Memory Hunted (11 page)

"We’ve already met before," Balwar said.

"Oh. Well, then—"

A soldier stopped and saluted. "Sorry, sir. They got
away."

"These woods are worse than slums for having hide-holes,"
Balwar said. "Gather the men, Dalton, and let’s get back to camp."

"Lieutenant Dalton?" Timothy asked.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Henrietta’s idea. I’ll tell you
once we are warm."

"Yeah, she told me to get a real job. You know me, Timothy.
I never could do much. So I joined after you and your wife left." Kyle sat across
from Timothy, Kit, and Yuzu.

Timothy sipped a mug of warm, weak tea. Kit sat on the
bench beside him. Her hand rested on his thigh, and she kept glancing at him. His
head ached, and a bruise complained on his cheek.
Yuzu stared out of the
window, chin in hand. The meal hall buzzed with conversations. Uniformed soldiers
hunched and gestured over large, steaming bowls.

"It is all your fault, you know," Kyle said.

"What did I do?" Timothy asked.

"What haven’t you done?" Kit squeezed Timothy’s thigh.

"Because of you I had to ring Henrietta. And here you
are with two!" Kyle gestured at Yuzu.

Kit’s fingers dug, and Timothy winced. "He is mine only.
My sister has nothing to do with him."

"I hope Tell is fine," Yuzu said.

"He’s that lad we chased?"

Yuzu nodded in her chin. "He helped me find Sis and Timmy."

"As you can see, Master Kyle, my poor sister has fallen
for the boy." Kit grinned at Timothy and squeezed. "Timmy is mine." Timothy squirmed
on the hard bench.

Kyle stroked his chin. "You certainly look closer now.
The men are already jealous of you."

"Is it true what they say of reds?" a voice called.

"I like the dark-haired one. Those eyes of hers…"

Kyle twisted. "Behave yourselves. These two are not to
be bothered." He leaned toward Kit. "Whatever you are doing under the table to make
poor Timmy squirm…"

Kit blushed and removed her hand.

Timothy wanted to rub his thigh. "So what happened with
Treblin?"

Kyle laughed. "Now that was a pickle. I said I wanted
to be a hero, remember?"

Kit yawned.

Timothy smiled. "Being a hero isn’t that great," he said.
Kit snorted.

"You’re right there! Cost me my freedom, it did—and I
don’t mean Henrietta. Don’t look at me that way, Mistress Clarke. I am happily knotted.
I am!"

"Be glad you are not caught between a fox’s paws," Timothy
said. He swallowed and looked around. No one paid attention to them.

"Better than being caught between my teeth." Kit showed
her fangs.

"Well, my heroic charge wasn’t—"

"What is it about men and failing at heroics?" Kit elbowed
Yuzu.

Yuzu shook her head. "You know more about men than me,
sis. Allen and Tell are all I know."

Kit frowned. "Are you implying something? Timothy already
knows how many—"

Timothy cleared his throat. "I’d like you to meet my
friend Kyle, who I worried about for months and would like to speak with."

"Oh, dear me, Master Kyle," Kit said in a honeyed voice.
"Please pardon my interruption, husband." She laid her head on Timothy’s shoulder
and feigned rapt attention. Timothy gritted his teeth as Kit pinched his leg and
twisted.

Kyle leaned forward and gestured at Yuzu. "So she knows
about Kit?"

Yuzu gazed at Kyle. "That my sister is a fox? Yes."

Timothy choked on his tea. "Not so loud."

Yuzu shrugged. "No one is paying attention. They are
just ogling." She twittered a hand. A distant table erupted into laughter. A young
man—not old enough to shave regularly—blushed and ducked under the back slaps.

"I will have to watch the boys. Finding your wife is…one
of them…could be trouble. Balwar’s a good man, but he still has a job to do," Kyle
said. "Anyway, my heroics ended with me getting caught and tossed in prison."

"They threw you in prison." Timothy sat down the tea
before he choked on it again. Kit shifted against his shoulder.

Kyle nodded and leaned back in his chair. "Deep, dark
one too. Didn’t know they had cells beneath the ones we used. Cold down there, but
I only had to stay a day."

"What happened?" Yuzu asked. She half turned away from
the window.

"Henrietta busted me out."

Kit shifted against Timothy. It felt like she was laughing.

"She came down there with a lantern in one hand, dragging
two of Treblin’s men behind her. You’d never think a little woman like her could
drag two full-grown men with one arm."

