Written in Red (44 page)

“Like why we’re being called this time?” Kowalski asked. “Kind of strange to be told something is urgent and then be given a specific time to show up.”

“That’s part of it.” Another part was Captain Burke informing him that the mayor was grumbling about how many resources were being used on behalf of the Others when they didn’t feel inclined to return any favors. Burke suspected His Honor was floating the idea of Humans First and Last as his potential campaign platform.

Let me worry about the mayor, Lieutenant. You just remember that all roads travel into the woods.

In other words, remaining on good terms with the
terra indigene
was more important than human politics.

They pulled into the delivery area for the Liaison’s Office. Monty drew in a breath. Closed sign on the door, but he could see someone at the counter.

Someone who wasn’t Meg Corbyn.

“Come in with me, Karl.” Not his usual request, but this time he wanted backup with him instead of waiting in the car.

As they walked up to the door, Simon Wolfgard approached from the other side. He turned the lock and opened the door.

“Is Ms. Corbyn taking the day off?” Monty asked as they all walked up to the front counter.

“Midday break,” Simon replied. “She’ll be back for the afternoon deliveries.” He didn’t sound happy about that.

The door into the next room was wide-open. The room itself didn’t interest Monty, but the wheelchair parked next to a big table did.

“Ms. Corbyn seems to be accident prone all of a sudden,” he said softly. Would Meg be there for the afternoon deliveries, or would the Others have a different excuse for her absence?

Simon turned, looked at the wheelchair, and snarled. “She hurt her leg this morning. She
says
she doesn’t need the wheelchair, but that’s what is used when humans are injured. Isn’t it?”

Monty wasn’t sure if that was a question or a demand to confirm the answer the Wolf wanted. “Wheelchairs aren’t used for minor injuries, unless a person can’t walk for some reason.”

“Well, we don’t want her to walk on that leg today.” Then Wolfgard seemed to pull back, as if the admission that the Others were actually trying to take care of a human revealed too much. “That’s not why I called you. Meg . . .
We
suspect there is something wrong with the sugar lumps that were in the back room. The Liaison usually gives the ponies sugar on Moonsday as a treat, but she had a feeling something was wrong. Some of us believe the sugar was poisoned, but we don’t have a way of testing it.”

Monty put the pieces together and filled in the unspoken piece: Meg, the
cassandra sangue
, had cut herself and saw poison in the sugar. Simon wasn’t going to acknowledge that his Liaison was a blood prophet, but that explained his over-the-top solution to dealing with what should be a minor injury.

“Where are the sugar lumps now?” he asked.

“In the back room. We packed the box in another box,” Simon replied. “You can bring your car around to the back door so you don’t have to carry it far.”

What did she see besides poison that made you this wary?
Monty wondered. He looked at Kowalski. “Bring the car around to the back door.”

“Yes, sir.”

He turned back to Simon. “Do you have any idea who might have done this?” He’d received one of the flyers banning a woman named Asia Crane from the whole Courtyard, including the stores. And he’d heard the whisper that an employee had been fired for breach of trust, whatever that meant.

Simon hesitated. “No. No one had a reason to hurt the ponies.” He shifted from one foot to the other. “Lieutenant . . .” A deep breath before words tumbled out. “Skull and crossbones. A skeleton in a hooded robe. Screaming children with black snakes pushing out of their bellies.”

“What?” Monty braced his hands on the counter. Was that a threat?

“We think that poison was used to kill some human children. Or it will be used.”

“Here? In Lakeside?”

“Don’t know where. Don’t know when. Maybe it already happened. Maybe it’s something that can be stopped.” Simon took a step back from the counter. “I’ll open the back door for your man.”

Staggered, Monty stayed at the counter until Kowalski drove back to the delivery entrance. Simon Wolfgard didn’t come back to the front room, so Monty left.

“Back to the station?” Kowalski asked.

“Yes. Where is the box?”

“In the trunk. Figured that was better than having it in a closed car with us.”

Monty nodded. Keeping his face turned to the passenger’s-side window, he said, “Karl? Do you remember hearing about children being poisoned by someone dressed up like a skeleton or a death’s head in a hooded robe?”

Kowalski hit the brakes, then fishtailed the car before he regained control. “Sir?”

