Jagger

by Alexander Key

  Yes, he agreed, wondering what a lawyer was. But we’ll solve it somehow. Every problem has a solution. First, though, we thought you’d better know that your aunt and her husband are already on their way to town. They might decide to return much sooner than you thought.

  “Oh, she won’t be back till all hours,” Nan assured him. “She told Peter and me at breakfast that they’d be eating out with some friends, and that we’d have to fix our own supper. So she’s really making it easy for us to get away. She—Jagger, where are you now? Who—who’s with you?”

  I’m with Palamedes, at the far end of your pasture.

  “Palamedes!” she exclaimed. “That’s wonderful! I’m so glad you’ve met him. Maybe he can help us. After the school bus brings us home, and we pack our bags, we’ve got to find some place to hide till Mr. Rush can come for us. Maybe we can hide at his house. What do you think?”

  It might be the safest place. I’ll talk it over with Palamedes. I just wish you didn’t have to come back here at all this evening. I don’t feel right about it. Haven’t you friends in town you can stay with?

  “Now don’t be silly, Jagger. You know we can’t stay with friends. Golly gee, they’d ask questions and want to make phone calls, and they just wouldn’t believe it if we told the truth about dear Aunt Tess. Why, most people think she’s just grand. Anyway, we’ll be back on the school bus—”

  I think it would be better if you would leave now and come home early, he insisted.

  “Oh, Jagger, you’re such a worrywart! Anyhow, we couldn’t possibly leave here now unless we walked, and it’s miles and miles. Besides, we’ve got to go to the bank.” Nan paused, then added, “Jagger, I don’t really want to go home at all, but Peter says we’ll need our things, and he’s sure we’ll be okay if we just follow our plan. You see, when we left her this morning, Aunt Tess still hadn’t decided just what she was going to do about us. So we won’t be walking into any sort of trap.”

  All this sounded reasonable enough, though it did little to help Jagger’s growing uneasiness. He discussed it with Palamedes, who felt the same way.

  But the stallion agreed that Danta Rush’s cottage would be the best place to take Nan and Peter. At least for tonight, Palamedes added. Tomorrow—but tomorrow is not here yet. In the meantime we have a long wait till the school bus returns. I think you are safe from the hunters, but I will keep guard while you rest. Rest and the sun will bring back your strength.

  Jagger sighed and made himself comfortable on the islet. But curiosity drove him to a final question.

  What, he asked, are lawyers?

  Palamedes snorted. Why, they are those peculiar humans who complicate living, and make all the rules that other humans have to live by. From what I’ve observed, they run practically everything—and profit handsomely.

  How strange, Jagger commented. I’m surprised humans are willing to put up with them.

  They are forced to, he was told. After all, most humans haven’t the common sense of creatures like ourselves, so how could they get along without lawyers? Do they not have them where you came from?

  No. We have philosophers instead. But they give everyone a bad time too.

  NINE He Solves a Deadly Riddle

  Jagger dozed, and dreamed fitfully of happier days when he would go racing over the green hills at home, with Anda and Lillet clinging to his back. As he dozed he could hear their gay laughter again, and the little songs they always sang. He hardly felt their weight. He was so big, and they were so small, that he often carried them all day when the Elders permitted it. It was a wonderful place, home …

  Then something nudged him awake, and he opened his eyes to a vastly different world. Palamedes was standing watchfully beside him.

  You were dreaming of home, Palamedes told him.

  Yes.

  I caught part of your dream, the great stallion admitted. You must miss your world and your friends. I would like to see a place where humans do not kill and children sing all day.

  Jagger sighed unhappily, and Palamedes added, But you are here now, and there are problems to face. How do you feel?

  Jagger rose slowly and tested his legs. The warm sun had brought back much of his strength and dried the bandage around his wound. In spite of being soaked in the icy creek, the wound had not bled, nor did the leg hurt when he moved it.

