Hooded Man (99 page)

The stranger kicked out unexpectedly in a move Tate had never come across before. It caught him unawares and he only just had time to step back and avoid it. As he did so, his opponent drew the axe on his belt. He held it high and swung it, forcing Tate to bring his stick up lengthways. The edge of the axe embedded in the wood, but then the man got in a swift punch to the chin with his free hand.

Tate took the blow with practised ease, rolling with it so as not to cause too much damage. The next one came so fast, though, he couldn’t help but let out a small cry as the man’s fist slammed into his cheek. Tate slid back against the wall, dropping slightly. The Native American yanked his axe out of Tate’s stick. Still reeling, Tate released the stick with one hand and swung it like a club at the intruder – who ducked, coming back up and batting the stick away with his elbow. He then slid it under his arm so that Tate couldn’t use it, pulling backwards and at last disarming the holy man.

Tate just had time to see Mark at the doorway before the stranger swivelled, using the priest’s own stick against him; striking him on the side of the head. Everything went black as Tate felt himself slide down the wall.

He vaguely heard the exchange between Mark and the stranger, but couldn’t hold on to consciousness any longer.

As he always did in situations like this – when he felt helpless and he’d done everything he possibly could – the Reverend Tate prayed.

S
HADOW HAD BEEN
aware of the man behind him even before his opponent reached the corner.

Yes, he’d been focused on what the teenage boy and girl were saying, not because the information meant anything to him – Shadow cared nothing about what happened in Wales and Scotland – but because it might hold ramifications for his mission. As soon as he’d heard them mention Robert was missing in action, he’d tuned in. That could affect his plans. How do you lure someone into a trap when they’ve already been caught by somebody else? This Widow, it seemed, had the Hooded Man in her web, which might potentially mess things up for Shadow.

Nevertheless, he had to press on – trust that forces with more vision than him had things well in hand. That meant handling this situation. Shadow came out from the darkness, let himself be seen – and at the same time saw the overweight man out of the corner of his eye. It would have been comical if it were not for the seriousness of his predicament. The local was hardly worthy of his attention, had it not been for the fact that he needed to complete his task, hopefully without drawing undue attention to himself.

Shadow had to admit, the older man had surprised him. He’d fought admirably. There was more to the stocky individual than met the eye; he’d drawn Shadow into a fracas he had neither the time nor the inclination for. That was what had made him draw his axe, to get it over and done with. His misdirection had worked and Shadow had finally been able to floor his enemy.

It was only as the man slid down the wall and his jacket opened that Shadow saw what he was wearing beneath: the black shirt buttoned up to the top, the dog collar. He’d been fighting with a religious man. All right, not
his
religion, but a religion all the same. It was another surprise, from an opponent who had astounded him already. The Reverend had fought like a soldier, but stood for the doctrines of peace and goodwill. Shadow was still thinking about this when he heard the boy say from behind:

“Reverend Tate? Hey, get away from him!”

Shadow turned, holstering his axe and looking the boy up and down – not that he hadn’t seen him before in the room, but now he was assessing how much of a threat he would be. He’d been wrong about the priest, and didn’t intend to make a snap decision this time. The figure in front of him might only be a kid, but could well be highly trained.

“Who are you?” asked the boy.

“That is not important,” Shadow told him, stalling for time as he glided forward, leaving the felled clergyman. Shadow saw the boy’s eyes flash sideways, about to call out, sound an alarm and cry for help. Shadow couldn’t let that happen. He dove at him, pushing the boy back into the radio room.

The boy grabbed Shadow’s wrists, taking him backwards in an attempt to throw him over. More a wrestling move than anything, which made Shadow wonder just who had trained him. He was good; but Shadow was better. He resisted, letting the boy hit the ground, but tearing himself away and standing upright.

The girl with the freckles made a move to attack. Turning her lunge back on her, Shadow put an arm around the girl and had his knife at her throat in seconds. It stopped her from struggling, and gave the boy on the floor pause for thought. He would not do anything stupid while there was a blade at his woman’s throat.

“What do you want?” asked the young man as he started to rise again.

“That is not
your
concern. Which one of you means the most to the Hooded Man?”

“Me,” said the girl quickly. “I’m his daughter.”

The boy on the ground opened his mouth to contradict her, but Shadow could tell the girl was lying anyway. “Try again.”

“It’s me,” her boyfriend said. “I’m his... son.” There had been some hesitation, and it was true that in trying to save the girl he might well say anything. This wasn’t Hood’s flesh and blood, Shadow sensed that much, yet it
was
his son.

“You will come with me,” Shadow said.

The girl was about to scream until Shadow increased the pressure of the blade.

“Don’t,” he warned her. Then, once he was sure she would keep quiet, he shifted the knife to her side, still keeping the pressure there. He instructed the boy to rip a sleeve from his shirt, and forced the girl to bind him with it at the wrists. With another strip, taken from the bottom of the boy’s trousers, she gagged him.

“You won’t make it out of here,” she promised him. Shadow took no notice. He turned the knife around and brought the hilt down on the back of her head, and she slumped to the floor. The boy began to growl something through the gag, and Shadow realised that it wouldn’t be nearly enough to shut him up as they exited the castle. So he did the same to the boy – a glancing blow to the side of the head, rendering him unconscious.

He went back out into the corridor and dragged the priest into the room, leaving him and his stick lying next to the girl. Shadow spotted the notebook and pen on the table and scribbled something on the paper, below what had already been written. A note for the Hooded Man, when he returned.

Finally, he hefted his unconscious prize onto his shoulder and, checking the corridor, stepped out and closed the door behind him. Shadow allowed the pockets of darkness to cover both him and his captive, until they were outside the castle, where it consumed them completely.

