The Walls of Westernfort

by Jane Fletcher

  “Dani,” the woman herself amended, grinning broadly.

  Natasha looked between the two women, suddenly aware of feeling both fascinated and repelled. A thought shot through her head. These are heretics. I’m standing in a room with people who don’t worship Celaeno.

  *

  While the dusk thickened, the wind dropped, and the rain began in earnest. The sound of its drumming on the thatch rose and faded in waves. Fortunately, the roof at the domestic end of the longhouse was still intact. The hillside opposite was lost in poor light and low cloud. There was nothing else to see, yet still Natasha stood in the half-open doorway, staring out blindly and listening to the conversation behind her with half an ear.

  It quickly became apparent that Ash was their guide. Dani’s role in the party was not yet explained. Ash had wanted to check their rucksacks so she could assess the state of their supplies. Judging from what was being said, Rohanna was actively helping her, while Cal and Dani stood on the sidelines. Natasha knew she should join in, but her stomach was a knot, and she did not think she was up to playing the part—talking with the heretics in the shifting blend of politeness, curiosity, and good humor with which strangers sounded each other out.

  Cal broke a spell of silence by asking, “You called yourself ‘Sergeant.’ Are you a Ranger of some sort?”

  The same question had occurred to Natasha. Ash’s uniform was not standard, and the woman was far too old to be on active service. She listened with more attention to Ash’s answer. “Oh, yes...some sort. I was a member of the 23rd Squadron before we deserted. Now I belong to the Westernfort defense force.”

  “But—” Cal began.

  Dani interrupted. “I know. You’re wondering what a geriatric is doing out in the field.”

  “The word is veteran,” Ash said in a dry voice.

  “It’s not the word most people use for you,” Dani quipped back.

  “Are you a Ranger as well?”

  Rohanna had asked this question, presumably of Dani, but before she could reply, Ash gave a bark of laughter. “Oh, no. We may not be a regular squadron, but we do have some standards. Why do you think they had to send me to escort her home?”

  Dani made a quick retort that Natasha did not catch, but everyone else laughed.

  “While you finish the inventory, shall I start dinner?” Cal volunteered. She was easily the best cook among the Guards.

  “Sure, but don’t let Dani help you. We don’t want to lose sleep with indigestion,” Ash said.

  “Right.” Dani’s tone was of mock indignation. “I’ll go and see to the horses. They don’t complain about the food I give them.”

  “Only because you don’t have to cook their hay.”

  There was more laughter. Then Rohanna raised her voice. “Jess, make yourself useful and help Dani. And close the door. It’s cold enough in here without the extra draft.”

  It was an order, even though it was delivered in the style of parental nagging. Natasha knew she could not duck out of her part in the charade any longer. She trailed Dani down the length of the building, through the derelict workrooms, until they arrived in the animal byre. Seven horses were tethered loosely to the wall. The nearest one nuzzled against Dani’s shoulder. Natasha watched with a confused muddle of thoughts. Somehow, she had half expected the animals to shy away from the heretic instinctively.

  Dani stroked the horse’s nose and then looked toward Natasha. “I’m sorry.”

  “Pardon?” Natasha was startled. Had she missed something?

  “Playing tricks with the questions. I shouldn’t have.” A suppressed grin teased at the corners of Dani’s mouth. “But your face was...um...quite amusing.”

  You nearly got us all killed. Natasha held back the angry words, and then the absurdity of it hit her. In associating with heretics, Natasha had envisaged having to work at hiding her disgust of foul-mouthed blasphemies and coarse, uncivil behavior. Of all the unpleasant personal traits she had imagined, a dubious sense of humor was decidedly on the mild side.

  Dani left the horse and patted Natasha’s arm, her grin gone. “I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you. But these last five months have been...” She sighed and moved away again. “It’s been a strain...worse than I’d imagined. I let the euphoria of leaving the Homelands get to me. I’m sorry. It was childish.”

  “You’ve been in the Homelands?” Natasha asked in surprise. She had assumed that both Ash and Dani had come directly from Westernfort.

