Page 23 of Red in Tooth and Claw

Chapter Twenty-three

Between the fever and my battered head, I was surprised that I remembered as much as I did. I coughed up whatever details I could manage. Stuckley’s weird behavior. The strange liquid in his canteen. The symbols. His death.

Anna shoved a cup of hot tea into my hands as I talked. The meal had given me a small amount of energy, but I’d spent it by the end. I was weary again and ready to return to the cot.

“Mushroom tea, maybe,” Anna said. “In the canteen. Some mushrooms make you see things that aren’t there.”

“Sounds like he set up some kind of ritual,” Zara said. “Or someone had. All you had to do was stumble into it and make your offering.”

“My offering?” I asked.

“Some of the old gods liked death and blood,” Tallis said, his arms crossed over his chest. “None that we followed, but others welcomed them.”

Stuckley had been my offering.

Will ran a palm over the stubble on his cheek. “Can’t say I thought Stuckley had that kind of…initiative. Or follow-through. Usually needs a bit of hand-holding, our Stuckley.”

I was in agreement with Will and said as much. “I don’t think he really knew what was doing. He might have set it up, but I don’t think he understood.”

“Like giving a child a lighter and not explaining fire,” Tallis said.

No one argued with him. Our campfire crackled as we all stared thoughtfully into its depths.

“I hadn’t known such a thing like this was possible,” I said.

“You can’t go back there.” Tallis offered the words softly, though his eyes were hard.

“I really don’t have a choice.” I smoothed my hand over Chirp absently.

“Someone gave Stuckley that lighter,” Tallis said, “and sent him to burn. They handed you over as the intended sacrifice. You were meant to die in that cave.”

I nodded stubbornly because he wasn’t wrong, but he wasn’t exactly offering up any options, either. “I was.” My brain, sluggish as it was after everything, finally chugged along to the next logical stop. “If Stuckley was doing anything, it was HisBen’s orders.”

Zara had been watching the stars come out, but she turned her face toward me to speak. “All the more reason not to return, yes?”

“All the more reason to return,” I said. “If HisBen wants something, he’s going to keep going after it. He’ll send someone else to that cave to die. He’ll send someone else to that cave to get their own Chirp.” Besides, I still needed to find my watch. If I had my land, then there would be somewhere to go . The mayor could come for me all he wanted.

Tallis grunted and Anna nodded, but Zara kept looking at the stars. Will continued watching the flames, his face thoughtful. The gunslinger had a good mind, he’d proved as much to me during the time I’d known him. I waited him out until he was ready to share.

“I think HisBen has his own one of these things, and I think you heard it when you took Dai Lo and Jesse to see Cartwright. And something went after those goats.”

I remembered Gertie and swallowed hard. I also remembered something feeding outside the Box, the wet sounds it had made. Had that been HisBen’s cave cat?

“Chirp hasn’t so much as taken a swipe at us.” Tallis stood and stretched. The movement seemed to go on too long. I realized I was staring, and he knew it. I scowled at him. There was a faint smile on his face when he sauntered over to gather up my dishes. “He lectures if he’s unhappy, but he doesn’t attack. Whatever’s going on with HisBen’s cave creature I don’t think is natural.”

“A rough hand can make any dog mean,” Will said.

“Whatever you and Stuckley did,” Anna said, “he has made worse.”

“All the more reason to go back,” I told her.

“All the more reason to stay away, Little Fox,” Tallis snapped. “The fox stays alive by being cunning. Not by jumping into the hunter’s sack.”

I stiffened, ready to spit venom, only to be cut off by the swift chop of Anna’s hand through the air. “Enough, children. We will sleep on it. My patient must rest, and our minds need time with the problem. Nothing will get solved tonight.”

I was bundled back into the cot in the wagon, arguing the whole time that I’d just got up and there was no way I could sleep.

I was out as soon as Anna pulled the blanket over my chin.

This time I woke up with the birds as they made a ruckus over the morning and their breakfasts. Someone had thoughtfully left out a bowl and a pitcher of water, along with some tooth powder. My body protested the movements, as I was still sore and battered, but I needed the refreshing. Anna had attached a small sticking plaster to the cut on my face. I hadn’t noticed it yesterday. I’d been more out of it than I’d thought.

After I got my boots on, I took Chirp outside. We both needed to make water, and he apparently needed to chase after some birds. Those chores handled, I hobbled back to camp, Chirp at my heels, some kind of grouse hanging from his jaws.

