by Jackson Lear
Lieutenant sidled up to me, shooting my target with a genuine smile and doing whatever he could to smooth the situation. While he was busy, I unbolted the lower half of the door and headed inside.
Square in shape. Six yards across each side. Large enough for a family to live in. I squatted down, examined the floor and walls with care, sniffed the lock for any trace of magic, sweat, blood … anything. I was wrong about the dust; someone had been in here recently and swept the place clean. The bolt holding the door in place was easy enough to open from the inside. That told me that if Día was here, then she wasn’t left alone.
I ran through the timing of the abduction. She would’ve left work at the change in light before dusk. She would’ve walked along that street over there and waited for Caen. Someone intercepted her. They brought her here, held her until the darkness settled in and everyone went to sleep, then they moved away when it was safe to do so. There’s a fifty yard distance between here and where she was taken. I was pretty sure I could carry a kicking and screaming thirteen year old that far with reasonable ease, but even so she would’ve passed two dozen homes. Given the nosy neighbor behind me, her abductors would’ve been careful to keep her hidden or find a way to distract the neighbor until they were gone.
Lieutenant was busy with the neighbor. “Did you see anyone here before dusk yesterday?”
“No, nothing.”
“Maybe someone carrying a large basket or pushing a wheelbarrow?”
“No, nothing like that.”
“Were you here at dusk?”
“Aye, I was … uh … huh …”
“What?”
“I think I was asleep, actually.”
“Do you normally sleep at that time?” asked Lieutenant.
“No, just … I was kinda tired.”
“Had you been talking to anyone beforehand?”
“Not really.”
“Your wife?”
“No, I mean … a woman gave me sprig of incense from the road. She said it was for the emperor’s coronation.”
“The incense was already lit?”
“Aye.”
“And after that you had a nap?”
“Well, I was tired, wasn’t I?”
“Do you still have the incense?”
He ducked back inside, rummaged around, and returned with what looked like three twigs tied together. Three ends had been burnt down as far as they could go. “I kept it because I liked the smell.”
Lieutenant took a whiff. As did I. Childer’s Kiss. If the neighbor had this smoking up his confined home, he would’ve been out cold for half the night.
“What did the woman look like?” Lieutenant asked.
“Old.” After some poking and prodding, ‘old’ meant at least sixty, not a hundred, very wrinkly, gray haired, smiled a lot, had all of her teeth, didn’t walk with a cane, had no limp, wore a mix of dark gray and black clothes, said ‘well met’ with a non-Erast accent.
I had to double check with Lieutenant the age of General Kasera’s head of security. As far as he knew she was around our age, and the only thing linking the two was someone thinking that they both had an accent.
We brought Greaser and Runaway to have a look. All of us have had some experience in dealing with hostages and even setting up a room to house them in but even Greaser rolled his eyes at what we were facing. “As far as ideal sites go for kidnapping a kid, this is one of the worst. You’re in the middle of the city, surrounded by shops and homes. A dozen people could see you waiting around or hear her if she screamed. There’s only one way in and out of the room, the buildings are all multi-story, the roads are kinked to hell and you can’t see if anyone’s coming or not …”
“This isn’t Vanguard, is it?” I asked.
“Not with a place as bad as this. I’d say this was the work of an amateur with good resources but even an amateur would find somewhere better.”
Lieutenant added, “And the neighbor was happy enough to talk. If Vanguard used this place often he would’ve learned not to see or hear anything.”
Greaser took the sprig of Childer’s Kiss. “The guy who owns this place is a healer, yeah?”
“A woman gave the neighbor the incense,” said Lieutenant.
“You would need a team to pull this off,” said Runaway.
“And if one of them is actually a doctor then they’ll know how to write,” I added. “The thing is, they’re not going to want to keep moving her around. Too great of a chance to be exposed. So if this was where they held her for a few hours then she’s likely to be in her final holding place now.”
“Gagged and bound,” said Greaser. “We might as well assume that she won’t be able to scream loud enough for us to hear her.”
After a final look around the room, pushing at every inch of the wall in case there was a secret compartment there, we returned to the road.
“Now what?” Lieutenant asked me.
“Let’s assume that Kiera and Día were taken by the same people. They left behind the same note. Let’s also assume that Kel was telling us the truth about his previous orphanage in Broker’s Wharf. Two boys went missing from there. In both places someone saw the Eyeless Ghost.”
Runaway shrugged. “Broker’s Wharf might be on Día’s side of the river but it’s still a good mile or two away from Red Corner. It’s unlikely they would’ve taken the boys to where Día was held.”
“And Broker’s Wharf is in Ispar’s territory,” said Greaser.
“Aren’t they pushing for an alliance?” I asked.
“Yeah, but tensions were high between them a couple of years ago. Ispar wouldn’t have kidnapped two kids from Broker’s Wharf and kept them prisoner in Red Corner. If they were caught doing that, all of the Captains would’ve heard about it.”
