Hawkmoon (The Hawkmoon Chronicles) (24 page)

“I will want to hear about anyone making enquiries about your work. “

Barzum related the earlier conversation with Jorun.

Kemp stroked his thin face. “Jorun has been behaving oddly of late. He is secretive …”

“I want you to create a special section of fliers. I will supply the thralls .Contact all our spies. I want to hear any rumours of crossing points between this and other worlds. I want you to range the Southland. I want reports on everything, no matter how insignificant”          

                                                           The Scout.

Nothing moved on the plain; not even a vulture. If there were marmots they were well hidden. The food was gone. A half skin of water between him and the horse.There was nothing to do   when the wolves came. They spooked the mule who ran off. He nicked one with an arrow. Soon as they finished  with the mule he would be seeing them again.. Cutting the big vein he drank the mare’s  blood. He could butcher the pony and take meat with him but how long before the pack caught the scent? 

“.Go out on the plain. See if anything is happening. Find what we need and there’s a hundred  gold in it for you The  bosses want to know.” It was the gold that decided it. He was sick of the life. Skulking around in dangerous places, while the bosses sat on their fat arses. A hundred gold would buy a farm and two slaves; a man to work the land and a wench to cook and look after his needs. His  teeth  ached in the cold. With the money he could pay to have them filed back.

He checked his weapons; a long sword , a short recurve bow with a quiver of arrows and a knife. Yesterday a pigeon flew over. He was too slow getting to the arrows and by the time he had one it was too far.. Today  another passed from the same direction. This time he had the arrow but it was too high. Those pigeons had to be coming from someplace. Seeing as he was finished, one way was as good as another…He started in the direction they came from. The mare stumbled after him  .. Mid-afternoon brought a cold wind with harsh sunlight. Something glittered to his front. His pack held a telescope, bought from a scout looking for drinking money. When it came into focus he found himself staring at another telescope. Dropping on his stomach he yanked the reins pulling the mare to the ground. He waited. A cricket chirped close at hand. Nothing but the moan of  wind. He risked another look. There was a rope. He followed it up and a box square box made of woven material. Reaching in the pack he took a sheet of paper and a piece of charcoal. Still looking he began to sketch.

“They won’t believe this. They’ll say I’m lying or I got too much sun… But wait..  They suspected something. Did anyone who saw this have a picture of it?
Not likely. As far as he knew he was the only one who could make sketches. The others could hardly write their names.
My son, I believe your luck is about to take a turn for the better
. He had to get closer. If he got this right he could finesse  it into real money. Documents, they loved documents; practically wet themselves when they saw paper.

It was coming down. If he didn’t move it would be lost below the skyline .The sun was setting and the horse was useless. Raised in the saddle  since he was four he was no runner but he had to run now. Taking the pack, weapons and his coat, he began .The mare he left tied to a heavy stone. After less than a half mile his breathing was ragged. He stopped to drink The back of his throat was burning.. The sun was at the lip of the horizon. Muttering a prayer to the  god of spies he lurched forward into an awkward gait. Dipping sharply the slope pitched him forward .He would stop at the top and look  for a camp. This far out they might be careless… might have a fire…

The sole of his boot tore, pebbles got inside, cutting his feet. He would buy a dozen pairs of boots. The summit came at last . He emerged on flat ground leading to an edge that dropped away out of sight. For a moment he panicked thinking he had come to a cliff  with no way down Steep escarpments lay to  left and right . He waited, the  wind starting  to chill his body. Wrapping  himself in the coat he   covered his mouth  and nose. The sun dipped,stars came out, one close to the ground. Not a star… a fire. He snapped awake. The glass was misted from the heat of his body. He waited while it cleared. Three figures moving about. His heart began to pound.

A stream ran close to the edge of the slope. It swung away from the hill taking him in the direction of  the camp. As it went it cut   the ground running deeper than the land. Good cover... Truly the gods were smiling on him this night.

Sharon sat by the fire.. Most of the wood had been burned. In her excitement she had forgotten to send Bantor out to collect more. He was lazy, with no initiative so they were freezing. She thought about ordering him to stay away from the fire as a punishment  and scolded herself for being petty. The others should have been back this morning. They should have left another guard but they needed the manpower. They had been on the plain a week .. If this worked she would be famous.Not that anyone joined the Order to be famous. But some keen student would find the records in an archive and write about her… Sister Sharon, inventor of the aerial balloon, an unsung heroine of the Great War.

