Conflict and Courage (7 page)

Cherry nodded;
she understood. Her young ears were being put on guard in case
anyone decided that a bit of spying was in order. They had learned
to be careful.

“There is
danger,” Anne whispered to Lysbet. “I believe that, before many
weeks pass, Baker, Cocteau and Smith will engineer the separation
of the older children from their mothers.”

Lysbet gasped
and her eyes swivelled towards her six year old son Gavin, cuddling
into Cherry as the ‘big girl’ read the story of Davy Crocket in a
clear, piping voice, designed to cover any of her mother’s or
brevet aunt’s words.

“But it was
promised that they would stay with us.”

“Murdoch
promised. I am under no illusions that those presently in charge
feel bound to any of his. They want control of the children, to
educate them their way. Privileged I may be, but I don’t think
Cherry and Joseph will escape the round-up though they may allow
them to stay until the baby is born.”

“What can we
do?” asked Lysbet desperately. “Don’t tell me I am to lose Gavin as
well as their father and Jenny? I think I would rather die.”

“No,” Anne
replied in a low murmuring voice. She bent close to Lysbet’s ear.
“I have a plan. There is someone here at Fort, a friend and I am
going to ask him to take you and the three children out of here, if
successful, he will take you to the north and ultimately I hope, to
Jessica and Jenny. If anyone can do it, he can. It will be
dangerous and what the chances of success are I don’t know, but we
have to try. Cherry especially is approaching that dangerous
age.”

Lysbet nodded,
already some of the younger teenage girls had been taken away from
their mothers, no one knew exactly where and Joseph would soon be
old enough to be enrolled in one of the boys’ battalions Cocteau
was talking about. After a few months with them he would hate his
mother and all she stood for.

“I can’t go,”
worried Lysbet, “it would be far too dangerous and I couldn’t
possibly leave you here to face the music on your own.”

“Do you want to
keep Gavin?” demanded Anne.

Lysbet
nodded.

“There is no
way I can go with you,” continued Anne. “I will slow you down for
one thing and they would hunt for me even more than you. The
convicts and everybody else’s survival might well depend on the
successful delivery of this child. I can perhaps delay them a bit
too.”

“But I can’t
leave you here alone,” protested Lysbet.

“I won’t be
alone. I’ll have the baby when it is born and peace of mind knowing
that Peter’s children are safe and far away from this hateful
place. Who knows, perhaps I will manage to get away later. You will
mother Cherry and Joseph for me.”

“Of course I
will,” answered Lysbet. “I promise you Anne, that I will give them
all the love that you cannot. They will never forget you either, or
their father.”

Meanwhile in
the livestock corrals Gerry was thinking of Anne and worrying about
what was happening up in Fort proper. He had not managed a trip up
the hill for days. News had come that morning that Lord Baker was
calling in all the other Lords for a meeting and he and the other
herdsmen had received orders to cull two of the older cattle for
the feast that would follow. He would have to try to engineer a
visit to the kitchens with the meat delivery.

Anne however
did manage to get permission from the Captain of the Guard for a
walk along the river at the foot of the cliffs. Some of the heifers
had dropped their calves over the last few days and she persuaded
the elderly guard commander that the little ones would like to see
them. Lord Cocteau had also been amenable to the suggestion. His
wife Carla was expecting his first child and for the first time in
his life, Cocteau was becoming sensitive to the needs of others. He
had struck up quite a friendship with young Joseph and would take
him on excursions round the encampment when his duties allowed.
Joseph called him Uncle Henri and was beginning to be influenced by
the new ideals.

This worried
Anne, seeing in it a demonstration of how easily young boys could
be moulded with their fathers dead and their mothers not around.
Joseph was already talking excitedly about the time when he would
be old enough to join the boys’ battalion. He no longer mentioned
his father. His memories of his old life were fading with each
passing day.

Cherry
remembered. Cherry hated the Lords, Brentwood in particular, with
an intensity beyond belief for a ten-year-old. She had cried
herself to sleep many nights after she found out about the murder
of her father. She knew of Lord Brentwood’s complicity in the deed
and looked at him through narrowed eyes every time she saw him. It
was a hatred that would continue for as long as Brentwood had life
in his body.

