BreadCrumb Trail (The Yellow Hoods, #2): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale (19 page)

As Tee climbed up the tree, she thought of Mounira, who was spending the day with Tee’s mom, doing some mother-daughter “girly” type things. Tee didn’t mind, as she knew Mounira must be missing her own mom terribly. If anything, it was a relief for both Tee and her mom, as doing “girly” things was not something Tee usually enjoyed.

Suddenly, from a little further into the forest, came the sound of gears turning, and a bridge extending, followed by the sound of someone running over the metal bridge.

Tee, confused, looked at Richy and Elly.

“That’s not us,” said Elly.

Down below, Pierre yelled, “Hey, someone’s coming!”

“Help me!” yelled a teenage boy. He ran toward the captains and guardsmen as fast as he could. “Whoever you are, help me!”

“Men, defend the boy!” ordered Captain Charlebois, unsheathing his sword and charging forward.

Tee pulled the lever to extend their tree-bridge while her friends pulled out their shock-sticks and started cranking the handles.

Pierre ran to the teenage boy, who promptly fell into Pierre’s arms. The boy was exhausted. The captains and the guardsmen took up positions surrounding the two. Each guardsman had his sword drawn, and his other hand ready to draw his pistol.

“What’s your name?” Pierre asked the boy.

“My name… is Franklin… Charles… David… Watt,” whispered Franklin, almost out of breath. “I was held… prisoner.”

“What was that?” yelled Captain Archambault over his shoulder.

“The boy says his name is Watt,” said Pierre. He scooped up the boy, looked around, and wondered what was next.

“Watt!” yelled the Yellow Hoods, looking at each other.

Tee yelled down to the captains, “We’ve been looking for him! Watt!”

Captain Archambault looked at his counterpart. “The Solstice attack on Mounira, kidnapping children, and now this Watt boy? I suspect it’s the same group.”

“Agreed,” said Captain Charlebois.

Just then, a tall red-hooded figure in black leather boots appeared at the other end of the tree-bridge.

“Looks like Watt was running for a reason,” said Elly, twirling her shock-sticks and then charging forward.

Richy did a double take. “You’re acting like Tee!” said Richy, running right up behind Elly.

“What can I say—she’s a bad influence!” said Elly, switching to a battle cry as the red-hooded figure ran toward them.

Tee pulled out her slingshot and a couple of stones.

“This is going to be awkward—I didn’t think this through,” said Richy, realizing the narrow tree-bridge constrained them to a single file.

“Richy, no shocking me!” ordered Elly, stopping at the mid-point of the tree-bridge and waiting for their opponent.

The red-hooded figure pulled back his hood, revealing his light brown hair. He grabbed the staff from his back and slowly moved forward to meet Elly. “
Yellow
hoods? Seriously? Are you supposed to be kid copies of us?” he said, swinging at Elly.

“More like the other way around,” said Elly, nearly landing a shocking blow on Saul.

Hans and Gretel, below, stopped their running and looked at the guardsmen and captains.

Pulling out his rapier, Hans yelled up to the trees. “Saul, we’re going to need your help here, so whatever you’re doing, hurry up!”

The guardsmen and captains started moving toward Hans and Gretel, who appeared to be just standing there, fifty yards away. Pierre headed back to the horses and sail-carts with Franklin.

Hans took a couple of swipes at the air to warm up.

One of the guardsmen slowed his advance and laughed.

“He’s fighting no one—and still missing, with that flimsy sword,” said another.

Hans smiled as the guards got to the perfect distance. “Firstly, it’s called a rapier. And now, dear sister, if you’d do the honors?”

What had looked to the guardsmen like a walking stick, being partially hidden by Gretel’s red cloak, became quite clearly a bow as she quickly raised it up for use. Her quiver was now visible over her left shoulder.

Immediately, one guard went down.

“One!” chirped Gretel.

“Mother did do
one
thing right,” said Hans, running forward to engage the surprised adversaries.

“What’s that?” yelled Gretel.

“Getting us those lessons so long ago!” he said, swinging at the air.

“Two!” yelled Gretel.

“She’s an archer?” said Tee. “They’re all bigger, older, and more deadly than we are.” Tee loaded a stone and crept along the tree-bridge until she was above Gretel. Glancing to her friends, who were dodging and weaving Saul’s attacks, Tee decided they could handle it. She looked back toward the ground, found a line of sight through the canopy, and took the shot, hitting the red-hooded head.

