Through Wolf's Eyes (64 page)

"I will,"
she promised,
"but even my
dead nose can smell the reek of lavender and the wind kindly blows
toward us. We should have warning before he can leap upon us. I wonder
why he took such great care to hide his shape but left his scent so
blatant?"

Blind Seer coughed derisive laughter.
"He hid
himself from human prey. They use their eyes and ears, but their noses
smell nothing. Doubtless this scent he wears is such as those blended
by Hazel Healer, meant to adorn the wearer."

"Perhaps,"
Firekeeper replied, but the worry
stayed with her and made her slow her gait slightly and watch with even
greater care. She wished for Elation, but the falcon could not see
anything through the spreading canopy of tree branches. If those who
had taken Zorana remained beneath their shelter, the falcon would not
be able to find them any more quickly than those on the ground.

At length wolf and woman came to a small clearing
tucked off to one side of the trail. The dapple-grey palfrey tethered
to a tree to one side jerked against her rope when she smelled Blind
Seer, but her relief at human company—even that of so dubious a human
as Firekeeper—outweighed her fear.

Giving the mare a brisk pat on one shoulder, Firekeeper told Blind Seer—for the wolf would never lightly speak to a horse—
"This
frightened one says that there are no humans here. She is alone and
afraid but we must leave her behind. She would only slow us. The others
can gather her up."

Blind Seer was busy snuffling the glade.
"Prince Newell
came
here with Zorana. They rutted upon the blanket and were interrupted by
Lavender Scent. They fought. Here is Newell's blood on the moss and
here again. I do not smell that of Lavender Scent."

"Here is something else,"
Firekeeper added, pointing.

Pinned to a tree trunk was a piece of white bark on which black marks had been made.

"This was done with a burned stick,"
she said, sniffing.
"Alas,
it cannot speak to me. We will leave it for the others. Perhaps it will
hasten their trail. Come. We have learned all we can here. Can you
catch their trail when they left?"

"As easily as you breathe,"
the wolf boasted, leading the way.
"There
are two trails now—Zorana's is added. No, there are three! Here a
second human/lavender scent joins the first. This one was waiting in
the tree."

Firekeeper padded after Blind Seer and noted the
marks left on the ground. She made a broad arrow sign in the dirt that
Race would be certain to see, and followed.

"They hunt in a little pack, then. This second one was not needed for the rutting Newell was easy prey."
Firekeeper snorted in derision.
"I hope I am never so human as to be ruled out of season by my loins!"

Blind Seer laughed.
"You are human, Little Two-legs, but even humans can moderate themselves. Most simply do not care to do so."

They ran in silence then, Blind Seer easily guiding
them and Firekeeper leaving sign for those who would follow. At times
this was hardly necessary for Lady Zorana had left pieces of her
clothing behind her. The first time Firekeeper spotted a scrap, she
thought the bit of fabric had snagged accidentally on a jutting twig.
By the third bit, she knew that Lady Zorana was deliberately marking
her trail. The tiny shreds of lace could be torn from her riding habit
fairly soundlessly and yet their whiteness shouted the way.

"Good for her,"
Blind Seer said when Firekeeper told him.
"She always struck me as having some heart to her."

Sometime later Firekeeper said,
"I smell smoke."

"Burning pine,"
Blind Seer added,
"such as two-legs use for torches. Walk slowly now, with care. The lavender scent
is heavy here. They may have dug traps or set snares."

They found nothing so subtle. Soon flickering lights, like grounded stars, could be glimpsed through the trees.

"What madness is this?"
Blind Seer said as soon as they were a bit closer.
"Do they shine their denning to all and sundry?"

Once Firekeeper would have agreed that this was
madness. There in the center of a well-cleared glade was a gamekeeper's
cabin, the cages in which the pheasants and grouse were kept lighter
forms surrounding the solidness of the central building. Lashed to
every sizable tree were makeshift sconces holding brightly burning pine
torches. But Firekeeper had come to understand humans far better than
once she did.

