Truthseer

by Jay Aspen

‘No! The river’s still flooding and your ribs haven’t had long enough to fully heal since the spring in the cave.’

  ‘Do you ever do as you’re told?’ He was looking at her with mock severity and she remembered the day back at her home when Raine had said the same thing. She laughed, giving the same answer she had back then.

  ‘Not very often.’

  He hesitated and Jac saw her chance. ‘Medic’s orders. Get properly mended, then you can swim all the rivers you want.’

  She watched an inner struggle playing out behind the hazel eyes. Kit was still finding it difficult to concede the dangerous role to someone else but something had changed in him since those first days of their escape. Now she sensed a deeper confidence, one that no longer constantly demanded every decision be made on the basis of being the strongest and best at everything.

  ‘Okay.’ He stepped back and helped her fold her clothes and harness into a bundle.

  The ease with which their relationship had adjusted surprised her. They had a deeper familiarity now, an understanding that would help them survive when new dangers threatened and speed and coordination became essential. The powerful attraction was still there and although it seemed unlikely to disappear, it was no longer so out of control. But as Kit had said, living with constant danger meant that no one dared look too far into the future.

  Kit held his bow ready, scanning the surrounding forest for threats as she waded into the river and dived in. The speed of the water grabbed her even as she surfaced. She had hardly time to think about the stabbing cold as she struck out diagonally upstream, fighting the current.

  In spite of her efforts she was being pulled off course and for a minute she thought she’d be swept down to where the bank was too steep to climb out. At last the water eased on the far side and she was scrambling out onto the last stretch of shingle, brushing icy drops from chilled skin.

  The boat was hidden in a clump of bushes just beyond the beach. Jac dragged it back to the shallows and retied the rope to the line across the river. It was easier to paddle back than it had been to swim across and within minutes she had it beached on the far side. Kit helped her get dry and into her clothes and then they were heading back over the water.

  Jac expected Sam to hear them approaching his hut and come out to find them but the riverbank was deserted. She hesitated, looking around, not wanting to surprise or alarm him. There was a strange smell in the air.

  ‘Something’s not right.’

  Kit looked around. ‘No. In fact, something’s definitely very wrong.’ He pushed Jac behind him and they moved forward cautiously. They both stopped suddenly, fighting back the shock in the need to stay alert.

  The hut wasn’t there.

  A ruin of blackened timbers was all that remained of the hovel that had once been Sam’s home. There was no sound. Even the birds had hushed. They searched for clues in the charred wreckage but there was no sign of Sam, not even a heap of burned bones on the baked earth floor.

  They found him thirty yards downriver, a short distance from the path leading to the monastery. He was lying on his back with his head and shoulders propped against a broad tree trunk, facing the way they had come. He’d been shot, but by something much heavier than his own handgun, still clutched in his grubby fist.

  Jac knelt beside him and closed his eyes. ‘Oh Sam. I’m sorry. We got here too late.’

  Kit examined the gun, then walked over to the tree opposite and dug out two small bullets. ‘Looks like he got someone before they got him. There’s blood on the tree trunk. Whether it was his mysterious captain or not, we’ll never know.’

  Jac glanced anxiously at the surrounding forest. ‘If it was those patrols, do you think they went on downriver and found Juniper and the grey brothers as well?’

  Kit examined both directions of the path with an experienced tracker’s eye. ‘No, I don’t think so. This part of the path’s overgrown and muddy and it hasn’t been disturbed recently. All the trampling goes back towards the remains of the hut. By the boot marks I’d say they came from upriver and went back the same way.’

  ‘But why pick on someone like Sam? He was pretty out of it, hardly a threat to the regime.’

  ‘I’m not sure they need a reason for anything anymore. We’d better move. If they’re still upriver somewhere, Bel and the islanders could run into them.’ Kit headed back towards the burned-out hut and Jac followed. As they passed the blackened timbers, she hesitated.

  ‘Just a minute. Let me think. There’s a pattern here but I can’t quite see what it is.’

