Beka Cooper 1 - Terrier

by Tamora Pierce

  The servant who answered my knock looked at my uniform and let me in. Other workers were putting away the gate braces and continuing the day's baking. The servant waved me toward the house, not even noticing my cat. I scraped my boots and walked into the kitchen. A maid fetched Gemma for me. Like the man who'd answered the gate, she paid no mind to Pounce.

  "She's doing the accounts," Gemma said when I asked for her mother. "This way." As I followed her, she said, "I'm that surprised to see you. I thought certain you'd be with your Dogs. They're saying the mob is setting fires."

  "They're out, and the army is in the streets, keeping order," I said, thinking, They've not heard about Yates. Thank the gods Tunstall wrapped him before we took him through the city.

  I watched Gemma as she walked through the narrow hall between the kitchen and the main house. She wore her hair up in a cloth, and there were flour smears on her long outer tunic. I wondered if she ever stopped working. Leaving her neck uncovered as she had, she'd also left bare a bruise shaped like a man's fingers.

  At least that has ended, I thought. Yates will beat her no more.

  Why had Mistress Noll permitted it? I knew she had ruled her man and children with an iron will. She could have stopped Yates from hitting Gemma.

  "Why didn't you leave here?" I asked her. "Why stay and let Yates treat you so bad? Couldn't you live with one of your sisters?"

  "Ma wanted me here," Gemma said. "In this house, you do as Ma says."

  "Always?" I asked, having a very bad thought. No. Not the grannylady. Not the woman who had given me and my family bread when we were hungry.

  We walked into a tidy little sitting room, Gemma, Pounce, and me. Mistress Noll was bent over a table, squinting at an account book. "You stupid slut, did I not tell you we needed those custards made as soon as may be?" she asked, without looking up. "Riot or no, the Shoemakers' Guild has their supper tonight – " She finally thought to glance at us. "Beka Cooper. Surely your Dogs have work for you just now. Gemma, be about your business."

  "Actually, I have news for you both, Mistress Noll," I said. "My Dogs sent me."

  Mistress Noll set down her reed pen and leaned back in her chair. Pounce leaped up on her account book to stare her in the face. "And what news is so important that it brings you to my home in the middle of a riot?"

  "The riot is done," I said. "I have news of Yates."

  Mistress Noll went very still. "What of my son?"

  "He is dead," I told her. I heard Gemma gasp. "Forgive me. We have his partners in the Shadow Snake kidnappings in hobbles. We took them all together. Yates would be alive, but he killed himself."

  Mistress Noll's face was as hard as iron. "And he said he was the Shadow Snake?"

  "Ma," Gemma whispered.

  "Shut your gob," Mistress Noll ordered.

  "Yates said it," I replied. "So do his friends, who we took alive." I did not take my eyes from her face as I bluffed, "But we know he's no more the Snake than I am. It was Tansy made me wonder about you, Mistress. Tansy and that lily pendant you wear."

  She raised a hand to the necklaces around her throat. The lily one was hidden again, under her clothes. "What has that waterfront trull to say about me?" she asked.

  "When my Dogs were there, you talked so well of Tansy," I said. I kept my voice polite. Hearing Yates was dead had cracked sommat in her, for all she talked so hard. She was going to pieces before me. "I remembered how much she cost you, how she'd put you in a rage. You were glad when you somehow got word of the fire opals. It gave you an excuse to hurt her. I think you'd've killed Rolond even if the old man did pay." I saw her hands turn to big-knuckled fists in her lap. All those years of baking – she could strike a fearful blow, even at her age. "Did you mean to even kill her in time?"

  "You lived on Mutt Piddle Lane, Beka," Mistress Noll said. "We worked like slaves to get out, and that brat took coin from my pocket. Every time she robbed me, I had to replace what goods I'd made. I'd not gain a copper on business that was meant to put me and mine ahead in the world. I was happy to feed you neighborhood children on the overdone stuff and the day's leavings. You made deliveries. You fetched firewood and water. But you'd let her steal from me and then you'd laugh. No sense of gratitude, any of you. Content to wallow in the filth and let others feed you."

  "Why the other kidnappings? Those folk were your customers. Your neighbors." I watched her, trying to keep my voice steady.

