After half an hour or so, Burke began to hate the world, Tala, Laisa, Virdon, and his backside. But Virdon and the horse were definitely at the top of that list.
He had no idea when exactly the healer had decided to play the shining knight to Virdon's damsel in distress act, but had calculated a head start of five hours to be on the safe side. That meant Laisa was ten to fifteen miles ahead of him, and if he wanted to catch up to her, he couldn't just let the horse go at a walk.
On the other hand, as he had learned from Katlin many moons ago, he couldn't let the horse run the whole distance, either. He could probably alternate between walk and gallop, but despite the riding lessons that Al had foisted on him and Zana during their trek, Burke didn't feel competent enough to calculate the duration of either speed that wouldn't exhaust the horse, or make them too slow to catch up with Laisa before she reached Sultok.
That meant he had to cross the distance at a trot.
There wasn't much to distract himself from the pounding and chafing of his inner thighs and his butt against the saddle - at this time of year, the vegetation was sparse and wilted; the trees, stubbornly hanging on to the old four seasons climate of yore, had shed their leaves, except for some mutated stuff that sported leathery vines. It would make spotting a Kobavasa gang easier, but it would also make it easier for the bastards to follow him through the underbrush.
At least the rapidly falling darkness would make it more difficult for them to take aim… he hoped. Rather belatedly, Burke wished he'd thought of bringing a gun with him; even a handgun, easy to hide under his vest, would've been better than to be armed with only a knife.
Well, too late. He'd been too pissed off at his former commander to think ahead. He needed to cool down if he wanted to survive in the future. That meant he couldn't lose his head over Katlin as Al had lost his over Laisa. Though in that case, the idiocy was probably mutual, or otherwise the woman wouldn't have run off like that. Burke doubted that she had any interest in the Chief's son. She had done this purely to please Virdon.
Burke couldn't imagine that Voltis would just sit in his office and ignore his ex-wife's stunt, either. He had only caught a glimpse of the chimp once - and from the other end of a corridor, when he had been accompanying Galen - but the chief didn't strike him as someone you crossed without paying a steep price. Aelia and Aboro had to know that, too, and were probably readying their troops right now.
So much for that chimp's promise to get Al out of the chief's house. Well, guess she has bigger problems right now.
He stood up in the stirrups to peer down the road before him. The sooner he'd catch up to that stupid woman, the better. Serious shit would go down here soon enough, and he didn't want to get caught up in it. Voltis' army was probably right behind him.
He spurred Tala into a canter, not just for the sake of his butt.
To his relief, a lone figure appeared on the road soon afterwards. Not many humans had reason - or permission - to travel between the prefectures, or even between the settlements within a prefecture, so it had to be her. For Laisa's sake, Burke reined in his horse and didn't approach her at full speed. Still, the healer spun around at the sound of hoofbeats, eyes huge and dark in her pale face. Hoofbeats meant ape patrols, usually.
Or Kobavasa, around here.
Burke brought Tala to a halt beside the woman, and leaned down to her in fake surprise. "Well, well, well," he drawled. "Fancy meeting you out here, healer. Whatcha doin' alone on the road? These parts are a bad, bad place for a human - more than usual, I mean."
Laisa had recovered quickly from her shock, judging by the frown on her face. "Dehni? What are you doing here? Where did you get a horse?"
"Stole it," Burke said nonchalantly, and was rewarded with a shocked gasp.
"Dehni!"
"I'll give it back, don't worry." He offered her his hand. "Which means the sooner you climb into the saddle behind me, the greater the chance that my gentle master will show me some mercy. C'mon, it's not safe out here, an' you know it. Let the apes sort out their shit themselves. 's not our business."
Laisa didn't move. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said stubbornly. "I'm visiting a relative, they've fallen ill with winter fever..."
"Yeah, right," Burke interrupted her. "An' I'm sure Sultok has a fine healer, jus' like Chubla has. An' we all want Chubla to keep that fine healer, so drop the act and get up here!"
Laisa stepped back. "You can't forbid me to visit my family. Not even an ape would do that."
