by Tammy Walsh
It was the least I could do.
Ejam could barely hold onto the arjaths, they were so excited about taking off. Waev and I swung onto their backs. I would have said “Thank you” to the stable master but the moment he let go of their harnesses, the arjaths took off like a shot. It was all I could do to hang on.
Arjaths were ideal at a slow gallop but due to the strange shape of their bodies, with their shorter hind legs and long necks, it made them lope along rather than stride.
They tore across the front lawn. Some of the guards waved to us as they returned from the woods having found no sign of the kidnapper.
But the arjaths didn’t know that. They entered the forest, running along the same trail we took that fateful day. I wondered if they were only overly excited about the idea of going for a nice ride again.
Suddenly, they turned off the worn path and into the forest and across the snaring undergrowth. They moved slower now—still much too fast for my taste—and lowered their long necks and snorting noses to the ground. The damp leaves and rotting wood rose and fell as their powerful nostrils sniffed.
Snorter came to a stop first and pawed impatiently at the undergrowth with his front leg.
I hopped off him and rooted through the leaves where he pawed.
“What have you found, boy?” I said. “Huh? Is there something under there?”
I dug up wet leaves, rotting plants, even the hind legs of a discarded frog. And there, tucked away underneath it all, something small and hard. I got a good grip on it and pulled it free.
I smiled at seeing it, knowing I wasn’t crazy for coming out here, knowing my instincts were right all along.
“What is it?” Waev said. “What have you found?”
I raised it for him to see.
Caked in crud, with thick lumps hanging from it, was another one of Cleb’s spy toys.
Waev just stared at the piece of plastic.
He’d never fully believed my theory. I still had my doubts until this moment, but now we’d found Cleb’s toy out here in the middle of the forest—in a place it had no right to be—it meant I was right, and someone was leaving a trail for us to follow.
“You were right,” he said, taking his hat off. “They did come this way.”
The arjaths sniffed the ground and looked ready to take off in another direction.
Toward the next breadcrumb.
I climbed on Snorter’s back and gave him free rein. He weaved between the trees, leaping easily over fallen trunks, and paused only to check he was heading in the right direction. I was entirely absorbed with trying to stay in the saddle.
We found three more spy toys, one after the other. They seemed to have been dropped at regular intervals. The first figurine was a young boy who wore an astronaut’s backpack that allowed him to zip through space—very fitting, I thought—and another character that had the appearance more of a wizard than a spy. The most recent one was Titus, the arch-enemy.
I tucked them each in my pocket and looked forward to when I would get to hand them back to Cleb—after they’d been scrubbed clean.
I hopped in the saddle for Snorter to take me on to the next breadcrumb when he took a few steps forward and immediately stopped. It didn’t just happen to Snorter but Waev’s arjath too. They pawed at the ground in two different locations.
“What do you think it is?” I said. “Food?”
“Possibly,” Waev said.
We hopped off our mounts and dug at the locations the arjaths suggested. I found my breadcrumb. Another spy figurine. I raised it at the same time Waev raised his.
The arjaths were already digging at other locations too. I collected and tucked them in my pocket.
Now we were at a total loss.
I peered at my surroundings. In each direction, there was nothing but endless woodland as far as the eye could see.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “Where did they go?”
“Maybe they spilled from Bianca’s pocket,” Waev said.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
And what made them spill?
I swear, if he harmed so much as a hair on their head…
“Now what do we do?” I said.
I’d been growing excited at the speed we’d been closing on their location.
We could be close and we’d never know it. The arjaths brought us most of the way but without knowing which direction to head next, the kidnapper was as good as gone.
“Looks like we’re going to have to do this the old-fashioned way,” Waev said.
He stood and ran his eyes over the area, first one way and then the other. He didn’t say a word. Then, he hopped over to a patch of ground strewn with leaves.
“Have you found something?” I said.
I joined him and peered at the same area he was. I straightened up and turned away.
“There’s nothing there,” I said.
“Not to the untrained eye,” he said, not taking his eyes off the patch of soil.
“They went that way,” he said, pointing.
“What?” I said. “How can you know that?”
“Because they left tracks,” he said.
Tracks.
“There’s something in my past that’s a little… dark.” Wasn’t that what he said? Could that darkness he told me about be linked to battle or war? And maybe he could read tracks because he had been trained to?
I didn’t care how he could do it. If it pointed the way, I was willing to forgive anything he might have done in the past.
“Then let’s go!” I said, climbing into Snorter’s saddle.
We traveled much slower now. We didn’t have the arjaths’ incredible sniffing ability and instead had to rely on Waev’s tracking skills. He made sure he never lost track of the direction we were headed.
We wound through the trees and I felt the tension ratcheting up one notch at a time. Slowly. Painfully.
The sun had yet to rise. That, I assumed, was a good thing. Cleb could only travel so far on foot. He would need to take a rest. And if Bianca had to carry him, it would tire her out so she had to stop too.