  "Why?" She raised her eyebrows at me. "You ask me that? I'd not stay on Mutt Piddle Lane! There I was, breaking my back over the ovens, getting us a table here and a stall there, and along comes Mistress Painter with a ruby pendulum. A ruby pendulum, when all know she'd not enough Gift to whistle up rain in a thunderstorm. Her brat was running about, kicking dust on the front of the stalls for amusement." She bowed her head, raising a hand to her throat. "I lost my temper, as I've lost it now. But you'll not live to tell of it." I heard a snap. She flung something at me, something she'd broken from one of her necklaces. I remembered too late that curse charms were among the things she'd taken.

  Pounce, who sat forgotten on her account book, leaped. He caught the thing in his jaws and dropped to the floor. I cried out and jumped at Mistress Noll, smashing her chair against her table. She punched at me with her heavy baker's hands. I seized all of her necklaces and dragged them over her head, scraping her cheeks and nose, pulling off her head cloth, and yanking her hair from its pins as she bruised my ribs and chest. I dropped the necklaces to the side of the chair and planted one hand over her nose, third fingertip on her left eyelid, index fingertip on her right.

  "Gemma, help me!" she cried.

  "No, Ma," I heard Gemma say. "Not this time."

  "Shut your gob," I told Mistress Noll, "or you'll lose an eye for killing my cat. Both eyes if you rush me."

  She went still. She could not abide the thought of being maimed. She knew I would do it. I, too, came from Mutt Piddle Lane.

  One handed, as we'd practiced it in training, I tied a thong to her right wrist after feeling it for more charms. Swiftly I grabbed her left arm with the hand I'd used to threaten her eyes and bound her wrists together.

  "You've no proof," Mistress Noll said, her eyes cold. "You think she will be a witness against me?"

  "You have all the things you didn't sell," I said. I drew my dagger. From the heap of necklaces I fished out the lily pendant and two others I recognized from the descriptions I'd been given. Her pearl earrings looked familiar for the same reason. To be sure, I took them off her and checked the silver backs. There, in tiny letters, the cove who'd bought them had asked the smith to carve his mot's initials, T. L. "The charms and the books of spells will be in this house. And the mages will have the rest of it out of you and Gemma."

  "You can't arrest me," Mistress Noll said. "You're only a Puppy who's got above herself."

  "No, I can't arrest you. But I can drag you by the hair if need be," I told her. "And as we go to Jane Street, I'll shout what I'm taking you in for. It's not raining so hard that folk won't hear me. Mayhap you won't make it alive so my Dogs can arrest you proper." My blood pounded in my temples, I was so cold and so angry. I had believed in her kindness until today. She had kidnapped and murdered children and destroyed families for gain and for spite. "Or you and Gemma can walk along with me peaceful-like and get arrested on the quiet. Then you'll answer for it all before a proper court. Before the law." I looked at Gemma. "You knew about this. I'm taking you with us."

  Gemma nodded.

  I made myself look around for Pounce then. I ground my teeth, trying to ready myself for the sight of him dying or dead. He'd attacked a curse, after all.

  Instead I saw him roll something around in his mouth, the better to chew it. Tiny red arms shot out around his teeth, flailing. Then they curled up. Whatever Pounce ate got smaller until he swallowed the remains. Then he began to wash.

  "You're alive," I said like a ducknob.

  Partway through licking a paw, he stopped and glared at m
e. You think me a poor creature if you believe a tiny curse like that would even ruffle my fur.

  Properly scolded, I knelt so Mistress Noll would not kick me and began to hobble her ankles.

  When I came back to my Dogs, Ersken, Herun, and Yates's gang, they were a block from the kennel in the line. Tunstall raised his brows when I joined them towing Mistress Noll and Gemma.

  "I thought you were breaking sad news, Cooper. This is a strange way to do it."

  I explained about my dreams of the old days and knowing the way Mistress Noll ruled her children. And how one idea had led to another.

  "We were thinking about how much of the loot she got, once our feet started to hurt," Tunstall said. "Why the Shadow Snake still lived in his mother's house and worked for her hauling bakery goods. We just didn't see how we could go talk with her dragging these three." He tugged the rope that tethered Yates's hobbled friends.

  "An old woman did this?" Herun whispered. "An old woman had my boy murdered, me kidnapped, for charms and a few coins?"