"Goddamn fucking Cesar!" Burke jumped out of the saddle and steadied himself against Tala's shoulder for a moment. His legs always were wobbly after sitting on a horse for more than five minutes. "I don't care if you have a sick relative in Sultok! This whole goddamn district is crawling with Kobavasa, an' on top of it, the chief's crazy ex has kidnapped their son, an' you bet that ol' Voltis is coming after her! I have no fucking idea why you think you need to go an' save that kid for Al... it's not that you'd come even close to where they hold him. An' I don't care, but I promised Al to get your stubborn ass back to safety, so get on the damn horse before I tie you up and throw you across the saddle!"
For the first time, Burke thought he could detect a flicker of doubt in her eyes. "Alan sent you? And you agreed to go... for him?"
Burke didn't want to examine that thought too closely. "Oh, it's Alan now, yeah? He got his gray matter stirred rightways again?"
Laisa gaped at him for a moment, then vigorously shook her head. "I just used the name you're using all the time, because you always get so angry when I call him Taris."
"Uh-huh." She was covering for Virdon, Burke was absolutely sure of it. For some reason, it infuriated him even more. "Whatever. An' no, I'm not doing this for him. I don't like monkeys killing humans, is all."
This time, she didn't scold him for calling them 'monkeys'. Instead, she flicked him a sideways glance before she stepped up to Tala's head and began to stroke her nose. "He... he got some memories back," she admitted without looking at him. "They greatly disturbed him. He doesn't want to think about what happened to him... whatever it was. And I respect that. So I call him Taris."
"He got them back last night when he and you, uh, did the deed?" How much of Virdon's memory had returned? All of it, or just the worst part?
Laisa nodded, then shook her head. "We... we didn't... he... he suddenly remembered something terrible, and then... we just talked. Well," she laughed an unhappy laugh, "I talked. I don't know if he even heard me."
Burke remembered his own flashback when Urko had suddenly shown up in Pendan, and his mouth went dry. Somehow, that memory always hovered too close to the surface.
"It was still good that you kept talking to him," he murmured. "Gave him something... outside... to focus on. Something real that... didn't belong to that memory."
"I'm glad that you understand the state he's in right now," Laisa said softly. "He'll get better, he just needs help."
"Can't help him if he doesn't even admit he knows me," Burke muttered, and grabbed Tala's halter. "But that's something we can talk about when we're back in Chubla. I mean it, Laisa, this is way over your head. An' if something happens to you, Al will lose the only human who means something to him now. He thinks you went because he came to you to talk about the kid's abduction - he already holds himself responsible for your little trip to Sultok. How do you think he'll feel if you get caught in the crossfire of Chief Voltis' little war?"
Lisa frowned at him. "Why do you think Chief Voltis will ride to Sultok? Tar... Alan said the chief didn't believe him when he told him that Ennis had been abducted by his own mother."
Burke blinked. He couldn't remember if Al had mentioned that little detail to him. But more importantly...
"So you admit that you jus' made up that sick aunt in Sultok?" He grinned triumphantly at Laisa's deepening scowl. "Knew it! You two really-"
Tala jerked her head down to reach for a knoll of wilted grass on the side of the road, and with his hand stuck too deeply under her cheek strap, Burke was jerked aside with her.
Something cracked behind him; something whizzed past them where his head had been a moment before. Burke cursed, yanked his hand free, and grabbed Laisa's arm to drag her off the road. He angled for Tala's reins, but the horse had already moved beyond his reach, spooked by the shots that were now echoing around them in a rapid staccato. Burke cursed again.
Tala buckled, ears pressed against her head, turned, and sped off, back to Chubla. Burke clenched his teeth and hastily retreated deeper into the hedge, still dragging the healer with him. The unknown shrub was something thorny, but unfortunately, it had shed its leaves, too, and didn't provide much cover - it only made it harder for the approaching riders to follow them on horseback.
It didn't stop the apes from shooting at them.
He and Laisa tore through the thorny twigs, heedless of the burning strikes the shrubs left on their arms and faces, and tried to burrow deeper into the underbrush. Laisa was silent beside him, too shocked or too frightened to cry; Burke hoped she'd stay that way. He had his plate full with trying to keep ahead of the black-robed, masked thugs who were still firing at them, he couldn't spare the mental capacity to calm her down on top of it.
