by Mari Collier
“I don't believe the tide did it all, Papa. I think it's been there a long time. It might have been made so long ago that Thalians have grown larger. I might be able to crawl through that, but not many of Don's House could. I checked the rock around the opening and below. It's been smoothed out. According to Daniel, Jarvis was scratched when he came through the last time. Was Kahli with y'all then?”
“Aye, fither, he was.”
“Does this tunnel run in a straight line?”
“Nay, Elder Fither, it curves up and around after we leave the ledge room. We hurry as the air tis stinky.”
“Who else kens about this tunnel besides ye four laddies?”
“Nay else ken, Elder Fither.”
“By now Jarvis has told Jolene, and she will have confirmation from JayEll. He won't lie to her, Papa. Y'all need to close it off. Put a weight on there for now. Someone from Medicine or Ishner would be able to get through and blow this place apart.”
“We'll use a scanner that will show us where it runs. We can drill down and fill it if I can find the necessary equipment. Mayhap Linan would ken. Will ye find out for me?”
“If y'all promise to put Lamar in charge of the troop training.”
“He resents ye and he has nay followed my orders.”
“Anybody that could sweet talk Mama like y'all did can make him listen to reason. Just agree that he's a Warrior and this is a job he should have.”
“Ye are confidant of that.”
Lorenz grinned. “Hell yes, the man wants to fight.
“Now watch this young lad. Go ahead, Daniel, show the Maca a Warrior in training.”
Daniel ran for the ropes.
Chapter 35: Daniel Is Missing
Daniel and Kahli had investigated every nook of the waterfront and were looking at the various shops inside the First Center. They found things much different and wondered how these goods had miraculously appeared. The Laird had given everyone at the Station a day off. Kahli stayed with Daniel while Kit went her own way.
“Mayhap fither will buy us one of those sweet rolls.” Daniel looked at Lorenz sitting in the open office and saw that he was deep in conversation with someone on the com. The smell of the brool laced rolls with spices was making his stomach growl.
“Wee Da, we breakfasted nay two hours ago.” Kahli didn't think the Laird that generous.
Daniel frowned. “It was more fun when we snitched them.”
“Tis nay worth the risk now.”
“And there are nay pina pods.”
The vender with the sweet rolls nodded. “There tis plenty of pina leaves, but tis nay as good as brewed from fresh pods. The Sisters send any they have to Rurhran.” He eyed Daniel as he edged closer.
“I'll tell ye what I'll do. I'll put two of these rolls back and when the Laird comes through, I'll ask him if he wishes them for ye two.”
Kahli and Daniel looked at each other and shrugged. They couldn't snatch from this man. “Thank ye.” They both chimed the words and headed outside.
“Let's go back to the waterfront. It looks like some new sails coming in.”
“There tis nay else to do,” agreed Daniel. They ran and walked the five blocks and watched the new arrival.
“Tis Bi,” shouted Daniel. “Mayhap he has a new toy for me.”
Both boys watched with interest as the boat slid into an open spot and one of the crew leapt overboard to tie off. Bi appeared on deck and waved before directing the other two aboard to drop anchor. After that, he swung out the board and walked toward the boys.
“Tis the Laird here?”
“Aye, fither tis here. Did ye bring me a toy?”
“Ye are nay patient. First I must see Linan and the Laird about any trade goods. Come back at the noon meal and dine with me, Wee Da. Ka, if your elder Ki tis here, ye are both welcome too.”
Kahli didn't miss his using their Ab names, nor the fact that he wasn't welcome without Kit.
“We are expected elsewhere then.” His answer was stiff and Daniel looked at him like he'd lost his senses. To Daniel it would be a lost chance to explore the boat and eat sea fare. He'd noticed that his fither didn't really care for fish and it appeared rarely on their plates.
“Come back in the afternoon. I may nay finish till then. See if ye can't bring Ki back with ye.”
Kahli did not bother looking for his sister. He kenned she was at some brew hall or at the First Center enjoying the pool and the brew. Both boys took their time before returning and delivering Bi's message.
Kit was busy looking at the merchandise arranged for buyers.
