The Sage Seed Chronicles: The Unraveling (22 page)

He worked his way to the edge of the crowd
as she moved closer. “Your friend Bas invited himself to dinner.”
her grin got bigger, “I’m glad you are cooking and not me.” She
gave him a wave and continued to circulate. She wandered everywhere
but the cousins were not at the gather. They were near but not here
and they hadn’t killed yet.

During the course of the day Erin listened
and wandered. She opened her ‘door’ but even though she knew they
were near they didn’t always ‘show’ their feelings. The impressions
were sporadic. She didn’t dare reach out to find them but the
inconsistent flow of feelings was driving her nuts. Erin went back
to Lor’s wagon and crawled in the back where Tempo was napping. She
made a nest for herself against her paraglider pack and gently
lifted the growing skunk to snuggle against her. Tempo cracked open
an eyelid and looked at her. ‘You okay, Erin? Are the louder
negative emotions tiring you out?’

‘I’m alright. I am a little sleepy from our
very early mornings and late nights combined with trying to puzzle
things out. The emotions I have been getting today are not draining
me like they were the other day. That is good.’ She gave Tempo a
friendly rub. ‘But I think I will catch a little nap before things
wind down for dinner. Lor’s friend Bas will be there. That could be
interesting.’ She closed her eyes and fell lightly into sleep.
Tempo kept watch over his friend.

It wasn’t quite an hour later when she woke
with Tempo standing on her chest with his nose on her face. ‘It is
time to get up, Erin. The crowd noise is almost gone and Lor will
be looking for you. Do you think I could go into the woods to eat
tonight? Gyan said there were other skunks in the area and I would
like to leave my scent.’ Erin lifted him off her chest and sat up.
She opened her ‘door’ and didn’t hear any of the negative feelings.
She decided to keep it half way open for awhile.

While Tempo watched her she opened her mind
to Keir and Nuit. ‘We are near the bad people. I don’t know exactly
where they are but I do know that two of them are near. Tempo needs
to be in the woods a little while tonight and we need to make sure
that no one overhears our conversation at supper. Can we do all of
that?’

Keir spoke but she could hear Nuit waking up
and following the conversation, ‘Erin we don’t need to stay, three.
We could get help from those who live here. I know other merlins
that will watch for people lurking in the woods. I am sure that
Nuit knows owls that can help. These are bad people who killed your
mother and father and endangered our world. We won’t have any
problems finding others of our kind to watch.’

She closed her eyes then looked at Tempo. ‘As
soon as it is dark I will come and get you. Thank you, everybody,
thank you.’ She scrambled out of the wagon to find Lor closing down
the booth for the night.

“So what is this about Bas coming to dinner?”
he asked.

Erin ran her fingers through her choppy hair
before she put on her hat. “I went into his shop and met him and
the jeweler. I wanted to alert him. We have been steps behind these
guys, every single time.” she shook her head. “He knew who I was as
soon as he shook my hand and wanted the bare bones report. Now!
Then he said to tell you that he would love to have dinner with us
tonight.” Erin shrugged and gave him a cheeky grin. “So we are
feeding him tonight. By the way, are there any other sages in this
area?” Lor shook his head and Erin added, “Our companion guardians
will be discrete and we will have more of them during our stay
here.”

Lars grinned back at her. “I like the idea of
having more wild ones watching. As for Bas, that sound just like
him but Alliz is fixing dinner tonight.” and he gave a wicked grin,
“I’ll go tell her that he’s coming.”

Erin reached inside the wagon and brought out
Tempo. ‘Be careful. Did you pick up any scent of someone the night
you were knocked out?

‘Barely’ said Tempo. ‘As you know you don’t
have to be close when a sling shot is used. I will be careful and
we have friends watching.’ The little animal did a slow blink which
Erin had come to learn was his version of a wink then turned and
ambled into the trees with his rolling gate. She detoured to check
on the horses. By this time she was on friendly terms with all of
them. She told them that there were some bad people who were trying
to hurt her. Could they watch for people who were lurking near her
campsite like they were trying to overheard conversation. The
horses did not like to hear that Erin was in danger and agreed to
watch and warn her if they saw anything. She thanked them and with
a promise to check on them in the morning, left for dinner.

