Happenstance Found (Books of Umber #1) (20 page)

CHAPTER
27

Hap recognized the object by the strange
metal it was made from: smooth as the surface of a pond.

He’d seen the other side when he leaped up to Umber’s window. That was the side that glowed with strange, flickering light. This side was different. Its entire surface was that polished metal. It was hinged at the bottom, and opened like a case. And there was a word, Hap realized, engraved in tall letters on the vertical surface that faced him. But it was not a word that meant anything to him:

REBOOT

A jolt ran through Hap as he realized that he’d just done the one thing that was expressly forbidden by Umber. Besides, Umber was still missing.
Get out of here! Now!

His feet were a blur as he raced for the stairs. As he rushed down, Sophie stared with her mouth tightened into a disbelieving circle. He jumped the last seven steps, desperate to put his trespass behind him. Before his feet touched the floor, Lady Truden rushed into the tower. Her head reared back, and she pointed a trembling finger. “Where were you?”

“Nowhere—I thought he needed help!” Hap pleaded.

“You came in here! And you went
upstairs
?” Lady Truden asked in a scream. She turned to Sophie. “Did he?”

Sophie staggered back. She looked at Hap and her jaw trembled. “I … I …,” she sputtered.

Lady Truden didn’t wait for an answer. “Get out, boy! We’ll deal with you later!”

“I heard something,” Hap said in a rush. “I thought Lord Umber was—”

“Out!”
Lady Truden shrieked.

Hap bit his lip and ran. The wind slapped his face as he left Umber’s tower. Balfour had arrived and was turning in every direction, shouting for Umber. Oates was coming back from the balcony.

“Did you see anything?” Hap called to Oates. Oates shook his head.

Where’s Umber? Where’s Occo?
Hap’s mind was frantic. Something round and red, the size of a fist, rolled across the stone terrace, blown by the wind. It came so close that Hap could stop it with the side of his foot. It was an apple, with a single bite taken from it. The bite was fresh, Hap saw when he picked it up, because the flesh inside was still white.
Umber was outside. He picked an apple off the tree.
Hap looked toward the place where Umber liked to sit, under the tree. Balfour was there on one knee, reaching under the bench for something. He lifted the small thing and held it between his thumb and forefinger.
Umber’s black ring,
Hap realized. He clutched his stomach.

“I think he took Umber!” Balfour said, choking on the last word.

“But … how could he?” Hap called back. From his brief glimpse, he was sure it was no easy task for Occo to climb up the sheer wall in this storm. He felt sure Occo couldn’t have carried Umber down the way he came up.
Unless
… Something tugged at Hap’s thoughts. He remembered what was looped around the Creep’s shoulder.
A rope
? His gaze followed the balcony at the edge of the terrace. He saw nothing on the side where Occo had climbed up—but at another corner, he spied a dark cord tied around the rail. “Over there!”

Oates arrived at the spot a moment after him. They stared down. The rope dangled to the foot of the Aerie, whipping in the wind far below. It led to a narrow rocky space on the shore.

“We’re too late,” Hap said, in a voice too weak for anyone to hear.

Oates stepped over the railing and gripped the rope. His eyes met Hap’s for a moment. “Umber is gone because of you,” he said. He slid over the edge and lowered himself swiftly, hand under hand.

The words stung Hap like hornets. He slumped to the floor of the terrace and his spear clattered on the stone beside him. Oates always spoke the truth.
He’s right,
Hap thought. Umber was lost, and it was his fault.

Balfour had built a fire in the hearth of the main hall, where the stone walls muted the storm’s ferocious howl. Hap sat on the floor with his chin on his knees. Sophie jabbed at the fire with a poker. Balfour slumped in a chair, and Lady Truden paced endlessly across the room.

Heavy feet squished on the stairs, and Oates and Dodd came in, mournful and rain-soaked.

“Anything?” Lady Truden said, clutching her throat. She groaned as Oates shook his head. “What about you and the others, Dodd? Did you see what happened?”

“No, Lady Truden,” muttered Dodd, staring at the water dripping from his shirt.

