Obernewtyn

  "I'll be relieved when we have the map," Vega said.

  "Damn Marisa. If it wasn't for her, it wouldn't have taken so long. If only she hadn't hidden it," Alexi said angrily, but Vega laughed.

  "Can you really blame her? She guessed what you were up to and she even suspected you of trying to kill her. And it was she who discovered where the Beforetime weapon machines were, not you. She was a brilliant woman. A pity she was content to know where they were and nothing more. It was her sour idea of a joke," she said.

  "I only hope she didn't destroy the map," Alexi said.

  "She would not have done that," Vega said with certainty.

  I could not stop thinking about what I had learned. Alexi was the adopted son of Michael Seraphim, and therefore a legal brother to the present Master of Ober-newtyn. How it must gall him to know that by lore, only blood relatives could inherit. Alexi had tried and perhaps succeeded in killing his adoptive grandmother, Marisa Seraphim. I wondered where she had hidden the map showing the location of the Beforetime machines they wanted.

  But I still did not understand what Cameo and Selmar had to do with their search. The Zebkrahn must be some sort of machine built or hidden near Obernewtyn, where they were doing something to Selmar and Cameo. And I was sure now that it was what I had grappled with.

  The sooner we were away the better.

  Selmar had walked away from the others and she began to come toward the alcove where I was concealed. I held my breath.

  "I'm so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open," Vega said with a yawn.

  "Get her away from the books," snapped Alexi. "She'll ruin them."

  Ariel came over and led her away. I was trembling; the perspiration poured down my cheeks. Not from fear, but because at last I knew what they were searching for— Oldtime weapons!

  After they left, I waited until nearly morning before daring to return to my chamber. The drugged smoke had dissipated and I needed no help to stay awake. I hid the map and arrowcase under a loose stone near the window in my room and climbed into bed, watching the sky lighten. A whole night had passed but I did not feel tired.

  At last, I fell asleep and woke wishing I had not. I felt heavy-eyed and sluggish. I splashed my face with freezing water. Cameo tried to tell me of a dream she had but I forestalled her, saying I had my own nightmares to contend with.

  If I had known what was to come, I would have listened.

  XXIII

  I ate alone at firstmeal having missed the first sitting but when midmeal came on the farms, I hastened to sit with Matthew and Dameon, wanting to tell them what I had discovered. They seemed rather distant. I understood why after Dameon asked whether I had been out the previous night.

  "Why?" I demanded, puzzled. A severe look came over Dameon's face and Matthew would not meet my eye.

  "You were careless," Dameon said coldly.

  "No!" I said indignantly.

  I was almost certain I had not given myself away. Surely Alexi would have done something if they knew I was there. Ariel had said he heard something, probably the slamming of the cabinet door, but they had not seemed concerned and had talked quite freely.

  "You said nothing about your intentions because you knew I would stop you," Dameon said. Ashamed because that was true, I clasped my hands together. "They have decided to keep the wolves out for longer because of you," he added.

  "Outside? But why? I didn't go out," I said in puzzle-ment. "I went again to the Doctor's chamber. I have a map and an arrowcase hidden in my room."

  Startled, Matthew looked at Dameon. "Willie said someone was outside." I quickly told them some of what I had overheard.

  "Cameo," Matthew whispered fearfully. He looked around as if to reassure himself of her safety, but she had not come to the farms that day.

  "But she knows nowt of any map. She couldn't possibly. Marisa died years before she even came here. And I can't see how Selmar could know anything useful either," Matthew said, after a minute,

  Dameon coughed and we both looked at him. "I... I think I might be able to guess," he said hesitantly. "I think they are trying to use Cameo's powers to find out what this Marisa did with her map. That's why Cameo keeps having those dreams and acting like she's someone else."

  "But she has no power. I don't know how they can have got the idea ..." I said, then I stopped, aghast.

  "It was me! They think she was the one whom the machine caught," I cried in an agonized voice. "That's what she meant! She even said they wanted me."

