"There's a ship at the Tulwar dock that leaves for Meadenval in the morning,
Shed. I had the Captain hold passage for two. Should I tell him you'll be there,
too?"
Pawnbroker stepped into position to block the doorway. “Neither one of you will
be there. Some friends of mine want to talk to you.”
“Shed, what is this?” Panic edged Asa's voice. Shed looked at Pawnbroker. The
mercenary nodded. Shed poured out most everything. Asa did not understand. Shed
did not himself, because his chaperones had not told • him everything, so there
was some sense missing from the picture he had.
Pawnbroker was alone at the Lily. Shed suggested, “How about I go get Goblin?”
Pawnbroker smiled. “How about we just wait?”
“But. . . .”
"Somebody will turn up. We'll wait. Let's go downstairs.
You.“ He indicated Asa with his blade. ”Don't get any funny ideas."
Shed said, “Be careful, Asa. These are the guys Raven was scared of.”
“I will. I heard enough from Raven.”
“That's a pity, too,” Pawnbroker said. “Croaker and Elmo aren't going to like
that. Down, gents. Shed, just go on about your business.”
“Somebody's liable to recognize Asa,” Shed warned.
“We'll take a chance. Git.” Pawnbroker stood aside and allowed both men to pass.
Downstairs, he seated Asa at the shadowiest table and joined him, cleaning his
nails with his knife. Asa watched in fascination. Seeing ghosts, Shed figured.
He could get away now if he wanted to sacrifice Asa. They wanted Asa more than
they wanted him. If he just headed out through the kitchen, Pawnbroker would not
come after him.
His sister-in-law came from the kitchen, a platter balanced on each hand. “When
you get a minute, Sal.“ And when she got the minute: ”You think you and the kids
could run the place for me for a few weeks?”
“Sure. Why?” She looked puzzled. But she glanced quickly into the shadows.
“I might have to go somewhere for a while. I'd feel better if I knew somebody in
the family was running the place. I don't really trust Lisa.”
“You haven't heard from her yet?”
“No. You'd have thought she'd turn up when her father died, wouldn't you?”
“Maybe she's shacked up somewhere and hasn't heard yet.” Sal did not sound
convinced. In fact, Shed suspected, she thought he had something to do with the
disappearance. Way too many people had disappeared around him. He was afraid she
would do her sums and decide he had had something to do with Wally disappearing,
too.
“There's one rumor I heard said she got arrested. Keep an eye out for Mom. She's
got good people taking care of her, but they need supervising.”
“Where are you going, Marron?” “I don't know yet.” He was afraid it might be
just a way up the hill, to the Enclosure. If not that, then certainly somewhere,
away from everything that had happened here. Away from these merciless men and
their even less merci-ful employers. Have to talk to Asa about the Taken, Maybe
Raven had told him something.
He wished he could get a moment with Asa to plan something. The two of them
making a break. But not on the Tulwar ship. Asa had mentioned that, damn him.
Some other ship, headed south.
What had become of Raven's big new vessel? And Darling?
He went over to the table. “Asa. What happened to Darling?”
Asa reddened. He stared at his folded hands. “I don't know, Shed. Honest. I
panicked. I just ran for the first ship headed north.”
Shed walked away, shaking his head in disgust. Leaving the girl alone like that.
Asa hadn't changed much after all.
The one called Goblin came through the door. He began to beam at Asa before
Pawnbroker said anything. “My, my, my, my, my,” he said. “Is this who I think it
is, Pawn?”
“You got it. The infamous Asa himself, home from the wars. And does he have
stories to tell.”
Goblin seated himself opposite Asa. He wore a big frog grin. “Such as?”
“Mainly, he claims Raven is dead.”
Goblin's smile vanished. In an eye's blink he became deadly serious. He made Asa
tell his story again while staring into a mug of wine. When he finally looked
up, he was subdued. "Better talk this over with Elmo and Croaker. Good job,
Pawnbroker.
I'll take him. Keep your eye on friend Shed."
Shed winced. In the back of his head had lain the small hope that both would
leave with Asa.
His mind was made up. He would flee at the first opportunity. Get south, change
his name, use his gold pieces to buy into an inn, behave himself so thoroughly
nobody would notice him ever again.
