Monstrous Races (12 page)

'I can't trap it or contain it Max,' she said quietly, as she felt the familiar glow course through her. 'I think its chosen me and I don't know wha
t would happen if I took it off;
I don't think I can any more.' She saw them look at one another in slow realisation and fear. '
It's
how it is,' she shrugged. '
Do the
gendarme
know?' she asked finally, looking from face to face. She heard the sound of Rufus choking on his thirteenth biscuit so guessed that this was not the option that he preferred.

'Elli, we can't tell them that you have the stone,' he said gruffly. 'It would bring even more trouble to everybody. No, we'll deal with this ourselves like we've always done. Of course we'll have to give up our jobs and keep an even lower profile.'

'Oh I don't think that's necessary son,' said Max, his eyes glinting in the firelight. 'After all, you're physically incapable of blending into the shadows for a start. If they haven't worked out who you are and where you go every day by now then I despair of the criminal classes. Er...' he added, glancing at Alpha Sawyre.

'You're quite right,' she interrupted, 'they'll know you by now. Carry on as you're doing and at least it will keep the Blemmyae Council happy. How is work going by the way?'

'Don't ask,' said Rufus, holding up his calloused hands for them to see. 'At this rate I owe them money to work there. Modern day slave-drivers.'

'Actually I'm enjoying it,' said Elli, sitting up in her seat. 'I'm learning all kinds of useful things for when we return to the Dogheadhood Alpha Sawyre, including a great recipe to take away the taste of onions. It's come in very handy, believe me,' she said, stifling a yawn.

'You must be exhausted Elli,' said Alpha Sawyre with a smile. 'Go on up to bed and I'll see you in the morning. Max here has very kindly offered to let me stay for a few days. I'll make you some breakfast in the morning.'

'Lovely, thanks,' said Rufus, stretching out his arms and yawning profusely.

'Ah Rufus, I'd have thought the two meat pies and a sausage roll that you have secreted on your person, in your inside pockets if I'm not mistaken, would be enough to keep you going for the day. If you'll all excuse me,' she said, walking elegantly to the door and going up to her room.

'What a lady,' muttered
Max under his breath.

Lord Lansdown rode on ahead of his company and surve
yed the scene. A large castle
loomed ah
ead and he rode up to the gates,
his horse's hooves pounding the well-trodden path below. As he approached the imposing door he saw small eyes watching him from all corners of the strong grey building, and he reached up to touch the stone with his gloved hands.

A man sat waiting for him outside, his faded clothes once rich turquoise and golds and his skin like polished mahogany. In his lined hands he held a pack of cards that he continued to shu
ffle, ignoring or oblivious to
the magnificent horse in front of him. Lord Lansdown sat for a few moments staring down at him, until finally he cleared his throat.

'You there, how dare you sit in my presence. Stand when you are spoken to old man,' he spat out, his voice trembling with hostility. The man slowly looked up and laughed
with twinkling green eyes, and
continued to shuffle the cards. Lord Lansdown saw some movement in the shadows behind him. He raised one hand towards the man and smirked. 'This is your final warning,' he said slowly, as though speaking to a child.

'Lord Lansdown I believe,' said the man finally, his voice as thin and fragile as paper. 'We've been looking forward to your visit. Would you like to play?' he asked, licking his finger as he continued to shuffle. Lord Lansdown opened his hand that glittered with blue sparks, and pulled it back ready to unleash them. The man very calmly held up his own hand and a series of sparks and hisses left his own palm and plummeted into Lord Lansdown's open hand, sending him spiralling down into the mud below him. The man continued to deal the cards, humming softly to himself.

Lord Lansdown looked around as cold earth clung to his beard, feeling an unbearable disgust at his own weakness. 'How?' he asked slowly, pulling himself up from the churned mud that covered him.

The old man continuing to shuffle, dealing out his cards with infinite care. 'Ah, my favourite game. Patience,' he said, his green eyes fixed on the cards in front of him. Lord Lansdown slowly got to his feet and climbed up onto his horse with his back to the castle. He heard a thin shout, a celebratory call as the people inside watched him leave.
I'll be back here with both my stones
, he thought, his mind cold and clear with the knowledge.
And I will make them pay for this
.

At Goat Cuisine the next morning Elli heard Billy come into the building, and she grabbed the peach pastry that Rufus was just about to eat and threw it into the bin across the room just as he came through the door. Rufus stood with his mouth open as Billy walked in, and he didn't take his eyes off of the bin for some time.

'I hear I'm
gonna
need to change the name of this place so
on, thanks to you Elli. Sue-
she isn't it? So it's fish that isn't cooked?' Elli nodded. 'In other words, it's raw?' She nodded again. 'Brilliant!' he said, his eyes shining through his hair. 'We save money on fuel as well. That is genius. And Rufus, I'm told that you're a hit with the ladies. Well the elderly ones anyway. I'm also informed that you're eating most of the food, but as you're now paying for it it turns out that yo
u're our best customer,' he added
, laughing breezily.

Rufus crossed his arms and looked down at Billy, raising his eyebrows. 'Here, have one on me,' said Billy, and threw a peach pastry up at Rufus who caught it in one gulp, his arms still crossed.

Elli worked through the morning peeling, chopping and juicing, arranging the vegetables into delicate and beautiful shapes. At mid-morning she walked from the humidity of the kitchen into the cool breeze of the yard outside carrying a large bag of peelings with her. The walls were high and long shadows swept along the cobbles.

She was first aware that she'd been hit when her legs buckled beneath her, and a large pale hand was clawing at her necklace. In a stupor she watched from the floor as six men jumped out at her from the yard, their faces covered in scarves. The noise she heard seemed far off, and she lay dazed as the man grabbing at her seemed to be flying away, his legs kicking wildly. Leo held him tightly in his strong arms and she watched as he sent the winded man hurtling through the yard and into the door.

