The Lords of Valdeon (10 page)

Riley stood on his toes and peered into the surgery window. Doctor McFadden wasn't inside. Two bright green eyes and a head of strawberry hair suddenly appeared on the other side of the pane. He jumped back, nearly falling on his backside again. The window lifted open and Beatrice McFadden, the doctor's daughter, stuck her head out.

"Why are you peeking in windows this time of night, Riley Logan?" She clutched at the neck of her shawl. Bits of ribbons from her dressing gown popped up over the fabric. Freckles sprinkled on her nose and cheeks made her look much younger than her fifteen years.

"Well, I'm not here to see you, so you can stop your hinting." Riley tugged angrily on his waistcoat. "I've come for your dad. Seth's ill."

"Dad's gone around front. You'd best go find him and stop loitering." She slammed the window and stormed away, braids bobbing as she walked.

Loitering. He wasn't loitering. Beatrice was a little pest. It was lucky for her dad he was the only doctor on the island. Rude greetings from that daughter of his would send the town folk running from his door.

Riley hurried around the corner. Emma stood hovering over Doctor McFadden's shoulder as he examined Seth. She murmured something low to the back of his balding head. He turned at her words, face pale and eyes wide with shock. The stunned look on his face dropped the bottom out of Riley's stomach.

"Let's get him inside." Doctor McFadden gripped Seth's limp form, struggling to lift him. Riley bolted forward and took his other arm.

"Great gulls, he's grown! It was a good thing Riley was there to help you, Emma."

"Sometimes we find the strength when those we love are in trouble."

The half-lie flowed easily out of her mouth. There was no sign of remorse or guilt. It was as if Emma was someone used to telling lies. Riley looked away before she could see him watching.

Doctor McFadden led them inside. "I don't know what you boys have been up to tonight, Riley Logan, but you are going to stay in this house until your dad comes for you."

They laid Seth down on the infirmary table, and Emma began to undress him. Seth moaned a few incoherent words. Thrashing about weakly, he resisted Emma's efforts. She began to drop Seth's clothes to the floor as she stripped the layers. A tiny glass bottle slid across the wood to stop at Riley's feet. He picked up the funny little bottle. It was an odd sort of thing for Seth to carry about with him, but he'd hold onto it for his friend all the same. Riley stepped back and put it in his trouser pocket along with his hands. He didn't know what else to do with them. Nothing he could think of would help Seth now.

The doctor pulled Riley to the hallway. "Can you use a gun?"

"Aye, Doctor, I'm a fair shot."

"I want you to stand guard."

He opened his gun case and handed Riley his musket. It was a heavy weapon with a good polish on the handle. Doctor McFadden had spent many hours on their farm hunting game birds. He nursed his musket like a fragile babe. Giving it to Riley now was telling of just how much trouble might come their way. The doctor shoved an ammunition bag into Riley's arms and stood back to have a look at him.

"Mrs. McCloud has been murdered in her bed. Emma says the door was wide open when she found her mistress. I'd guess some murdering raider villain caught her unawares." Hate crossed the doctor's face. "There's no sign of her brother."

Anne McCloud was dead? Riley shook his head, ignoring the sweaty curls as they stuck to his neck. What fiend would raise a hand to a gentle soul like Anne McCloud? It didn't seem possible unless her foul brother had finally snapped. By the look on Doctor McFadden's face, he was weighing the possibility as well.

Riley passed in front of the surgery door and stopped. Seth was drenched in sweat. Wetness had pasted his thick hair flat against his head. Low moans full of grief and worry filled the surgery as Seth struggled against Emma's hands. Riley stared at his best friend's writhing body. Seth could die. He tried to think back on their last words to each other. Had Riley said his goodbyes? He couldn’t remember. Great gulls! It was nonsense thinking such things. Seth would recover. He was strong and one of the most determined people Riley knew.

"Well, don't stand there gaping. Go stand guard like I told you." The doctor pushed Riley toward the front door and stepped into the surgery to look after Seth.

The crystal lamps of the square were still glowing brightly, though their light hadn't kept the raiders at bay. Riley took up position just outside the front door. He held the musket before him, scanning the dark streets. Raiders had murdered Seth's mum. What if they did come back to finish the job on Seth? Would Riley have the stomach to kill a man to protect his friend? He didn't know, but he wouldn't stand by with Seth helpless while someone tried to…

"Who goes there? Show yourself, I warn you. I'll put a hole in your fat head!" Riley lifted his musket and pointed it at the movement in the darkness.