If she'd climbed into the saddle when he had told her...
... Stubborn idiot, just like Al. Those two really deserved each other.
Something hot pushed past his upper arm, too fast to cause pain - he only felt his sleeve go wet as the blood started pouring down his arm. Just a graze, but still... the next bullet could be whipping through his skull. Or Laisa's skull.
They had been racing downhill from the road; in these parts, you either went upslope or downslope. It meant that their pursuers had a bird's eye view on his escape route; they just had to wait until he and Laisa broke into a clearing - which Burke couldn't see from his position, and thus couldn't avoid stumbling into - and pick them off.
Some of the hunters wanted to get up close for the kill, though - Burke could hear them crashing through the underwood behind him, their horses grunting with exertion.
He wouldn't be able to outrun them. You couldn't outrun a bullet.
Burke threw a hasty glance behind him; they had reached a tiny clearing in the thorny netting of the thicket, and none of their pursuers were visible. It was just a momentary respite, but maybe it would suffice.
He came to a skidding halt, forcing Laisa to stop, too, and clasped his hand over her mouth before she could say anything. "Lay down," he whispered, and tugged at her arm when she didn't react, forcing her to lie on her side in the middle of the path. He hastily pressed his blood-soaked sleeve against her skirt, then took her hands in his and positioned them over her knee.
"Clutch your leg," he whispered urgently. "You've been shot, you can't walk, I abandoned you. Shout for me to come back, make lots of noise. Play for time."
"He'll shoot me," she whispered back, eyes huge with panic.
"Trust me."
He couldn't explain himself to her, there just wasn't time. Burke unsheathed his ANSA knife, showed it to her, and squeezed himself into the thicket at a right angle to their former escape route. Laisa, catching on to what he was planning, started to cry and shout, muffling the noise he inevitably made.
"Dehni! Dehniiiie! Come back, please - don't leave me! Oh Mothers, Dehni, help me! They're coming for me! They're coming for me!"
She was good; if this didn't work out, Burke was sure he'd hear her cries in his nightmares for the rest of his life.
Though, if this didn't work out, the rest of his life would be short.
He spotted his target through the branches - their hunter had been closer than he had realized. The hooded figure was working the lever of his gun, completely focused on his wailing prey beyond the shrubs. Burke threw subtlety to the wind and broke through the hedge like a bulldozer.
The ape had been too distracted by the promise of an easy kill ahead of him to react in time. Burke rammed his knife down the inside of his thigh and grabbed for the barrel of his gun with the other hand.
You didn't need to stab someone in the heart to kill them; slashing the femoral artery did the job nicely enough. The ape managed to fire a shot that went nowhere, then slid off the horse. Burke helped him along and cut his throat for good measure.
The horse sprinted off for a few steps, then came to a sudden halt - it had probably spotted Laisa blocking the narrow path. "Grab the reins," Burke quietly called out to her, "don't let it run off. We'll need it to get the blast outta here." He dragged the ape deeper into the thicket and began to peel off his black robe. It was harder than he'd thought - apes were a lot heavier than humans.
"What are you doing?" Laisa whispered when he stepped out into the path again.
Burke gestured at his Kobavasa attire. "We need to get away from these killers," he whispered back, "that means we can't look like targets. They'll fire at everything that looks human, so we'll look like Kobavasa instead. Wait here, I'll get you a costume, too."
Laisa gestured at the thing in his hand. "You'll wear... that?"
Burke shrugged. "Don't like it anymore than you, but... yeah."
He strapped on the mask. It was the real deal, no cheap paper maché skull. These creeps really fashioned human skulls into party decorations.
One more reason why killing them was so damn satisfying.
His second catch was even easier. The Kobavasa had reined in his horse when Burke came stumbling along the path. "What in Koba's name... where's your horse?"
"One of them attacked me," Burke wheezed. "Never seen a human like that before... so ferocious... so cunning..."
The rider had scoffed at that, and that had been the last thing he'd done. Burke dragged the second horse after him to where he had left Laisa, and dumped the robe into her arms. "Hurry up, no idea when the next monkey turns the corner."
