Shadows Linger (22 page)

His eyes widened slightly, then emptied again. He did not believe me.

“I'm not an Inquisitor, Shed.”

His eyes flickered with momentary life.

“It's true. I followed Bullock around because he knew the Buskin. My job had
very little to do with his. I couldn't care less about the Catacombs raid. I do
care about the black castle, because it's a disaster in the making, but not as
much as I care about you. Because of a man named Raven.”

“One of your men called you Croaker. Raven was scared to death- of somebody
named Croaker that he saw one night when the Duke's men grabbed some of his
friends.”

So. He'd witnessed our raid. Damn, but I had cut it close to the wind that time.

“I'm that Croaker. And I want to know everything you know about Raven and
Darling. And everything about anybody else who knows anything.” The slightest
hint of defiance crossed his face. "A lot of folks are looking for you, Shed.

Bullock isn't the only one. My boss wants you, too. And she's worse trouble than
he is. You wouldn't like her at all. And she'll get you if you don't do this
right."

I would rather have given him to Bullock. Bullock wasn't interested in our
problems with the Taken. But Bullock was out of town.

“There's Asa, too. I want to know everything you haven't told me about him.” I
heard the woman cursing in the distance, carrying on like Otto and the guys were
trying to rape her. I knew better. They hadn't the nerve after having screwed up
once already tonight. “Who's the slot?”

“My barmaid. She. ...” And his story boiled out. Once he started, there was no
stopping him.

I had a notion how to wriggle out of a potentially embarrassing situation. “Shut
him up.“ One of the men clamped a hand over Shed's mouth. ”Here's what we're
going to do, Shed. Assuming you want out of this alive.”

He waited.

"The people I work for will know a body was delivered tonight. They'll expect me
to catch whoever did it. I'll have to give them someone. That could be you, the
girl, or both of you. You know some things I don't want the Taken to find out.

One way I can avoid handing you over is having you turn up dead. I can make that
real if I have to. Or you can fake it for me. Let the slot see you looking like
you've been wrecked. You follow?"

Shaking, he replied, “I think so.”

“I want to know everything.”

“The girl. ...”

I held up a hand, listened. The uproar was close. “She won't come back from her
meeting with the Taken. There's no reason we couldn't turn you loose once we're
done doing what we have to do.”

He did not believe me. He had committed crimes he believed deserved the harshest
punishment, and he expected it.

“We're the Black Company, Shed. Juniper is going to get to know that real well
soon. Including the fact that we keep our promises. But that's not important to
you. Right now you want to stay alive long enough to get a break. That means
you'd damned well better fake being dead, and do it better than any stiff you
ever hauled up the hill.”

“All right.”

“Take him over by the fire and make him look like he's had it rough.”

The men knew what to do. They sort of scattered Shed around without actually
hurting him. I tossed a few things around to make it look like there had been a
fight, and finished just in time.

The girl came sailing through the doorway, propelled by Otto's fist. She looked
the worse for wear. So did Otto and the men I'd sent to help. “Wildcat, eh?”

Otto tried to grin. Blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. “Ain't the half
of it, Croaker.“ He kicked the girl's feet from under her. ”What happened to the
guy?”

“Got a little feisty. I stuck a knife in him.”

“I see.”

We stared at the girl. She stared back, the fire gone. Each few seconds she
glanced at Shed, looked back more subdued.

“Yep. You're in a heap of trouble, sweetheart.”

She gave us the song-and-dance I'd expected from Shed. We ignored it, knowing it
was bullshit. Otto cleaned up, then bound her hands and ankles. He parked her in
a chair. I made sure it faced away from Shed. The poor bastard had to breathe.

I sat down opposite the girl and began to question her. Shed said he had told
her almost everything. I wanted to know if she knew anything about Raven that
could give him or us away.

I got no chance to find out.

There was a great rush of air around the house. A roar like a tornado passing. A
crack like thunder.

Otto said it all. “Oh shit! Taken.” The door blew inward. I rose, stomach
twisting, heart hammering. Feather came in looking like she'd just walked
through a burning building. Wisps of smoke rose from her smouldering apparel.