Was she suitable for the life?  Was there another path? Her sister was married with a beautiful boy. The Prioress  said that doubts  were normal and  part of the sacrifice she made. Life in a monastery was wonderful. Work and study during the day and peaceful sleep when night came. Still…

The journey to the Plain of Jars had  affected her more than she could have expected.. The guards were rough and uncouth; their language and behaviour coarse and offensive. They  embarrassed  her with lewd remarks. Rachel laughed  and gave as good as she got.. The scouts were different. Quiet, self contained men, they drank without ever being drunk. Their leader Harald, an old bear, was kind to her. He spoke to the guards and from then they were either courteous or they ignored her.

One of the scouts watched her. Not like the guards before Harald told them to mind their manners…She caught him looking and he turned away. His name was Alex. His job was to  ride  a day ahead .. In the settled lands he found them   accommodation or a spot near clean water. She found herself looking forward to the times when he came back to camp. One evening he rode in with the others. He was standing with Harald, laughing. He turned to accept a plate of food and caught her looking at him. This time he held her gaze and neither of them looked away. The moment ended when Harald made a witty remark and everyone laughed.

The following night she and Rachel shared a small room at a wayside Inn. The  others  put up tents on the road opposite. Harald insisted that the sisters always spend the night inside wherever possible.  She woke at the sound of people coming to the room next door. There was laughter and a man’s voice. She turned over and went back to sleep only to wake again with the sound of moaning. She thought someone was hurt but it was not like that. She lay there, her face hot with embarrassment. It went on so long…

Rachel woke and listened. Groaning she put her head under the pillow. She tried putting her fingers in her ears but that only worked until she got drowsy. Finally she sat up and pounded the wall. “You’re a wonderful lover, now finish off and let everyone go to sleep.”

There was silence. She wanted to laugh. The more she felt she shouldn’t the stronger the urge became... She stuffed the pillow in her mouth to stop herself. Any chance of self control disappeared when the woman next door started giggling.

Her musings were interrupted when the guard stood alongside her “Char says  he’s ready.” His breath stank of alcohol. She wondered how he managed to stay drunk in the wilderness.  A week  ago they met company of  tribesmen and he might have got it from them.  That was something to worry about. No one would know if a small party disappeared; not this far out. She was angry at Harald for leaving her with this fool. 

Two balloons had gone out, one  for a test tonight and the other to go further onto  the plain. They wanted to test how many balloons would be needed to relay a message across the Plain of Jars. Leona had insisted on detailed notes.

“Tell Char, I’ll be there in a moment” He gave a toss of his head and walked away. The wind  that blew from the top of the plateau had abated. It would be a moonless night. They would have to test it on nights with full moons… See how moonlight affected the signal   Then there was the problem of poor weather. Could they put them up in high winds? It seemed unlikely. What if they were attached to  heavy cables?. Maybe if they used more balloons at a lower height? They were suitable only for use in summer. But then no one went to war in winter…

The basket was off the wagon with the round bag of hot air tethered above. It rode lightly in the night breeze. Stepping onto a wooden crate she hoisted herself into the basket. Sliding the glass panel she placed a sachet on the base .. Moving behind she turned the lantern to the Northwest. The back was sealed with darkened glass. Light flared at the front . Air rushed through side vents. The balloon straightened   and started to rise. . Rising in the darkness, the land below hushed and quiet. This was her favourite part; feeling like she was the only one alive in the world. Peering she caught a glimpse of a shape moving to the camp. She looked again and it had disappeared..

She had ordered Char to stop at five hundred feet. She would signal  when she wanted to  move higher... She took a journal and started to compose the signal. So intent was she that she failed to spot the light. It was only when she finished her composition and looked again that , with a shout of joy she spotted the glow. It stopped, paused, and then repeated. Looking at her charts she decoded the message and laughed” Hallo you” That was Rachel. A famous day and Rachel can’t resist being cheeky. Her first signal was” Aerial One. Test One. Confirm.” Suitably chastened Rachel sent back” Aerial Two Test One. Confirmed” And so it began.

The bow was meant for firing from horseback, it would pierce the strongest armour. If he stayed here he would freeze. Or fall asleep and they would find him come morning. Either way he would be dead. He could leave but he needed the horses, and their food. The others would come back Whatever he was going to do had to be done now. Two men, one armed, one not. The guard was drunk,  swaying from side to side, looking up at the big light. The other was twisting a barrel.. They would have little night vision. He stood outside the light and fitted an arrow.