  “Yes, all summer. Following people, codes, passwords, secret messages, that sort of stuff.”

  “Oh, you’re a...” Spy. Natasha swallowed the word. “Er...undercover agent.”

  Dani laughed. “Just this once, and never again. I don’t have the temperament for it.”

  “So what are you normally?” Natasha asked uncertainly.

  “Would you believe a potter?” At Natasha’s bewildered expression, Dani grinned and went on. “There were hints that one of our real agents was passing on information to the Guards. Someone had to check up on her, and it had to be someone she wouldn’t recognize, so they asked me.” Dani paused. “Actually, there were a lot of people she wouldn’t have recognized—probably, most of Westernfort—but she was a potter, so I was able to find work at the same pottery as her and get close that way without attracting suspicion.”

  “And was she passing on information?”

  “Yes. But she won’t anymore.” Dani’s face was grave.

  “You killed her?”

  “Not me, but yes, she’s dead.” Dani shrugged uncomfortably. “When I agreed to the job, I’d expected to be scared, and I was sometimes, but that wasn’t the worst part. What I really hated was not being myself...trying to get someone’s trust when she shouldn’t have trusted me at all. Acting like nothing was wrong when I saw a group of Guards. Having to think about everything I said.” Her expression adopted a rueful pout. “Which is all a long way of explaining why I mucked about when you arrived.”

  “That’s all right,” Natasha said, and it was. In a strange way, it was reassuring to know that Dani had also been working as an impostor. They were all playing the same sort of game, and none of them were enjoying it. Somehow, it made Natasha feel as though she fit in.

  Dani turned around, indicated the horses, and picked up a brush. “They don’t need much. They’ve been out grazing all day. We just have to check that they’re happy and have enough water.”

  Natasha considered the horses. They were sturdy and deep-chested, although shorter than the mounts normally used by Guards. She patted one. “Where did you get them from?”

  “Ash brought them with her from Westernfort.”

  Natasha frowned, trying to sort out the timing. “How did she know to bring enough for us?”

  “She didn’t. When she left Westernfort, she was expecting to meet just me, but she had a string of horses with her to sell to the local hill farmers. Luckily, I’d gotten word you were coming. I was only a few days ahead of you, so we held onto enough horses for everyone.”

  “People in the Homelands buy horses from you?”

  “Oh, the farmers won’t ask directly where they’re from, but they know. Surely you’ve heard about Westernfort horses.” Dani looked up from the hoof she had been cleaning.

  “Um...” Natasha hesitated. Rohanna had said nothing on the subject, and Natasha had no idea of what she ought to admit to knowing. “Well, yes, a bit.”

  It was not a good answer, but fortunately, Dani let the subject drop. Natasha grabbed a brush. While working, they kept up a stream of idle chatter about pretty much nothing. Natasha was surprised by how easy it was. She could almost forget that she was talking to a heretic. Dani’s active sense of humor had its uses. As she relaxed, Natasha could even see the funny side of their arrival at the homestead.

  By the time they finished with the horses, the rich scent of cooking was wafting through the air. They put away the tools and made to leave the byre, but Natasha paused at the d
oorway.

  “Dani?”

  “Yes?”

  “When you played the trick with the question, did my face really look that funny?”

  Dani smiled. “Yes.”

  *

  The pounding of the rain had eased by the time they finished eating and cleared everything away. Although it was time to sleep, Ash pulled on her cloak and hat and opened the door. Cold, wet air blew in. There was no light outside. Thick clouds obscured the moons and stars.

  “Are you going to keep sentry watch?” Cal asked.

  Ash shook her head. “Not all night. If the Guards know we’re here, I think they’d have made their move a bit earlier.” She smiled. “They don’t like stumbling around in the dark and the wet. It makes a mess of their nice uniforms.”

  “And it takes hours of cleaning and polishing to get them looking pretty again,” Dani added the derisive jeer.

  “Despite that, I’d sleep better if I have a quick look around first and check that nothing’s out there. I won’t be long, but don’t bother waiting up for me,” Ash said, pulling the brim of her hat low over her eyes and stepping out into the night.

