The Lords of Valdeon (25 page)

"I wonder who this 'C' is? Mother never mentioned knowing someone on Carlotta."

"Maybe the other letters say where your real father is? Are you going to look for him?"

Seth stared down at the feminine ink swirls stretching across the parchment. "I honestly don’t know. I can't think past finding my mother's killer."

He searched through the other letters, but they were simply responses to his mother’s correspondence. This mysterious 'C' made reference to sketches his mother had drawn of Seth as he grew up. It was odd having a complete stranger know the intimate details of his childhood.

The last letter was almost as interesting as the first.

Anne. Of course you and your lovely son are welcome to come and stay with me at my cottage. It will be good to have company. I’ve been lonely since August died. Write to me and tell me when to expect your arrival.

Seth and Riley exchanged looks. This was someone who had answers. Would she share them with Anne’s son? He tied the letters back up in the pink ribbon and put them in one of the desk drawers along with the picture of his parents. Mother had hidden them for a reason. It was best they remain hidden for now. The gargoyle coin and the vile he kept inside his waistcoat. They were his talisman.

"Remember the night we were attacked by the Tslavian man? I went to Paddy's after Fergus and I fought. A Valdeonian warrior was there. I suspect he knew my parents."

"Do you think this man could be your father?"

"This man’s name is Leo."

He pictured those intense, amber-flecked eyes as they examined Seth’s every feature under the light of Paddy’s lantern. Was Leo his kin, or did all Valdeonians share their extraordinary eyes?

"He's a skilled warrior and faster than anything I've ever seen. Leo saved my life the night we met." Seth lifted his eyes to Riley's curious face. "He was a shadow of death moving amongst the sailors who attacked me."

"Why do you think he's here?" Riley plopped down on the bench across from Seth.

"He was in the square earlier loading supplies. They let the McPherson Farm, but I don't think they've come all this way to raise hay. I think he's here to help me."

A loud splash slapped water onto the wharf. It didn't sound like the steady beat of the waves. Something had fallen into the water. Seth stood up and went to the nearest window. Wet painted the boards at the edge of the wharf, but nothing else looked amiss.

"Could have been a seabird." Riley came to join him at the window.

The boards a few feet outside their window splintered as something round and black dropped from the sky. It had been heavy enough to smash through the wharf and into the sea. Then the roof above their heads rained down as another object found its mark. Seth and Riley dove to the side. The object, slowed by ceiling materials, rolled along the floor until it stopped at Seth's boot. It was a cannonball.

"What in the green, green fields is going on?" Riley stared at the cannonball as if it were a three-headed dog.

"Trouble. I think Haven Bay may be under attack again."

Chapter Nineteen

Seth gulped in the briny air as they ran up the Sea Steps. The climb was a long one, even for young legs. Staying close to the rock face, they came to the missing section of steps. Jamie Newcastle stood waiting for them, thumbs stuck in his waistcoat pockets. The constant breeze from the sea tugged at his thick patch of brown hair. He smiled and waved.

"Ho, Seth McCloud. I've got news."

"What's happening in town? We were almost hit with cannonballs." Seth's shouts reached across the distance toward Jamie, but his urgency seemed to have no affect on the elder's son.

"I know. I dropped them. Needed to get your attention, didn't I?" Jamie rocked on his heels as he waited for them to climb across the gap onto the platform.

"You dropped them?" Riley lifted his fists. "The last one almost killed us, you half-wit!"

"Well there's the thanks I get for bringing good news. You've got visitors, Seth. Your mother's solicitors have come to give you an inheritance." Jamie poked Seth in the chest. "And here all this time I thought your family was poor. They gave me twenty credits to find you."

"My mother wore the same winter scarf I gave her for well over five years. Trust me. She had no inheritance money to leave me."

A bullet struck by Seth's boot. He and Riley pressed against the rock face, pulling Jamie with them. The shot had come from the airship port dock hanging above them. Another rang out, striking near the first. If they tried to go through the fence into the row, they'd be easy targets. Their only alternative was down.

"I hope you got your twenty credits in advance, Newstuffle," Riley grumbled and spat over the side of the platform.

"I don't understand." Jamie stared up at the docks. "Expensive clothes and nice manners. They seemed on the up and up to me."

