London Wild (28 page)

Jhosatl took the money and put it back in his pocket, not bothering to count what was left, or even looking at it. He sipped on his pint and then swung his stool round to look at the rest of the public house. At least
, he intended to, but his eyes became fixed on the four in the corner again.

Every time he looked towards the four soldiers, they seemed to be laughing. He couldn’t help but wonder what they might be saying. Then someone put some money into the jukebox and the racket in the saloon bar increased tenfold. Suddenly five holographic figures appeared in the room. They filled the few empty spaces between the customers and stayed put for the duration of the song
, ignoring anyone who walked through them. The five figures were singing and playing instruments: a famous band of musicians, a group that had managed to hit the big time. They were a lot better known than Jhosatl and his group. In a less crowded pub they might easily have been the center of attention, but now they were more a nuisance than anything, as the noise was so great that even the most ardent conversationalists had to stop while the song played through.

When the song reached the last few notes, one of the soldiers looked in his direction and saw him and waved. Jhosatl muttered to himself. He must’ve been recognized from last night. He
raised his pint in a sort of salute to the soldier and then took another sip. So much for staying out of sight!

Actually he wanted to spit at them, but he couldn’t believe the barman would allow that. The soldiers definitely wouldn’t be happy about it. Instead he turned back to the counter and buried his head in his beer. He then seemed surprised when he found he had emptied it.

Just one night away from his wife had been agony enough. One night away and he was ready to tear his hair out. Now he was ready to kill anyone who got in his way of getting her back. Or was that the beer talking? Just three pints—no, he had lost count; it was only two pints—and he was already feeling the effects.

Part of him wanted to order another, but he thought better of it
. He couldn’t afford to get even more drunk, especially as he knew he had been slurring after just one. There was no telling what another might do to him. He sighed and turned once more to see what the four soldiers were doing. They still sat there in the corner, chatting away and making no signs that they were finished yet. Indeed, in the time he had been in the saloon bar himself he hadn’t once seen them reorder drinks. The four were probably all as sober as when they had first entered.

Slowly a plan came to his slightly addled mind. He would wait outside where the air was that much freer of smoke and nowhere near as noisy. He would wait for the soldiers to leave and then follow them. Sooner or later they would split up
, and when he was following just the one, he would pounce. There were a couple of small details that didn’t really occur to him as he thought out his plan. Firstly, virtually every visitor to the bar would leave by means other than walking, and secondly, he wasn’t really a match for even one Elite Guard,
especially when he wanted to keep that Guard alive.

Getting off the stool was the first task. It appeared that someone had replaced the floor with something that looked identical to the original, but seemed to be made of foam rubber. It wasn’t really too bad. It was more a shock than anything
, an effect of the beer he hadn’t been ready for. His legs apparently had slightly different ideas of where to step than he did.

The barman saw him start to leave and noticed that he was staggering. ‘You shouldn’t drive like that
; would you like me to call a taxi for you?’

Jhosatl turned around
, a little unsure the barman had called to him. He looked squarely at the barman through a light haze. He kept his voice as clear of slurring as he could manage. ‘It’s okay, mate. I’m walking.’

‘Oh no,’ the barman said, ‘you shouldn’t walk at this time of night. The cats like to watch places like this for anyone doing just that. I can supply you with a link if you’d prefer to call a friend to pick you up.’

Jhosatl pointed through the windows. ‘I’m just going to get some air. I’ll remain in view of these windows at all times. If I’m attacked you can do something about it. But I need to clear my head and get away from the noise.’

The barman looked where Jhosatl was pointing and nodded. Jhosatl had pointed at the forecourt of the public house, clearly visible through the windows that lined the wall adjacent to the exit. The forecourt was very well lit
. People didn’t like parking in dark areas where cats might be lurking in wait for them; it was bad for business. So long as people felt safe getting to their car, then they would feel safe until they got home and had to make the dash from the car to their front door.

He wandered out of the public house, excusing himself to a couple chatting near the doorway. Here on the paving before the car park were two round, black metal tables, each large enough for six drinkers, but they weren’t being used at this time of night and the umbrellas that would usually grace the center of each had been taken down until morning.

He walked slowly across to the far side of the forecourt, weaving between a few parked cars, and sat on the concrete slope that marked the car park’s border. There was a black metal railing growing from the concrete, but he paid that no mind. From here he could clearly see his quarry.

He hadn’t bothered to look when he
’d arrived, but with the four soldiers making no move to go anywhere, he had time to see a little of where he was. The public house was on the corner of two streets. Both streets were lit with high-powered streetlights and lined with shops, though all the shops were closed at this time of night. The public house itself was well illuminated, the light seeming to attract all manner of insects that buzzed about him in the most irritating way they could. The herd always felt safer when there were lights around them, especially when they were in large groups. It was most likely that those who left the public house would do so in groups for mutual protection, even though the car park was lit as clear as day.

Time passed
; the night got darker and the music from the bar seemed to be getting louder. People entered and others left, always in groups. But the four soldiers remained. Occasionally one of the soldiers did get up to get another order or to use the facilities.

Jhosatl himself was in need of the facilities after a couple of hours. The fresh air had cleared his head a little, but more alcohol had worked
its way into his system. The net result was that he felt a little more sober but still had to focus as he reentered the public house.

The smoke hit him hard as he re-entered
; there was definitely something illegal being puffed on somewhere, and that might’ve made him a little groggier than just the beer. The fresh air had obviously done a world of good, but now he was back in the midst of all that smoke. He decided not to stay long. He’d just do what he had come to do and get back out on that concrete slope where he could keep his eye on the four soldiers.

