“I think there’s cider left. Do you want some?”
Tanyth smiled and shook her head. “I’ll wait for tea now.”
“I’ll go find some more wood.”
“You think they’ll follow us?” Tanyth called.
“Not right away. They’ll go report first, prob’ly.” Gertie’s voice drifted out of the woods followed by the sharp crack of a breaking stick.
Tanyth fanned the small flame, feeding it twigs as it grew. She took a moment to fill the kettle with water and placed it ready for heating. By the time she was out of twigs, Gertie came back with an armful of sticks. She dropped them unceremoniously beside the ring of stones and plunked herself down across the fire from Tanyth.
Tanyth glanced up to find Gertie cross-legged, her hands folded in her lap, and the mouse leaning forward out of her hair. Staring. Inasmuch as a mouse stares, perhaps, but Tanyth still found the tiny obsidian eyes a bit unnerving.
“What?”
“Roots?” Gertie asked. “That’s a neat trick.”
Tanyth blinked. “I thought you did that.”
“Wasn’t me.”
“I don’t know how to do it. Musta been you.”
“You know how to blow out a storm, dearie?”
“Well, no, but—”
“You know how to slow time and catch an arrow on the fly with an inch and a half of oak?”
“Of course, not. I didn’t do—”
“Yes, dearie. You did. And unless I miss my guess, you’re gonna drop like a dead tree in a high wind unless we get something into you pretty quick.”
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, and I’m twenty again. And a virgin.” Gertie rummaged in her pack and pulled out the package of sausage. She carved off a chunk with her belt knife and passed it to Tanyth. “Chew on that. It’ll help.”
Tanyth took the bit of sausage and tucked it into her mouth. It didn’t make her feel any better but gave her tongue something to do.
“Now, you wanna talk about roots?”
“Not partic’a’ly.”
“Catching arrows on the fly?”
“It wasn’t movin’ that fast.”
“Tell that to the archer.”
Tanyth pushed the kettle closer to the fire and looked up to see Gertie smiling at her.
“You’re goin’ ta be fine, Tanyth Fairport. I’m so proud.” A clear tear formed in the old woman’s eye and escaped down her cheek.
“What ya mean, I’m gonna be fine?” She sat back on her haunches in alarm. “And why you gettin’ all teary-eyed on me?”
Gertie took a deep breath and blew it out. She swiped the offending tear from her cheek with a fingertip and shook her head. “I was worried about ya, that’s all. I’m...glad...now.”
Tanyth frowned but couldn’t find the edge to Gertie’s words. “Great. T’riffic. I’m gonna be fine.” She shook her head and gazed at the fire for a moment, judging it big enough for the tea kettle. “What about those men?” Her arm shot out and pointed down the trail.
“We knew we’d run into somebody sooner or later,” Gertie said. “We learned a great deal, didn’t we?”
“What? What did we learn?” Tanyth asked.
“First, they’re very well organized.”
Tanyth scowled but nodded to grant the point. “We knew that before.”
“How?”
“The guards at the top of the cliff. That don’t happen without a lot of help and a good organization.”
“Yep. And the roving guard?”
“Been enough folks around and they don’t want others to get too close.”
“Right. If we were the first ones to be around here, we’d have walked right out into the field without bein’ stopped in the wood. What else?”
Tanyth lowered her gaze to the fire once more but she didn’t see it. “They tried to scare us off before they brought out the killer.”
“Zactly,” Gertie said.
“Why? If they wanted to be sure, why didn’t they just put shafts in us from hiding?”
“Same reason they have their hermit decoratin’ the woods to begin with. Too many people just strollin’ by. They can’t kill ’em all without somebody noticin’.”
“Who’s out here?”
“You’d be surprised, dearie. Trappers. Lumberjacks. Even hunters.”
“And now Richard Marong,” Tanyth said, a new idea forming in her head.
