“I don’t imagine Ingerman is anywhere close by. But the scrying stick can only see a location through geographical means, not wizard doors. It’s pulling to the northeast, so it could be Rumridge. Or Osseley.”
“Or Fallingstone Crossing or Vickermond,” Orly offered.
“Or your destroyed fishing cottage,” I pointed out.
“No,” he said absently. “I have a warning system set up whenever visitors arrive there. That’s how I knew you’d arrived last year.”
“Oh.”
He turned and headed back to the house, while Orly and I followed. The servants meanwhile, watched with curiosity. Down in the room of doors he pointed out two doors I’d never passed through before. “Rumridge is nearer to us, while Osseley lies on the coast. Ingerman might have taken your father to either one.”
“Or somewhere in between,” Orly pointed out.
Master Wendyn nodded at her appreciatively. “In which case we’ve got a lot of walking to do.”
I grabbed the handle to the Rumridge door. “We’ve got to I grabbed the handle to the Rumridge door. “We’ve got toBeckstead / Shadowed by Death / 318
start somewhere. Exactly where does this door let out?” “Master Tappeny’s house.”
“Will he allow us passage through his house?”
He paused with his hand on the doorknob. “I don’t see any
reason why not. You’re my apprentice and you—” he nodded at Orly, “—you’re the underwizard’s sister. Got it?”
Orly nodded.
“Pull your cloak down around your face so he won’t
recognize you from the library,” he instructed her. “We’re visiting—quick, who are we visiting?”
“Aunt Clara,” I supplied. “She’s been ill. She’s got a hunchback and a peg leg and wears a hairpiece.”
“Works for me.” He pulled the door open and we passed through onto a landing at the top of a staircase.
A ringing sounded through the house, announcing our arrival.
“The stick is pulling this way,” Master Wendyn said, pointing in the direction opposite the door.
Just as he did so, a housekeeper approached, a tall graying woman with a crisp yellow apron covering her dress. “May I help you, sir?” She eyed us curiously, probably due to the late hour.
“Is Master Tappeny at home?”
“Afraid not, sir. He’s been called in to the Conclave.” Her glance lingered on Orly longer than the rest of us.
“Forgot he’s on the Council,” the master muttered.
“I’m his sister,” Orly said to the housekeeper, pointing at me. “We’re just here to visit our aunt.”
I put a hand on her arm to get her to stop talking.
“We won’t be staying,” Master Wendyn said. “If you’d just give us a moment. Direction spell, Avery.”
It’d be easier to step to a window and look at the stars to get our bearings, but leaving this house and going to the next one as quickly as possible was in our best interests. Council members could be at Ryker Hall at this very moment for all we knew. I cast the direction spell, which had been among the first I’d memorized at Master Wendyn’s behest. It turned me to the left, and I pointed. “North is that way.”
“Thank you, my good woman,” Master Wendyn said, bowing to the housekeeper.
Back to the wizard door, and the three of us crossed through, back to Ryker Hall’s room of doors.
“Was that bad?” Orly asked, frowning. “Should I have kept quiet?”
“It was fine, Orly. Just…don’t talk unless you have to.”
“The spell is still pulling to the northeast,” the master said. “Rumridge wasn’t far enough—wait. Shhh.”
Above our heads, booted footsteps and deep voices.
“The Council,” I hissed.
“Come on.” The master jerked his head at the door to Osseley, and I grabbed the handle and pulled it open. We piled Osseley, and I grabbed the handle and pulled it open. We piledBeckstead / Shadowed by Death / 320
through and the master closed it softly.
“Can they follow us?” I asked.
“Probably,” Master Wendyn said. “Will they? That’s another
story.”
We turned our attention to the courtyard area we now stood in.
“This way,” he gestured, heading through foliage toward what appeared to be a brick wall. “There’s an alley through here, as I recall—aha! There it is.” He led the way out of the courtyard onto cobblestones barely visible in the dark of evening.
“Where’s the stick pulling?” I asked.
