Chloë (7 page)

The
days quickly blew by.  It may not have exactly been what Maria had in mind
for Heather, but at least Heather was being responsible and helpful.  Of
course the idea of asking Heather to help teach dance was about like asking a
fish if it wanted to swim: it seemed to be second nature to her.  Chloë
just rolled with it all; beyond learning local dances and customs she was
having a grand time meeting a wide variety of people from all walks of
life.  Chloë was none the wiser as to what she might do professionally,
but she now realized there were a lot more opportunities out there than she had
first imagined for a town that was outwardly so simple.

Noon
of the big day was upon them and the girls were delighted to meet April and May
at the pub for lunch.  Not that the locals weren’t nice people, but the
twins brought a level of mischievous humor with them that was enjoyed by all.

“Did
you bring your bells?” asked one of the twins.

Heather
laughed, “I didn’t pack them, but
someone
put them in my backpack for
me.  I wonder who that could have been.”

“Maria,
actually,” replied the second twin with a broad grin.  “Does Chloë have a
set?”

Heather
quickly turned to look at Chloë, “I’m sorry.  I didn’t even think about
that.  Do you have a set?  Ack!  Of course she doesn’t have a
set silly, she just moved here from off world…,” she groused to herself.

“She
is quickly starting,” began one twin. “to lose her accent,” finished the
second.  “You are quite the good study of language,” they offered in
unison.

Chloë
flushed at that, “Thank you both very much for that.  I have been
trying.”  Chloë was tickled; it wasn’t like the twins to say something
like that unless they really meant it.  “But, I don’t know what bells you
are talking about, much less have any.”

“These
might be,” began one twin.  “Of some help then,” finished the second as
she placed a small bag in front of Chloë.

Chloë
opened it to find a whole range of brightly polished silver bells with ribbons
attached to them.  “Well they are all very lovely, but what are they
for
?”
she asked of the twins.

The
pair of twins just laughed so it was up to Heather, “I
keep
forgetting
your aren’t from around here.  At big dances, eligible girls wear bells on
their fingers and toes, or ankles for that matter.  The bells on ribbons
lets guys know that you are old enough to start to date and willing to look
around.  If you see a gal whose bells are attached by rings, well, she has
already got a steady boyfriend and they are serious.  For larger dances
and mixed dances it lets you know who will mix and when the boys just need to
watch their furry noses.  If you don’t want to get asked by a boy to dance
at all, then don’t wear bells.  Then you will only be dragged into the
family circle dances.”

Chloë
laughed, “So no bells is, not interested.  Ribbons and bells is cruising
for a guy.  Bells on rings are, I have a guy already thank you.”

“Exactly!”
beamed Heather.  “So what will it be?  Bells or no bells?”

“What
the heck.  I’ve gone through all the trouble to learn the local dances;
bells it is!”

“Excellent!”
replied the twins in unison.

The
dances started right at sundown, and soon the town center was alive with people
and the flicker of lamps mixed in with artificial lights.  The mezzanine
to the town hall was laid out in a great banquet, and Chloë was fascinated to
notice people brought more food and drink to the long tables as the night wore
on.  It was truly a community event!  April and May along with two
local musicians played from a central elevated gazebo while the great swirling
masses of dancers surrounded them.  Heather was quite the trouper; she
made almost every open dance.  Chloë had far less endurance but had no
less fun.  She was flattered to be asked to dance by a variety of boys as
well as being asked to join the larger dances that contained between two and
four girls per boy.  It was all quite so different and a lot of fun.

Ultimately,
however, the refreshments kept calling her back; she was going through an
insane amount of fluids trying to keep up with Heather.  She was in no
shape compared to her.  Heck, none of the boys seemed to be able to stay
on their feet as long as giggling Heather.  Chloë sighed pleasantly to
herself as she watched the masses below.

“Enjoying
the evening, miss?” asked as young man behind her. 

She
turned to find a fetching young man of eighteen or nineteen, “Why yes, it has
been a lot of fun.”

He
smiled cryptically, “Too bad not everyone is having fun.  Anna, for
example, is having a terrible time.”