"Come on. We're in for another climb." Seth pulled on Jamie's arm.

"Down again? There will be no escape off the wharf. What if they decide to beat us to death with cannonballs?" Riley stepped in front of Seth to block his path. "We have to get help."

"We'll be dead if we take one step through the opening."

Seth hurried across the beam, clinging to the rock face. If they stayed close to the cliff side, the shooter would have less of a target. He eased a boot onto the first step past the gap and moved down, so Riley could join him.

"Hurry on, old grandmum!" Riley called over his shoulder to Jamie.

The elder's son had one foot on the beam. The other was mounted like a stump upon the platform. He wasn't moving. None of the other Marianna boys were keen to try the climb to the wharf. Seth and Riley were the only ones who had actually made it past the gap.

Another shot struck the wood upon the platform by Jamie's foot. He yelped and pushed his body forward out onto the beam. Apparently Jamie had decided the threat of a bullet was more frightening than the thousand-foot drop down a rock cliff. Beads of sweat rolled down his pudgy face, matting dull brown hair against pale skin. Sheer terror shown in his eyes.

"Easy, Jamie." Seth switched places with Riley and extended his hand to the frightened boy. "Take it slow. Don't look down."

"Great gulls. If he moves any slower, we won't make the wharf until sundown." Riley leaned over Seth's shoulder. "Hurry on! You're almost done."

Jamie gave Riley a sour frown and shuffled a bit faster until he was within arm's reach of Seth. Batting away their hands, he made ready to jump onto the first step. A sudden sensation of unease rippled along the back of Seth's neck as he watched the elder's son. His eyes were drawn to the step his own foot rested upon. Odd. It was vibrating upon the breeze.

"Jamie, wait! Don't!"

He pushed Seth's hands away and leapt onto the step with a triumphant smirk. Wood cracked and split. Jamie fell toward the ocean waves as the step — which had held Seth and Riley’s weight for years — snapped into pieces. Then Jamie was gone, leaving a panicked silence behind him.

"Help!" A voice came from below them.

Staying close to the rock face, they looked cautiously into the gap. Jamie was dangling from the side of the cliff twenty feet below them. Bruised and bloodied knuckles held an ancient tree root in their panicked grip. The wind caught his coat, twisting the top of Jamie's body a bit further out into the gap. He stamped the toe of his boots upon a tiny ledge to restore his balance. Jamie was a stranger to exercise. He wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.

"I’m coming for you! Hold on tight and don’t look down."

"Seth!" Riley pulled at his arm. "You can’t climb down the rock face. You’ll be killed!"

"I saw a rope at the top of the stairs beside the opening. It should be long enough to reach him. Go, Riley. Hurry!"

Riley slid across the beam in cautious movements. Troubled blue eyes cast a last look down at Jamie. Then he sprinted up the stairs. Seth's stomach tightened as the stomping of his work boots on wood faded. Jamie's frightened eyes found Seth. In the brief moment of contact, a horrible truth passed between them. Riley wouldn’t make it back with the rope in time.

Seth took his boots and stockings off. He moved to the gap and stretched out across the rock to get a good grip. His bare feet and hands moved down the cliff face. He made the descent slowly. One slip could kill them both. Muscles feeling the strain, his body began to tremble.

"Hurry! I can’t hold on much longer."

He was getting closer and chanced a look down. Jamie's anxious face stared up at him from ten feet away. It may as well have been a hundred. Nature was against him. Its elements challenged every inch of his climb. Briny wind slapped at his face and tugged at his hair. Moisture from the violent sea coated the rock beneath his fingers. Moss and other permanent ooze hadn't formed at this elevation yet. Jamie had been lucky there.

Seth eased down to the next set of footholds. Beneath him was a large mass of smooth rock spanning the width of the gap. It stood like a chasm between them. Great gulls. How was he supposed to get around it?

"Why aren't you moving?"

"Easy, Jamie. I don't have any more footholds. Hang on. I'll find a way to reach you. I promise."

