BreadCrumb Trail (The Yellow Hoods, #2): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale (26 page)

Tee hugged Pierre tightly, washing away his fear. He wished he could tell her how much the three of them meant to him, and the purpose they’d given to his life. He used his last ounce of strength to give Tee a gentle tap, hoping his tap could—somehow—communicate all of that. Then, Tee felt Pierre’s body go limp.

She looked at his unblinking eyes and knew he was gone. “No! No! Pierre!
No!
” she screamed angrily, her tears streaming down on him and replacing the rain that had stopped.

Elly and Hans both turned to look, as did Bakon and the Hound, now engaged in combat.

Just moments before, Bakon had slid off his own horse, blocking the Hound’s path as he’d arrived at the bottom of the tower’s stairs. “That was supposed to be
me
,” said Bakon. “But he wanted to save her. He—”

“He must have been important to you,” said the Hound, placing his shock-glove on Bakon’s shoulder.

“
Unhh!
” Bakon grunted with clenched teeth. The electricity made his muscles contract so quickly and intensely he thought his bones would break. He dropped to the ground, writhing in pain, and blacked out.

The Hound looked around. Gretel and six soldiers were with Richelle, and Hans, meanwhile, could handle one little girl. He decided to go help Saul.

Hans, ready to say something witty, turned back to face Elly. She tossed one old shock-stick to his left, forcing him the other way, and then jabbed her remaining one straight into his ribs. Sparks flew, and Hans dropped to his knees, clutching his chest.

“
Ow!
That really hurt!” he yelled. “What’s with all the shocking lately? I’m getting tired of it!”

“Huh, it worked!” said Elly, giving Hans a good kick to the ribs to top it off.

“
Ahh!
” screamed Tee in rage.

Elly turned to see Tee charging with shock-sticks in hand directly toward Gretel.

The first of Richelle’s soldiers ran to intercept Tee. She dropped to her knees and hit him with both shock-sticks against the inside of his right knee, felling him swiftly.

She sprang back to her feet in an instant, preparing for the second soldier as he came at her with sword out. The world slowed down for Tee as she analyzed his movements and instinctively adjusted her speed and direction.

As the soldier pulled back his sword and prepared to lunge, Tee stepped up onto his forward-bent knee, let go of her shock-sticks, grabbed his head firmly with both hands, slid over his shoulder, and then flipped him over with all her weight. As he landed with a thud, she picked up her shock-sticks, whacked him hard in the head, and continued her run forward.

Gretel’s bow arm started to shake as she fired an arrow and missed Tee. There was something in Tee’s burning eyes and berserker fury that had horrible memories pounding at the gates of Gretel’s mind. She felt her arms go weak, and then felt powerless. She suddenly hated the feeling of her wet clothes, and the world. Unable to take it, Gretel dropped her bow and bolted for the safety of the forest. 

All the while, Richelle had been watching Tee keenly. “Impressive,” she said with genuine admiration.

Tee stopped chasing Gretel and scanned around, locking on to Richelle and her four remaining soldiers. “
Aahh!!
” she screamed, running at them. “
This is
your
fault!
”

As the soldiers hesitantly stepped forward, Richelle laughed. “Please—
don’t
humiliate yourselves.
I’ll
handle her. Get that other one,” she said, pointing to Elly.

“Tee, what are you doing?!” yelled Elly, realizing her only choice was to run back to Richy and the others. She’d never seen Tee like this, and feared that this time Tee was going to get herself killed.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Rocketing Ahead

“I don’t think this was a great idea!” yelled Mounira to Christina. The two shot down the road in the modified sail-cart as if they’d been fired from a cannon. Christina rode at the back, in a seat sporting a mast and folded-down, curved blades that looked like petals from a giant flower.

“We’re
almost
going fast enough, Mounira. Push the speed stick into its last position! Let’s see what this
rocket-cart
can do!” said Christina.