  "I don't know how they intend to use the powers of whomever they find. But obviously, this Zebkrahn machine is part of it," Dameon said.

  "We have to get her away," Matthew said.

  I told them about meeting Daffyd then and about recognizing his uncle, I said I thought they might be mixed up with the Druid who also appeared to be searching for Oldtime weapons.

  "In his case it is more understandable. He would want revenge," Dameon said. But he did not agree that we should try to join the Druid. "He was a Herder and no doubt he still has Herder instincts. If so, we would be no better there than here. I would rather strike out anew, on our own. And besides, this search for Oldtime weapons is wrong. We want no part of such things," he added firmly.

  I felt a sudden shiver down my spine. I had not really thought about that before now. But what if the Druid or Alexi or Vega did get hold of some terrible Oldtime weapon? We talked about our escape some more, but Dameon stuck fast to his belief that we should wait until the wintertime was over. It was hard on Cameo, but hopefully, once they realized she was no use to them, they would let her alone. "We could not drag her into the wilds in the condition she is in. She would never survive." He did agree though that we must have everything prepared so that we could leave if we had to.

  That night and the following one, Cameo slept in her own bed. The cows and other livestock were being stabled for the wintertime and ail hands were needed to transfer the food and some animals to the house environs. Dameon asked me not to tell Matthew if she was taken out or if she had another nightmare. He was concerned that Matthew would do something crazy. I noticed for the first time that Dameon had grown subtly older, all at once closer to man than boy. Somehow I felt saddened: this life had robbed us of some sweetness.

  One morning he said, "I am as worried about her as Matthew, but I know we cannot leave now. Cameo would die. One blind man, a half-lame boy, and a sick, defective girl. You are the only one among us who is completely fit. We must wait," he added with a touch of desperation. "Matthew expects me to produce some magic that he thinks comes with being a leader. He thinks I only have to wave my hands to fix things and save Cameo. If... if anything happens to her, he will blame me." He hesitated. "Lost night I had a true dream. In it, Cameo died."

  I gasped and wished it was not so, but Dameon knew the difference between a true dream and a nightmare. Even so, I prayed he was wrong.

  Two very cold, clear days marked the official start of wintertime and the very next day, the first snow fell. Looking back to the house, from the farms, Obernewtyn was graceful in its mantle of snow. I looked from there to the mountains, my breath making little puffs of mist in the cold air. The mountains were white too and barely visible against the pale sky.

  "In case you have any notion of escape," Ariel said, so close that the hair on my neck stood on end, "I should warn you again about the mountains and the wolves. I have seen them tear rabbit and deer apart while literally on the run. No one has ever been mad enough to try to escape in this season."

  I looked away from him, and behind us, to where the deep imprints made in the snow by our boots were already filling up with a fresh drift of velvet-white snow. Soon there would be no trace of them. I did not wonder that no one had ever tried it. Perhaps Dameon was right.

  But that very afternoon, shouts and the sound of the wolves echoed throughout Obernewtyn, and later we learned someone had tried to escape. We did not have time to wonder who it was, as the afternoon brought a fresh flurry
of rain that was not quite rain or snow but something worse—it was as cold as ice but could not be brushed off before it soaked in, I had been sent down to the far field to bring up three goats that had escaped rounding up. They were to be taken up to the main house. I was soaked through and shivering convulsively by the time I got the contrary creatures where they were supposed to be.

  Rushton heard my cough, took one look at my fevered face, and sent me up to the house to see guardian Myrna. By night I was running a high fever and my voice was a painful croak. I felt terribly thirsty and finally fell into a fitful sleep in which red birds swooped at my face and the ground opened up malevolently and tried to swallow rne.

  The first person I saw when I woke was Rushton. "You are awake at last," he said. "The horses missed you."

  I frowned, wondering what he meant. Then I wondered if I could have been asleep longer than I thought.

  Before I could ask, Rushton was talking again. "You look a bit better now."