  "For fire opals, lad," Goodwin said. "So she could stop dealing in charms and coins and never make another pasty."

  Suddenly Gemma, at the back of the three men of Yates's gang, started to laugh. We looked at her and at her mother. Mistress Noll raised her tied hands to her mouth. Gemma was laughing, but thin tears trickled down her mother's cheeks.

  The Rat who was tied next to them moved back as much as he could. "He told them Crookshank's dead," Ersken said to us. "Gemma thinks it's funny."

  "Never again, she swore," Gemma said, gasping for air. "All over after this. And it is! Ma's a prophetess, because it is all over forever. But it was for naught!"

  She began to laugh again. Suddenly Mistress Noll swung her arms. She smacked her daughter on the side of the head, knocking Gemma to the ground. Tied to the string of captives, Gemma almost pulled her mother down with her before she scrambled to her feet.

  "Shut yer useless gob, you sarden addlepate," Mistress Noll ordered Gemma, her voice flat. "You'll get us torn t' bits. At least your brother was of use."

  Gemma stared at her. "And he got us killed, Mother," she said. "When we scream for the executioner's mercy, you'll remember Yates left us to face it! And I never did a thing but share your house!"

  Tunstall walked over to Gemma and put a hand on Mistress Noll, keeping her away from her daughter. "Agree to give testimony against your mother, and we'll get you mercy. You'll live." He looked at the bruise that was shaping on the side of Gemma's face, then at Mistress Noll. "We'll even tie you at the front of the string right now, close to us."

  Gemma nodded. I retied Mistress Noll to the Rat who had told her Crookshank was dead. Ersken brought Gemma up and tied her so that she was the first of our string of captives.

  "Guardsfolk," said Herun. He nodded to the Dogs in front of us. They were standing aside. They made their Rats move, too. They'd cleared the path to the kennel.

  "What's this?" Goodwin asked, hands crossed over her chest.

  "We been listenin'," one of the Dogs in front of us said. He was a big Scanran who worked the Night Watch. "You got the Shadow Snake's gang. Go on."

  "I don't want favors," Goodwin said.

  Ersken looked down, making a face. If his feet hurt as bad as mine, I know he wanted a favor or two.

  "Don't call it a favor, then," the Scanran's partner said. "If word gets out that's who you've got, we'll have a fresh mob on us. Go."

  Other Dogs waved us on.

  "Guardswoman, I don't know what has become of my mother," Herun said quietly. "And I don't know where my wife is."

  "Tansy is at my place," I told him. "She came to stay with me two nights ago."

  Herun smiled at me shyly. "I would like to see her before dawn," he told Goodwin. "And I want to find my mother."

  Goodwin looked at him. Then she headed for the kennel, Herun at her heels. Tunstall led our string of captives. Me and Ersken brought up the rear with Pounce, the tip of his tail a jaunty black flag.

  As I passed, Dogs clapped me on the shoulder.

  There was good news for Herun inside. Mistress Annis was in the healers' room with three of Crookshank's servants. The worst harm they had taken was in breathing a bit of the smoke. For an extra blessing, Tansy had come the moment she heard where she could find her mother-in-law. Once she saw her man, it was all we could do to pry Herun away long enough for him to give a report of his kidnapping. Since I had work yet to do, I sent them all to my lodgings for the night. They could find a place to live in the morning.

  "You'll let Cooper get away with just going to arrest a Rat on her own?" Ahuda asked my Dogs when she looked over our reports.

  "I didn't plan to do it when I went there," I said. I shut up the instant Ahuda scowled at me.

  "She's a Puppy," Tunstall said. "She hasn't even been in the work for two months. She'll learn."

  "If she doesn't die," Goodwin added. "If we don't all three die of sore feet and empty bellies."

  "Everyone dies," the Day Watch Sergeant said. He was logging in prisoners, too. "Down here, sooner before later. Take off. If you die tonight, at least you should do it with a full belly."

  We looked at Ahuda. She glared at us. "Go away," she ordered. "Cooper, leave the arrests to your Dogs."

  Wednesday, May 13, 246

  Noon.