Chloë’s
hair stood on end—Anna was the name of her governess. “What about Anna…”

The
man’s grin turned more sinister, “Well, she survived the crash, but is in poor
shape.  We can’t decide who we should take her to for proper medical
help.  The nearest Altshea canton here on Afon, or maybe back to Bervik.”

“What
do you want?” demanded Chloë with an icy breath.

“Well,
we would like
you
to ride along with her back home.  And if that
doesn’t seem to suit your fancy, a generous cash donation would go a long way
to ensure Anna made it across the border and safely to a local hospital.”

“You
are nothing but a self-serving mercenary,” snarled Chloë.

“Yes,
but you may be surprised how often we get the jobs done.  All those dirty
jobs your precious father doesn’t want to admit doing.”

“So
are you the ones responsible for my mother’s departure too?”

“No,”
he laughed, “that was more than a little before my time.  Things are
simple. If you don’t want to go back home and don’t want for Anna to have to do
all that explaining, then you meet us across the border tomorrow night with
three million in cash and everything will be fine.”  He handed her a small
card with a single address on it.  “Eleven o’clock at night on
Friday.  No big deal.”

“Even
if I wanted to, how would I come up with that much cash?”

The
young man smiled, “The Nedej Mercantile Bank.  Your father holds many
assets there, and his daughter should have no problem pulling some petty cash.”

“Petty
cash?  Three million?” asked Chloë incredulously.

He
just shrugged, “You could at least try, eh?  See you Friday.”  With
that he wandered off into the crowd and quickly disappeared.

Chloë
just sat there in shock and disbelief.  All the life seemed to drain from
her and despair and desperation started to take over.  Could she even get
the cash if she wanted to?  Tomorrow night, and travel how far?  Was
Anna actually alive but just injured like he claimed or was it all a ruse?

“Are
you all right, pretty lady?” suddenly asked a young boy of about eight.

Chloë
tried to smile at the youngster, but just couldn’t.  Instead she broke out
crying.

“You
are Heather’s friend, aren’t you?  You stay here; I’ll go get Heather for
you!”  The little boy sprang into action and quickly disappeared as well.

Chloë
had just enough time to start a second cycle of depression and self-guilt when
Heather came running up to her.  “Little Penn said you were… oh,
no!   What happened Chloë?  Someone try to get fresh with you?”

Chloë
shook her head, “No, someone came up and said that my governess Anna was alive
but horribly hurt and I had two choices: return with them home or pay a
ludicrous amount of cash on Friday and they would turn her over to the local
hospitals.”

“One
day… I assume the rendezvous is across the border…think think think.  Odds
are, they are going to try and double cross you; capture you and the
cash…”  Heather’s mind was whirling but it was her relative calm that
surprised Chloë.  “We pack up and head out in the morning.  I’ll get
a message to Dad and see if he can meet us there.  All else fails, he has
some old friends in the borderlands.  Okay, back to the inn.  Pack up
and sleep tight because we are going to need to head out early in the
morning.  Before sunrise in fact.”

Chloë
just stared at Heather with disbelief.  “We?  It’s stupid enough for
me to do anything, much less drag you along…”

Heather
blew a raspberry, “Pardon me, but I can hold my own, and you could darn well
use a good escort on the way there.  Dad should be able to catch up. 
If not, like I said, he has retired friends in the borderlands.”

“Should
we just go to the constable and see if he can help?”

Heather
rolled her eyes, “The local constable is an idiot and scared to death of my
dad.  Going to him would just guarantee
inaction
.”

Chloë
was confused on several levels.  Why would the local constable be afraid
of her father?  Why was Heather, whom she had known now for less than two
weeks, so ready to help her?  “Do you actually have a plan?”

Heather
nodded, “Of course.  By morning it might even be a good plan.”  The
joke fell flat.  “Look we get the cash, get a proof of life, make the
swap.  If they try to double cross, my dad’s friends pound them.  You
can get the cash, yes?”

Chloë
shrugged, still somewhat dazed at the bewildering rollercoaster of emotion,
“Um, maybe.  They said my father had money at the Nedej bank, and I ought
to be able to pull it.”

“Oh,
that is even better.  When this is all over, we let your father know that
they made off with his cash.  That will go over well.”

