Chronicles of Steele: Raven 2: Episode 2 (9 page)

“That mutt will be fine in there with the chickens and the goat.” She narrowed her eyes at Raven and straightened her apron. “But if it kills one of my animals, you’ll be paying double what it’s worth at the market, understood?”

Raven drew herself up to her full height and looked down at the woman. She clenched her jaw to keep herself from snapping the woman’s neck. After a deep breath, she gave her a slight nod and forced a smile.

The woman held out her hand. She wanted payment up front. Raven reached into her bag and pulled out four coppers. The woman took the money and looked her up and down, as if seeing Raven for the first time. “Awfully strange get-up you have on there. Did you ride in? I didn’t see a horse. What are you doing in Preston Woods? Hunting?” The woman continued babbling as she started back into the house, answering her own questions the moment she proposed them.

Raven let the woman widen the gap between them as she waited for the boy to return. He bolted back from the shed. The snowflakes had grown larger and the sleet had slowed to a steadier, lighter icing, but a cold wind picked up with it. The boy’s cheeks glowed red in his pale face. If his cheeks felt like hers, they were numb from the cold. She shivered and herded him inside the door.

The warmth of the small cottage enveloped them and made her exposed skin burn in the sudden heat. Several pieces of overstuffed brown and green furniture cluttered the small room. A single gas lamp and the fireplace dimly lit the living area. Raven assessed the situation. What would be the best way to contain the two women and douse the light?

Carrying a tea tray, the red-haired woman returned to the cozy room. She hummed a tune as she entered.

“Some tea to warm you both, and a few biscuits?” She looked up at them both, her green eyes still full of judgment, but she stopped herself and continued. “Oh, what was I thinking? You are both dripping wet. Do you have a change of clothes?”

Raven looked again at her carpet bag and wondered how waterproof the bag might be. She had shaken the snow from it on the porch and hoped the moisture stayed out of the bag. “We might. Do you have a place we might change?”

“Absolutely.” The old woman set down the tea tray and grasped the single lamp. She led them up the rickety stairs.

Each step released a squeal or cry, threatening to crack under the weight of their footfalls. At the top of the stairs, they found four doorways. The light of the gas lamp revealed the color of each as a teal-green. Raven had to duck her head a bit in order to keep her hair from catching in the exposed thatch. The woman led them to the room directly across from the stairs.

With a squeal and a crack, the door opened into a cramped room with an even lower ceiling. To her relief, the room they’d been assigned was windowless. Two double beds sat across from each other with a small pan between them, catching a drip from the roof. “I believe this should be enough.” The woman crossed the room and used the gas lamp in her hand to light the small one on the single nightstand by the beds. “Please come down for tea once you get yourselves into some dry things.”

Raven nodded and began digging through her bag before the woman had the door closed behind her. To her relief, the inside of the bag had been kept mostly dry. With a hard swallow of her pride, she traded her reaper gear for the travel dress once more. “Here, Darius. I’ve got some clothes for you, too. Change right here, in the light of the gas lamp, and I’ll change in the hallway.”

The young baron took the dry clothes, but his expression held no mirth. Instead, he looked about the room in the confusion, wonder, and sadness of a child too far away from his home. It seemed that Nikki offered him the sort of comfort a teddy bear might offer a smaller child. Now he looked lost without her. Raven patted him on the shoulder and said, “Stay here in this room. Keep your headlamp handy and shut off the gas lamp. Understand?”

His sad eyes blinked and he nodded. She attempted a smile and stepped into the hallway.

She needed to move fast. Her moleskin breeches rarely absorbed much in the way of water, so she left them on. The water did not soak into her corset; she could keep it as well. After unbuttoning her shirt in the dark, she wound the headlamp a quick ten times. She didn’t want to put her dress on backwards. Her wet arms stuck to the insides of the pale dress’s sleeves. At the same time, the cold fled the moment material covered her bare, wet skin. She held the head lamp in her palm as she descended the stairs.

Flames flickered in the fireplace and shadows danced on the cozy walls of the living room. The two women and the gas lamp had to be in the kitchen. Raven tiptoed to the door and listened to the women. The gruff voice of the older woman rang clear and she huffed a laugh. “I can feel the boy’s strength. The foolish duke and his court have no idea the power that boy holds.”

“I really don’t need to hear your craziness, Mother.” The red-haired woman, Griselda, interrupted the elder woman and moved about pots and pans in the room. “They are paying me good money for keeping them. And no one believes in that magic you always speak of.”

The argument continued, but Raven didn’t have a moment to lose. She snuffed the flames in the fireplace, using the bucket of sand and ashes next to the fire. It smoldered for a moment before finally dying. Raven clenched her eyes to get rid of the spots caused by the embers. Then she slipped the night vision goggles over her face so she didn’t trip over any of the furniture. She returned to the door, removed the goggles, and entered the kitchen.

Jack led his grey gelding through the snow with Jasper lying over the saddle. The rest of his guard rode just a short bit ahead of him as he trudged through the knee-deep drifts. Snowflakes clung to his eyelashes, and he blinked frequently to keep his vision clear. They needed to find shelter or a clearing to set up camp. At least the sleet had stopped.

Rupert turned back to him and cursed. “Travel in this is impossible. I suggest we consider making camp right here on the road, sir.”