  I woke in the morning to sunlight and a knock on the door. The shutters were open. Pigeons fluttered there, eating from Tansy's hand. Herun, wearing a wrinkled shirt and breeches, watched her from a corner. There was a light in his face that wasn't anything to do with the morning sun. I saw then that he truly loved her for more than her looks. That was a good thing.

  She turned to smile at him, the same light in her eyes. Then she yelped. A pigeon had pecked her for taking away the hand with the food in it.

  One of the Lofts servants opened my door. Aniki poked her head inside. The two Ashmiller girls got up to pet Laddybuck, in Aniki's hand. When I sat up on my blankets, Aniki said, "Breakfast?"

  We went outside so there'd be room to move. The storm had cooled things off. From somewhere we found enough benches and barrelheads to sit on. We had but odds and ends – stale breads and old turnovers and pasties. Luckily sausages and cheese kept, and there was dried fruit. No one could shop for fresh food during a riot. At least we had plenty. That was as well, because there were plenty of folk to share it with – the Lofts household, the Ashmillers, my housemates, Ersken, Phelan, and me.

  When they came down to the yard to eat, Kora let go of Ersken's hand to hug me fiercely. "Crone's blessings on you, Terrier," she whispered in my ear. "You've caught and killed the Snake."

  I hesitated, but truly, on this day I felt too good to lock my heart away. I hugged her back. "We did it," I said. "All of us. All of us. The Lower City killed its own Snake."

  I heard a mew. I'd nearly mashed Fuzzball in his sling. "He'll never walk anywhere if you go on carrying him," I said. Kora took him out and put him on the ground.

  "If she puts him down, he heads straight for the nearest food," Ersken said. "Uh-oh. He thinks Master Pounce will stand for that."

  Pounce was eating cheese. He was particularly fond of it, though it did not improve his breath. Fuzzball grabbed a piece. Pounce smacked Fuzzball, sending the little one rolling into Laddybuck. Laddybuck reared back, mewed, and smacked Fuzzball himself.

  "Now there's a king," Rosto said of the fierce kitten as he joined us. The Ashmiller girls shrieked with joy. Rosto carried a honeycomb in a bowl as well as half a loaf of bread. He gave it over to them and picked up Laddybuck, looking him in the eyes. "Don't let anyone show you disrespect, my lad, that's right. From furball to rusher." The cut he'd had on his cheek was nearly mended, only a long scar left of it. I frowned. He could have gotten a mage to heal it with no scar at all.

  Unless he wanted a scar. "Mother's milk, you did it," I said. "You killed him. You're the Rogue."

  Rosto cupped Laddybuck in one hand, grabbed me by the back of the neck, an
d kissed me on the mouth. I should have punched him, but his mouth was sweet and soft. I will punch him next time.

  "I promise, I won't let my head get swollen," he said after he let me go. "But things had to change, Beka. You knew it as well as we did." He looked around. "This house makes a good headquarters. We could turn it into a tavern. The Court of the Rogue that we have, that building is all wrong. It gives people notions that they're royalty. They forget they're supposed to look after the Lower City first."

  Aniki slapped him on the calf. "Wonderful plans. Now sit down and eat."

  Around nine a runner came to tell Ersken and me that all Dogs were off duty for a few days. The King had proclaimed martial law in the city. Soldiers would keep the peace in the streets. Folk could shop, but no crowds of greater than ten would be allowed to form.

  Tansy, Herun, Mistress Annis, and the Lofts servants were the first to leave. They had money – Herun is his grandfather's heir. They would stay in one of Crookshank's Patten District houses. I watched them go, feeling relieved. Slapper landed on my shoulder. He had no ghost on him. He didn't, always.

  Thursday, May 14, 246

  Jack and the children left yesterday. He said he'd come by some money. He didn't say how. I didn't ask, though I fingered my fire opal as they packed their things. The girls never warmed to me, but I did teach their brother the clapping games I'd taught my brothers.

  Yesterday afternoon a runner came for me. I was to report to the Magistrate's Court, in uniform, today at nine. I would have to stand before Sir Tullus and tell those parts of the capture that were mine alone. He had chosen to hold what's called an "eclipse session." It is for the trial of Mistress Noll and the Shadow Snake gang. It is feared that if they are tried on our regular Court Day, there might be another riot, soldiers or no. Folk want revenge for three years of fear, and they're angry that the Dogs did not catch her and her gang before this.