Goblin stood across the street, leaning against a building,
staring intently. I frowned angrily. What the hell was he doing on
the street? Bullock might recognize him and realize we were playing
games.
Obviously, he wanted to tell me something.
Bullock was about to enter another of countless dives. I told
him, “Got to see a man about a horse in the alley.”
“Yeah.” He went inside. I slipped into the alley and
made water. Goblin joined me there. “What is it?” I
asked.
“What it is, Croaker, is it’s him. Raven. Our Raven.
Not only him, but Darling. She’s a barmaid in a place called
the Iron Lily.”
“Holy shit,” I murmured.
“Raven lives there. They’re doing a show like they
don’t know each other that well. But Raven looks out for
her.”
“Damnit! It had to be, didn’t it? What do we do
now?”
“Maybe bend over and kiss our asses good-bye. The bastard
could be smack in the middle of the body-selling racket. Everything
we found could add up that way.”
“How come you could find that when Bullock
couldn’t?”
“I got resources Bullock doesn’t.”
I nodded. He did. Sometimes it’s handy, having a wizard
around. Sometimes it’s not, if it’s one of those
bitches up in Duretile. “Hurry it up,” I said.
“He’ll wonder where I am.”
“Raven has his own wagon and team. Keeps it way across
town. Usually only takes it out late at night.” I nodded.
We’d already determined that body-runners worked the night
shift. “But . . . ” he said,
“and you’re going to love this but, Croaker. He took it
out in the daytime, once, a while back. Coincidentally, the day
somebody hit the Catacombs.”
“Oh boy.”
“I looked that wagon over, Croaker. There was blood in it.
Fairly fresh. I date it about when that moneylender and his pals
disappeared.”
“Oh boy. Shit. We’re in for it now. Better get.
Going to have to think of a story for Bullock now.”
“Later.”
“Yeah.”
At that moment I was ready to give up. Despair overwhelmed me.
That damned fool Raven—I knew exactly what he was doing. Getting
together a fat bunch of running money by selling bodies and
plundering graves. His conscience wouldn’t bother him. In his
part of the world, such things were of much less consequence. And
he had a cause: Darling.
I couldn’t get away from Bullock. I wanted desperately to
run to Elmo, but I had to trudge hither and yon asking
questions.
I looked up the northern slope, at the black castle, and thought
of it as the fortress Raven had built.
I was going off the deep end. I told myself that. The evidence
wasn’t yet conclusive . . . But it was.
Enough. My employers did not wait on legal niceties or absolute
evidence.
Elmo was rattled, too. “We could kill him. No risk him
giving anything away then.”
“Really, Elmo!”
“I didn’t mean it. But you know I’d do it if
the choice got narrow enough.”
“Yeah.” We all would. Or we’d try. Raven might
not let us. He was the toughest son-of-a-bitch I’d ever
known. “If you ask me, we ought to find him and just tell him
to get the hell out of Juniper.”
Elmo gave me a disgusted look. “Haven’t you been
paying attention? Right now the only way in or out is the one we
took. The harbor is frozen. The passes are snowed in. You think we
could get Whisper to fly some civilian out for us?”
“Civilians. Goblin says Darling is still with
him.”
Elmo looked thoughtful. I started to say something else. He
waved a hand for silence. I waited. He finally asked, “What
would he do if he saw you? If he’s been hanging around with
the Crater bunch?”
I clicked my tongue. “Yeah. I didn’t think of that.
Let me go check something.”
I hunted Bullock up. “You or the Duke got somebody inside
the Crater bunch?”
He looked puzzled. “Maybe? Why?”
“Let’s have a sit-down with them. An idea. It might
help us break our thing here.”
He looked at me a long moment. Maybe he was sharper than he
pretended. “All right. Not that they would’ve learned
much. The only reason they haven’t run our guys off is we
don’t bother them. They just get together and talk about the
old days. They don’t have any fight left.”
“Let’s give it a look anyway. Maybe they’re
less innocent than they look.”
“Give me a half-hour.”
I did. And when that time was up, he and I sat down with two
secret policemen. He and I took turns asking questions, each coming
from his own private slant.
