Crik (32 page)

Justice laughed. ‘You are a delicious child, to accuse me of doing the unnatural. Of creating a world around me that shouldn’t exist. Yes, the trees have gone, replaced with hard metal and twisted spires that offer little warmth. Huckney creates animals, like the swans on the lake and the tin mouse at your side. Yet you have gone one-step further. Raising your captor is a harsh punishment. Watching him decay with a pitiless heart you ignored his pleas of mercy; just as you overlook the screams of these tortured animals. Keep them around you. Enjoy the sights and sounds as the deer stumble and fall in the dust. Laugh as the rabbits lie down and wait for a death that will not return. Welcome Inara, you are truly at home here in the Red Wood.’

The answering smile from Inara was just as cold as the Ghost Walker’s. Jack found himself wondering, as he saw that mirthless grin, and not for the first time, whether the girl he had rescued from the Marsh House was insane.

The moon still bathe
d
the ground in a silver glow when Jack ran to where Inara screamed. She shook, gripping her blanket tightly beneath her chin, unaware that he stood over her.

‘Inara?’ He shook her shoulder.

Bill came over to them, his round face as pale as the moon above. ‘What’s upset her?’ he asked. ‘Is she having another nightmare?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Jack. ‘Her eyes are open, but she’s not seeing us.’ He demonstrated by waving his hand before Inara’s unblinking eyes. ‘She’s trembling.’ Holding her, he could feel her body violently shaking.

Inara cried out, her face contorted in agony.

Cringing, Bill covered his mouth. ‘Look at her.’

Jack saw his friend’s hands shake. Another cry, almost a shriek of pain tore from her mouth. Feeling her body tense against him, she then jerked backward out of his grasp and landed hard on the stone strewn ground. She writhed, twisting the blanket around her body.

‘Help me hold her,’ Jack called, gripping her shoulders. ‘If she keeps moving like this, she’ll tear herself open on the rocks.’ He couldn’t believe her strength; even with Bill’s help, he had a job to hold her still.

‘Her cries are horrible,’ said Bill. ‘What’s happening to her?’

She spat unintelligible words at them through gritted teeth. Another spasm contorted her body. Her ruined legs kicked out feebly, smacking Jack’s arm. He didn’t notice until then that Yang had thrown himself across Inara’s midsection. The weak light didn’t give his shadow enough strength to hold her firm.

‘Teeth, I can feel them….’

Jack almost let go as he heard her tired strained words.

‘Make ‘em stop,’ she cried.

‘What’s happening to her?’ Bill, awakened so suddenly, had not had time to put on his glasses. Without them, he looked younger. Both boys watched, caught in hopeless inaction.

What was Inara feeling? Pain spread from her, making Jack’s fingers tingle. Hot and clammy sweat waxed her skin, making holding her difficult. Her cries rose into a heart-wrenching scream.

‘Keep her quiet,’ said Bill. ‘I don’t want the Ladies coming over to investigate.’

‘How’re we going to keep her quiet, when we don’t know what she’s going through?’

‘Put your hand over her mouth.’

Looking at him in aghast, Jack said, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ Her next scream was louder. When Bill put his hand over Inara’s mouth, stifling her scream, he didn’t argue.

‘She’s crying. I can feel her tears on my hand.’

He didn’t need Bill to tell him, he had seen her tears glistening in the moonlight.

Suddenly, Bill let go of Inara. A scream spilled out into the cold night as she tore from Jack’s grasp.

‘Bill, what do you think you’re doing? Help me.’

Sitting back, Bill looked out into the Red Wood. At first Jack thought his friend was about to start screaming like Inara. What is going on?

‘I can feel him,’ said Bill.

‘She’s hurting Bill, come back here and help me.’

‘You don’t understand Yin,’ said Bill. ‘Black is alive. He’s out there.’

‘That’s great Bill, but we have to help Inara now.’

The girl’s struggles abruptly stopped. She still breathed hard beneath Jack, and Yang stayed stretched over her stomach.

‘I’ve stopped him eating,’ said Bill.

‘What?’

‘Black had caught the stag,’ said Bill. ‘The animal drew Black, bringing him close enough for me to feel him.’