  ‘Be quick. If you’re sure it’s important enough to be delaying at all.’

  ‘When I found the boat today it was hidden in the undergrowth. It wasn’t on the beach where it had been before. I think Sam knew they were coming and hid it. So why didn’t he use it to escape across the river? Why did he run away downstream instead?’

  ‘Trying to reach the grey brothers and hide in the monastery?’

  ‘I don’t think he knew about them. Juniper didn’t seem to know about Sam. I think he was leading them away from the boat.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because I told him we’d visit him. I think he was protecting us. He said something just after he’d taken us across to the other side, something about the secret being in the boat tree and it was all about crossing rivers. Let’s just go and look.’

  There was nothing unusual about the tree Sam used for tying the boat, apart from the shallow groove where the rope had worn the bark down to the wood.

  Jac was about to leave, thinking she must have been mistaken when a flash of stubbornness made her turn over the stones at the base of the trunk. Underneath one of them was a muddy plastic bag. She opened it and peeled off the two other bags inside it until she finally pulled out the scrap of paper it contained.

  ‘It’s a sort of picture map. Look, Sam’s hut, the boat and a bridge marked a bit further up river. He said it’s all about crossing rivers...’

  Kit studied the rough sketch. ‘You said he wasn’t as mad as he was making out. He’d spent time at the Warren, he knew about the refugees heading north and he wanted to help in his own way. In between all the things in his head that kept haunting him.’ He handed back the map. ‘Come on, a bridge is only useful if the islanders get to it before the patrol gets to them.’

  They ran along the path beside the river for half an hour until the banks became rocky again and the river was forced into a narrow channel, still too wide to jump, with the water below churning and boiling in its haste for more space to flow.

  And there it was, not exactly a bridge but a large tree ripped out by winter storms, still anchored by half its roots on the near bank while the trunk lay across the rocks, spanning the river.

  Kit swung precariously across the tangle of branches to the far side. Jac followed, scrambling along the slippery trunk, steadying herself by clinging hand over hand on the branches around her. She had to step over and around the spots where branches joined the trunk and she couldn’t help but look down to place her feet.

  The movement of the fast-moving current below threw her off balance and for a moment all she could do was hang on while she refocused her line of sight across to the rocks where Kit was standing.

  ‘I hope the islanders don’t get vertigo like Luc’s chickens did.’ Even as she said it, she could feel the disorienting pull of the rapidly churning water creating something very similar to vertigo and her body started to lurch off-balance. She fought the feeling that the water was drawing her in, almost a longing to let go of the struggle and go with it...

  Kit scrambled back onto the tree and grabbed her arm. ‘I’ve got you. Just keep looking at the rocks instead of the water.’ He pulled her across the last few branches.

  Jac felt solid ground under her feet and let out a long breath of relief. ‘You don’t need a fear of heights when the water’s moving like that. It just seems to turn everything sideways.’

  ‘A reminder to warn the isl
anders when they get to it.’

  ‘If we get to them in time.’

  They scrambled up the steep slope and cut across towards the route Bel had said she would follow.

  Jac scanned the horizon. ‘I wish I’d brought Sybina with me. Her camera would find them in minutes.’

  It was another half hour before they saw movement in the distance. The islanders were traversing the grassy hillside ahead, still heading east.

  Kit gave a sharp whistle and waved. Bel saw him and turned the group downhill. She ran ahead to join them.

  ‘Kit? What’s up? This direction will take us too far downriver.’

  ‘There’s a tree bridge. We used it.’

  Bel followed them back towards the bridge.

  ‘Where’s Sam?’

  ‘Dead. Staz got there first. The patrol could still be somewhere near, in the direction you were heading.’

  They reached the tree and the whole crew crossed easily, negotiating the slick branches unfazed by the drop or the water crashing below. Bel watched them.

  ‘It’s a relief they’re making it across so easily. Seems there are things they’re good at, that they take for granted because of the way they live, and other things like group coherence that just aren’t part of their experience.’ She noticed Jac’s subdued mood. ‘I’m sorry about what happened to Sam. Any idea when the patrol got to him?’