Dull eyes fill with desperate hope pooled with tears. Jamie nodded. Seth forced an encouraging smile. Arms aching with effort, he leaned into the cliff and shifted his body weight onto his feet. Rugged terrain covered the cliff side to his right. Several hand and foot holds lined the way, but following the holds would lead them away from the opening. He turned his face to the left. The steps hung in a downward slope. Perhaps they could climb sideways until they reached the beams?

One look at Jamie's sweaty face dashed his hopes. He'd seen the look in the eyes of the woolies headed for shearing. Terrified, his natural inclination to run from danger had been thwarted. He, like the woolies, clung to the nearest mass. Fear was swiftly draining away the control over his body. He'd be frozen where he was if Seth didn't get him moving.

Something smacked against his back. He was so startled he nearly let go. It was a rope. Thank you, Riley Logan! He owed his best friend a night at Paddy's for this. Seth grabbed the lifeline and gave it a tug. It held firm. He wrapped the rope around his waist and walked his feet slowly toward Jamie. Balancing upon the small ledge, he untied the rope and wrapped it around Jamie's waist.

"Start climbing. Riley will help as best he can to pull you up."

The elder's son held firm to the tree roots even as the rope pulled taut. Seth, unable to let go completely of his hand holds, began swatting at Jamie's fingers. The second hard smack to his cheek woke the boy up. He let go of the root and was immediately tugged upward at a surprising speed. His feet soon disappeared over the edge.

Seth waited anxiously for his turn with the rope. His arms were beginning to ache with the effort. The tips of his toes began to shake. Keeping his mind off his tired body, Seth peered up at the bottom of the steps. It was a rare view. Then he saw something he'd not expected. Most of the wood on the broken end of the support beam was smooth. It had been partially cut hours before. Someone had hacked at the beam while he and Riley were reading his mother's letters. They'd known when some unsuspecting soul put his weight on it, the beam would give way. A shiver raced along Seth’s spine. Luckily, both boys made it their practice to stay close to the rock wall as they climbed up and down the stairs.

The plan had been thorough. A fall from the Sea Steps would be readily viewed as an accident by the town. Only one person on Marianna had enough hate in his soul to devise such a plan. Seth rested his head against the chilly stone. He'd been searching for clues to Sandor's whereabouts. All the while, the assassin had been waiting for another opportunity to strike. Like a fool, he'd walked right into the trap. It wasn't a game of wits anymore. Rather, it was a matter of survival.

The rope slapped at his back again. Seth tied off and began the climb. A man's arms reached down as he neared the top. Constable McTavish helped him onto the platform beside a shivering Jamie. Sergeant Gunn kept a comforting hand upon the frightened boy's shoulder. His keen eyes searched the docks above their heads from which the shots had been fired.

"Constable McTavish!" Seth gripped at the man’s arm. "Pavel Sandor set the trap. He meant the fall for me, not Jamie."

The constable kept a tight hold on Seth and Jamie as they pushed through the opening in the fence. It was much wider now after the militia had stripped off several boards. Drawn by the gunfire and commotion, a large crowd had gathered under the airship port. Riley stood in its center, held firmly in place by one of the militia. His head was lowered and he shuffled his boots in the dirt as the militiamen gave him an earful. They were in for it this time. Trespassing on the Sea Steps was against the law. It was one of Marianna's most serious offenses. Now the elder's son had almost died. This would be the talk of Haven Bay for years to come.

Sensations of foreboding returned along his neck and arms. Seth looked up at the docks. The tip of a musket barrel poked through two crates above their heads. Great gulls! The madman was going to shoot into a crowd of innocent people to get to Seth. What if he missed and hit one of the curious children hanging on their mother's arm?

"Listen to me. You have to let me go right now, Constable."

Seth planted his bare feet into the dirt. Tugging and twisting, he desperately yanked away from his captor. The constable, trying to hold onto Jamie as well, lost his balance. The hold on Seth loosened. Tugging his sleeve out of the constable's grip, he started to run.

Wagons, overflowing with multi-colored wool, filled the Main Row headed from Elder Newcastle’s warehouse to the airship port. Seth darted between them. Coming too close to one of the skittish ponies, he rolled out of the path of its stomping hooves. The ponies tugged at their reins, startling the driver. Wool bounced precariously as the wagon veered off the row. It pitched wildly, finally tipping on its side. Bolts of wool flew into the dirt.