attached to it. She knew that inside were several millstones for grinding flour, along with trip hammers for leather and cloth-working, and saws for cutting lumber. From the smoke rising from the chimneys she recognized that fires had been lit for cooking the evening meal. Everything seemed quiet and idyllic, just as she always encountered it.
But it didn't feel right.
Lucifer stopped even as she did, and they both scanned the vicinity. Margaret imitated them, but Differel figured it was out of confusion.
"Something's wrong," the cat said.
"What?" Margaret said.
The shilling finally dropped. "This late in the evening," Differel replied, "the street should be filled with people socializing." She drew both her pistols. "Stay here, while Lucifer and I reconnoiter."
"No, thank you."
She shot her a stern look. "I beg your pardon?"
"I'm not remaining behind alone, not when there's finally going to be some excitement." She withdrew the rapier. "Besides, I want a chance to put that training you've been giving me to use."
"She probably would be safer with us," Lucifer said.
Differel scowled. "Very well, but no heroics, understand?"
She smiled with false sweetness. "I'd never dream of upstaging you, Dribble."
"Shut it, Maggot."
They jogged up the street. Lucifer led the way, but Differel had a definite destination in mind. At the far end of the hamlet, the last dwelling on the left resembled the others except for being simple and unadorned, the epitome of a bachelor's home. Lucifer leapt over the wattle fence and ran around the house as Differel pushed open the gate and entered the small yard.
Margaret tried to walk up to the entrance, but she restrained her. "Wait, give him a chance to check things out."
The cat appeared on the opposite side of the cottage. "There are no open windows."
She flashed a grim frown. "Then we do this the old fashioned way." She rushed up to the door, but stopped in front of it. She motioned for Margaret to go to one side, the one closest to the handle. She nodded, flattened herself against the wall, and tested the brass fixture. It turned and she signaled an a-ok. Differel raised one of the pistols as Lucifer went around behind her to the opposite side. She aimed at the door and nodded. Margaret pushed the door open, but no one confronted them. In fact, the interior looked empty.
"Go!"
Lucifer dashed in and Margaret followed moments later.
"Bloody hell!" Differel sprinted forward, but halted in the threshold. The interior consisted of a single room without even a ceiling, sparsely but comfortably furnished. And it was empty except for her companions.
"What the bloody hell were you doing, you git?" she said in a harsh whisper.
Margaret flashed an exasperated look. "You said go!"
"I didn't mean you, Maggot!"
"Then be more specific, Dribble!"
"Quiet, both of you!" Lucifer prowled around, his ears swiveling. "I can hear something." He sauntered onto a throw rug, then paused, cocked his head as he spread his ears, and froze.
He looked down, training his ears forward. "It's under here!" He started scratching at the rug.
"Move!" He leapt clear and Differel tossed the rug aside. Underneath lay a trapdoor to a cellar. She moved to the side with the handle and motioned for Margaret to open it. She went to the opposite side, leaned over to grip the latch, and straightened up, raising the door with her.
Differel aimed into the space below and saw movement as figures dashed into the shadows.
"Lucifer; go!"
The cat jumped down, and as he dropped he burst into flames, but he landed unharmed. He confronted a teenage girl, who threatened him with an ax.
"Farha! Stop!"
The girl looked up, defiant, but then her face brightened into an ecstatic grin as she lowered the ax.
"Differel!"
She crouched beside the opening. "What's going on?"
"We've been overrun by raiders!" Two older boys appeared with a stair ladder, which they raised and hooked onto the floor above them. Differel started down as someone else lit a lamp. She paused at the bottom and looked around. Children filled the cellar; there were close to fifty of all ages, including several infants. Farha would have been among the oldest. They were all healthy and ruddy, and wore simple rustic clothing.
Differel heard Margaret descending, and she stepped out of her way. As soon as she reached the bottom she pulled up short at the sight the blazing cat.
"Bugger!" Several of the children giggled at the unusual word.
"That's why he's called Lucifer," Differel said as the flames extinguished.
Farha approached them.
"Farha, this is Lady Anglin, from the Waking World. I've invited her to spend some time in the Dreamlands. Farha is the eldest daughter of a friend who lives here in Nir."