“Useless idiots!” Lady Truden snapped.

Hap pushed himself to his feet. “I want to go look for him.”

“No,” Balfour said, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his little finger.

“Why not?” Lady Truden shot back. She glared from Balfour to Hap. “If anyone should risk their neck to find Lord Umber, shouldn’t it be him?”

“Yes,” Hap said. It felt strange to agree with her. “It should be me. Besides, I can see in the dark.”

“That’s right! Now get out of here and find him,” Lady Truden said. Her long arm pointed.

Balfour thumped his fists on the arms of his chair. “No! What’s the matter with you, Tru? You want to send this boy into the night with that demon on the loose! What if it gets him?”

Lady Truden’s face trembled with fury. “What if it does? Lord Umber might be hurt. He may have minutes to live! We have to find him!”

“Calm down, Tru. And sit, Happenstance,” Balfour said. There was a command to his voice that Hap hadn’t heard before. “Listen, all of you. There’s no point trying to find Umber now. Occo got away with him—by sea, for sure, on that strange horse of his. If Occo wanted to kill him, he’d have left him dead on the terrace. Besides, Umber was alert enough to take off the ring that opens the black door, and leave it for us to find. So Umber must be alive, correct?

“Now, I don’t know what we should do next, but I know what we must
not
do: allow Hap to fall into the hands of that wicked creature. Hap is what Occo wants. If you ask me, he only took Umber because Hap is too hard to catch.”

“You’re right,” said Lady Truden. Her eager gaze fixed upon Hap. “We need Happenstance! We’ll trade him for Umber …” Her hands rose as if she planned to seize him.

“We’ll do no such thing,” Balfour said.

Lady Truden bared her teeth at Balfour. “Why not?”

“He’s just a boy, Tru,” Balfour said quietly.

“A boy, you say! What sort of boy never sleeps? What boy has strange green eyes that see in the dark? What boy—”

“Enough!” shouted Balfour. “There’s more to it, Tru. Umber told me the boy is important, and that he must be kept safe at all costs.” Hap looked at Balfour, who stared back and nodded.

“And you expect us to believe that?” cried Lady Truden.

Balfour pushed against the arms of the chair and stood, straightening his usually bent form. “Are you suggesting that I’m not telling the truth?”

“I’m suggesting that you’re more concerned about this child than the lord of this house!” Lady Truden said. “But now that you mention truth—Oates, did Lord Umber say the same thing to you, about the boy?”

Oates furrowed his brow. “No. But that doesn’t mean—”

“And isn’t it Lord Umber’s command that I rule the Aerie when he is not here?”

“Yes, it is,” Oates grumbled.

Lady Truden lifted her chin. “Well, Lord Umber is gone. And my first order is to keep a close watch on the boy. Dodd, you or one of your men, go to the shipping offices and tell the captains what has happened. Make sure Sandar knows. As soon as the storm abates, they must put to sea and begin a search.”

Hap watched out a window as poor Dodd, wearing a long coat against the storm, trudged down the causeway on foot. Fortunately for Dodd, the causeway was elevated. Even the biggest waves couldn’t wash over the road and sweep him away.

Hap was still watching an hour later when Dodd trudged back up to the Aerie. This time the wind was in his teeth, and Dodd had to lean into the gale to make any progress.

When Dodd was halfway up the steep road, something came out of the raging water. A tall wave dashed against the side of the causeway, and when it withdrew, a dark creature with a gaunt rider remained.
Occo and his horse!
Hap thought. In seconds, the ridged tail at the rear of the horse divided at the end and transformed into powerful equine legs. The creature stood, shook off the water, and clattered across the stones after Dodd, bearing Occo on its back.

Dodd drew his sword and paused, as if considering whether it would be wiser to stand his ground or run for the safety of the gatehouse. He chose flight.

Hap had hesitated when he saw Occo climbing the walls of the Aerie. He knew he couldn’t do it again. He ran for the main hall, screaming, “Occo is on the causeway! He’s after Dodd!”

