The Tattooed Tribes (24 page)

“
We’ll talk in the morning,” Jon said,
“It’s possible I’ll have calmed down by then.”

“
But …”

“
You can go to bed with or without a good
hiding, Lucien. At the moment the choice is yours, but if one more
word comes out of your mouth I’ll be doing the
choosing.”

“
Harabin,
dheillwer
…” Vlic began.

“
And that goes for you as well,
biey
,” Jon told
him. “And I would be
delighted
to include you on the list, Miss Wainwright.”

All three went
silently to their blankets and made sure Jon did not hear a sound
out of them.

They were all
still a little whey-faced in the morning, but Jon was totally
unsympathetic. He made them eat unsweetened mush, standing over
them until every last spoonful was inside.

“
Very well,” he said. “Vlic. Go and keep
watch. Your father can deal with you.”

Feeling there
was much he could contribute to the conversation to come, Vlic
opened his mouth to protest, then saw Jon’s expression and changed
his mind. Without a word he collected his bow and went up the slope
to keep guard.

”
There’s no need to tell me what you think
you’ve found ahead,” Jon said to the other two. “Or why Miss
Wainwright is here. Anyone within a mile radius yesterday could
have heard every word. By the way,” he added, turning to Stacey.
“You can consider yourself under my authority from now
on.”

“
You’ve no right,” Stacey retorted, “I’m a
tribal member and not subject you your rules.”

“
I think we’ll see just what The Lynx
Elders has to say about that,” Jon replied. “You may have fooled a
couple of silly boys into thinking you had permission to travel
alone through the world, but you and I both know different, don’t
we?”

She coloured,
the blush staining both her face and neck. “They didn’t say no,”
she replied.

“
But they sure as shit didn’t say yes!” Jon
retorted.

“
They’ll understand,” she replied, but
without much conviction.

Jon laughed
and Stacey looked even hotter. “I’d no choice after you turned me
down,” she muttered resentfully.

“
Rubbish!”

“
It’s not rubbish! If I’d had the authority
of The Guild behind me and I’d explained a few things, he would’ve
dropped the whole thing.”

“
Do you really believe that?”

She flushed.
“I have to. He’s a fool, but he’s still my father and I have to do
all I can to get him out of this mess.”

His face
softened a little. “I’m not sure what you thought you’d be able to
do once you got here, but you do know you aren’t going to be able
get him out of this. There’s not only the abduction of a child to
be answered for, but murder as well. Two pretty brutal
murders.”

She looked
pained. “Dad is a fool,” she said. “And he’s done some things I’m
ashamed of, but I don’t believe he had anything to do with
that.”

“
Maybe he wasn’t directly involved,” Jon
said. “But you know he’s involved or you wouldn’t be
here.”

“
Okay, I do know it, but murder is beyond
my father’s comfort zone. He doesn’t like getting his hands
dirty.”

She turned to
Lucien.

“
Unlike
yours
!”

He was on his
feet at this, but Jon held him steady.

“
Enough! I heard what you said last night
and I will admit I was uncomfortable with some of the things I saw
in your home, Lucien, but it’s not proof of anything. Let’s accept
that whatever happened and whoever is behind it, has nothing to do
with either of you personally. So pack it in.”

“
Yes,” she said, sadly. “Nothing to do with
either of us, but he got to be a TLO and I didn’t.”

Lucien was
surprised at her tone of loss and might have done his wondering out
loud, but Jon’s eye was turned his way.

“
Your turn,” Jon said, “What’ve you got to
say for yourself?”

“
I was right!” a resentful Lucien growled.
“They did come this way.”

“
I know,” Jon replied. “I found plenty of
sign as I followed you.”

Deflated at
this, Lucien muttered, “Told you so.”

“
Don’t push your luck, son,” Jon
warned.

“
We found their camp,” Lucien continued,
deciding discretion was probably called for at this point. “It’s up
ahead by a beaver lake.”

“
Did you see them?”

“
Some of them. They were tribal, at least
the ones in the tents were. We weren’t sure about the one from the
cabin, I wanted to go and look, but …” He stopped, unsure of just
what reception this disclosure would bring and instead finished
with, “We didn’t go near them.”

Jon stirred up
the embers of the fire for a bit. “So you’ve no idea how many of
them there are?”

Lucien shook
his head. “We didn’t see the girl either.”

Jon thought
all this over for a while and then called Vlic back to join
them.

“
Okay,” he said. “This is what’s going to
happen. I’m going to investigate the camp and take whatever action
the TLG would think appropriate. You three are going to stay here
until Iesgood arrives.”

The storm of
protest began immediately, but Jon crushed it ruthlessly.

“
Don’t you
dare
argue! You’re all in serious trouble and don’t run away
with the idea last night pays for it, because it doesn’t, not by a
long stretch. Vlic! Your father will follow me in a day or so. If I
don’t return he’ll know you brats were right. In the mean time he’s
going to do some more looking upstream, but it won’t take him long
to realise it’s a fool’s errand and come this way. When he does, my
lad, you’re going to wish you’d stayed at home.”

“
But Geelbrie said it was okay!” Vlic
protested.

“
And she’s as foolish and irresponsible as
the two of you,” Jon replied. “Their status may give those girls
authority, but it doesn’t necessarily give them brains. She’s heard
my opinion of her and when I tell Bweriit
liedwer
she’ll get another roasting.”

Vlic scowled
at Jon, but he started chewing his lip. “I think Dad will be okay
about everything,” he said, but he did not sound confident.

Jon did not
bother to hide his amusement.

