Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing.
Shadow Puppets
Chapter 24
The heavy green light in the living house turned prison made Edna look pale and sickly where she lay on the bed with her eyes closed. Lula watched her through slitted eyes and wondered how long it would be before dehydration took its toll. They had made the water they found in a jug last for a day and half, but it was long gone now, and they were all suffering. Nobody was attacking the walls any more; the wall had healed as fast as they could attack it. So had the floor. All they could do was try to conserve what energy they had and hope that Morelli found a way to get to them.
Her tongue felt thick and heavy in her mouth, and a dull pain was throbbing behind her eyes making her nauseous. If she felt this bad, she didn't want to think how Edna was feeling. The old and the weak first, wasn't that how it went when Mother Nature turned into a bitch? According to the Discovery Channel anyway.
"Tank," she whispered, "you know I said I'd rather die than drink my own pee? Well I changed my mind. I don't wanna die of thirst. I reckon we gotta do it."
"Hey," Lester said. He struggled up from the floor and sniffed the air. "Can anyone else smell burning?"
The side of the house began to blacken, and smoke slowly filled the single room of the house.
"Oh shit," Lester yelped. "Wake Tank up, now."
Lula tugged hard at Tank's sleeve. "Tank, wake up. Wake up, baby, please." She broke off coughing as smoke got into her lungs. She saw Lester drag Edna off the bed and down on to the floor where he pulled his tee-shirt over his head and used it to cover her mouth and nose, cursing all the way.
Tank blinked slowly as he came round. "What's going on?"
"Fire."
"Shit."
They huddled on the floor in the middle of the room as flames started to lick up the walls of the house on all sides.
"Oh man," Lula moaned. "I'm sorry I ever complained about drinkin' pee. I don't wanna burn to death either."
* * *
When the morning sunshine sent the birds into their morning paroxysm of sound, Morelli found Hans gone and Greta curled up alone in the sleeping bag. He sat up and looked around for him, finding nothing. Ami was grazing peacefully a few yards away and his sword, pack and saddle were still there; the only thing wrong was the missing boy.
"Hans? Where are you, buddy?"
His call met with silence except for the steady rip and grind of Ami eating her breakfast. She lifted her head up to look at him before returning her attention to the grass.
"Hans?" Louder this time, with the start of fear twisting in his chest.
A bush rustled at the edge of the trees. He spun towards it and caught sight of a knife poking through the leaves. A fraction of a second later it disappeared again.
He skirted a few steps along the edge of the rock wall and went into the trees to come in behind the knife wielder.
"Hey," he said quietly when he reached him.
Hans ignored him and slashed at the offending branches with his kitchen knife again.
"Hans. Stop and talk to me, buddy. What are you doing?"
"Practicing." The boy didn't stop his attack on the bush. Torn leaves littered the ground at his feet and the branches at the center were hacked open to show the soft green fibers inside. "I have to protect us. She can't have my sister."
His face was grim; too grim for a child of ten. He'd seen more than any child should have to. Morelli had seen that face before in his work; he wished he never had to see it on anyone.
"It's okay, Hans. Your sister's okay. You don't have to do this."
"Who else will?"
Morelli opened his mouth to say that he would, but closed it again. He'd be going back to Trenton. But not before Ash was dealt with.
He waited for Hans to thrust the knife forward again and snaked a hand out to rest on his shoulder.
"Hans, you know the friends I'm going to see? We're going after the witch. I promise you she won't get you or your sister, ever. I'll make sure that you're safe. I promise."
The boy held the knife still for a few moments before slowly lowering it.
"That's better. Now come and watch your sister while I get our breakfast ready. I need you to help her ride Ami today."
Greta shrank back and shook her head when Morelli asked her to try riding the horse but gave in eventually. It helped when Ami lowered her head and offered her ears to Greta for a scratch the way she did to Morelli. It helped even more that Ami carried the children as if they were made of china. By the end of the day Greta was sitting up and pointing out all the things she could see from her new perch high up in the sky.
"Since when were you so nice to people?" Morelli whispered to Ami as he walked next to her. "I guess they're different, huh?"
She just swung her head at him and demanded an ear scratch in response.
He gave in and started scratching. "Tart," he said affectionately.