It seemed the best recourse, and Jack nodded. They stopped and pulled the horses in a huddle. “Bradley and Harry, clear this area of as much snow as possible. One of you brought a shovel?”

Bradley nodded and dismounted from his horse.

“Good, let’s begin. Rupert and Smith, set up camp. Start a fire.”

“Yes, sir.” Smith untied the straps from the tent attached to the back of his saddle. The movements of his men showed some fervor for the task at hand.

“Colton, search the area for about a mile and a half ahead. If you find tracks, farms, or any sign of life, report.”

Colton nodded and turned his horse back up the road.

 The snow lightened to barely more than a flurry, but the wind still whipped through Jack’s wet hair. He pulled his brown coat tighter around his body. The grey gelding nudged him impatiently. He patted the horse on the head and whispered assurance. “In a moment, Cutlass, we’ll get you some oats.”

By the time Bradley and Harry had cleared the roadway, the other two had already gotten the fire started. Jack called the two young ones. “Come over and give me a hand with this.”

They laid a tarp onto the road and pulled Jasper down from the horse. Gently they set him down on his stomach to determine how to remove the shards of brass from his back. The three-beat sound of pounding hooves caught Jack’s attention. Colton rounded the corner, returning to them at a canter.

“Captain!” He called out as he approached, and pulled his bay mare up. The horse’s hind end slipped, and it fought for footing. “There is a house about a quarter mile up ahead. I almost missed it, for the light went out a moment after I found it.”

“Excellent work, Colton. Help Rupert and Smith pack up the camp once more. Bradley and Harry, let’s get the reaper back on my horse.”

After a moment’s struggle, Jack’s guard team had undone everything they’d accomplished in setting camp. They started up the road, with Colton leading them to the place where he’d found the cottage. Set back in the woods and covered in snow, it would have been an easy place to miss with the lights out as they were. Out of habit, the guardsmen surrounded the house while Jack approached the door. He stomped his boots on the porch to free them of the snow. Now that he was closer, he saw the door was painted teal. He stepped up and knocked three times.

Raven stood at the darkened window and marveled when the guard turned directly for the house. It had been over an hour since she’d cut the lights. Her jaw tensed as the men split up and surrounded the cottage. Boots stomped up the porch steps. If she attempted to pretend no one was home, how would they respond? She shook her head in the dark. They’d break in the door and take over the house in the name of the duke, nonetheless.

Three knocks rapped soundly on the wood. Raven stood next to the door, considering the option of allowing them to break it down and then using it as a funneling point to take down each guard member as they entered. She drew the red corded sword and prepared herself.

“Coming!” A cheerful voice called through the house, and the elder woman approached, her cottony hair tinged green by the night vision goggles.

Raven blinked hard, incredulous. The woman had been unconscious, on the floor and tied up when she had left her. She swallowed hard and stepped back as the woman smiled up at her and made a shooing motion with her hands.

The little old woman opened the small window in the door like she’d done earlier when they’d first arrived. “Yes, what is it?”

Captain Jack Grant’s voice rang deep and clear. “Sorry to bother you, madam, but we’ve been caught in the storm as you can see. One of us is horribly injured, and we all could use to get out of the cold if you’d allow.”

“How many are you, sir? This is a small cottage, and there are already four of us inside.”

Raven’s jaw dropped. The woman’s voice held no malice for Raven having knocked her unconscious?

“There are seven of us, I’m afraid.” Boots moved to the other side of the porch away from Raven. “Your barn is small as well, so if our horses stayed out in the weather, we’d be able to fit two or three of us in the barn. I just worry about our injured man and would rather have him near a fire.”

“That sounds fair, young man. If three of you can stay in the barn, four of you may enter.” She closed the window and stepped back from the door, studying Raven with her hands on her hips.

Raven swallowed, but gripped her sword tighter.

“If you don’t want to be found out by these men,” the woman whispered. “I suggest you head upstairs and remain. I’ll be sure to tell them that the upstairs is fully occupied.”

Raven nodded and snapped the sword once more to her back.

“And take the tea tray with you. The tea might still be lukewarm anyway.” The woman waved her hand in the air, and bent down at the mantle to start the fire once more.

Unsure of what else to do, Raven did as she was told. She took the tray and balanced it as she made her way up the rickety stairs. As she reached the top, she heard another knock at the door. The floorboards continued to creak beneath her feet as she made it to the teal door that housed Darius. She opened it and entered. The gruff sound of men’s voices and stomping boots entered the living area downstairs. A cheery voice rose above them—the woman said louder than necessary, “Please remove your wet boots at the door. I’ll be in the kitchen getting some tea ready. Try your best to keep things quiet, we have a guest upstairs with a baby that was just put down for a rest.”

A baby? The old woman truly was remarkable. Men like the guardsmen hardly knew which end to hold upright when handed a baby. They would do their best to avoid coming upstairs at all costs now. She smiled and backed into the small room with the tray. What would the old woman want in return for her help?

She closed her eyes against the boy’s headlamp as she entered. The night vision goggles could damage her vision if she left them on in any sort of bright light. She set the tea tray on the foot of the bed across from the one the boy sat, and pulled the goggles from her head.

 “Hungry?” She asked Darius as she sat on the bed. “The guardsmen are downstairs, we need to be very quiet, understand?”