Erin walked to Alliz’s campsite. She was
putting together a meal with quick, somewhat jerky movements. Erin
guessed that Bas’s self invitation irritated her a little. She
decided to stay out of Alliz’s way and go wash up. Speedy Luna had
been up in the sky since mid afternoon so they had a little light
until Cear rose. Erin got out plates and brought chairs. Soon Bas
strolled into the firelight. He walked over to Alliz and put his
hand on her shoulder. “Thank you for inviting me to dinner. It is
always good to see you.” Erin kept her face straight but got a kick
observing the interaction. She knew that he had ‘felt’ Alliz’s
annoyance with him but, like a devilish child, enjoyed that he
could get a rise out of her.

As they sat down to eat, Erin felt Bas’s eyes
on her. She met his gaze steadily but didn’t say anything. After
awhile, Bas said, “We need to talk. What safeguards have you put
into place?”

Erin replied, “We have many wild watchers in
the woods and sky and the horses are aware.” Bas raised his
eyebrows and she could almost see him categorizing her skills.

He looked at Lor and said, “What proof do you
have for the message you sent with Terran?” Lor opened his mouth to
reply and Erin cut him off.

“He didn’t send me. I gave you my warning. I
thought perhaps you should be updated and alert to the fairly
immanent threat.” and raised one eyebrow at him.

“So tell me, young Terran, how do you know we
have an ‘immanent threat’?” he said in a condescending manner.

She cocked her head at him, “So tell me, Bas,
how did you know I was a sage when you shook my hand and who is
Gyan?” and she held his eyes steadily.

The whole group was silent as the two stared
at each other then Bas grinned. “So you can talk to animals, are a
strong empath, work well intuitively and I don’t intimidate you. I
like you, Terran!”

She looked at him levelly then took off her
hat and wiped her forehead on her sleeve. “Well, that is a relief,
I’m sure.” she said in a mildly sarcastic tone. “You really like to
bedevil people, don’t you. I’ll bet you were a real handful as a
child, however many years ago that was.”

Lor gave a snort of laughter. “Can we get
down to business now? What have you learned about Ru’s family
members?”

Bas gave her a broad wink then addressed the
whole group. “Ru moved to a cabin in this province, just east of
here, about twenty years ago. She brought with her three boys,
Bure, Wras and Targ and a girl, Sadie. I am familiar with all of
them. Sadie was always a timid creature, not just afraid of her own
shadow but any shadow. The boys loved to scare her. When the boys
joined guilds they left her alone and she finally married Jord, the
baker. The boys, each, have a mean streak with real chips on their
shoulders. Bure is the worst and Targ not far behind. If Wras
hadn’t had them as cousins to grow up with he wouldn’t be so bad.
But he did and he is. Each of them is very good in their trade and
people put up with them because of their skills. Ru aged before her
time and died in early summer of a virulent fever.” A look passed
between Lor and Erin. Bas caught the exchange. “What?”

Erin answered softly. “Ree has been trying to
figure out what to do about the poison. She surmises that some of
the ingredients are from the sea but the blend had to be worked out
by trial and error. She is thinking that a lot of animals died as
the man perfected the formula. It is my guess that Ru was the final
experiment.”

For the first time Bas totally sobered. “She
was a nice lady that was worn out by life. The healer tried to
bring down her fever but nothing helped. We all thought it was
strange that no one else caught it.”

Erin spoke up. “Did Gyan tell you that it is
a contact poison? That my parents died by touching a sticky spot on
a shovel handle from Sherroton? Auntie Jes received some herbs and
Zinar a repaired gear that had something on them?” He nodded
mutely. “Ree gave me some powder to make into a poultice that if
applied to the point of contact, within the first half hour, it
could give the infected person a chance to survive.”

Bas had watched her closely while she had
spoken. “And you have fairly strong evidence that those three are
doing it?” Bas asked.

Lor spoke with a hardness to his tone. “Yes.
All we need is proof. The feelings that Terran has been getting is
that the next victim has been targeted. The lad believes that he is
hearing Targ and Wras. We don’t know where Bure is. The approximate
location of the cousins is here. We are assuming the victim is
also.”