“Ouch!” yelled Gretel, letting loose an arrow into a tree, below. “Where’s the little troll who threw that?”

“Uh oh,” said Tee, trying to scurry away.

“There you are!” yelled Gretel, aiming up at the moving, yellow Tee.

“One!” yelled Hans, having made short work of the guardsman who tried to take him on.

Gabriel and Matthieu started to pull back as the two remaining guardsmen went forward to challenge Hans.

Every time the guardsmen raised their pistols, Gretel raised her bow at them, and when they lowered their pistols, she lowered her bow. Hans giggled with delight.

Above, on the tree-bridge, Elly slipped and dropped one of her shock-sticks as Saul again narrowly missed hitting her in the head with his staff.

Richy pulled himself up onto the thin railing of the metal bridge and then sprang at Saul, armed shock-sticks in hand. Elly looked in disbelief as Richy jumped over her.

Saul let go of his staff and grabbed Richy’s hands, falling backward with him and avoiding getting shocked.

“
Hotaru?
” said Saul. Having seen Richy’s face, Saul let go of him, backed up, and stood. “Is—is that you, Hotaru?”

Richy, seemingly ignoring Saul, curled himself into a ball, and then yelled, “
Ready!
”

“Lights out!
” said Elly, putting one foot on Richy’s back, leaping, and jabbing her remaining, armed shock-stick into Saul’s chest.

“I’ve got you now!” yelled Gretel below, loosing a second arrow at Tee, but narrowly missing. The canopy between her and her target presented a challenge.

“Bye-bye,” said Tee, clicking the button to activate her shock-stick, and then dropping it on Gretel. Fortunately, it made contact.

Hans finished off the last guardsman and wondered why his sister was no longer responding to his banter. He turned to see her lying on the ground, twitching. “What have you done?” he yelled, running over to her.

“Guys, we better get out of here, now!” said Tee to Elly and Richy. They dashed for the tree ladder and regrouped with the captains, Pierre, and Franklin.

“Best we get out of here,” said Captain Archambault. “We’ve no idea if there are more of them coming.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

The Fare of Failure

The Red Hoods picked themselves up from the deserted battlefield and slinked off to recover in another part of the forest. The loss of Franklin angered them, and Hans took his frustration out on some travelers they robbed along the way. Afterward, they visited a small village, to fill their stomachs, and then headed home. 

“Saul?” said Gretel as they extended one of the last tree-bridges on the way home. “What happened out there? You’ve been in your own little world ever since.” Hans trailed behind, out of earshot.

“Nothing,” replied Saul firmly. He couldn’t forget Richy’s face and it bothered him deeply. He couldn’t remember how he knew the boy he’d called Hotaru. He felt like his memories had a wooden floor, and he’d somehow peeked underneath to rediscover a truth hiding there.

Gretel came down the tree first. While Saul and Hans descended, she motioned for them to remain silent, and pointed to the brown horse tied up near their run-down house, and the four children playing, unattended, in the yard.

“Do you think the captains came back with new guards and already found the house? We
were
only a half mile away,” whispered Hans.

Gretel tied her hair into a neat ponytail again, using thin leather strips from her belt pouch. “I don’t think so. First, they would’ve tried to hide their horses, and second—”

“There would be
more
than one horse. Also, they’d be all over the place, and noisy,” added Saul. “Whoever this is, they’re alone.”

“You’re right. Also, the kids wouldn’t still be here,” said Hans. “Those captains would’ve taken them away.”

Gretel rubbed her chin. “Whoever it is, they probably left the children out and the horse in view to let us know they’re here, waiting for us.”

“Maybe it’s Master—” started Saul.

Gretel shook her head. “We haven’t had any training in years. Mother is broke, and I think she long ago used up every favor anyone ever owed her.”

Saul thought for a moment. “Okay. So, what do we do?”

“You go in through the back door. I’ll go in through the front door. Gretel?” said Hans.

Gretel nodded in agreement. “I know to what to do. I’ll find a spot for a clean shot through the window. First, though, we have to deal with the kids.”

So far, they had managed to stay out of sight from the kids, but that wouldn’t be possible as they approached the house.