  Jac tried to shake off the feeling that she should have done more. ‘Could have been any time in the last twenty-four hours. The fire was still smouldering.’

  Bel said, ‘We shouldn’t go back downriver to the monastery. We might leave tracks that would lead them directly to Juniper and the grey brothers. We’ll cut across country to the main road and travel south through the forest on the far side of it. We’ll be above it then and we can watch for vehicles without being seen.’

  They reached the road and crossed without incident. Bel called a halt for the hawks to spy as well as hunt and feed in the two remaining hours of daylight. Jac took Sybina from Fox and followed him and Bel as the falconers spread out across the hillside to scout as wide an area as possible.

  Seahawk and Priann disappeared back north towards the nearest lake in search of fish. Peregrines being more interested in pigeons and young rabbits, Sybina flew south along the line of the road with Jac and Fox watching her relayed images on the handset. Suddenly Jac tensed, gripping Fox’s arm.

  ‘That’s a spy-drone! I thought they couldn’t reach this far north.’

  ‘How big is it?’ Fox peered at the screen. ‘There’s nothing to compare it with.’

  ‘The ones that come over our farm are about the size of a pigeon. This one must have a longer range so probably bigger, maybe the size of a...’

  ‘Duck?’ Fox stared at her in alarm and she caught the meaning. The camera images wheeled and grew larger, showing that the drone had been heading their way and Sybina was going after the thing. Hungry predator and prey.

  ‘They’re very light, flexible carbon-fibre...’ Jac looked up, catching sight of the distant hawk and drone against the clear blue of the sky.

  ‘Does it have rotors on the top we can’t see?’ Fox keyed the handset image to max. ‘They could cut her legs off and kill her––’

  ‘No, just wings.’

  ‘She’ll hit one of its wings and knock it out of the sky. Pray it doesn’t damage her claws...’

  The screen went haywire as Sybina dived and they ran towards the spot where they saw her land. The peregrine looked up as they approached and Jac couldn’t help laughing, partly with relief that Sybina was unhurt and partly...

  ‘What is it?’ Fox stopped in surprise, not understanding her sudden change of mood.

  ‘It’s the look in her eyes. As if she’s saying, ‘What did you send me after this thing for? It tastes horrible!’ I was hoping she’d get to really like demolishing these bits of insidious spyware.’

  ‘Double the reward. Or even triple. She’s not covering, so she’s definitely lost interest in trying to eat it. Put the meat by the drone so she associates the reward with it, not your hand.’

  Jac dropped the pieces of meat into place and watched as the hawk gulped them down. ‘Why is she called Sybina? Does it have a meaning?’ She noticed the brief moment of hesitation before he answered.

  ‘Illyrian for a hunting spear.’

  ‘She’s certainly that, after this kill. If she can keep doing it without getting hurt... I didn’t know islanders spoke Illyrian.’

  ‘We don’t.’ Fox still seemed awkward with the revelation. ‘Not like you people from the Warren. But... Greg came to the islands a couple of years ago with Fin to make pilot-contacts, and they were snowed in for a couple of weeks. He spent the time teaching basics to a few of us who were interested. I suppose it gave me a sense of connection with another clan beyond the islands.’

  Bel had caught up with them. She picked up the damaged drone and checked that the hawk attack really had fully deactivated it.

  ‘This piece of flying junk would have spotted us if Sybina hadn’t brought it down before it got here. End of journey south.’

  The peregrine was in the air again, looking for something a bit more edible than her last kill. Jac glanced at her handset again and called a second warning.

  ‘Vehicles coming north. Five jeeps and a transporter. Why are they still hunting us? We should warn the others.’

  Fox stopped her. ‘No need to. There are other falconers nearer the main group. They’ll raise the alarm. We’ve a chance to check on the convoy.’

  They stayed hidden in the trees as they moved along the hillside above the road. The lead vehicle came into view around the last corner and Bel gasped.