It took them three more days to get back to the lake.
Morelli smiled with relief when he saw the familiar body of water ahead, then stopped dead when he saw the charred ruin where the strange little house had been. The smell of scorched vegetation hung over the lake. The warband was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh dear God." He dropped Ami's reins and sprinted forward to the blackened circle. "Guys?" he shouted as he turned in a slow circle, heart racing. "Guys!"
An answering shout came from the forest, and Berin walked out of the forest grinning. He beckoned Morelli to follow and disappeared back into the trees.
Morelli's knees sagged with relief. He wobbled back to Ami and picked up the reins again, walking in the direction that Berin had come from.
He found a bustling campsite in a clearing a short distance into the trees. The familiar little tents they used every night were pitched in amongst three larger grey ones, and a fire burned in a circle of stones in the middle with a pot hung over it. The warband looked up from a dice game going on by the fire and waved. The horses were picketed away to one side, and Ami let out a deafening whinny of welcome when she saw them.
The sound brought Lula out of one of the tents.
"It's about damn time. We need to be movin' before Tank kills one of these kids for starin' at me all the-" She stopped, staring at Ami's passengers. "Holy crap! Where did they come from?" She stuck her head in the tent. "Tank, Morelli's back, and he's brought more company."
She walked over and engulfed Morelli in a bear hug that left him fighting for air. "Thank you. Your private army got us out just in time. We were about to start drinkin' pee." She let go and waved at the children. "Who are your friends?"
"More victims. I found them in the forest. I couldn't leave them there and I couldn't think of anywhere else to take them."
"Of course you couldn't." She walked over to Ami and stopped a short distance away with her arms folded. "We friends, horse?"
Ami whickered, and Lula walked to the saddle and held her arms out to Greta. "You comin' down, cutie?"
Greta looked to Morelli and he nodded. "She's a friend."
Greta held her arms out and let Lula pull her off and swing her down to the ground.
"You too, champ?" She held out her arms to Hans too. He nodded and let her bring him down.
"Now, I bet you kids are hungry. You wanna eat? We got bird stew. Don't ask what kinda bird. It's just bird." She winked at Morelli. "We'll be with Edna. These two might take her mind off the boys." She nodded her head at the warband where they were rolling dice with Lester, occasionally whooping or groaning at the way the dice fell and handing coins over. Garrick sat nearby sharpening a long knife. "They been stickin' together in case Edna catches them alone."
Morelli grinned. "Now I feel like I'm home. Is there enough stew for me too?"
"Hell yeah. The boys have been tryin' to one-up each other in the huntin' stakes. We got enough unlucky birds to feed an army. Step this way."
* * *
They built up the fire as the sun went down, and gathered around the flames. Greta found Morelli and climbed into his lap, where she promptly went to sleep with her head on his chest. He sat quietly and stared into the fire wondering what to do with her.
Freed from the responsibility of watching his sister, Hans hovered at the edge of the warband watching them compare knives and tell tall stories of battles fought and women won. Morelli could see the handle of the kitchen knife sticking through his belt. He wasn't sure which of the children he was more worried about.
Lester was with the warband, no doubt adding his own stories to the mix. Lula drowsed in Tank's arms in front of the fire while the big man stared at nothing. Edna wasn't there; the old woman retired early, probably to have more energy for ass-pinching in the morning. He was pretty sure that Berin hadn't really known the meaning of a fox in the hen-house until he saw Edna in action.
He nodded to Garrick as the warleader came over and sat next to him. "Thank you. How did you do it?"
"After everything else failed, we set a fire underneath it. It burned better than I thought it would. As it burned we used water to damp the flames down on one side and pulled them out through there. They got some singed hair, a few small burns, nothing worse. Your man Tank was the hardest; it took all of us to get him out. Gareth has been complaining about his back ever since. Oh, and Lula kept muttering about pee as we brought her out. What's pee?"
"Do you really want to know?"
Garrick grimaced. "I think I just worked it out for myself."
"So what happens now?"
"The boys scouted the area while we waited for you. There's no sign of Ash now. We plan to stay out until we find her."
"Any thoughts on where to look?"
"North. Rumor has it that she has other bolt holes that way. There are a few villages that might be able to tell us more."