"Stand down, Riley!" Constable McTavish and a handful of men from the militia ran out of the darkness. "It's true then? We've had a killing?"

"Aye, Constable, Anne McCloud has been murdered in her bed." Riley brushed at the wetness stinging his eyes. In his shock, he hadn't noticed the tears before. "Seth's inside out of his head with sickness. We don't know what happened."

Constable McTavish nodded and looked with a pale face toward the McCloud home. "You men stay here with Riley and watch the house. One of you go to the stables and ask Mr. Morgan for the loan of a wagon. If these raiders are after the boy, then we must move him to a safer place."

The constable walked at a sharp clip to Seth's house. A strange sort of dread fell upon Riley's heart as he kept his eyes upon the constable. He had the right idea moving Seth. This wasn't the first time Amity raiders tried to hurt his best friend. He'd escaped their vile hands at age four when the raiders had crept into the farmlands and tried to snatch him away during the Logan's Harvest Party. Dad and the other men of Marianna had seen justice done that night, but it had come too late for Charlie McDermott's tiny twin brother. Though Riley had been only a few months older than Seth, he still remembered the killing with nightmarish clarity.

Constable McTavish came slowly toward them again. His face was solemn. He gripped Riley's shoulder briefly and walked into the doctor's house. Reality had come with him. Anne McCloud had passed from the world. Haven Bay wouldn't be the same without her kind, gentle ways.

"Seth shouldn't be moved!" Doctor McFadden shouted, following the constable back out into the street.

"If you'd seen the terrible things they did to Anne McCloud, well, you'd know why it's necessary. Think of your daughter, Doctor. You'd best send her to the neighbor's home and pray these bastards don't return. Get him ready."

A wagon approached them carrying the militia men. Their driver stopped the nervous ponies before them. Constable McTavish took the doctor's arm and hurried him back inside. Their wagon bumped and swayed along the Main Row a short time later. Judging by the stars, it was well past midnight when they reached the Marianna Airship Port. Its lonely skeletal frame stood with empty docks reaching out over the sea. In the past, visiting sailors had been willing to help fight off the thieving vermin to protect their cargo. The men of Marianna had defended their lands with fewer numbers this time. Luck had certainly been with the raiders tonight. They'd had an easy time of it.

Riley turned on his perch beside the driver for a quick glance at Emma. She'd said something about terrible things happening. He was beginning to wonder if this raider attack had been a diversion. Maybe the real purpose behind the night's trouble was to get Seth and his mum alone.

The lights from Paddy's Inn and Pub burned brightly against the darkness. Its owner answered the pounding at his door with a loaded musket. His bulbous pink nose protruded through the gap. Sharp eyes examined the constable and his companions before he swung the door open.

"Paddy will show you where to take Seth." Constable McTavish ushered the men carrying their charge through the door. "Do you want a lift back to town, Riley?"

His legs were shaking when he jumped off the wagon. "You aren't staying? What if those raiders come back after Seth?"

"We've still got a killer roaming about Marianna." The constable rested a hand on Riley's shoulder. "Paddy and Teb are armed. Seth will be safe enough now. Are you coming? "

"No, Constable. I'll be staying right here with Seth." Riley gripped the musket tighter. "Someone needs to watch over him."

He pushed into the common room. Paddy and his barkeep, Teb McKinney, had cleared all the tables and locked up the drink for the night. The pub had long since closed to customers. He headed through the empty tables toward the stairs leading up to the bedchambers. A strange spark of energy lifted the hairs on his arms when he walked close to the bar. There sitting upon its surface was a single glass. The remains of a dark liquor coated the bottom.

"Miss Emma is with Seth in the last room on the right." Paddy whisked up the empty glass and put it behind the bar. "She'll be needing your help."

Riley nodded. He stretched the tense muscles in his shoulders as he climbed the stairs. This day had turned into a long one. He was beginning to imagine things. An empty glass was common enough in a pub. His nerves were getting the better of him with good reason. Seth close to death. Mrs. McCloud murdered and her killer still on the loose. Peaceful Marianna had become a killing ground.