Lasia put on the robe and the horrific mask without fuss, but balked when it came to riding the horse. "I can't... I've never sat on a horse before," she whispered. "They'll realize we don't belong to them the moment they see me clinging to its neck!"
Humans were forbidden to ride by threat of death; and although the northern apes did make exceptions, a human on horseback was still a rarity. She had a point, much as it pained Burke to admit it.
"Okay, fine, sit behind me," he grumbled. "We'll just tell them you got ambushed by a supernaturally wild and powerful human."
"By you, you mean?" Laisa murmured when she had climbed into the saddle.
Burke smirked, and spurred on his horse. "Who else?"
She snorted softly, but didn't comment.
Burke counted eight other riders waiting for them on the road. Their leader didn't comment on the missing horse, just asked, "Lost them? Well, you get some, you lose some..."
He nodded towards another rider who was wearing exactly the same outfit as everyone else. "I got notice that we're to return to headquarters for a special announcement, otherwise we'd have spread out and hunted them down." He turned his horse, and one by one, the Kobavasa fell into line after him.
The hooded figure that the leader had introduced as HQ's envoy didn't move - it was clear that he intended to bring up the rear. Burke had actually planned to take up that position, and then to inconspicuously fall behind, but by the looks of it, he'd have to amend that plan. He clicked his tongue and took his place as second-to-last in line.
He wasn't too worried. The dumb monkeys didn't suspect a thing. He had a gun now. And he'd been given the unexpected opportunity to find out the identity of the head KKK monkey.
Maybe he could take out their leader, make this afternoon worth his while after all.
As an ape, I shouldn't be so out of breath from climbing a tree.
She's going to throw me out of the mentor program for this.
Zana grabbed the railing of the platform that extended from Zorya's doorstep, and drew a last deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart as much as her racing - and slightly incoherent - thoughts. Accosting an Orangutan in their own home was the biggest possible faux pas... but she simply hadn't been able to think of any other option to avert the catastrophe that was now looming over all their heads.
Galen couldn't have come back to the inn with Alan, to talk things through? To find a solution that doesn't involve a mad dash after Peet, and a collision with either Aboro or Voltis? Or both?
Men!
She knocked.
Zana still didn't know what had driven her back to the stables after a while - maybe female intuition. When she had reached Ahpahchee's box, the gelding was gone, too. This time, the stable hands had been willing to talk to her - Doctor Kova and Chief Voltis' new human had taken Ahpahchee and one of the stable's own horses, and had ridden off in a great hurry.
She knocked again, fighting against her mounting impatience. Orangutan or not, if Zorya didn't open her door this next moment, Zana would climb in through the window. She needed Zorya to make sense of this mess, and she needed her half an atseht ago! She had already lost precious time with her second trip to the stables, and it was already after dark...
Just when she was about to knock for the third time, the door opened and a slightly alarmed but still immaculately dressed Zorya squinted at her. "Mila! Is something the matter?"
"Yes!" Zana said tersely and pushed past the befuddled Orangutan. "I'm terribly sorry to invade your home like that, but this is an emergency, and you're my only hope."
"Well, this, this is somewhat of a surprise," Zorya stuttered, and closed the door behind her. "I usually don't receive visitors here... I was actually working on some, some project..."
"Zorya." Zana spun around and pinned her with a fierce scowl. "As much as I try to honor the Orangutan custom of chasing the badger up the tree before sitting down to talk, we simply don't have the time for it now! I need your help!"
"Yes, yes... what do you need my help for?" Zorya nervously nestled at her sleeves, and gestured towards a set of hammocks. "Can we sit down for this?"
"Of course. You sit down, I'm not in the mood for sitting right now." Zana propped her hands on her hips and wished that Zorya's living room was big enough for pacing. She felt ready to explode.
"You remember that talk we had about Aelia, when I appl... when I visited the shelter?" Better not remind the Chairwoman of her application for that mentor program right now.
Zorya nodded, and lowered herself into one of the hammocks.
"Good." Zana rubbed her forehead, trying to collect her thoughts. "I also assume that the news about young Ennis' disappearance have reached you in the meantime."