Bas was silently thoughtful for awhile. Then
he slapped his knees. “I haven’t seen Bure for a month or so, but
it isn’t like he checks in with me. I have occasionally seen the
other two. As far as I know they still stay at the old cabin when
they are in the area. I will have to think about how to bring this
up to the mayor. Everything hinges on proof and that makes it
almost too late. I haven’t seen Sadie in years. I believe she lives
in Duluse somewhere. I see Jord a couple of times a year. If I knew
what to ask I could talk to him tomorrow during breaks.” All three
looked at him with their full attention. “What? What did I
say?”

Erin spoke slowly, “Jord is here? Precisely
who is Jord?”

Bas looked at each face with bewilderment. “I
told you. Jord is a baker. He works the gather circuit. He is here
now.”

Erin held up her hand. “Does he have a nephew
named Cob?”

“I believe so. What is this about?” Bas said.
He was looking concerned at Erin’s white face that she partially
covered by her hands.

‘Tempo, are you able to come to me?’

Erin looked into Bas’s eyes and said, “There
is another part of this. I would like you to meet one of my
companions.” She turned and Tempo came running out of the woods to
her. She picked him up and put him on her lap. “This is Tempo. I
don’t understand the connection but skunks have been disappearing
from Duluse, Pastarham and most of Arbreton provinces. Gyan looked
into it and it is confirmed. They help keep the insect and rodent
population in check and whole segments of our realm are empty of
skunks. At Morraton an attempt was made on Tempo’s life and he was
left for dead. If I hadn’t found him it would have been a done
deal. Part of the connection is a slingshot. Both Alliz and Lor
identified the person who had it was Cob’s uncle. The other part is
the story of the healer and her skunk that died at the hands of
Kald.”

Bas was caught totally off balance with this
new twist. He just looked at her. Tempo got off of her lap and went
over to Bas and put his front paws up on the man’s knee, looking up
into his face. Erin continued. “We don’t know why he tried to kill
Tempo. Was it because of his wife Sadie or his in-laws? Is he
involved in the murders of the sages?”

Bas shook
his head in bemusement. “Lad, you ask good questions.” Lor made a
noise about Bas’s understatement but didn’t say anything. “We need
to get answers. I will think about this and come see you tomorrow.”
He looked down into Tempo’s face for several long moments, then
gently lifted the skunk and placed him on the ground beside Erin.
“Good night.”

Erin woke with an idea she wanted to pursue.
Tempo was up just as people were stirring, to check for vesi in
boots. He had been eating very well in his travels with the train.
His black coat was sleek and shiny with health.The thinner patches,
around his face and front paws, that he had had as a very young
skunk had filled in. Now Tempo’s eyes and ears totally blended with
the rich blackness of most of his coloration. Erin and Lor wanted
to keep Tempo hidden as much as possible and in the early morning
light only the guild members were about. As soon as the growing
skunk returned Erin scooped him into the wagon to guard the glow
stones and nap. She checked with the horses, as she had promised
the night before, then made her way to the tinkers wagon.

The red haired guild member, whom she had
learned was called Raz, greeted her with a big smile. “Raz, I have
a favor to ask of you and would understand completely if you chose
to not to help me.” He instantly sobered. “But before I go into it
I really need your word on your complete discretion.”

Raz stopped what he had been doing and gave
‘the boy’ his full attention. “This sounds serious, lad. Yes, I
will keep this conversation between us and no other. How can I be
of help?”

Erin paused, mentally working on her wording.
“About a month ago a man named Robse, came here to buy a new
shovel. I need to know, with the utmost of discretion, who sold or
handed it to him.”

Raz was looking at her very seriously. “I
know Robse. He is a friend of mine. Lives just southwest of here, I
understand. Quiet fellow. I can find that out for you. I will be
very discrete and not tip my hand but I need to know more if you
can tell me.”

Erin met his eyes and chose her words
carefully. “I need to know if Bure was in town and if Targ gave him
the shovel that day. I can’t explain it all to you right now. I
promise that I will and ask that you trust me.”