loose. They appeared to be breathing. He stood between the women with his back to the post. Half the men were standing behind him but he had no choice. They were the cards he was dealt.
He whispered to the girls. “Sorry ladies. I thought to let the officers sate some of their anger before I intervened. It appears I waited too long.”
Most of the officers had their guns out, though none of them were pointing at him. He still had four shots left in his pistol and they all knew it.
General Brent-Smyth stepped forward, his hands held where Wainwright could see them. “Let’s be reasonable, corporal. Those women are already as good as dead without a Healer and we don’t have one with us. You were a sergeant once. I could get you promoted again.”
“I prefer to stand just where I am, if that’s all the same to you, General.”
The General snarled. “Then you will die here with the women. No one else supports you.”
“I do.” Alan Kincaid stepped out of the group and raised his pistol. “And you might want to consider that my brother knows exactly what is going on.”
He turned to grin at Wainwright. “Where do you want me, Sir?”
“The other side of the post. It’s a pleasure to welcome you to manhood.”
Alan pointing out that his brother knew exactly what was going on caused consternation among the officers. They retreated far enough from the post not to be overheard.
“What are they talking about?” Alan asked.
“What is their cheapest way out of this,” Wainwright said. “In the end they will decide they have no choice but to kill us and hope the army decides to cover the incident up. Sorry about that, sir.”
“I did ask.”
“Looks like they’ve just about reached that conclusion,” Wainwright opined. Men were running back to the tents.
“What are they doing?”
“Fetching their rifles. They are not complete fools, though I had been hoping they might be, sir.”
The General strode towards them, stopping just out of effective pistol range. The other officers dropped to the ground behind him and aimed th
eir rifles.
“This is your last chance, Wainwright, Kincaid. Give yourselves up.”
“Can you give me a minute, sir?”
Alan whispered urgently. “What are you doing?”
“Playing for time. Not much point though. God ain’t going to come roaring out of the sky or nothing. Might be time to say a quick prayer, son.”
“Your time is up, Corporal.”
21. Murders
Harris entered Baxter’s office and was relieved to find him there. Formal business hours had ended some time ago. Baxter was in a jovial mood and encouraged Harris to sit down while he poured him a port.
“Here’s to crime and undetectable murders. It was jolly to have Jones here pouring out his heart because a few street urchins are no more. Perhaps we should set fire to that damned school and take out a few more of them?”
Harris hesitated. Baxter had been acting like a headless chicken as the big event drew closer and it seemed a shame to spoil his mood.
“Well, spit it out man. You came in here for a reason.”
“It may be nothing. I went to the Crown Tavern to pay the arsonists. You know they like to be paid as soon after a job as they can.”
Baxter nodded happily. “Scum, but they do have sound business ethics.”
“The man wasn’t there. Eddie, the landlord, said he hadn’t been in since last night.”
Baxter frowned. “Perhaps he is lying drunk somewhere. Some people find killing children difficult, though I cannot for the life of me see why.”
“Eddie said that the wives of the men had been calling round, looking for their husbands.”
Baxter suddenly laughed. “Perhaps they were killed in their own fire? You told them to make sure every exit was properly blocked?”
Harris nodded.
“There you are then, they got too close. That is wonderfully ironic and it does save the Brotherhood a considerable sum of money.”
Harris laughed and raised his glass, but in his heart he was still worried.
Eric knocked on the door to Andrea’s apartment with some trepidation. The woman unnerved him with her mix of comes-on and put-down, but he had to talk to someone and she was the only person in MM1 that he even halfway trusted.
Andrea was in the middle of preparing tea and annoyed at being interrupted. She opened the door fully intending to tear a strip off whoever was on the other side, but when she saw the state Eric was in she relented.
“God, Eric, we barely finished work an hour ago. You look terrible. Come in.”
She brought him into the apartment and sat him down on the couch. He seemed unwilling to talk so she put a friendly hand on his knee to encourage him.
“They are whipping the women to death.”
On the airship, Antonia was so shocked she convulsively pushed the speed lever forward. The ship lurched and Dougal was thrown into the forward windows.
“Which women, where?” Andrea demanded.
“The Spellbinder and the other one. They were caught by Captain Muldrow and he has just brought them back.”
[Are you getting this, Sister?]
[On it now.]
“We are travelling too fast. What are you doing?” Tom asked.
“Laura and Daisy are being whipped at the army camp,” Antonia said, completely forgetting her vow never to call Laura by name.
“Are you sure?” Dougal asked sharply.
“Via Eric.”
“Keep the speed up and take us down to tree level. Tom, adjust your course five degrees south.”
Tom did as he was told while his mind roiled in a panic, Laura was being hurt and there was nothing he could do.
“How long before we get there?”
Dougal muttered some numbers to himself, “At least ten minutes.”
It occurred to Tom there was actually a few things he could do.
“Tricky, Jeremiah,” he shouted at the top of his voice.
“Reporting,” French said crisply.
“I’m ’ere too.”
“The girls are being tortured at the army camp. Jeremiah I want you and Ebb manning the guns. Can Ebb handle one?”
