by Mark Eller
Melna sniffed gently. "Not yet, but it's a good idea. Did you notice? The only people who seemed surprised when Aaron transferred were the guard."
"Aaron isn't as subtle as he imagines. Most of the house has speculated about how he gets from one place to another without anyone seeing him. " Missy reached out to grasp Melna's hand. She caressed it with the tips of her fingers. "He didn't really dismiss you. You have no need to feel abandoned."
Melna pulled her hand away. Her skin felt prickly. "You are an uncomfortable person to be around."
"You won't know how to ride a runabout so we need to find a cab to take us to Mister Jeffries office. " Missy looked at Melna for a long while, speculating. "If you don't mind, I'd like for you to call me Missy instead of Miss Bayne. I think we are going to be close friends."
"In that case," Melna said,"I don't feel forward in telling you to let some of your worry go. Aaron won't spare any expense taking care of him."
"Taking care of who?" Missy asked, thin voiced.
"The injured man. Harvest Patton. It's obvious you care for him."
Missy shuddered. "I do care, and I'm worried, and there's nothing I can do to help him. The worst part is Aaron and I know a Talented doctor who could do wonders to put Harvest right, but he went someplace, and we don't know where so Aaron can't bring him here."
"You are scared and frustrated and are looking for something to do to take your mind away from worrying about him," Melna pointed out.
Missy drew in a deep breath. "Yes."
Melna touched her arm. "So let's go find a cab and start doing."
They walked for more than half an hour before running across a cab.
* * *
Grebfax started when Aaron appeared before him.
"Mister Turner! Sorry, sir. I didn't know you were here."
Aaron studied him carefully. The man was well dressed, carefully groomed, the picture of a successful executive. His look and bearing bore little resemblance to the harried floor manager he had been when Aaron first saw him a few months earlier.
"How have we been running?"
"Fine, sir. I have a ninety day backlog on orders. We can't keep up. Some of our sales reps are demanding we work twelve hours, seven days a week, but I insisted we keep to forty hours."
"Good. It's important for people to get their free time. That's why I'm shutting the factories down for two weeks. Everyone gets full pay while they're off."
Grebfax sputtered. "But we have back orders!"
"They can wait. Our customers can't go anyplace else. The factories go down at the end of today. See to it."
"Yes, sir," Grefax said with obvious reluctance.
Aaron nodded satisfaction. Grebfax wasn't happy, but he would do as he was told. "Come along, Kim. We have places to go."
* * *
At least they weren't perverts.
One woman had removed Autumn's clothing, but she did so only because the clothes were covered with blood. The woman had been angry and curt with the others because one of her friends was dead and another seriously injured. She had not taken her anger out on Autumn. She had even listened to Autumn's pleas and not taken away her 'medicine bag', the small leather sack hanging around her neck. The woman's only comment had been one of disdain concerning the superstitious nonsense being passed about by new world rustics.
Autumn didn't care what the woman thought. The bag contained her Talent Stone.
Her captors were not professionals, she discovered fairly quickly. They had taken her by force and numbers and blood. Professionals would have whisked her away with no one the wiser. They had paid a price. A professional wouldn't have received a scratch.
Two women and two men were her remaining captors. She could tell this even though they were hooded. Their voices and shapes gave them away. Through Talent, Autumn knew one of the women was two months pregnant. The child was a boy, a first for the woman and her husband, but it wouldn't survive to birth. The knowledge made Autumn sad, but such was the case all too often with male children.
Her sadness didn't extend to her captors. She hated them for what they had done to the servants. Still, she did not hate this woman enough to tell her the child would soon die. No path she saw led to anything different.
That pissed Autumn off.
Autumn hated her Talent almost as much as she hated her captors. Well, sometimes she did, when she saw something horrible would happen and couldn't stop it.
