BreadCrumb Trail (The Yellow Hoods, #2): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale (23 page)

“Challenging?” offered Nikolas as he walked up to the kitchen.

“Yes!” laughed Marcus. “Indeed. Simon is more than I can deal with, some days. Thank goodness for Richelle.”

“How is your granddaughter?” asked Nikolas. The last time he’d seen Richelle, she’d been younger than Tee.

Marcus sat at the kitchen table. “She’s well—excellent, in fact. I’ve heard a good deal about yours, too. A mix of you and Sam, though I suspect some Isabella and Rosie, too.… By the way, Nikolas, you’ve got my assurance that no harm will come to your granddaughter today.”

Nikolas placed the kettle on the wood stove and turned to lean on the counter. “I appreciate that. I
am
surprised, however, that you came all this way.” Nikolas’ mind raced, thinking of the ways that things could play out. He was certain Marcus was doing the same.

“Well, taking you
out of the game
, as you used to say, was in the plan—though not for a while yet. There was an opportunity that required us to move up our timetable,” said Marcus openly. “Rather unexpected.”

Nikolas got out the tea cups and saucers. “Anna, I presume.”

Marcus hesitated, knowing that Abeland and Richelle would not approve his sharing of any information. If roles were reversed, he’d probably think the same—but this was Nikolas Klaus, the closest thing he had to a brother.

Nearby, Mounira nervously peeked out her bedroom window. She could see two guards in unfamiliar dark gray and purple uniforms walking about. They were armed with rifles and swords. When she heard the heavy laughter from the kitchen, she silently made her bed, removed all traces of herself from the room, and then hid under the bed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Crumbling Plans

The sky clouded over and became more and more menacing as the group journeyed down from Minette to Mineau, and then into the Red Forest. When they arrived at Bergman’s Failure, the storm was only minutes away.

The Yellow Hoods jumped out of their sail-carts while Franklin, Anna, and the ten guardsmen dismounted their horses. They were at the northwestern edge of a huge clearing in the Red Forest.

Tee looked at the guardsmen with concern. She didn’t like that two from the previous night had been replaced, and there were two new ones who looked clueless. The rest looked so nervous that she was afraid they would scream and run away if a leaf floated by unexpectedly.

The mossy, white stone tower stood a hundred feet tall, with a caved-in top. The rampart wall extended from it to the south, some thirty feet. The stairs from the tower’s blocked door descended to the west and stopped at a small landing. From there, the stairs continued several steps to the south and joined the cobblestone path that led under the rampart. It looked like someone had started building the northeastern corner of a castle, and then had given up. Few knew the real story of Bergman, yet Tee did, and she feared they were about to share his fate and be betrayed.

Anna huddled with the guards, giving orders and talking through what she expected to happen.

“This place is more remote than I’d figured,” said Franklin to the Yellow Hoods. He was worried. Unlike the Yellow Hoods, he’d never been in a fight, let alone a real battle. The idea of physical violence made him panicky.

Elly, her arms crossed, kept a watchful eye on Anna. “So
much
about this feels wrong. Don’t you think we should’ve just abandoned the plan, Richy?”

“Huh?” he replied. Richy’s mind was still a mess from his own news of the day before. “I don’t know. Lala, what do you think?”

“Lala?” said Franklin, looking around. “Who’s Lala?”

Tee chuckled. “It’s my nickname. Before you start asking why, let’s just focus. Okay?”

Franklin stopped himself from following up the point and waved for Tee to continue.

“We’ve trusted Anna this far. I think we have to see what happens, at least until my Grandpapa gets here. If things start to go wrong, we look after each other, and get out—together. No Bergman’s fate for us, okay?”

Franklin looked at Richy and Elly—both had agreed—while he wondered just who this Bergman fellow had been.

Anna marched their way, and they fell silent. “So, are my little troops ready?” she asked condescendingly. She was dressed in yet another expensive-looking outfit. It was an ankle-length, slightly puffy formal dress of black and gold, with a gold sash around the waist. It seemed highly impractical for the sort of mission they were supposedly on.

Richy, who’d been staring at the guards, turned to Anna. “Why are the guardsmen armed with only swords and flintlock
pistols
? We’re out in the
open
. Shouldn’t at least two or three have rifles?”