The next thing she saw hazily was that Gwen was leaping around the space, kicking at the men behind her and jumping unexpectedly so that they misjudged her every move. She seemed to be frenetically dancing, sparring and ducking, twisting and turning. Elli managed a half-smile as she saw a man go to grab Gwen from behind but miss as she pirouetted
into the air, kicking him right between his legs so that he crumpled onto the cobbles.

She saw now that some of the men had knives, mean and sharp, and through the fog she saw Billy throwing vegetables at them, and heard Rufus barking and snarling. She felt him lift her into the air and saw that only two men remained who were still fighting, although Leo had one in a head-lock and Gwen had forced the other man to drop his knife after she'd bitten his hand. The noise of the blade hitting the cobbles took a long time to reach
her. She felt Rufus' soft
fur against her skin as he nuzzled into he
r cheek and
she
heard him whimper quietly, holding her tight.

As she was about to close her eyes she saw a glint of light, a reflection, as the man nearest them rose up silently from the floor and ran towards Rufus, his knife in his fist ready. Her arm flew up from her side and she aimed straight up at the man, seeing the shock in his eyes as he was pulled upwards into the sky, his hand still holding the knife. Her head fell backwards and her eyes closed, and then there was silence.

The smell woke her, a deep satisfying smell of oranges, and she felt the juice gently dripping into her mouth. 'More,' whispered Elli, the taste an explosion of flavour on her dry tongue. She didn't try to open her eyes quite yet; she could hear birds singing outside, some footsteps walking hastily down the stairs.
Max's house
she thought, before another sensation introduced itself to her with surprising speed. She groaned and pulled her hand to the back of her head, feeling a large new swelling underneath a bandage.

'Easy now,' said a voice, old and male. 'There's no rush.' She slowly opened her eyes and saw a figure sitting at her bedside. The old man looked down at her with twinkling green eyes in shining brown skin. His long hair was dreadlocked and flecked with whites and greys. 'Wonderful to see you awake Elli. You've had us all very worried. How are you feeling?'

'My head,' she managed, her voice quiet and distant. 'It hurts.'

'Well now you're awake let me give you something for it. You'll have to sit up first.' He reached into a leather bag as ancient and gnarled as he was, and pulled out a small terracotta pot. 'I always have this with me, you never know when you'll need it,' he said, smearing a little paste onto his fingers. She flinched as he placed the mixture just underneath her nose; it smelt faintly of roses and felt cool against her upper lip, and her throbbing headache rapidly ebbed away.

'How long was I sleeping for?' she asked, sitting up carefully.

'Since yesterday,' he answered, feeling her forehead and placing his thumb at her wrist. 'Do you remember what happened?'

'Yes, I think so. Is everyone alright?'

'All fine but worried about you.' He saw that her hand shot up to her necklace, and that she clung onto it and exhaled slowly, the stone hanging glittering and vibrant against her chest. 'I hear that they wanted to steal it,' he added, watching her carefully. Her eyes flashed as she glanced over at the door. 'A word of advice,' he said, lowering his voice and leaning over to her. 'Sometimes the smallest of creatures can be the greatest heroes of all. Do not underestimate anything, from the weasel to the housefly, for each has their part to play.'

He stood carefully and walked over to the door carrying his bag. 'I have to leave now. You take good care of yourself, there's a good girl,' he said, his smile full of creases and lines. He left the room and she lay back and shut her eyes, resting until the pungent smell of frying bacon wafted into her room.

Elli walked downstairs quietly, her feet shuffling on the thick carpet. She appeared in the kitchen like a spectre and muttered, 'hey there,' to Rufus, who had his back to her and was wearing an apron. He span around holding the frying pan, visibly shaken, but had his wits enough about him to spin around and put the pan back on the heat. Then he grabbed Elli and lifted her into the air.

'What are you doing out of bed? We've been so worried. How are you feeling?' He put her down to the ground and she gently pushed him away.

'I'm alright,' she said, holding onto a chair for support. 'Just a bit light-headed. Are the others alright?'

'More than alright,' he answered, cutting some bread into thick slices. 'Turns out Gwen is an expert in something called Marital Arts, you might have noticed the leaping and chopping motions. Not only that but she's a nuli, which apparently adds a whole new dimension to it as you can't work out where she'll land. And Leo is skilled at head-knocking, even by ogre standards. He said afterwards that he doesn't like to act in a 'pre-civilised' ogre way at all, and he hits them harder to take out his frustration. It worked anyway. We've got three of them but two escaped and one is unaccounted for, last seen flying up into the air at a considerable height.'

'Oh yes, that,' she said, rubbing her head gingerly around the bump and sitting down. 'What did they hit me with?' He paused and stopped slicing, looking down at her.

'Something that should have killed you,' he answered quietly. 'It would have done if you didn't have that stone on. We think it protected you somehow, it was firing out light like mad after you were hit.' He picked up the bacon and made her a sandwich, cutting it into four equal squares carefully and pouring her some water.
He must be worried
, she thought,
he's not eating at least half before it reaches me
.

'Where are Max and Alpha Sawyre?' she asked as he brought it over to her. 'I take it the men are with the
gendarme.
' Rufus paused and rolled his eyes. He walked over to the fire and put more bacon into the pan.

'Oh, don't worry about them. They won't be back and we'll find the others. Max put the word out. And the ones we caught are in for questioning.'

'In where?'

'Just in,' he said lightly. 'You can guess who they work for. He's got others on his payroll too, not just men but dog-heads, gorgadons, you name it. Dad says we can't trust anybody, he's been very specific. Sadly, I think we should give up Goat Cuisine as it's too dangerous now they know where we work. Tragic I know, but it's a price I'm willing to pay.'