He screwed up his nose. ‘I’m not allowed to tell lies.’
She nodded. ‘I understand. My children aren’t allowed to tell lies either. Can you just wait for a while before you tell your daddy that you saw me? That’s not telling a lie, is it?’
Tim thought about the proposition. Finally he said, ‘I guess not.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, straightening up.
‘Where are you going?’ he asked.
‘I’m going to find my little boy. He’s just like you.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Treasure,’ she said and patted Tim’s head. ‘I really have to go now.’
‘Bye,’ Tim said, waving.
After that encounter she travelled through the countryside, shadowing the road by climbing through fences and cutting across fields. She was fascinated that the entire land was cropped and divided into squares and rectangles. Fences between areas of grazing and crops in Western Shess were rare. In Central Andrak it seemed every farm was surrounded and divided by stone or briar fences. She skirted villages and towns and farmhouses all afternoon until she found a tiny copse where she slumped to rest and fell immediately into a fitful sleep.
In the dream she stood on the battlements of a city beside men and women who were princes and princesses and she felt the presence, as she always did in the dream, of people who were her family. They were gazing towards a storm bank rolling towards the city, watching lightning play through the brutally huge clouds as if they were swallowing the world as they rolled across it. At the head of the approaching storm were two riders, shining with blue light, and she knew they were the Demon Horsemen. ‘You need me,’ said a ghostly voice, but when she turned to the speaker he wasn’t there. ‘Release me and I will save your children,’ he promised. ‘You need me. Without me your children will perish.’
She woke in darkness, and cold. Light rain spattered against the leaves of the trees and drifted onto her skin so she sat up and put on her coat. Whisper nuzzled her hand. ‘We’d better get going,’ she said aloud, picking up Whisper.
She walked until exhaustion stopped her again and slept in a haystack in the middle of a field. When she woke from the same dream she focussed on the looming mountains with their glistening white caps and trudged west, keeping a careful but tired watch for trouble.
The Andraks had a curious habit of putting signs outside their town and villages so that travellers knew where they were, a concept Meg appreciated when she reached Ridge close to dusk on the second afternoon. It was small, like Tim’s little town, a main street surrounded by houses that gradually disintegrated into farmland. She checked Rees’s note and was dismayed to realise that she would have to ask for directions to find the farm because the only clue was that it was on the southern side of the town. She had learned that the Andrak Peacekeepers were an efficient organisation and they would be looking out for her, even if they didn’t know where she was headed. And it’s possible they already know this is where I’m headed, she decided. ‘We can’t ask for directions,’ she said to Whisper. ‘We have to find the farm ourselves.’ And then she shivered. What if they already have my children? What if the Peacekeepers are just waiting for me to step into a trap? She was confident that Rees wouldn’t have told them her plans, but Rees’s companion in the care-house probably told them as much as she knew—about the children and her search. They know, she decided. I have to do this differently. I’ve come a long way. I can be patient. She sat beside the rat and stroked Whisper’s fur, saying, ‘I need your help.’ She gave Whisper mental images of Emma and Treasure and Whisper returned her rat version of the images with the equivalent of the words, Known. Family. Meg should have expected as much. Emma, in particular, spent hours playing with Whisper in Summerbrook and little Treasure was always fascinated by the rat’s behaviours, trying to touch the elusive animal. She smiled and hugged Whisper. Together they would find the children.
They carefully observed the farms on the southern side of the town and Whisper lured guard and farm dogs on merry chases whenever Meg wanted to get close to buildings to peer into windows. Peacekeepers patrolled the area around Ridge, confirming for Meg that they were expecting her and making it impossible for her to ask directions from locals who would also know that she was wanted, but on the second morning the patrols led her to the right farm.
She counted seven Peacekeepers at points around the green-and-white farmhouse and tin sheds and assumed there were more in the house. There was no easy approach for her to confirm her suspicions and no guarantee that the children were even there, but she had to know, so she sent Whisper to the house to find out what she could and settled to wait warily under the shade of trees beside a creek. Whisper was absent a long time, well into the afternoon, before she scampered along the creek bank towards Meg. Children? Meg asked eagerly.