Farha curtsied. "Welcome, My Lady. I only wish your visit was better timed."
"What happened?" she pressed.
"I don't know all the details. We were attacked a couple of hours ago. Carbhfind rounded up all the children and brought them here to hide under his house. He closed us in, but then I heard what sounded like combat. It ended quickly. Beyond that I know nothing."
She felt rage boil up inside and she clenched a fist. "If anything's happened to him--"
"Temper, Dribble," Margaret said. "Remember Eugene Sue: Vengeance is a dish best served cold. Imagine yourself hunting monsters back home."
She worked to control her temper. "Very well. Farha, did you see who they were?"
"No, they wore dark hooded robes. I never got a good look at them."
"You and the children stay here." She handed the girl her pistols and the paper cartridges. "You remember how to use these?"
She looked nervous, but nodded her head. "Yes, Differel." She licked her upper lip as she passed the ax to an older boy.
"They're loaded and cocked, ready to fire, so be careful!" She reached out and laid a hand on her cheek. "Don't worry, if Carbhfind and Haela are still alive, I'll bring them back."
She smiled and her eyes grew moist, but she said, "Don't worry about me, or the rest of us. Just stop them before they get away."
She patted her on the shoulder, then turned and climbed up the ladder. She waited for Margaret to follow, while Lucifer jumped up on his own. The boys took down the ladder and Farha came into view. They exchanged waves before Differel closed the trapdoor. Margaret then pulled the rug back into place.
They went outside and closed the door to make everything appear as it had been when they arrived. The sun had set behind the tops of mountains, but the sky still appeared well lit.
"Don't you think you were rather callous back there?"
She threw her a puzzled look. "How do you mean?"
"Saying 'if they're still alive'."
"Hmph. Farha is a sensible and practical girl. She knows what could happen."
"Still, we're talking about her mother and savior--"
"Father, actually. Carbhfind and Haela are ex-adventurers. When they retired they settled in Nir to be farmers. They never married, but they 'associated' for some time. When Haela gave birth, there was no question who the father was. Carbhfind never acknowledged her, and Haela never demanded it, but Farha knows, and he treats her well."
"You can explain things later." Lucifer went ahead of them into the road, but stopped and looked back. "I will proceed to Ulthar and bring back reinforcements. I should return within the hour." He bust into flames and settled on his haunches. He wriggled his arse a few times, then launched himself into the sky, leaving a plume of flame in his wake like a rocket.
"What's he doing?"
"Cats can jump to the Moon. From there they can leap down to any place in the Dreamlands. He should be in Ulthar in ten minutes, but it will take time to put together a feline force big enough to mount a rescue, and the militia won't get here in less than ninety minutes. Meanwhile, we have to find out where the villagers are being kept and ma
ke sure they're not taken away before help arrives."
They jogged to the central square, a circular plaza constructed from laterite where a second road from the north intersected with the Skai road. Eleven public buildings surrounded it while several kiosks for selling food, drink, or goods had been set up. "Oh, bother. None of these are big enough to hold everyone."
"Maybe the raiders took them away already."
"No, Eleanor would've told me if that was the case."
"Told you?"
"I can't read her mind, but I can feel her emotions. Right now all I feel is contentment, plus her reflection of my excitement and anger. The people are still here."
"All right, but where? Can she tell you that?"
"No, but northwest of the hamlet is a fair ground of sorts, where they hold annual celebrations. You could put an army there and no would see it from the road. I'd be willing to bet a crown that's where they are. Come on."
They ran to the left between two of the buildings and crouched at a gap between two enclosed yards. A circular space that served as a makeshift corral had been defined by a rope secured to stakes, and camels stood tied to the rope as well as being hobbled. Like all camels, they loudly complained of their lot in guttural grunts and snorts.
A figure walked into view from the left, swathed in a dark robe. They pressed themselves against one of the fences as it paused and gazed in their direction. One of the camels reached forward and nipped at the back of the figure's head. It spun around and scolded the beast in an equally guttural language.
Differel pulled out her poignard dagger and ran at the figure. She threw her left arm around its front, clasped her hand over its mouth, and stabbed into its back. The
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