Shadows Linger

“All right. When, Kingpin?”

“I don’t know. Nobody’s seen her since the night before Raven died.”

“Bingo,” Goblin said in a soft, awed voice. “Damn your eyes, Croaker, your instincts were right.”

“What?” Kingpin asked.

“There’s no way she would have disappeared beforehand unless she knew something was going to happen.”

“Kingpin,” I said, “did you go look at the place they were staying? Inside, I mean.”

“Yeah. Somebody got there before me.”

“What?”

“The place was cleaned out. I asked the i

“What did you do then?”

“What? I figured you guys didn’t want Bullock back in Juniper, so we got him charged with Raven’s murder. There was plenty of witnesses besides us saw them fighting. Enough to maybe convince a court we really saw what we said.”

“You do anything to trace Darling?”

Kingpin had nothing to say. He stared at his hands. The rest of us exchanged irritated glances. Goblin muttered, “I told Elmo it was dumb to send him.”

I guess it was. In minutes we had come up with several loose ends overlooked by Kingpin.

“How come you’re so damned worried about it, anyway, Croaker?” Kingpin demanded. “I mean, it all looks like a big so-what to me.”

“Look, King. Like it or not, when the Taken turned on us, we got pushed over to the other side. We’re White Rose now. Whether we want it or not. They’re going to come after us. The only thing the Rebel has going is the White Rose. Right?”

“If there is a White Rose.”

“There is. Darling is the White Rose.”

“Come on, Croaker. She’s a deaf-mute.”

One-Eye observed, “She’s also a magical null-point.”

“Eh?”

“Magic won’t work around her. We noticed that clean back at Charm. And if she follows true for her sort, the null will get stronger as she gets older.”

I recalled noting oddities about Darling during the battle of Charm, but hadn’t made anything of it then. “What are you talking about?”

“I told you. Some people are negatives. Instead of having a talent for sorcery, they go the other way. It won’t work around them. And when you think about it, that’s the only way the White Rose makes sense. How could a deaf and dumb kid grow up to challenge the Lady or Dominator on their own ground? I’ll bet the original White Rose didn’t.”

I didn’t know. There had been nothing in the histories about her powers or their noteworthy absence. “This makes it more important to find her.”

One-Eye nodded.

Kingpin looked baffled. It was easy to fuddle King, I decided. I explained. “If magic won’t work around her, we’ve got to find her and stay close. Then the Taken won’t be able to hurt us.”

One-Eye said, “Don’t forget that they have whole armies they can send after us.”

“If they want us that bad... Oh my.”

“What?”

“Elmo. If he didn’t get killed. He knows enough to put the whole empire on our trail. Maybe not so much for us as in hopes we’ll lead them to Darling.”

“What’re we going to do?”

“Why’re you looking at me?”

“You’re the one seems to know what’s going on, Croaker.”

“Okay. I guess. First we find out about Raven and Darling. Especially Darling. And we ought to catch Shed and Asa again, in case they know something useful.

We got to move fast and get out of town before the empire closes in. Without upsetting the locals. We better have a sit-down with the Lieutenant. Get everything on the table for everybody, then decide exactly what we’ll do.”

Chapter Forty-One

Meadenvil

The ship

Ours, apparently, was the last ship out of Juniper. We kept waiting for a later vessel to bring news. None came. The crew of our vessel did us no favor, either. They yammered all over town. We were buried by nosy locals, people concerned about relatives in Juniper, and the city government, concerned that a group of tough refugees might cause trouble. Candy and the Lieutenant dealt with all that. The struggle for survival devolved on the rest of us.

The three wizards, Otto, Kingpin and Pawnbroker, and I stole through the shadowed Meadenvil waterfront district after midnight. There were strong police patrols to dodge. We evaded them with help from One-Eye, Goblin and Silent. Goblin was especially useful. He possessed a spell capable of putting men to sleep.

“There she is,” Kingpin whispered, indicating Raven’s ship. Earlier I’d tried to find out how her docking fees were being paid. I’d had no luck.

She was a fine, big ship with a look of newness the darkness could not conceal. Only the normal lights burned aboard her: bow, stern masthead, port and starboard, and one at the head of the gangway, where a single bored sailor stood watch.

“One-Eye?”

He shook his head. “Can’t tell.”

I polled the others. Neither Silent nor Goblin detected anything remarkable, either.

“Okay, Goblin. Do your stuff. That’ll be the acid test, won’t it?”

He nodded. If Darling was aboard, his spell would not affect the watch.

Now that everyone had accepted my suspicions about Raven being alive, I’d begun to question them. I could see no sense in his not having slipped away by now, taking his very expensive ship somewhere far away. Perhaps out to the islands.

Those islands intrigued me. I thought we might grab a ship and head out there. Had to take someone who knew the way, though. The islands were a long way out and there was no regular commerce. No way to get there by guess work.

“Okay,” Goblin said. “He’s out.”

The sailor on the quarterdeck had slumped onto a handy stool. He had his arms folded on the rail and his forehead on his arms.

“No Darling,” I said.

“No Darling.”

“Anybody else around?”

“No.”

“Let’s go, then. Keep low, move fast, all that.”

We crossed the pier and scampered up the gangway. The sailor stirred. Goblin touched him and he went out like the dead. Goblin hustled forward, then aft, to the men on the rat guards. He returned nodding. “Another eight men below, all asleep. I’ll put them under. You go ahead.”

We started with the biggest cabin, assuming it would be the owner’s. It was. It sat in the stern, where the master’s cabin usually is, and was split into sections. I found things in one indicating that it had been occupied by Darling. On Raven’s side we found soiled clothing discarded some time ago. There was enough dust to indicate that no one had visited the cabin for weeks.

We did not find the papers I sought.

We did find money. Quite a substantial amount. It was cu

Out came a chest brimming with silver.

“I don’t reckon Raven is going to need that if he’s dead,” One-Eye said. “And if he ain’t-well, tough. His old buddies are in need.”

The coins were odd. After studying them, I recognized what that oddness was. They were the same as the coins Shed had received at the black castle. “Sniff these things,” I told One-Eye. “They’re black castle. See if there’s anything wrong with them.”

“Nope. Good as gold.” He chuckled.

“Uhm.” I hadn’t any scruples about lifting the money. Raven had obtained it by foul means. That put it up for grabs. It had no provenance, as they say in Juniper. “Gather round here. I got an idea.” I backed up to the stern lights, where I could watch the dock through the glass window.

They crowded in on me and the chest. “What?” Goblin

demanded.

“Why settle for the money? Why not take the whole damned ship? If Raven’s dead, or even faking he’s dead, what’s he going to say about it? We could make it our headquarters.”