  ‘They still haven’t fixed all the damage...’

  Jac’s confusion turned to fear as Bel ran down the slope and into the road.

  ‘Bel! Don’t––’

  The jeep screeched to a halt and the driver stepped out onto the uneven tarmac.

  38

  By the time Jac reached the road Bel and Cass were hugging each other with relief.

  ‘Cass I’m so glad to see you! How did you find us?’

  Cass stepped away laughing, pushing back long dark-honey hair with her sunglasses.

  ‘Wolf’s pigeon made it through to the Warren and Raine called me because all our vehicles were stationed at the Tarn. He said we should take everything we had and come and get you. We left at dawn. Got a bit delayed at the mid-point detour––it seems to have got bigger where the road disappears into the sea. Something to do with frack-wells and subsidence, before the chaos wars wrecked everything anyway.’

  Fox walked over with the distorted remains of the drone. ‘It’s dead now but it’ll have seen your vehicles driving north. They know you’re here. I hope your technicians can reverse-engineer this thing.’

  ‘It won’t be the first we’ve dismembered.’ Cass held out her hand for it and tossed it into the back of the jeep. ‘We daren’t use our lights but there’s an hour of daylight left to start heading back south. With any luck they’ll think we’ve continued north and start looking for us there.’

  Fox looked up. ‘The sky’s clear and we’ve two night-hunters with us. We can drive all night. The moon’s already up and almost full.’

  Jac frowned, puzzled. ‘Night-hunters?’

  ‘People with good night vision who train to improve it so they can hunt at night with owls. They’ll take turns driving the lead vehicle. We won’t need lights.’ Fox signalled the islanders to get their gear into the convoy as Kit, Bel and Jac squeezed into the lead jeep with Cass, eager for news.

  The night-hunter was in her early fifties, her lean sunburned face furrowed in concentration as she arranged her owl carefully in a back corner of their jeep.

  ‘I’m Lynx, hello Cass, glad to be of help, wake me up if I fall asleep.’ She pulled out at the head of the convoy as it turned back south, sinewy arms and hands gripping the wheel as if it would escape if she relaxed for even
a second.

  As the dusk deepened it seemed impossible for her to see and avoid the holes and obstacles on the road but she made few mistakes. She kept going for another three hours until the strain of concentration took its toll and she asked to change over. Her replacement was barely out of her teens and drove much faster, hitting a proportionately higher number of potholes in the process.

  Despite the rough ride Jac fell asleep, exhausted, until Kit gave her a sharp prod in the ribs. She opened sleepy eyes to early sunlight and the roar of water as they crossed the Warren bridge. She instantly snapped awake with a powerful sense that she was coming home, even though she’d only spent a short time here... but she knew why her heart was already beating faster.

  Raine.

  They reached the Warren farmhouse. Every ranger lucky enough not to be on patrol or lookout detail that morning was already outside the when the convoy drew into the gravel courtyard. Then all pretence of discipline evaporated as people reconnected with friends they had thought were lost.

  Jac saw Raine standing outside the farmhouse with Karim and knew he was searching for her among the new arrivals. She scrambled out of the jeep and ran over to him, overwhelmed by waves of relief and happiness as his arms folded around her. He bent his head to whisper in her ear.

  ‘Lyr’illyn west’du. It’s good to have you back. Thought I’d lost you. I should never have put you in so much danger so soon.’

  She laughed, leaning into him. ‘If I tell you all the stories of how the others have looked after me, you’ll be listening for days.’

  He stepped back, the smile fading. ‘And as usual, I have no time. I have to spend every minute helping to train the islanders. It’s brief enough as it is for all the things they need to learn.’

  It didn’t matter to Jac. At last they were both in the same place and there would be a few precious moments when they could finally be together. ‘I’ll just hang around and help where I can with meds instruction. But at some point I have to tell you how Sybina demolished a drone in mid-air...’

  He kissed her forehead. ‘I’ll look forward to it. I expect there are other stories too.’