  Guardian Myrna came in and Rushton sat up slightly. "I wanted to know exactly what medicines you gave that lame horse. ..." She went out again and Rushton leaned close. "I told them I wanted to find out what you had fed one of the horses, since you had made it worse, but that isn't true. I came to give you this."

  He held forward a small cloth bag. A wonderful summery smell filled the air. I frowned in puzzlement but he pressed it into my hands and urged me to eat it when no one was around. Then he rose. "It will help you regain strength quickly," he said enigmatically before departing.

  I drew the strings when he had gone and looked inside—the little bag held a moistened ball of herbs. My mother had made such things. That was herbal lore and now forbidden. In the end I ate the herbs because they smelled delicious and because they reminded me of my mother. I pondered the fact that they had come from Rushton but could come to no conclusion other than that he genuinely wanted to help me.

  Soon after I slept again, a deep restful doze that did not end until I was woken for nightmeal. The girl who brought it whispered to me, "Selmar is dead. She tried to run again but Ariel got her. He... shot her so she couldn't run, then ... set his wolves loose." Her face was ashen as she spoke and I thought mine must look the same. They had had no more use for Selmar, so Ariel had decided to use her for sport.

  The next day Matthew came and when I asked if it was true, he bowed his head sadly. "He... he keeps boastin' about it like it was a good joke on her." He faltered. I thought he did not look in the best of health himself and said so, but he seemed not to be listening.

  "What is the matter?" I asked him.

  He looked at me and to my astonishment, his eyes were full of compassion.

  "The Council have found out about ye. They have sent two Councilmen to bring ye back. They are in Guanette at a hostel because of th' storm. It seems your friend Enoch impressed the dangers of the journey on them, an' they have decided to wait until the weather clears. Enoch sent his lad with a message to Louis an' Louis told me to tell ye the Council are after ye. Ye'll have to gan right away but I dinna know how wi' th' storm___"

  "I'll go in the night, but what about the rest of you?

  Cameo can't stay here..."I stopped, seeing a thought

  dart over his mind before he could hide it.

  He saw at once that I had seen it.

  "I didn't want you to know," he said despairingly.

  "Cameo ... What has happened?"

  "She ... she's disappeared altogether. You've been sick for nearly a week and she's been gone almost all that time. But you must not think of her now. You have to get away." We heard footsteps and Matthew reached down and squeezed my hand. "Take care. We love you," he said, and was gone.

  I lay back with an odd emptiness in my heart. Still I could feel nothing, not even for poor Cameo who was surely dead by now. She was very frail and she could not give them what they wanted—what I was able to. I lay until it was very late, then rose and dressed. Walking quietly, I headed for the front entrance hall and the main doors. While no one was yet looking for me, I would go the most direct way. I was standing in a small pool of moonlight, rny hands on the door lock when, very quietly, a voice spoke behind me.

  "If you make one sound, I will kill you," it said, and to my utter terror, I felt the tip of something sharp press into my neck.

  XXIV

  "Nod if you will not cry out," voice said.

  With a queer sense of desolation, I recognized whom that whispered voice belonged to. I moved my mouth to speak but the hand over my mouth tightened. Limply, I nodded.

  He unlocked the door in front of us and propelled me into the room. Candles were lit and a fire warmed the air.

  I stared with a kind of despair, for this was not the room of any hired servant. Like the rest of Obernewtyn, the room was hewn of gray stone, but unlike the chambers of Misfits, the window in this room was wide and easy to see out, though shutters were pulled across to keep out the night. The floor was covered in a thick, beautiful rug, and the table and chairs and the comfortable couch were enough to make anyone suspicious.

  Forgetting my initial fear, I turned angrily to stare at my captor—Rushton.

  "I thought you worked for pay," I said accusingly.

  He shrugged, seemingly unashamed of himself. "My position here is... ambiguous," he said softly. "Keep your voice down," he added.