“Kit, Bi was asking for ye. Did ye talk with him?”
“Aye, I've seen him, Kahli, and he tis angry. I have nay intention of returning with him.” She held up a light blue, low cut blouse with sheer sleeves and sighed. “By the end of summer I will buy this if the Laird doesn't charge too much for seed.”
Kahli blinked. When did Kit buy seeds and nay clothes?
Lorenz stuck his head out of the office. “I have to meet with Fither. Kit, would y'all see to getting the boys something to eat? I've left plenty of credits with Andrew here. Have y'all met my grandson; my younger?” He quickly amended his words.
“Kit, Kahli, this tis my younger, Andrew MacDonald. Andrew, y'all know, Daniel. The other two are Kit and her brother, Kahli. They work at the Station.”
Andrew looked at them and murmured, “Hello, nice to meet you both. Daniel, you'll have to join your father at dinner with me one night this week.” He turned back to Lorenz.
“Paw-paw, I need to talk with Beatrice about what provisions she's made for those new recruits from the Sisters. I've entered the modified fliv they brought into the accounts of Flight with Grandfather Mac's approval. Let me know what night you and the boy are coming.” He nodded at all of them as he left.
Lorenz looked at Kit. “My apologies for his behavior. He has his mind on accounting and he won't come out of that fog until tonight. Will y'all see to their lunch? I'm not sure when I'll get back.”
“If ye call the Warrior's Haven, I'll gladly take them. I've always wanted to eat there.” Kit's brown eyes lit with pleasure at the thought.
“Done. I'll be back sometime this afternoon before five o'clock. I'll fly you all back to the Station or Laten will if he's here.” The thought of Kit and Kahli dining with some of the nabobs of House amused him. He warned the new Keeper of the place to be damned polite to these three.
Daniel and Khali showed up at the dock about two o'clock. Bi was pacing back and forth. “Where have ye two been and where tis Ki?”
“She will remain at the Warrior's Haven till time to return to the Station.” Kahli grinned as he imparted the news and watched Bi's face redden.
Bi turned away from Kahli. “Wee Da, come aboard. I have something to show ye.”
He purposely blocked Kahli's way and smiled, but his eyes had no liking in them. “Just the wee one.”
Kahlie straightened. “Daniel, dinna. Ye are to stay with me.”
Daniel grinned. “I'll be back as soon as I get my toy. Bi would nay hurt me, would ye?” He smiled at the man.
“Nay ever. Ye are the Kenning Woman's laddie.” He put a hand on Daniel's shoulder and led him towards the door to the lower deck. To one of the crewman, he barked an order, “Cast off.”
Kahli saw the man leap overboard and start to untie. “If ye dinna let Daniel off, I will summon the enforcers.” He yelled as loud as his throat would permit.
Bi whirled around at the door to below. “Go on down, laddie, I will be right there.” He hurried back to the side. “All right, come aboard then. Ye'll see we are just making preparations to leave.”
Kahli hesitated, but he could nay leave Daniel. The Laird had given him a charge. He ran up the plank and headed straight for the doorway to below.
Bi stepped in front of him. “Ye go nay further. I will call Wee Da.” He turned and bellowed below.
“Wee Da, come and assure Ka that we mean ye nay harm.�
� He turned back to Kahli and folded his arms over his chest.
Instead of Daniel appearing immediately, they waited. The crew continued to haul up the anchor and unfurling the sails. Kahli kept looking at them and the shore. Two hands appeared; one on each side of the doorway as though someone was holding on for support and leverage to pull upward. A bulky figure was outlined in the dim light behind Bi.
“Tis all right, Bi. Let me speak with him.”
Bi stepped aside, but made sure his form blocked the view from the port. Kahli found himself looking into Daniel's face, but it wasn't Daniel. This was a full-grown Thalian with massive shoulders and arms. The face was female with deep brown, sun-red tinted waves of hair surrounding the high cheek bones. A brown scarf covered her hair and the sides of her face. Kahli's eyes widened and he began to bow.
“Stop that,” she commanded. “Ye canna do anything to show tis me.”
“But Kenning…”
“Hush, dinna name me. Are ye Ki's younger?”