The gunslinger was already up, his borrowed blanket neatly folded. He was fussing with a brew bag and a billycan to make coffee. He’d left the skillet out from roasting the beans, and Tallis was now utilizing it to cook some sausage.

Tallis was stealing glances at me as I settled by the fire. He still seemed irritated with me but also like he needed to see that I was okay. I decided it could all wait until coffee.

We sat in silence for the short spell needed for the contents of the billycan to boil, and I was soon rewarded with a steaming mug. Tallis nudged a small ceramic pot with honey my way, and I added a dab to my coffee. As irritated as he was, I still got treats. I used my mug to hide my smile, but from the scowl on his face, I think I failed.

After the coffee had been doled out, I was given a sausage wrapped in the leftover griddle bread from yesterday.

Will didn’t talk until after he’d swallowed the last bite. “I have an idea. Not a plan, really.” He huffed a laugh. “Not enough of it to be considered a plan.”

“I’m all ears.” I’d inhaled my own breakfast, barely taking time to chew, and was handed another bread-wrapped sausage.

When I hesitated, Tallis’s expression softened. “Since you seemed better, Anna and Zara went back to camp to check in. They’re eating breakfast there. Eat, Little Fox. Slowly this time. It’s not going to run away.”

Now it was Will’s turn to hide a smile behind his mug. The gunslinger enjoyed me getting chided for some reason. Chirp noisily crunched through his own breakfast, nosing aside bothersome feathers.

“I thought if there was nowhere for you to go, we’d create a middle ground.”

I chewed slowly, trying to make sense of Will’s statement. “How so?”

“It’s probably not safe for either of us to go back—Dillard sent you to your death and, more likely than not, thinks that was accomplished. Best to let him keep thinking that. Probably assumes I’ve scampered off to the next job. If I do show up, days later, even with a plausible story, I’ll have his attention.” He grimaced. “Not a particularly healthy thing to have, Dillard’s attention.”

No, it was not. I nodded, though it pained me a little, sore as I was.

“I say we make camp. I don’t have much supplies, but I might be able to barter a few things away from Tallis and his crew, or at least borrow.”

Tallis didn’t say anything, but he didn’t argue, either.

“We find a spot close enough to keep an eye on the Settlement during the day. Then at night, we sneak in that back door. Figure out what’s going on. Warn the folk that need warning.”

“Or get them out,” I said.

Will rubbed a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “Not sure we have the resources to get everyone out.”

We didn’t even have enough resources for the two of us. The idea of leaving anyone to HisBen’s tender mercies sent lead into my guts. A flash of memory from the cave hit me. Stuckley screaming. His warm blood on my hands.

I had to swallow past the taste of fear in my mouth. I washed it away with the last of my coffee. Fear wouldn’t do me any good, anyway.

When Zara and Anna came back to take another gander at my bedraggled carcass, Will and Tallis set off for the Rover camp. It did not escape my notice that they all thought I needed a nanny. Considering how creaky my movements were, I didn’t have much ground to argue. That didn’t mean I didn’t argue, mind, just that those arguments were weak as day-old kittens.

After breakfast I was feeling more myself and said as much, but Anna ignored every word, instead checking my wounds and watching the way I moved. Finally, she grunted in what I took for grudging approval.

“You need to keep those clean,” she said, gesturing to my scabbed-over wounds. “I’ll make sure Will has the supplies to replace the plasters if needs must.” She dug a battered tin out of her bag. “And I’ll leave you some tea.”

I eyed the tin speculatively. Anna was a healer and would not do anything to harm her patients, but I was awful curious about what was in it, nonetheless.

She saw my expression and snorted. “It’s for the pain, and to aid healing. My own blend—black willow bark, boneset, and a few other odds and ends. Drink it about every four hours or so.”

“As you say, ma’am, thank you.” Even I knew better than to argue with Anna. From the smirk on Zara’s face, she knew I was fighting my own tongue. I opened the tin, and the sharp smell of the willow bark hit my nose. The fainter scent of boneset—grassy and mild—lurked in the background, but what boneset lacks in olfactory power, it makes up for in looks. It dries to be a vivid green.

Chirp sniffed the tin and sneezed. I jerked it away from him, and the movement made my muscles scream in protest, but I didn’t need Chirp slobber on my tea, thank you very much. “Watch it, cat.” I sealed up the tin again and set it aside.