"I don't know what to do with the children."
"You can try to find them a new home in the villages on the way through, or I'll take them back with me when we're done."
"Your chief will take them in?"
"Probably. Do I understand that they're Ash's victims too?"
Morelli nodded.
"Then I'm certain he will."
Morelli dozed by the fire, finally relaxed after days of fear and worry, Greta slumbering in his arms. Occasionally she twitched and whimpered. When she did, he smoothed the white blonde hair back from her forehead and whispered to her until she calmed again.
Her clothes were tattered from her days of hiding in the woods. He'd have to find her some more from somewhere, her and her brother. Hans drooped on the other side of the fire where he sat with the warband, trying to stay awake and failing. Bathed in the soporific warmth of the flames, Morelli knew how he felt.
When he woke again, Hans was asleep covered by a blanket that someone had thrown over him. Another one was draped over Greta; her fist gripped a handful of it tightly in her sleep.
It looked like Tank and Lula had disappeared into their tent. Lester and the warband had their shirts off and were comparing tattoos. The firelight flickered over battle-hardened bodies, coloring them warm amber decorated with darker patterns.
Each man in the warband had a rope that twisted up his arms and around his shoulders in intricate loops, like a vine that climbed his body toward the light. All different, there were leaves and barbs, twisting spirals, sharp geometric angles. The only similarity was the color; blue. Lester's collection of forces tattoos looked strangely out of place in comparison.
"What do they mean?" Morelli murmured to Garrick as he watched them across the fire.
"Warrior initiation. They choose the design from their family ties, their village and their loyalties, their history; what makes them who they are."
Garrick looked at the blue thorns that wound around his own forearm. "I didn't know that mine would be so prophetic. Either that or Ash thought that it would be poetic to torment us with our own design, who knows?"
He pulled himself up. "Time to put the children to bed." He stalked around the fire, suddenly all authority. "Time for your beds you lot, we move on in the morning. You all know your watches. Tarman, stop showing off, your mother has bigger muscles. Berin, you can put the boy in his bed."
The warband broke up and headed over to their tents, leaving the tall, dark-haired youth on watch. He smiled and nodded to Morelli as he manoeuvred to his feet with Greta still asleep in his arms and walked to his own tent. Berin was a bare outline ahead of him laying Hans down on the sleeping bag. He clapped Morelli on the shoulder as he left, leaving him alone with the children.
He unzipped the sleeping bag and settled the two of them in before rolling up in the remaining blankets and going to sleep behind them.
* * *
"So what happens next?" he asked Garrick as they ate reheated stew for breakfast.
"Depends on what we agree when Tank gets here. Your team don't have horses; it'll be difficult for you to hunt with us. At the same time, we need all the strength we can get. Your weapons would give us an advantage."
"They haven't done us much good so far."
"You thought this would be easy? If destroying her was so easy I would have done it a hundred years ago."
Garrick looked across the campsite with sharp eyes. "I see Tank. Time to talk."
Morelli followed his gaze to where Tank towered over the other men. "I guess it is."
* * *
So we're agreed then?" Garrick asked Tank.
Tank nodded. "No sense in holding you back. Edna's tough but she's not young, and we have two kids in the mix now too."
Garrick looked confused for a moment. "Kids? We don't have any livestock with us. Oh, wait, you mean the children. Yes."
"You ride ahead and leave the markers," Tank went on. "We'll follow on foot."
"Fine. There's a village about two hours ride to the north of here. I'll try to secure you some transport. One of my men will wait for you and tell you where we're going next before riding on."
"Agreed."
Garrick reached out and clasped Tank's hand, then Morelli's. "Then we'll see you again soon."
* * *
The camp was a different place when the warband had packed up and moved on, leaving just a firepit and a few yellowed squares of grass where the tents had been. It felt quiet, abandoned.
The team packed their own tents up and got ready to follow them slowly.
The sound of a shot and a shrill scream dragged Morelli's attention away from loading packs over Ami's saddle and sent him racing towards the sound. He met Tank and Lester doing the same; they met each other's eyes and drew their guns as they ran.
