Raoul smiled. “Lovely Lavender is a truly terrible name. I like Cherry much, much better.” The girl smiled and blushed. She had a smile that could melt glaciers, even one that was the heart of Raoul King Jr. He cleared his throat, looked about the room and finally walked over to where she was sitting.
“Now Cherry, I did mean what I said. I truly have no intention of doing anything with you tonight.”
She hung her head and nodded acceptingly. “That err….that being said, I suppose after you put your clothes back on, we could just lie here together and sleep. The people outside don’t have to know we didn’t do anything, I could justtell them we did. They would pay you that way.”
Cherry raised her head, her eyes wide with excitement. She slipped on a scarlet tunic lying on the floor beside the bed and smiled with relief.
“Good,” Raoul chuckled. “Now…let’s get some sleep. It’s been a long day, and I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be pretty interesting.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The lorb lights were fading as Clayton darted back inside the tavern. The bartender, who was sweeping up the floor and humming some unknown tune, glanced up as he heard him enter. The balding man smiled, briefly, before noticing the look of terror stamped across the Red Hand’s face. The broom dropped from his hands and clattered down onto the stone floor. His brows knitted tightly together as he reached his hand into the back of his belt.
Clayton did n’t hesitate. Leaping forward, he jerked out his fist and managed to catch the bartender squarely on the right side of his jaw. Given his haste, however, the blow did not land as fiercely as he’d hoped. The barkeep stumbled back, immediately regaining his balance and lashed back with a swing of his hand. The bludgeon clenched inside it landed on Clayton’s forehead, causing him to temporarily black out. After tottering violently back and forth, he managed to gain his footing just as the bartender swung again.
On an average day, the son of Thatcher Hogg had always considered himself a fairly adequate boxer. But, as he ducked down, throwing out a punch to his opponent’s abdomen, he experienced a surge of energy that seemed to enter his body out of nowhere. The bartender cursed aloud, his free hand groping his stomach as he doubled over in pain. Clayton didn’t wait a second longer. Taking a step back, he landed a swift kick into the bartender’s face, making perfect contact with the man’s mouth and nose. The bartender flew backwards, shooting across the stone floor and crashing into the bar as if he’d been thrown by a catapult.
A consummative rush of power swept through Clayton to his very core. He had never been so in control, and yet so simultaneously overwhelmed. The feeling confused him. What was even more puzzling was the uncomfortable sensation rising from his chest. He looked down to behold the Acryptus Tree, grim as ever, fiercely burning on top of his skin. His body shook and heaved at the sheer magnitude of the event. A thousand sensations rushed through every vein in his body. The muscles inside him ached mercilessly and the very hair on his head seemed to stand rigidly upright. In that moment, he wasn’t just Clayton Hogg of Havendale. He felt…more.
It was only when he heard Jade’s malignant laughing rise from down the street that he snapped out of his momentary daze and darted up the stairs. Every new question penetrating his mind was stored away as he hurried past the first marked door, assuming it to be his, and began knocking repeatedly on the second.
“Adelaide! Wake up! We need to go, now! Clayton kept pounding away, his heart racing inside his chest. It took some time, but at long last a shuffling sound could be heard from inside and the doorknob began turning. The door opened to reveal Adelaide. Her hair was washed and groomed, and her body was clothed in a pair of tight, black leggings and woolen grey sweater left for her on the dresser inside her room.
“Clayton? Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“No and I really don’t rotting care. Where’s Finn?” “Why? You think he’s in here with me?”
“Yes, we…wait, he isn’t?”
Adelaide laughed merrily at Clayton’s apparent distress.
“Hey,” she told him. “I do have my restrictions. Don’t think so little of me.” “What…I don’t…listen, Adelaide, I don’t know what you are going on about, but we have to leave this place right now. There isn’t time to rotting chat.”
“Why? I was just getting ready for bed. Besides, I thought we all were speaking to Oderheim more tomorrow.” “Adelaide , please,” Clayton pleaded. “You really need to trust me on this. I’ve been talking and listening to…well some people, and this….this place is not what we thought it was. I think the townsfolk are going to lock us up tonight and hold us prisoner for Huglund. I don’t know how yet, but they’re in cahoots together.”