Timothy looked at Kit’s head. A few locks of red hair
peeked from under the hood. "Doesn’t surprise me. I’ll have to tell you about the
time Kit carried me out of a burning town."

"Sounds like you make a good hero too. I knew you would!"
Kyle grinned. "Well, Henrietta was as fired up as an overloaded musket. After getting
me out of the cell and blinding me with that lantern—it was dark down there—she
walloped me worse than Treblin’s boys. Then she hugged the stuffing out of me before
walloping me more." Kyle laughed. "I don’t know what I’d do without that old girl.
Not that she isn’t still a looker. Ripe. Not old."

"I won’t tell her you called her a dried prune, Master
Kyle," Kit said.

Kyle groaned. "That means she will tell Henrietta everything
I said."

"Sounds like I would like this Henrietta," Yuzu said.
"I might be able to learn more from her than Sis."

Kit jerked, and Yuzu winced. She reached under the table,
grimacing. Kit settled against Timothy’s shoulder.
And you say you don’t want
Yuzu as a sister,
Timothy thought.

"Anyway, Henrietta dragged me out, all the while saying,
‘I know you wouldn’t have gotten into real trouble. Tell me what happened.’" Kyle
looked at Kit. "Henrietta’s persuasive, you understand, especially when she’s swinging
a chair at you."

"I think I would like her." Sleep tinted Kit’s voice.
Yuzu yawned.

Timothy could feel the warmth of the room and the exhaustion
of the past several days creeping on him as well. "Women tend to all be that way."

"Wives especially," Kyle said. "I told her. About your
wife. Ears and all."

Yuzu dozed in her hand, and Timothy yawned.
Can’t
fall asleep yet.
He took a sip of cool tea. "What did she say?"

Kyle hesitated. "That Treblin needed to be turned over
to…." He leaned in. "The Inquisition. She wants to see your ears for herself."

"I want to meet her. A chair would do little good against
me," Kit said.

Kyle whistled. "Now that would be a tough bet. My Henrietta
has age—experience—over your wife. Maybe I could bet on both to break even."

"I’m not sure either of us would survive that confrontation."
Timothy yelped as stiff fingers jabbed into his thigh. That spot would be tender
for days. As if getting slapped by a spear wasn’t uncomfortable enough.

"A wise husband would say his wife would win," Kit mumbled.

Yuzu’s head bobbed in her hand as she dozed.

"What did she do?" Timothy moved Kit’s hand and rubbed
his thigh. She snatched his wrist.

"Exactly as she said. She dragged me to the priest, talked
him into setting a runner to the nearest Inquisitor, and brought the man down with
a gaggle of soldiers. The Church takes this stuff seriously. We wouldn’t be all
the way out here otherwise. So the Inquisitor asked around, and in a few days Treblin
was in the stocks, and I had the Inquisitor asking me if I wanted to join up."

"And Henrietta made you," Timothy said.

"Right so, and she dragged me down to the priest to be
married the same day. ‘I am no longer waiting,’ she said. She had something to do
with my fancy title too. That much I am sure."

"There is more than one way to get married, I guess,"
Timothy said. Kit patted his hand under the table.

"Have you had enough time to catch up, Lieutenant?" Balwar
stopped at the end of the table with hands clasped behind his black robes. This
heavy, silver crucifix gleamed against the fabric.

Kit shifted. Timothy suspected she was staring at the
Jesuit from under her hood.

Kyle shrugged. "Time for business then. You know about
these bandits troubling us, Timothy. Well, me and Balwar have a plan, since we can’t
pin them down."

"A lot of effort for just a handful of…bandits," Timothy
said.

"Heresy is a serious matter," Balwar said. "Demons, even
rumors of demons, are even more serious. Guillermo and I weren’t the only ones hunting
Valador." He smoothed his robes. "Why are these men after your wife?"

Kyle shared a look with Timothy. "It’s not very often
you see a redhead," Kyle said.

Balwar frowned. "Rumors were Valador had an…affection
for fox-demons. He hunted both of you. Now you were found in the hands of heretics
near a known nest of fox-demons."

Kit tensed under her cloak. Several of the men watched
from their tables. Timothy felt a bead of sweat run between his shoulder blades.
He swallowed.

"Timothy grew up with nuns. He wouldn’t meddle with heretics
except to cause them trouble," Kyle said. "I vouch for him."