Lieutenant nodded with Greaser. “It seems unlikely that one of the companies kidnapped Día for themselves. They might’ve been hired to do it but anyone with an education comes from money, and if you’re into kidnapping kids for the sake of dark magic then you’re probably rich enough to have your own people working for you.”
“If someone else is working within Vanguard’s territory then that would be a death sentence,” I said.
“Then they got permission,” said Greaser.
“Is there anyone in Vanguard we can talk to?” We all looked to Lieutenant.
“There is, but how long would it take them to figure out that we’ve been stomping through their territory all day without permission? And harassing their people? And that we probably got here by coming through Ispar’s territory as well.”
Runaway agreed. “And whoever made the deal with Vanguard would’ve paid a high price. Sounds like they’re a repeat customer as well.”
“They don’t care that someone’s coming into their territory to kidnap and murder a young girl?” I asked.
“No. They really don’t.”
I gritted my teeth, eyeing my friends carefully to gauge their resolve. They had forgotten what it was like to be a terrified kid. Perhaps I had as well. I wanted to light a fire under those who didn’t care at all but it was still too early. If Lieutenant, Greaser, and Runaway abandoned me now I’d be left with one hell of a choice: forget about Día and Kiera and go back with them tonight, or venture out on my own and let the Captain believe that I had gone rogue.
“We have three places to look into,” I said. “Where Día used to work, where Día used to live, and where Desten the Leaf lives. Lieutenant and I will head to where she worked, you two go find Five Corners and Miller’s Den.”
Greaser turned his head to one side. “You think if she escape her first port of call will be to a home that isn’t hers anymore?”
“If her captors know where she lived and if the Eyeless Ghost scared the shit out of her, then she wouldn’t want to return to where she saw it. Let’s meet up at Long Bridge when we’re done.”
Chapter Thirteen
Lieutenant and I headed to Red Corner, to Día’s work place. The
guy running it, Relund, a tailor, was working late. We found him sitting on a cushion next to a single lamp, stitching together some raggedy clothes. Another source of light came from the far side of the room. I hoped their late hours were because of a guilty conscience and not because Día’s disappearance was simply a nuisance.
I thumped on the door to get him to open up. “City watch,” I said.
The door popped open after a moment’s delay. A man many years older than myself with nothing more than an island of hair on the top of his head answered the door, short of breath. He moved quickly enough, telling me there weren’t any problems with his knees. Whatever had kept him from opening the door in a hurry, he had a secret or two that had to be hidden. He stared back at us as his day just slipped from bad to worse. “You’re not city watch …”
“It’s just as well I’m not.” I pushed my way inside.
“Hey, you can’t–”
“Día. Where is she?”
Relund fell silent. From what I could see, the place held three rooms, one behind the other. A usual set-up for the well-to-do. Their business was in the front room, they ate and lived in the second, and slept in the third. But I had seen the signs of a struggling tailor before. Several heaps of faded clothing lined the floor in the second room, despite Relund’s best attempts to hide them behind the curtained door. Used clothes, waiting to be re-dyed. In the front room, in full view of the customers, were freshly dyed garments, folded into neat piles. In the middle of all that had been Relund, sitting on a cushion with a needle and thread. The clothes he had been repairing were nowhere in sight. Normally, if something was being repaired for a particular customer, he wouldn’t feel the need to hide it. Here, it looked like the clothes’ journey continued long after its owner had discarded the item.
The man in question had that odd combination of short legs, long torso, and short arms. Face like a beaten leather bag from a perpetual smile, not from laughing, but from a constant daze like he didn’t quite understand what’s happening around him. His jaw jutted out so far that he must have picked up the habit of sucking in his lips to make his face seem less imposing. “Why … are you looking for Día?”
I couldn’t help but narrow my eyes into a glare, refusing to blink while Relund squirmed before me.
“The general has asked us to look into it,” said Lieutenant.
An interesting mix of emotions seemed to rattle Relund at the same time. One was of relief since we possibly weren’t thugs from Vanguard. The second was of confusion as we weren’t in any kind of military uniform. The third looked to be the most dire: a general was looking into a missing girl.
Lieutenant asked: “Has anyone else been in here asking about her?”
“One of the sestas,” mumbled Relund.
“No one else?”
“Not until you two.”
The fire from earlier continued to run through my soul. “No watchmen?”
Relund looked my way, saw the unbridled anger within me, and shook his head like he didn’t know if that was the right answer or not.
“The city watch came to the orphanage this morning. They didn’t send anyone here?”
“No,” mumbled Relund.
“They didn’t speak to you or your wife?”
“No.”
I crossed the room, boring into the tailor like the next question I had would determine if he lived or died. “If the city watch were to send someone here and to the orphanage, asking questions about a missing girl, which base would they come from?”
Lieutenant peered at me, cautious of where I was going with this.
“They’re headquartered in High Road,” said Relund. “Is that what you’re looking for?”
Pretty much. A lowly outpost in Farcourt would probably have a couple of watchmen looking into a missing girl simply to relieve their boredom. The better-off watchmen down here would see an orphan as beneath their standing, so a missing one would not even be worth a second thought.
