The Wizard's Curse (Book 2) (36 page)

Tarkyn walked quickly over to Midnight’s hiding place, picked the little boy up and held him close, stroking his hair and patting his back. He surrounded him with kindness and played out a mock battle in images to explain to Midnight what he had been doing. Lapping Water brought over the frog and held it out. She pointed to the frog and then to Midnight with a smile. Midnight’s eyes flickered in alarm but when it was clear that no one was angry, he grinned sheepishly and held out his hand.

“I’ll take that if you don’t mind,” said Tarkyn, intercepting the frog’s return. He sent a series of images indicating no frogs in the shelter and waited. Midnight placed his hand on his heart and then lay his head sideways on Tarkyn’s shoulder so he could still see his face. Tarkyn smiled and gave him his frog. Then he pictured Midnight in Tarkyn’s shelter at night with a query. Midnight flung his arms around Tarkyn’s neck and squeezed so tightly he nearly choked him. Then he wriggled to get off and once down, shot off into the undergrowth.

Lapping Water shook her head, “Strange boy but devoted. He’s yours, heart and soul, whether you want him or not.”

Tarkyn stood staring at the spot where Midnight had disappeared, “Oh, I want him. I wouldn’t dream of abandoning him.”

Lapping Water tucked her hand into Tarkyn’s arm, “You know, you really are such a kind person. Many people wouldn’t bother with him unless they had to, even if they could talk to him.”

Tarkyn smiled down at her, feeling a little breathless at her proximity. “They would if he could share his thoughts with them. He, too, is kind.”

Lapping Water nodded, “I saw him touching your face and checking out your injuries.”

“Hmm. I’m afraid he saw the execution of those men.” Tarkyn hesitated before adding, “He was pleased by that but I don’t think it was ghoulish. It was more in support of me and justice being done, if you see what I mean.”

“That’s when you laughed, wasn’t it?”

Tarkyn nodded ruefully, “I suppose I shouldn’t have but he had such a deep feeling of satisfaction about it that I couldn’t help myself. It was such a straightforward emotion. No doubts or debate. Plain, simple, justifiable revenge from his point of view.”

Suddenly a shower of leaves, twigs and nuts fell down around them. Tarkyn looked up to see Midnight laughing in the branches above him.

“Ooh dear. I’ve started something now,” he said, as he sent a ray of bronze to dislodge a small dead branch that was hanging above Midnight. The little boy still jumped in fright when the branch hit him unexpectedly but he recovered instantly, grabbed the branch and threw it down on Tarkyn before disappearing further up into the tree. Tarkyn and Lapping Water dodged out of the way, laughing.

“I think I need reinforcements,” said Tarkyn as he sent a message to Sparrow and the other children to join him as he waited for Midnight’s next move.

When they arrived, he told them about the mock battle and asked whether they would like to join in. Sparrow, who knew him too well, said, “Can’t manage on your own, hey? I bet you’ve run out of ideas already.”

Tarkyn grinned ruefully, “I have already used the same idea twice…. Out of two times.”

Sparrow giggled, then asked, “Can you get him to come here? We need to make two teams. Otherwise it will be all of us against him.”

Tarkyn nodded, “Thanks Sparrow. I’ll see what I can do.” He sent his mind up into the trees and when he found Midnight, gave a clear instruction for him to return. Midnight at first refused but Tarkyn sent him an image of hand on heart and received reluctant agreement.

When Midnight saw the other children, he sidled up and stood behind Tarkyn. Tarkyn drew him out, not unkindly, to stand next to him and held his hand reassuringly while they talked. He translated Sparrow’s idea into images and waited. A shy smile appeared on the little boy’s face and he nodded.

“You sort out the teams, Sparrow. Don’t let people choose their teams and leave Midnight until last. Don’t forget he can’t hear or mindtalk. So you’ll have to figure out how to deal with that before you all go off in different directions. You can use me for instructions at the start.”