The big one grunted, stumbled and fell. The other stared at his mate and looked around. An arrow hit him in the side. He raised his hand to touch it and slumped over the barrel. The scout came in, an arrow fitted. Whirling at a movement he relaxed…. Tumbleweed skittering by, caught in a rising breeze… A knife drawn across their throats, he crossed to the big tent. Food and lots of paper. He found saddle bags and started to fill them.

Apart for her initial levity Rachel had been flawless.   The balloon tipped as she finished forcing her to reset the lamp. A wind was getting up. She considered a series with the wind blowing but she was tired.. Taking her mirror she flashed a signal to be pulled back down. She waited for a response; none came. With the fire gone low it was hard to see. She had the telescope on board but it was too heavy to point down. The wind rose pushing the balloon lower. On the ground the fire burst  into life throwing light across the camp.. One was leaning on the barrel. Another was on the ground. Her stomach rolled, bile filling  her throat. In a few minutes the air inside the balloon would be cool enough to descend. The balloon had a valve to vent  air for a fast descent. If she could land outside the light she could hide in the dark until Harald came back .Rachel had  told her  he was on his way. She pulled the cord that opened the valve and the balloon dropped so fast, for a moment  she thought it might crash..

The basket hit at an angle, throwing her out.  Commanding her shaken body to move she got to her feet  to catch  a figure  emerging   from the   tent. It stood, watching. She sprinted from the camp to the safety of the hills He waited, an arrow fitted while she ran into the night. Raising the bow as she topped the skyline he let fly. Something struck beneath her ribs, knocking her down. There was something wrong with her legs. She could hear roaring, like a distant waterfall . Walking up the hill he knelt at her side. Starlight gleamed in her eyes, blood  pouring  from the corner of her mouth. Sharon reached and caught his tunic.” Beware, the enemy is here”

“I know” he said and waited while she died.

                                                  The Burden of Friendship

Some of the delegates had frostbite. A few had minor wounds, one serious from a skirmish with renegades. Aladan sent out hunters but they had fled. Sara came from the hospital when she finished work. At the kitchens she  filled two baskets; roast chicken, vegetable pie, potato cakes, fresh bread  and  two bottles of ale for Bekter. Thinking of his taste for the Elvish drink, she added  three more. She included a pouch of tobacco. Hawkmoon’s basket had the same with wine instead of ale and no tobacco. Crossing the bridge she kept on until she stood outside his door. Bekter opened at her first knock.

“My Lady”

Sara unpacked the basket while Bekter set the table.. The big man set to with a will and Sara let him eat. A man with a full belly would respond better to questioning… He opened a bottle of ale offered her some. She declined; he filled a tankard for himself.

“What is it you want to know about him? She stared at Bekter. This had not begun as she would have wished. Anyone who took Bekter for a fool would make a poor choice. “I want to go with him. He doesn’t want me. I asked him last night.  He said no. “She  rose to leave. Bekter reached out and placed his hand on her arm.  Taking her by the arm he seated her by the hearth” I’ve been married long enough to know a few things. When it comes to women men are fools. He loves you, have no doubt about that.”

Sara leaned forward, her face a storm of emotion “Has he said this?”

“He has said nothing. He has been with many women over the years but except for one he has never been like he is with you. I don’t know if it is Elfhome or you but he has found healing, and  not  of the body alone” Bekter paused.

Sara drew her wrap about her shoulders. “There are times when we are so close. There is great love in him. I can see the man in him before he became what he is. He never speaks of the past. You must tell me.” She leaned across the table.” It would be a betrayal to anyone else...”

Bekter was silent looking out the small window of the cottage, eyes vacant with memory.

“We took a contract to take a wagon train to Harad. They had been having trouble with rapparees and mercenaries. The rapparees were harmless; give them some money and they would be on their way. The mercenaries  were the scum of the earth.  Her name was Diane. She was driving the lead wagon with eight oxen and for a slip of a girl she could handle a team as good as the best of them. Men tended to avoid her on account of her brother. His name was Fenrir, a red haired giant with a temper and fists like  shovels. . The first time he saw her, his face went vacant.  He couldn’t stop looking at her. I started laughing. Then she saw him. She was about to give him a tongue lashing, instead she turned her back on him.

She was a pretty girl. Not beautiful like you. But she had a way about her. A big rumbly laugh, strange to hear from a girl that size. She had long hair, with a saucy sway to the hips. The best thing about her was her smile. It was like the sun coming out after rain. Hawkmoon stood there gazing after her and a fist crashed into his jaw. No one saw Fenrir come along The giant  stood over Hawkmoon” Bekter  pointed a finger “ You, stay away from my sister or I’ll kill you by gum, yeah” He said in a thick Outlander accent.. Hawkmoon made to rise and Fenrir raised that club of a fist. His sister returned when she heard the commotion. She shouted at her brother.