He looked to the sky. “Going by the stars…still northeast.”
“But there’s nothing else to the northeast!”
“Just the sea,” Orly said. “And Belanok. The Outer Kingdoms too.”
Master Wendyn intercepted my panicked look. “Stay calm. She couldn’t have made it to Belanok or the Outer Kingdoms. No wizard door can span that distance. We’re not as far northeast as we can go yet. Once we are, then we’ll decide what to do next.”
“But if we don’t get there by morning…” I began.
“We will,” he said testily.
We emerged onto a dark street, and the master instructed us to stay close and keep a watch for unsavory characters. “I’m not to stay close and keep a watch for unsavory characters. “I’m notBeckstead / Shadowed by Death / 321
all that familiar with Osseley,” he volunteered as we walked. “Been here a handful of times to visit Master Elsinghorst. Not much opportunity to wander the streets after dark, though. This is all new to me.”
From the nervous looks Orly was throwing around, I got the sense it was new to her too. So that made three of us.
Time passed as we traipsed through dark streets and narrow alleys. Fortunately the moon was bright tonight, and we used its light more than once to guide our way. Every so often the master allowed us to stop and rest. The few times we attracted unwanted attention, Orly and I scared them off with various unpleasant spells.
After what felt like hours, we reached the outskirts of the city. Master Wendyn’s breathing hitched, and he came to a stop.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I think…I think it’s changing,” he said, walking ahead a few steps. “It is! It’s starting to pull slightly that way.” He pointed to the left. Accordingly we modified our direction slightly, angling more to the north.
Another hour passed, maybe two. We’d drawn near the sea, and I could hear its dull roar in the distance, black as night, an invisible roaring monster.
“Quiet now,” Master Wendyn said. “Whatever you do, no light. If we’re getting close, I don’t want to alert her beforehand.”
“Are we getting close?” I asked, but the master only shushed me.
We were far away from Osseley by now, and homes were few and far between. We plodded on the Hutter Road headed north, a rough road that was really little more than a dirt path. The further we walked, the rougher the way became, until we were picking our way over rocks and trudging through sand. Until, at last, the path disappeared completely and the land angled upward, quickly turning into a sharp cliff face.
“It’s impassable,” Orly said, disappointed. “What can we do?”
“We’ll have to go around,” Master Wendyn said.
I rubbed my face with my hands. “Do you know how much time that will take? It’ll be morning by then.” And I was so tired.
“Where can she be?” Orly asked.
I looked around hopefully. “A cottage on the shore?”
“If we’re lucky,” the master said.
“And if we’re not?” I wavered in place and felt like I might fall over.
“They’re out to sea.”
It was what I’d been afraid of all along. “Why would she give us an impossible task, though? To find a boat at sea?”
He shook his head and didn’t reply.
Despair filled me. I stared at the cliff face and blinked ba
ck tears. In the darkness, a hand sought mine. I glanced over back tears. In the darkness, a hand sought mine. I glanced overBeckstead / Shadowed by Death / 323
as Master Wendyn’s hand closed around my own and squeezed, though he never looked away from the cliff.
“Wait, look!” Orly cried.
I followed the direction of her finger, peering into the darkness toward the sea. “What is that? Is that a ship?” Far off in the distance, anchored off the shore sat a three-masted sailing ship.
“I do believe it is.” Master Wendyn dropped my hand and stepped closer to the incoming tide, scrying stick held before him. “I think it’s pulling this way. It is. Good eye, Orly.”
“Now…how are we going to get out there?” she asked.
Master Wendyn squared his shoulders. “We’re going to swim.”
***
A mid-October late night swim when I felt as though I’d been walking for two days made me about as excited as taking trial fourteen for a third time.
“One of us should stay here,” Master Wendyn said. “Who’s the strongest swimmer?”