“We might have a line on another crime.”

“Gods above and below,” Kowalski muttered.

Neither of them spoke again until they reached the station. With Kowalski starting a search for a crime that matched those clues, Monty reported to Captain Burke.

Burke’s eyes turned a fiercer blue while his face paled. “That’s all he gave you?”

“I think he gave me all they had,” Monty replied. “He didn’t have to say anything.”

“Most of them wouldn’t have.” Burke sighed. “All right. We have only one lab in Lakeside set up to handle and identify poisons. Have Kowalski drive over and deliver the box personally. I’ll put in a call and see what I can do to bump our request to the top of the queue. You see what you can find out about children being poisoned. And as sad as it would be to find it, let’s hope you do find a report. If it already happened, we know where and when, and maybe even what kind of poison.”

“If it hasn’t happened, how do we warn the rest of the cities in Thaisia?” Monty asked.

“I’ll have to think about that. It may surprise you, Lieutenant, but not everyone likes me. And not everyone who does like me likes my stand with regard to the Others. We didn’t empty the precinct’s coffers to buy a prophecy, and anyone who has heard one will recognize that clues like that tend to come from a prophecy. If we admit it was a footnote in a prophecy done for the Lakeside Courtyard, we’re telling a whole lot of people that the Others have a resident blood prophet.”

“Putting a target on Meg Corbyn, with no certainty we’re doing our own people any good.”

Burke nodded. “I’ll make some calls and spread the word as best I can—after you run the search to find out if this already happened and was, may the gods be merciful, a tragic reference rather than a future possibility.”

“Yes, sir.”

Monty sent Kowalski to the lab and took over the search. How old were the children? And where were the children?

Lizzy,
he thought, looking at the picture of his daughter that sat on his desk.
Be safe, Lizzy.

When it started snowing in Simon’s office, he yanked off his sweater and shirt to cover the computer. Vlad knew more about the things than he did, but he did know that snow and anything that plugged into an electrical outlet weren’t a good combination. Hearing footsteps in the hall, he leaped for the doorway before Winter and her fury actually entered the room.

His torso and arms furred as a defense against the cold that surrounded her. Her gown fluttered despite an absence of wind. As bits of it flaked off, it became snow that rapidly covered the floor around her.

“Who tried to poison our ponies?” Her voice added an icy glaze to the frosted glass on his door and rose to the volume of a storm. “Who dared raise a hand against our companions and steeds?
Who?
”

“I don’t know,” Simon replied quietly, looking into her eyes. “Meg saw enough to protect them and to warn us, but she didn’t see who poisoned the sugar.”

An awful silence. The Elementals were dangerous enough when they gave passive guidance to Namid’s weather and seasons. When they were capricious and cruel, they could cleanse a piece of the world of everything but themselves.

“Should I ask Meg to try again?” Simon asked.

Winter touched the green scarf around her neck. “No,” she said, her voice quieting. “No. Jester says our Meg bled to protect the ponies. He says there was pain.”

“Yes.”

“She has done enough.” Winter started to turn away. Then she stopped and didn’t quite look at him. “Her leg. It will be difficult to walk over snow-rough. It might cause pain.”

“It might,” he agreed, not sure where she was headed with this.

“I will ask my sister if she would wake for a few days and soften the air. It will be easier for our Meg to walk if the pavement is free of snow.”

“She would appreciate that. And I appreciate that.”

Winter walked away, the train of her fluttering gown trailing behind her.

Simon rushed back to the desk and removed his shirt and sweater. Overall, not too many flakes fell in the office or on the desk. Since the computer was still running and didn’t explode when he touched a key, he figured it would be all right. Using the clothes, he had everything on the desk wiped down by the time Vlad came upstairs.

“She sounded angry,” Vlad said. He disappeared for a moment, then returned with a couple of towels from their restroom and helped Simon wipe down the furniture.

“But still in control enough not to create a blizzard inside the store.” He considered how she would have entered. “Did the books in the stockroom get snowed on?”

“No, just the floor. John is mopping that up now. I’ll get a broom. We can sweep up the snow in the hallway and on the stairs.” Vlad looked around, then extended a hand. “Give me the shirt and sweater. I’ll use the dryer at the social center. It’s closest, and your things will be dry by the time you need to take Meg back to the office for the afternoon deliveries.” He paused, then asked, “What are you going to do with Sam?”