Neither knew Raven, at least not by that name. That was a
relief. But there was something there, and Bullock sensed it
immediately. He hung on till he had something to chew.
“I’m going to my boss,” I told him.
“She’ll want to know about this.” I had come up
with a diversion. It seemed it would suit Bullock.
He said, “I’ll take it up with Hargadon.
Didn’t occur to me this might be foreigners. Political. That
could be why the money didn’t show up. Maybe they’re
selling bodies, too.”
“Rebellions do take money,” I observed.
We moved next evening, at Whisper’s insistence, over the
objections of the Duke, but with the support of the Chief
Custodian. The Duke still did not want us seen. The Custodians
didn’t give a damn. They just wanted to salvage their
reputation.
Elmo came slinking through the evening shadows. “Ready
here?” he whispered.
I glanced at the four men with me. “Ready.” Every
Company man in Juniper was there, with the Duke’s secret
police and a dozen of Bullock’s men. I’d thought his
job silly, but even so had been astonished to discover how few men
his office actually employed. All but one were there. The one was
legitimately sick.
Elmo made a sound like a cow mooing, repeated three times.
The one-time Rebels were all together for their regular confab.
I snickered, thinking of the surprise they were going to get. They
thought they were safe from the Lady by fifteen hundred miles and
seven years.
It took less than a minute. No one was injured. They just looked
at us dumbly, arms hanging slack. Then one even recognized us, and
groaned, “The Black Company. In Juniper.”
Then another: “It’s over. It’s the end.
She’s really won.”
They didn’t seem to care much. Some, in fact, looked
relieved.
We pulled it off so smoothly there was hardly any notice from
the neighbors. The slickest raid I’d ever seen. We marched
them up to Duretile, and Whisper and Feather went to work.
I just hoped one of them wouldn’t know too much.
I’d made a long bet, hoping Raven would not have told them
who Darling was. If he had, I’d pulled the roof down instead
of misdirecting attention.
I did not hear from Whisper, so I guessed I’d won.
Goblin stood across the street, leaning against a building,
staring intently. I frowned angrily. What the hell was he doing on
the street? Bullock might recognize him and realize we were playing
games.
Obviously, he wanted to tell me something.
Bullock was about to enter another of countless dives. I told
him, “Got to see a man about a horse in the alley.”
“Yeah.” He went inside. I slipped into the alley and
made water. Goblin joined me there. “What is it?” I
asked.
“What it is, Croaker, is it’s him. Raven. Our Raven.
Not only him, but Darling. She’s a barmaid in a place called
the Iron Lily.”
“Holy shit,” I murmured.
“Raven lives there. They’re doing a show like they
don’t know each other that well. But Raven looks out for
her.”
“Damnit! It had to be, didn’t it? What do we do
now?”
“Maybe bend over and kiss our asses good-bye. The bastard
could be smack in the middle of the body-selling racket. Everything
we found could add up that way.”
“How come you could find that when Bullock
couldn’t?”
“I got resources Bullock doesn’t.”
I nodded. He did. Sometimes it’s handy, having a wizard
around. Sometimes it’s not, if it’s one of those
bitches up in Duretile. “Hurry it up,” I said.
“He’ll wonder where I am.”
“Raven has his own wagon and team. Keeps it way across
town. Usually only takes it out late at night.” I nodded.
We’d already determined that body-runners worked the night
shift. “But . . . ” he said,
“and you’re going to love this but, Croaker. He took it
out in the daytime, once, a while back. Coincidentally, the day
somebody hit the Catacombs.”
“Oh boy.”
“I looked that wagon over, Croaker. There was blood in it.
Fairly fresh. I date it about when that moneylender and his pals
disappeared.”
“Oh boy. Shit. We’re in for it now. Better get.
Going to have to think of a story for Bullock now.”
“Later.”
“Yeah.”
At that moment I was ready to give up. Despair overwhelmed me.
That damned fool Raven—I knew exactly what he was doing. Getting
together a fat bunch of running money by selling bodies and
plundering graves. His conscience wouldn’t bother him. In his
part of the world, such things were of much less consequence. And
he had a cause: Darling.