Smelling the pungent odors of herbs, he found Seth's sickroom. Emma was already inside. She leaned over the bed to straighten Seth’s covers. Aging hands lovingly dipped a cloth in the basin of cool water.

"His skin is still hot to the touch." She gently wiped his forehead. "He'll survive, won’t he?"

Doctor McFadden ran a hand over his balding head and frowned. "Only the Creator can say."

"Of course he will, Emma." Riley lifted a hand to lightly touch her shoulder and then let it drop. "Seth is too stubborn to quit on life."

He sat down in the uncomfortable wooden chair by the window and rested the musket over his lap. It was going to be a long night. Fatigue nudged at his body, but Riley ignored it for Seth's sake. Paddy knocked on the open door. He had a kettle of tea with three cups. Riley took his eagerly and let the warming liquid pour down his throat. It was nice and strong. His eyes were bound to stay open now.

An unsettling stillness fell upon Marianna as Riley kept watch at the window. It was like the aftermath of a storm. His eye lids drifted downward, lulled by the constant rush of ocean toward rock. In the wee hours of a dark morning, Riley lost his battle with fatigue and fell into sleep.

Angry shouts pierced through the temporary peace. Riley started awake, sending his forgotten teacup shattering to the floor. It splashed upon his bare shins. The liquid had gone cold hours ago.

Emma wasn't in the room. She'd left her shawl hanging over the back of her chair at Seth's bedside. Nothing could pull Emma away unless more trouble had come for them. Then the shouts invading his sleep erupted again. He didn't like leaving Seth alone, but curiosity won over caution. Casting one last look at his best friend, he crept out of the room. It was black in the hallway. Riley’s foot took another step and didn’t find floor. He clutched at the wall, feeling his way with an outstretched boot.

"That’s enough out of you, Headmaster!"

He couldn't mistake the voice. Elder Newcastle and Fergus McCloud were quarreling again. Imagine bickering at a time like this. Two grown men should be able to put their hatred aside for a few days. If he was pressed to pick, Riley wasn’t sure which side he’d choose. Elder Newcastle owned the only wool mercantile on Marianna and half the buildings in town. He overcharged the business owners on rent and tried to cheat the woolie farmers on the price of their wool. Dad was there to make certain he behaved.

Mr. McCloud, on the other hand, built their school, the Lookout. and the airship port with his own money. It seemed to Riley the headmaster took pleasure in reminding everyone — especially Elder Newcastle — that nothing would come or go from Marianna without his say-so.

They were standing toe to toe when Riley reached the base of the stairs. Both men were in a rage, ready to come to blows. Emma sat with Doctor McFadden at a nearby table. Her head slowly rocked upon her open palms. The doctor gripped her shoulder, encouraging her to sip from a glass of liquor.

"Your nephew has put us all in danger." Elder Newcastle stuck his pudgy belly into the space between them. "It’s a wonder the entire town wasn't murdered."

"Young McCloud is one of us. We watch over our own. Talk to the constable if you're so worried." Doctor McFadden lifted tired eyes to the elder. "Seth is still very ill. I daresay he should remain under this roof until he can travel. Satisfied?"

"I’m satisfied if the entire McCloud household remains here." The elder lifted his chin and threw a spiteful glare at Fergus.

"I won't be caged in this hovel while my work suffers." He slammed the tip of his walking stick upon the floor and headed toward the door.

"You cold-hearted creature! Anne just died and Seth is upstairs fighting for his life. Is your work all you can think about?" Riley’s mum cried, coming into the light.

Dad was right beside her with a look of murder on his face. He kept a steady arm about her. His dad was a fair, law-abiding man, but there were a few times he'd taken justice into his own hands. Riley recognized the glint of poorly contained rage about his eyes. Dad was close to giving old Fergus Fussbottom a long overdue beating.

"Look at him, Mrs. Logan." Elder Newcastle pointed at the headmaster's snarling face. "There’s your answer."

The elder turned his great bulk and headed out into the dark morning air. Fergus Fussbottom's cold glare stabbed at his departing back. He struck at the floor with his walking stick and then stormed toward the lower level of the inn.

"Just a moment, Headmaster!" Dad shouted, stepping forward to block his way. "Seth is still…"