“Blair is taking him. Nathan and I are having a hard enough time leaving the bandage on Meg’s leg alone. I don’t think a puppy could stop himself from worrying at it, and he could hurt her. She’ll stay with us this evening, and Sam can cuddle with her in human form.”

When they had the snow swept up, Simon receded the fur, put on a spare flannel shirt he kept in a bottom desk drawer, and got back to work.

CHAPTER 22

P
ausing at an intersection, Meg rolled down the driver’s-side window and breathed in air that held the warmth of spring. Oh, winter was still beneath that warmth, but the roads were clear of snow and ice, she was on her midday break, and she was alone for the first time since she made the cut two days ago.

Even friendship could feel smothering, especially when your friends were large and furry and liked a lot of physical contact. She came to realize that despite taking a human form, the Others’ understanding of human anatomy was mostly limited to what parts of that anatomy they liked to eat. They had responded to the cut on her leg with the intensity usually reserved for an amputation.

Yesterday she had appealed to Merri Lee, Heather, Ruth, and Elizabeth Bennefeld to explain that a simple cut that was healing well didn’t require a wheelchair, a driver, or a guard constantly watching her in case she keeled over. Simon didn’t want to accept it, but they hadn’t given him any wiggle room.

And that was why she was driving the BOW by herself on this fine Windsday afternoon, looking for a spot where she would stop and eat the box lunch Tess had made. Interior roads were clear for the first time since her arrival in the Courtyard, so she turned the BOW inward, following whatever road appealed to her.

Trees and open spaces. She saw a Hawk on a tree stump. She didn’t look closely enough to determine what he was eating for lunch.

Stopping at one intersection, she watched all the ponies canter past her, clearly enjoying a chance to run. She turned in the direction they had come, only to discover
they
had turned and were now following her, slowing when she slowed, lengthening their strides when she sped up a little, staying with her as she turned onto one road after another. They left her when she turned toward the little houses that belonged to the girls at the lake. She pulled up next to one of the houses, then got out to walk along the wide path that circled the lake.

Winter was skating, a mature woman now with hair that streamed down to her waist and was as white as the snow that floated in the air around her. Seeing Meg, she waved and said, “Stay there.” Her voice didn’t carry, exactly. It seemed to rise from the banks of snow.

The Elemental flowed up effortlessly from the lake, leaving no footsteps in the snow. She smiled at Meg. “Where are your companions?”

“I’m enjoying a wander without them,” Meg replied, returning the smile.

“Are you also enjoying the gift from me and my sister?” Winter asked.

It seemed an insult not to know what was meant by a gift. And, really, when Meg looked around, the meaning was clear enough. “Soft weather. Clear roads. The sun coming through a window to create a beam of warmth.” She looked at Winter. “You did this for me?”

“You like to be out on the land, like to touch it. We wanted to make it easier for you to walk and enjoy without hurting your leg.” Winter looked away. “The ponies are dear to us. What was intended for them is not something we will forget. But you saved them. That is also something we will not forget.” She looked at Meg and smiled. “Spring would like to meet you. She is down by the creek.”

“Then I’ll walk down and say hello.”

Meg continued around the lake to the road that ran between the lake and the creek. A girl stood on the rocks that formed a natural retaining wall, watching two ducks paddle around in open water no larger than the circle Meg could make with her arms. There were other dark patches at the edge where land and water met—a sign of melting ice.

The girl turned. Seeing Meg, she ran up a path between snowbanks. Her hair was a mix of browns, and her dress . . .

Meg wasn’t sure if her dress was made to resemble flowers or if it was made of the flowers that would be the first to bloom when the snow melted. She could match tulips, hyacinths, and crocuses with their images, but there were others, blue and delicate, that looked as if they would never bloom in any place that wasn’t wild.

The girl took Meg’s hand in her own, and her joyous laugh made a few of those delicate wildflowers bloom at her feet.

“You are our Meg,” she said. “I am Spring. I usually wake for a few days while Winter still reigns, although not quite this early. But we wanted to give you something as thanks for saving the ponies, and it’s not appropriate for Summer or Autumn to rise yet, so I’m here.” Her laughter sparkled in the air.