Big dogs, Whisper replied. Three cats.
Children? Meg repeated.
Yes, Whisper replied. Two children. Girl child, and she created an image of Emma, and boy child, but the boy’s image was unclear, generic.
Treasure? Meg asked using his image.
Whisper repeated the non-specific boy image, adding, Hungry, and she disappeared down the creek bank.
Meg stared at the farmhouse. It wasn’t large—two or three rooms—with a thatched roof. Emma was in there. And a boy. He could only be Treasure, although Whisper’s image was puzzling because Whisper showed earlier that she could create Treasure’s image. As she watched the house, the front door opened and a tiny figure emerged, followed by a woman, and they headed for a small shed that Meg knew from her reconnoitring was a chicken roost. The distance was too great for details, but she was convinced the smaller figure carrying a bucket was a girl. It was Emma. Her heart leapt. It really was Emma! She stood to see more clearly. She had come so far, for so long, and now Emma was barely a hundred paces from her, so close she imagined that she could just reach out and touch her. ‘Emma,’ she whispered.
‘Stay where you are!’
The stern command made ice of her blood and her knees weak. She turned to face twelve men in green coats and cream trousers with weapons like thundermakers pointed at her. Behind them, their captain spoke again. ‘Don’t be stupid. They have orders to fire if you resist arrest.’
She glanced back at the farmhouse. The woman and the girl were walking back to the house with the bucket. More Peacekeepers were walking towards the creek. What spell would get her out of this? Emma was there. Treasure would be inside the house. With her power she could easily kill these men and take her children. She’d wiped out an army—no, three armies—with the power of the amber and calling down the Demon Horsemen. These men were nothing. She heard footsteps and turned, glaring. The approaching pair of Peacekeepers halted, seeing something terrifying in her expression, but the captain behind the line of armed men spoke again. ‘I don’t delight in the idea of shooting a woman in cold blood, but I will if you leave me no choice. I have orders to detain you at all costs and I will detain you. And I’ve been asked to tell you that if you ever want to see your children you will do what you’re told.’
But my children are here, she reasoned. If I want to see them you can’t stop me. She looked over her shoulder again at the farmhouse, but the woman and the girl were nowhere to be seen.
‘There’s nothing to see there,’ said the captain. ‘They are not the children you’re seeking.’
Meg’s head snapped around. ‘What do you mean?’
‘The girl and boy who live there were taken away yesterday for safekeeping when we learned they were your target. We used two other children as decoys.’
Meg stared in disbelief and her anger surged. ‘Where are my children?’ she screamed.
The captain who stepped from behind his men was handsome, except for the hard lines around his mouth and eyes that showed he was not a man to consider compromise easily. ‘You will have a chance to see them before we take you to the judges in Lightsword—if you make the right ch
oice now.’
She imagined the captain exploding in a ball of fire, the entire line of Peacekeepers dancing in flames, but she fought her desire and met the captain’s gaze with a ferocious glare. Slowly, as if she was lifting the weight of her entire life, she raised her wrists. The Peacekeepers produced metal restrainers.
‘Wise choice, lady,’ said the captain of the Peacekeepers. ‘A very wise choice.’
Emma hugged her mother, sobbing, and begged to stay with her, and confused tears of joy and despair flowed down Meg’s cheeks into her daughter’s hair as they remained in each other’s embrace. The Peacekeepers tactfully stood at the edge of the stay-house room in Ridge, some quietly weeping at the reunion, though careful not to reveal their emotion to their colleagues. Eventually Meg pushed her daughter back and wiped Emma’s tears with her manacled hands, smiling and weeping, asking if she’d been hurt and if she knew where her brother was, and what she remembered of home, and what she thought of her keepers. They spoke in Shessian so that the Peacekeepers couldn’t understand. ‘Oh, Mum,’ Emma cried, ‘I lost Treasure. They took him away one morning after we were put on the ship. I don’t know where they took him. I couldn’t stop them.’
