Lovers in the Woods (8 page)

Still without
evidence, the police had searched Sajitar’s locker at the
spaceport, had questioned colleagues about his activities and done
a lot to find the suspected escapee. The only facts they had found
were that Sajitar Haju loved to stroll around town as well as spend
days in the forest. If they had been honest, they would have
conceded that there was not the slightest hint at a connection with
Sananda Wang except for fingerprints at the spaceport in a
forbidden area and the remnants of a substance stamped as
illegal.

Still, Rayenne
wondered if her colleagues had been too eager to denounce Sajitar
Haju as a criminal.

She shook her
head.

Her superior had ordered her to take Felberi and find Sajitar,
no matter the costs, and bring him to Belson Park.
If he is no criminal
, he
had said,
he will make a fine
witness
. He did not add that pressed hard
enough, a man like Sajitar was supposed to say everything the judge
wanted to hear, but Rayenne had understood. The police needed
success in the fight against Wang’s ongoing operations and she,
too, wanted that sly bitch behind bars.

Wang’s legal
business concerned shipping and handling of trees from Belthraine.
Only by accident, customers on Heligran had found packages with the
forbidden substance Barylom in one of them, and had reported it to
the local police who had informed their colleagues on
Belthraine.

Wang had
claimed to know nothing of the illegal export and had won so far.
There was no connection confirmable that Wang or one of her
employees had personally added the forbidden substance to the
trunk. The police officers had returned to HQ empty-handed and with
a lot of frustration stowed away for further use. They had begun
their work anew, realizing that Wang had been one step ahead,
again.

Barylom
consisted of the ground bones of a medium-sized insect found in
Belthraine’s woods, called Larolydis. Finding it was a game of luck
and intensive surveillance because it could change its color and
melt into the surroundings in a short time. Scientists assumed the
Larolydis lived off the excrements of the Horlyns, but that was
never proved. Fact was that if you wanted to catch Larolydis, you
had to find a group of Horlyns first. This was, of course, neither
an easy undertaking nor a safe one.

From reports,
Rayenne had learned that Wang had expanded her business to
freelancers who were willing to venture into the different woods on
Belthraine to find and bring her Larolydis for a good prize. It was
unclear why she had not been caught, yet since the business
demanded many men and much equipment. Police officers whispered
that she either bribed the police chiefs much better than her own
people or she knew how to frighten them into silence.

Rayenne assumed
the latter. The number of Sanjongy assassins grew from day to
day.

“Are you
done?”

Sajitar’s weak
voice made her gasp. She looked from her makeshift bandage to his
pain-filled face and nodded, relieved. Her smile failed
miserably.

“Hey, you’re
still alive. Guess for my first surgery, that’s a success.”

“What did you
find?” He tried to turn, but stopped, inhaling sharply. “Fuck! Did
you cut through to my intestines?”

“No complaints,
please. The film of the healing spray is the only thing keeping you
from falling apart.”

“Not funny.” He
let out his breath slowly, trying to turn his head in order to
survey the closed wound. He flinched, but didn’t further comment on
her work. “Tell me.”

She used the
forceps to show him the empty shell.

“See for
yourself.”

“That means I’m
a living broadcast tower, and wherever I walk, my enemy knows.” He
slumped back on the sleeping bag to cover his face with his arm. He
sounded weak. “What will the bullet do?”

“It lost most
of its energy on the impact. It’s not like it’ll travel through
your body at light speed.”

“That’s funny.
Try once more.”

“Maybe it’ll
show tomorrow at your ear and I can pull it out. How would I
know?”

He glimpsed
from under his forearm.

“You’re the
surgeon. I want a precise prognosis.”

Rayenne tried
to smile while she put together the first aid kit. Her hands
started trembling again and she did not like the unease that came
like an unbidden comrade.

“I really can’t
say. It’s new to me.”

“If it rips me
apart from the inside, then—”

“Saji, stop it.
I’ve done what I could.”

“And I’m
grateful, believe me. Let’s have a drink to your success.”

Though not
convinced, she drank with him.

Chapter
Four

“
This
thing’s
quite
impressive,” Sajitar said when they packed their belongings after
Rayenne had collapsed the unusual tent. “I didn’t even hear the
rain fall after a while.”

Rayenne evaded his amused glance by checking
their surroundings. It had been nice to sleep dry and protected,
but the luxury ended when they left the tent. The rain fell light
and steady, so she pulled up her collar over the back of her hair
and adjusted her hat.

She watched him saddle his B-horse, realizing
that he needed help.

“You mean you will share my makeshift tent
again, Saji?”

“
I dare say that I look forward to sharing
that special tent with you, maybe the next time without surgery,
okay? It was really warm and cozy after a while.”

“
After you thought it wouldn’t
work.”

“You changed my mind, believe me.”

Not the words, but the look that went with
them, made her blush. She exhaled, wishing she could shield
herself. She was used to criminals throwing dirty words at her. She
was used to villains who spat at her the moment she had found their
hideout. She could have lived with Sajitar sneering at her and
telling her that next morning he’d be gone before she
woke.

The witness and supposed assistant to the
assassination, Sajitar Haju, had done nothing like that. He had
lain beside her, content to watch the raindrops until his eyes were
heavy with tiredness. One hand stretched out close enough to touch
her, he had sighed and drifted off to sleep, exhausted from the day
as well as the pain.

Rayenne had not moved and, for a while, tried
uselessly to see something outside in the darkness just to divert
her thoughts. Then, with the rhythm of the rain as background
noise, she had managed to catch some hours of sleep.

Her dreams had been weird, filled with
large shadows moving around, but they were like no animals she had
ever seen and the images blurred once she tried to concentrate on
them. They had talked in chirping voices as if they had met in a
gigantic council until a harsh shriek had caused them to turn and
flee. Their claws had stamped the ground and the earth
shook.