Hans looked at his sister, knowing she wasn’t going to like his suggestion. “How about you lead the kids away first?”

“Why me? Because I’m a girl?” replied Gretel indignantly.

“Don’t you always correct us to say
woman
?” asked Saul.

Gretel’s look could’ve burned him to the ground. “
Don’t
get me started.” She walked away in a huff.

Five minutes later, they were in position. Gretel gave the nod, and both men entered the home, from opposite ends.

“Mother!” screamed Hans.

“What’s going on?” yelled Gretel, slinging her bow over her shoulder and rushing to the front door. She could hear Hans yelling and sobbing. Peeking in, she could see him holding Mother’s limp body.

“She failed to keep her end of the deal,” said the Hound calmly. He stood in the far corner, leaning against a dirty white wall. He was dressed in the same beige and brown leather coat, but this time he also wore large, metallic, gear-covered gloves.

Saul came in, glanced at Mother, and then at his siblings. “Is she
dead?
” he asked in disbelief.

“
You
killed her!” growled Hans, standing to face the Hound. Hans’ tear-streaked face filled with rage.

Gretel started to giggle. “She’s gone. She’s really gone! We’re free,” she said, repeating it as she gazed upon the old lady’s body.

Saul stood there, confused. His body was unwilling to take any action other than remain standing while his mind filled with conflicting emotions.

The Hound turned the dial on each forearm’s control box to its first position. The fingers of the gloves started to snap and crackle with small electrical arcs. “I’m only here to talk—but I came
prepared
,” he said firmly.

Hans pulled out his rapier and lunged at the Hound. Mother’s death angered him, but he also wanted to beat a challenging opponent, to make up for the day’s earlier defeat.

The Hound side-stepped Hans’ clumsy attack, but nearly fell over due to the weight of the large battery hidden under his coat. “
Stop!
If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead already!”

He’d taken a calculated risk coming alone, never mind wearing the shock-gloves for the first time. He knew that if they were going to listen to him, they were going to have to see his confidence and what he could be capable of.

“Hans—wait!” cried Gretel as Hans lunged forward again.

The Hound moved out of Hans’ way and then hit him with a gloved hand. With a flash, Hans found himself on the far wall, dazed, while little arcs of electricity danced around him.

The Hound turned to Saul. “You need to make an important decision.” He switched his gaze to Gretel. “Either I crank these gloves up, and you all die here, today, with that insane woman—or, you can join me and find new purpose in life. Choose!”

The orders that Marcus had given the Fare’s enforcer were clear: either retrieve Franklin Watt, or the steam engine plans, or leave the Ginger Lady dead. Engaging the Red Hoods hadn’t been mentioned, but the Hound wasn’t one to waste an opportunity. He felt they could be useful, and figured that having his own small team maybe wasn’t a bad idea—a team that Richelle would think was hers, but he would know was his.

Gretel looked down at the crumpled woman. “Did you kill her because she took the children before handing over Watt?”

The Hound decided to put all his cards on the table. “Yes, that, and the fact that you don’t
have
the Watt boy, or his brass tube. My orders were clear.”

“Oh,” said Gretel. She looked at the dead woman and was getting angry at herself for starting to feel a sense of loss.

The Hound walked slowly toward the open front door. “I waited for you three because you reminded me of myself, not so long ago. You’re lost. You need purpose. You want to
matter.
Come with me and you’ll matter.”

Gretel and Saul looked at each other nervously.

Hans slowly got himself to his hands and knees. “Do we get toys like those? Because, if we do, I’m in,” said Hans, trying to laugh.

“Wait, did you hear that?” said Saul.

“Come, now! Before they see my horse,” said the Hound.

A guardsman repeated, “Over there! A building!”

“You were right, Captain—the children weren’t far from the house,” said Pierre.

“Sometimes, you don’t want to be right,” replied Captain Charlebois.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Lost Boys

“You eat too fast,” said Mounira, shaking her head at Franklin.

Franklin paused to glare at Mounira, and then continued to wolf down the breakfast-style late lunch that Jennifer and William had made. Once Franklin had walked through the door and into the wonderful aroma of pancakes, sausage, and other goodies, he couldn’t focus on anything else. The parade of flavor was very much welcome.