“I can use you to relay messages all the way through,” said Sparrow, blithely unconcerned about loading up Tarkyn with an ongoing task, “You can use images to talk to him and to us. It’s just that he can’t connect to anyone else.”

Tarkyn glanced down at the little boy who was nearly quivering with excitement and trepidation beside him. He sighed, “Very well. I will do that for his first time but I can’t be on call every time you play. So you will have to figure something else out in the future. Agreed?”

Sparrow nodded and set about organising the teams, firstly taking Midnight to be on her team.

Tarkyn, the anxious guardian, added, “You had better make sure he knows the rules before you start. Otherwise he may do something to annoy you all because he doesn’t understand.”

Sparrow frowned at him repressively, “I think I can figure that out for myself. The hard bit is explaining it in pictures.”

It took less time than they expected to explain the rules and then to develop tactics within Sparrow’s group. Even though Tarkyn had told everyone that Midnight wasn’t stupid, most of them had had lingering doubts. So they were agreeably surprised at the speed with which he understood the requirements and sent back images of other workable suggestions. In less than ten minutes, the children had dispersed into the surrounding forest to play out their battle.

For the rest of the morning, Tarkyn sat at the firesite chatting, drinking tea and from time to time, relaying messages from one active little mind to the next. He monitored Midnight occasionally, checking what he was up to and how he was feeling, until Midnight sent him an exasperated message to stop distracting him.

Lapping Water and Falling Branch laughed, when he told them.

“I can see my role as guardian of a small urchin is destined to be short-lived,” he said ruefully.

Lapping Water shook her head, “Oh, I don’t think so.”

“No, just be glad of some peace and quiet while you can get it,” added Falling Branch. “I think you’ve gained yourself a full time job.”

Tarkyn gave a grunt of laughter, “Oh good. Because I never have anything else to do.”

Chapter
30

Even before he had finished speaking, half a dozen chattering children and one quiet but happy one came running into the clearing and rushed off to get food and drink.

Hard on their heels, Waterstone appeared by the firesite and walked purposefully over to Tarkyn, “We have trouble brewing. Remember how you set up the relays of woodfolk so we could keep in touch with everyone?”

Tarkyn nodded.

“We have just received a mindmessage from some of our woodfolk near the encampment. Stormaway went for a walk in the forest to make contact with them. They have brought in huge hunting dogs… ”

“Bloodhounds,” supplied Tarkyn.

Waterstone frowned, “How did you know that?”

Tarkyn grimaced, “Lord Tolward mentioned a rumour that they might be bringing them in. I forgot all about it. Sorry. I should have told you.”

“Hmm. Anyway, Stormaway says his old apprentice, Journeyman Cloudmaker, has led a group of mounted men to the crossing on the Great West Road where you were last seen and has set these bloodhounds on your trail.”

Tarkyn blanched, “Oh my stars! That trail will lead them straight here. When did they leave?”

By this stage, an anxious audience had tuned into the conversation. Glances of trepidation and resentment passed between the mountainfolk. Catching some of these, Waterstone said gruffly, “Don’t blame Tarkyn. We are the experts at covering our tracks. We should have been more careful. After all, we knew this sort of thing could happen because we’ve had the wolves tracking us down before. And then it wasn’t Tarkyn they were after.”

Tarkyn ignored the strained atmosphere and asked again, “So when did they leave?”

“Sorry. Not long ago. Maybe a couple of hours.”

“We left the Great West Road three days ago,” rumbled Thunder Storm. “We slept for a couple of hours before crossing the grasslands and then for a few more hours once we were in these woods. And we’ve now been here for nearly two days. If they come straight here without a break, they could arrive in less than a day.”

“I don’t think they could travel for that long without a break,” put in Danton. “Their horses and the bloodhounds will need rest and food.”

“True, but they will travel faster than we did, with horses and without children,” Thunder Storm pointed out. “And we also stopped for a couple of hours in the grasslands.”

“Oh no!” breathed Tarkyn, “Lord Tolward and his family. My scent will lead straight to his door.”