Cherry Howard
had vowed her own revenge, although what she thought a ten-year-old
girl-child could do was anybody’s guess.

Neither Anne
nor Gerry had any way of knowing that a rescue was being
planned.

* * * * *

Deep within the
new-named land of Vadath and sublimely ignorant of what she was
about to be told, Aglaya made her way in a leisurely manner towards
the daga of her sire Fernei, Elda and Susa of the Avuzdel.

The Avuzdel was
a small, elite and predominantly secret force domiciled in a small
wooded area a day’s run to the north of the main rtathlians. Many
Lind, especially those living in the far west, did not even know of
its existence and Fernei and his Avuzdel were quite content that it
remain so. The fewer that knew about their frequent incursions
south the better it was for the safety of all concerned.

Recruitment to
the Avuzdel was covert. Fernei selected only the best. Spying in
the south was a dangerous, brutal and often fatal occupation. If
the spy was good, he (the force consisted mainly of males because
female Larg always remained in their pack-ranges) survived. The
Larg did not treat gently any of those captured and a long and
torturous death was certain. To prepare his agents, Fernei put them
through a long and vigorous training. Fighting prowess and bravery
were perquisites, but he also looked for a certain type of mind.
Sneakiness, intelligence and an ability to work on your own could
not always be taught and many who volunteered did not make the
grade.

Aglaya was
already a veteran not of two but three missions. She had made the
grade, a true daughter of her father. Privately, he was extremely
proud of her, publicly he treated her the same as the others under
his command.

He himself had,
that morning, returned from a visit to the Gtrathlin. He had also
spent some time further west undertaking a more covert mission, one
of sacred trust, the full details of which even Aglaya would never
learn about. Aglaya was not a member of the most secret cadre
within the Avuzdel itself.

Fernei awaited
her arrival with impatience. The mission now being proposed by
Afanasei was far more difficult than any asked of the Avuzdel
before. With the advent of humans it was far more dangerous than
ever for any Lind venturing into the southern continent. After much
soul-searching and analysis of where in the continent the mission
was to take place, he had selected his only daughter as leader.

He sensed
rather than heard the steady pad of her paws on the dry leaves in
front of the daga and raised his head as she ducked under the
overhanging branches that made up the entranceway. She entered in
her usual composed fashion, her face one of gentle enquiry at the
unexpected summons.

: You wish to
speak to me? :

Her telepathic
skills were second to none, better than his own, but telepathy was
normally used for sending images and emotions. Word sending,
especially over long distances, took a lot of energy and effort and
normally was used only when the need was great, such as in battle
or with an urgent intelligence report.

“We have a
rescue mission in the south.”

Aglaya cocked
her right ear in inquiry, whiskers quivering in anticipation. A
handsome female in Lind terms, she nevertheless showed signs of her
Larg ancestry. Her father Fernei was the son of a male Larg refugee
from one of the internecine pack wars of the southern continent and
a pack Ranetei female. The pink stripes of his mother were almost
submerged in the tawny pelt that was the legacy of Aglaya’s
grandfather. It had enabled Fernei to blend in with the Larg packs
and kohorts and had been a great aid to him becoming, perhaps, the
most effective spy the Avuzdel had ever known. Now almost white,
the pink stripes were more evident. He would not blend in now.

His daughter
Aglaya was in the prime of life. The pink inherited from her
grandmother was barely noticeable because Fernei had mated with a
female from a far westerly pack with a dull sandy stripe coloured
pelt. At a cursory glance, all Fernei’s children were therefore
very similar to the Larg in appearance. Due to their sandy colour
pattern, adventurous members of pack Lvei were in high demand by
the Avuzdel.

“To the Larg
rtathas?”

“Not this time.
This time we go into the bad humans’ lands.”

An incredulous
expression on her face, Aglaya stared at him, “you are joking!” she
exploded with a growl of disbelief, “how can we go there? The
latest reports say that there are no Larg there. We will stand out
like a lone kura!”