  I am strong enough for what is ahead, he told Palamedes.

  That is good, for there are difficulties. The school bus is approaching now—but the hunters and the dogs are still searching the ridge. It may be necessary to wait till dark to take Nan and Peter to Danta Rush’s place.

  But we cannot leave them in the house till dark. Tess Gomez may return, Jagger objected.

  True, Palamedes agreed. We will bring them here first, and take them to Danta Rush’s place later. But there is a great difficulty. The Black One has returned to this side of the ridge. I became aware of him only a short time ago, when I went to the edge of the woods to check on the dogs and hunters.

  Jagger chilled, and a low growl started in his throat. Then Palamedes raised his head and peered over the creek bank toward the distant road. There is the bus, he announced. It will be better for you to stay out of sight while I meet the children. You might be seen if you cross the pasture in daylight.

  As Palamedes trotted swiftly away, Jagger leaped from his islet to the bank and climbed into the willow thicket at the bend in the creek. The spot gave him a good view of the ridge as well as the pasture with its herd of horses. Beyond the horses he could make out the bus on its way back to town, and the figures of Nan and Peter, small in the distance, running up the farm road to the house.

  He called to Nan, and saw her turn her head when he told her where he was hidden. Get something to tie your bags together, he added. Then Palamedes can carry them across his back. He’ll be waiting for you at the gate and bring you here to hide till it’s safe to go up on the ridge. The hunters are still there.

  “I’ll tell Peter,” she said. “But we’ve got to eat something first. We missed lunch at school, and we’re starved.”

  Jagger watched her vanish into the house, then momentarily he turned his attention to the ridge. Ignoring the vague sounds of men and dogs, he sent his mind out, probing. Abruptly he recoiled as he touched the horror that lay in wait up there for the first unwary creature that ventured too close. The thing was to the left, well away from the area of Danta Rush’s cottage. Apparently the dogs, far to the right and higher, were still unaware of it. But the horses in the pasture knew of it, for they were all standing motionless, staring in the same direction.

  The hair on Jagger’s neck stood up and a low growl broke from his throat. Then he forced his attention back to the house.

  Don’t take too long, he called presently. If your aunt decides to come back …

  “Oh, she won’t be back for hours,” Nan replied quickly. “And I’m so hungry I could die. Hot diggity! There’s some of our fudge left—I was afraid she’d eat it all, but she didn’t. Pop’s old cook still makes it for us, and it’s the best ever. Jagger, did you ever eat chocolate fudge?”

  I’ve never heard of it, he told her. But if you like it so well, bring it along and eat it later. Please, you must hurry. I have a very strong feeling about it.

  “Oh, all right. We’ll eat it while we pack. We won’t be five minutes …”

  Jagger waited. At the other end of the pasture he could see Palamedes standing restlessly by the gate, which he was unable to open. The afternoon suddenly darkened and turned to evening as the sun slid behind the ridge, and a spreading bank of clouds began to blot out the sunset colors. A chill breeze came down from the heights, promising an unpleasant night.

  It was uneasiness more than the chill that made Jagger shiver and finally drove him to his feet. As he stood up, Palamedes announced that a strange car was turning into the lane, a small new one that had never been here before.

  Jagger watched it speed toward the house. The moment it sto
pped, Palamedes called frantically, It is the woman and her man! They have returned early in a different car! Tell Nan—I cannot reach her!

  Jagger put all the force he could muster into the warning thought he sent forth. His effort brought no response. Still calling, he bounded from the willow thicket and began racing across the pasture. Far ahead of him Palamedes was rearing angrily before the high wooden gate and beating upon it with his hooves. The plump figure of Tess Gomez and the thin one of her husband had already crossed the porch of the big house and were vanishing through the door.

  Jagger did not spare his injured leg, and he was determined to leap the fence rather than waste time with the gate. But as he reached it, the big gate splintered under the stallion’s battering hooves, and he and Palamedes sailed over it together.