“Yeah. Richard spent all season traipsing around the backwoods last summer. What’s he lookin’ for?”
“Ain’t his daughter.”
“You sound sure.”
“He knew all along where Rebecca was.”
“So he’s lookin’ for somethin’ and he don’t want the locals to know what,” Gertie said.
“I think we figgered that much out.”
“I think he’s lookin’ for this place.”
“Make sense,” Tanyth said. “If he knew where it was, he’d sail to it. If he knew what it was, he’d sail to it.”
“So what’s he lookin’ for?” Gertie asked again.
“If he don’t know where and he don’t know what...what’s left?
“Who’s he work for?” Gertie asked.
Tanyth raised her shoulders in a shrug. “No idea. I got the impression he works for himself.” She busied herself pulling the kettle out of the fire and tossing in some tea to steep.
“What’s he do, though? What’s his business?”
Tanyth sat back on her heels, trying to remember. “I don’t know. Something with shipping. I don’t know if he’s a broker or an agent. He might own ships, as far as I know.”
Gertie chewed her lower lip and stared at the tea kettle. “There’s somethin’ we’re missin’.”
Tanyth closed her eyes and tried to remember what Rebecca had said about her father. “He’s somebody important in Kleesport. City council? Seems to me Rebecca said that once.”
Gertie’s head came up as if she were sniffing the air. “That’s it.”
“What’s it?”
“City council in Kleesport. Buncha windy old crusts with delusions of importance.”
“Tax grabby, if ya ask me,” Tanyth said. “I got the impression they’d tax the pennies on a corpse’s eyes.”
“They would and do, but that’s not the important part.”
“What is?”
“They want the city to prosper. They tax ever’thin’, it’s true, but it’s a cheap tax and it’s enforced right across the board. If you make money, you give your share to the city.”
“City pays the king,” Tanyth said.
“Yeah, but the city gets their cut first and I’ll bet ya they heard somebody’s eatin’ into that cut.”
“How’s that possible?”
Gertie scratched her chin and scowled into the fire. “Whatever they’re doin’, they’re doin’ it down there.” She nodded her head toward the south.
“So all we gotta do is go tell Richard that his tax cheats are in the cove and we’re home free,” Tanyth said.
“He’s three days away. We’re just a few hours.”
“He has garrison troops of the King’s Own with him.”
“They may be in on it.” Gertie shrugged. “Hard to keep this kinda thing secret on your own. Easier with somebody on the inside.”
“You just wanna go find out what they’re doin’ down there,” Tanyth said, her mouth twisted in a sideways grin.
“I know what they’re doin’, dearie. Trees told me. I just don’t know who’s all in it.”
Tanyth felt a stab of pique. “Trees told ya what?”
“They’re diggin’ under the waterfall.”
“Trees told you all that?” Tanyth asked.
“Don’t get smart with me, young lady.” Gertie’s mouth twitched in what looked suspiciously like a grin.
“Look, Gertie. We can go harin’ off down there and prob’ly run into more guards the closer we get, or we can do the smart thing and go get help. Richard Marong i
s only a couple days away. Less unless I miss my guess on the direction he’s headin’.”
Gertie chewed her lower lip some more and jerked her chin at the tea kettle. “I’m ready for some tea and perhaps a crust of bread to go with it. Lemme think.”
Tanyth poured the tea and Gertie shared out some of their rapidly dwindling supply of bread.
“Can I ask you somethin’?” Tanyth asked. She stared down into the cup cradled in her hands.
“Of course, dearie. Ask away any time.”
“What’d you do with the snake?”
“Illusion. I just made the arrow look like a snake. When he threw it down, it went back to lookin’ like an arrow.”
“Where’d all them rats come from?”
Gertie giggled. “They wasn’t rats. Just another illusion. I don’t think there’s that many rats between here and Northport, and I’m sure I’d never be able to call that many even if there were.”
