Flash Over
The Order had received the information from the three wizards' time in Alaska with grave concern. Black's presence gave such weight to Dempsey's explanation of the veil that members instantly set to tracking the global shifts in its position. Though the Ministry had effectively suppressed the small number of inexplicable appearances in London, there was no definitive account of the phenomenon. No one knew if only corpses came from the veil. No one knew if more of the returned "lost" were now roaming London, and no one could say whether the dark lord's forces had been strengthened.
One of their best and only leads was still the drawing from Arthur, and Dempsey's reaction to it. It came down to this: they had to know about the truce breaker's role in the effects of the veil. Black returned to Juneau and the Golden Spike to find out.
"Julian," Black said impatiently, his voice becoming sharp. "I need to find her."
"You don't." Julian said, "And you need to stop asking around."
"Why?" Black snapped, bringing his hand down on the bar. The barroom was vacant apart from the two men, whose shadows rested weakly against the back wall of the bar in the late afternoon light. "What do you think you're protecting her from?"
"Listen," Julian said quietly, leaning toward Black. "She's a truce breaker—her family is a truce breaker family. You come in here asking for her; people think she's gone against the tribe just like her family. But she didn't. See?"
"No, I don't." Black said more quietly, flicking a strand of hair away from his face.
"You know about truce breakers?" Julian said quietly. Black shook his head and leaned in farther. Julian cast his eyes around the bar, then gave a wave of his wand that shut and locked the front door. He gestured for Black to follow him to the storage room.
The two walked down the narrow hallway in silence. Black's face showed his puzzlement and impatience. Julian continually cast his eyes toward the shadows as they walked. Once they were in the room, he cast locking and silencing charms before speaking.
"Our people do not get involved in your wars," Julian began. Black's eyebrows lifted fractionally. "Dempsey, her mother, they are from a line of truce breakers."
"I've got that." Black said, shaking his head with annoyance.
"That means they—the line—fought on the side of the light in a war. They were cast out. Some generations ago they were let back into the tribe, but nobody trusts them. Some people want them out again. So anybody who knows she's a truce breaker will think she helped you; you see? They'll think she did it again, just like her family." Julian continued to glance at the sliver of darkness under the door.
"I still need to find her." Black said, standing closer to the smaller man. Julian backed up a step.
"I don't know where she is now. She left before you did."
"She hasn't been back?" Black looked keenly at Julian, who shook his head. Black let out a quiet curse, then took down the charms on the door. He walked into the hallway and apparated, just as Dempsey had.
The black dog walked quickly down the street, keeping to the edge farthest from the chain of tourists returning to the cruise ship launch. At the storefront for sled rides he trotted up the steps, keeping his nose near enough to the ground to notice the layer of undisturbed dirt on the porch. He took a deep breath of the air near the door. Nothing. He shook, and trotted around the outside of the building to the rear pen. Empty. Behind the shed in the back Black transformed and pushed through the exercise pen gate. There wasn't any sign of food in the pen trough.
He strode down the street, his arms swinging forcefully. At the head of the trail to Dempsey's cabin he stopped short. Ropes died with bright orange tape hung across the trail between two still-standing singed trees. Beyond them the landscape was charred almost beyond recognition. Without a word he turned back toward the town and walked purposefully toward the bar.
"Didn't know you were back in town," Brooks said quietly, setting a pint glass into the rank of empties behind the bar.
"I haven't been here long," Black replied, darting his eyes around the empty barroom. He sat on a stool and leaned over the bar. "I'm looking for Dempsey," he began. Brooks' face fell. He dropped his eyes.
"Look, man, I'm sorry you didn't hear," Brooks said.
"What? What happened?" Black cut in.
"There was a fire out at her place, man." Brooks looked up at Black again. "I'm sorry," he said.
"She died?" Black said quietly, his inflection tilting upward with disbelief. Brooks nodded. He backed away a step in silence; the two men directed their eyes away from one another. Brooks poured two whiskeys and handed one to Black, who nodded as he took it. Black took a long pull of his drink and tilted his head back slightly. "They buried her here?"
"Yeah," Brooks said. "I mean, they scattered her ashes. That's most of what there was, I guess." Black winced. Brooks continued. "The dogs wouldn't leave her or let anyone get her remains at first."
"Where are the dogs?" Black asked, his voice low. Brooks finished swallowing the rest of his drink before responding.
"I've been feeding them so far. Don't know what I'm going to do with them," he said. Black finished the rest of his drink and set the glass on the counter decisively.
"All right," he said, nodding to Brooks. Brooks raised a hand to him as he walked out the door. Black strode around the building almost angrily. In the dark beside the side wall he became the black dog. He ran down the street to the north, baying loudly. At last, a bark answered him. He ran toward the sound, his mouth wide with the exertion.
Delphine and Blue whined piteously at the fence when he came into view. He barely bothered to look for bystanders before transforming. At the gate he blasted the padlock from the latch and let the dogs free. They leapt around him for a few moments, and he watched them. He crouched to the level of their heads and reached his hands toward them. Both dogs butted their muzzles beneath his hands, and he appeared to come to a decision. He reached past their heads to their collars and pulled them toward him. Grasping their necks, he disappeared.
This is it, I think. I'd like to know what you think. Thanks.