Conflict and Courage (37 page)

“Nearly there
now,” said Justin as they headed west along the northern coast,
past the beaches of Argyll and into Vadathian waters.

“Second escape
is success,” said Ustinya with satisfaction.

Of those in the
boat, only Pierre Duchesne, Michael Wallace, Alesei and Louis
Randall knew what she was talking about.

“Second
escape?” queried Briony Duchesne, ”what was the first?”

Pierre looked
at his wife with affection; Briony was both an inquisitive and a
talkative person, he had deemed it wise not to tell her of the
escape of Gerry, Cherry and the others.

He proceeded to
explain. Now that they had left Murdoch, never to return, there was
no need to keep his part in it a secret.

“You did all
that and didn’t tell me?” She pouted.

“Perhaps he was
overanxious about your safety,” Martine told her.

Briony thought
for a moment, “me and my big mouth. You were right. I do love to
gossip and the temptation to tell, well … you know.”

“Our lives
depended on Sam Baker not suspecting,” her husband added.

“But he must
have suspected something, otherwise why would he turn the Larg on
us?” asked Briony with understandable perplexity.

Martine turned
to Michael, “she has a point. I have a feeling Baker has been
planning this for a long time.”

“Eight
years?”

“He is a
patient man.”

Back in
Duchesne’s vacated Lordship, an increasingly angry Larg kohort
searched high and low for the humans but the majority had managed
to get to the embarkation points in time.

They found a
few here and there, those men who, in their innocence, came out to
greet the Larg, confident they would come to no harm, that Lord Sam
Baker would be pleased that they had stayed loyal to him and
remained in the south.

Immediate
disappointment.

The kohorts’
orders were clear. Kill all the men.

They did
so.

Painfully.

Herd the women
and children.

There were
none.

Pierre
Duchesne’s orders had been followed to the letter. Without
exception, the women and children were on their way to Vadath.

The Larg, after
consultation with their leaders, decided not to tell Sam Baker
about the situation.

The men, when
questioned, fell over themselves in their anxiety to tell them what
they knew.

It did not save
them.

* * * * *

At the Afanasei
domta, Jim Cranston paced to and fro in deep study.

“It doesn’t add
up,” he said aloud to Larya. “I’m sure we’re missing
something.”

“You think Tara
and Kolyei were right?”

“Why would Sam
Baker risk so much? He must realise we know he is coming. He can’t
hide that many Larg and men south of the chain.”

“They are not
there,” said Larya, “Alesei sensed only those who entered the man
Duchesne’s lands. No more.”

“Fernei says
the kohorts are moving.”

“In what
direction?”

“He does not
know.”

“We are
reinforcing the beachhead.”

“Precisely,”
agreed Larya.

“Precisely
what, you infuriating woman?”

“He does not
attack there. They will use the boats we have heard about. He told
the Duchesne man untruths. He told him they were going to attack
Settlement at midsummer because he wanted you to know, wanted you
to send the Vada and the Lindars there because he will be attacking
someplace else.”

“Vadath then?
Midsummer?”

“I think not
that long. He attacks Duchesne now, so why then wait until the
middle of hot season?”

“Keep
going.”

“The Larg know
it takes at least seven suns for the Lindars to run between the
island chain and Vadath. If they were to land south of here now
they could kill everyone in their paths before they could be
stopped.”

“How many boats
do they have? Duchesne was isolated in that castle of his and if
Sam Baker has been planting false information? The Resistance also,
they have not reported any immediate alert.”

“Enough to do
the job,” was the chilling response. “They did say the regiments
were practising war.”

“Indeed they
did, in Brentwood too, I wonder … and there is that unconfirmed
report of the kohorts moving upriver.”

* * * * *

The welcoming
committee was waiting at the quayside for the southern influx.

Francis as
Susa, Wilhelm as Weaponsmaster and Geraldine as Ryzcka of the Ryzck
on duty in the landing area, were the obvious choices. A large
number of both Vada and settlers were preparing behind the
scenes.

“Whatever
possesses them?” asked Geraldine, “they’ve tried once and failed.”
They were discussing the current situation and reasoning why Sam
Baker had turned on Duchesne now.