”At least you can let the man get to his feet” Fenrir glared at her but backed away. Hawkmoon had a sheath of knives strapped to his chest. When they saw him reach for it they thought he was going for a blade. Instead he threw it to me.

It wasn’t pretty. Fenrir was a bear. Nothing that hit him seemed to make the slightest impression. The giant was strong but he was untrained. That saved Hawkmoon. They pummelled each other for an hour. Finally neither had the strength to lift his arms and a draw was declared. They shook hands. That evening Hawkmoon went  to their fire and asked Fenrir  for leave to court his sister.  She was over with friends at another wagon. They drank  together for the evening

A week later we were passing the woods outside Harad when six  riders came up. They asked to see the escorts so we  came to talk. They demanded money. Fenrir being Fenrir lost his temper and one of them fired a crossbow. He took it on the shoulder. They were expecting us to see we were outnumbered and ride out unmolested. There were two groups of three. The big one with two parallel scars seemed to be the leader. Hawkmoon had a double crossbow; a lovely piece.   Few can talk and fight at the same time so they weren’t expecting it when Hawkmoon shot the one beside him in the gut, turned the crossbow and shot the other I was concentrating on the other three . One of them pulled a skinning knife so I put him down. I was reloading as the other pointed a spear and went to throw it. A small hatchet lodged in his forehead. Right through the skullcap. The other put his hands in the air  and when I looked across the one with the scars was doing the same.. Something told me that we would be seeing this one again so I raised the crossbow and took aim. A girl shouted at me to stop. It was Diane. She was tending to her brother” Bekter shook his head” I should have killed him.”

His face became introspective. “Hawkmoon bought a farm outside town. He was full of plans. Settle down. Breed horses. Tell the truth, he  was never much of a farmer… Did it to please Diane…. Someone would start talking about a war somewhere, a border skirmish, chasing a few brigands; he wanted to know all about it. It got to the point where he spent more of his time in my place than he did on the farm. He did his best but he was restless. Still they were content and it was complete when their first child came. A little girl, Shula, like my wife… I never saw him as happy.

Diane  got him to  go back to  escorting the wagon trains.  She understood him. He had no shortage of offers. I was happy to  pay  a man to run the tavern  so off we went into the wild... We took on the longer trips, the dangerous ones that no one  would touch.  We did some bodyguarding for merchants and guard work on the mines. He was not as keen on that. It meant being in one place and taking orders. The money was good. Fenrir bought the farm next to Hawkmoon’s and kept an eye on his sister. They had another child the following year. I was living with one of the girls who came to work for me. She was talking about having a baby and I was easy about it.

The town  expanded when they found gold in the hills. It meant  money and lots of trouble. I bought an old warehouse close to Tent Town; near the brothels. We barely opened the doors and it was making more in a night than the other place did in a week. There were fights, usually about women or gambling but mainly about drink. The trouble never got to the killing stage like it did in some of the other joints. I had some good lads who could mix it up without losing their tempers. Besides that I had a mallet inside the bar.

One night a wild crowd came in. They were guards from the mine and widely detested. I had one of my boys keep an eye on them.. They came to the bar , pushing the other miners away. It would have kicked off right then but the serving girls got them tables and free drink. To provoke the situation they started shouting for women. I explained that we didn’t run whores but they were welcome to go across the street. It was then I saw one of them looking at me. He was dressed different, but there was no mistaking the scars. There was no point in acting as if I didn’t know him so I gave him a drink and told him to get out after he finished it. The rest of them went quiet waiting to see what would happen. My boys came down from upstairs with pickaxe handles. Some of the miners they pushed around stood up at the back. Then there was Fenrir who was worth a crowd on his own. The one with the scars finished his drink and turned around. I could see that he was making a decision. There was no fear in him. He looked at me and nodded. Then he walked out.

I got word to Hawkmoon to stay at the farm until I sorted it.  I made it my business to find out about him. His name was Tancred Jain, a mercenary from the South. He had worked as an executioner in Cormalin. There were bounties out on him  from Tarissa to the Western Cape. He used to work with a brother and an uncle until they were killed a few years back.

After that I had people watching me all the time. They started following everyone in the Tavern, even the pot boy. They caught him and took him to a shed near the river and beat him. They were after Hawkmoon, where he lived. They knew me, where I was. They wanted Hawkmoon.