One of the men came into the room. He walked over to Autumn and stared at her through his mask slits. She wanted to cringe and cover her nakedness, but instead she reached out and took the bundle of clothing he offered. They were clean and only slightly too large. Through Talent, she saw he was the doomed baby's father. Thick rein calluses covered his palms and fingers.
"Who was he?" the man demanded as she slipped on pants and a shirt.
"Who was who?" she finally asked after the buttons were all fastened.
"The kid we killed. The one who did for Carol."
Stupid, Autumn thought. Even she knew names were not supposed to be mentioned, not even the names of the dead. "Nobody special," she lied. "Just someone Dad hired a few months ago."
"How about the animal? It bit George on the ankle, and now it looks like he's dying from more than broken ribs."
"Nothing more than he deserves," Autumn shot back.
"Yeah. " The man's voice held a sneer. "I've known Carol and George for years. Your old man will pay a price for them--or you will."
"For the Lord's sake! Stop frightening the child. " The pregnant woman pulled him away. "You started the killing after promising nobody would get hurt."
"The bitch wouldn't follow orders," he complained. "What does it matter, anyway? She was an old woman. She didn't have much time left."
Autumn could not help herself. "That old woman was better than three-quarters deaf. Of course she didn't follow your orders. She didn't hear you."
The other man stepped closer. He was tall and thin and had long fingers. A ragged scar ran across the back of his right hand. A mask was useless with this one. The scar was all the identification she needed.
"It's your old man's fault. If he hadn't wrecked everything, none of this would have happened. We're not crooks. This is the only way we can get some of our own back."
Autumn spat at his feet. "No, you aren't as honest as a crook. You're murderers and kidnappers."
The last woman spoke for the first time. She was tall, heavy, and broad across her shoulders. She held a letter in her hand. "Fuck you, kid. Anybody want to read this?" She waved the letter halfheartedly.
"Paul is the reader."
"Sorry, I can't read."
Crumpling the letter, the woman tossed it aside. "They'll just have to tell us what it says in person. No more letters. Gods, I can't wait until I get my hands on my share. New country, new name, and I'll have people giving me rides in their cabs."
Autumn decided to call her Greed.
Tall Man hissed in annoyance. "The money's not for us. We agreed to disperse it fairly."
"Disperse it!" Greed laughed. "Listen to the man talk. Why don't you speak normal words? Telling you now, I'm taking my share and getting out of here. Some of the others feel the same way. You can give your share away if it helps your conscience"
"Damn right," the baby's father growled. "Me and Selma talked it over. We feel the same way. We'll take our two shares and head on out."
"The hell," Greed snapped. "You two are married. You don't need two full shares. You'll be twice as rich as the rest of us."
Autumn smiled sadly. The inevitable dissension had already started. All that remained was for her to follow the probabilities and choose the best course of action. Assuming, of course, her actions could make a difference, and her damnable Talent worked when the right moment came along.
"We get our shares," Selma said in a flatly dangerous voice. "Us being married has nothing to do with it. We're doing our part, and we're taking our risks. We g
et two shares. Paul will back me on this."
Tall Man hissed. "You just sealed it. The kid knows two names. When we get the money she gets offed."
"I told you not to frighten her."
"She's not stupid. She ain't scared either, though she should be. As for the money, we agreed to share the cash out to the others that bastard ruined. I swore an oath to the Lord. I pledged my immortal soul and committed murder. You two get your half percent and no more. My sources tell me the man is good for a few hundred thousand sovereigns once he mortgages his factories. Two thousand sovereigns are enough for any of us to live on. The rest goes to the cause."
Autumn felt secret satisfaction. Their source of knowledge could only be local. The amounts they mentioned were pocket change when compared to her father's true worth. Her captors were either deceived or the brain behind her kidnapping had no idea of what she was getting into.
"There are four of us here and three more on the outside," Greed pointed out. She changed her stance to better show her physique to Tall Man. Though shorter, she was broader across the shoulders and far more muscular.