“I’m glad I was able to help.”
And I’ve wondered whether someone tried to poison them because I was here.
“You’re visiting for a few days?”

Spring nodded. “In another day or two, I’ll sleep again. Not so deep as before, but I’ll sleep most of the time for a few more weeks. Winter has kept a list of the new books that have come to our library since I danced in the Courtyard, and she says if I make a list of the ones I want to read, you’ll deliver them. This is true?”

How could she resist the girl and that smile? “Yes, it’s true.”

More laughter. More flowers blooming around them.

Then Spring turned serious. “The warmth awakens, but it also weakens. Beware, our Meg.” She pointed to the creek. “Do you see? The ice has yielded in some places. In other places, it is solid but weak. Not a place to walk or skate now. It will harden again in a few days, although maybe not all the way.”

“Why will it harden?” Meg asked.

“A storm is coming from our brothers and sisters in the north. By Watersday, it will cross Lake Etu. I will return to my bed, and Winter, Air, and Water will rule for a while longer.” Spring smiled at her. “I’m glad to have met you. I look forward to seeing you again.”

I hope I do see you again.
“I’d better get going. If I’m late getting back, Mr. Wolfgard will send the whole pack out looking for me.”

She had meant it as a joke, but Spring’s reply was serious.

“Of course he would,” Spring said. “Namid has given you to us, and we value the world’s gifts.” Giving Meg one more smile, she ran and hopped and skipped down the road.

Meg returned to her BOW and drove back to the office. She ate her lunch in the spotlessly clean back room while reading a chapter of the latest book she’d borrowed from the library.

If I’m late getting back, Mr. Wolfgard will send the whole pack out looking for me.

Namid has given you to us, and we value the world’s gifts.

And for the rest of the afternoon, she ignored the words that had produced a light prickling under her skin.

Asia sat in the Stag and Hare, watching the traffic and the Courtyard’s delivery entrance while she waited for the special messenger. She had gone to an upscale salon yesterday and changed her natural blond to a rich cinnamon. A change in foundation garments softened her breasts instead of emphasizing them, and a couple of new, looser sweaters completed her superficial transformation. It wasn’t a bad look for her, and she decided to think of this as a test run for a disguise that Asia Crane, SI, might use for an undercover assignment.

The messenger arrived, looked around, then beamed a smile in her direction. When he reached the table, he bent toward her, as if about to give her a kiss. Then he hesitated and touched her hand instead.

He’s something of an actor too,
Asia thought. He’d given the hostess the perfect impression of a man who wasn’t yet a lover but wanted to be.

“Anything interesting?” he asked as he draped his short winter coat over the back of the chair.

“Nothing.” She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice. There should have been an uproar in the Courtyard on Moonsday after the ponies ate the sugar, but there had been nothing then and nothing since.

“Nothing easily seen.” He opened his menu, skimmed the insert for the day’s specials, and placed his order as soon as the waiter arrived.

Asia ordered the soup and sandwich special and worked on being polite. She had altered her voice from syrupy to friendly but crisp. That, along with the difference in hair and cleavage, was a sufficient change to make the staff just uncertain enough about having seen her before.

When they were alone again, the messenger leaned forward, looking as if he were doing nothing more than flirting with a pretty woman.

“Someone became uneasy about the sugar and didn’t give it to the ponies,” he said. “The police have it now and will test it for poison.”

“That’s not good,” Asia muttered.

“It’s not significant. Our benefactor made a call and took care of it. The bottom line is humans before Others, so the tests on the sugar have been bumped way down in the lab’s queue. We’ll be gone before anyone gets around to fulfilling that particular request.”

“So it didn’t do anything for us.”

“Oh, but it did. It confirmed that our benefactor’s property is hiding in the Courtyard and using up a valuable asset to help the beasts. Knowing that, we take our preparations to the next stage.”

The waiter brought their meals and topped off their water glasses. The first glass and top off was part of the meal in restaurants like this one. After that, with the water tax being what it was, a glass of water cost as much as a glass of wine.