"No, there is wisdom here. Humans see little in
the darkness. Any who could track them this far at night would follow
that trail to its end. Thus Lavender Scent and his pack mate have lit
the grounds all about the den wherein they keep Zorana. Their eyes will
be accustomed to the fire brightness, but those like us who come
through the darkness may be blinded."

"And even,"
Blind Seer agreed,
"if both
see the same, those within are at advantage, for all who cross into the
lit space will be seen before they can reach the cabin. This is a good
game, sweet Firekeeper!"

She agreed. Her heart was pounding within her breast
and every nerve was as alive as ever it had been. She could hear
muffled voices from within the cabin: deep male and the sobbing of a
female.

"How do we take Zorana away?"
Blind Seer asked.
"Shall we wait for Derian and the others to join us?"

"No,"
Firekeeper said decisively.
"I do not like the sound of Zorana's cries. There is terror in them and despair. The others may be long coming yet."

"Then how do we take her away?"
Blind Seer repeated.
"I will not cross that bright circle. Too easy for an arrow to find my heart and you did not wear your armor."

"Neither did I bring a bow,"
she brooded,
"but I hunted much game before I knew how to use one. What do you think
of
this? I will climb out along the branches of the tree that stretches
farthest over the clearing. From there I will throw rocks at the cabin.
Perhaps they will come out."

"Stupid,"
the wolf replied.
"Why announce ourselves only to have you shot like a squirrel? Think better."

She scowled at him.
"This fire is our enemy. In darkness we are any two-legs' better."

"Then the fire must die first,"
Blind Seer said sensibly.
"You are Firekeeper. How do we kill it without killing ourselves or burning down the forest?"

Firekeeper considered and rejected numerous plans based on the unavailability of buckets, bags, and bowls. Then she grinned:

"Fox Hair will love me for this. I will take
these leather breeches and cut them into two bags. My vest is of soft
leather. I can fashion another small bag quickly enough. Strips of
leather will close them and I will hang them over three torches. Then I
shall slash them open: one-two-three. Three torches will gutter and
fail—that should be enough to create a wedge of darkness to hide us. In
that moment, we strike."

"You take a great risk,"
Blind Seer said dubiously.

Firekeeper was already stepping out of her breeches and making the legs into bags. She cocked her head toward the cabin.

"Listen to her weep. That is not just
fear—someone treats her badly. Zorana has been no friend to me, but
Kenre True-heart is our friend and he loves his mother. Go with care,
dear one. See where the cabin looks out into the night? We will put out
the torches where those within the cabin will have the least chance of
shooting arrows at us without coming out themselves."

"You are too kind,"
the wolf grumbled, but he went and by the time she had her three bags filled with water he was ready.

"The cabin sits four-square in the glade, flanked
with bird cages to rear and out behind. The door faces north. There are
windows on all sides. Though they are shuttered, a watcher could have
them open quickly I think."

"Or they may have made arrow slits,"
Firekeeper added, remembering such security arrangements in West Keep and in Eagle's Nest Castle.

"If you put out the torches to the west,"
the wolf continued,
"the approach is slightly shorter. After you cover the ground, the cabin itself would be your shelter."

Firekeeper nodded and hefted the bags.
"They leak some,"
she said critically,
"but they will do. Keep to the shadows, my dear."

"I will make the pheasants and grouse our allies,"
Blind Seer said with a trace of laughter beneath his growl.
"Be careful yourself. Your naked hide near glows in the moonlight."

Firekeeper snorted as she scrabbled up and anchored
the bags above the torches. When she had fetched water, she had removed
her underclothing lest its pale color make her visible and then rubbed
herself carefully with wet dirt from near the brook and knew she was
nearly as mottled in color as the wolf himself.

"Go then"
was all she said. Raising her
Fang, she slashed the first bag open. The other two were ripped open in
quick succession, nor did she pause to see how well her plan had
worked. The light had dimmed, the hunt begun.