"Yes, he ran away into the mountains again," Zorya said, her confusion apparent. "He has done so numerous times before. But Mila, what-"
"No, he didn't run away this time," Zana interrupted her mercilessly. "He was abducted from his very bed, and we have reason to believe that it was his own mother who did it. Chief Voltis is on his way to Sultok as we speak."
"Aelia took Ennis?" The hammock began to sway softly, as the shocked Orangutan began to rock back and forth. "Does Voltis have any proof for that?"
"I assume he has, he didn't consult with me," Zana said dryly. "But what worries me more is that Ennis' new human..." she sighed at the designation. It was Alan! Mothers! If he'd just stop being so stubborn... "Taris, our own Dehni, and my husband have also run to Sultok. I can only imagine that Taris wants to be with his master, and the other two want to save him from his own foolishness." It was the simplest explanation, if she didn't want to start explaining the special relationship she and Galen had with these two humans.
Zorya swayed a bit more wildly in her hammock. "I understand your worry, Mila, but I still have no idea what part you intend me to play in this..." she gestured vaguely, "this mess."
"Well - Voltis isn't going there alone," Zana pointed out. "According to... to my sources," Mothers, she sounded like, like Felga... "He's taking the whole town guard there. And Aboro, as I've learned, has the Kobavasa at his disposal. Can you imagine what will happen if these two clash?"
"Mothers..." Zorya said weakly. "But what can we do?"
Zana regarded her for a moment. No matter how pressed for time she felt, if she wanted to save Peet, she had to know exactly what was going on, both in Sultok and in Chubla.
She wanted the truth. And she wouldn't accept any polite evasions anymore, Orangutan etiquette be damned. "Did you know about Aboro's connection to the Kobavasa?"
Zorya sighed; she didn't meet Zana's eyes. "There were rumors, but they could never be proven, and I never believed it. Aelia would never associate with one of them."
That was exactly what Zana would've said an atseht ago, too - but Galen's remark about hunting also being nature's way was still vivid in her mind. And contrary to Peet or Zorya, she had never met Aelia in person. She couldn't go by her own instincts about the woman, only by everyone's opinion of her.
"Chief Voltis seems to have gotten proof," she said. "Otherwise he wouldn't be riding to Sultok this very moment. And if what you say about Aelia is true, then she is the only one who can prevent a disaster there."
She crouched down before the hammock to lock eyes with Zorya. "Aelia has to return Ennis to his father, Zorya. But we both know she won't do it without... encouragement."
And if what Galen said about the hunt is true, then she found a way to twist her ideal so that it fits Aboro's mad intentions . In which case, the only encouragement Aelia would take seriously could well be the barrel of Voltis' gun.
Still, they had to try. For Ennis' sake, and Peet's. "Someone needs to talk some sense into her. Someone she trusts. Ennis is a child ! Anything could happen in Sultok! We cannot just sit here while he is in danger!"
"I... I don't know if I'm the right person to do that," Zorya said; she had begun plucking at her sleeves again. "I'm certain Chief Voltis has experts for those negotiations..."
Zana took Zorya's hand and softly pulled it away before the Orangutan could unravel her sleeve. "You were Aelia's mentor, Zorya. She looked up to you once, and your word will still have more weight for her than that of some crusty old lieutenant."
Zorya was silent, her fingers cold and clammy in Zana's hand.
"You single-handedly built up the biggest animal protection society in the North, Zorya," Zana said finally. "You can do this. I fully believe in you!"
"Well, then... I should probably get my robe," Zorya murmured.
"And your shawl," Zana added. "I rented a coach from the stable, and it doesn't have a top."
Actually, the coach had a top, originally, but Zana had asked the stableboy to take it off. They would be racing against time, and the less weight the horses were dragging behind them, the faster they would be.
That, however, was nothing Zorya needed to know about. Zana held open the door and smiled encouragingly at her. "You're doing the right thing, Zorya - you're saving a child."
"Everyone thinks they are doing the right thing, Mila," Zorya sighed, and moved to the end of the platform. "How do you think we ended up here?" She swung herself over the railing and vanished.
Zana followed her silently, for the first time at a loss for words.