“What the hell?” tasked.

“The castle. I got too close. They almost knocked me out of the sky. What have
you got?”

I told my story quickly, not omitting the fact that we had allowed a corpse to
get past. I indicated Shed. “One dead, trying to fight questioning. But this one
is healthy.” I indicated the girl.

Feather moved close to the girl. She had taken a real blast out there. I did not
feel the aura of great power rigidly constrained that one usually senses in the
presence of the Taken. And she did not sense the life still throbbing in Marron
Shed. “So young.” She lifted the girl's chin. "Oh. What eyes. Fire and steel.

The Lady will love this one."

“We keep the watch?” I asked, assuming she would confiscate the prisoner.

“Of course. There may be others.” She faced me. “No more will get through. The
margin is too narrow. Whisper will forgive the latest. But the next is your
doom.”

"Yes, ma'am. Only it's hard to do and not attract the attention of the locals.

We can't just go set up a roadblock.''

“Why not?”

I explained. She had scouted the black castle and knew the lay of the land.

“You're right. For the moment. But your Company will be here soon. There'll be
no need for secrecy then.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

Feather took the girl's hand. “Come,” she said.

I was amazed at how docilely our hellcat followed Feather. I went outside and
watched Feather's battered carpet rise and hurry toward Duretile. One despairing
cry floated in its wake.

I found Shed in the doorway when I turned to go inside. I wanted to smack him
for that, but controlled myself.

“Who was that?” he asked. '“What was that?”

“Feather. One of the Taken. One of my bosses.”

“Sorceress?”

“One of the greatest. Go sit. Let's talk. I need to know exactly what that girl
knows about Raven and Darling.”

Intense questioning convinced me that Lisa did not know enough to arouse
Whisper's suspicions. Unless she connected the name Raven with the man who had
helped capture her years ago.

I continued grilling Shed till first light. He practically begged to tell every
filthy detail of his story. He had a big need to confess. Over coming days, when
I sneaked down to the Buskin, he revealed everything recorded where he appears
as the focal character. I do not think I have met many men who disgusted me
more. Nastier men, yes. I have encountered scores. Greater villains come by the
battalion. Shed's leavening of self-pity and cowardice reduced him from those
categories to an essentially pathetic level.

Poor dolt. He was born to be used.

And yet. . . . There was one guttering spark in Matron Shed, reflected in his
relationships with his mother, Raveo, Asa, Lisa, Sal, and Darling, that he noted
but did not recognize himself. He had a hidden streak of charity and decency. It
was the gradual growth of that spark, with its eventual impact upon the Black
Company, which makes me feel obligated to record all the earlier noxious details
about that frightened little man.

The morning following his capture, I rode into the city in Shed's wagon and
allowed him to open the Iron Lily as usual. During the morning I got Elmo and
Goblin in for a conference. Shed was unsettled when he discovered that we all
knew one another. Only through sheer luck had he not been taken earlier.

Poor fellow. The grilling never ceased. Poor us. He could not tell us everything
we wanted to know.

“What are we going to do about the girl's father?” Elmo asked.

“If there is a letter, we've got to grab it.” I replied. “We can't have anybody
stirring up more problems. Goblin, you take care of the papa. He's even a little
suspicious, see he has a heart attack.”

Sourly, Goblin nodded. He asked Shed for the father's whereabouts, departed. And
returned within half an hour. “A great tragedy. He didn't have a letter. She was
bluffing. But he did know too much that would come out under questioning. This
business is beginning to get to me. Hunting Rebels was cleaner. You knew who was
who and where you stood.”

“I'd better get back up the hill. The Taken might not be understanding about me
being down here. Elmo, better keep somebody in Shed's pocket.”

“Right. Pawnbroker lives there from now on. That clown takes a crap, he's
holding his hand.”

Goblin looked remote and thoughtful. “Raven buying a ship. Imagine that. What do
you figure he was going to do?”

“I think he wanted to head straight out to sea,” I said. “I hear there're
islands out there, way out. Maybe another continent. A guy could hide pretty
good out there.”