I couldn’t get away from Bullock. I wanted desperately to
run to Elmo, but I had to trudge hither and yon asking
questions.
I looked up the northern slope, at the black castle, and thought
of it as the fortress Raven had built.
I was going off the deep end. I told myself that. The evidence
wasn’t yet conclusive . . . But it was.
Enough. My employers did not wait on legal niceties or absolute
evidence.
Elmo was rattled, too. “We could kill him. No risk him
giving anything away then.”
“Really, Elmo!”
“I didn’t mean it. But you know I’d do it if
the choice got narrow enough.”
“Yeah.” We all would. Or we’d try. Raven might
not let us. He was the toughest son-of-a-bitch I’d ever
known. “If you ask me, we ought to find him and just tell him
to get the hell out of Juniper.”
Elmo gave me a disgusted look. “Haven’t you been
paying attention? Right now the only way in or out is the one we
took. The harbor is frozen. The passes are snowed in. You think we
could get Whisper to fly some civilian out for us?”
“Civilians. Goblin says Darling is still with
him.”
Elmo looked thoughtful. I started to say something else. He
waved a hand for silence. I waited. He finally asked, “What
would he do if he saw you? If he’s been hanging around with
the Crater bunch?”
I clicked my tongue. “Yeah. I didn’t think of that.
Let me go check something.”
I hunted Bullock up. “You or the Duke got somebody inside
the Crater bunch?”
He looked puzzled. “Maybe? Why?”
“Let’s have a sit-down with them. An idea. It might
help us break our thing here.”
He looked at me a long moment. Maybe he was sharper than he
pretended. “All right. Not that they would’ve learned
much. The only reason they haven’t run our guys off is we
don’t bother them. They just get together and talk about the
old days. They don’t have any fight left.”
“Let’s give it a look anyway. Maybe they’re
less innocent than they look.”
“Give me a half-hour.”
I did. And when that time was up, he and I sat down with two
secret policemen. He and I took turns asking questions, each coming
from his own private slant.
Neither knew Raven, at least not by that name. That was a
relief. But there was something there, and Bullock sensed it
immediately. He hung on till he had something to chew.
“I’m going to my boss,” I told him.
“She’ll want to know about this.” I had come up
with a diversion. It seemed it would suit Bullock.
He said, “I’ll take it up with Hargadon.
Didn’t occur to me this might be foreigners. Political. That
could be why the money didn’t show up. Maybe they’re
selling bodies, too.”
“Rebellions do take money,” I observed.
We moved next evening, at Whisper’s insistence, over the
objections of the Duke, but with the support of the Chief
Custodian. The Duke still did not want us seen. The Custodians
didn’t give a damn. They just wanted to salvage their
reputation.
Elmo came slinking through the evening shadows. “Ready
here?” he whispered.
I glanced at the four men with me. “Ready.” Every
Company man in Juniper was there, with the Duke’s secret
police and a dozen of Bullock’s men. I’d thought his
job silly, but even so had been astonished to discover how few men
his office actually employed. All but one were there. The one was
legitimately sick.
Elmo made a sound like a cow mooing, repeated three times.
The one-time Rebels were all together for their regular confab.
I snickered, thinking of the surprise they were going to get. They
thought they were safe from the Lady by fifteen hundred miles and
seven years.
It took less than a minute. No one was injured. They just looked
at us dumbly, arms hanging slack. Then one even recognized us, and
groaned, “The Black Company. In Juniper.”
Then another: “It’s over. It’s the end.
She’s really won.”
They didn’t seem to care much. Some, in fact, looked
relieved.
We pulled it off so smoothly there was hardly any notice from
the neighbors. The slickest raid I’d ever seen. We marched
them up to Duretile, and Whisper and Feather went to work.
I just hoped one of them wouldn’t know too much.
I’d made a long bet, hoping Raven would not have told them
who Darling was. If he had, I’d pulled the roof down instead
of misdirecting attention.
I did not hear from Whisper, so I guessed I’d won.