Thank you, Kyle,
Timothy
thought. Kit let out a long breath.

"We—we were on our way to Kit’s home when Daeric found
us," Timothy said. "We…hired him to helps us find our way through these woods, but
he instead took us…captive."
That is close enough to the full truth.
"I don’t
know why he wants us."

Balwar rubbed his crucifix. "When we found you with Valador,
a lamb died protecting you from him."

"Cat was her name," Timothy said.

"I remember her. Strange name for a lamb." Kyle scratched
his beard. "I’ve never known a lamb to protect anyone. She was a strange one."

"They don’t." Timothy blinked his hot eyes.

"I cannot ignore a sign from God like that. Then or now."
Balwar shook his head. "You were meant to help me again."

"Does it matter why?" Kyle shrugged. "With my plan, we
can draw them in and…" He clapped his hands. Yuzu jumped awake. Kit didn’t move.

Kit really needs to practice at fake sleeping
more.
"Sorry." Kyle held up a hand at Yuzu’s drowsy glare.

"You still haven’t told me your plan." Balwar asked.

"A party." Kyle grinned.

Timothy couldn’t help but laugh.
Kyle hasn’t changed.
Yuzu yawned, and Balwar frowned.

Kyle held his hands up. "Hear me out. We have a spy,
right? We know they are after Timothy and Kit for…whatever reason. We can use them
as bait and the celebration to make us look vulnerable. Only we are not. We can
hide our best boys and get them."

Balwar stroked his crucifix. "Why would anyone risk coming
here? It would be foolish."

Kyle opened his mouth and closed it. He frowned. "The
boys could use a little fun. Their morale is low."

Balwar shook his head. "This Daeric must be a complete
fool if you are that convinced. Perhaps we will catch our spy." He smiled. "The
fact it will upset the captain is reason enough to do this."

Balwar must really dislike this captain
,
Timothy thought.

"What will make me upset? Are you planning on taking
in more refugees without notifying me?" A stern-faced man walked up. Red hair stuck
out from his black cap. "Everyone, dismissed." His voice cracked the room. The room
filled with the sounds of boots as men left. In just a few moments they were left
alone.

"Dalton and I have a plan," Balwar said.

"Why are you discussing it with them." The man
gestured at Kit and Timothy. "And not me."

Kit stirred, sat up, and yawned into her hand. A few
locks of hair slipped from her hood and onto her face. The captain paused and stared.
I’ve seen the same look on Jan
. Timothy frowned. Yuzu drowsed again.

"I was going to let you know after I spent time with
my old friend, Captain." Kyle held up a finger. "As I was saying, I worked out a
way to bring our bandits to us."

Balwar watched the captain, who returned the stare. Timothy
had seen less tension between a lamb and a butcher.

"I’ll do it," Kit said. "I owe you for your help, Master
Kyle."

"Are you…" Timothy closed his mouth at Kit’s look.

"I am not sure if I am in a big rush to get back to Henrietta,
but it would beat marching around in this snow."

"You will do what?" The captain crossed his arms.

"It is better than searching those woods," Balwar said.

"The boys have been feeling down lately," Kyle said.
"I wanted to hold a celebration to cheer them and honor the boys we’ve lost."

The captain frowned. "It’s nonsense. We need to be out
searching for our enemies and not—"

"I formally authorize it." Balwar spoke the words slowly.
Kyle nodded with a serious expression as if the Inquisitor had said something momentous.
Timothy shared a look with Kit.

"You authorize it? Who are you to authorize anything?"
The captain stalked to the Jesuit and stared down at him.

Balwar held his ground. "One of my orders was to take
over command if I deemed it necessary. I didn’t want to do so; we are allies. But
in this I must insist. I still have the written order if you need to review it."

The captain quivered, and a muscle in his jaw clenched.
The man’s fist tensed. Balwar didn’t move. He held the man’s gaze. A few
moments passed before the captain pivoted and stalked away without a word. The door
slammed behind him.

Balwar frowned at the closed door across the room. "I
didn’t join the Inquisition to lead soldiers."

"You are doing a fine job. We will smoke out our spy.
At the least, it will help the boys." Kyle stood and stretched. "I’ll show you to
your barracks. Well, it’s a storage shed, but Henrietta wouldn’t mind it. At least
I don’t think she would."

"Be sure to post guards," Balwar rubbed his crucifix.
He turned and left.