I’d been swimming at Lake Kyria all through my youth, and yet staying on shore sounded so very appealing. But then again, it was my father we were trying to rescue. It hardly seemed fair to send Orly out to do work I didn’t want to do. “You stay here, Orly. I’m a passable swimmer, and if I’m honest, you’re my acein-the-sleeve. If I’m in trouble, I want you running in to save me.”
She looked doubtful. “Well, all right. But if things get dangerous, I don’t know how much help I’ll be from shore.”
“Here’s what you can do. If we look like we’re in trouble, or something unexpected happens, or if we don’t return within, say, a couple of hours, I want you to go to Westley Wendyn for help. That’s my father. He’ll know what to do.”
Orly nodded and made note of the master’s instructions for how to reach his father. She had nothing to write down any such directions with, so it was fortunate that she had a nearly perfect memory.
Master Wendyn and I faced the water and I began to wade in, soaking my stockings for the second time that night, when I looked back at the shore and noticed something a little off. A shimmer of magic, the faint tingle of a spell.
“Wait,” I said, pointing. “Do you see that?”
He looked too, squinting.
“It’s a wizard door,” I said triumphantly.
We slogged back out of the water and the master cast a revealing spell. Moments later the door shimmered into being before us. He tried the handle and it opened. I looked past him to see that it appeared to lead onto the deck of a ship.
“Allow me,” he said, stepping through first. “Stay behind me.”
We took about three steps through the door. The air felt stuffy here, different, although I couldn’t put my finger on stuffy here, different, although I couldn’t put my finger onBeckstead / Shadowed by Death / 325
why. I closed the door behind me and turned in a circle, compelled by both curiosity—this was my first time standing on a ship, after all—and anxiety for Papa. I stopped short when my gaze fell on a woman leaned up against the big mast in the middle of the ship, watching us.
“Hello, Avery,” she said. “You came. I’m so pleased.” My mouth opened in astonishment. “Cat?”
# CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR Cat chuckled softly. “You never suspected?” “Suspected what?” I squinted at her.
“You’re Keturrah Ingerman,” Master Wendyn said slowly.
“Cat’s not short for Catherine, and your surname isn’t Germane.” I glanced at him sharply, then looked back at Cat. “That’s right. And you shouldn’t have come, Wendyn. If you
try anything, I won’t hesitate to kill you. I never do.” “So I’ve noticed,” the master said. “Curiosity compels me
to ask, have you always enjoyed cooking, or what brought you to
apply for the position in my household?”
“Creative thinking. When other methods failed, I had to use
my imagination. You never minded my meals, did you?” “No. Although I’m wondering now just how much of it was “No. Although I’m wondering now just how much of it wasBeckstead / Shadowed by Death / 326
cooking and how much of it was spellwork.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll give you one guess.” He edged in front of me. “And what do you have in mind for
Avery?”
“She’ll accompany me to Belanok, of course.”
“And if she doesn’t want to go?” He stepped further in
front of me. Cat shrugged and straightened. For the first time I noticed the elegant dress she wore, much fancier than anything she’d ever worn at Ryker Hall as cook. “She may not want to now, but she’ll change her mind once she gets there and sees what we have to offer.”
He opened his mouth to speak further, but I elbowed him in the side. No need to argue with her just yet. Not before we’d ascertained a few important facts. “Where’s Papa? We came before dawn, as you said.”
She waved a hand. “Apart from being astonishingly irritating, he’s fine. He’s around here somewhere.”
“Will you let him go then?”
“I will. Only because it doesn’t matter any more what he knows about you. Now that you’re coming with me, he can tell the Council all about you. They can’t touch you in Belanok.”
“I want to see for myself that he’s all right.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve come to care for him. After all the blow-ups you’ve had around Ryker Hall?”
For some reason the words made me defensive. “He’s my father,” I said, as though that explained it all.
She shook her head. “You’ll learn soon enough. Men are the useless sex.”
For the first time I noticed that the ship seemed…eerily silent. “Doesn’t this ship have a…I don’t know, a crew or something?”