“High Road is the rich quarter, isn’t it?” I asked.
“I suppose so.” Relund went back to sucking on his lips again. I moved away, giving myself some time to allow Relund to squirm while I imposed myself in his shop. A boy right on the cusp of adulthood appeared from behind the curtain in the middle room, checking to see if everything was okay. He had the same mop of curled hair as Relund. A larger woman with thighs bulging from her tunic waddled through a room deeper still, carrying a bundle of rags and faded clothes away. Relund’s kid stole a nervous glance my way.
“You’re Eldin,” I said.
The kid froze, eyes lighting up as though he had just seen a pack of hell hounds behind me racing for his throat.
Relund looked my way. “That’s my son, he’s …”
“About the same age as Día,” I said.
Relund moved to intercept me. “No, he’s seventeen.”
His mother thundered towards us and stood guard behind her son. “What are you doing here? We’re closed.”
I moved my hand to the small of my back. Lieutenant moved his hand to rest on the hilt of his sword. “If you’ve been listening then you know exactly why we’re here.”
Her lips started to quiver. “We’ll call the city watch …”
Relund winced at his wife. I too had to wonder how she saw her chances, given that she had to step around her son, make it past me, then past Lieutenant, who remained close to the front door. He might’ve been bad with a long sword but he wasn’t inept.
I returned to the kid. “You brought Día here from the dye house.”
Eldin’s jaw dropped open in sheer panic.
“And you talked to her about the Eyeless Ghost.”
The kid damn-near passed out.
“What did she tell you?” I asked.
Lieutenant strode forward, getting closer to Relund and leaving the front of his shop exposed. “Can you show me where she slept?”
“What? No, she didn’t sleep here.”
“The sestas told us she slept here regularly.”
“I told them no such thing,” said Relund.
“Was there a bed they saw, then? A mattress?”
“No, no one sleeps in the front.”
While Lieutenant had Relund on the defensive, I focused on the son. “What did she tell you?”
“Nothing, just … the Eyeless Ghost … I …”
“He scared her, that’s what he did,” said Relund. “He told her a stupid story and it made her cry.”
The kid gulped, dropping his attention to the floor.
“Is that true?” I asked.
“Don’t answer him,” said the wife.
I leaned towards Relund. “She’s making things worse for you.”
“We’re protected!” cried the wife. “Neither of you are Vanguard!”
“We’re here on behalf of General Kasera,” said Lieutenant. “He’s the benefactor of the orphanage. He wants to know what happened to one of his kids.”
The woman held her tongue as she tried to marry what she heard and what she felt. It seemed like it wasn’t an easy fit.
I stared back at Eldin. “What did you say to Día about the Eyeless Ghost?”
“It eats girls.”
“And?”
“Stuff like that.”
“Tell me.”
“Just … it comes at night to hunt you then comes back later to eat you.”
“Did you make that up?”
“Of course he did,” snapped Relund.
I turned, painfully slowly so that Relund could feel the full force of my wrath. “I was asking him.”
Relund gulped. A family trait, I saw. “He’s my son.”
“He scared a girl half to death and now she’s missing.” I turned back to the kid. “Did she mention seeing anyone unusual in the last few days?”
The kid shook his head.
“An old woman, perhaps. She might’ve smelled of incense.”
His eyes lit up with a definite ‘yes’.
&
nbsp; “Who was she?”
“A customer. She came in two days ago. She came in with Día.”
Relund must’ve snapped a glare at his son as the look on Eldin’s face made him wish he hadn’t said that. “She didn’t buy anything and she didn’t stay for long.”
“What did Día do here?” I asked.
Relund stammered over each word, thinking faster than he could speak. “She repaired clothes.”
“That’s all she did?”
A pause. Normally inconsequential were it not for Caen revealing more to me earlier. “That’s all she did.”
I squatted down at the small pile of clothes Eldin had been working on. Faded. Smelly. Most were moth-eaten. I cast my gaze back to Relund. “I take it your son is the beggar.”
“He’s no beggar!”
“Hand on your heart?”
“Of course!”
“Then that doesn’t bode well for who you have left to accuse – you or your wife. Who is it?”
The fear in Relund’s eyes escalated. Lieutenant’s mouth curled into a smile.
I picked up five pieces of clothing from the top of pile and held them against my chest. “Female, female, female, female, and … female. Now, I know most women are shorter than me but the length of each of these items would be scandalous if they were for a grown woman. I believe you when you say it isn’t your son who’s going around asking for girl’s clothing. I daresay it isn’t you, either. Your wife, maybe, but I have a feeling your pride still holds some value in your life and you wouldn’t want any of your customers recognizing you or your family as you go door to door asking if they can spare any clothing for the needy. An orphan girl, though … someone who understands misery a little more than you do … she would be perfect to go out and beg for clothes. Right?”
Relund fell silent.
“Tell me more about this woman who came in with Día.”
Relund stared at our feet for a moment. “You haven’t been sent here by a general, have you?”
“I would like you to take a moment to look at the length of my friend’s sword.”