Tanyth chuckled a bit, deep in her chest. “Whew. The thought of that many rats starin’ at me was a bit nervous.”
“Mice,” Gertie said.
“What?”
“They was mice. I just made ’em look like rats.”
Tanyth felt her eyes go round in surprise.
“What? I told ya. There’s mice everywhere and the li’l buggers just like me.”
Tanyth closed her eyes and bathed her face in the warm, aromatic steam from her tea. She tried not to think of thousands of mice swarming.
Chapter Thirty-one:
A Mad Plan
Tanyth tossed the last of her tea back and looked across at Gertie. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m not serious all the time,” she said. “But this time? Yeah.”
“You’re sittin’ there suggestin’ we go down in that cave and see what’s goin’ on?”
“No, dearie. Don’t exaggerate. I jes’ think it’d be a good idea to know what we’re lookin’ at when we go try to tell somebody.”
“Well, they got men with bows and arrows and a lot of pointy metal bits, for one.”
Gertie stopped and cocked her head to one side. “You didn’t mention pointy metal bits before. That nice man pretending to be me certainly had none.”
“The archer did. Along with a quiver full of arrows.”
“None of which did him any good.” Gertie smirked into her cup. “And I bet he thinks twice before he pulls another arrow out of that bunch.”
“That was just two of us against two of them, Gertie.”
“Yes, we did have them out-numbered and I’m sure the next meetin’ will be a tad more challengin’.” She frowned into the cup and sighed before patting it dry with a bit of toweling and stuffing it into her pack. “Where’s yer spirit of adventure? Leave it in your other trousers?” She winked and climbed to her feet, using her pack as a lever.
Tanyth sighed and got to her feet, kicking dirt over the small fire once more.
“You came to learn, didn’t you?” Gertie asked, her voice low and her face turned up to Tanyth’s.
For the first time Tanyth realized Gertie only came up to her nose. The gentle smile on her face and the laugh lines around the old, blind eyes asked nothing of her, offering only acceptance.
“That I did,” Tanyth said. She pulled in a breath and blew it out her nose. “I just never thought these’d be the lessons.”
“Well,” Gertie said, bending down to pick up her pack. “You haven’t thought you were goin’ mad once in the last two days, have you?”
The question caught Tanyth’s funny bone and she gave a surprised laugh.
“A week ago you thought talkin’ to trees was crazy and now you’re miffed because they talk to me and not you. That’s progress in my book, dearie.” She jostled her pack into place and stood, her face turned to Tanyth, a patient smile plastered on her lips.
Tanyth laughed again and scooped her pack onto her back and took up her staff. “Let’s go then.”
“You lead. Lemme take your arm,” Gertie said.
“Why? You sick?”
“I’m old. That’s not a sickness. Somethin’ you—of all people—should recognize.” She beckoned Tanyth with a wave of her hand and took hold of her upper arm. “You just go slow. I’m managing the mice. They’re spread in a ring about a half mile across. We’ll get warnin’ before we walk into anythin’ too surprisin’.”
“Lord and Lady, how many mice is that?” Tanyth thought of her difficulty trying to communicate with a single bird. The prospect of what Gertie was doing made her a bit weak in the knees.
“Honestly, Tanyth, I don’t know. A bunch. Now move along, and don’t let me trip on anything.”
They moved through the forest at what felt like a snail’s pace. The afternoon sun worked its way down the western sky, casting the forest floor into a deeper gloom as it settled toward evening.
“We gonna walk right over the cliff in the dark?” Tanyth asked, unable to control her tongue any longer.
“Hold up here. The edge of the trees is just at the top of the rise up there.” Gertie pointed at a low knoll. “Lemme thank my mousies so they can get back to their holes before dark.” She stood still for a moment, her head cocked to the side just a bit. “There. All but one.” She hunched down and a gray streak shot up her lowered arm and disappeared into her collar. In a moment whiskers and nose poked out of the wave of hair on Gertie’s brow. “There,” she said. “All together again.”