  The two gained the house at the same time. It was only the stallion’s brief hesitation at entering the home of a human that allowed Jagger to cross the porch and get to the door ahead of him. Fortunately, in her haste, Tess Gomez had left the door ajar, or it might have received the same treatment as the gate. Jagger sprang into the hall, with Palamedes close behind. For an instant they halted, listening. Then the silence of the place drove them to action—Jagger racing up the stairs, and Palamedes clattering through the lower rooms, smashing crockery in his trembling anxiety and knocking over furniture.

  It took Jagger only seconds to discover that the upstairs was empty. He quickly found Nan’s bedroom, then Peter’s, by the lingering scent in each. Their bags were there, partially packed. But the children had vanished.

  Downstairs, Jagger met a wild-eyed Palamedes who informed him that not a soul was to be found, and that the only place left to search was the cellar, which he could not enter. Jagger hurried down the narrow stairway, which was much too small for the stallion’s great bulk, but he was back almost in the same breath. From the vague scents below it was obvious that no human had been down there all day.

  Jagger was badly shaken. What could have happened here? Had Nan and Peter been taken away somehow? Or had they vanished before the arrival of the car? Where were Tess Gomez and her husband now?

  The last question was suddenly answered as he became aware of hurrying footsteps outside, somewhere near the front of the house. Jagger raced through the hall and out across the porch, and was in time to see the thin dark man getting into the driver’s side of the car. Tess Gomez was on the other side, tugging at the door.

  She was just as he had visualized her: a big blond woman with a small tight mouth and pale round eyes as hard as flints. There was an instant when he saw the pale eyes widen upon him, incredulous, then Tess Gomez screamed.

  Having screamed, she somehow got the car door open and tumbled inside, babbling, “It’s the banshee! For the love of God, Luis, get going!”

  As he leaped forward, Jagger’s only intention was to read her mind and discover, if he could, what had happened to Nan and Peter. But the sight of her brought such an angry reaction that his hackles came up and he could not repress a snarl that would have frightened a wolf pack. Tess Gomez screamed again, and the car shot abruptly away, motor roaring. Jagger, suddenly sick at heart, watched it fade into the dusk. He had learned nothing.

  He started back into the house, intending to explore it again. On the porch he paused as Palamedes came out, stamping his feet and glaring wildly around.

  The children are not inside, the stallion told him, badly upset. All my senses tell me that. What could have happened to them?

  I cannot understand it, Jagger replied. They were not in the car. And Nan does not reply when I call.

  The two were silent a moment. Then Palamedes said, Something is very strange here. Whatever happened to the children must have happened before the man and the woman came. I tried to warn Nan of their coming, but she did not answer. Of course, my power to communicate is not as strong as yours. Did she answer you?

  No, Jagger answered. Her last thoughts to me were that she and Peter would eat their chocolate fudge while they packed their things. But when I went upstairs I found their bags only half packed. Something happened to them upstairs. But what?

  It was the chocolate fudge, Palamedes replied instantly.

  I do not understand. What sort of food is that?

  The stallion explained. I like it myself, he went on. In fact, all my kind are fond of sweets, but very little have we had since the master left. The surprising thing is that the woman left some of the candy for the children. That is not like her. She is greedy as well as mean. Usually she eats it all herself.

  Although Jagger had known that evil was afoot, he could not help the shock that went through him as he suddenly realized where this conversation was leading. Are—are you trying to tell me that Tess Gomez put something dangerous in the candy? Why, I’ve never heard of such a thing!

  Then you don’t know humans, Palamedes said. They think nothing of setting out poisoned food for small creatures.

  Jagger stared at him. And you believe Nan and Peter were poisoned?

  Not exactly. The woman is too smart for that. The fact would be discovered, and she would be blamed. It begins to look as if something was placed in the candy that put the children to sleep. The humans have drugs that act very swiftly. Only—

  Only what? Jagger questioned.