Dry Berry waved a dismissive hand, “That is the least of our worries. We have to make sure they don’t find you or any of us.”

“Or the cellars,” added Sighing Wind.

Tarkyn ran his hand through his hair, “I’m afraid Lord Tolward’s family is not the least of my worries. If I can do anything about it, I cannot allow those people to suffer on my account.” He looked at Waterstone, “How long do you estimate it will take them to reach his place?”

Waterstone grimaced, “I don’t know. If they left a couple of hours ago, maybe four or five hours, perhaps a bit longer.”

“And how long would it take Danton or me to travel back to them?”

“Too long, Tarkyn.” rumbled Thunder Storm. “Even if you ran all the way, it would take you a good eight or nine hours. Their house is much closer to the other side of the grasslands. And you can’t run all the way, so it would take longer.”

Tarkyn looked up at the ring of people who had gathered around them. “We need to think this through carefully. Could you all sit down rather than standing over me and we’ll work out what to do.”

Once everyone was seated, Tarkyn continued, “We have two problems to sort out. Most importantly, we need to make sure we are gone from here leaving no scent before they arrive. Basically, I think that is something you all know much more about than I do. So I’ll leave you to confer about that and let me know what we’re doing. Secondly, and more urgently, I have to figure out how to warn those sorcerers that a posse is headed their way. I know sorcerers are not your concern but they are mine. So, could some woodfolk help me with this please, while the rest of you work on the other?”

The woodfolk resolved themselves into two groups, the smaller one containing the two sorcerers. Tarkyn was pleasantly surprised to find a couple of mountainfolk in his group along with several of his own woodfolk.

“The easiest solution would be for us to send a mind message to someone in the vicinity so that they could tell your Lord Tolward to clear out.” Rainstorm enjoyed watching Tarkyn’s surprised expression, before adding, “But of course, that’s not going to happen.”

“They could leave a message for the sorcerers to find,” suggested Danton.

“What sort of message?” asked Waterstone.

Danton looked around him and coloured faintly, before saying slowly, “A note, a written message….”  He ground to a halt and grimaced, “You don’t write, do you?”

“No,” said Rainstorm, quite unembarrassed about being illiterate. “What for? That’s more of a sorcerer-wizard thing.”

Tarkyn smiled faintly at Danton’s embarrassment and suggested, “What about a drawing?”

Everyone thought about that idea for a few minutes but although they could think of a series of pictures involving a figure with long black hair running from big dogs, they struggled with trying to show the relevance and the timing of the events.

“Blast Stormaway!” Tarkyn grimaced in annoyance. “If he were closer, he could do it but he’s still at the encampment, from what you were saying.”

“It’s just as well he is or we may not have realized this was happening,” said Danton.

“Possibly,” said Autumn Leaves, with a wry smile. “But we have left woodfolk watching that area as per his lordship’s instructions.”

Tarkyn gave a grunt of laughter, “You know perfectly well we worked those instructions out together and I just delivered them.”

At this juncture, Sparrow came over and sat herself down on Waterstone’s knee. Tarkyn frowned suddenly, as he realised that Midnight was nowhere in sight. He gave his head a little shake, thinking he would sort out the sorcerers’ dilemma first, and then look for his pesky little acquisition.

“Your Highness,” said Rock Fall tentatively, “Why don’t you write a note and order one of your eagles to deliver your message?”

Tarkyn gave a wry smile, “I hate to disillusion you, but Dry Berry overstated the case when she said that I had mastery over the eagles. They protect me as they choose. I struggle to make even owls do my bidding if they are not in the mood. They are certainly not messengers.”

“They might accede to a request, mightn’t they?” asked Lapping Water.

“They might,” conceded Tarkyn, “But I suspect they would have to see the relevance of it to the forest, you woodfolk or me. I think their interest in the welfare of sorcerers is pretty much on a par with yours.”

“Virtually non-existent,” said Autumn Leaves flatly. “Sensible birds.” Then he spotted Danton trying to maintain a neutral face and added, “Present company excepted, of course.”