Mounira steered cautiously, shocked at how her slightest move resulted in a big change in direction. “This is crazy! We’re going too
fast!
I can’t let go of the steering wheel in order to change gear!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have slammed it into third gear to start with,” said Christina, laughing. “How would Richy do it? He’s the expert, right? I heard he can do all kinds of crazy—
hey,
watch out!” Christina pointed to a rapidly approaching bend in the road.

Mounira pulled on the steering wheel; the rocket-cart narrowly missed a horse and cart as it hugged the winding road. “It’s hard to think right now!” she yelled back. She’d never done anything so foolish or exciting.

Christina glanced at her armband clock and turned some pieces. “Okay—we need to be airborne in less than four minutes, if we’re going to make it in time!”

“Air—
what?!
” said Mounira, turning back to look at Christina.

“Eyes on the road!” ordered Christina. She had to admit this was a ludicrous plan, but it was the only one with a chance.

“You didn’t mention flying! That’s impossible!” yelled Mounira.

“Ha! That’s what they all say—even when I use my whirly-bird right in front of them. Let’s see just how much I learned, and if I hooked it up right,” said Christina. “
Tree!
” she yelled, flinching as Mounira maneuvered the cart just in time. Given how close that was, Christina cringed as she said, “We need the extra speed
now
, Mounira. Now or never!”

Mounira swallowed. “I—I can’t!” she said, afraid to let go of the steering wheel.

Christina dropped her big-sister tone and slipped into her natural voice, that of a leader of a resistance movement. “
This
is what being a Yellow Hood means.
This
is the type of hero that you are inside.
Lose the fear!
Pull out that locked-up fury and
focus
. Your friends have been betrayed! Nikolas has been taken! We’re the
only
ones that can help.
Do it!”

Mounira breathed in deeply. Letting out the breath, she used her knees to grip the steering wheel, then freed-up her hand to shift the gear into its last position, and just barely grabbed the steering wheel before the rocket-cart shot them forward, faster than ever.

For the next two minutes, they raced down the mountain in relative silence. Christina worked furiously to get everything ready, while giving Mounira the occasional direction.

“Wait—is that Tee’s house coming up? Do you need me to stop?” asked Mounira hopefully.

“
Stop?
No—it’s time for the leap of faith.
Keep it steady!
” ordered Christina, readying herself.

Mounira’s eyes went wide with panic as they shot past the house. “Wait—the
cliff?!
” screamed Mounira.

As soon as the rocket-cart was airborne, Christina pushed a pedal, which released wings under the rocket-cart and unfurled the whirly-bird’s blades. “Now—let’s see if this will start mid-air.”

Mounira closed her eyes and whispered prayers. A strange, loud sound sputtered, then kicked in, vibrating the rocket-cart. After what seemed like a while, she opened an eye. “Are we falling to our deaths?”

“Nope!” exclaimed Christina triumphantly.

Mounira opened the other eye and looked at the spinning blades—a blur. “It’s working!” she screamed. She looked down at the trees below. “We’re flying!”

Christina wiped her forehead, turned the mast controls, and checked some gauges. “Now I just need to make sure this doesn’t fall apart, and we’re good,” she muttered to herself.

“Wait—what?” said Mounira.

“Pay no attention to the lady in the back,” said Christina, laughing.

As Squeals was felled by the Hound’s shocking punch, Bore yelled and charged at him like a wild animal, knocking down two Fare soldiers that stood in his way. The Hound was ready, though, and a moment later Bore found himself screaming.

The Hound’s eyes grew wide with surprise as Bore fell to one knee, but then appeared to be getting back up with stubborn determination. He cranked his shock-gloves up to maximum and placed his other hand on Bore. The fury in Bore’s eyes began to shake the Hound’s confidence until, finally, Bore’s eyes rolled and he fell over.

Taking a breath to steady himself, the Hound looked to the group gathered near the horses and sail-carts, some hundred yards away.