"Unlike you," Tall Man said,"I've already proven I'm willing to kill. Two years pay is enough for any of us. We ain't nobs."
"Fine then," Selma snapped. "I don't need more. We can make do with that much. " She glared at her fidgeting husband. "You know it's true. We'll have enough for a new identity in a new country. We can buy into an established business and finally start a family."
She looked back to Tall Man. "We'll back you."
Even with her Talent turned off, Autumn knew this was one of those opportune moments. She cleared her throat to attract their attention. They ignored her. She tried again, and once more she received no response. She finally threw manners to the wind and spoke up anyway.
"Somebody is either wrong or lying. Most of the money isn't here anymore."
That got their attention.
"What do you mean?" Greed demanded.
"Where do you think Daddy went? This area is saturated with runabouts, and it costs money to ship them elsewhere. I heard him and Miss Bayne talking before he left so I know there's only a couple thousand in the bank. He took the rest with him to open new factories. Not only did he take the money; he already mortgaged Turner Fabrication and the manor, and took all that too. Miss Bayne said it was a real gamble, but Daddy said he liked to gamble. He won't get many sovereigns out of selling what's left. Maybe thirty thousand."
Paul gave Selma a significant look. "That's not enough, hon, not if it's split into so many parts. We'll have to make the split just among us. Freeze everyone out who's not in this room. A four way is the best we can do."
"Three way," Greed grated. "You two don't get away with half of everything.
"I swore a vow," Tall Man insisted. His voice was harsh, unforgiving. "Most of the money will serve our brothers and sisters. Anything less will truly mean we are criminals."
"Look, could you people argue this out someplace else," Autumn begged. "I'm hurt, and I'm tired, and I want to lie down."
"She shouldn't be hearing this," Selma agreed. "It's too risky. We don't know what the future holds so we better take the fewest chances we can."
Tall Man held the door open for the others. Selma paused and looked back at Autumn. "I'm truly sorry I let our names out. You'll be treated decently until it's time to--well--you know."
The door closed with a solid thump. The bolt clunked firmly into place.
Autumn lay down with a sigh. Closing her eyes, she whispered a prayer to the One God Missy had taught her about. She opened her eyes once more and fought back a sob. This wasn't fun. Her daddy's people were dead or hurt and she was stolen and the whole world was pressing down on her. This was not fun!
She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her cheeks were wet and her mouth dry. She had never been so frightened in her life.
"Your turn, Daddy," she whispered to the walls. "I did my job. Now it's your turn."
Chapter 21
Kim followed the commotion throughout the day. The situation was chaos, but it was chaos with Aaron Turner at the center. Within hours, hundreds of people ran about on his orders. Artists drew sketches beneath the critical eye of those who had known Autumn Turner. Other artists listened to the survivors of the raid, taking down as much detail as could be remembered. Engravers worked on creating plates, and presses were set up for a run of posters.
This crisis could not be kept quiet. The manor was soon crowded with so many volunteers the yard turned into an overflow. One and all, the volunteers refused Aaron's offer of a reward. Kim gathered most were Aaron's employees, though many were business associates and acquaintances. One woman seemed to own a bank. People came in, hung around until they learned everything they needed to know and left with purposeful strides. Many filtered off under the direction of a Mister Grebfax, who walked purposefully into the manor two hours earlier and told them he knew something was going on. He had soon been followed by the hoard of factory workers. Grebfax broke the workers into groups and ordered each group to search a section of the city.
Kim shook her head in bemusement. The last thing Aaron wanted was to turn this thing into a circus event, but it was his fault. Closing the factory when there were orders to fill had raised red flags.
Missy and Mister Jeffries coordinated the information. They took notes on actions taken, actions waiting to be taken, and the results of everything discovered.
Aaron Turner oversaw it all. He moved from one group to another, using his Talent indiscriminately. He no longer sought to keep it secret. Instead, he transferred whenever he thought it would save time. His face remained calm, yet when he drew near her, Kim felt a chill.