Asa showed a spark of rebellion. "Who the hell do you guys think you are?
Suppose I don't want to go anywhere?"
Goblin smiled nastily, muttered something under his breath. Dark brown smoke
drifted out of his mug, illuminated by a bloody inner glow. Goblin stared at
Asa. Asa stared at the mug, unnerved.
The smoke coalesced, formed a small, headlike shape. Points began glowing where
eyes might be. Goblin said, "My little friend wants you to argue. He feeds on
pain. And he hasn't eaten for a long time. I've had to keep a low profile in
Juniper.''
Asa's eyes kept getting bigger. So did Shed's. Sorcery! He had sensed it in the
thing called the Taken, but that had not upset him much. It had been removed,
not experienced. Something that had happened to Lisa, out of sight. But this. .
. .
It was a minor sorcery, to be sure. Some slight trick. But it was sorcery in a
city which saw none other than that involved in the slow growth of the black
castle. The dark arts hadn't gained any following in Juniper.
“All right,” Asa said. “All right.” His voice was high and thin and squeaky, and
he was trying to push his chair back. Pawnbroker prevented him.
Goblin grinned. “I see Raven mentioned Goblin. Good. You'll behave. Come along.”
Pawnbroker released Asa's chair. The little man followed Goblin docilely.
Shed sidled over and looked into Goblin's mug. Nothing. He frowned. Pawnbroker
grinned. “Cute trick, eh?”
"Yeah.'' Shed took the mug to his sink. When Pawnbroker was not looking, he
dropped it into the trash. He was more scared than ever. How did he get away
from a sorcerer?
His head filled with tales he had heard from southern sailors. Bad business,
wizards were.
He wanted to weep.
JUNIPER: VISITORS
Goblin brought me the man Asa, and insisted we wait for Elmo before questioning
him. He had sent someone to dig Elmo out of Duretile, where he was trying to
placate Whisper. Whisper was getting goosed by the Lady regular and taking it
out on anyone handy.
Goblin was unsettled by what he had learned. He did not play the usual game and
try to make me guess what was going on. He blurted, “Asa says him and Raven had
a run-in with Bullock. Raven is dead. He lit out. Darling is on her own down
there.”
Excitement? Better believe it. I was ready to put the little man to the
question, then and there. But I controlled myself.
Elmo was a while showing up. Goblin and I got damned antsy before he did, while
Asa worked himself up for a stroke.
The wait proved worthwhile. Elmo did not come alone.
The first hint was a faint but sour odor that seemed to come from the fireplace,
where I'd had a small fire lighted. Just in case, you know. With a few iron rods
set by, ready to be heated, so Asa could look them over and think, and maybe
convince himself he ought not to leave anything out.
“What's that smell?” somebody asked. “Croaker, you let that cat in again?”
“I kicked him out after he sprayed my boots,” I said.
“Like halfway down the hill. Maybe he got the firewood before he left.”
The odor grew stronger. It wasn't really obnoxious, just mildly irritating. We
took turns examining the firewood. Nothing.
I was in the middle of a third search for the source when the fire caught my
eye. For a second I saw a face in the flames.
My heart nearly stopped. For half a minute I was in a panic, nothing but the
face's presence having registered. I considered every evil that could happen:
Taken watching, the Lady watching, the things from the black castle, maybe the
Dominator himself peeking through our fire. . . . Then something calm, back in
the far marches of mind, reiterated something I hadn't noticed because I had no
reason to expect it. The face in the flames had had only one eye.
“One-Eye,” I said without thinking. "That little bastard is in Juniper.''
Goblin spun toward me, eyes wide. He sniffed the air. His famous grin split his
face. “You're right, Croaker. Absolutely right. That stink is the little skunk
himself. Should have recognized it straight off.”
I glanced at the fire. The face did not reappear.
Goblin mused, “What would be a suitable welcome?”
“Figure the Captain sent him?”
“Probably. Be logical to send him or Silent ahead.”
“Do me a favor, Goblin.”
“What?”
“Don't give him no special welcome.”
Goblin looked deflated. It had been a long time. He did not want to miss an
opportunity to refresh his acquaintance with One-Eye with a flash and a bang.