Next, Anna handed me a stoppered clay pot, small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. Something inside smelled like chamomile with a bit of a floral overlay. “Arnica, but what else?”

“Yarrow,” Anna said bluntly. “They will help with the bruising.” She took the jar back, gesturing for me to raise my shirt. “I’ll apply some now, but later, you’ll either have to take the pain or have someone help you with the areas you can’t reach, like your back.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, warming some of the salve on her hands as I lifted my shirt and sweater, but I couldn’t stop the flush rising to my cheeks. Not because of what the healer was doing—neither her nor Zara was interested in my battered carcass in any way beyond healing. But because the minute she’d said someone I’d thought Tallis, and…

I blushed harder. “I’m sure Tallis has better things to do.”

“She never said who that someone had to be.” Zara’s grin was sly. “I wonder what’s making you turn so red. What are you thinking of over there, Little Fox ?”

I did not miss her emphasis on the nickname Tallis had chosen for me, but I didn’t rise to it. “It’s hot out,” I muttered. We were all wearing sweaters. I was fibbing and they knew it, but beyond a soft laugh, Zara didn’t say anything.

After a stern lecture to watch my ribs and take better care of my sorry hide, I was ordered to rest by the fire. I wish I could say that I was restless and annoyed at the practice, but the reality was that I dozed for a bit, curled around Chirp, a blanket wrapped around me.

When I woke, Tallis and Will had returned, both of them on horseback. Roon, Tallis’s dog, trotted alongside, his tongue out. Tallis rode his horse, Neev, and had taken the time to wash and shave. His saddlebags were packed full, and two bedrolls and a roll of canvas were lashed behind the saddle. He had a small camp guitar secured to his back. I guess he was planning on staying awhile.

Roon approached Chirp warily, hackles raised and his step light, but he didn’t make a sound.

Chirp whickered at him, his tone one of disdain that all felines seem to muster as easily as drawing breath. He sat down and began cleaning his paw. Roon, for his part, seemed to find this funny. His tongue lolled out and he gave one sharp bark. When Chirp continued to ignore him, Roon came over to sniff the big cave cat, and I decided they were doing well.

Will was on an Appaloosa—a white horse with gray spots, and she was a beaut. The gunslinger knew his way around a horse. His own bags were stuffed full, a bedroll and canvas tied tight.

“Now, I know for a fact that nothing we have would be worth that fine animal or those supplies.” I frowned at him as he dismounted.

Will grunted, amused. “You don’t even know what the supplies are.”

“We had nothing,” I said dryly. “And I know what nothing is worth.”

Tallis slid to the ground, clucking at Neev to follow him. “But I have things to trade, and you have something I want in return.” His eyes were filled with laughter as he slowly raised one brow.

My mouth went completely arid, like its own minuscule desert. That’s when Neev turned and I saw the hard case tethered to the back of the rolls. Tallis had brought the fiddle.

Seeing my expression shift from a heavy cocktail of embarrassment and want to an entirely different kind of want made Tallis laugh. “I would like you to play with me, Little Fox.” His tone was innocent, but his eyes held a mischievous glint. He patted the top of his guitar, sliding from my language into his. “I don’t know your word—play together?”

“ Accompany ,” I said, my cheeks hot, damn the skies. Pale as I was, when I flushed no one could miss it. I was as red as a strawberry in summer. “You want me to accompany you on the fiddle.” To overcompensate for my hot cheeks, my tone was cold, like I hated the idea. No one bought it for a second.

Anna stood, dusting off her skirts as Zara gathered up their things. Zara went to speak quietly to her brother, concern furrowing her brow. Anna took that time to go over her medicines and instructions with Will as well, not trusting me to pass along the information without conveniently leaving out any rules. Irritating, but also fair enough.

Before they retired back to camp, Anna glowered at me. “Stay alive. I’ve put a lot of work into you. Don’t waste it.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I will do my best.”

Zara gave me a hug. A quick thing, over before I realized it was happening. “I also wish you not to die.” Her mouth twitched.

I was beginning to see where Tallis got his sense of humor.

“I wasn’t planning on it,” I said wryly.

She grew suddenly serious. “Take care, Little Fox. What you’re doing will be very dangerous.” The sly gleam came back into her eyes. “And if you hurt my brother, or get him killed, I will curse your ghost.”

As farewells went, it was the kind you couldn’t really top, so I just nodded.