  My confusion increased. If he didn't want us to be heard, then he must not intend to denounce me. I looked at him warily as he crossed to the front of the fire. He poked at the fire embers with a stick and gradually, I went closer, wondering what he was up to.

  He looked up at me, the firelight flickering over his grim face. "You don't seem frightened. Are you?" he asked.

  "No," I said simply, because it was true. He gestured for me to sit on the couch. I shook my head coldly and he moved swiftly, so that I was plonked unceremoniously back onto the seat.

  "Then you are a fool," he said. I had bitten my tongue and I looked up at him resentfully. "Only a fool would not be afraid in your situation. I could have been one of the guardians...."

  My anger melted at his grave tone and he sat down opposite me. "It is time for us to talk. Lud knows, we should have done so before now." He shook his head as if at his own folly.

  "Why were you sneaking around in the dark?"he asked with a touch of anger. I bridled at his tone and gave him a secretive look that turned his anger into weary contempt.

  Ashamed I looked at the fire. I did not want to tell him, but it was stupid to antagonize him.

  "I could march you off to Vega right now," he said, but his tone told me he had no intention of doing that. "You have caused me a great deal of trouble and that might be the best thing. I knew there would be trouble the first time I saw you," Rushton added. "And Louis warned me ..."

  I stared. "What did he tell you?"

  He actually smiled at that. "It is rather late in the day to become cautious, Elspeth," he said in an amused voice that made me angry all over again. "Perhaps I should tell you that I know Alexi is searching for a Misfit with particular abilities to help him find something hidden. I believe you have the abilities he seeks."

  I gaped, my heart thundering. How could he know so much? If he was to tell Alexi or Vega, I would be lost "I... I don't know what you mean," I faltered.

  He ignored me. "I am also aware that the Council has sent some people up here to get you. And I have heard your friends have been unable to help you except to advise you to run, as far and as fast as you can. I also know that the Council is very interested in people like you, and that there are far more of you than anyone knows. The Council interrogates them, then burns them. The same fate awaits you, I am sure, if they get hold of you."

  I looked at him dumbly, aware that I was shivering from fear. There was an odd feeling of inevitability about his words. Seeing that I made no effort to deny what he said, he nodded slightly and continued.

  "Your only hope of avoiding the Councilmen is to get away tonight, b
ut you must know that if you go out into the wilds now, you will be dead before morning. Maybe you hoped to hide yourself somewhere in the buildings, but put it from you. They will search, and if you are hidden, Ariel will find you. I tell you quite simply that you have no hope unless you will put yourself in my hands and ask no questions."

  I looked at him and once more my doubts clamored. "Who are you ... what are you?" I asked.

  He gave me a guarded look. "It is enough for you to know that I am no enemy to you. Or to your suspicious friends, though you have all caused me great difficulty with your endless questions and curiosity. Security around Obernewtyn is worse than ever."

  "I just wanted to find out... Alexi..." I stopped, confused.

  "I know all about Alexi," Rushton said rather curtly. "There is little about this place which I do not know. I care nothing for the ambitions of Vega and Alexi to dig up the past. It is better dead and buried. Nor do I care for the fears of the Council over your sort of person. I have my own plans and before you came along they were proceeding nicely."

  "Plans?" I asked, and unexpectedly he smiled.

  "Even now you are curious," he said, his tone half amused and half exasperated. "I wonder if you really understand how much danger you face. You are a strange girl. My first impression of you was, I fear, the right one."

  "I can't help what life has made of me," I said defensively. Again I wondered how he knew so much about me.

  "Life will not always be like this," he said.

  "Sometimes I think life is nothing but fear and strife," I said sadly. "I seem to have spent my whole life being afraid. I was scared of being burned, or denounced, or of coming here.... I don't know if I could even be normal now, even if I could stop being afraid."

  "Selmar was like that," Rushton said sadly. "The same hunger to know everything, whatever the cost—and it proved dear." He stood abruptly. "Come. There is no more time for talk."