  Once her vision had adjusted to the darkness, Ash set off through the knee-high grass of the hillside. The rain was now little more than drizzle. Clouds low on the horizon were torn with ragged slashes, allowing a hint of moonlight to show details. Her experienced eyes scoured the landscape, alert to signs of danger, but her attention was split as she reviewed the events and conversation of the evening, and her expression was concerned, even worried.

  It was an hour later when she returned to the longhouse. Everyone inside was asleep. Ash knelt beside Dani and gently shook her awake. With a jerk of her head, Ash indicated that Dani should follow her down to the byre end of the building. Once they were there, Ash positioned herself so she could look back through the open doorway, ensuring that no eavesdropper crept within earshot.

  “So that’s them,” Ash whispered grimly.

  “What do you make of them?”

  “They seem perfectly okay, which is what you would expect.”

  “I suppose so.” Dani also looked back thoughtfully.

  “It’s a bad situation.”

  “Umm,” Dani agreed.

  Ash ran her hand through her graying hair. “Damn Jules. Why did she have to go and recruit a bunch of horse thieves?”

  “Are you sure they’re thieves?”

  “Well...” Ash sighed. “There was nothing in their rucksacks, but when you add all the reports together...” Ash let the sentence hang. “Did you pick up on anything?”

  “Jess seemed a bit”—Dani waved a hand vaguely—“about the horses. Like she didn’t want to admit being interested in them. Do you think they’ll nab them and leave us stranded?”

  “They must be sincere about wanting to go to Westernfort. Otherwise, they’ve made a hell of a trek for the sake of stealing seven horses.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “Act normal, but keep a close eye on them.”

  “Right. Well, you take the older two, and I’ll watch Jess.” Dani’s face was solemn, but something in her tone made Ash look at her quizzically.

  “This is serious.”

  “I know, and I’ll watch her very closely.” A corner of Dani’s mouth twitched up, and she shot a sideways glance toward the door. “She’s cute.”

  Chapter Six—Comrades-in-Arms

  The rain stopped well before dawn, and they emerged from the longhouse to a bright, clear sky. The sun was just lifting clear of the horizon when they rode away from the abandoned farmstead. Ash was in front, leading two of the horses as pack animals on long reins. Dani maneuvered her horse to ride next to Natasha at the rear.

  The heretic shivered despite her warm clothes. “It’s cold.” Dani stated the obvious.

  “And it will be getting colder,” Natasha agreed.

  “We’d intended to set out a few days ago. But we’ve had to wait for you. I hope you appreciate it.”

  “Oh, we do,” Natasha said smiling. She could not help it; Dani’s grin was infectious. Her thoughts moved on. “How long will it take to get to Westernfort?”

  “Ash reckons to get us there by early November, before it starts snowing in earnest.”

  Natasha considered the rear view of the elderly woman. “How good is her estimate likely to be?”

  “Probably right on the mark,” Dani said happily. “Don’t worry. I was teasing about her age. She’s one of the best guides we have. That’s why the captain chose her for the job.”

  “The captain?” Natasha inquired. “That would be Kimberly Ramon.”

  “Not anymore.”

  “Has something happened to her?”

  “No. At least, nothing disastrous. Gina used to be our leader, and Kim was in charge of the Rangers. But Gina’s health has been...” Dani broke off and swallowed. “Well, she’s getting old. She stepped down as leader, so we elected Kim in her place. Chip Coppelli is captain of the Rangers now.”

  “Oh.” Natasha was feeling confused, and not just because of the possible implications for their mission. She realized that she had been expecting the heretics to be repugnant and that she would have to make an effort to disguise her distaste for them, but both Ash and Dani seemed to be reasonably pleasant people. She stole a sideways glance at the woman riding beside her. In fact, she was not sure she needed to qualify the assessment with the word reasonably.