Anna glanced quickly at the guardsmen. “You don’t understand tactics, child. Now all of you—get to your positions.” She stomped off while muttering something to herself.

Two guardsmen remained with the sail-carts and tied the horses to some trees. Tee, Elly, and Richy headed for the tower’s small landing. Franklin went with four guardsmen to the freestanding rock pile about fifty yards south of the tower. Anna and the remaining four guardsmen stood at the ready, just to the east of the rampart.

Anna stood proudly, chin up. She pulled out an ornate pocket watch from her dress’ sash, and smiled. Everything was close enough to perfect. “They should be here any minute,” Anna yelled to everyone.

“Anna, where’s my grandfather?” Tee yelled back. “Isn’t he supposed to be here?”

Keeping her back to Tee, and taking a couple of seconds to respond, Anna replied, “He said he’d be late. Don’t worry about him.”

“She’s lying, Tee,” said Elly, looking around. “We’re exposed up here. Anyone to the south or west can see us. Maybe she wants us up here so that we can be seen?”

“I’m thinking the same thing,” said Tee, ushering her friends to crouch down.

Richy scanned around. “You know—someone with a rifle could probably hit us from the forest, there,” he said, pointing to the south. “Someone with skills like Egelina-Marie could
definitely
hit us from there.”

“Let’s get ready, guys,” said Tee, pulling up her yellow hood. “Charge your shock-sticks.”

“What about Franklin?” asked Elly, winding up the small handle on her shock-stick.

“Quiet!” yelled Anna. “A coach is approaching.”

Four brown horses came into view, pulling a dark gray coach with gold trim. Two soldiers in dark gray and purple uniforms rode the lead horses, while four more soldiers were positioned at the corners of the coach.

Anna grinned as the coach came to a stop just a few yards in front of her. She’d taken a risk, as many great leaders had, and offered an olive branch to the enemy. She had argued against her fellow leaders of the Tub for the past two years about anything and everything related to the Fare. Now she was going to be able to show all of them just what she could accomplish when not leashed by their idiotic fears.

She figured it best to offer an opportunity to the Fare to return to the peace agreement that had been worked out, long ago. It would probably take money or some other incentive to get them to agree, but she figured it would be well worth the cost. Doing this would allow the Tub to regain its strength and resume managing the peace of all the kingdoms.

When she’d bumped into the Hound—by chance—at The Pointy Stick inn, she had found what she needed: a way in. She’d offered the Hound a deal. He’d asked for a couple of things, one of which she had thought odd, but didn’t care enough to argue about. She’d agreed to make sure that the Yellow Hoods would be present at any meeting. Anna’s own condition of the deal was that she would meet the Fare’s leader, in person.

Anna was surprised and relieved when the Hound had found her a week ago to tell her exactly when and where they would meet her. She was told she was to include Nikolas in her planning, but that he would not be participating in the actual meet. The Fare was concerned he might influence things—and Anna understood completely. She was fine with it; it didn’t matter—it was all for the greater good.

A Fare soldier hopped down from the front left of the coach, and then opened its door. The Hound stepped out, wearing his brown leather long-coat and his metallic, gear-covered shock-gloves. He moved more comfortably with his gear—he’d been practicing with it every day since meeting with Hans, Saul, and Gretel.

The Hound was followed by a woman in a red hooded cloak. She wore a long dark brown jacket and pants. The lapel on her jacket was square, and distinctive. At her right, she wore a long, thin, white scabbard, and at her left, strapped to her leg, was what looked like a cannon of a pistol, with tubes that led under her cloak. She pulled back her hood, revealing her black hair tied in a neat, simple ponytail. She slowly surveyed her surroundings, finally settling her gaze on Anna.

Anna was appalled at the woman’s attire; it was insulting for such a meeting. The woman looked like a strangely dressed man. 

“Who are they?” asked Tee. “Is she another Red Hood?”

“She’s not dressed like anyone I’ve ever seen before,” said Elly.

“Maybe she’s the queen of the Red Hoods? Look at the way she’s carrying herself,” said Richy. “Did you see how she looked at each of us? I almost
felt
her analyzing me.”

“What’s that guy wearing on his hands?” asked Elly, squinting.