Realisation dawned as a horrified expression twisted Bill features. ‘Do you think Inara was inside the stag when Black caught it? Was she feeling Black’s teeth when he bit into the stag?’

‘Inara,’ said Jack, holding her close, not waiting for Bill to respond. ‘Inara, it’s okay, Bill has taken control of Black. Inara.’

The pained look on the girl’s face slowly abated, leaving her exhausted and drenched in sweat. Her breath rasped through cracked lips. Slowly, she raised her hand to hide her sobs.

Jack wanted to turn his head while she wept. She had gone through too much already, without having to experience any more suffering. His mother always had a knack of making everything better with a touch and a soft word. Although he didn’t share his mother’s nurturing touch, he still patted Inara’s shoulder to let her know he was close.

‘He’s starving,’ said Bill. ‘I don’t think Black has fed for days. Despite the stag having only a little meat left on its bones, Black couldn’t resist the meal.’

‘I know Bill. It’s alright,’ said Jack. Inara felt everything. That she had experienced the wolf’s jaws clamp down to eat the stag, twisted his bowels into tight cramping knots.

‘Why didn’t she just leave the stag when Black caught it?’ asked Bill.

‘I couldn’t, the attack caught me by surprise.’ Inara sucked in a deep quivering breath. ‘I like to run with the stag; because I can’t,’ she said. ‘When inside the stag I feel exhilarated, when it leaps over dirty streams, or outruns the smaller deer and foxes I’m more alive than ever.’ She took a moment to collect herself. Refusing to lower her hand from her raw eyes she said, ‘It happened so fast. Sensing danger the stag’s momentum faltered. Fearing, perhaps a Myrm, the stag veered to the left; Black leapt from cover tearing out its rear leg. Hamstrung, it still tried in vain to flee. I shared its terror, its pain. The intensity of the attack took over, stopping me from thinking. All I could do as Black bit the stag’s throat was gag as I fought for breath. He didn’t release his hold until Silver came…’ Inara’s mouth crumpled up as a fresh wave of tears took over.

Smoothing her arm, Jack said, ‘It’s over Inara, you’re back safe with us.’

‘It’s not over though Jack,’ she said. ‘The stag is still alive. They are eating something that will not die.’

The realisation of what was happening somewhere in the Red Wood hit Jack. The stag, being already dead, didn’t draw in breath; it wouldn’t die like a normal animal. It would experience the torture of the wolf attack until nothing remained but bone.

‘Let it die,’ said Bill. ‘I’ve stopped Black from eating. But I can’t stop Silver too.’

Inara shook her head. ‘I have to slip into the stag to turn it off.’

Turn it off, like gas in a lantern, thought Jack.

‘Take Black away from the stag,’ Jack told Bill.

‘He’s starving,’ said Bill. ‘The stag hasn’t much meat on it, but some meat is better than none.’

‘Do it Bill,’ said Jack.

Bill shook his head, ignoring Jack’s deepening frown. ‘The stag is dead, it shouldn’t be here. My wolf is alive and needs to feed. I won’t let him starve.’

‘Bill…’

‘No, let him eat,’ said Inara. Her drawn face became unyielding. ‘Part of me is in every creature I bring back. They exist only as vague passing sensations. By concentrating on any one of them, I can jump into them, take control, or share their awareness. My Talent is growing; there is more I can do with my Narmacil. Controlling two, or more animals, is easy, and if I was to push myself, I am sure I could inhabit every creature raised in the Wold. Only,’ she paused, to draw in a shaky breath, ‘where those animals, who I only share a surface connection with, can come to harm without hurting me, those creatures I fully inhabit relay everything back. If I can’t suppress that I will not be able to jump into another animal.’

‘What’re you saying Inara?’ asked Jack. His mouth had lost all moisture as he predicted her answer.

‘I will control it,’ she said.

‘Control the stag,’ cried Bill. ‘You can’t, they are still eating.’

‘I must find a way to shut off the pain. To set up a barrier between me and the hurt the animal is going through, or it will take away a Talent that makes me whole again.’

‘Krimble...’

‘Damn him Bill. He only unlocked our gifts, showed us some of what we are capable of. There is more we can do, and we don’t need his help to find it. I’m returning to the stag.’

