Page 12 of Red in Tooth and Claw

Tallis’s news naturally brought follow-up questions—ones he wasn’t willing to answer. He wanted to show us instead. We followed him, ducking under trees and pushing aside dense undergrowth. There was no deer path here. Just forest. Like the prey knew to steer clear of this section. I shivered, focusing on Tallis’s back, all the while mentally marking the way we came so we could find our way to the trail when we were done.

Tallis finally stopped at an old tree, its trunk gnarled and massive. If all three of us held hands, we could circle it but only just. I didn’t see a body. I also didn’t see Tallis’s horse.

Will glanced at me with a question in his eyes. I shrugged.

Tallis stopped walking about a foot from the base, tilting his head back, and we joined him, mimicking his stance.

A pale hand dangled down, stark against the deep brown of the bark. I was grateful I couldn’t see the face.

Thick branches stretched out from the trunk, twisted by time and nature. Spring continued to wrest control from Winter’s grip, buds already unfurling along the branches. If I’d looked up even a week from now, I wouldn’t be able to see very far. But for now, I had a clear view of the body tangled up in the base of one of the branches.

Will let out a low whistle.

“Big cats do this sometimes.” Tallis didn’t bother hushing his words like some would. “Stash a kill for later.”

“What makes you think he’s one of our people?” Will asked.

“Weird boots.” Tallis shrugged. “And since he isn’t one of ours, it seemed a good guess.”

I couldn’t see his boots from here, so Tallis must have crawled into that tree at some point, or maybe looked from horseback?

“One of us is going to have to go up there,” Will said. “Get him down.”

I dropped my pack. “Someone needs to boost me up.”

Tallis immediately made a stirrup with his hands, thankfully not arguing. Since he knew I wasn’t a boy, well, I guess I’d been preparing myself for the list of things I shouldn’t be doing. My people had strange ideas about what a body should or shouldn’t do based on how we were born, and not on who we were as a person. Rovers didn’t seem to care about that sort of thing as much.

He boosted me up until I could catch the lowest branch with my battered hands. Then he grabbed the bottoms of my boots, giving me another shove. I clambered up onto the branch, climbing closer to the trunk of the tree.

Closer to the body.

Up here, there was no mistaking the smell. We were lucky it wasn’t summer. The cold had kept the body from rotting too badly. But something had obviously been gnawing at it. Animals start with the soft bits first—the eyes or the belly. This man’s torso had been ravaged. The trunk under him was stained a dark reddish brown. His head—though I was guessing from his clothes and the tight cropping of his hair—was nearest to me, his face turned toward the trunk.

I maneuvered closer, inches from him. I couldn’t see an easy way to get him out of the tree. Push him out? Lower him? Pushing him seemed…rude. He wouldn’t know—he was long dead. But I would, and it didn’t feel right to just pitch him like old garbage.

“Can someone toss me up a rope?” I asked. “There’s one in the bag.”

Will dug through the bag, quickly locating the thin rope we used for snares and tossing it up to me. He had to do it twice before I could grab it, and I only got it then because it stuck on one of the lower branches. Rope in hand, I turned back to the body.

I didn’t want to touch it. For a brief, odd moment, it wasn’t a stranger tangled there but Pops, facedown in the barn where I’d found him. I swallowed hard, blinked, and the stranger was back. My hand shook as I reached out, so I paused. Took a breath. Let it out slow-like, waiting for the shaking to stop.

I’d touched dead things before. You don’t grow up the way I did and not get used to handling the shells of things once alive. I’ve plucked chickens, helped slaughter a hog, and buried my own dog when he passed. Death and I were old friends, in a way.

But this…this one struck me different, and I couldn’t say why. But I did what I always did—brushed the thoughts to the side for later and got to work.

It was difficult, getting the rope around the body, twisted up on itself as it was, while I balanced on a branch. I wasn’t in the best shape for such an endeavor, either. Four days in the Box had left me exhausted and abused. I wouldn’t be able to wrap up the body or hog-tie him or anything that would make it easier. The best I could manage was to get the rope under his shoulders. I eased the body up, trying to not think about how cold it was. How stiff. How it should have been heavier.

Once I had the rope secured under his armpits, I knotted it. Then I strung the loose end up and over the branch. I pulled on the rope, pleased to see the body lift away from the branch. Keeping one hand on the rope, I used the other to nudge the body away from the tree.

Which caused it to spin, twisting as it dangled, so that now we were face-to—what was left of his face.