Tee looked. “It’s a weapon,” she quickly answered. “Look at how he’s just standing there. He’s ready for anything. See the way he’s holding his gloved hands? They’re his weapon.”

“I wish I’d brought the telescope from the treehouse,” said Richy.

Tee and Elly smiled at each other; their Richy was back, at least for now.

Franklin wondered what he’d got himself into. Part of him was fascinated with the technology worn by the man with the reddish-brown beard, while the rest of him was just short of running in circles in a stark-raving-loony panic. He had to distract himself. He looked at the four guards that stood with him, and noticed their hands were at their backs.

“They’re not expecting trouble. This is bad,” he whispered to himself.

“Who are you? And where is Marcus? I was told the leader of the Fare was a man named Marcus,” snapped Anna. “Clearly, you aren’t him, girl.” Anna hated being toyed with.

Unfazed, the woman looked at Anna. She slowly pulled off her white gloves, while keeping her eyes on Anna. The woman held out her gloves and a soldier came, took them, and put them in the coach. The soldiers then took up their positions flanking her, and the Hound.

She offered an instant smile to Anna, which caused Anna’s face to twitch in frustration. “My name is Lady Richelle Pieman, and this is my associate, the Hound.”

Anna banged her cane on the cobblestones, popping out the two spikes from its head. Small electrical arcs danced between the spikes. “I didn’t ask to meet with
you
, girl. I asked to speak to the leader of the Fare. This Marcus character. Now where is
he?
” demanded Anna, holding her cane menacingly. Something that Richelle had said nagged at Anna’s mind.

Richelle turned her gaze to the Hound. “Is this the woman you met with? The
stick maker
?” she asked. She was certain her tone and word choice would get further under Anna’s skin.

“Yes,” confirmed the Hound, unconcerned with Anna’s threatening stance. He was ready and eager to engage. Richelle had been happy with the allies he had arranged to join them.

The sky grew darker and the rain started to fall noisily. Franklin and the Yellow Hoods could no longer hear everything being said, but they could already tell from what they’d seen that the plan had derailed.

“So,
you
are the famous Anna Kundle Maucher? The maker of candles and sticks?” said Richelle, sounding uncertain. She channeled her frustration at Anna’s disrespectful words and tone down to her toes, which curled so tightly the knuckles cracked. Richelle had built up her reputation to where she could walk into almost any royal court room, unannounced, and request a private audience with the king or queen.

“Yes! That’s me,” said Anna, hoping that things were finally going to get back on track. There was something about Richelle’s name that kept nagging at Anna—yet she’d never known anybody named Richelle. “Now, tell me—where is Marcus! We had an agreement.”

Richelle’s mouth twitched—she was at her limit of how much rudeness and anger she could absorb. Her left hand closed around the handle of her pistol.

“Don’t threaten
me!
” barked Anna.
Now
what
did Richelle say her last name was?
Anna wondered.

“I call this my
hand-cannon
,” said Richelle, biting her lip. “I designed it. I learned a lot—from my grandfather—about how to use metals and different elements of nature to effect the simplest of things. I learned the most amazing thing about air. I can kill without need of gunpowder, or bullets. It’s nature’s fury.”

Anna’s cane lowered a bit, and Richelle could see her shoulders slump slightly. Anna’s left hand, which was holding the cane end closest to her, was starting to shake.

“I can see you’ve almost figured it out. I’ll help you along. My family excels in the role of ambassador. We know how to absorb emotions, and absorb insults, and to store it all. We then boil it down, and shape that energy to our will, and from that we are building a new world order. That is who we Piemans are,” said Richelle with an ear-to-ear grin. 

Anna’s eyes went wide. “Wait—Pieman… Marcus? But he’s
dead
… that—” She had unconsciously lowered her cane to where it was pointing right at the ground. “How—”

“This could have been such a nice, friendly chat,” interrupted Richelle. In the blink of an eye, she dropped to one knee, held her hand-cannon with both hands, and then, with a blast, sent Anna flying backward.

Richelle turned to the Hound with a smirk on her face. “Some people are so
rude.
”

She holstered her hand-cannon and ordered her soldiers, “Signal everyone. Kill their guards if they are dumb enough to stay. Subdue the Yellow Hoods and bring me the Watt boy—but if you kill any of them, you and your family will share a worse fate.”