The Adventures of Benjamin Skyhammer (17 page)

Higgins opened her mouth.

Skyhammer, seeing Higgins readying a torrent of angry words, put a hand on her shoulder. "Hanamun, thank you for your time and help. Please tow our boat back to Ambersilk. Now." He directed Higgins into the boat, then sat down and waited.

Hanamun tied their boat to hers then stood in the prow, watching Higgins.

"She's making me nervous," Skyhammer whispered. A water creature of some sort was towing Hanamun's boat along with theirs but Skyhammer didn't want to think about the creature's size and strength. How were they tamed?

Higgins didn't reply, just continued locking eyes with the Katipo.

When they reached Ambersilk, Higgins put on her backpack without a word and headed towards the boat landing on the other side of Ambersilk.

He sighed. Another hauling extravaganza before they got back to Quasianti. His back and arms already ached in remembrance.

Hanamun spoke to Skyhammer. "Don't think badly of her. She made the only choice she could."

"Higgins?" He was confused.

"No. Spark. When you see her...be gentle. Be patient."

Skyhammer's eyebrows drew together. "We'll see."

"And Skyhammer."

"What?"

"Beware the Byndari. They are not what they seem."

Before he could ask what she meant, her boat had disappeared into the dark forest of mushroom trunks.

Chapter 16

Countdown to ceremony: 8 days

"We have to move faster." Higgins tore a pine cone to bits as they rode towards the border of Quasianti.

Spark resided in HriHriKari, the Aridizan's capital city, Hanamun had told Higgins. They still had to cross the Deadlands and Flyer country then enter HriHriKari. After that, they had to find Spark, who had already avoided detection for years.

Then there was the issue of getting her back to Quasianti: not just to Four Hills, but all the way to the Kingmaker Tower. Skyhammer refused to let his anxiety surface. He yearned to talk to Spark. To know how she had acquired magic powers. Could he get them as well, the same way? Had she found another mesh glove? Or worse, had the Retrograph Vault been able to bestow magic powers all this time and he'd just never known? A flash of desperation hit him.

"Maybe the eclipse is actually a couple of days later than predicted so we have some extra days before the ceremony." The joke didn't sound as funny aloud as it had in his head.

Higgins rose up in her stirrups, peering ahead. "We'll have to go through the Deadlands by ourselves and not join a caravan. They're too slow."

"Is there not some other way to communicate with her?" Skyhammer burst out. "It seems ridiculous to travel all the way to HriHriKari and back. We just need to talk to her." His horse neighed as he yanked the reins in frustration. "Sorry. Sorry, horse."

A flock of tiny brown birds disappeared into the foliage at the path's side.

"Flyers!" Higgins called out. "We could ask the King to send a Flyer messenger to HriHriKari-"

"Yes, now would be a great time. Our popularity is at its height in Four Hills. Great idea."

"Don't hear you coming up with anything."

Skyhammer rode on in sullen silence. He observed a reflection of the horses, Higgins and himself in a puddle bounded by tree roots. Ripples spread as they rode past. "I've got an idea!" He stopped his horse and faced Higgins.

"She can see what we are doing," he confirmed.

"Yes."

"We can communicate with her through the Retrographs!"

"But if she could, wouldn't she just write us a message?"

Skyhammer waved her suggestion away. "Maybe she can't affect the Retrographs that way. Who knows what the rules are."

"That's kind of strange."

"This whole thing is strange." He opened his Whorl and peered at a Retrograph. "Look. From what I can tell, she can move items or people but not change them. We can write questions or statements on a piece of paper. For yes, or true, she puts an object at the beginning of the sentence-"

"And if it's no or false, she puts the object at the end of the sentence." Higgins nodded. "One problem. We need paint and a big piece of paper."

"Or we could write on the ground. With stones and sticks."

"We're in the middle of a forest. Not a lot of space. And kind of hard to see. Time consuming as well. No, we need paper."

Flicking through his Retrographs, Skyhammer found one showing a map of Quasianti. "We're near Kulik Town." He closed his Whorl. "We can get some there."

"And who just reminded me of our popularity with humans right now? Sauntering into Kulik could be dangerous."