“Now what? Cold camp and scout them in the morning?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Where’s your owl?”
Tanyth felt her eyes roll but she closed them and tried to focus. A few yards away, an owl hooted once in the deepening dusk.
Day still gripped the land but she shook out her wings. Things to do. Things to see. Food, perhaps. She hooted again and spun her head around to see what dangers lurked near. Two people stood at the foot of her knoll. One looked up in her direction while the other stood, leaning on a pole—head down. The sight made her fluff her feathers and she hooted once more, a warning call just in case.
Nothing answered and the people didn’t move.
She launched, dropping from the bough and soaring on silent wings out onto the flat grassland atop the cliff. This would be prime hunting if not for the people—men—in the holes around the edge. She sailed across the plain and between two of the outposts. Silent and gray against the winter bleached grasses, none of them so much as turned a head.
The updraft from the cliff caught her and lifted her high. A twist of her tail and a flicker of primaries turned her path along the cliff, sailing along behind the men who all looked away from the sea. Finally the cliff top was clear of humans. The scent of them left far behind up wind as she made her way along the headlands.
A wind-bent spruce offered shelter and cover near the last of the cleared land. She sailed up into its welcoming branches and folded her wings. The moon would be up soon and then she could hunt. This would be a good place to feed. In the meantime, it was a good place to nap so she fluffed her feathers and curled her head down and slept.
“Nothing’s changed,” Tanyth said. “The guards are still along the top of the cliff. They’re all looking toward the trees.”
“Your owl?”
Tanyth nodded. “Yeah. She flew along the top of the cliff behind them until she found a place to hole up and hunt tonight.”
“Well, then that’s perfect.” Gertie started off up the knoll.
“Where are you goin’?”
Gertie kept climbing the hill. “I didn’t come all this way to be turned back now.”
“But where are you goin’?” Tanyth said, stretching her legs to try to catch the crazy old woman before she broke through the line of trees.
“To see the guards, of course. How else will we get down the cliff?”
“As prisoners?”
“Oh, don’t be silly. Of course as prisoners. They’re not goin’ to jus’ welcome us with open arms.”
“How’s
that goin’ to help?”
“I don’t know yet. Do you have a plan?” She stopped and turned her face toward Tanyth, a wide smile and raised eyebrows painting the perfect picture of eager curiosity.
After a moment Tanyth shook her head. “No.”
“All right then. We go with mine.”
“What’s your plan?”
“First we stash our packs in that hollow tree over there, then we go see the guards. They take us down the cliff. We see what’s happening. Then we leave.”
“It’s the ‘then we leave’ part that has me most concerned,” Tanyth said.
“Me, too, dearie. It’s the weakest link, to be sure.” With that she turned and marched on into the deepening dark.
Tanyth looked around the darkened forest. “Will we be able to find them again?” she asked.
“The guards? I’m sure they’ll find us, dearie.”
“No, the packs.”
“Oh, certainly. This is the only hollow tree for half a mile in any direction.”
Tanyth shook her head and snorted.
“One step at a time, dearie. We may not make it back out again, after all.” Gertie stopped at the broken, gray tree and looked back down the slope. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, shall we?”
The evening breeze picked up and started whispering through the treetops.
“Don’t you start,” Tanyth muttered and clambered up the hill after Gertie. “I got enough trouble with what I know already. Don’t need any more tales.”
Chapter Thirty-two:
Into The Hole
The full moon rose with the sunset. “Shearing moon,” Gertie said. “Solstice is right around the corner now.”
“I’ll be happy to see it,” Tanyth said.
“You’ll see it better than I will, dearie.”
Tanyth chuckled a little. “You’ve always got an answer, don’t ya?”
“At my age, just getting a good question is reward enough, but I try to answer as many of them as I can.”
“What d’ya suppose they’re doin’ down there?”
“That’s a good question,” Gertie agreed.