“
And as for you,” he said, turning to
Lucien. “You and I are going to have a reckoning over this when
I’ve the time. And the same goes for you, young lady.”

Lucien was
bitterly disappointed about being left behind and it had taken some
of the high courage out of him.

“
I suppose you’re going to sack me,” he
said in small voice. “Because of this and my father and
everything.”

“
I’m not going to sack you.” Jon replied.
“Don’t be such a bloody little fool!”

At this Lucien
got almost cheerful, but Jon was still grim and obviously was not
in the mood for either apologises or thanks.

“
Has it ever occurred to you how
very much
your father’s son you are?” he
asked.

“
What!”

“
Think about it,” Jon ordered. “And stay
here! You wait until Iesgood comes. If one of you goes further than
the stream I’ll make you wish you’d never been born. Do you
understand?”

“
Yes,” Lucien murmured.

“
Yes, what?” Jon demanded.

“
Yes, sir.”

“
Vlic?”

“
Yes, Harabin
dheillwer.
”

“
Stacey?”

“
If you’d just let me ... yes, Master
Harabin.”

They sat and
watched as he prepared. After a moment’s hesitation he handed his
rifle to Lucien. “Look after this until I get back.”

“
Jon!” Lucien protested. “You might need
it.”

“
I’d rather settle this diplomatically if I
can. Should a situation arises where I need a gun, I’ll be in such
trouble it won’t make a lot of difference. And it would only be
putting a firearm into enemy hands.”

“
I don’t like this,” Lucien
said.

“
Neither do I,” Stacey added. “You’ve no
idea who could be there with my father. It’s far too
dangerous.”

“
If he’s there, and I’m not convinced he
is, he’s had some sort of tribal aid,” Jon told her. “That makes it
my business. I’m not sure who the cabin belongs to, it could be
anyone. They could be a nuisance, but they may be innocent
bystanders. I know you believe it’s him, but I can think of plenty
of others it might be, anything from missionaries to
anthropologists to zoologists.”

She wanted to
argue, but he would not let her.

“
They’ve obviously been here sometime, so
I’m inclined to think they must have permission. I can’t keep track
of all the so called ‘
special interest
’ groups who have managed to wheedle their way up
country in the last decade.”

“
But what if it’s Devlin,” she said,
shooting a look at Lucien.

“
It won’t be,” Lucien stated. “He might get
dirt under his fingernails.”

Stacey threw
up her hands in disgust. “You really don’t know anything about him,
do you?”

“
Enough to know he wouldn’t go anywhere he
might have to rough it,” Lucien retorted, but even as he said it
there was a little seed of doubt in his head. “At least ... she
might be right,” he said to Jon.

“
I know she might be and I’m not
discounting any of it,” Jon replied. “I’ll be honest with you,
Lucien; I was unhappy with some of the things I saw in your
father’s house. He might be involved in some very dubious things.
So might your father, Stacey, but they couldn’t have done anything
without tribal help. Do you know who it might be?”

She was
flustered by this. “No, but ...”

“
Have you ever seen your father with anyone
from The People?”

“
No, but he ...”

“
How about you, Lucien? Have you ever seen
your father with someone from The Tribes?”

“
Not with a real tribesman,” Lucien
replied. “But I saw someone trying to look like one.”

“
Could have been a tourist,” Jon said. “I’m
sorry Stacey, but without proof, I have to assume you might be
mistaken.”

“
I’m not,” she replied.

“
Nevertheless, until I’ve investigated, you
three will remain here. Vlic, can you handle my rifle if needs
be?”

“
I can, Harabin
dheillwer,
” Vlic replied with more than a touch of
pride.

Jon pulled out
his ammunition and handed it over to the boy.

“
How about you, Stacey? Can you fire one
accurately?”

She
nodded.

“
Then I’ll collect it when I get back,” he
said.

Lucien watched
as Jon checked his bow and arrows, tucked his war axe into his belt
and checked his knives.

“
Be careful,” he said gruffly.
“Promise!”

Jon gave him a
surprised look and Lucien clenched his teeth, turning his head away
so Jon could not see his face.

“
Come here,” Jon ordered, and gave the boy
a quick fierce hug. “I promise,” he said. “Behave yourself until I
get back.”

With that he
melted into the trees and was gone.

Vlic turned
his head away for a while, he had been surprised by the emotion he
had just seen and did not want to embarrass his friend or Stacey,
who had wrapped her arms around her body and was rocking back and
forth, as if trying to comfort herself or contain some powerful
inner emotions.

When he turned
back he was shattered to see Lucien packing!

“
What are you doing?” he
demanded.

Stacey’s head
jerked up and she stared for a second and then began to gather her
belongings, swiftly stuffing them into her own pack.

“
You didn’t think for one second I was
going to let him go alone, did you?” Lucien replied in
astonishment.

“
He
ordered
us to stay here!” Vlic wailed.

“
Would you stay if it was your brother?”
Lucien asked hotly.

“
But he’s not your brother.”

“
Isn’t he?” Lucien replied. “It feels like
he is to me.”

Vlic watched
him checking his rifle and then Stacey’s preparations and he
sighed.

“
We’d better give him an hour’s head
start,” he said.

Chapter
17

The three of
them went back to the head of the valley slowly and cautiously,
afraid of treading on Jon’s heels and being sent away with their
tails between their legs.

Keeping well
down in deep cover they scanned the scene below for any sign of
him, but there was no movement, just the haze of smoke rising from
the fire pit in the centre of the clearing.

Lucien studied
the cabin in more detail this time. He noted the workmanship and
the lack of proper packing between the logs. It would be draughty
in there and there was nothing across the windows wooden shutters
to keep the weather out.