With Egelina-Marie’s pistol jammed and her rifle out of ammunition, she was forced to resort to her sword to deal with the Fare soldiers.

Franklin watched from behind a tree, amazed at the group’s bravery, wishing he could be like them. He couldn’t believe the conviction on Elly’s face as she came into view; he’d never seen someone so young look so menacing.

The last Fare soldier exchanged blows with Egelina-Marie. As Egelina-Marie prepared to lunge, she slipped. The soldier tried to take advantage of her fall, but she recovered gracefully and got him right through the chest instead.

Saul and Richy stood, weapons in hand, staring each other down. Richy had a growing feeling that the Red Hood in front of him was familiar, but he wasn’t willing to admit it.

“Hotaru—stop protecting those people! Come back to your
family
. Come back to us!” said Saul. “Drop those sticks and come
home.
” Saul still couldn’t remember the details behind how he knew Richy, but he knew that if he couldn’t get Richy to surrender, he might be able to get him to lower his guard enough to take him out.

The Hound arrived and stood beside Saul. “Ready to give up, yet?” he asked of their adversaries. “Your entourage has fallen.” The Hound gestured to the dead guardsmen, and the fallen Cochon brothers.

Egelina-Marie, Elly, and Richy quickly shared a look—they were in this until the end. Franklin had a death grip on the tree trunk. He couldn’t believe what he was witnessing.

At the other side of the battlefield, Tee finally reached Richelle.

“Pierre’s death is
your
fault!” Tee yelled, tears still streaming down her face.

Richelle lowered her stance as she prepared for Tee. She quickly took two small wooden planks out from under her cloak and started parrying Tee’s blows expertly. “My responsibility in his death is indirect, at best.” She could feel the pain in Tee’s voice, empathizing with how Tee felt, but remaining focused. Richelle felt like she was fighting a younger version of herself. The rage was familiar.

“You’re an innovative fighter when you’re angry,” Richelle said. “Evidently, it sharpens your mind. But you’re getting tired—and sloppy.” Richelle spun Tee around and shoved her away with her foot. “You’re going to get yourself killed, if you don’t stop.”

They fought in silence for another minute, Tee never managing to land a blow. She started to breathe hard. She hated it, but Richelle was right—the rage that had fueled her was draining away, and her body was feeling heavy.

“You’ve gone further with your training than I’d have guessed,” said Richelle. Tee lunged at her again, only to be flipped squarely onto her back. “Come see me in a couple of years. I’m interested to see what two granddaughters of world-changers would be like, whether as friends, or enemies. Now, go—before I change my mind. Go and bury your friend.”

Richelle started walking toward her coach. Tee, thinking she sensed an opportunity, charged and leapt at Richelle with her shock-sticks, hoping to finally land a blow.

In a flash of swirling red cloak, Richelle jumped backward, drew her cannon pistol, held it with both hands, and shot Tee backward into the air like a rag-doll.

“
Tee!
” screamed Elly.

“What’s that?” said Richy, pointing off in the distance.

Saul immediately turned to look.

The Hound shook his head. He was about to criticize Saul for being gullible, but then heard something strange from behind. The odd sound grew louder and more unnerving, until finally he couldn’t help himself. He turned around.

A bizarre contraption was coming towards them, flying above the trees at the southwest, shaking wildly. It came down to the ground in a series of drops and pauses, all the while continuing straight toward them, moving so fast that hardly any of them had time to react.

“Look out!” screamed Mounira as she and Christina jumped out of the crippled rocket-cart and rolled to the ground. The rocket-cart crashed forcefully into the Hound, sending him flying back.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Foreign Element

“We’ve got to get
Tee!
” said Elly, turning to run, but then stopping in her tracks.

“What’s the worry?” asked a weary, approaching Tee. She had a black eye, blood on her chin, and walked with a slight limp, but was otherwise fine.