Kill Three Birds

by Nicole Kurtz

  Prentice stopped the water and got in the tub. She lowered herself down into the warm waters and sighed in sweet relief. At court, showers ruled. No one had time for luxury baths, except for the cardinals and falcons. They resided in the upper floors of the birdhouse. The rest, like Prentice—condors and hawks, rooks and the rest—resided in various apartments throughout Lanham Egg.

  She closed her eyes and used her feathers to push the water around her body. In a few minutes, she’d use the soap and water to bathe in earnest, but now, she wanted to simply enjoy this moment of quiet bliss.

  She thought back to her apartment in Lanham. It didn’t contain much more than this guest room. Not that she enjoyed a minimalist life, but she did journey to other nests on assignment. Her residence looked more like a storage unit than an actual home. Despite that, it did contain her favorite things and it was hers. She’d been able to place wards about her home and when there, she felt completely safe.

  Here, in Gould, she didn’t feel safe. An ever-creeping dread stained the sun-drenched days and cool nights. Something bad had happened here. It was still happening here. She shook her feathers, and the water sprayed across the walls, the floor, and the window.

  Prentice laughed. “Whoops!”

  She took the cloth and the soap from the sink and dunked them in the water. She began to lather and then applied the soapy cloth to her skin, cleaning her arms first. As she did so, she hummed another Tisonian song her mother had taught her.

  The irony of Gretchen’s funeral being conducted on the very grounds where they discovered her body wasn’t lost on Prentice. She arrived as what appeared to be the whole of Gould turned out to send Gretchen to the sky.

  Rows of folding wooden chairs had been placed farther down the green. In the center, a large circular nest had been constructed from wooden sticks and logs. It had been covered with a black, sheer veil, and from this distance, Prentice made out a body inside the nest. When women go into labor, they were placed inside a nest, filled with feathers and blankets. As people were born into the world, so shall they return to the goddess. Today, Gretchen would get to soar.

  Vultures dressed in long black robes acted as the funeral attendants. This practice didn’t differ from the other nests Prentice had visited. She watched them escort people to seats. Two attendants stood alert at the front of the burial nest. Beside them torches burned. A total of five torches had been lit. Balthazar came to stand between the two vultures at the entrance to the nest.

  Prentice found a seat at the back. She wanted to be able to slip out if necessary as well as watch everyone else.

  The Finch family arrived to a rustling of murmurs and cries. A gaunt Bella carried herself with a quiet determination that proclaimed to all they wouldn’t see her fall apart. She wore a dark veil, an elaborate hat, and a flowing pantsuit cinched at the waist with a floral scarf and black boots.

  Her husband, Oliver, was another story. The mild-mannered man buckled under the weight of his grief. He collapsed to the ground when the two vulture attendants removed the veil over the nest. He looked broken. His daughters helped him to the seats at the front.

  The three girls wore similar pants ensembles to their mother’s, but instead of a veil, they wore dark, wide-brimmed hats decorated with flowers. Carno brought up the rear. He wore dark glasses, but Prentice knew his demons lay just beneath the surface. His performances about Gretchen felt false and forced. His demeanor was off. His angst had come out of left field on both occasions. She didn’t buy his act. Why was he trying so hard to get her to think he hated his sister?

  One of the funeral attendants reached out to help Geraldine to her seat.

  “Get off! Don’t touch me!” She reeled away from the attendant’s outstretched hand.

  He fell back and waited for her and Robert to view their granddaughter and then shuffle on to their seats. There were no words exchanged between Geraldine and her daughter. There were tensions beneath the surface. The period of blind faith Bella had in her mother might have come to an end. Bella’s sister, Skylar, her husband, and toddlers completed the family’s arrival and they all consumed the front row before the nest.

  “Everyone, please, take your seats, quickly and quietly,” Balthazar said from the front. When he spoke, a calm descended over the crowd. People who had gone up to view Gretchen, some openly weeping, returned to their seats.