‘It’s not your fault, little one,’ Meg consoled her. ‘I couldn’t stop them taking either of you. But I’ve come for you now and we’ll find Treasure together, all right? I’ll come back soon and we can go together. I promise.’
‘But how?’ Emma asked, pulling vainly at Meg’s restrainer. ‘They’re going to take you away and I’ll never see you again.’
‘They can’t keep me,’ Meg told her. ‘Trust me, little one. They tried to keep me before but I walked away from them. I will do it again. And now that I know where you are I’ll come for you and take you away from here. We will be together. I promise you. All right?’ Emma stared in disbelief with reddened eyes. ‘All right?’ Meg repeated. She held her daughter again and they stayed together, whispering, until the Peacekeeper captain entered and apologetically ushered a distraught Emma from the room. When he returned he sat beside Meg and said, ‘I know what I say won’t make anything easier for you, and I understand that you have no reason to believe me or trust what I say, but your daughter is in good hands. These people love her as if she was their own child. They said to say that they’re sorry for you and wished that they could help.’ When Meg looked at the captain he saw searing hatred in her green eyes which made him uncomfortable, so he stood, gave an order to his men to be vigilant, and left the room.
Captain Ennaeus strode in and addressed A Ahmud Ki in an official tone that reminded him of the pompous officials in Thana’s royal court a thousand years before. ‘Mister Kushel, it’s my pleasure to report that your felonious cousin has been caught and is in custody on her way back to the city.’
‘Does that mean I can go?’ A Ahmud Ki asked.
Ennaeus smiled grimly. ‘It means your prison now only extends to the city limits. You are not to leave the city until after the murder and treason trials are completed. You will have Peacekeeper guards with you at all times to ensure that you don’t abscond.’ He dropped his pompous style, having delivered the official message, and added, ‘I don’t know how your cousin escaped from us last time, but it won’t happen again. I’ll personally inspect her cell when she arrives late tomorrow afternoon and I’ll make sure she stays put. The same goes for you while you are allowed to walk around the city. Understood?’
A Ahmud Ki smiled. ‘Perfectly.’
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Luca nervously shifted his feet. ‘I’m not sure I can do this,’ he said, looking over A Ahmud Ki’s shoulder at the two Peacekeepers lounging against the wall by the lantern and just out of earshot.
‘I thought you would do anything for the right money and a little sense of adventure?’
‘But this is breaking the law.’
‘You broke it last time when you flew us out of Port River, my friend.’
‘But they don’t know that,’ Luca argued, nodding towards the Peacekeepers. ‘I’ve always had a clean reputation.’
‘And that’s why you never really have any adventure,’ said A Ahmud Ki. ‘To have adventure you have to take risks. To have a great adventure you have to take great risks.’
‘How much are you willing to pay?’
A Ahmud Ki smiled. ‘Do this for me and I will pay you with more money than you can imagine.’
Luca’s expression became sceptical. ‘How do I know you’ll do this?’
A Ahmud Ki raised a questioning eyebrow, saying, ‘When have I not paid you? You got more than you expected to receive after Port River. And I paid you well for taking me to Bretan’s Sword. Surely my word is solid?’
Luca shrugged and apologised. ‘It’s just that this is a very great risk. The Peacekeepers never rest until they bring justice. That’s their motto.’
‘With money you can buy a whole new life elsewhere in Western Andrak. Or Targa,’ A Ahmud Ki argued. ‘The Peacekeepers won’t follow you. It’s me they will be after.’
Luca glanced past A Ahmud Ki at the guards again. ‘How will you get rid of them?’
‘I won’t,’ A Ahmud Ki replied, ‘but you will after you’ve brought them drinks. Are there apothecaries in this city?’
Luca shook his head. ‘What is an apothecary?’ After A Ahmud Ki explained, Luca chuckled and said, ‘We call them druggers. I know the places. The boss gangs run them.’