His nose was gone, as were his lips, revealing yellowed teeth gripped into an almost rictus grin. Holes where eyes should be. A scream built up and trapped itself in my throat, like even it didn’t want to get closer to the dead man. I squeaked and lost hold of the rope for a second. The body slipped down a few feet before I grabbed it again.

I likely wouldn’t have been able to recognize him if it wasn’t for his fat black muttonchops.

Mr.Cartwright. The driver who’d brought me to the Settlement. Dead, chewed up, and left as a feast to the crows.

I wondered, briefly, what had happened to his donkeys. I hoped they got away from whatever had eaten Cartwright. Those beasts deserved a happy ending. Not that anything deserved being eaten and stuffed into a tree like leftovers, but I couldn’t say I would mourn Cartwright much. I wouldn’t spit on his grave, either. I’d thought I’d seen the last of his backside when he left, and discovering him here was unwelcome.

I carefully lowered the body down. As soon as it hit the ground, I poked my head out where they could see it better. “It’s Cartwright.”

Tallis’s expression didn’t change, but Will took off his hat and slapped it against his thigh with a curse. “I hope his donkeys are okay.”

Tallis dropped to his haunches, examining the body in the sunlight. “So I was right. He’s one of yours?”

I eased down until I was dangling from the branch before I dropped to the ground. “Not exactly.”

“He was paid to take Faolan and myself to the Settlement.” Will replaced his hat, staring down at the remains of Mr.Cartwright. “Which means we’ve got a problem.”

I snorted, dusting my hands on my pants. I wanted to wash them something awful. “More than one, I reckon.”

“We need to report this,” Will said. “But I want to leave Tallis out of it.”

“Thank you,” he said, with that odd mix of amusement and gravity I was beginning to associate with Tallis. “My uncle doesn’t care to deal with your people much.”

“Not my people,” I said automatically, then thought of Jesse and Dai Lo. Miss Moon. Heck, even little Obie. “Or at least, not most of them. Does Zara like them, then?”

“She harbors an almost violent dislike of the Settlement,” Tallis said cheerfully.

“Which means we need to move Cartwright.” Will grimaced. “We can’t have found him here .”

Because here was way out of our territory, and the last time got me three days in the Box. Dillard wouldn’t care that Will was with me—somehow it would be my fault. It was also too close to Rover land. I didn’t exactly want to hand over a reason for Dillard to turn aggressive against Tallis’s people on a gilded platter.

I nodded. “We move him to our territory.”

Will scratched thoughtfully at his chin. “Can’t be directly on it. Otherwise you would have found him before now. He’s been dead awhile.”

I considered this. “We’re going to have to put him up another tree, aren’t we?”

Will nodded ruefully. “Or at least right at the bottom of one—say we fetched him down. I’ll tell Dillard that I went off path to water the lilies or something.”

That decided, we then had to figure out how to carry the body. Tallis suggested trussing him up against a long limb. That way two of us could carry him along. We made quick work of it before going back to the spot we’d met Tallis.

He let out a long, sharp whistle. To my surprise, a few seconds later his horse came trotting up, almost like a dog. Tallis grinned at me. “She didn’t like the area around the body. Balked.” He scratched under her chin affectionately. “So I let her wander.”

If I had done that, the horse would have never come back.

Tallis swung up onto her back and, as soon as he was seated, put his palms against his chest and back out. The official Rover farewell.

“Thanks,” I said, mimicking his gesture, though I wasn’t sure why I was thanking him. This seemed a right mess, and though he didn’t cause it, he’d pulled me into it. I didn’t blame him, but that didn’t mean I wanted to thank him.

“Anytime,” Tallis said. “Things are always interesting around you, Little Fox.”

I scowled at him.

Will tipped his hat. “We appreciate your help, Tallis. Give my thanks to your people.”

Tallis nodded sharply and turned his horse, galloping off toward his own lands.

“Come on,” Will said with a sigh. “Let’s get Cartwright back to the trail and extricate ourselves from this predicament.”

I wanted nothing more.

It was decided that Will would go and fetch someone from the Settlement. Dillard wouldn’t take me seriously, or I might end up being grilled by several people and take hours to get back to Will. Which is how I ended up standing sentry over Cartwright’s corpse.

We’d untied him from the branch we’d used to carry him, leaving him at the base of a large tree, his back to me. I sat about ten feet away, my eyes on that back. I felt weird, like if I looked away even for a second, he might rise up and come at me.

I knew he wouldn’t. It wasn’t like I’d ever seen a creature cheat the underworld and come back. I wasn’t even sure I believed in ghosts, though I couldn’t help thinking about the man in Anna’s wagon. Hungry ghost. But fear is a mindless beast and doesn’t listen to reason.