French considered. “We haven’t fired the guns, but I think he’s a natural. Does what I ask before I say it.”
“’e does that with everythin’,” Tricky pointed out.
“Tell him to use the gun to free the girls, if he can. You take out anybody who threatens them. Get to the guns and I’ll get Tricky to tell you what is happening as we get closer.”
“Eric, what is going on?” Andrea asked softly. The boy’s eyes were far away.
“Corporal Wainwright just shot one of the officers. One of the two with a whip.”
Eric paused, “He’s defending the women, but he’s hopelessly outnumbered.” Eric shrieked, “No don’t! It’s suicide.”
Antonia smiled grimly. “It appears that a soldier has rebelled and is protecting the girls.”
“How long now?” Tom asked.
“Five minutes, maybe more.”
“Alan has joined him. They are defending the women by the whipping post. Alan thinks the women might be dead.”
Antonia decided that could be better phrased in translation.
“There are two soldiers defending the girls. The girls are tied to a post and badly injured.”
Eric’s face whitened and he gripped harder to Andrea’s arm. “The soldiers are lining up their rifles to shoot them. Alan is going to die.”
“Tricky, tell French and Ebb there are soldiers with rifles ready to shoot,” Antonia shouted.
“The camp is up ahead,” Tom shouted. “Bring us down to ground level as soon as we clear the trees.”
[Good luck, sister.]
Wainwright heard a strange sound building in intensity. It reminded him of a steam train, but with more whooshing.
The General stood nonchalantly out of accurate shooting range and Wainwright wondered if it was worth emptying his pistol at him.
“Take aim, men.”
Wainwright saw a massive wolf jump over the trees. Rapid gunfire sounded and splinters cut into his legs as bullets cut the ropes binding the girls’ feet and then the ropes holding them. As he dived to ground to join the women, hundreds of bullets fired over his head cutting the officers with rifles to pieces.
It was all over in seconds. Only the General was still standing. Wainwright watched the General look to his side at the bloody remains of his command. A snarl formed on his face and he stepped forward drawing his pistol. Advancing on the girls, he aimed his gun at them.
A single shot echoed around the camp. A small black hole appeared in the General’s forehead and blood splattered behind him as the back of his head exploded.
The fox moved lower and Wainwright raised his pistol.
“They are friends,” Alan shouted. “Eric says they have come to rescue us.”
Tom left the wheel before the General was shot. Tricky took over the job though no one asked him. Opening the observation room doors Tom jumped the ten feet to the ground and started running to where Laura and Daisy lay slumped. He saw Wainwright point his pistol at him and then point it at the ground.
“Thank you, Corporal,” Tom said as he straightened out the girls so they were lying on their stomachs. The damage to their backs looked horrendous and it was impossible to tell which of them was the worst injured. Tom made a decision, sat crossed legged between them and took both their hands in his.
According to Newton’s theories, a Healer could not heal more than one person at a time; but then, much of what Tom did as a Healer contradicted the man who had put mathematics at the heart of magic. As he grasped the girls’ hands he felt a duality he had never experienced before.
The girls had lost a lot of blood. He ordered injured cells to self destruct while uninjured cells grouped together and new cells were replicated. Wainwright looked on in disbelief as flesh torn from the women’s back flowed like wax to reform again smooth and uninjured.
“How
is he doing that?” Alan asked as he joined Wainwright. “No Healer is able to do that.”
“Probably the same way he arrived out of the sky in a fox to rescue us.”
“Is that really some sort of balloon? It doesn’t look like one.”
Wainwright shook his head. Everything that had happened in the last few minutes was beyond his experience.
Dougal dropped a ladder and made his way over to them.
“How are they?” he asked Tom, but Tom was unable to answer. Corporal Wainwright saluted him, recognizing an officer when he saw one, in or out of uniform.
“Thank you for saving Miss Drew and Miss Young,” Dougal said to them. “I am Lord McBride and will be forever in your debt.”
“I might need some help explaining why I shot an officer,” Wainwright said.
Dougal waved a hand dismissively. “Have no concerns. I am sure this will be hushed up and there are no witnesses. I will second you to my staff and you will be under my protection.”
Tom fell over, his hands slipping from the girls. Dougal lifted Daisy up so he could hold her. He kissed her on the cheek.
Daisy woke and moved her head so they were kissing on the lips.
“I had the most horrible dream,” she began and then opened her eyes. “But it seems it has worked out better than I expected.”
She disengaged herself from Dougal and put a hand on Laura, who stirred at her touch.
“Dougal, what has happened to Tom?” Daisy asked.
Laura lifted herself up and dragged herself over to Tom. He looked pale and his breathing came out shallow and uneven. There was no sign of consciousness.
“Healing the two of you at once must have strained him,” Dougal surmised.
Laura kissed Tom and ruffled his hair. “You silly boy,” she whispered. “I knew you would come to rescue me.”
French and Baum arrived beside them. The American went over to the soldiers to confirm they were dead.
“That was exceptional shooting, Mr. French,” Dougal said.
French scratched his head, “Wish I could take credit, but my gun jammed. The lad did all the shooting. I said he was a natural.”