“Look,” I said. “He's here on the sneak. We don't want the Taken to know. Why
give them anything to sniff out?”
Bad choice of words. The smell was about to drive us outside.
“Yeah,” Goblin grumbled. “Wish the Captain had sent
Silent. I was all worked up for this. Had him the biggest surprise of his life.”
"So get him later. Meantime, why not clear this smell out? Why not get his goat
by just ignoring him?''
He thought about it. His eyes gleamed. “Yeah,” he said, and I knew he had shaped
my suggestion to his own warped sense of humor.
A fist hammered on the door. It startled me even though I was expecting it. One
of the men let Elmo in.
One-Eye came in behind Elmo, grinning like a little black mongoose about to eat
snake. We paid him no heed. Because the Captain came in behind him.
The Captain! The last man I expected to reach Juniper before the Company itself.
“Sir?” I blurted. “What the hell are you doing here?” He lumbered to the fire,
extended his hands. Summer had begun to fade, but it was not that cold. He was
as bear-like as ever, though he had lost weight and aged. It had been a hard
march indeed. “Stork,” he replied.
I frowned, looked at Elmo. Elmo shrugged, said, “I sent Stork with the message.”
The Captain expanded, “Stork didn't make any sense. What's this about Raven?”
Raven, of course, had been his closest friend before deserting. I began to get a
glimmer.
I indicated Asa. "This guy was in the thick of it from the beginning. Been
Raven's sidekick. He says Raven is dead, down… What's the name of that place,
Asa?"
Asa stared at the Captain and One-Eye and swallowed about six times without
being able to say anything. I told the Captain, “Raven told stories about us
that turned his hair grey.”
“Let's hear the story,” the Captain said. He was looking at Asa.
So Asa told his tale for the third time, while Goblin hovered, listening for the
clunk of untruth. He ignored One-Eye in the most masterful show of ignoring I've
ever seen. And all for nought.
The Captain dropped Asa completely the moment he finished his tale. A matter of
style, I think. He wanted the information to percolate before he trotted it out
for reexamination. He had me review everything I had experienced since arriving
in Juniper. I presumed he had gotten Elmo's story already.
I finished. He observed, “You're too suspicious of the Taken. The Limper has
been with us all along. He doesn't act like there's anything up.” If anyone had
a cause for malice toward us, the Limper did.
“Nevertheless,” I said, “there're wheels within wheels within wheels with the
Lady and the Taken. Maybe they didn't tell him anything because they figured he
couldn't keep it secret.”
“Maybe,” the Captain admitted. He shuffled around, occasionally gave Asa a
puzzled look. "Whatever, let's not get Whisper wondering any more than she is.
Play it close. Pretend you're not suspicious. Do your job. One-Eye and his boys
will be around to back you up."
Sure, I thought. Against the Taken? “If the Limper is with the Company, how did
you get away? If he knows you're gone, the word will be out to the Lady, won't
it?”
"He shouldn't find out. We haven't spoken in months. He stays to himself. Bored,
I think."
“What about the Barrowland?” I was primed to find out everything that had
happened during the Company's long trek, for I had nothing in the Annals
concerning the majority of my comrades. But it was not yet time to exhume
details. Just to feel for high points.
“We never saw it,” the Captain said. “According to the Limper, Journey and the
Lady are working that end. We can expect a major move as soon as we have Juniper
under control.”
“We haven't done squat to prepare,” I said. “The Taken kept us busy fussing
about the black castle.”
“Ugly place, isn't it?” He looked us over. “I think you might've gotten more
done had you not been so paranoid.“ ”Sir?”
“Most of your trail-covering strikes me as needless and a waste of time. The
problem was Raven's, not yours. And he solved it in typical fashion. Without
help.” He glared at Asa.
“In fact, the problem seems solved for all time.”
He had not been here and had not felt the pressures, but I did not mention that.
Instead, I asked, “Goblin, you figure Asa is telling the truth?”
warily, Goblin nodded.
“How about you, One-Eye? You catch any false notes?”
The little black man responded with a cautious negative, “Asa. Raven should have
had a bunch of papers with him. He ever mention them?”