Skyhammer stared at the puddle, thinking. Then he grinned and began rooting around in his pack. A moment later, he yanked out a long white shirt. "Disguises!"

"Disguises? Those are our best clothes. We wear them for the King or Relic collectors only."

"Exactly. Humans will be looking for dirty and tired Relic hunters, not Lord Whatsit and his sister, Lady Whosit."

"I guess." She twitched the reins. "Most people haven't seen us in our finery, true."

He stuffed the shirt back in his pack. "Let's get to the outskirts of Kulik before we change."

Their horses' clopping hooves combined with birdsong to create a soothing rhythm.

"Why do you think Spark went to the Aridizan capital?" Skyhammer mused. "HriHriKari isn't that big. It's in the desert, for goodness sake. She hates the heat."

"Maybe that's why. No one would think to look for her there."

"But no one was looking for her."

Higgins rolled her eyes. "Yeah, no one important I guess."

He coloured. "Except me of course. But I didn't even try that hard, did I?" He had felt guilty for not trying harder, he realized. Why? Because once Spark was gone he felt free? He had been lonely sometimes and missed her but he had felt . . . unshackled. For the first time in a year or so. He hardened his heart. She had left him. He was mad about that at the time. Still was. Looking down, he noticed that his thumb was rubbing along his fingertips. He flexed his fingers. He had to stop thinking about the glove. Perhaps she had found a way to get magic for herself only. For surely if there was a way to give him magic, she would've tried to contact and tell him about it. Would he have looked for her if their positions were reversed?

They came to a fork in the forest pathway. Higgins went left and Skyhammer cantered along behind her, then caught up to fall in beside her.

"What should we say in the message?" There were so many questions he wanted to ask. Did you kill Hermit? Why? How did you get in the Retrograph Vault? When did you know you were a Keeper? Why didn't you say something to me-

"We should say we know she's trying to warn us about something but we can't understand what. And then we tell her the method we worked out for communicating and write down our questions."

"How about if we ask her to tell us where she is and then we can go talk to her?"

Higgins brushed a leaf off her shoulder. "We know where she is."

"Do you think Hanamun would lie?"

"No." She shook her head with certainty. "She wouldn't lie to me."

So Hanamun would drug Higgins' friend but not lie to her? He decided not to respond to that remark. "Okay. So we know Spark's in the Aridizan capital. We're supposed to bring her back to the King."

Higgins watched a bluejay dart among the tree branches. "But maybe, if we can convince the King that she is helping him and isn't going to sabotage the ceremony, we don't have to bring her back."

"That may be a little difficult since last time she communicated to the King through his Retrograph, she put a sword through his chest."

"Yep."

"Then we need to know exactly what she's trying to tell us. We should write out a few sentences saying what we think she's trying to tell us and ask her to confirm.

A rabbit fled down the path in front of Higgins' horse.

"What if she doesn't answer?"

"We have just enough time to get to HriHriKari, grab Spark and get back to the Tower for the ceremony. Cutting it close but we could do it." Skyhammer snapped off a huckleberry branch and popped berries in his mouth as he rode.

"Do we tell the King where we're going?"

Skyhammer laughed. "And what human would be willing to send that message for us? Nope, we're on our own until we capture the Retrograph Sorcerer and the ceremony finishes successfully."

"We're wasting time, then. Shall we gallop?" A mischievous smile crossed Higgins' face.

Grinning, Skyhammer nodded. Higgins leaned forward, knees deeply bent and bounced ahead. Skyhammer jolted on his horse behind her. He was bigger and taller. That's why he had trouble galloping. It wasn't because he wasn't in as good a shape as Higgins. And, he thought as he looked at her pert bum bouncing along in front of him, she did have a very pleasing shape. He shook his head to get rid of the thought. Had he just been attracted to Higgins? No, no, he reassured himself, he was just admiring nature's booty, uh, beauty. Higgins was like a sister to him. And that was how she thought of him. Like a brother.

The winding forest path they followed finally joined up with a main road leading to Kulik. They halted, unseen, in the trees lining the road. Wagons, horses, donkeys and crowds of people were travelling towards the town.