CHAPTER TWELVE

H
E’D BEEN LOATH
to split up again; in a place like this, you had to ask yourself if you’d see the other person alive again. But, as Sian had pointed out, she was meant to be in a certain area, and so was he. If they didn’t return, it could raise suspicions.

“I have to get back to the other girls,” she told Dale. “You should be in the kitchens.”

Reluctantly, he’d agreed. They’d already taken a risk with the radio operator – though they’d poured even more of the booze down his throat, and left him leaning back in the chair. He wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, nor remembering much when he did. Concussion and whiskey would see to that. He’d probably be reported, too, when he was discovered, for drinking on the job; put somewhere to dry out... or worse. Dale doubted the Dragon took very kindly to that kind of behaviour.

Splitting up would mean they’d double their chances of finding out something about Sian’s Aunty Meghan.

“Can I ask you something?” Dale had said just before they parted.

“Sure. Anything.”

“I have to ask about... you and The Dragon.”

“You
really
want to know what happened? What happens when he takes a girl away?”

Dale wasn’t sure that he did, but the question was out there anyway. It had been hounding him since Sian had been dragged off, and even more so now that he’d gotten to know her a little. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you and that creep.”

“I think I got off lightly compared to some. He... he made me dance for him a little; told me what he’d
like
to do to me. But, well, in the end he couldn’t.”

“What?”

“You know: the
big
couldn’t. To tell the truth, I don’t think he’s actually been with a woman. A girl can just tell these things sometimes.”

“And what happened then?”

“Then he sent for the guards to take me away.”

“So he’s not really got what he wanted from you?”

“With a bit of luck, he never will.”

Dale had to be content with that, and hope that while they were trying to find Meghan, Jack was planning something major on the outside. He’d considered taking a quick look around before heading back to the kitchen, but apart from the time factor – it’d already taken quite a while to find the radio room and send the message – he had no idea where the meeting between the Dragon and Tanek was taking place. The only good thing was that at least Dale and Tanek had never met, so he wasn’t likely to recognise him as a Ranger, even if he bumped into him accidentally. Convincing himself there wasn’t much more he could do, Dale figured his time was probably better spent helping Sian.

Thankfully, the Dragon didn’t have much call for food overnight. It gave Dale some leeway, and after grabbing a couple of hours of restless sleep, he was up and about and looking into Sian’s aunty. And praying the Dragon didn’t call on the girl in the meantime.

That morning, he asked around some of the members of staff he’d become friendly with, people who liked to gossip. It was surprising how much, actually, seeing as they were supposed to be in fear of their lives. But people were people whatever the situation, and talking about folk behind their backs was still a popular pastime even in this post-apocalyptic age. A middle aged woman called Sally, who did a lot of the cooking for the Dragon and his soldiers, had been of most use. She told him that there was a maid called Meghan who their boss had drafted into his innermost personnel.

“I’m surprised you haven’t seen her yourself,” she told him. “She comes to collect food and drink most mealtimes.”

“For the Dragon?” asked a puzzled Dale, who did recall seeing a woman wheeling a trolley away from the kitchens from time to time, but hadn’t paid much attention to her.

“Don’t know and haven’t asked. Best way, round here.”

He’d kept an eye out, around lunchtime especially, but Dale almost missed her when he was roped into fixing sandwiches for some of the Dragon’s men, back from patrol. As he looked over again, trying not to draw attention to himself, there she was finally – wheeling in an empty trolley to be loaded up. There was definitely a resemblance to Sian. The woman had a purple bruise flowering on her right eye.

Dale finished up the sandwich he was working on, then went over on the pretext of lending a hand. He made sure he caught her attention as he was placing the food on the trolley – there looked to be enough for three people there, but that was nothing new with the Dragon. Dale waited until it had all been piled on, then offered to keep the door open as she backed the trolley out.

“I need to speak to you,” he whispered when she was close enough.

Meghan glanced away, nervously scanning the room, then said, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear: “Would you mind giving me a hand getting this into the lift?” Dale nodded, flashing what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He began to speak in the hallway, but she shook her head sharply as two of the Dragon’s men walked by. Dale took hold of the other side of the trolley, and when they eventually reached the lift, Meghan motioned for him to enter with her. However, so did another of the Dragon’s soldiers, squeezing in just before the doors closed. Meghan asked the man what floor he wanted, then pressed the number for them all to descend.

The man got out a couple of stops before them, but when Dale began again, Meghan pressed a finger to his lips. The doors finally opened on their level and Dale helped her out with the trolley.

“Okay, it’s safe to talk now.”

“Safe?”

“His eyes and ears are everywhere. We should keep walking, I can’t be late delivering this stuff.”

“To the Dragon?”

Meghan shook her head. “To his family.”

“He has
family
here?” This was a new one on Dale, and information he could probably use later, especially if Jack and the other Rangers showed up.

“Mother, father and grandmother. I’m basically their slave.”

Figures
, thought Dale. The Dragon saw people as his property, so why would his family act any different? It was probably even their fault. “That who gave you the eye? His father?”

Meghan shook her head, and he could feel her hand shaking as she pushed the trolley. “I spilt some soup on his Dad, though. Had to be punished.”

Dale couldn’t tell whether she actually believed the last bit. Had she been here so long that it felt normal to be beaten for spilling soup? Jesus, look what that fat bastard was doing to these people. For a second Dale wondered if the punishment had involved more than just the punch, but didn’t ask; he was afraid to. And more than a little afraid that Sian would get similar before too long.