Keeper of the Black Stones (43 page)

She turned at the thought, seeking him out. The man was still balanced on his knees in the back of the cart, scanning the countryside through the strange metal tube atop his weapon. She gulped, remembering what that weapon had done to the bridge, and looked toward Paul. He too scanned the land around them, watching for soldiers. Both had promised that they wouldn't be taken by surprise again. This, she believed.

The horse in front of her jerked to the left, and Katherine turned quickly
around to focus on the road again. They were traveling at an unsafe pace, she knew, but her new friends were intent on arriving at their destination as quickly as possible. Neither had been willing to tell her exactly where they were going, or why.

“Damn,” Reis muttered quietly, drawing Katherine's attention to the back of the wagon again. The man was looking through his tube at the road behind them, his shoulders tense.

“Soldiers?” Paul asked nervously, looking backward as well.

Reis shook his head. “Not sure, but I don't exactly want to stay on the road and find out.” He turned toward the land in front of them and gestured to a group of trees. “See the trees, Katherine?” he asked quietly. “How quickly can you get us there?”

“Indeed,” Katherine muttered. She tugged lightly on the left rein, urging the horse in that direction, and gave him his head. “Five minutes,” she told Reis. “Maybe a bit more.”

“Perfect,” Reis answered. “That will give us some time to spare.”

“What are we doing?” Paul asked, climbing onto the seat next to Katherine.

Reis moved to stand behind them, a hand on each of their shoulders. “Hiding as they pass,” he murmured. “With luck, they won't notice us, and we can avoid another nasty fight.”

Reis jumped off the cart first, snapping his orders as he checked the small clearing. “Katherine, stay close to the horse and make sure he doesn't get spooked. Paul…” He looked at Paul, who simply smiled back at him, and shook his head. “Just stay close to me and try not to talk.”

Katherine climbed off the cart and led the horse deeper into the grove of trees, and Reis and Paul crouched down under some low-hanging branches, where they had a clear view of the road. Reis took a knee, aimed the scope of his rifle at the road, and studied the horizon.

“I see them,” Paul noted quietly. “Do you think they saw us before we got off the road?”

Reis shook his head, wishing Paul would keep quiet for once. “No telling, but they don't appear to be rushing, so I'll take that as a good sign.”

“Couldn't you just, you know, take care of them if they saw us?” the boy asked excitedly.

“No.” Reis frowned, but kept his concentration on the men before them. They were soldiers, judging by their weapons, though they didn't wear any type of uniform. Not that it mattered, really. At this point, as far as he was concerned, soldiers were trouble in and of themselves.

He hoped they hadn't spotted his small group.

“Why not?”

The question broke Reis' focus, and he turned sharply. “Why not what?”

“Why not take them out?”

Reis groaned. “Three reasons. First, I don't believe in killing people unless they're trying to hurt me. Second, one of them could very well be your great grandfather ten times removed, or mine for that matter, and how would that work out for us?”

Paul nodded. “Okay, good points. And the third reason?”

Reis sighed. “Third, I don't have much ammunition left. A half a magazine for the rifle and two clips of fifteen rounds for the handgun. And then we're out.”

“That's all you brought?” Paul asked, visibly shaken. “And then you're out?”

“Well the plan was to
avoid
the locals,” Reis said sharply. “I didn't exactly plan on shooting up the joint.”

Suddenly something caught his eye. Movement closer than he expected. He shoved Paul's face into the ground and flipped the safety on his rifle,
searching desperately for the source.

The group of soldiers had sent outriders ahead of them–presumably to scout the area for other dangerous characters–and one of them had decided to beat through the small group of trees. He was just beyond the tree line now, 10 to 15 feet from where Paul and Reis lay hidden.

Reis watched him tensely, his finger on the trigger, and willed the man to move on. As the man turned to do just that, though, Reis felt the boy next to him begin to squirm. He looked down to see Paul holding a finger under his nose, trying desperately to stifle a sneeze. Reis moved to cover the boy's mouth, and knelt on a stray branch in the process. Several twigs cracked, ringing out through the trees, and both Paul and Reis froze. So did the soldier in front of them. He turned to stare at the juniper trees around them, looking intently into the underbrush. For several seconds, all three were still. The soldier moved his head to the side, studying the trees and listening to the wind. Finally, after what seemed to be a lifetime to Reis, he shook his head, turned, and walked back to his horse. A moment later, he was spurring the horse away from the woods.

Paul collapsed and rolled onto his back, breathing heavily. Reis switched the safety into place and tried to still his own heart.

“That was too close,” he mumbled. The sooner they reached the battlefield, the better. He hated all this sneaking around.

Before he could get Paul up and moving, another twig snapped behind them and a voice rang out.

