Memory Hunted

by Christopher Kincaid

  Would Timothy come if Yuzu yelled or did something that would that attract attention? Kit frowned. She hadn’t thought of that possibility. She wished she’d thought this through better. She wished she had thought the entire journey through better. Just watch. I will go through all of this and not remember anything.

  "Look, you don’t have to show me. Let’s get the supplies and figure out a way to get Timothy and get away." Yuzu had taken a step back while Kit dawdled.

  Kit smoothed her face. There was nothing for it. She was going to have to risk it.

  "Once you know about me, there is no going back. Ever." Kit couldn’t keep herself hidden forever. She was tired of hiding. She took a deep breath.

  "I am a fox."

  Yuzu blinked. "A fox? Do you mean…?"

  Kit lowered her hood. The cold air felt good on her ears. She smoothed the fur but forced herself not to scratch. Yuzu’s eyes followed Kit’s hand. She gasped. Kit squashed a sigh. "I am a fox, as you can see."

  "I have heard stories—you are not going to eat my eyes now, are you?" Yuzu tensed.

  "Eat your eyes? " Kit shook her head. That was a new one. "Timothy still has his eyes, right?"

  Yuzu relaxed a fraction. "Y-yes."

  "Well, with that out of the way, you can drop this sister nonsense." Kit felt a small stab of regret. Odd. "We can focus on getting out of here."

  Yuzu studied Kit. "I see why you want go to Belafonte. The stories say fox people are from there."

  The girl had spunk, even if she looked like she wanted to run through the wall. "We need to get out of here first," Kit said.

  "Can I touch them?" Yuzu asked. "Your ears."

  "No. We don’t have time for—"

  "How do I know they are real?"

  "Does it matter? I might just eat your eyes after all," Kit said.

  Yuzu hesitated and then grinned. "And I could yell and ruin everything."

  "Do that, and you will end up head first in the bath," Kit said.

  "I am not so easy—"

  "Fine! We are wasting time." Kit crossed her arms. "Just get on with it."

  Yuzu raised her hand and paused. Her hand trembled.

  "Hurry, or I will do whatever it is you think foxes do."

  Yuzu shook her head and touched Kit’s ear. Kit shivered at the touch. She liked Timothy touching her ears, but this made her squirm.

  "They are real!" Yuzu snatched her hand back. A flush rose on her cheeks. "Wait. So all of the stories are true?"

  "Enough of them. Are you done, or shall we wait for Daeric to come and feel my ears up too?"

  "I have a fox for a sister!" Yuzu smiled. "Which stories are true? Have you seduced—"

  Kit’s ears twitched. The sound of heavy boots reverberated against the floorboards. Someone was approaching from common room. The sound grew louder as they approached the hall.

  Yuzu watched the ears with open curiosity. "They move!"

  "Yes, they move. Someone is coming." The boots stopped. Kit heard Timothy say something about an inferno. A deep voice responded, and the boots clomped away from the hall’s entrance. Kit released a breath she held. Why would he talk about fire? Probably some dusty book he read.

  Yuzu looked behind her shoulder.

  "It’s okay. Timothy distracted them."

  "So you can hear everything he is saying?" Yuzu asked.

  "It’s muffled, but if I wanted to I could."

  Yuzu’s eyes widened. "The stories are true then. You can hear my heartbeat can’t you?"

  "Some of the stories exaggerate. Not all of them."

  "Wait! Does Daeric know about you? Is that why he…?" Yuzu’s eyes widened. "That is why he is after you!"

  "I don’t—"

  Yuzu snatched Kit’s hand and cradled it in both of hers. Calluses scraped Kit’s skin. "I decided it doesn’t matter you have ears and a tail. You do have a tail, right? Foxes have tails in the stories. You are my older sister. I want to know all about you."

  "I don’t like you," Kit said.

  Yuzu laughed. "Do sisters have to like each other? Sisters are sisters." She giggled and wrapped her arms around Kit. "I am lucky to have a fox sister. Most girls have boring, normal sisters!"

  Kit stiffened in the embrace. So much for being afraid. She patted the girl’s thin back with an awkward hand. "Okay. Let go. We need to get out of here. Let go!"