I went back up the hill and loafed for two days, except to slip off and get
everything I could out of Shed. Not a damned thing happened. Nobody else tried
to make a delivery. I guess Shed was the only fool in the body business.

Sometimes I looked at those grim black battlements and wondered. They had taken
a crack at Feather. Somebody in there knew the Taken meant trouble. How long
before they realized they had been cut off and did something to get the meat
supply moving again?

JUNIPER: THE RETURN
Shed was still rattled two days after his capture. Each time he looked across
the common room and saw one of those Black Company bastards, he started falling
apart again. He was living on borrowed time. He was not sure what use they had
for him, but he was sure that when he was used up, they would dump him with the
garbage. Some of his babysitters clearly thought him trash. He could not refute
their viewpoint in his own mind.

He was behind his counter, washing mugs, when Asa walked through the door. He
dropped a mug.

Asa met his eye for only an instant, sidled around the L and headed upstairs.

Shed took a deep breath and followed. The man called Pawnbroker was a step
behind when he reached the head of the stair, moving as silent as death. He had
a knife ready for business.

Shed stepped into what had been Raven's room. Pawnbroker remained outside. “What
the hell are you doing here, Asa? The Inquisitors are after you. About that
Catacombs business. Bullock himself went south looking for you.”

“Easy, Shed. I know. He caught up with us. It got hairy. We left him cut up, but
he'll mend. And he'll come back looking for you. I came to warn you. You've got
to get out of Juniper.”

“Oh, no,” Shed said softly. Another tooth in the jaws of fate. “Been considering
that anyway.” That would not
tell Pawnbroker anything he could not guess for himself. “Things have gotten
rotten here. I've started looking for a buyer.” Not true, but he would before
day's end.

For some reason Asa's return restored his heart. Maybe just because he felt he
had an ally, somebody who shared his troubles.

Most of the story poured out. Pawnbroker did not take exception. He did not make
an appearance.

Asa had changed. He did not seem shocked. Shed asked why not.

“Because I spent so much time with Raven. He told me stories that would curl
your hair. About the days before he came to Juniper.“ ”How is he?“ ”Dead.”

“Dead?” Shed gasped.

“What?” Pawnbroker bulled through the doorway. “Did you say Raven was dead?”

Asa looked at Pawnbroker, at Shed, at Pawnbroker again. "Shed, you bastard. . .

."

“You shut up, Asa,” Shed snapped. “You haven't got the faintest what's happened
while you were gone. Pawnbroker is a friend. Sort of.”

“Pawnbroker, eh? Like from the Black Company?” Pawnbroker's eyebrows rose.

“Raven been talking?” “He had some tales about the old days.” "Uh-huh. Right,

buddy. That's me. Let's get back to Raven being dead."

Asa looked at Shed. Shed nodded. “Tell us.” “Okay. I don't really know what
happened. We were clearing out after our mix-up with Bullock. Running. His hired
thugs caught us by surprise. We're hiding in some woods outside of town when all
of a sudden he starts screaming and jumping around. It don't make no sense to
me.“ Asa shook his head. His face was pale and sweaty. ”Go on,” Shed urged
gently. “Shed, I don't know.” “What?” Pawnbroker demanded. “I don't know. I
didn't hang around.”

Shed grimaced. That was the Asa he knew. “You're a real buddy, fellow,”

Pawnbroker said. “Look. . . .” Shed motioned for silence.

Asa said, “Shed, you've got to get out of Juniper. Fast. Any day a ship could
bring a letter from Bullock.“ ”But. . . .”

"It's better down there than we thought, Shed. You got money; you're all right.

They don't care about the Catacombs. Think it was a big joke on the Custodians.

That's how Bullock found us. Everybody was laughing about the raid. There was
even some guys talking about getting up an expedition to come clean them out."

“How did anybody find out about the Catacombs, Asa? Only you and Raven knew.”

Asa looked abashed.

“Yeah. Thought so. Had to brag, didn't you?” He was confused and frightened and
starting to take it out on Asa. He did not know what to do. He had to get out of
Juniper, like Asa said. But how to give his watchdogs the slip? Especially when
they knew he had to try?