Cat smiled. “That’s the beauty of magic, my dear. On the Lovely Witch, I am the crew.” She waved a hand and the sail in the middle unfurled, then her other hand and a mop leaning against the side of the ship lifted up and began swabbing the deck. “I’ve found myself to be infinitely more trustworthy than any sailor.”
I glanced uneasily at Master Wendyn. Perhaps bringing a man onto this ship had been a bad idea.
“Now.” She clapped her hands. “Before any more questions or letting anyone go, you two look tired. I want us all to be rested before we speak any further.”
“We’re not setting sail,” I said, tilting my head to the side as if I could see into her head better that way and judge the truth of her words. It didn’t help.
“Not yet, no. But we will soon enough, and I know we’ll have some things to talk about then. Best to do it when you’re well rested.” She jerked a hand, and behind her a door opened showing a corridor with at least two doors set into it. “I’ve showing a corridor with at least two doors set into it. “I’veBeckstead / Shadowed by Death / 328
generously offered you three the captain’s quarters for now. Rest, and we’ll have breakfast in a few hours.” I didn’t trust this woman out of my sight, that was for certain. Leaving her alone for several hours made me extremely uneasy. But when I opened my mouth to argue, she held up a hand.
“Please, no protests. I need my own sleep. Waited up half the night for you to arrive. Sleep, both of you. Sleep.” She waved a hand, and an extreme lethargy settled upon me. I stumbled and leaned against the master, whose eyes were looking pretty droopy as well.
“This…this is a spell,” I mumbled.
“Yes. Yes, it is. Don’t worry. It’s not permanent. Right this way.” She herded us toward the open door, pushing us from behind. Once within the short corridor, she opened another door, revealing a spacious cabin with three fine beds lined up in a row. I stumbled toward one of them, just registering a still lump in one of the others. Papa?
Sleep overcame me, I think before I even rested my head on the pillow.
***
Rain
tumbled through the sky and I ran, slipping and sliding in mud, chased by an invisible something. Feet pounded the road behind me, and I knew I had to go faster—but my legs slowed and stuck. Panic clawed up my throat, burning and raw. Steps overtook me.
“You will come to Belanok, Avery.” Cat’s hand closed around my neck, lifting me in the air. I choked and grappled for purchase, scratching and pulling at her hand without budging it.
Master Wendyn stepped from behind her and hope surged in my chest—until he spoke.
“Take her away. She’s brought me nothing but trouble.”
Cat dropped me on the ground and I fell backward in the muck, crawling.
“Stop right there,” the master commanded, and when I didn’t obey, he sent a spell that hit me square in the chest. Heat surged upward, invisible licking flames that climbed my body. A pain spell. Searing, melting, blistering agony. I collapsed in on myself with a cry.
“You’ll never get away from me.” Cat loomed over me.
I writhed as the feeling of burning, sizzling flames climbed upward.
“Stop it, Avery,” the master commanded.
Fire consumed me, and I sank into the pain as it shriveled me into the husk of a dead thing.
“Stop it, I said.”
I jumped and opened my eyes to black. The remnants of flame licked over me and away, and I whimpered, limbs shaking.
Hands came down on my shoulders, and I jerked. “Avery?” the master’s voice hissed, directly above me. “You all right?”
My breath exhaled shakily. “I think…nightmare,” I mumbled. “What happened?”
“You cried out and started thrashing around.” The pressure on my shoulders lifted as he stepped back. “ I thought you were being attacked.”
“I was.”
I’m surprised you didn’t wake Jasper.”
I loosened my hands, which held fistfuls of bedclothes. “Papa can sleep through anything.” I rubbed at my face. “Wait, that was him in that bed, then?”
“Judging by the snoring, yes. I’d recognize that buzzing anywhere.”
One more ragged breath, and I pushed myself to a sitting position. Near complete darkness surrounded me, but I could just discern Master Wendyn’s outline a few steps away. It couldn’t have been that long since Cat pushed us in here, but apparently her sleep spell had worn off. “We should…try to get away.”
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