  Yuzu squeezed tight enough to shove air from Kit’s lungs. The bony girl was strong! She pushed away, grinning. "We have time for a bath, don’t we, Sis? I want to see your tail."

  Kit felt whiplashed with how fast her sister’s mood changed. Sis. The word was still awkward in Kit’s mind. She shook her head. She hated not being able to plan. Her wits were muddled. She blamed it on being tired, and on Timothy. He had to addle her brains by calling her full name and adding his family name. Kit decided to add her sister to that list of reasons for feeling muddled. At least she shows little interest toward my shepherd. The warm sister feelings wouldn’t last long if she started encroaching on Kit’s territory, but a sister could make for some fun flustering Timothy.

  "I will show you eventually. Let’s go—and keep quiet." Kit threw open the side door. Wind rushed past, grabbing Kit’s cloak. Snow swirled. She envied the wolf fur Yuzu wore. Tail or no tail, winter was cold. A wool cloak only did so much. The fool thing made her itch too. She rubbed her arms through her shirt sleeves. Yuzu crouched and slipped out the door. Kit smelled the air and listened. She caught the spicy scent of Yuzu and heard Timothy’s muffled voice from the common room. She stepped into the night and closed the door behind her. Kit’s ears stretched and swiveled. No one will sneak up on me again. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the night. Snow glittered in the faint moonlight that dabbled through the skeletal trees.

  "I can’t see much of anything," Yuzu whispered.

  "Follow me." Kit grabbed Yuzu’s hand and led the way. They slipped through the sparse undergrowth engulfing the lodge. Her arms burned and itched. Damned fleas. She tried to ignore it as much as she tried to ignore Yuzu snapping every twig in the forest. She smelled nothing amiss. Orange light mottled through the stubborn foliage spider webbing a window. She remembered the fat tree with the strange white bark.

  Yuzu tugged Kit’s hand and hissed.

  Kit whirled around, almost throwing Yuzu to the ground. Kit wasn’t going to let another person sneak up on her. She had her vixen pride.

  The tangled skeleton forest waved.

  "I hit my knee," Yuzu whispered.

  Kit shook her head. Her heart hammered her chest hard enough she thought Yuzu could hear it. The girl gazed about with wide eyes. Yuzu probably couldn’t see anything beyond the light escaping the windows. To Kit’s eyes, the night beyond looked gray and flat. The stable stood dark against the trees beyond. Even her eyes couldn’t penetrate the darkness inside, but the sound of the horses’ soft breathing calmed some of her nerves. They didn’t smell agitated from the scent the wind carried. In front of the stable she could make out the shape of their wagon. The wagon’s tongue rested in the dirt, and the white tarp laid over the bed shone against the dark stable interior. It looked as if the mule unhitched and then the wagon was forgotten. If she remembered right, their travel packs would be just inside the wagon’s bed. It was too cold for them to leave without supplies. Timothy would grumble to no end if she didn’t get something. She scanned the area for motion, but everything remained still. Kit grabbed Yuzu’s thin arm and pulled her over the gnarled roots. "We are going to run to the wagon over there. Do you see it?"

  "The white blob? Your eyes are glowing, Sis. You can see just as well at night as I can in the day can’t you?"

  "Not as well as you think. Yes, that’s it. We are going to run over there and get our supplies."

  "I wouldn’t want to try to leave without blankets and food," Yuzu said. "I don’t have a tail to keep me warm."

  "I know where they are, so I will climb in. You watch for movement. You will see that before
anything else."

  Yuzu nodded.

  They crouched at the side of the lodge, just below one of the common-room windows. Kit could hear Timothy’s muffled voice.

  "Dante wrote…"

  Kit peered around the mossy stone foundation. Motion by the stables caught her gaze, and she tensed. "What is it? Did you see something?" Yuzu whispered.

  "…Paradise…" Timothy’s voice fluttered into her ears.

  The moon peeked from the clouds. It’s silver light slipped into the stable, revealing the mule tied just inside.

  Kit closed her eyes and breathed for a moment. She wanted to take the wagon, but it would slow them too much. She hated leaving all those supplies behind. She had a time finding apples and berries this time of year. She had to keep her shepherd healthy after almost losing him at Honheim. He couldn’t get sick again like that. He was still too thin. She didn’t want him to travel in this cold, but they had to move. With luck, they would be able to get to Belafonte before Daeric knew they were gone. The main road had to take them there.