“Aye, lady.”
“Then I owe ye both my life. She left ye in charge of the Handmaiden and cared for me on the trip to the village. Now I reclaim my laddie. Will ye keep this secret for me as Ki has kept the other? Ye ken that they will try to kill me again. I need ye to swear by Gar.” Her light-brown eyes stared into his and her low voice stroked at his ears and held his heart.
Kahli was almost sobbing. His stomach was turning into knots, but he could nay refuse the Kenning Woman. “I swear by Gar, lady. I will tell nay that ye live and that Daniel tis with ye.”
She smiled then, her eyes lighting with a glistening from within. “Thank ye, my young friend. Be assured that my laddie tis safe with us. Go with Gar.” She slowly lowered herself down each step.
Kahli watched, fascinated. He realized she held to the bars at the side for support. Her left leg was useless. Bi stepped in front of him.
“Get out of here. We must sail now.” He was growling, his eyes glaring at Kahli.
Kahli half-ran, half-stumbled off the deck. His heart was filled. The Kenning Woman lived and his elder had nursed her. Nay wonder Daniel would stay with her. Kahli's mither was gone forever. Her dead body must have burned on the pyre as the Kenning Woman and he remembered crying when her touch was gone. What a tale he would have to tell, and the thought made him stop. He could nay tell. He had sworn the oath of a Thalian Warrior. The Laird would demand to ken where Daniel was and he could nay tell. Mayhap if he found Kit; nay that wouldn't help, he realized. The Laird would still find him and demand to ken where Daniel was. Kahli ran up from the pier area and headed for the grassy glade where the Ab signing was held, changed his mind, and ran towards the Second Section. He had to hide, but where? And where was he to live? How was he to pay for his food? The Abs had gone. He began to think it would have been better to stay on board Bi's ship. He turned to run back to the docks when the view from the hillock he was on showed Bi's ship sailing out of port. His legs collapsed and he put his head on his knees. Just a few hours ago he was dreaming he would someday be House and a Warrior sailing among the stars with Wee Da. Kit would have her home. Now he could nay face the Laird. He could nay tell the truth for then he would break his oath. If he broke the oath he was nay worthy to be a Warrior. Somehow, deep inside, he sensed that the Laird did nay give his word lightly.
If he went into a Center to spend what few credits he had left the Laird would trace him. He would have to go into the woods and land around Donnick. Mayhap he could live as the land Abs, but he kenned that was nay likely. The four times he went inland with Kit, he discovered he could nay hunt like those his own age and he had nay of their special weapons made from wood, leather, sometimes metal, and sometimes stone. Abs ate the rodent bawds when they caught them, but he was nay as good they were in catching them, nay did he like the musty taste of the dark meat.
He began to walk slower. Mayhap if he returned, they would send him to Ayran, or just make him Ab again. His mind raced. JayEll had fared ill at the mines, and JayEll had been one year older. If he was sent to the Abs because of his age, Martin would surely punish him as he had JayEll. He sighed. There was nay answer. He realized he was getting thirsty. At least he could find some running water and drink. Then if he sat, mayhap he could think of a solution. He noticed the shadows lengthening and the sun sliding towards the west. Soon the Laird would be looking for Daniel.
Chapter 36: The Hunt
Lorenz attended a meeting at the Third Sector with Lamar, Lecco, Lena, and one of the returning Sisters named Lasa. She had accepted a position as Sergeant.
Lelan arrived with five more recruits and younger Thalians carrying large sized rocks. Lasa sprang at him. “Fither.”
“My lassie, I can quit worrying about hurting ye.” He swept her into his arms and turned to one of the recruits. “Lili, come greet your sib.”
One of the teenage girls ran up. Like Lelan and Lasa her face was wide, the dark hair bobbed short, and the smile showed a wide gap in her teeth.
Lamar had ordered rocks gathered by the younger citizens of Donnick. He insisted that the Trainers and older trainees keep their weapons with them and that they wear the armored clothing at all times. Lorenz thought them mad. The armor clothing was worn instead of the usual outfits, and while fairly light it felt like a sweat box to Lorenz. He was accustomed to the cotton clothes of the plains and the wind blowing through worked as a cooler when it hit the body's perspiration. He had not argued with Lamar. In fact, he had to admire the man's ability to quickly create some sort of order with the Tris that Lecco and Lelan had gathered.