“No,
it won’t!  My father will have them hunted down!”

Heather
stared at Chloë with a blank face. “First of all, that was
sarcasm
. 
Second, um, it would really bother you if your father
did
hunt them down
after all of this?”

Chloë’s
mind was still spinning, “Sarcasm.  Right.  I should never have
expected that from you.”

Heather
laughed at the feeble attempt at humor, “There you go, girl.  Now you are
getting with the spirit of it.   Let’s get back and prep.  If
little Penn can find the guy, then so much the better.  But we can’t rely
on him long; it’s already past his bed-time!”

Chloë
nodded as the pair quickly made their way across the great sea of people and
back toward the inn.  “Um, Little Penn, as you called him.  Who is
he?”

“Oh,”
laughed Heather, “there I go again.  Throwing names around without a
proper introduction.”  Heather blew a raspberry. “Great, I’m turning into
my Second Mother…”  She quickly regained her smile.  “He is my cousin
on my dad’s side.  His father is Penn Merryfield of clan
Silverglade.  He is visiting my cousin Ellis as the Merryfield family just
had a pair of twins and could use a little more calm around the house.”

“Was
he following me?” asked Chloë somewhat paranoid.

“Just
at the dance,” replied Heather with a toothy grin.  “Dad wanted someone to
keep an eye on you and Little Penn is fairly inconspicuous.”

“Is
everyone in your family sneaky?”

“Nah,
just the boys…”

“Time
to get up.”

Chloë
rolled over in bed and squinted.  “Already?  It’s…”

“Four
thirty in the morning.  I know, way too early.  Get up and get
dressed, wear your warmer skirt and blouse.   I have a light jacket I
can throw you.  The morning air has quite a chill to it.”

Chloë
stared at Heather in disbelief.  Was this the same hyper, bouncy, giddy
girl she had known for so many weeks?  As she fought the sleep from her
eyes, she got a good square look at her.  Yep, same girl.  Same grin
in fact.  “Are you enjoying this?”

That
grin spread across her face. “Sneak across the border being pursued by
malicious kidnapers or spend a day looking for a new teacher to apprentice
under.  Hmm… let me think.”

“You
can’t be that upset about looking for a job.  This is serious!”

Heather
laughed softly. “No, I’m not that put out about getting a job.  But I am
seriously put out that these jerks won’t leave you alone!  Greedy, evil
and probably have mange for all I know.”   She laughed again, a
little louder this time.  “Dad says the best way to prevent evil from
spreading is to take care of it early and often.  Time to do my share of
culling the forest.”

Chloë
blinked again.  “You are either awesome or insane.”

“Must
it be ‘or’?” she beamed.   “I’m going to go grab some food for us
right quick.  Get dressed and meet me in the lobby as soon as you
can.  Do
not
go outside without me.”

Chloë
nodded; she needed little reminder about traveling alone.  It was almost
like home—she had an escort wherever she went.  Unlike at home though, her
escort here was a friend trying to help!  Five minutes later she was
dressed, packed, and waiting in the lobby.  Chloë quickly met Heather and
the pair stepped out into the cold and dark city streets.  Less than eight
hours ago, these same streets had been a blur of people coming and going from
the dance.  Now, a pair of lonely streetlights was the only thing to break
the gloom.

“Fog,
perfect!” chimed Heather as she started down the street.

“In
the fog we can’t see very well,” countered Chloë.

“Yes,
but it also means they can’t see us very well.  I know these streets and
trails very well.  I doubt they do.  Come on, we have three gates to
hit in rapid succession.  Careful, that many gates that quickly might make
you queasy.  Needless to say, we eat
later
.”

Chloë
felt like a thousand eyes were watching her.  She had no idea how much of
that was paranoia or caution.  Her only comfort was Heather’s enduring
optimism.  “You think they are following us?”

“Someone
is behind us right now, but I don’t know if they’re friend or foe.  Either
way, we’ll lose them at the gates.   They’ll pick us up later, of
course, but we need some elbow room.”

“They’ll
pick us up again?  How?”  asked Chloë.

“That
guy bugged your dress last night.”