I’ve never been very good at sitting idle. It wasn’t long before I was on my feet, stepping closer to Cartwright’s body.

Some kind of animal had taken him down from behind. Now that he was in the full sunlight and my shock was passing, I could see that his neck had been crushed. I’m surprised his head was still attached, to be honest.

I carefully rolled him onto his back. If there was a big cat about, one interested in me as a food source, I wanted to know. Generally, big cats avoided humans. There’s easier, tastier prey out there, but it had been a hard winter and it was possible one had gotten desperate.

I found a twig and used it to prod some flaps of torn clothing away from Cartwright’s torso and was rewarded with the discovery of puncture wounds. The spacing and number told me that the paw was a big one. I couldn’t recall a local cat that grew that big.

Once I’d seen all there was to see, I used my boot to nudge Cartwright back into place. I sat down, keeping my ears open for the noises that would let me know someone was coming up on me. The forest was relatively still, except for birdcalls and the skittering of creatures through last fall’s leaves. I unlaced my boot, which took several minutes because of my hands. I tapped the heel until the bundle fell out and landed lightly in my waiting palm.

Too lightly. My boots were heavy on their own, but surely I would have noticed if the weight of one of them had changed—

My heart froze and dipped, sinking like a pebble in a pond. My gut clenched. Though I knew what I would find, I unwrapped the rags anyway.

Nothing.

I found nothing.

Pops’s watch was gone.

I officially had nothing to my name but my boots and my hat. Everything else on my skin belonged to the Settlement. Even my wretched carcass belonged to the Settlement right now.

I will admit that, for the second time today, I cried. Great, racking sobs, splitting my lip back open. I didn’t care.

What was there to care about anymore?

Nothing. There was nothing.

After a few minutes, I wiped my face with a handkerchief. If anyone came soon, there would be no hiding my tears. Pops always said I resembled a frostbitten tomato when I cried—all red and splotchy. They would think I was feeling tenderhearted for Cartwright, I’m sure. Let them think that.

With clumsy fingers, I replaced my boot, slowly doing up the laces. I paused as a thought occurred to me.

If someone had stolen my watch, it was unlikely they’d had a chance to pawn it or give it to anyone. Unless it was one of the guards who took it with them on the supply run. If my boots had been by my bunk while I was in the Box, anyone could have searched them. Amos, maybe, or one of the curious youngins. Which meant it could still be in the Settlement somewhere.

The snapping of twigs and murmur of voices told me someone was approaching. I arranged my features into a stoic mask, one that said that I was doing my duty as a good person and representative of the Settlement and that was it.

Stuckley came crashing through the underbrush like he was made up of an entire herd of cattle. Even if he wasn’t, I would’ve guessed that he’d spent little time in the forest by the wild look in his eyes as he whipped his head back and forth, obviously believing that he could be attacked at any moment. He made a strangled noise.

“Acolyte Stuckley, becalm yourself,” I snapped, still short-tempered due to the loss of my watch. “You’re being loud enough to wake the dead, and we got one right here.” Well, so much for presenting myself with the decorum befitting the Settlement.

Stuckley straightened, wiping shaking fingers down his waistcoat. “I don’t know what you’re saying, Mr.Kelly. I’m perfectly at home out here in the Shining God’s domain. Godly men have nothing to fear.” A bead of sweat dripped from his hairline, and he swiped it away.

“Even if they were, with the amount of ruckus you were making, you’ve scared away anything dangerous.” Will moved quietly to stand next to him, his face grave, but I caught a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

Dillard stepped out from the trees, moving confidently on surprisingly silent feet. I’d assumed he’d be like Stuckley, more city mouse than country mouse. I’d never seen either of them do any work, and their hands were as soft as a babe’s. But Dillard moved gracefully, like he walked through the woods every day. He spotted Cartwright. “Poor man. At least he’s with the Shining God now.”

Cartwright probably found that very comforting.

They examined the body, mostly in silence. Will had obviously told them the circumstances before they arrived, for both HisBen and Stuckley looked up and examined the tree.

“You found him here?” Dillard’s expression was shuttered, his hands behind his back.

“Yes.” Will pointed up at the lower branch of the tree we’d picked as Cartwright’s resting place. It wasn’t as large or as impressive as the real tree, but it would do the job. “Faolan scrambled up and helped me attach the rope and bring the poor man down.”

Stuckley twitched. “What do you think did it? Coyotes? B-b-bears?”

Dillard sighed, turning to face him. “Ignatius, coyotes are not known to climb trees. And while a bear can do so, they aren’t in the habit of stashing their food like this.” He shook his head. “More likely a cougar, hungry from a long winter.”

