honey-gold mass dropped to the middle of her back and over her shoulders. Clarrisa actually yelped with joy and clasped the sides of her face. "Absolutely fantastic! My son loves blond hair."
Despite her dread, Shasta couldn't help smiling herself. Clarrisa's enthusiasm was infectious. And it had the affect of making her feel more comfortable.
Clarrisa took hold of Shasta's right wrist, gently but firmly. "All right, then, come on. Let's get this show on the road." And she began towing her out of the room.
Taken by surprise, Shasta nearly lost her balance. When she regained it she then began resisting slightly, pulling back and dragging her feet. "Wait, what about my things?"
Clarrisa didn't stop, but turned her head and gave her an irritated look. "Oh, for heaven's sake, leave them. You'll get them back when you're finished, so don't worry, I'll take good care of them. Now come on!" She quickened her pace and pulled all the harder.
Shasta continued to resist at first, but had to quicken her pace into a trot to keep up. The two women made their way to the stair hall, then climbed the grand staircase to the second floor. The hardwood floors on the first story and the marble steps were chilly on the soles of her feet and the rapid staccato of Clarrisa's heels made her worry about getting her toes stepped on, but the carpeting at the second story landing felt comfortably warm, and it muffled the clack of the heels.
Coming in March.
From "Survival & Sacrifice"
"Hey! Stop hoggin' the mirror, ya butthead!"
Eile stood beside Sunny in front of the bathroom's small vanity. It really had been designed to be used by just one person, so both of them together made it somewhat crowded, and Sunny's huge mane of gamboge hair didn't help matters any, either. Then again, the rooms in the suites on the third story of Differel's ancestral manor were rather small to begin with, pretty much comfortable only for single persons. She and Sunny normally didn't mind, because they enjoyed the intimacy, but there were times when it became bothersome.
Like when they were in a hurry and trying to put on makeup at the same time.
They were visiting Differel and Henry for a few days, and the aristocrat had decided to throw an impromptu semi-formal dinner party. They had spent the whole afternoon shopping for new clothes in King's Lynn and nearly didn't make it back in time. They rushed through a shower together and threw on their new threads, with just barely enough time to make themselves presentable.
"I just need a few more seconds!" Sunny replied. There were few times when she lost her temper, but interfering with her primping was one.
"Like you need it." She elbowed Sunny over so she could brush on mascara.
"I'm not some kinda supermodel, you know." Sunny leaned back in to paint on lip gloss.
"More like a bimbo centerfold--watch it!" A lock of Sunny's hair flapped into her face.
"I'll be done in two shakes of a lamb's tail; can't you wait?"
"We're late enough as it is. Diff's gonna blow her top if we show up after the horse doovers are served."
"That's hors d'oeuvres, you Philistine."
She flashed Sunny a dirty look. "Put a sock in it."
A loud kerfumple sounded from somewhere close by.
"What was that?!" Sunny looked off in the direction of the sound.
"How the hell should I know, ya ditz?" But it almost sounded like someone running into a door.
"Come on, let's check it out." And Sunny skipped off into the bedroom as Eile jogged after her. She reflected how, even after so many adventures together, her partner still tended to go running off into the face of possible danger without thinking.
Nothing looked amiss in the bedroom, other than their street cloths and underwear scattered across the bed and floor where they dropped them in their haste to change. Nor did they see anything wrong in the drawing room. Eile had just about convinced herself that the sound was nothing important, when Sunny opened the door to their suite and jumped away from the threshold with a squeal.
A Caerleon Order guard lay just outside, face down in a pool of his own blood.
Sunny knelt to feel the pulse on his neck as Eile sprinted forward. She scanned the hallway; to the right lay the corridor that gave access to the gymnasium, game room and chapel, while to the left the passage led to the solar. Both were empty.
"He's dead."
"No shit, Sherlock." Eile didn't look down. "Gimme his rifle."
Sunny passed up the L85A2 assault gun. "He must've hit the door when he was killed."
Eile released the magazine and examined it; it was loaded, and it looked to be a full thirty rounds, but she couldn't be sure. "Does he have any more ammo?" She fitted it back in place and cocked the weapon.
Sunny opened a snap pouch on his belt and pulled out two STANAG magazines. She held them up as she removed his L106A1 service pistol.