  Her eyes snapped open. "It was nothing. Ready?"

  Yuzu nodded in the wane light.

  Kit slipped around the corner of the lodge and dashed on silent feet across the clearing. Yuzu followed close behind. Kit slammed her back against the wagon’s wheel and slid to the ground. Her heart thumped. Yuzu fell beside her, gasping. The fool girl wore an excited grin.

  "Listen for anyone coming." Kit felt like a horsefly was pestering her ears. They wouldn’t stop twitching.

  Yuzu widened her eyes and watched the lodge. Yellow lamplight lit the lodge’s windows.

  Kit lifted part of the oiled canvas tarp covering the wagon. She hoisted herself over the wagon’s edge until she balanced on her stomach. Her feet kicked the air as she reached into the wagon with both hands. Using memory and touch more than sight, she found the three knapsacks. She stuffed the first one with packets of hard bread, smoked meat, and a small pan. She slipped the first knapsack out of the wagon. It thumped on the ground. She began to stuff the second. After a few moments, the second sack thumped on the ground for Yuzu. Kit squirmed deeper under the tarp as she blindly filled the last knapsack. There was a box of tea somewhere here. The edge of the wagon dug into her stomach, and her legs dangled.

  Kit heard Yuzu hiss. Hands snatched Kit’s dangling legs and heaved her into the wagon bed. She smacked her face on one of the lanterns.

  Yuzu peered over the wooden rail. "Tell’s coming this way. We have to hide." Without waiting for Kit she snatched the edge of the tarp and sank out of sight, pulling the tarp closed.

  Kit blinked in the sudden darkness. And you didn’t think to pull me out of the wagon instead of pushing me into it? She checked her teeth with her tongue. The lantern hurt!

  Tell’s voice drifted to Kit’s ears. "Tell, do this. Tell, do that."

  Suddenly the wagon jolted as something shoved against it. The motion bounced Kit’s face off the metal lantern again. The wheels creaked as the wagon rocked back and forth."It’s been awhile since I had any fun." The tarp muffled Tells voice. The wagon jostled again. "And this is balanced enough. They are all gone."

  A mule brayed.

  "No. I don’t need you," Tell said. "I can—" Kit heard him grunt and the wagon began to move. The wagon steadily gained speed.

  The motion combined with the darkness made Kit feel disoriented. She shoved aside the various wrapped packages and lay flat. That helps a little. I’ll just wait here until he is done moving the wagon and then slip out.

  The wagon lurched at an unnatural angle. Wrapped packages, pots, and other supplies sluiced over her. The uncomfortable vision of teetering on the edge of a cliff flashed in Kit’s mind.

  Without warning, the wagon’s floorboards dropped away. She floated in the air for a stomach-wrenching moment before crashing back to the hard wood. Her teeth clicked off a curse. The wheels groaned and protested. Supplies slid and skidded around her. A part of her mind wondered if a leaf caught in a river felt like this as she struggled to find something to hold onto. Rushing wind flapped the canvas. Boxes and bundles smashed into her.

  Suddenly, the wagon fell away. The tarp tore from the nails that had secured it.

  Kit exploded from the wagon, landed hard on the ground, and rolled. The tarp tangled around her, binding her arms and legs. Her head popped out of the canvas just enough to see the forest whirl. She bounced off a stone and tumbled helplessly as thistles and brambles snapped around her. A fat tree appeared in her vision several times.

  The fat tree approached far too fast.

  The tarp snagged on something and squeezed. The canvas rubbed her arms. A small part of her mind sighed in pleasure as the motion eased her itching arms.

  The world bucked, and air squeezed from Kit. She closed her eyes.

  Sorry, Timothy. It looks like this is it.

  The tarp squeezed her until her eyes wanted to pop and her lungs burned for air.

  Then she stopped.

  She opened one eye. The base of the fat tree loomed uncomfortably close. She squirmed against the tight bonds of the canvas, forcing herself to take short breaths until she was able to free her arm and push against the tattered fabric. She wormed her way free from the canvas tarp and kicked it away. Snow clung to the maple branches that spun high above her. She closed her eyes against the still spinning world and waited for her stomach to come down from the hill.