When she woke she found Sajitar mumbling
in his sleep and thought of him as the source of her nightmare. She
did not dare ask. “How are you feeling?”

Sajitar stood beside his horse, one hand
in the mane, the other on the rim of the saddle, half smiling at
her question. He lifted his left leg and put it down again,
sighing. “If I knew how to get back into the saddle I’d be
glad.”

“May I help you?”

“Would it ruin my masculine charisma if I
said yes?”

Rayenne approached him, shaking her head
with a smile.

“No. After surgery even men are allowed to
have a weak day.”

She used the shin of his left leg as a lever
to help him mount.

“Just one?” he asked, hardly able to hide the
pain of the short exertion. “After being cut up?”

“You exaggerate.”

Rayenne vaulted into the saddle and
glanced around one more time, then urged Bunty to a fast walk.
Sajitar took a deep breath and followed.

“Have you ever been in this part of Emerald
Green?” she took up the conversation again.

They were miles deep into the wood and the
rain was their only companion. Whatever beasts roamed this place
had taken shelter. She imagined them sitting comfortably and dry in
their tree holes and laughing at the strangers passing by. The idea
helped her to see the woods’ inhabitants as friends and not
foes.

Sajitar scratched his nose. Water dropped
from his hair when he shook his head.

“Nope. The woods are much too big to have
seen ten percent of them in a lifetime. When I worked for some
people who tried to find the right trees, I didn’t venture to this
part. I was stationed in the north, you know.”

“You could tell me the sky is blue, Saji,
because I can’t disprove it.”

He frowned, and when she kept his stare,
shrugged.

“You asked.”

“Let me rephrase it. Do you think you can
find a straight way through the woods without taking us too far
away from the street?”

“What about you? Aren’t you a pathfinder who
traveled a hundred worlds so far?”

Rayenne exhaled, reining her anger. “You
read the ads, I understand. My family’s known for their skills,
yes. But that doesn’t mean I can walk right through completely
unknown territory without something as simple as a
compass.”

“Isn’t that something you got in your genes?
If I read it correct, your family says you can find anyone in any
surrounding faster than any police force in this quadrant.” He
shook his head in mock surprise. “My, I’m disappointed.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

He pulled the reins and Tessla, woken from
her silent reverie, came to an abrupt halt, shaking her head in
protest.

“
Tell me, Ms Officer, what had you planned
if I’d turned out to be a complete idiot when it comes to
navigating? Sending smoke signals?”

“That was mean.”

“No, honest. I could have galloped away and
left you stranded.”

Rayenne turned Bunty, gritting her teeth.

“I didn’t say that I wouldn’t find a way out.
I wanted to know if you can lead us through the woods without
getting lost in its center.”

“Lost? Ah, now I get it.” He pointed a finger
at her. “Maybe I read the ads, but you heard some lore about the
heart of Emerald Green, right? Am I right?” He brought his mare
close to the gelding, snickering.

She glared at him.

“
You’re afraid that the
soil is thicker there, more dangerous. A place where compasses
don’t work and the eyes trick you. And that there are animals no
one has ever heard or dreamed of.” He nodded, smiling ugly. “And
that, maybe, maybe, these beasts would swallow you whole for
breakfast and lick their fingers
—ah, fangs
—
after that.”

Rayenne wanted to place a fist in his smug
face. He was much too close to the truth. She ground her teeth even
tighter, until it hurt. Sajitar was unruffled.

“And that we
can’t find a way back because those beasts would cloud our minds.
Before or after they ate us, that’s the question, hmm?” Sajitar
laughed out loud. “Oh, come on, be reasonable. If it weren’t so
funny I’d say the Horlyns made up this story to keep the
lumberjacks from getting too bold.”

Rayenne was as irritated as she was angry.
Did the officers mock me?
“Well, then,
who made up the story? You can hear it from here to Belson
Park.”

Sajitar shrugged,
looking
indifferent.

Rayenne caught herself watching
his broad shoulders mov
ing and the drops of rain falling from the dark
brown strands of hair. The moment she had awakened, she had ever so
lightly touched his skin at the temples, not really wanting him to
wake up, but driven to feel his warmth. She had swallowed and
willingly turned her thoughts to her family and home. That had
mellowed her enough to take her hand back and get up, telling
herself that she just wanted to make sure he was alive. Sajitar
woke only moments later and she was not sure if he had felt her
closeness.

“
One piece of an adventure leads to
another.” Sajitar sniffed and readjusted his butt on the saddle,
wincing. “One man tells a story of what he has experienced. The
next one adds a piece, then another comes along and tries to
justify his anxiety by making up another piece of the story. That
piece contains the odd animals and even more dangerous happenings
in the center of the woods. Do you want to know my guess? All of
these people haven’t gotten very far in such a short time. And if
they want to brag, they make up lies. Considering the stories
around these woods, it must be more dangerous than flying through
space without a space suit!”

“Tell me something, Saji. You left Belson
Park one day after the assassination. Why?”

Sajitar flinched at the sudden change of
subject. Ray watched him closely as he pondered over an answer and
finally came up with

“Let’s say, I had some not so nice encounters
before.”

“You didn’t, by accident, get a memo to leave
town?”

His glare made her smile.

“I decided to leave before the other side
insisted on my departure with more firepower.”

“Now you say that you were forced to leave.
When I talked to you back at the village, you made it sound as if
you had enough of the city already, like being bored.”

“That hits the truth nicely, doesn’t it? If
you have armed muggers at your door twice a day, the city can
become really, really boring.”

“Most people run to the police if threatened.
You ran away. Why?”

“I’m not most people.”