“What? Oh come on, you’re being a wink,” she stated flatly. “I’m tired. Go to bed and we’ll talk in the morning.”
“Adelaide Stokes, I swear to…..”
From downstairs there was a loud scream. Clayton immediately recognized it as Jade.
“What the rot is this?! What happened here?” she yelled. “Heth dead, or cloth to it,” Puck replied. “Probably thell and hit hith head.”
“You think he propelled himself across the rotting room?” Jade hissed at him.
“Drunk, most likely,” threw in Garrick.
“C-c-c-can we just g-g-get upstairs and g-g-get those squirms now?” Boras inquired, freshly joining the party.
“Fine,” Jade growled. “We can deal with this dip later. I call that lovely looking boy. He’s all mine.”
“I want the girl,” said Garrick. Clayton could hear the eagerness drooling from his voice as he spoke.
“And I will t-t-t-take that Raoul. He looks like he c-c-could be t-t-t-t oh, rot it all, t-ttasty.” Clayton didn’t wait for the rest of the conversation. He forced his way past Adelaide, grabbing her arm as he did so. Without warning, he jerked her towards the bed and pulled her down towards the floor.
The faint sound of approaching footsteps could be heard as he joined her.
“Clayton,” Adelaide hissed. “What are you doing?” “Just trust me. I’m telling you we are in serious trouble if they find us.”
“Why?” she pressed him. “What about Finn and Raoul?” “I’m working on that. All I kno w is that if any of those…winks get their hands on you they’ll….they’ll….I don’t want to think about it. If they get taken, we won’t be any good to them captured or dead. Better they are taken first than all four of us getting locked up in some cellar.”
The voices outside were now very close. Jade and Garrick were right outside Adelaide’s door, while Boras could be heard giggling and humming in anticipation directly next door. Puck, Clayton assumed, was another door over, preparing to break it down and subdue whoever was behind it.
“Alright, here we go,” said Jade. “ Oh, and Puck….should I want to get naughty with mine before we take them over to holding, just please understand this time: looking is fine. No touching. Got it?”
Clayton and Adelaide both closed their eyes, holding their breath. All four doors flew open simultaneously. There was an immediate scuffling noise from the fourth room down, where Clayton quickly assessed Finn was sleeping.
“I can’t believe I am saying this,” he whispered, “but I would have preferred to find both of you in here when I came; even Raoul too, if it meant us all sticking together.”
“Rot, rot, rot,” Garrick cursed as he scanned the empty room. “She isn’t here!” “O h shut it,” Jade laughed, walking past the open door, her hands supporting Finn’s unconscious head as Puck supported his legs. “We got the lovely one at least. It looks like he had a glass or two of Honeydrop after all.”
“They’re probably out hathing some fun,” said Puck, grinning maliciously. “I would hate to be thith boy when he wakes up…for more reasons than one.”
Suddenly a loud yelp of pain came from Raoul ’s room, followed by the sound of something shattering and a despairing cry from Boras. The one called Garrick darted past
Jade and hurried next door.
“It’s empty,” he exclaimed.
“Where ith Boras?” yelled Puck.
No response.
“Where ith my friend, you guys?” There was a loud thud and a grunt from Finn as Puck dropped his legs to the floor and rushed down into Raoul’s room. Clayton and Adelaide heard him gasp loudly before bursting into tears.
“What the …..Boras? No. No. That little rath, I’ll cuth him up. Youdidn’t deserve thith! I’m going to find thath little rother and….oh I’ll…”
“ Close your mouth, Puck. We’ll bury him later,” Jade yelled from down the hall. “In the meantime, could you two kindly help me carry this meat sack downstairs before my arms fall off?”
Puck emitted a gurgling sob as he returned, once again picking up Finn’s feet. Soon, everyone except Garrick had made their way back down the stairs.