  Prentice spied Carlita sitting toward the back, farther down the row from her. She scanned the crowd, but she didn’t see any roosters. Surely Boris and Brian wouldn’t miss the funeral. That puzzled her. Boris should’ve been there. Unless he couldn’t face what he’d done to her.

  “Let us pray.” Balthazar launched into the goddess’s prayer of wings.

  All bowed their heads, but Prentice scanned the group. Bella and Oliver were devoted to each other. They indulged their children’s every whim. Even now, Prentice could tell in the way both parents touched their daughters and held them, spoke to them in soft, gentle tones. There was love there. She felt heartsick for Bella.

  “Hoot,” Balthazar said, looking up from his prayer.

  “Hoot,” the crowd echoed.

  “Sometimes, goodbye is a second chance. An opportunity to reflect on the joys and happy memories and on our own flight path,” Balthazar said, holding his hands pressed together. He hooked his thumbs and spread out his palms in the goddess wings. “Today, we are here to launch Gretchen to her eternal home in the sky, so her beautiful soul can soar once more.”

  Oliver’s shallow breathing turned into hiccups. He trembled with sorrow and cried a flood beside his wife. The girls wept too, and Prentice spied Rachel hugging her older sister close, their heads together. Carno remained stoic. Geraldine and Robert could’ve been statues— blank faces, no tears, no emotion, nothing. Bella’s cheek looked wet from tears. From Prentice’s position, she couldn’t be sure.

  A storm of emotions permeated the atmosphere. It all exploded when Balthazar ended his prayer and gestured for Bella to come up. Once she reached him, he passed one of the torches to her, and she walked up to the nest where her eldest daughter lay. She whispered something, wiped her cheek, and set her torch to the nest’s wood. It ignited the paper kindling stuffed throughout the nest.

  Bella returned to her seat, back straight, head held high. Oliver passed her on the way to the nest, and his hand visibly trembled as a vulture handed him a torch. He collapsed to his knees, away from the flames. His sobs superseded the flames’ crackling, but he slowly put his torch into the nest’s wood.

  Smoke billowed into the crisp blue sky. One of the attendants had to help Oliver back to his seat. Next, Carno strolled to the nest, snatched one of the torches from the attendant, and threw it in without a second thought. Cries of shock broke through the tense quiet, and he sniggered as he returned to the first row. He must’ve been the siblings’ representative, because the next people to get up where Geraldine and Robert. They shuffled to the now burning nest, accepting their torch from Balthazar without comment. They stood quietly a short distance back from the nest before throwing the torch into the flames. Skylar and her husband received the fifth and final torch, and they threw it into the already roaring flames.

  Balthazar raised his arms and gestured for everyone to stand.

  “Gretchen Finch, we send you to the sky, to soar for all eternity. Let us begin.”

  He launched into Wings of Sorrow, Soaring High, and the crowd joined him. They watched the nest burn, its flames eagerly licking the air, greedily consuming the nest.

  It burned hot and fast.

  Just like Gretchen.

  Chapter Twelve

  Later that day, Prentice entered Dale’s Coop at lunch time. It drew a sizable crowd. Scattered feed on the floor crunched beneath Prentice’s boots. It smelled like roasted corn, whiskey, and cigarette smoke. As soon as Dale spied her walking in, he shouted to Darlene with a toss of his colorful mane.

  “Aye, Darlene!” Once he got her attention, he went back t
o serving drinks at the bar.

  Darlene looked to the entrance and waved at Prentice. Most of the folks stuffed into the coop didn’t pay much attention to her and she found that relaxing. It meant she didn’t have to conjure any magic to move about the place. As she made her way to the area where Darlene was serving patrons, Prentice noticed the diverse lunch crowd. She spied some crows, a few ravens, and what appeared to be a swan seated in the back. His long neck and flowing white-gold hair glowed against the shadows.

  The feed must be really good here, Prentice thought.

  People could visit and be themselves here. Privacy and service were hard to find in many parts of the kingdom.

  “Hiya!” Darlene greeted Prentice once in earshot.

  “When do you go on break? I need to talk to you.” Prentice kept her voice low.