“That was very close. What do we do now?”

Reis swung around, his heart racing again, and gasped at the vision in front of him. Katherine had taken the opportunity to change into a pair of Tatiana's cargo pants, along with a loose-fitting beige sweater. Her dirty dress lay crumpled on the ground next to her.

“What?” she asked, noticing the stares. “Tatiana wears them, and if I'm going to be of any use to you in this running around and sneaking through forests, I cannot be hampered by skirts.” She lifted an eyebrow–a skill she'd perfected in the last day–daring them to question her, and Reis shrugged. At the moment, Katherine's apparel was pretty low on his list of things to worry about.

She nodded at his silence, then asked again, “So what now?”

“Now,” Reis answered, “we follow those soldiers to Bosworth and hope like hell that Jason and Tatiana managed to escape too.”

“And if they didn't?” Paul asked.

Reis put the rifle back into the cart and looked down at Paul, smiling grimly. “If they didn't, we'll find Doc on our own, then go get them.

32

W
e scrambled along for at least a mile, zigzagging our way through a tight maze of dark tunnels, and moving as quickly as we could. The walkways were dank, tight, and still, and in some places they were no taller than my head. After the first ten minutes of walking, my shoulders were soaked with water from brushing against the walls. Rats rustled by our feet and loose rock crumbled down on our heads, making me wonder how long these tunnels had been there. And how much longer they would stand.

When the torch went out, I pulled the flashlight from my pocket and used it to light our way. William questioned it once, and then accepted it. We had already discussed the likelihood of someone coming after us, and not even William's curiosity about the flashlight could delay us. We needed to get out of there, and quickly. It was only a matter of time until someone from the castle came to drag us back.

“I hope you know where you're going, my young friend,” William huffed as we rounded yet another turn. Before us, the tunnel stretched on, dark and foreboding.

I didn't answer him because I didn't need too. I knew exactly where I was going. Truth be told, if I concentrated hard enough, I thought I could probably get by without any light at all. I still hadn't figured out where the stone was, but it was close enough to speak to me, and it was providing a steady flow of information. The map in my head unfolded itself in my mind as I needed it, guiding me to the right tunnels, and around the jagged rocks and dangerous drops that littered the ground of the passage. I knew every corner and crevice as if I'd been playing in these tunnels my entire life. And for the first time since my initial encounter with the stones, I was accepting and
even embracing this for what it was–a gift. I was also counting on it to lead us out of the tunnels before Dresden–or whoever he sent after us–arrived.

I'd barely completed the thought when a flash of light, followed by the sound of an explosion, boomed out of the passage behind us. I jumped, and checked with the stone. I was right, I learned; Dresden had found us more quickly than I'd anticipated.

“What in God's name was that?” William gasped, looking fearfully over his shoulder.

“Gunfire,” I replied grimly. “Dresden's closer than we thought. We don't have much time.”

I pushed forward, increasing our pace to nearly a sprint. If the stone was going to be warning me of any dangers, it meant that we could move faster than we had been. And right now, time was of the essence.

We wove through the narrow passages without rest, crawling when we couldn't stand straight, and scrambling over rocks and gullies as we came to them. Behind us, the men on our trail had started shouting threats and promises about what would happen to us when they caught us. Dresden hadn't come himself, but he'd told his soldiers what to say to cause the most damage, and they weren't being shy about their threats.

“There are at least ten of them back there,” I huffed, squeezing desperately past a boulder that had fallen to block the tunnel. “They have guns and swords, but I think they're moving slower than we are.”

When I got past the boulder I resumed my sprint, my breathing rough and unsteady. I'd been caught once, and I wasn't going to let it happen again, especially with Doc out there and in danger. I squeezed the handle of the dagger I had in my pocket, wondering if I could bring myself to fight if I had to. Anything would be better than being captured again.

“What are you talking about, they sound like they're right behind us!” Tatiana gasped, catching me at the turn.

William pounded along behind us, his wasted body struggling to keep up, and I threw my senses back into the tunnel behind us. I didn't think they
were as close as Tatiana believed. They were noisy, though, and the sound bounced off these walls endlessly. I was having trouble getting an exact read on where our pursuers actually were.

“Are you sure you know where this leads?” she asked now, glancing ahead into the darkness. “Are you certain this will get us out of here?”

I turned my head so she could hear me clearly. “I've never been more sure of anything in my life, Tatiana. Now are you going to keep questioning me, or are we going to get the hell out of here?”

“Okay, okay, sorry,” she replied.

“Don't be sorry. Just move faster.”

Suddenly, the tunnel began to grow wider around us. Natural light came from ahead, indicating that we were nearing the surface.