by P. A. Wilson
And someone else was strolling around the building.
If she didn’t notice, then she would be caught. He knew she couldn’t climb and scan for auras, so she might not know. The grass would muffle the person’s footsteps so there was nothing to alert her.
He whistled their warning code. A gull, which should go unnoticed by anyone else. She froze on the wall. Unless the person walking the grounds looked up she would be safe. If he did, she could move faster than a human. It would be a chase, but she would win.
Springheart held his breath as Willowvine inched along the wall, taking the chance that no one would be looking up, to move into the shadow of the chimney. He feared that she would slip, that something would fall and catch the attention of the human. Willowvine saw the human right then and froze again.
The figure stopped. Springheart slid his sword from the sheath. If he had to, he would attack.
Holding something to his mouth, the human flicked a flame into being, lighting a pipe, and effectively ruining his night vision. Willowvine would be safe unless she fell into the man’s arms. When the pipe was burning steadily, the human walked on. As soon as he turned the corner, Willowvine descended and ran across the lawn.
“Are you insane?” Springheart whispered.
“No, but I eliminated Tollingen from our list.”
Springheart glanced around to make sure the street was clear. “Tell me later. We need to meet Maynard. Perhaps he can do something more than just take incredible risks to eliminate someone.”
She ran when he indicated it was clear. From behind he noticed the tense muscles of her back. He didn’t need magic to see the anger blazing from her like a beacon. She’d frightened him, and he’d reacted badly. It was going to take more than a simple apology to set things right.
When they were safe on the street leading to The Gilded Trout, he held her elbow. Her muscles were like rocks. “Wait. We can’t meet Maynard this way. I am sorry. You did take a risk, but it was worth it and nothing bad happened.”
She glared at him, but the anger was already leaving her muscles. “I knew what I was doing,” she hissed back to him.
“I know.” He let her arm go. “I know you can do these things, but please don’t surprise me like that again. I may not survive.” He saw her take in his humor as the anger left her glare, to be replaced by a rueful smile.
“Well, I have to admit, it would have been good to have you there. I had to hide in a kitchen cupboard. It was full of moldy flour. I’ll be smelling it for weeks.”
Chapter 15
The elves were late. If this is how they run their jobs, he wouldn’t need to try too hard to knock them off the top of the list.
Maynard had arranged a private room this time. Sitting in the common area gave him itches. There were too many people in there. If someone wanted to speak to him, they could ask for permission to enter the room. Mally would send the elves in as soon as they arrived. He had little more to add to their knowledge, and he was tired of this slow gathering of useless information.
He was going to make another suggestion for finding out what they needed. The elves were good at breaking into houses. They could do so with all the names on the list within a few days. That was the only way they were going to find this stone. The only way he could take it and the glory of filling the contract.
The curtains moved aside and Willowvine entered followed by her partner. Maynard smiled at them, making sure that his annoyance was hidden. He still needed to keep them sweet. “Ah, I hope you have had better luck than I tonight.”
Springheart held out a chair for the girl. She looked even more pale than usual. Elves always looked a half-day dead to him. That translucent skin rarely showed color.
“I’ve ordered food,” Springheart said. “We’ll talk when the meal is on the table.”
Mally delivered the order within a few minutes of their arrival. As soon as she left, Maynard said, “Tell me what you’ve learned. I know something has changed. Please, don’t keep me in suspense.”
They looked at each other, and he knew there was a secret they wouldn’t share with him. If it got in the way of the contract, he’d find out what it was no matter what the elves wanted.
“You tell him,” Springheart said to the girl.
She was stuffing her face and held up a finger to get them to wait while she chewed and swallowed. Her manners were unbelievable, but at least now she was looking less dead. Maynard filled her glass and waited until she was ready.
“I’ve eliminated Tollingen from the list.”
Surely, she could give more details than that after making him wait. “How?”
Springheart touched her arm when she seemed about to snap at him. “There are things we can’t tell you, Maynard. You know that. Accept that the man is not who we need, and tell us what you have learned.”
The elf was arrogant, like they all were. “Of course, I was simply curious. If you believe that he is eliminated, then that is what he is.”
Maynard knew that he couldn’t just baldly state his recommendation, but their news opened a door for his plan. “I was unable to get any further information. Tamm is currently unavailable. I was too late to stop him from drinking himself unconscious. We will have to wait until tomorrow to ask him anything. The landlord of the Horseshoe will alert me.”
Maynard took a sip of his wine. The vintages were excellent here, and the client’s advance needed to be spent on something pleasurable occasionally. “I have an idea,” he said after savoring the fruity notes of his drink. “It may take us some time, but if we act separately, then we should make progress. I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s more than we’re doing now.”
“I’m interested in any idea,” Springheart said. The girl looked at him and shrugged, continuing to shovel food in her mouth.
“This list we have, the target is on there, correct?”