Oates rumbled down the stairs, and Hap followed. Balfour came behind, faster than Hap would have expected for a man with so many aching parts. Oates threw open the door to the gatehouse and charged outside.

Balfour called after Hap, “Happenstance, wait! You’re not to venture outside!” Hap pretended not to hear him and rushed after Oates. The wooden doors of the gatehouse were open, but the portcullis had been lowered. Hap looked out between the iron bars, afraid of what he might see. He felt one of Oates’s strong hands close over his shoulder.

Dodd was on the causeway, a stone’s throw away. Occo and his horse were nowhere in sight.
Thank goodness,
Hap thought, until he saw the way Dodd staggered toward the Aerie. His sword lay in the road behind him. Dodd wobbled and dropped to his knees, and started to crawl.

Wilkin and Barkin had already charged out the narrow door beside the portcullis. They put their elbows under Dodd’s arms, dragged him back to the gatehouse, and propped him in a chair. Wilkin’s face was purple with rage and anguish. “We didn’t see what was happening, Dodd—so sorry!”

Dodd’s teeth chattered and he struggled to breathe. Hap saw bruises on his neck. Streams of blood flowed from four punctures on one side. He imagined Occo’s long, sharp nails piercing the flesh.

“His … face …,” Dodd said hoarsely. “I pulled his mask to one side … saw another eye … like a cat’s eye … horrible …”

“Easy, Dodd,” Barkin said. “Don’t try to talk. Wilkin, get that medicine kit Umber gave us!”

Wilkin bustled away. Dodd looked at the faces peering down, and his gaze lingered on Hap for a moment before turning to Balfour. “He said … if we want Lord Umber back alive …” Dodd’s hand went inside his coat, probing, and came out clutching a folded parchment. With a trembling hand, he thrust it at Balfour. He coughed before he could speak again. “He told me … do as this says, or Umber dies.”

Balfour took the parchment and opened it. His gaze swept back and forth across the message. When he was done he shut his eyes and rubbed his palm across his face.

“What does it say?” Oates asked.

“Hap, come inside with me,” Balfour said.

They stood inside the Aerie’s first floor, where the rush of water turned the creaking paddle wheel. The note was at their feet, where Balfour had let it drop after reading aloud. The words were scrawled in a spidery hand, and the smudged, flaking ink was a color somewhere between red and brown. A lump formed in Hap’s throat when he wondered what Occo used for ink.

“What on earth can we do?” mumbled Balfour.

Lady Truden circled them, stomping. “Exactly what the note tells us to do.” She stabbed toward the note with her finger. “And soon! Within the hour, or Lord Umber will be thrown from Petraportus, onto the rocks!”

Hap looked up at her. Her mouth was clamped so tight that the color was driven from her lips. Over Lady Truden’s shoulder he saw Sophie watching from the bottom of the stairs, blinking back tears.

Balfour spoke with his eyes closed. “Tru—Umber would never let us surrender the boy. I can assure you of that.”

Lady Truden squeezed her hands, turning the knuckles white.
“How else can we save Lord Umber?”

Oates’s voice boomed out. “Let me go. Let me try to rescue him.”

Lady Truden glared. “Read the note, you fool! Occo will be watching. If anyone but the boy comes, he’ll kill Lord Umber. And of course he’d see you—that’s why he chose Petraportus for the meeting place!”

Hap stared at the parchment. Lady Truden was right. There was no other way. Umber was being held in the crumbling ruins of Petraportus, in the last tower standing. Even now, a dim light could be seen at its pinnacle. There was only one way to get there: across the bridge of rubble that reached from the old castle to the foot of the Aerie. The bridge was in plain sight of the tower. Occo would see if anyone but Hap tried to cross. And with the storm raging, there was no way to use a boat to sneak someone over. It was a perfect trap.

“I have to go,” Hap said. “There’s no other way.” Balfour slowly opened his eyes. The others stared. Lady Truden sighed with relief and leaned on the table.

Balfour pushed his chair back and stood. “Happenstance. You can’t—”