We did a lot of work for the mine. Since they opened we had  taken  their  consignments to  a  spot on  the Challon. We never lost a load. I went to the owners and told them about Jain and what I wanted. When they refused to fire him I said we would no longer be available due to previous commitments. Those who were any good would be similarly unavailable. I had Jain blacklisted all over town. They were gone within a week. The ones we sent to follow them tracked them south for a week.

Just before mid winter Hawkmoon brought Diane and the children to town. It was their first time off the farm in months. My woman took Diane shopping while the girls played with the kids. They were leaving when a clerk from the mine came with a note for Hawkmoon. They had a convoy stopped on the road two days from the city. Mainly supplies lumber and tools for the mine but there were families belonging to a supervisor and an engineer. Some unsavoury types were hanging about, demanding bribes. Could we go down and sort it?

Fenrir took everyone home and we went south with spare horses.  We found  later that the clerk who wrote the letter was a nephew of Jain’s. It had all the right signatures. No one could be blamed except the clerk and he was never seen again. There was nothing in the forest.  We wore out the horses on the ride back. We cut through the woods to miss the town.

We got the smell of burning before the last rise. The house and the outbuildings were ruins, still smouldering. Hawkmoon gave out a half cry, half scream. I never heard that sound out of him. He flogged the spare horse into a downhill gallop... My horse was wind broken, Hawkmoons’ fell at the gate . He sprinted  for the house without weapons. I shouted at him to stop but he was beyond that”. Bekter stopped. Rising from the table he opened a cabinet. There was a decanter of plum brandy, a gift from the King. He poured a glass and sat by the hearth. Time passed. The birds outside  sang their  songs The river  raced by , swollen with  melted snow. Bekter poked his boot in the ashes and sipped at the brandy. Sara came and sat opposite. Reaching  to the shelf she took his pipe and tamped it full. She passed it to him... Leaning forward she   her hand on his knee. Bekter had taken to wearing Corduroy breeches.

“Bekter,I am not an  innocent  sheltered in world where evil cannot come.. Evil is here also.”

Bekter struck a match from the grate;it fizzled before  it reached the bowl of the pipe.. Sara reached over and took it from him. He shook his head. “Leave it darling. Smoking is meant for happy tales”

He sat back in the great chair, gazing up at an embroidered scene of the harbour at Seareach. He had been there of a time and the artist had captured it well.  “We had seen it a thousand times. We had seen the savagery of men but never like this. I let him run to the house because I saw something over by the barn. It was Fenrir. They had nailed him to the door. He died hard that was plain from the tracks ... I counted seven…. seven men.  .A man  with no training... A big axe lay in the dust nearby, the handle broken. It took five bolts, one in his neck, two in his chest, two in his back. He had no armour, not a jot and it took seven of them. I knelt at his side to say a prayer. “

Bekter looked at his scarred hands, rubbing them as if they were unclean. His eyes welled, tears streaking his honest face.“I heard a rustle of wings behind me. It was a black crow, an old one. It was standing on a rail by the horse pen looking at something.. I picked a rock and threw it. The crow flew off but not far . I went over and spotted a bundle. It was Shula. Diane must have sent her to the shed to hide. I played hide and seek with her sometimes when I came to visit.  Almost always I found her in the shed.

It was the hate of it, the vindictiveness…

I found the remains of the boy in the ashes of the barn. It was impossible to know if they had thrown him into the flames or did he try to hide … Not that it mattered. I went inside the toolshed, what was left of it and found a sheet of leather.. There were strips of rawhide and an awl. My hope was I could get it done before Hawkmoon came out It took me long enough but he hadn’t shown. I approached the house knowing what I would find or so I thought.”

Bekter wiped his face and stood. The fire was quenched. Outside  the wind moaned bringing cold air  around the house.. Scraping  ash to one side he laid kindling. As it sprang to life he added dry sticks, then small blocks of wood followed by larger. Finally he covered it with split logs. The room  warmed in minutes. He  tidied the table. He went to eat the last of the chicken but put it to one side. Sara let him be. The tale would be told in its own time. Her feeling was that Bekter had never spoken of this..  He sat at the table. The chair creaked under his weight..

“I found them in the bedroom. He was sitting at the bottom of the bed. It was a mass of blood. I have seen war in all its horror. I have seen the evil men do. This was different She was split from Sternum to Pubis. I should have said. Diane was carrying their third child. It was gone .Ripped from her. It was impossible to know if anything else had been done to her but what could have been worse? I stood by him. The air was freezing. The day was humid but inside the house it was colder than a tomb. His breath was steaming. So was mine. I could see ice forming on the walls. The blood was solid gobs.