  Darlene stuck her serving tray underneath her arm. Her facial scars bore bright green curlicues and hearts. She wore a matching green tank-top and short brown shorts that showed off her long, muscular legs. She had thick thighs that tested the shorts’ fabric strength.

  “I don’t know nothing else to tell you.”

  “It’s about Alicia and Tammy Jo,” Prentice said, dropping her voice even lower. It forced Darlene to lean in to hear her.

  As she pulled back, Darlene’s face had paled. She nodded numbly and mumbled, “Go on to the kitchen. I’ll be right there.”

  Prentice headed to the kitchen. She heard Darlene shout to Dale that she needed ten minutes. Despite being packed and busy, other servers floated among the crowd. Maybe one of them could cover for Darlene. One thing Prentice knew for sure: Darlene ran Dale’s Coop.

  “Aye, no patrons!” shouted a red-faced rooster. He wore a green apron over his tee-shirt and pants. He also had a mask, a hairnet, and a towel tossed over his shoulder. “You deaf?”

  The feed browned in the skillet. Bowls filled with various food awaited delivery. A server rushed by Prentice with a fast “coming through,” scooped up several of the bowls in a feat that amazed her, and zipped right back out.

  “Darlene told me to come back here,” Prentice said.

  “Go on back to the office, then. Make a right. Yeah. That way. All the way down to the end of the hall.”

  She couldn’t tell from the front of the building the coop had so much additional space. Prentice followed the cook’s directions and ended up outside a tiny, cramped office. She didn’t go in, but rather hung around the door, waiting. Besides, the space only had room enough for one body to sit down. A heavy ledger lay open, and it filled much of the desk’s surface. On the floor, a basket stuffed with rolled scrolls spilled over.

  “Sorry about that,” Darlene said as she walked down the narrow hallway to the office. She went in and sat down at the desk. No one else could enter the space with the ledger, boxes, and files. She hunched against the desk and took out a cigarette. “You mind?”

  “No.” Prentice shook her head.

  “Cloves.”

  Soon the sweetened aroma meshed with the kitchen’s greasy odor.

  “So, what about Alicia and Tammy Jo?” Darlene asked.

  “They’re dead.”

  “What?”

  “Dead. I can’t tell you more details because it’s an active investigation, but both women are dead. I need you to tell me about the last time you saw each of them with Carno Finch.” Prentice took out her pencil and pad.

  Darlene smoked. She shuddered as she spoke. “Carno Finch.”

  “Yeah.”

  She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “He’d come down here some nights lookin’ for his sister. We don’t get a lot of the g-crowd around here.”

  “The g-crowd?”

  “Goddess crowd.”

  Prentice smirked.

  “That’s why I remember,” Darlene said. “He raised all kinds of ruckus. But then he saw Alicia workin’. I guess he took a likin’ to her. She didn’t return it. You know how it is.”

  Prentice nodded. “I’m assuming he didn’t take her rejection well.”

  Darlene shook her head. “Strange that. You know? When she brushed him off, the devil shone in his eyes. He threatened to sow our fields with salt.”

  Prentice winced. Everyone depended on their vegetable crops. Threatening to sabotage one’s fields couldn’t be discounted or overlooked as jest.

  “What happened next?”

  “Alicia said he had a pleasant lookin’ face, but behind the mask, he was just weird. She told me she let ’im down gently, you know, and he wandered off. That’s the last we saw of ’im around here. We got busy that night.”

  “Did you see Alicia afterward?”

  Tears leaked out and Darlene sobbed. “No. Dale said she probably ran off with Brian. People come and go all the time ’round here.”

  “No one has seen Boris, either,” Prentice said.

  “No. What’s happening to us?” Darlene broke down completely.

  “I’m going to find out, Darlene. I’m going to put this right.”

  Darlene looked at her. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you for being frank and honest with me. Now, can you tell me about Tammy Jo and the time Carno got tossed out?”

  Darlene recounted the events much the same as Carlita, with one new tidbit. When Tammy Jo came back inside from her scuffle with Carno, she looked dazed and she had dirt or earth along her face. Darlene helped her wash off the stinging substance.