Skyhammer felt a twinge of guilt as they tied to horses up again. There were wolves in these forests. But he didn't need the hassle of horse-minding while in Kulik.

Blue dress trousers, a long white shirt, and a dark blue jacket with silver embroidery replaced Skyhammer's usual all-black Relic hunter uniform. A wide-brimmed hat pulled low, plus a fake black moustache, completed his outfit.

A glance at Higgins took his breath away. Thigh-high boots barely met the bottom of a short red skirt and form-fitting black top. Her neck, wrists, ears and fingers tinkled with jewellery. Red ringlets curled over her shoulders. A black eye patch covered her left eye and a black cape hid her rapier.

"Sister? Lady?" He lifted an eyebrow. To meet the King she normally wore more clothes. She must have decided to forgo another layer of clothes. Or this must be what she wore to parties in Floatilla.

"Sisters are boring. Mistresses are fun." She flicked her fingers at her bag. "Carry that, darling. Let's go."

Clamping his slack jaws together, he stepped onto the road a few paces behind her.

Higgins hailed one of the children capering around a wagon. "What's going on?"

The girl stared a moment in awe, then found her voice. "The fair, my lady. Kulik is having its annual water fair. Come on, it's fun!" She scampered off.

"Ever heard of it?" Higgins asked.

"Nope. It's a fairly small town though so I'm not really surprised. They often have their own celebrations. The crowds mean people won't pay too much attention to us."

The road was becoming clogged with people and animals but Higgins and Skyhammer wound their way through. Since Kulik was outside the Royal Circle, no one would be expecting any magic. Humans walked and talked with one hand raised, automatically flicking through their Retrographs as they chatted.

Kulik, like most forest towns, had an enormous wooden wall around it. Dangerous bears and wolves roamed the woods. As well, it was close to Katipo country. Most border towns were still mistrustful of other species, even though humans were now at peace with every species except the Nasuchu.

The wooden wall enclosed communal grazing land - the bears and wolves weren't after humans of course, they were after the townspeople's goats and sheep. Also enclosed were the homes of the townsfolk, shops, inns and pleasure houses; it was a self-contained community. Not huge, like Four Hills, but a good size.

They'd be putting on a good party for the folks that came from smaller settlements spread through the forest, Skyhammer thought. The scent of roasted meat reminded him of how long it had been since he'd eaten anything but mushrooms or berries. Too long. He promised himself a lamb kebab once they'd sent their message through his Retrograph.

An enormous cleared area between the wall and the forest, typically empty, was now covered with tents, wagons, animals and people. A few Byndari wandered about, as did a couple of Aridizans and Katipo. But the majority of the crowd was human.

Just outside the north town gate, Skyhammer and Higgins paused to join the crowd looking at a huge fountain. Some highly skilled engineer had created an amazing system using pulleys, levers, fountains and waterfalls. A series of tiny animals such as whales, fish, turtles and otters floated up and down the fountain. Made from wood and wire, the whole contraption was twice the height of Skyhammer and about three times as long. A low fence ringed it to keep out people fancying a swim.

Skyhammer admired it as he continued through the gate, which led into the residential section of town. Towns tended to be laid out similarly so Skyhammer guessed the shops would be in the south part. He and Higgins strode down the main street. Everyone smiled at them and no one seemed to recognize him. He began to relax. People were dressed up for the celebration anyway, so he and Higgins blended in.

The buildings, all wooden, were quite simple on the outside, nothing elaborate. Most were two or three stories high. The glass windows were covered in paper. Most home or shop owners had gone to a lot of trouble to make intricate and colourful designs of animals or people or geometric shapes.

As they travelled south through the town, the buildings became more commercial. At first, just a few shops were scattered among the residences and then it was all shops. Except for a large green park at the center of town, none of the residences had lawns for children to play on. Potted plants crowded front stoops, window sills, every square inch of sunlit space possible. Skyhammer found that a bit odd. No individual spaces for people except indoors. Perhaps it forced people to interact more. The townsfolk appeared welcoming and chatty. The road branched off to encircle the central park. They traversed a footpath that cut across the middle of the park, observing with pleasure the crowds of children, teens and adults lounging or squirting water at each other or canoodling under the shade of the trees that ringed the park.