Again, the look between them, Willowvine answered this time. “We believe so, but there is always the chance that we are missing someone.”
“Let us assume for now that the list is complete. If we split the list and reconnoitered each location, homes, and warehouses, etcetera, we can eliminate names until we find the one we need.” He waited for their response, anticipating their arguments and aligning his own.
“It is a good plan, but we cannot split up,” Springheart said. “I know you think you can persuade us, Maynard, but there is no way. We cannot give you enough details to allow you to effectively eliminate a name. And, after tonight, Willowvine and I are not going to work separately.”
So, something had happened and the girl worked tonight on her own. Not surprising that she caused a problem. She was impetuous. “Then can you tell me what to look for without giving details? I know you are the best at slipping in and out of houses, but I know how to do it as well.”
He was getting tired of them giving sidelong glances before they spoke. He knew the risks. Even if they didn’t know that he knew, he still needed them, at least until they found the stone. He waited until they decided what to tell him.
Springheart spoke this time. “We cannot tell you any more than we already have. We’ll start the reconnaissance tonight, but we can only do it ourselves.”
There was no use pressing. Maynard would do as he pleased anyway. “Then what can I do? I want to help. This is important enough to the guild that they assigned their top three couriers to the contract.”
“You were not assigned to the contract. You were assigned to us. Now, let me think,” Springheart said. “We are not trying to be obstructive, but there are terrible consequences to sharing the wrong details.”
This was the wrong way to get what he wanted but Maynard’s patience was gone. Before he said something that he would regret, Maynard needed to get away from this pair. “Perhaps you need time to discuss it,” he said, rising. “I will be back in a few moments.”
Springheart thanked him and turned his attention to making sure Willowvine was feeling well, leaving
Maynard no option but to go through the curtain.
* * *
Springheart checked to make sure no one, including Maynard, was lurking at the door. The oath wouldn’t care if they disclosed details accidentally. It would still kill them.
“I hate to admit it, but Maynard has a good plan,” he said. “It worked already.”
Willowvine stopped eating and grinned. “Yeah a great plan. There are twenty people on the list, remember. That’s at least twenty break-ins. Some of them will have more than one place they might store the thing. And there’s no guarantee that the thief would keep it at home.”
“Maybe we can send Maynard in as a spy. He could try to ingratiate himself with the people who hate us.”
She laughed. “Who is to say he isn’t already part of that group. You’ve seen how he looks at us — me especially.” She stacked the empty plates and put them on the sideboard. “We need to send him on an errand to get him out of our way. If we work at it, we can cover the homes in a night.”
“It would be too risky to move that fast. We need to think this through. Find an order for the names that makes it more likely we’ll be successful quickly.”
Willowvine shrugged. “Okay so we take a few nights to search buildings. The full moon is far enough away that we can take some time. If there was a long journey to replace the…it then Aranate would have known.”
Her logic was sound. Springheart hated this secrecy. The elves would be better served in the short run if more people could be told. He knew that would place the stone in jeopardy when it was replaced, but surely it could be guarded. And if the location was so secret how could it have been stolen?
“What can we get him to do?” he asked. Maynard was slippery and they needed a solid plan.
“Why not get him looking where the people on the list have been in the last week,” she said. “It might help eliminate some of them without breaking in. We don’t need to give him any more information than he already has.”
At least she had skills when it came to the art of distraction. He opened the curtain and called the waitress to take the plates and bring more wine. It might help Maynard to believe in the assignment if he had a little more alcohol in his system. He and Willowvine would stick to tea. They could fit one more name on the list in tonight if they hurried.
Maynard joined them as Mally left the room. Springheart drew the curtain and explained the plan.
“You think that knowing where these people were in the last week will help?” Maynard asked. “So, they have brought something to the island?”
“Maynard, stop trying to get information from us. Believe me, we’ve told you everything we can, and if we learn more that we can share, then you will be told that too.” Springheart was tired of the guessing game.
The man didn’t know about the oath, but he should accept that they couldn’t tell him anything and get on with the job.
“I apologize,” Maynard said, not looking at them. “It is difficult to help when I know that I don’t have all the knowledge.”
“Will you do it?” Willowvine asked.
He swirled the wine in his glass and then looked at them. “Of course. I know how important this is. I’ll find out where these people were every moment of the last two weeks. Will that be sufficient?”
To Springheart the words seemed to drip insincerity. “Good, then we have a plan. Shall we meet tomorrow morning to compare results? Eleven? Here?”
Maynard looked at Springheart for a long time and then turned to Willowvine. Springheart knew the man was suspicious, but without any special power he could only guess that they weren’t being completely honest. Finally Maynard nodded. “It sounds like a good plan.”
Willowvine stood and slid the fresh bottle toward Maynard. “Enjoy the wine. We have business elsewhere.”