"Huh. We're gonna be handicapped hauling these clips around with us."
Sunny retrieved two 15-round pistol magazines and his combat knife. The British Armed Forces didn't have a standard-issue knife, but Differel made sure all her troops had a Gerber Mark II.
"I've got an idea." Sunny slipped the knife into one of her designer boots and stood up. "Keep watch." She slipped past Eile back into the room.
Eile went out into the hall, thumbing the selective fire switch to three-round bursts as she stepped over the body. All the combat training they had gotren from Lt. Gen. Morgan Leia Ross for the special missions she used to send them on was still pretty fresh in her mind, and they had been getting supplemental training from Differel's Master-at-Arms, Sergeant Major Giles Holt. She glanced back into the room. Sunny had one of their handbags and had dumped the contents into a chair. She placed her magazines inside and slipped it over her head and one shoulder.
She stepped out into the hall. "We've gotta get to Henry." She released her pistol's magazine and checked it over, then slammed it back into place and cocked the gun.
Eile handed her the STANAGs and Sunny put them in the bag. "Yeah. You take point."
"Right. Let's go kick hiney, partner!" Gripping the pistol with both hands and raising it to her face, she checked up and down the passage and then headed for the solar. Eile raised the rifle to her shoulder and fell in behind her, keeping watch in back of them as she followed.
Sunny paused at the corner of the room and hopped forward, aiming the pistol left to cover the alcove for the service elevator.
"Clear!" She raised the gun and continued on. At the end of the passage stood a door that led into the solar, but it stood open. Sunny flattened herself against the right wall and Eile hugged the left. She didn't see anything in her line of sight, but she couldn't see much of the room in any event. They stopped a couple of feet from the threshold; Sunny lowered the pistol to her waist as Eile pointed the barrel of the rifle at the ceiling. They looked at each other and nodded.
Sunny jumped into the room and crouched as she raised and pointed the pistol to the left at the double doors that led to the family activity rooms. A second later, Eile stepped inside and aimed right towards the stairs that came up from the second story.
"Clear!" she said.
"Clear!" Sunny echoed.
"Go!"
Sunny sprinted for the closed door at the opposite end of the room while Eile covered her. When she reached it and turned to face her, Eile started towards her.
The double doors crashed open; in the threshold stood a bipedal monstrosity, like a cross between a man, a lizard, and a rat. It balanced on its toes as a long, sinuous tail lashed around behind it. Screaming, it rushed at them. Sunny fired three times in quick succession; two of the 9mm Parabellum slugs slammed into its chest while the third ripped through its throat. It fell forward even as three more creatures charged up the stairs. Eile spun around and squeezed off three shots; two trios of 5.56mm NATO ammunition squarely hit their marks and threw a pair of the creatures back, but the third ducked and the rounds only grazed it. Sunny turned and fired thrice more; two of the bullets went through the nec
k while the third lodged in the skull. Eile sidestepped as it fell past her and collapsed in front of its companion.
Eile gave Sunny a thumbs-up, and she returned a big goofy grin. She then sobered and gestured that she would open the door. Eile nodded and raised the rifle, sighting on the entry. Sunny flattened herself against the wall beside the knob, turned it and opened it a crack, then grasped the door and threw it open. In the hallway stood another creature. As it leapt, Eile fired and it collapsed backward.
"Go!"
Sunny leapt into the corridor, planted a foot on its chest, and shot it once in the head.
"Clear!"
Eile ran through the entry and slammed the door closed behind her. They charged down the passage to the opening into the Grand Hall. Across the way sat a door that led into the second level of the library. They slowed as they reached the exit, but they didn't stop. Sunny approached on the right and Eile on the left as before, and again Sunny crouched aiming left as Eile stood over her aiming right.
"Clear!" she said.
"Clear!" Sunny squeaked.
They dashed across the Hall and flattened themselves against the library wall on either side of the door, their weapons pointed up. The wall curved away in both directions, towards the master suite on Sunny's side, and Differel's suite and Henry's bedroom on hers.
Eile glanced at Sunny, who nodded. They both took a step to ease along the wall towards Henry, when a figure emerged from the north stairwell behind Sunny. They turned and leveled their weapons,
The Adventure of the Peril Gem Page 14