  *

  That night, they made camp on the wooded lower slopes of a mountain. The bare crest of cracked rock hung over them. Ahead were more peaks, filling the skyline, but these were higher, and their tops were capped with snow. The trees around them were ancient, knurled and twisted by the weather, their leaves dull with the onset of autumn. No marked paths ran between the trunks that Natasha could detect, yet Ash had led the party without hesitation along a route that somehow avoided all the densest tracts of undergrowth.

  As she looked around at the trees, Natasha was aware of a childish panic deep inside. The feeling was not going to take control of her, but it was there. She fixed her eyes on the fire and tried to ignore her nervousness. It was ridiculous. With the exception of a few nights, she had been sleeping outdoors ever since leaving Landfall. But these trees had an indefinable quality that marked them as the wildlands, beyond the boundaries of the civilized world. The streets of Landfall were undoubtedly more dangerous, especially after dark, but they were home, and their dangers were familiar and understood. Her unease was not helped when Ash announced that there was no need to post sentries that night.

  Something of Natasha’s mood must have shown on her face. Dani shuffled closer and asked, “Are you okay?”

  “I...yes. I’m fine,” Natasha mumbled.

  “You’re looking worried.”

  “It’s just...” Natasha paused and raised her eyes to the black silhouettes of treetops against the darkening sky. “I’ve never been outside the Homelands before, and the wildlands are...wild. I trust Ash if she says it’s safe, but it doesn’t feel that way to me.”

  Dani looked surprised. “I thought most people escaping from the Sisters were relieved to get beyond their reach.”

  Natasha cursed herself for her carelessness. She looked around the campfire, to judge the effect of her words on the rest of the party, but Rohanna and Cal were talking quietly to each other at the far side and not listening. Neither censure nor support was to be had from them. Ash was closer at hand. However, she was staring into the flames and also did not appear to be paying attention.

  Natasha went for a shamefaced grin. “You have to allow for me being a city-bred wimp.”

  “Well, if you’re feeling nervous and want someone’s hand to hold, you only have to ask,” Dani said, laughing.

  Natasha glanced across, unsure how to interpret the suggestion, but Dani’s smile held nothing apart from friendly teasing. “That’s a very kind offer.” Natasha matched the mischievous tone.

  “I’m a very kind
person.”

  Dani did not push the topic any further, and after a few seconds of silence, she asked, “Which town do you come from?”

  Natasha’s relief at escaping her previous blunder faded. Her only option was to tell a direct lie. She swallowed and said, “Clemswood.” The word felt like sawdust in her mouth.

  “And you lived there all your life?”

  “No, we...moved from place to place quite a bit.”

  “Have you ever been to Eastford?”

  “Um...I don’t remember it. Maybe as a child. You’d have to ask my mothers.” Natasha’s head dropped, and she bit her lip. Pretend you’re an actor in a play, she told herself. Pretend it’s not real. The advice did not help.

  “Bad memories?” Dani asked gently. She must have noticed Natasha’s distress but misinterpreted it.

  “I...” Natasha did not know what to say.

  Dani reached out and squeezed her shoulder. “It’s all right. I shouldn’t have asked. Nobody flees the Homelands because they’re having more fun than they can cope with. You don’t have to say anything. But if you ever want to talk and need a sympathetic ear, that offer goes without saying as well.”

  “Thanks.” Natasha looked up and smiled at Dani with true warmth. Sympathy was very welcome, even if it was misplaced.

  They chatted for a while longer, until Ash announced that it was time to sleep. Dani shared a last friendly exchange and crawled over to where she had dropped her pile of blankets. Natasha was tempted to move her own bedding a little closer, but the action might easily be misconstrued, especially following the joke about holding her hand.

  After Natasha was settled in her bed, she lay awake for some time, trying to resolve the confusing barrage of emotions. She was in the middle of the wilderness, in the company of her enemies. Any second could bring the slip that would lead not only to her death—that was an accepted part of the plan—but also to failing in her mission for the Goddess. It was not surprising that she felt a childish wish to be hugged by someone. Even the idea of holding Dani’s hand was comforting, and that was the greatest source of confusion.