Springheart followed her out, trying unsuccessfully to stifle the smile at her imperious attitude. Maybe she had it right. Not giving Maynard Slack an opportunity to argue saved time.
Chapter 16
Willowvine looked at the scrap of paper that held the names of their suspects. Two more crossed off last night, but they still didn’t know who took the stone.
The laxity of the security in the homes and business properties still amused her after all the times she’d broken into and out of buildings. There was rarely a guard, and when there was, he tended toward ancient. It helped their work, and she guessed the business bottom line, but if there were any thieves around, the inventory would be gone. The only house warded had been Tollingen’s and that might have been new to deal with his pet.
Now, she and Springheart had split up despite his reluctance. He was talking to the harbor master’s assistant, and she was supposed to be checking the rest of the buildings to make sure they could be efficient in their search. Knowing the best entrance and exit points would save them enough time to get four, maybe five, names off the list tonight.
The idea to talk to the assistant had been hers, and she hoped it would show Springheart that she did know how to think ahead. If Maynard was checking travel times, it made sense that they should check on possible escape plans. Anyone with a ship would be able to slip away with little notice. The stone might have come from off-island, in fact probably had. This island was populated enough that there were few places to hide an artifact with such significance. It wouldn’t be sitting on the side of a road, part of a dry fence. The elves would have made sure there was a whole ceremonial site. There was probably a stone spiral path, like the gate between worlds.
She still had an hour before they were scheduled to meet Maynard, and two more locations to scout. The houses were all done, but they had plenty of other places to reconnoiter. The final buildings were a warehouse and an office building on Wharf Street. Both only had side and front entrances, the backs made of solid stone wall, no windows, no delivery doors, nothing. She wondered how merchandise was delivered, but perhaps the items were small enough to go through the obvious entrances. Regardless, they would have to come as late as possible when they searched to avoid being seen entering.
Willowvine sat at a small table outside a cafe, facing the corner of the office building. She sipped the mug of caf she’d ordered and made a sketch of the building. In case anyone was checking on her, she had a number of sketches in the same book, allowing her to masquerade as an art student.
This building would be easy. The challenge would be getting through the search quickly. It was three floors and all of it belonged to the same business. She turned the page and started a sketch of what she could see of the warehouse next to it.
The waiter approached her table, “Is there anything more?”
She flipped the book face down and ordered a refill of her caf. That should let her stay at the table long enough to finish her sketch.
While she waited, people started to fill the tables wanting a mid-morning break from business, or whatever else they did so early in the day.
Two scree took a table across the patio from hers. Their conversation in progress drifted to her.
“Yes, but he pays on time, so if I have to take the bloody training again, I will.”
“We already know more about battle than he does,” the second scree stated in the tone of an old argument constantly rehashed, never settled.
“His lack of knowledge means he pays better than most. He doesn’t know the going rate. And it’s only for a handful more days, then —”
The waiter moved between Willowvine and the scree asking another table of patrons for their order. His words blocked the conversation just as it was getting interesting. Frustrated, she strained to hear, but couldn’t make out anything.
When the waiter moved away, she heard, “…and then we can get on with the next stage.”
The second scree huffed, but his words were lost to her as the waiter refilled her mug. She bit back the request to leave her in peace, and dropped coins on the table to pay the bill so that she could simply walk away if needed.
; “Ballian never talks about those meetings you have. Are you brewing some great battle up there?” Was the next statement she heard.
“Well, I can’t really talk about it either. Vitenkar trusts us, not that he shares the details of the campaign. He wouldn’t want me to blabber his business all over the place if he did.”
Vitenkar was on their list. She’d scoped out his home this morning. He kept everything close. The first floor of his home held a warehouse, servants, and what looked like a barracks. The second floor was where he lived. They were going to have difficulty getting in and out quickly with that one.
“So, you aren’t going to tell me what this …” his words were drowned out by a baby’s wail.
“No, and don’t name it out here in public, or he’ll confine us to barracks.”
Willowvine wanted to lean closer, to move to a nearer table, anything to get the full conversation. This was the first real clue she’d gotten. Springheart would want more proof before he did anything about it, but it fit.
She watched as the two scree downed the hot dark brew of caf. When they finished, they rose and left the patio. She slipped the sketchbook into her bag and trailed them, too far back to hear their conversation, but afraid to get closer because they might notice her.
They were headed back to Vitenkar’s house. Willowvine considered a shortcut. A hand touching her shoulder stopped her from taking the turn. She whipped around ready to defend herself to see Maynard Slack standing there, the oily smile aimed at her. How long had he been behind her? Had he heard them talking at the cafe?
“Willowvine, are you going back to the tavern? May I walk with you? We’ll be a little early, but it will give us a chance to talk, get to know each other?”
She wanted to tell him to go away, but the scree were gone. She’d learn no more from them. “Fine, let’s go. Maybe Springheart will be there already.”