“The story I’ve spun for the locals is that two dozen men, friends of mine from our university days, have come to Lakeside for a winter vacation—snowmobiling, cross-country skiing, and so forth. There are good trails in the park, and there is an inn nearby that caters to visitors who enjoy winter sports. It even has a parking area just for snowmobiles. This thaw has soured things somewhat for winter sports, but we’re exploring the area and enjoying a chance to catch up with old friends. We aren’t complaining to the proprietors about the unseasonably mild weather, and that makes us good customers.” After giving her another smile, he took a big bite out of his sandwich.

“Two dozen men amount to a lot of expense to retrieve one item.” Asia swallowed a spoonful of soup. She hadn’t believed the benefactor would send that many men for this job. Her backers would want a large chunk of the finder’s fee that she’d been promised, but even so, her cut would be substantial. And that was just from helping the benefactor reacquire Meg. The
real
money would come from the acquisition of the Wolf pup.

“According to the weather reports, there’s a storm coming in on Watersday.” The messenger wiped his mouth with a napkin. “We’ll use it to cover our tracks and reacquire the property.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to get in and out before the storm hits?” Asia asked. “No,” she continued, answering her own question. “Those damn Crows are always watching.”

He nodded. “My men scouted the neighborhood, including the area of the park nearest the Courtyard. Some of the Crows spotted the snowmobiles and followed two of them halfway across the park. The birds need to be grounded by a storm so we can work without being spied on.”

“You’re taking a chance if the city closes some of the roads.”

“The storm is coming down from the north, and we’ll be headed out on the roads running east or south. We’ll stay ahead of it, and even if we have to hole up for a few hours, we’ll get far enough away that anyone trying to follow us will lose our trail. In the meantime, we’re going to cause some mischief.”

“Like what?” Having more appetite now than she’d had at the start of the meal, Asia tasted her sandwich.

“A few college boys with good throwing arms, a van with a side door, and a few dozen eggs to make a mess. Firecrackers thrown over the fence by a team on a snowmobile. Setting rags and paper on fire at one of the Courtyard entrances. We’ll be pulling the same pranks on neighborhood streets in the area.” He gave Asia a big smile. “Besides keeping the police busy, we’ll have a chance to observe how the Others respond—how many head for the problem, how many head for whatever places they think need defending, and what areas are left vulnerable that we can exploit.”

“The business area of the Courtyard is usually deserted once their stores close,” Asia said.

He nodded. “And the door in the parking lot’s back wall is wood with a simple lock. Their security is pitiful. Makes you wonder how they’ve managed to stay in control of this continent.”

“When does this mischief begin?” Asia asked. Then she almost dove to the floor in response to a rapid series of loud bangs.

The messenger grinned. “Right about now.”

“Is this typical spring fever?” Monty asked as Kowalski drove them to the next case of reported mischief. They’d already had three calls from the Courtyard. Simon Wolfgard had been annoyed about the first set of firecrackers that had been tossed in the Liaison’s Office delivery area and the Courtyard’s customer parking lot. And he hadn’t been amused by the eggs that had been thrown at the windows of Howling Good Reads and A Little Bite. But he’d been seriously pissed off about the second set of firecrackers tossed in the delivery area, because the dumb-ass teenagers had lingered on the sidewalk, taunting Nathan, who slammed out of the office in challenge. Then Meg ran after Nathan. She tripped and might have hurt herself if she hadn’t landed right on the Wolf,
effectively stopping him from getting too close to the firecrackers.

Louis Gresh had answered that call, and Monty was waiting to hear from the bomb squad’s commander whether there was anything hidden among the firecrackers that could have injured woman or Wolf
.

“Typical?” Kowalski shook his head. “Most kids aren’t going to risk getting smacked for using the week’s ration of eggs, so this egging windows is new.”

“They could be buying the eggs on their own,” Monty said.

“Eggs cost twice as much without the household ration coupon,” Kowalski countered. “High school and college boys coming in to buy eggs and paying that price are going to get noticed. And if they buy from a store in their own neighborhood, we’ll hear about it or their parents will.”

Monty pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t like this, Karl. It feels like we’re being set up.”

“By whom?”

He lowered his hand and sighed. “I don’t know.”

They pulled up to the curb and got out. Looking at the egg-splattered front window, they didn’t need to ask the irate owner what the problem was.