A bird screeched and flapped through the trees a yard in front of us. It spooked the arjaths. Their ears perked up and shifted left to right independently of each other, hearing things we had no awareness of.
The arjaths were skittish. Maybe they sensed we were getting close too, I thought.
I ran my hand comfortingly over Snorter’s fur to calm him down. He pushed on, stepping slowly across the forest floor.
I was certain we’d long since passed through the boundaries of my land and into my neighbor’s. Heading in our current direction would put us on Quill’s land. He already knew we were out there looking for Bianca and Cleb.
With any luck, his men wouldn’t shoot us.
“Woah,” Waev said, pulling his arjath to a halt.
He swung his leg over and dismounted. He moved to a tree and tied his arjath to it. I followed suit and joined him.
“What is it?” I said.
“A clearing up ahead,” Waev said.
We crept through the foliage. I made at least three times the noise Waev did. He got down on his stomach and crawled along the ground. I followed him up to a thick copse of leaves. Waev pulled a single leaf back to peer through. I did the same on my side.
We’d reached the edge of a wide clearing. How Waev could have known that all the way back there was beyond me.
There, across the way, hidden largely by overgrown hedges and climber plants, it was a watchtower. Sections of the wall were missing. Stairs were visible like a skeleton’s ribcage through a deep gash in its side. A room was at the top of the tower. It appeared to be in relatively good shape.
“If you were on the run, where would you hide?” Waev said, nodding to the tower.
“If they are up there, how are we supposed to get them out?” I said. “We can’t take the risk the kidnapper might hurt them.”
“He won’t hurt them,�
�� Waev said.
“How can you be sure?”
“Because if he does, he loses his bargaining chips. This guy is merciless, but he’s not stupid. So, how do you want to handle this?”
“I was going to ask you the same question,” I said. “You’re the one with the training. How would you handle it?”
Waev looked at me with a quizzical look on his face. I guess it felt strange for him to be calling the shots now. Over the years, it’d always been me.
“If this was about a negotiation, or finding the right location for a mine, or coming up with investors to open one, then I’d take the lead,” I said. “This is not my jurisdiction.”
“It isn’t mine either,” he said. “Not for a while, anyway.”
“Never in my case,” I said. “I give you permission to boss me around. But don’t start getting used to it.”
Waev chuckled and I smiled back.
“All right,” he said. “I say we creep through the forest this way and work our way around to the back of the tower. If there’s only one kidnapper, he’ll be facing this way as it gives the best field of view. But it leaves him open on the backside.”
“And if there are two of them?” I said.
“Then we’ll still have a greater chance of creeping into the tower that way,” he said. “And if we hurry and they shoot at us, they’re more likely to miss us this late at night. They’ll be tired after walking all night.”
More likely.
I never liked hearing those words.
I also didn’t much like taking the risk, but it was a risk worth taking.
I nodded at him.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
He reached for his shoulder bag and opened it. He took out two guns. One was a serious piece of kit with a plasma grenade launcher on the side and smart bullet capability. Perfect for when you wanted to take down an army singlehanded.
He handed me the crummy blaster pistol.
“How come I don’t get the cool gun?” I said.
“You forget,” he said. “I’ve seen you shoot. Aim it at the bad guy.”
Despite the tension, I chuckled.
Waev crawled back into the forest. Once he became invisible to the watchman—if there was one up there—he got to his feet and jogged through the dense wood. I followed on his heels.
I was surprised at how deep into the forest he cut to ensure we weren’t easily seen. Surely we didn’t need to come this far out, did we? My legs, back, and ass were already smarting. I was only used to sitting behind a desk!
Then he slowed down—thank the Creator!
I was dismayed to see him adopt a crouched position. It was even worse than jogging, but I endured the pain.
Finally, he came to a stop behind a big tree. He wiped a hand across his forehead to wipe away the sweat. I was relieved to see I wasn’t the only one out of shape.
“On the count of three, we will both run toward the tower,” he said. “You go around that way, I’ll go this way.”
“Wait,” I said. “Where’s the tower?”
“Go around this tree and run straight. If someone opens fire, just keep running.”
“Opens fire?” I said. “I thought they won’t see us.”
“They probably won’t. It’s just in case.”
Probably won’t. Another one of my most hated phrases.
“These guys won’t harm Bianca and Cleb,” Waev said. “But you can bet your bottom credit they’ll harm us if they can.”
I took a deep breath. There was a very real chance my life was about to end. Titans weren’t afraid of death. At least, not traditionally.
I was terrified.
“On the count of three, ready?” Waev said.
Not really. I nodded.
“One, two, three!”
We ran out from behind the tree. The tower immediately reared up ahead of us. I sprinted toward the gash in the tower’s rear as if my life depended on it.
Which it did.
The whole run couldn’t have lasted more than a few seconds but it felt like hours. The entire time, I thought about Bianca and Cleb and wished I could get to see them again, that I could see Cleb graduate and get a job, find a girl and get married, maybe even have his own kids. I wanted the same with Bianca. And then we could die together at an old age in each other’s arms.