Dropping nearly to all fours, Firekeeper raced across
the ground, eschewing some stealth for speed. An arrow passed over her
head, confirming her guess that the kidnappers had constructed arrow
slits.

To her right she heard avian squawks of terror and
knew that Blind Seer had released the caged birds. Their terrified
fluttering filled the grove with shadows and her mouth with down.
Nonetheless she howled with glee.

"Well done!"
she cried, then she was upon the cabin.

At that moment she was all wolf and the human clamor
from within mattered no more to her than did the plaints of the game
birds. Pressing her back against the rough wood of the cabin,
Firekeeper studied the shutter to her left. Something darker was
pressed against it, peering out.

Dropping below the level of the sill, she crept into position, then bounded up, thrusting the Fang's blade through the
shutter slats. A shrill scream of pain rewarded her, but she was already gone.

Darting around to the back she thudded her body's
weight against the shutter there. It didn't break open, but a shout of
alarm rose. She did not wait to see how those within would deal with
that supposed intrusion, but dropped back to the west side. Picking up
a chunk of firewood, she threw it with all her might against the
shutter. A few slats broke and there was another shout.

She was about to continue this game when a call rang out through the night.

"Stop what you are doing at once or we will kill the Lady Zorana!"

Firekeeper had expected something like this. Her goal
had been to keep those within guessing, nothing more. She trusted that
they would be reluctant to kill their prisoner— after all, what would
protect them thereafter? However, in a panic many a mother animal had
smothered her own young. Therefore, Firekeeper proceeded with caution.

The cabin had a stone chimney on the east side.
Firekeeper swarmed up this, finding toe- and handholds with ease. Once
on the roof, she moved with great care, keeping her weight on the
center beam. Using the Fang, she pried away several of the shingles
until she found a crack between the roof boards through which she could
peer. Within, the cabin was lit by several lanterns so she had no
trouble seeing what was going on.

Two men prowled restlessly within, glancing out
through the shutters, hands dropping to their swords at every sound.
Each also had a bow. Arrows were set ready beside every window.

The men's faces had been blackened, but one had a
broad slash on the cheekbone below one eye. Blood still leaked from the
wound and from time to time he dabbed at it with a folded piece of
cloth. Firekeeper spared a moment's regret that her blade had not gone
in a bit higher.

Lady Zorana lay tied to a narrow bed set in the
center of the room. The bodice of her dress was open and her skirts
were hiked up over her naked lower body. She had stopped
weeping now and watched her captors with single-minded hatred.

A fourth person—an older man Firekeeper recalled as
one she had encountered in the forest from time to time, usually
messing about with birds or setting snares—was tied to a
straight-backed chair. His eyes above his gagged mouth look frightened
and a spreading bruise along one cheekbone gave ample reason for that
fear.

Watching the two men prowl, Firekeeper considered
what to do next. She had hoped to find Lady Zorana near one window or
another, but the kidnappers had anticipated that. Still, the cabin was
not so large that Zorana could not be reached easily enough from either
window. The old man should not be left to die either.

Firekeeper knew that she must find a way to distract
the men without giving them time to kill their prisoners and she must
do so quickly. Derian and the others could arrive any moment and their
presence could drive the kidnappers to foolishness.

Deciding, she dropped to the ground once more. Blind Seer met her instantly.

"Blind Seer, I want you to go find Derian and
stop him from coming further. Those kidnappers are afraid, but not yet
panicked. They may act rashly if further pressed."

The wolf growled agreement, but he wasn't pleased.
"And what will you do alone, Firekeeper?"

"I will set a fire,"
she said.
"The
cabin is wooden but for the chimney. I will kindle a fire here where
they will not see. Then I will drop smoking damp stuff down the chimney
to force them out. I can carry straw in the ruins of my breeches. To
make their choice easier, I will set fire to this western shutter
before I go to the roof. Then they will have trouble east and west and
me above."