They found Edna facing down Ash over Lula's body, her gun drawn and pointing at Ash's head. Greta cowered at Edna's feet. Hans was struggling in Ash's grip, white with pain where her bony fingers sank into his shoulder. His kitchen knife lay useless on the ground at his feet.
Ash hissed at the men as they joined Edna, a dry, dusty rattle that contorted her pale face into a threatening mask. "Mine."
"No."
Morelli could see Edna lining up to shoot Ash as she spoke and his stomach churned. There was every chance she'd hit the boy.
He hurled himself forward past Edna and slammed into Ash. He heard Hans cry with pain as he was dragged back with her and the three of them fell to the ground.
He aimed a wild punch at the gray-clad figure thrashing around underneath him and winced with pain. She was hard and unyielding, more like wood than flesh.
He swung a hand out again, open-handed this time. When he felt soft flesh under his fingers he grabbed Hans and pulled him away, rolling both of them clear and away behind Tank and Lester. The two men stood in front of them, guns drawn, protecting them.
He got up slowly and picked Hans up off the ground. As he did so Greta flung herself into his arms and clung on. He picked her up with one arm while he held onto Hans with the other.
Ash rose and stalked towards them, seemingly unafraid of the guns pointing at her. Tank and Lester unleashed a volley of shots that knocked her off her feet.
They all stood frozen, waiting to see if she moved again.
She did. The front of her dusty gray dress was shredded but no blood dripped. She should have been dead many times over; instead she stood and stepped forward.
Greta wailed and buried her face into Morelli's shoulder. He tightened his grip on both the children and Ash stopped. A savage grin split her face. "So that's the way of it, is it? Keep them then. I have other choices."
She turned her back on them and walked into the trees, disappearing from view.
"Lester, make sure she's gone," Tank said before dropping to his knees next to Lula. Edna was there ahead of him.
"Oh, Jesus God. Lu? Talk to me."
He put a hand to her hair and pulled it away red. "Shit."
Lula moaned without opening her eyes and muttered, "Can't have them. Go to hell, bitch."
Morelli squatted down beside her with Greta still in his arms. "Is she okay?"
"I think so," Edna answered. "Scalp wounds bleed a lot. Lula? Can you hear me?"
Lula cracked her eyes open. "Where are the kids? Tell me she ain't got the kids."
"They're fine," Morelli said. "Everybody's safe."
"Where's Tank?"
"Right here, baby," the big man answered.
"Getting under my feet," Edna added. "Just like a man."
Lula smiled faintly and winced. "Jeez, what did that bitch do to me? I feel like I got stomped on."
"She just swatted you out of the way like a fly," Edna said. "Knocked you flat."
"She bitchslapped me? To hell with that." Lula extended a hand for Tank to lift her to her feet. "That's the first hit I took since I walked away from Maggot, and it's sure as hell gonna be the last. It's on now."
She swayed slightly and Tank held on to her tightly. "Once the world stops spinnin' anyway. Bitch. God-damn kid stealin' bitch. She's toast. She's dog meat. She's… I don't know, sawdust. I'm gonna kick that bony white ass into next year."
Tank shook his head slowly. "Did I ever tell you how much I love you?"
"Never enough, silent man, never enough." Lula hung onto Tank's arm for support as she turned to address the children. "You okay, baby girl? And you, champ?"
"I tried to fight her but I dropped my knife." Hans looked wretched, and Morelli hugged him close, careful to avoid his bruised shoulder.
Lula frowned. "Honey, you're what? Ten? That's too young for knives anyway. I ain't never seen no good come from kids with knives. You did good."
"You did." Morelli ruffled his pale hair. "We're all proud of you."
"No." Hans shook his head. "You don't understand. It was my fault. I wished. I wished that my mother was here with us, and then that woman walked straight out of the woods like she had been there the whole time." Tears started to trickle down his face. "It was me."
"Hey, hey!" Lula interrupted. "We lookin' for that bitch anyway. You did good, and you're allowed to miss your mom. Don't you be blamin' yourself or I'll have to kick your ass too."
"Actually, he did more than good," Morelli said, trying to sift through the thoughts whirling through his mind. "You're right, Lula. We're looking for her. And the wish brought her here. Maybe Hans just showed us how to find her."
"Then we need to catch up to Garrick," Tank said. "We need all the strength we can get before we face her."