Chloë
started to panic, “Should I leave the dress here?  Can we destroy or
remove the bug?”

Heather
grinned broadly.  “Nah, I already removed the bug.  Just a tracking
device really.  We’ll use it to throw them off when we get a bit
closer.  The longer they think they are in control, the worse the surprise
well be in the end.”

“You
are
enjoying this…”

Heather
beamed.  “Sorry. I am, kinda.  Growing up around my dad, I was more
than ready for this.  But it’s always the
boys
who go off on their
little adventures.  Why not us girls?”

Chloë
was a little shocked, but being shocked with Heather’s attitude was starting to
become, well… normal.  “Um, for one, biology.  Statistically men are
stronger and faster.  Their adrenal glands are four times the size of
ours.  They can
swift
!”

Oh,
there it was again.  Another raspberry from Heather.  “Statistics are
good for gamblers and actuaries.  I’m neither.   I’m well-less
than one tenth as good as my father.  I know that and I have no chance of
ever being
half
as good.  So does that mean I should give up
practicing and getting better?  Hardly!”  An evil grin flashed across
her face. “Half as good as my father is still seven flavours of awesome
compared to the likes of people you have ever met.”

“You
are a little crazy, you know that right?”  asked Chloë.  “I’ve seen
some of the people my father has hired.  They are some very scary people!”

Raspberry
number two… “Oh here we go—the Gatehouse.  Stay very close.”  Heather
stared at Chloë who was starting to balk.  “Look, we jump through a few
gates right quick and I’ll explain.”

Chloë
nodded and so the pair quickly entered the Gatehouse and rapidly ran through
three different gates.  They paused just long enough for Heather to toss a
bottle in a nearby stream and then they quickly ran back through four more
gates.   Chloë was very sick to her stomach when it was over, and her
body quickly informed her that she ought to lie down… or fall down. 
Heather lay in the soft grass outside of a simple Gatehouse beside Chloë. 
“You okay?  Just your tummy I hope.”

“Yeah,
just my tummy, but oh, does it hate me!”

“Sorry
about that.  Here, let’s break for something to eat.  As odd as it
might sound, a bit of bread on your stomach will help.”

Chloë
sat up and took some bread from Heather.  It was a little hard to get
down, but once she ate it, she did feel better.  “Let’s not do that again
anytime soon.”

“Agreed!”
grinned Heather.

“So,”
began Chloë as she took a drink of water, “was the tracking bug thingy in the
bottle you threw in the water?”

“Exactly!” 
beamed Heather.  “That stream slowly winds down to the borderlands right
on the edge of the Altshea and Kulpgurie frontier.  Not too far, in fact,
from the place where we are supposed to meet these… people…”  Heather
briefly risked a frown, but in a flash, it was gone!

“So
we are taking a different route.  By the people your father used to know.”

“Yep,
yep!  As soon as you are up for walking, we’ll go down this trail a little
ways and float down the Narrows and out to the borderlands of the east.”

“More
boats?  Well, that beats walking!”

“Exactly!” 

Chloë
took a few minutes to eat a bit more bread and then stood, joining
Heather.  The pair quickly made their way down a path past a pair of
houses and a mill that perched right on the banks of a swift river. 
Heather knocked on the door of the first house and, after several long minutes,
finally got a response at the door.  Heather just smiled at the sleepy
woman who answered the door, and bantered on as if being up at five in the
morning was normal for sixteen year old girls everywhere.  She quickly
paid the half asleep lady for a boat and rejoined Chloë.  “It’s like a
kayak only with an outrigger for more stability.  Ever been on a kayak?”

“No. 
Not at all.  Those are like canoes but you are tucked inside.  Is
this river dangerous?”

“Relative
to…?” asked Heather with her trademark grin.

Chloë
finally just had to laugh.  “You win.  Just pardon me if all I do is
hold on for dear life and scream now and then.”

“Fair
enough,” replied Chloë.  The pair quickly made their way over to the
boat.  Heather carefully tucked their packs inside its frame and helped
Chloë into her seat.  “Pull the leather apron tight around you. 
It’ll help keep you dry.”   Heather then sat herself, let go the
mooring, and pushed away with a defiant laugh.