  Her pounding heart slowed. She sat back for a moment against her would-be murderer and let the world stop spinning. Far to her right a log spring house squatted against another hill. A trail curved from its weathered door and up a steep hill. A path of destruction cut up the hill close to that trail. Saplings pointed down the hill. Two wheel ruts sliced through the leaves and snow coating the ground. Clods of earth and uprooted plants pointed toward the small spring house. The path barely missed several unforgiving trees and boulders.

  The wagon lay shattered a short distance from the springhouse, its wheels tilted at odd angles. Tell walked along the wreckage, gathering the paper-wrapped supplies. He lugged an armload to the springhouse and dropped them into a pile. He whistled a tuneless song.

  Why do men cause me so much trouble?

  Kit groaned. She felt as if she had hit every tree in the forest. Her cheek hurt from hitting the lantern. She noticed the knapsack close by. The lantern reflected moonlight from the open flap. She touched her cheek and winced. She would have a bruise in the morning. Her body complained as she stood. She limped over to the lantern.

  "I should leave you here to rust," she muttered at it. Instead, she stuffed the metal demon back into the knapsack and drew the flaps closed. She hoisted the knapsack over her shoulder. Her head still spun. She may have been hurt, but at least her hands and forearms had stopped itching. Maybe I shook all the fleas off. She slunk through the trees toward the base of the hill.

  "I wonder if Yuzu would want to try a ride like that," Tell said to himself. He looked up the churned path. "She looks like one who likes to have fun."

  "She’ll take a ride like that only if she wants to break her neck," Kit muttered. She started up the hill, using the trees to shield her from Tell. Her breath was coming in gasps by the time she topped the rise, and her thigh had knotted. She saw the lodge a fair distance away.

  At the top of the hill, Gert looked down the devastation. Kit crouched behind a tree. The man’s pipe lit the pale night with color. Kit tightened her grip on the knapsack and the lantern stuffed in it.

  "Fool boy. I’ve told him twice now not to do that. He’s going to break his head."

  Timothy appeared. "What happened?"

  Gert turned. "I told you to stay inside."

  Kit saw her chance. She burst from the undergrowth and charged Gert. She swung the heavy knapsack with both hands. A satisfying metallic clink sent the man’s pipe flying and him crumpling to the ground.

  She swung the pack over her shoulder and winced as the lantern smacked into her. "Fool lantern,"
Kit muttered.

  "You look like you rolled down a hill and hit every tree on the way down." Timothy pulled a leaf from her hair. His breath frosted the air.

  Kit rubbed her thigh. It felt like a bruise was beginning to form. "Not every tree. Just most."

  Timothy glanced at the hill. A twig burst. Kit twisted and crouched.

  "That looks like fun." Yuzu stepped from behind a tree. Blankets weighted one shoulder, and her knapsack pulled at the other. She glanced at an unconscious Gert. "Remind me not to make you angry, Sis."

  Timothy shivered. "We should get moving. If we get on the road, we can get some distance."

  "Which way is the road, Sister?" Yuzu said.

  "I—I don’t know."

  "But you grew up around here, right?" Yuzu asked.

  "I said I don’t know." Kit scratched up her sleeves and allowed herself to feel miserable for a moment.

  Timothy pointed east. "The road was over there. I suspect it will take us to Belafonte, but Daeric will come looking for us."

  Kit looked at Gert. The man didn’t stir. Her fingers found her belt knife, miraculously still in its sheath. "We need to take care of him before we go."

  Timothy grabbed her arm. "No, Kit. You can’t."

  "We wouldn’t be in the mess if I had with Daeric. And with Tahd. With Treblin."

  "That’s not you, Kit. You aren’t a killer."

  "I killed your mother." Kit swallowed and set her jaw.

  "He hasn’t tried to hurt us. E-Evelyn was trying to kill me."

  "And you think they will not?" Kit’s hand tightened on the knife’s grip. "Daeric wants me. He has to know what I am. What else could it be? It is always back to my tail and ears. People always want me because I am a fox. I am done with it."

  "I don’t care about your ears and tail, Sis. I just want to pet them," Yuzu said.