“You will not
be alone,” replied Fernei. “Four Avuzdel go with you, also two
vadeln-pair. As well as this, the humans have liquid they call dye;
this means colour stripes will not show.”

“They are
warriors, these vadeln-pair?”

“No. They are
vadeln-pair who are good in subterfuge. Afanasei found them for us.
The human youngling is young but fought well in battle. You know
hidden doms where you can hide. The two vadeln-pair must reach the
domta. It is called Fort.”

Aglaya looked
worried, as well she might. It was dangerous enough for one member
of the Avuzdel to traverse the southern continent, with six Lind
and two humans she felt it would be an almost impossible task.

“Remember,”
said Fernei at this point, “you will be passing through lian and
nadlian where there are no Larg. Not many humans either.”

“Reports are
incomplete,” she reminded him, “just because no Larg are supposed
be there does not mean that they are not.”

“That is true
daughter,” he said. “Afanasei is aware of this but go we must.
Susyc Jim says we must do this. We need to find out what bad men
and Larg are doing so we can make plans for future. There is a man
who is our friend hiding at this Fort and contact must be made
before winter comes and makes travel even harder than now. You will
not go over the island bridge. It is watched.”

Aglaya was
surprised.

“How then?
There no other way to Larg lands.”

“You go on
something called boat.”

“Boat? What is
that?”

“I do not
know,” he admitted, “but Afanasei tells me it is possible. Is a
human thing that can travel on water.”

Aglaya snorted
in disbelief, “this I must see,” she said, interested despite her
misgivings.

“You accept
this mission?”

“I have
choice?” was the rhetorical question.

“No. Susyc Jim
and Larya will arrive here soon then we go to domta Afanasei. There
we meet the vadeln-pairs that go with you. From the Avuzdel, you
take Vsei, Baltvei and Alesei. Baltvei is young but he shows much
promise. He did well in training.”

Aglaya
signalled compliance with his orders with a submissive bow of her
head.

Fernei limped
over to her and gave her a quick lick of affection. Aglaya leant
towards him.

“Now,” he said,
“let us go hunt zarova together. All this talk make me very
hungry.”

Aglaya’s nose
twitched in appreciation. She did so enjoy a hunt with her
sire.

* * * * *

At domta
Afanasei, some miles away, a small group was gathering.

“The Avuzdel
are sending four?” asked Francis of Jim. He and Asya had run north
to speak with Jim and Larya about the mission to Fort.

“Aglaya leads,”
announced Asya. “She very good. I not know the other three.”

“Louis and
Ustinya are definitely going?”

“Aglaya agrees,
as long as the dye works,” Faddei added with caution. Ustinya’s
violet-striped pelt would be especially noticeable in the
south.

“Louis is too
young,” protested Francis. “I think Asya and I should go
instead.”

“No,” said Jim.
“You know you are needed here and Fernei insists Maurice and Qenya
must be the second pair.”

“I don’t see
why.”

“You have
duties with the Vada,” said Jim. “Louis and Ustinya will go. She
will keep him safe and I have faith in the lad. He has a remarkable
sense of self-preservation for one so young. We have to find out
what is happening, we need to know what the convicts are up to. The
prisoners captured at Settlement have told us that boats are being
built, more than we saw at the beachhead during the battle and I
don’t think that we can assume the next attack will come over the
island chain. The entire coastline is at risk. Robert Lutterell is
worried though he pretends he isn’t. Many of the settlers believe
that our foes will not return and are beginning to spread out,
unheeding of his warnings.”

“Pack Jalkei is
still on duty at the peninsula?”

“Yes and their
Susa is also worried. He says he cannot protect them all,” said
Larya. “No trouble yet but they dare not relax guard.”

She turned to
Francis and Asya. “How is Laura?” she asked.

Francis smiled
at her as he thought of his wife, pregnant with their first child,
a child who would be called Thomas if he was a boy, named after one
of the teenagers who had died during the battle.