He moved through several cities with Kim in tow. Aaron talked to police chiefs and transferred volunteers to Billowby Manor. He took her to N'Ark where they talked to a Miss Bivins in an attempt to discover the location of Aaron's other wife, Kit. Kim gathered this wife had a Talent for Finding.
Unfortunately, Miss Bivins had no idea how to find the woman.
By nine the next morning they were back in the manor.
"Where is everybody," Aaron demanded of a city guard, one of the few people around.
"Searching," the guard answered. "Asking questions. Me and a few others stayed here to act as guards for some of your people. Got two teams of doctors tending to the wounded, and Miss Bayne is keeping close to Mr. Patton. He's in his room."
Nodding, Aaron led the way through the manor. Following, Kim studied the firm control he held over his body. Aaron Turner burned furious, burned beyond furious, but he remained in complete control. She gained a small idea of just how fiercely Aaron's emotions raged when they walked into Patton's room to find Missy standing over the injured man. Missy gasped. She rose, swaying and pale, released a small moan, and collapsed to the floor.
Kim studied Aaron's face, still and controlled, as he stared down at Patton. Missy's empathetic reaction said a volcano existed inside.
Pointing at Missy, Aaron looked at one of the doctors. "Pull her out of here. Take her someplace far from me. "
He turned his gaze to where Melna sat in a chair. Hair disheveled, with a smudge of dirt smeared across one cheek, her eyes were dark with exhaustion.
"Aaron?"
"Melna, I need you to go back to the conference. Helmut needs somebody outside his people to represent this league. I can't do it right now. We've talked about it so you know what direction to pull the debates. I'll see you every day or two. You can fill me in on the details then."
Melna closed her eyes. Kim sympathized. Aaron had just dropped one huge load of responsibility on her small shoulders.
"It's dangerous for me there."
Aaron looked surprised. "Of course. I didn't think of that. I can find somebody else."
"No! No!" Melna protested. "You don't understand. I'll do it but send protection with me. Give me a couple bodyguards and your small hand weapon, after you show me how to use it."
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Aaron's lips quirked and then flattened. "Kim will be one of your--"
"Kim will nothing," Kim said firmly. She would bodyguard for one person only. Her training was not compatible with her new duties. She had a hard enough time guarding someone whose ways she had studied. Learning someone new in this tense situation, even Melna, would make her ineffective. Melna needed someone trained to the job. "I stay with you."
"All right then. A couple people guarded me in N'Ark for several years. I brought them over last night. They should report in before long. I'll send them with you. I'll show you how to use a pistol now. Kim, I'll be safe enough here. Get some sleep so you'll be alert when I'm ready to leave. I'll get some sleep myself in just a few hours.
Kim debated her options. "Promise you won't leave the manor without me."
"I can't promise. I don't know what might come up. I promise to have you informed of any actions that might put me in jeopardy. I promise I'll not deliberately leave you behind. My rooms are in the west wing. I'll send for you there."
"See that you do. "
Aaron left the room before Kim could inform him her training allowed her to stay awake and aware for several days before she needed rest.
Missy re-entered Patton's room and sat in a chair. Her face turned toward the patient. She stared intently at his ashen face. The blankets stirred to the movements of his shallow breathing.
"Will he live?" Kim asked. The answer had no meaning, but the question might be the socially correct thing to ask.
"They say maybe," Missy replied without looking up. "I say yes."
Kim grabbed a padded chair, wrestled it over to the bed, and sat down. "I want to talk to you."
Missy gave Melna a long stare. Taking the hint, Melna rose and left.
"No," Missy said once the door closed. "You don't want to talk to me. You don't want much of anything. I feel you up here. " She tapped the side of her skull. "You have a little curiosity but no real wants. Almost your entire surface is dead. You're more machine than human. I've never felt anyone else like you before, but then I'm new at this."