“The Larg or
the convicts? Either way, I think, necessity,” answered Francis.
“Sam Baker commands a predominately male and ageing population. He
needs more women to breed from and he believes that helping the
Larg to raid Argyll is the best way to do it.”

“And there is
the little matter of revenge,” added Wilhelm. “I think that’s
what’s really behind all this. In return for ridding him and his
ilk of Duchesne he aids the Larg in their fight against us.”

“The Lindars
are moving,” agreed Geraldine, “we’ll be ready for them.”

“What do you
know about this Pierre Duchesne?” asked Wilhelm.

“Not much,”
Francis answered, “but what I do know is mostly good. He got rid of
all of his undesirables I know that, notably those who instigated
that horrendous burning at Settlement.”

Geraldine
looked unconvinced.

“Duchesne’s
regiment was not the worst,” continued Francis, “he has always
forbidden rape and pillage. He deeply regrets that it was some of
his men who did the burnings. I believe his redemption started
then, when he began to fully realise the type of people he was
consorting with. He didn’t like what he saw and when he got the
chance, he claimed lands as far away from Baker and the others as
he could. He weeded out the men he distrusted and for the last
eight years he has been, by all accounts, a fair and good leader.
He sent home some of the captured women and Louis Randall tells me
that his people respect him. Some of the women actually refused
repatriation when it was offered.”

“They’ve no
choice now though.”

“He says too
that his men will fight with us.”

“Do you trust
him?”

“Not yet, he
must prove himself before I’ll go
that
far.”

“He has a fair
bit of incentive, I don’t think Baker and the Larg will be all that
happy with him. They’ll kill him if given half a chance.”

“The Larg kill
anybody if given half chance,” said Jsei with a quirk of his
whiskers.

“Heard from Jim
recently?” asked Geraldine.

“Not for a day
or so,” was the answer, “Asya got some nonsense from Larya that Jim
is worried that Argyll is not the target.”

“The islands
are the only viable route north,” protested Wilhelm.

“Maybe his
brains are getting addled,” said Francis.

“Don’t let him
hear you say that,” grinned Geraldine, “he’ll have your ducks for
garters.”

“Is that the
boats?” cried Wilhelm at that point. “I can see them on the
horizon!”

Geraldine’s
Ryzck had been busy all through the night erecting travelling tents
so the refugees would have a night’s shelter before they moved on
to the stronghold. Rain was forecast for the next few days. The
Lind, whose weather sense was acute, had said that it was a very
good thing that Duchesne’s people were arriving when they were. If
the weather did indeed close in it would have been very dangerous
for the overloaded boats to cross the ocean current.

The sky was
grey and overcast, a sure indication of bad weather to come.

Cherry, Baltvei
at her side, stood to one side of the main welcoming committee,
jumping up and down with impatience at the thought of seeing Louis
and Ustinya again. Baltvei’s eyes were half-closed as he
established mental contact with Ustinya. He passed messages to his
partner. Cherry’s face kept breaking into smiles.

The lead boat
tacked into the harbour.

It was the
Lind of Light
, the smack belonging to Justin Wright with,
onboard, as well as a large number of the prior residents of
Duchesne, the Duchesne family, the aforementioned Michael Wallace,
his wife Martine and their small son. Pierre Duchesne stood beside
Louis Randall watching as Briony and the two younger boys Jean and
Jules stood gazing at the fast approaching shore. As usual Jacques
was glued to Ustinya’s side and was vocal in his assertion that he
wasn’t going to leave it, even when they landed.

Louis, after he
had consulted with Ustinya, hoped that they had solved the problem.
He and Ustinya would have much to do when they landed and this
would be almost impossible with a small boy tagging along. There
was Cherry and Baltvei to consider as well. Aglaya of the Avuzdel,
he knew, was close to the landing site, together with some senior
Vada ready to debrief the incomers.

With the female
Lind was her much younger sister, Jtanya. She had very clear
instructions to attach herself to the Duchesne family, part guard
and part mentor. Jtanya had received a further order, to stay close
to young Jacques and divert his attention away from Ustinya.