‘No,’ Jack began, when Inara stopped him with a look.

‘This time I’m prepared, I won’t be caught off guard. If it gets too much for me, Bill can stop the wolves. I must try.’ Without further discussion, she closed her eyes and grimaced.

Watching in horrified silence, Jack saw her hands clench as jolts of fresh pain slammed into her.

‘Bill,’ he whispered.

‘She told me not to stop the wolves.’

‘Don’t you dare,’ Inara said through tight lips. A moment later, she gasped, wiping stubbornly at fresh tears that trickled down her cheeks. ‘I’m in the stag. It is scared. My presence is soothing him.’ She grunted.

Jack tightened his grip on her arm.

Her face relaxed. ‘Although Black and Silver are still eating, by directing the stag’s consciousness away from his body, into his mind, I can shut off the pain.’ Long moments passed in silence. ‘I’m aware of the bites, but they no longer hurt me or the stag. Taking control has freed the animal from any pain.’ Frequently she tossed her head to the side as though she smelt a foul odour, but she never screamed. At last, closing her eyes, she said, ‘I’m sorry you had to suffer, it is over now. Thank you for letting me run with you.’

Jack felt embarrassed hearing Inara’s last words to the stag. He felt as though he eavesdropped on a private conversation. Standing away from her, he looked up to the moon. It looked the same as when he stared at it from his bedroom window, only now it seemed colder. An uncaring eye, set high in the sky.

‘I knew the Myrms wouldn’t catch Black,’ whispered Bill. ‘I knew it.’

‘Now you control Black again, don’t let him go,’ said Jack. ‘We need the wolf if we are to escape the Wold.’

‘What can Black do against the Myrms?’ asked Bill. ‘I won’t sacrifice him in a hopeless fight.’

‘He can carry Inara,’ snapped Jack. ‘We can’t stay here. We live on the whim of the Ghost Walkers. Inara upset Justice. The Ghost Walker may now listen to Krimble’s poison. If Justice heeds him, as she now might, we will hang.’

‘Send Black to the Hedge Wall,’ urged Inara, still hurting from her ordeal. ‘Have him look for a way out. The Blackthorn Tunnel can’t be the only escape.’

‘Yes, of course,’ said Bill, eager to please. ‘I’ll look for a gap in the wall. There’ll be another exit. I’ll do it now.’

Exhausted, Inara slumped to the floor. She stared blankly into the valley. Jack let her be, unsure how to engage her. Off to his left Bill took up position to listen and learn from the wolf. A serene expression overcame Bill, now that he was once more in contact with Black. He sat upright, highlighted by the silver light of the cruel moon. All night he concentrated on his wolf.

The ground stuck pins in Jack every time he moved, and yet Bill had not fidgeted all night. Yang, roused by dawn’s arrival, sat beside Bill, mirroring the boy’s posture. His shadow spied on everything they did. Turning his shoulder and mind from Yang, Jack wondered about the blacksmith. Huckney had not made an appearance in days. Gold Tail told them the blacksmith had taken large sheets of metal into the Red Wood. Liking Huckney, he hoped the blacksmith was safe. Would he come with them when they made their escape?

Rousing herself, Inara visibly shook off her fatigue as she addressed Bill. ‘Has Black found anything yet?’

Bill shook his head. ‘Nothing so far. Black flowers cover the hedge, as they did within the tunnel. Where they don’t grow, deadly thorns sprout like tangled hair. I took Black to the top of a large hill; even tilting his head back, I could not see where the wall ended. It is so huge I doubt it ever ends. He’s now skirting the hedge to the east.’ He pointed off into the distance.

‘Have you seen Huckney?’ asked Jack.

‘I heard ringing; it sounded like his hammer, from within a deep valley. Whether that was him, I don’t know. Not wanting to risk running into any Myrms, I changed direction.’

‘Probably for the best that we don’t see the blacksmith again,’ said Inara. ‘We don’t want him getting into trouble with the Ghost Walkers once we escape.’

‘He could escape with us,’ said Jack.

Inara shook her head. ‘He won’t come. This place isn’t perfect, but it’s his home. Would he leave what he helped to create? I don’t think he will. He won’t leave Gold Tail, Herm, or any of the others behind.’