The
saloon bar of the public house seemed to get busier and busier as the night wore on. Jhosatl continued his vigil from the slope. The air was feeling a little chilly. Still, he’d rather watch from out here than suffer the smoke or the noise, especially if it was the smoke that was affecting his reasoning.

The smell of something familiar caught his attention. He looked around for the source and caught sight of another Herbaht resting on the unlit roof of the public house. She was very young, possibly no older than ten
, and she was staring right at him. After a minute she put a hushing finger to her mouth and concentrated on someone who had just left the public house.

Jhosatl shook his head. There were too many people about to hunt here. She was obviously too young and couldn’t
have had the experience to know better. Why was she alone? It was unusual for someone so young not to be supervised on her first hunt. Then again, it was unusual for a Herbaht to be found even slightly drunk on a concrete slope outside a public house.

She watched her prey carefully and Jhosatl watched her. Perhaps she did know what she was doing
, because she didn’t pounce. Instead she headed across the rooftop, keeping pace with her prey. Evidently she wanted to get clear of the lights and the crowds before she struck. And the prey was walking away from the public house, across the lit forecourt, ignoring all the parked vehicles and heading out of the safety of the lit area.

She timed that well
, he thought to himself as he watched both prey and predator,
almost too well.

As she left the roof of the public house, two more figures appeared on it
. They both looked at him as if thinking he was mad before they followed the first across the rooftops. One was male and one female, probably the parents out keeping an eye on their child during her first hunt. It seemed the little predator hadn’t been out alone after all.

Perhaps the whole thing was all a setup
; it was too nicely timed. The prey was another Herbaht helping in training the young female. Maybe this hadn’t been her first hunt after all but just part of her training. Jhosatl had no daughters. He had no children, and he really didn’t feel like spending further brainpower on something that seemed so irrelevant to his own hunt.

He yawned
. He was beginning to feel thirsty again; how long would he have to wait for the soldiers to finish?

Another half an hour or more
later he caught another familiar scent on the air. This time it wasn’t Herbaht; it was herd, but it was a herd he knew. He couldn’t worry about it though, because it was at that moment that the soldiers got up from their table and started heading out of the building. In fact, they weren’t the only ones. The entire public house seemed to be emptying. The barman must have been closing up for the night.

He left the concrete slope, staggered a little at first and then started to follow the soldiers. The familiar scent seemed to be following him.

He turned to look for the source. ‘Judith,’ he whispered, louder than he had intended.

‘You saw me?’ Judith emerged from where she had been hiding, a small alley between the shop next to the public house and the shop next to that.

‘It’s dangerous to be out at this time of night, mate, especially hiding in the dark. What were you thinking?’ He noticed that he didn’t seem to be slurring much anymore. Well, he had been waiting for hours, and he hadn’t really drunk that many.

‘I knew you were up to something
and thought I might jump in to save you from yourself.’ Judith seemed quite serious.

‘I was going to follow the soldiers back to their billet so I knew where we could enquire about getting Amba back
,’ Jhosatl explained. He had lost sight of the four soldiers anyway; there was just too big a crowd and Judith had been too much of a distraction for him to keep his eye on them.

‘So you were stalking them in the dark,’ she commented cynically. ‘Why not just call the army barracks? You were going to attack them
, weren’t you?’

He was astonished at the mere idea
. ‘Me against four of the Elite Guard?’

‘Well,’ she pressed him, ‘weren’t you?’

‘I, I was going to wait to see if they split up. See if I could get one alone. I was going to ask him where they had taken her.’

‘You know where they’ve taken her. She’s in the
Cattery. You know that.’

‘But where’s the
Cattery?’ he threw back at her. ‘No one knows, mate. At least I don’t, and I very much doubt you do either.’

Judith almost laughed, ‘
No, I don’t, but I’ll bet Sult does; he used to be one of them.’

‘Sult?’
Jhosatl commented. ‘I know there are rumors about his past, mate, but nothing definite. How come you seem so sure?’

‘Same way I know that you and Amba are more than just master and pet. I keep my eyes and ears open.’

‘And you don’t mind?’ he said; he suddenly felt defensive.

‘Neither of you has ever shown any sign of wanting to eat either me or any of my friends. So long as that remains the norm, then I’d like to keep you as a friend. It might seem strange, but consider me the type that likes to take advantage of a situation
. If I have a wild cat for a friend, well, that has to be worth some sort of protection from other cats. Besides, it’s clear that you were trying to build bridges by including humans in that group you formed. I feel the attempt is worth some sort of success, even if it’s just me.’

Jhosatl wanted to stop her referring to him as a cat, especially with so many
herd still in earshot. The forecourt was filled with people making for their cars, and many of them weren’t too far from where they were chatting. Fortunately no one else seemed to be paying them any attention.

‘We’ll have to tell Sult the truth
, of course,’ Judith told him in a voice that suggested he’d better not argue. ‘Maybe it’d be better if I went to see him alone. If he doesn’t like the idea then you’ll have time to get clear.’

‘And what about Colin?’
Jhosatl asked skeptically. ‘Should we tell Colin too?’

Judith shook her head. ‘We need Sult on our side if we’re going to stand a chance of getting her back. But I don’t know where Colin will stand. I’ve always thought he wasn’t too happy
about having Amba around. I don’t think we should tell Colin a thing unless it becomes absolutely necessary.’