‘Then find a drugger and buy what I tell you to buy,’ said A Ahmud Ki. ‘Listen carefully to my instructions and, my friend, your best-ever adventure will begin here and now—if you have the courage.’
A warm breeze came from the east and the moon was already down. With the horses hobbled and the campfire reduced to glowing orange embers, Peacekeeper Ramon was awake on watch while his companions snored and dreamed towards the impending dawn. He could hear the soft babble of the stream thirty paces from their campsite. The prisoner was due in Lightsword by the following afternoon, but they’d made good progress and he was certain they would make the city by noon. If he was lucky he might get to see his girlfriend in the afternoon.
Meg sat with her head down in the rear of the wagon, her legs chained to a bar and her wrists in the restrainer. Memories of her reunion with Emma and the painful farewell, and the promises she’d made and her plans whirled through her mind, making sleep impossible. Back in the city she would escape the gaol again and now that she knew exactly where the farm was she would portal there and rescue Emma. After that she would head west, into the mountains and on to Western Andrak. Perhaps the Peacekeepers would even look for her in the neighbouring state, but it wouldn’t matter. With Emma, she would keep the Peacekeepers at bay while she plotted a way to search for Treasure. Scratching broke her thoughts and warm fur brushed against her leg. Here, Whisper told her. Waiting. The rat’s presence made Meg smile and relax. She was like Whisper—resilient. The Andraks couldn’t keep her locked up—ever.
Ramon thought he heard a faint noise overhead, like a whooshing of air. He looked up and was startled to see a dull orange glow hovering above him. He struggled to his feet, grabbing his peacemaker and yelling to wake his companions—and the world around him exploded in bright flashes of flame and light. As he fired wildly at the orange glow he was engulfed by a ball of fire. Screaming and slapping at the bright flames, he ran for the creek to escape the mad confusion falling from the night sky. His companions reached for their weapons, but one young Peacekeeper fell backwards as a shot cracked from the descending orange ball of light. Two fired at the vision, but they bolted for safety as another explosion lit the campsite with eerie white light and their terrified companions followed in their wake.
As the basket touched down, A Ahmud Ki threw one more firework after the running Peacekeepers for effect before he climbed out and sprinted for the wagon. Luca fired two more rounds into the darkness from his stolen peacemaker and prepared the dragon egg for lift-off.
The last person Meg expected to se
e was A Ahmud Ki and yet he appeared in the fading light. ‘Use your power!’ he yelled. ‘Break the chains!’ She focussed and the restrainer and chains fell away. He grabbed her hand to help her out of the wagon and led her to the dragon egg basket, Whisper scampering in their wake. Something whizzed past Meg’s ear as she reached the basket.
‘They’re coming back!’ Luca warned. ‘Hurry!’ He offered to help Meg into the basket, but she dropped something else in before she took his hand. ‘What was that?’ he asked.
‘Whisper,’ Meg replied, leaving Luca wondering why the woman wanted him to speak softly. As he released a burst of flame to begin the climb A Ahmud Ki scrambled in and yelled, ‘Use the peacemaker to keep them off!’ A bullet thudded into the basket and another ripped through Luca’s left arm and he yelped, releasing the burner and sinking against the basket as two more bullets punched holes in the lower section of orange fabric.
‘How does this thing work?’ A Ahmud Ki asked as he grabbed the burner handle.
‘Push down!’ Luca instructed, grimacing from his wound. A Ahmud Ki pushed on the handle and flames shot skyward, into the heart of the dragon egg fabric. ‘We’re not going to make it!’ Luca warned as he pushed painfully to his feet. Two more shots tore through the fabric.
‘Close your eyes!’ Meg screamed. ‘Now!’ Luca and Ahmud Ki closed their eyes. Her eyes also closed, she focussed and the surrounding area erupted in a flash of brilliant light. ‘Now you can open them,’ she said.
A lone voice whimpered in the dark several paces from the basket.
‘What did you do?’ Luca asked in a hushed voice.
‘We have to get going,’ said A Ahmud Ki and he fired the burner clumsily, heated air pushing upward.
A Solitary Journey Page 47