He spent the rest of the afternoon training Lecco, Lelan, and the other adult Tris to use the long stunner while Lamar, Lena, and Lasa trained the others in throwing and had the piles of rock placed in strategic locations. When the younger ones went for more rocks, Lamar and Lena drilled the adults in marching as a unit. Lasa remained at the head relaying commands.
It was late when Lorenz arrived at the Laird's Home and found a worried Lesta waiting for him.
“The laddie's have nay returned, Laird. I kenned ye were busy and contacted Levin, but she has nay seen them.”
“Has one of the workers from the Station named Kit contacted y'all?”
“Nay, Laird.”
“Go home then, and thank y'all for waiting. I think I know where Kit is. Maybe Daniel and Kahli are there.”
“Laird, your fither would like to speak with ye ere ye return to the Station.” She gave a quick bow. “I must leave. My mither tis upset that my fither forgot to clean the pool today, and she tis yelling at him and Stann.”
Why, wondered Lorenz, did families always have one that could be disagreeable, and where the hell had Daniel and Kahlie gone this time?
He touched the com by the door. “Papa, y'all wanted to talk?”
“How did things go with ye and Lamar?”
“We didn't quarrel. We were stiffly polite, but the training went well at the Third Sector. Are the two boys there in the gym?”
“Nay, why do ye ask?”
“They're not here. I'll catch Kit at the Warrior's Haven. Maybe they're there.”
“Kit, tis that the new Tri from the Station?”
“That's her.”
“She tis here waiting for ye. I think Lettuce said the lassie had indulged a bit much and the Warrior's Haven requested her removal.”
Lorenz was silent for a moment. “Weren't the boys with her?”
“Bide a moment.”
The console went blank for a few minutes and Lorenz lit a cigarette. His hand had traveled automatically to his pocket. He drug deeply and paced. Finally Llewellyn returned.
“Lorenz, she has nay seen them since they ate. She thinks they went to the waterfront.”
“Thanks, Papa, I'll start there.”
“I'll join ye.”
Both were at the water's edge within minutes. Kit was with Llewellyn, her face more concerned than theirs. She showed them a number of places the boys had frequented dur
ing the Justine rule, but always the results were the same: Nothing. They stopped every stroller they encountered with the same question, but none had seen two laddies.
The moons began peeping over the eastern horizon, one small, one huge. Both were whitish, half-round globes creeping steadily upward. Gradually, they began to supplement the fading daylight. At the beginning of the Second Sector, they ran into one of the vendors from the First Center heading for the docks with his fishing rod.
“Aye, I saw them this morning. They were to come back for a roll if I did nay sell out. They nay came back, but I saw the taller, skinny one walking towards the hills of the Second Sector. He was alone.”
They thanked the man and eyed each other warily. “What's up there?” asked Lorenz.
“Nay much. The hills skirt the First Sector. There tis a view of the Maca's Tower, the Guardians of the Realm Compound, and the ocean. When I was younger, it was a place for the young ones to meet whenever the Kreppies forgot to send a patrol to enforce their curfew.”
Lorenz looked upward. The description was apt. These were hills, not mountains, covered with deciduous and fir trees. Here and there the empty houses exposed a blue masonry corner not over-grown with vegetation. “Is there a trail then? Do we call for transport?”
“He tis deliberately walking away from us. A transport this late in the evening would alert him that we are searching. Tis better to find the trail which I remember.”
Llewellyn set a brisk pace, the moonlight outlining the buildings, shrubbery, and trees with a surreal glow. At the end of a row of houses, Llewellyn pointed towards a dry fountain and basin. “Just to the left and into the trees a bit, we should find the trail. It will switch back and forth, but we will avoid the boulders while going upward.”
It was rapidly approaching the ninth hour and Kit was tiring, her lips held in a tight line. A short distance into the woods and Lorenz dropped to his knees.