  Earth magic, if Darlene had to guess.

  She thanked Darlene again. “You have my caller?”

  “Yes.”

  “Contact me any time.”

  Darlene nodded and wiped her eyes with the palms of her hands. She continued smoking.

  “Can you find your way out? I’m gonna be a moment.”

  “Yes, I can.” Prentice patted Darlene’s shoulder and left.

  She joined James outside on the stoop. “Did you get anything to eat?”

  James shook his head. “Not my kind of place.”

  “Right. I remember. If you can drop me off at the Finches’, you can go grab lunch,” Prentice said. She paused. “There are places in the egg to get carrion. Right?”

  James nodded. “Yes, Hawk Tasifa.”

  They left the coop. The brutality of what had happened to these women churned her stomach. Carno liked being in control and getting what he wanted, and he had wanted Alicia. So, he stole her.

  Prentice could feel in her feathers that she was right. Carno hadn’t committed one heinous act but three. All the people in Gould were in grave danger, both in the egg and in the outer shell.

  Nearly an hour later, Rachel met Prentice at the gate. “Hawk Tasifa!”

  “Greetings, Rachel.” Prentice waved. “Are your parents in?”

  “Yes, they’re expecting you. Dove Rue called earlier this morning to let them know you wanted a meeting.”

  She’d left a note for Balthazar asking him to set up an early afternoon meeting with Bella and Oliver only. Prentice needed to talk to Gretchen’s parents. She’d thought of having them come down to the church and conducting the interview in Balthazar’s study, but that would draw more attention than Prentice wanted. She also wanted the Finches to be relaxed. If she came to them, that would make them less tense and nervous especially after the funeral.

  “Is your grandmother home?” Prentice asked as she walked through the open gate.

  Rachel busily re-chained and closed the lock. She deposited the key in her dress pocket. “No, she and Carno went out shopping, down to the Apothecary.”

  She took Muffin by the reins, and they walked beside Prentice toward the Finch home.

  “How are things?” Prentice asked.

  “Strange,” Rachel said, and then caught herself. “I mean, they’re fine.”

  “I see.”

  Rachel nodded and they walked the half-mile up to the house in silence.

  Once they reached the house, just as before, the butler met Prentice and took her inside. Rachel disappeared around
back to return Muffin to the horse barn.

  Without the pain and over extension of her hawk abilities, Prentice could make out the normal view of the Finches’ home. They didn’t go straight into the grand room that overlooked the river but made a left down a shorter corridor. This one was lined with a rug that ran the length of the hall. Oil paintings of the river and various stages of the Finch home decorated the walls on both sides. Only one door on the left, and it stood ajar.

  The butler gestured Prentice to enter. “You will find Madam Finch and her husband in the library.”

  Prentice entered the room, and the door clicked shut behind her.

  Library was the perfect word for this room. It took up two floors, with a large, boxy stone fireplace at the opposite end of the room from the door. Here too were warm, ornate rugs, sweeping candelabras made of gold and brass, and lanterns crafted to match the décor.

  Shelves covered every available wall space on both floors. On each side of the room, spiral staircases led up to the second floor of the library where even more shelves crammed with books awaited eager, ravenous readers. Statues of the goddess—her wings extended in flight, her perched on a live branch, and other depictions—stood in near life-sized beauty in the corners. It smelled of dust, old magic, and burnt wood.

  “Wow,” Prentice said.

  “That’s why this is our favorite room,” Bella Finch said, coming toward Prentice from the space closest to the fire. “My family has been collecting rare books—and some illegal—for centuries.”

  Prentice nodded, too stunned at the expanse and beauty of the library to say more. She moved to meet Bella halfway, and the two came together at the library’s center. Bella shook her hand.

  “It’s good to see you again. When you left last time, we were concerned about your well-being.”

  “Thank you. I’m fine.”

  Prentice followed Bella back to where Oliver waited, standing beside a settee positioned in from of the fire. Once she reached him, Prentice greeted him as well.