I did not want to die here. Not now.
Not when I had only just begun to live.
I was twelve yards from the entrance and my legs were already burning with acid…
Five…
Two…
One…
And now we were on the first floor. It was cloaked in darkness and I couldn’t see a thing.
Waev took position behind a square object I thought was a box. I doubted it could stop a blaster pistol shot but it was better than nothing.
I joined him, only to find it wasn’t big enough for two men.
Waev motioned toward the staircase.
He forgot to mention I was supposed to watch our rear.
I moved to the stairs and aimed up. I refused to take my eyes from it.
Waev made a sweep of the first floor before joining me. He made a bunch of hand signals that meant nothing to me. He rolled his eyes and whispered in my ear.
“Follow me,” he said. “And aim the pistol at the bad guy.”
“I heard you the first time!” I said.
Man, he had a long memory. You accidentally shoot a guy while hunting in the forest and they hold it over you forever.
He ascended the stairs first. Silent, swift. I followed behind, making twice as much noise and going at half the speed.
We made a sweep of the second floor together, then the third.
We came to the section of the stairs that’d fallen away or else been blasted out. We hopped over the broken steps, already crumbling and threatening to give way beneath us.
Now came the final flight of stairs.
Waev motioned for me to stay where I was. He ascended the steps by himself, his uber-powerful rifle clutched tight to his shoulder.
He took the steps slowly and poked his head above floor level and immediately lowered back down again. He crept back down to me, so swiftly, so silently, he might have been a shadow.
He whispered in my ear.
“They’re here,” he said.
I breathed a sigh of relief at hearing the two most beautiful words I’d ever heard.
They’re. Here.
“The kidnapper?” I whispered back.
He nodded. He was there too.
“How many kidnappers?” I said.
He raised a single finger. One.
“Is he asleep?” I said.
Waev shook his head.
“Drifting off but not asleep,” he said. “He has a blaster. Stay here. I’ll try to take him. If I fail, you come up.”
It would give us two chances, I realized. But it meant putting Waev’s life on the line first. He was far more qualified than I was. Still, I didn’t like the idea of him taking all the risk.
Still nervous and unsure, I nodded.
Waev took one slow step after another until he reached the top.
I clutched the blaster to my chest.
Waev took a deep breath and rounded the corner.
A bolt of plasma slammed into his shoulder and he fell back on the stairs.
No!
Waev struggled to raise his rifle.
“You made so much noise coming up the steps, I could have shot you in the dark,” the kidnapper said as he stepped forward.
He lowered his pistol at Waev.
His eyes flickered up and found me.
He’d heard me coming up the steps but hadn’t expected a second man.
His grin faded.
I trained my blaster pistol on him and squeezed the trigger.
He fell back and his arm flew out. A shot issued from the tip of his blaster.
It could have struck Bianca or Cleb.
Desperate to ensu
re he didn’t let another shot go off, I ran up the steps and fired three or four or twenty times.
At least a couple found their mark, leaving him lifeless and unmoving.
Cleb whined.
I turned to the pair of them, Bianca and Cleb both. She clutched him close, holding him tightly in her arms.
I dropped my blaster and wrapped my arms around them. I’d never been so happy. But concern for my friend was forcing me to hurry the reunion along.
“Get up,” I said. “We have to get Waev help.”
“Don’t hurry on my account,” Waev said, limping over to join us. He slumped beside me.
“I saw you get shot…” I said.
Nobody recovered from a blaster pistol that fast.
Not even a Titan.
That was when he removed his blaster proof vest. The shot had almost burned a hole through it.
They didn’t give such expensive armor to just any soldier. He must have once been in the elite special forces. They were dispatched on the most deadly—some would say suicidal—missions across the galaxy.
And this entire time, he’d been my butler!
“I’m going to have to find you a new position,” I said.
“Not for all the money in the empire,” Waev said.
I turned back to Bianca and Cleb. I wrapped my arms around them and kissed them on every bare piece of skin I could find. Cleb was in tears and Bianca kissed me back. She was so relieved to see me, she ignored the questions Cleb would doubtless have about us later.
We crouched on that dirty floor hugging each other. I pulled Waev down to join us. He was the real hero. He was the one who brought us back together again.
And I would never forget it.
Bianca
All the way home, Cleb wouldn’t let me go.
It was understandable given our recent experience. He clung onto me tightly, his arms and legs wrapped around me, his back and head pressed against the arjath’s soft fur. I rode in the saddle, my arms on either side helping hold him in place.
Comforted by the warm arjath fur, Cleb fell into a deep sleep. He murmured, turning his head from one side to the other, disturbed. I hushed him back to sleep and gently ran my fingers through his hair.
We were heading through the forest, back toward the house. The arjath didn’t need me to guide him. He could have found his way back with ease.