All the blood left Stuckley’s face, and he quickly blessed himself. I was tempted to tell him that his god would have also created the cougar and might see fit to answer the cougar’s prayers before his, but I remembered the Penitent Box and kept my mouth shut.

“Surprised you didn’t find him sooner,” Dillard said to me, “what with him being so close to your route.”

I was loath to remind him of my earlier transgression but couldn’t see a way around it. “Besides the other day, Jesse and I stay on the path. Unless the breeze was going the right way, we wouldn’t have smelled him. Even if it was, the cold has kept his scent to a minimum.” As I said this, Ignatius turned a sickly green. I wondered if he’d cast up his accounts all over Cartwright.

I’d sorely like to see that.

“If I hadn’t had to respond to a call of nature,” Will said delicately, “he might have stayed up there for months.”

Dillard put his hands on his hips and shook his head. “Poor man. Esther did warn him. The woods can be dangerous at night.” He snapped his fingers at Ignatius. “The shroud, please.”

Ignatius fumbled with the small pack that he carried, pulling out a folded length of cloth and summoning me to help unfold it. Cartwright was placed inside and then wrapped up in a neat bundle. Under HisBen’s order, Ignatius got one end of the cloth and I got the other. I wasn’t as tall as Ignatius, who was built as if someone had pulled him like taffy when he was a baby. As such, the going was awkward. At least now that Cartwright was covered, Stuckley’s nerves had settled. I was half worried that he would have kept dropping his end otherwise.

We walked our awkward bundle through the Settlement gates, the guards eyeing me with suspicion. I ignored them, though their glares made my back itch. We carted the body into the kitchen and through the door leading to the cellar. Much to Stuckley’s horror, we dropped Cartwright twice while getting him down the stairs.

“Be careful, Mr.Kelly,” he snapped. “A man has died. I would expect you to be more diligent in your duties.”

I hadn’t been the one to drop him. “Yes, sir.”

“Right,” Stuckley said, sniffing. “Let’s get this finished.”

The cellar had a wooden ceiling from the floor above, but under my boots was nothing but packed earth covered in loose boards. They made a floor of sorts, but nothing was nailed down or put together in a permanent fashion. The walls had no pretense, just packed dirt with cobbled-together shelving units to hold pickled vegetables, jam jars filled with preserved fruit, and old barrels off in the corner holding root vegetables and other things that needed storing. It was a long and low room, the ceiling a scant inch above Will’s head.

Someone had set up a sort of makeshift table down there, which was where we placed our bundle.

“He’ll keep here until morning,” Will said.

Much like the turnips he’d brought along with me to the Settlement.

I was on the stairs, sneaking back to the boys’ bunkhouse, when Dillard’s hand dropped onto my shoulder. I didn’t flinch, but it was a near thing.

“Mr.Kelly, I’m certain that the Shining God guided today’s discovery. He wanted Cartwright found and put to rest.”

He seemed to be waiting for something and agreeing seemed safe enough. “Yes, sir.”

“Far be it from me to argue with His wisdom. As such, I can see no one better to prepare him for his return to our creator.”

I hesitated. When HisBen said prepare him …did he mean prepare the body? Something must have shown on my face because he continued on, answering my question.

“Ignatius and I will, of course, tend to him spiritually, but we’ll need to build a coffin for him to rest in.” He looked to Will. “Did he ever mention kin we could notify?”

Will shook his head.

Dillard sighed. “Well, we can talk to any other merchants that stop at the Settlement. If you wouldn’t mind, Mr.Speed, perhaps you could send a letter with the next group to notify your employers? They hired him, I assume?”

“They did.” From Will’s tone, he obviously thought it a fool’s errand, but one we’d have to try.

“Even so, we’re looking at months of waiting for an answer. The weather is turning warmer, and we can’t keep him down here for long. So tomorrow Faolan will build the coffin. Then he can set about digging the grave.” That heavy hand on my shoulder squeezed as Dillard smiled down at me. “Seems only fitting that you be the one to put him in the ground.”

I had to give it to HisBen—it took skill to disguise a punishment as a reward. I had no desire to build a coffin, but if I argued, I’d go back into the Box. I was certain of that.

“It would be my honor, Your Benevolence.” I sidestepped away from him, appearing to be turning so I could bow. I just wanted his hand off me. “I’ll start first thing tomorrow after breakfast.”

“I’m sure you’ll do a fine job, Mr.Kelly.” A smile unfurled on his face, but there was nothing good in it.