  I do not understand the rest. Why did the woman and her man come back when they did? And why did they use a different car, and go away so soon? And where are the children now?

  Jagger stood very still, thinking hard. Had he had more experience with the humans of this backward world, he would have seen the truth earlier. But all at once it came to him.

  Where, he asked Palamedes, is there a place where Nan and Peter could be hidden? It would have to be somewhere near us.

  I do not know. Just what kind of place? Palamedes asked.

  A sort of hole, perhaps. One they cannot get out of, and where they would die before they were found.

  Palamedes pounded a hoof upon the porch, trying to think. I do not know of such a spot, not even a cave.

  There has to be one. And it has to be close—because Tess Gomez and her husband were able to take them there in the short time they were here. That is why they returned when they did—for they knew they would find the children asleep from eating the candy.

  The stallion snorted with anger. Of course! I understand it now. And they came in a different car so they would not be noticed. Probably got it from a car dealer, pretending they wanted to try it out. Palamedes stopped suddenly, then rushed into the yard. Come! We will search the buildings behind the house. The man and the woman carried the children out through the back door. No wonder we did not see them. It is all so simple …

  Yes, thought Jagger, hurrying around the house with Palamedes. It is all so simple—but so wickedly clever. They must have thought of it this morning, when they heard what the banshee had done. They would hide the sleeping children in this special place, and everyone would think that Nan and Peter had gone there themselves to escape the banshee. Only, when the children would finally be found, after a long search, they would be dead.

  But how would they die? Jagger asked himself. Not by starvation, surely. That would take too long. In this special place, death must come quickly—and it must seem accidental.

  What would such a place look like?

  They had reached a small barn a short distance behind the house. Palamedes, trembling with anxiety, ran through the open door, looking wildly to left and right. But Jagger stopped at the entrance, his nose testing the air, while his mind probed the shadows ahead.

  Since the children would be unconscious, he did not expect his mental search to be very rewarding, nor was it. Detecting nothing, he hurried to a smaller building on the left, the door of which was closed. Here, a quick mental probe told him something was alive inside, though the contact was as faint as one of the vague human scents that came to him. But suddenly he was sure that the scent was Nan’s.

  Calling to Palamedes, he spr
ang at the door and tried frantically to move the stubborn latch with mouth and paw.

  Out of my way! the stallion ordered.

  Jagger leaped aside, and Palamedes crashed into the door and smashed it down as if it had been made of cardboard. In the dim room beyond, Jagger ran straight to what seemed to be a large old metal cabinet which filled one corner. He did not immediately realize what it was, but he saw instantly that it was fitted with the kind of latch that would automatically snap in place when the heavy door was closed—nor could it be opened from the inside.

  He lunged at it, caught the big handle in his teeth, and pulled. The weighty door swung outward, disclosing the limp, unconscious forms of Nan and Peter.

  TEN He Lays a Crooked Trail

  As Jagger hurried to drag the children from their prison, he realized that suffocation would have been their fate if he had not discovered them in time. The cabinet, with its heavy door that fitted so tightly, was airless, and there was no escape for anyone trapped inside.

  It would have been said, of course, that Nan and Peter had hidden in the thing to escape the banshee. And Tess Gomez would never have been blamed.

  He was wondering about the cabinet when Palamedes told him it was an old farm refrigerator, built for holding large quantities of food. Only, it is not used for food as we think of it, the stallion added. It belongs to the woman, and she had planned to fill it soon with the carcasses of creatures the man would kill. Their flesh must age before it is eaten. Like the Black One, the woman is an avid eater of flesh.

  For the moment, Jagger had put the Black One out of his mind. Tess Gomez was by far the greater danger. For the unexpected had happened, and it was beyond him to guess what she would do. Men and dogs might soon be swarming over the place, hunting for the monster that had frightened her. Or she might come back and find the children missing from their prison—which surely would start her on a deadly hunt of her own …