“Come on, you rotter,” Clayton whispered as the man paced back and forth across the floor. “Just leave.” Adelaide started to breathe again as Garrick finally exited the room and moved towards the stairs. Suddenly, his footsteps stopped abruptly. The floorboards creaked as he quickly made his way back. The bedroom door slammed wide open as he reentered, briskly walking over to the bed, grasping both sides of it firmly with his hands.
“Clayton?” A delaide whimpered as she clutched his arm, tears streaming down her face as she did so. Clayton wasn’t listening.
“No….” he muttered loud enough for Garrick to hear him. “Not…going…to happen!” The bed flipped onto its side. Adelaide went with it with a helpful shove from Clayton before his fists thrust up, catching Garrick in the face. His opponent tried to back away, but to no avail. Clayton simply jerked himself upwards, following him as he stumbled backwards, crying in agony. His back finally crashed into the wall. With an adrenaline fueled pull, Clayton managed to force him to the ground, allowing him to be briefly stunned as he grabbed a pillow lying nearby and stuffed in onto his face. Garrick’s cries for help were immediately quelled as he struggled to free himself. Adelaide crawled over to where they were fighting and wrapped her arms around his legs, preventing him from breaking free. Clayton applied all the strength he could muster onto the pillow, snuffing out any free air. Helpless, Garrick continued to struggle, his arms flailing back and forth and his torso twisting in all sorts of unpleasant manners.
“Garrick?” called out Jade from downstairs. “What are you doing up there?”
“Just a few more seconds,” Clayton thought.
“Garrick,” Jade called again, this time with growing frustration. “Come on!”
Adelaide could hear her footsteps swiftly coming up the stairs. “Clayton?” she asked waveringly.
Jade was nearly to the top.
“Die, you rotting dip. Please…just die,” murmured Clayton, pressing down with all his strength. The body stopped twitching. Garrick let out a quiet sigh as his life finally left him.
“Come on, Adelaide,” Clayton whispered. “It’s time to leave.” Jade turned into the open doorway just as Clayton pulled Adelaide towards the nearest window. Grabbing the lamp next to the bed, he cast it into the glass, shattering it through the pane just as Jade started screeching at Garrick’s body. Clayton turned to help Adelaide make her way out of the room as the madly deranged Jade lunged out to grab her. She tripped in her haste and sliced her hand wide open on one of the sharp pieces of glass still stuck in the frame. This didn’t stop her from grabbing Adelaide by the ankle with her other hand. Adelaide screamed, struggling to maintain her balance on the slanted roof outside. Jade’s grip didn’t loosen. Trying to pull away, Adelaide fell against Clayton, nearly knocking the two of them into the air before he stopped them at the roof’s edge.
From inside, Jade was now struggling to breathe in between cackles of winked laughter and screeches of pain as she pressed her bleeding palm up to her chest. She continued to yank on Adelaide’s foot and even managed to drag her halfway back into the room before Clayton came to her rescue. Looking about, he picked up a piece of glass lying beneath the window and swung it at Jade’s unprotected face. It sliced across her forehead, cutting it wide open. She let out a bloodcurdling scream and loosened her grip. Now free, the two of them braced themselves for impact and leapt off of the roof. The ground beneath them was soft and muddy, making their landing less painful. Jade continued to shriek and curse above them.
Clayton carefully urged Adelaide along out towards the open street from the alley they had landed in. Already, many of the townspeople were making their way outside their homes, drawn to the loud commotion, which included the uncontrollable blubbering of Puck as he stumbled about in a circle nearby. As they convened onto the street, not a single citizen noticed the pair of them standing there at the alley entrance with their clothes covered in mud and their faces stamped with terror. For the first time in her life, Adelaide wanted nothing more in the world than for Clayton Hogg to protect her.
“W hat do we do?” she asked him. “We have to find the others. We have to find Finn and Raoul. They could be anywhere.”
“Yes they could, and we don’t have the time,” Clayton stated solemnly. “We have to find a way out of this place before we can save them.”
Adelaide was about to slap him hard across the face for suggesting that they should abandon their friends. Then his logic struck home. As terrible as it sounded, they would be no use to their companions if they wandered blindly around Pinewood looking for them. Once outside the town, they could make a better rescue mission while Freud Blankis and his cronies were busy checking every crack and corner for them. It was the safest way.