It had been
decided that this was the quickest way to integrate the
southerners. Quite a number of unattached Lind were waiting from
various packs, predominantly those who had failed to find a
suitable matching life-mate, they were all keen to nose around the
newcomers both to fish out any who might be spies for Baker and to
get them used to the Lind on a day-to-day basis and perhaps a few
might find their vadeln-partner.

“Almost there,”
said Louis. “Quite a welcoming committee and I have been informed
that a hot meal awaits us. I’ll be glad to get off this boat and
stretch my legs.”

Ustinya agreed.
There was not a lot of room on any of the boats for much stretching
out and she was correspondingly stiff.

Jacques was
bobbing around with excitement very like an inebriated
buzz-fly.

“We’ll be on
dry land soon,” warned Louis, “calm down.”

“Listen to
Louis,” interposed Briony, her hands full with Jean and Jules, but
it took his father to calm him, the threat of being taken away from
Ustinya enough to still his activities, at least for a while. He
did however continue to talk nineteen to the dozen, asking
never-ending questions about his new home.

For Jacques
this was the adventure of a lifetime, he couldn’t wait to go
exploring and told Ustinya this, repeatedly.

: Jtanya
keep him occupied :
comforted Ustinya.

“Jtanya will
have her paws full keeping this one out of trouble,” was the
immediate riposte from Louis.

“Who is Jtanya
and how will he keep me out of trouble,” demanded Jacques.

“Jtanya is a
she, not a he,” answered Ustinya. “She is waiting to meet you and
your brothers.”

“Is Jtanya a
Lind? Will I be able to ride on her back like I do you? Does she
look like you?”

“If you are
very good, I am sure she will give you a ride,” answered the
patient Ustinya. “She looks a bit like me, but with a different
colour pattern because she comes from a different pack, she is very
like Alesei here.”

“Are you sure
he is a Lind?” asked the irrepressible Jacques, “He looks like what
Dad says the Larg look like. They’re brownie coloured, not like
you. I thought he was a Larg when I saw him at first. Dad says the
Larg are not to be trusted.”

“You can trust
us Jacques, I promise and I think you and Jtanya will get on very
well. She also asks a great many questions.”

“Like me? I ask
questions ‘cos I want to know things. Does she want to know things
as well?”

Ustinya
sighed.

“Now remember,”
said Pierre to his eldest, “no running around as soon as we reach
land.” To Ustinya he added, “is that right? Does she talk as much
as him?”

“Oh yes,”
answered Ustinya, “they well suited. I remember Jtanya when she
little. Curious about everything. I once looked after she and some
other ltsctas when her mother was ill. I shudder when I
remember.”

“Tell me,” said
Jacques eagerly.

“Ask her
yourself,” was Ustinya’s rejoinder. “It will help you to learn our
language. Not every Lind speaks human as well as I.”

“Lessons?”
Jacques sighed.

“Lessons are
fun,” she answered, then added, “now be quiet while boat
docks.”

Justin steered
the boat into the jetty. Willing hands grabbed the ropes and
secured the lines.

“We go now,”
Ustinya decided, “Baltvei is waiting. I see him.”

She craned her
head and added, “Cherry there.”

Louis had
already spotted his intended. She stood beside Baltvei, her face
one giant grin of welcome.

“Welcome to you
all,” Francis McAllister called, “Welcome to Vadath. Get ashore as
quickly as you can, we have a meal and shelter waiting. Which one
of you is Duchesne?”

“I am,” Pierre
owned from the guardrail.

“Francis
McAllister,” the Susa of the Vada introduced himself, eyeing this
old enemy, now friend, “if you would stay here with me when you
land and help direct your people? We have others who will look
after your wife and sons.”

Duchesne
glanced over at the group of men, women and Lind waiting in a bunch
at the edge of the pier.

“They’re
briefed,” continued Francis, “as each boat disembarks they will
lead your people to the shelters. Tented accommodation for tonight
I’m afraid, there are too many of you for the village. Tomorrow
you’ll start moving inland to more permanent quarters.”