“Well , come on then,” she cried, pulling him along the walkway towards the docks. “We have only a few minutes before they start closing down the whole town and we get trapped in here.”
With all the commotion, no one seemed to notice the two mud soaked Red Hands edging away from the tavern. Covered in sweat and wearing dirty clothes was the perfect disguise for the two runaways. Clayton realized this as he accidentally brushed against a pair of young townsman who paid him no heed. The only thing peculiar about them now was the way they were shifting along down the walk as if to elude something. It was suspicious to see.
“Run,” he hissed under his breath.
“What? What do you mean?” Adelaide whispered.
“Start running. Don’t look scared though, just like you’ re winked. We look like locals in this natural balm, and if we act like them, we might get out of here without a fight.”
Together, they made their way into the middle of the street. Townspeople were running about in every direction, some crying out in agony at their recent stint of unfortunate luck, others cursing the Red Hands they had just welcomed with open arms. Even Clayton managed to yell out a rude comment about the “curly haired meal ticket” as he jumped past a group of blubbering women and yanked Adelaide towards the docks.
“Be ready,” he warned her. “Those three rotters in cloaks might be guarding it.” Once they arrived, they both found that the docks were abandoned. The raft remained tied to a post, the oar lying idly in the center. There was no one to be seen.
“We will have to move quickly,” Clayton stated. “Remember, they have those maps to navigate through the mines.” “I just hope Huglund isn’t close by,” Adelaide murmured . “We’ll need more than a couple hours to figure out a plan for getting Finn and Raoul back.”
“It’s nice to know you both weren’t going to leave us long term,” a voice from the darkness chuckled.
Clayton whipped around, expecting an ambush.
“Who is that?” he growled. “Come out and get a taste of what I gave your friends.” “Oh,” the voice sarcastically replied. “Y ou mean accidentally killing a clumsy bartender and disfiguring a winked female? Yes, I heard about those ones just a minute ago. I wonder if that tops my defeating a cannibalistic stutterer. Then again…I did have some help.”
With that, two figures made their way into the light of
the lantern from beneath the dock. One was Raoul, his gloves and shirt splattered in dried blood. Cherry stood beside him, still wearing her tunic and a pair of tattered moccasins on her feet. The group’s supplies and knapsacks were clasped tightly in her petite fists. She looked up at Adelaide and smiled.
“Raoul, is that you?” Adelaide gasped. “How did you escape? And….who is that supposed to be?” “This is my new friend, Cherry. Had she not struck that Boras character over the head with flower vase, I wouldn’t have had the time to jab my letter opener into his neck. You should have seen the expression on his rotting face. Anyways, we were barely out the window and onto the street before that givie from the Lambshead pulled us into the shadows. She had collected all our things and added a few extra items from this rotting town’s pantry.”
“You mean Taz?” exclaimed Clayton. Adelaide shot him a look of contempt. “Yeah, that was her name,” Raoul remarked. “ She said that if you two escaped, you would most likely head for the docks, planning to steal the raft and head for other side of the lake. She also told me I had to cut you off and tell you it would be pointless. With those maps in the mayor’s office, they would be through the mine fields and upon you the second you reached the other side. She said to give you this and tell you that she would handle the rest of them.”
Raoul tossed up a small wad of paper to Clayton, who upon unraveling it broke into a smile and passed it to Adelaide. “Is this what I think it is?” she asked.
“I believe it is, Miss Stokes,” Clayton laughed.
“But it’s no use,” Adelaide moaned, shaking her head. “Blankis and the town will just follow us through.” “ Taz said she would take care of it,” Raoul informed them. “Cherry, here, says she’s known her for years. She trusts her completely.”
“Yes I certainly do,” piped up Cherry. “Her parents would always take me in when my other family would try hurting me. I liked them a lot, until they were lost in the woods and eaten of course. Those two men Boras and Puck said they found their bones and buried them for me. Boras couldn’t stop drooling and cackling as he tried to lift me up from the bed. That’s when I hit him with the vase.”
The Acryptus Tree Page 12