Memory Hunted (13 page)

"Never mind the bread you ate just a little while ago,"
Timothy said.

"She shared it with me," Yuzu said. "I wonder if we will
see Tell." She smiled. "I want to see if I can make him faint."

"Women cannot live on bread alone," Kit said. "Pork is
a different matter."

Timothy winced. "I don’t think that is how the saying—"

"Hush." Kit buried an elbow into his ribs.

Men piled stacks of firewood and set up the benches and
tables around an open space between the barracks and the palisade. Several of
the stacks were already burning, throwing orange heat across the snow. The bonfires
were far enough from the palisade and remaining buildings that they wouldn’t pose
a threat even if the wind kicked up. Off to one side, five men readied musical instruments.
Timothy wondered how many men Kyle had held back. Three boars turned on spits on
Timothy’s left. Soldiers gathered to watch. A collection of barrels huddled close
to the cooking fires. Men, singing off-key, tapped the barrels’ bung holes and held
mugs under the ale stream. Here and there men tossed dice or played a strange game
with a black-and-white-checkered board. A row of tables dominated one section of
the grounds. The tables and benches faced the charred ruins of a barracks. Mugs
and battered wooden plates lined the tables, but not one of the soldiers nearby
disturbed the set.

Kyle stopped and watched the preparations.

"What are those tables?" Timothy jerked a thumb toward
the empty area.

"It’s a way for the boys to remember those who can’t
be here." Kyle shrugged. "We used to do it for a guy who would retire or stick himself
by accident." He laughed. "I wonder if they set out a place for me back home."

Timothy noticed men slathering the boars with something
from buckets they carried. "Kyle, don’t tell me…."

He glanced where Timothy looked. "Oh, course it is. It
wouldn’t be a party without it."

"Without what?" Kit and Yuzu asked in unison.

"The boss’s sauce."

"You still haven’t figure out a better name?" Timothy
asked.

"Sauce?" Kit asked.

"What’s wrong with the name? It has a nice ring. Boss’s
sauce."

"What is it?" Yuzu asked.

"Heaven in a bucket."

"More like hell on your tongue," Timothy said.

"Bah, it’s good. Don’t let him tell you otherwise."

"If you have a leather tongue."

"I think I will try it," Kit said.

"Trust me. You don’t want to. He put it in our stew once—"

"Now that was stew sauce, Timothy. I have perfected the
recipe. Now it’s the perfect blend of heat and sweet. It wasn’t easy for me to smuggle
the ingredients with me, I will have you know. But well worth it."

Balwar crossed the field. "Is everything in order, Dalton?"

"It is. The boys have their orders. I will have to make
it up to them, though."

"They are more than welcome to drink until they black
out afterward." Balwar met Kit’s gaze. "All you have to do is be visible. We will
take care of them if they show up."

"They will." Kit lifted her chin.

"The lieutenant will give you a signal to go toward the
east gate."

Kyle held both hands to the top of his head. "This is
the signal."

"Rabbit ears?" Yuzu asked.

"Fox ears. I’m supposed to be drunk, remember?"

Timothy shared a look with Kit.
You’d better not accidentally
tell anyone, Kyle.

Balwar cleared his throat. "If things go wrong, run back
here. We will have enough men somewhat sober to take care of things. No plan works
after the first shot is fired. So count on being back here."

"Except my plans. Right, Timothy?"

Timothy smiled.
Strangely, Kyle’s plans do mostly
work.

"I won’t let them get my sister. Not this time," Yuzu
said.

Balwar tucked his hands into his robes. "Have you found
out anything else about our missing key?"

Kyle shook his head. "Not a thing. Also, the captain
is nowhere to be found."

Balwar frowned.

"He is probably just pouting—I mean working—in his cabin."

"Maybe. I think I will take a look. Remember what you
are to do," Balwar said.

"Remember, you have to address the boys first," Kyle
said.

Balwar sighed.

"You know what to do, Timothy," Kyle said. "Go have some
fun. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like you could use a party."

"Wait, Kyle. You didn’t plan this for us, did you?" Timothy
asked.

Kyle grinned. "Just have fun. I won’t let anything happen
to you." He winked and walked away, shoving the Jesuit ahead of him.

Music and laughter fluttered with the flurries falling
from the gray sky. All the bonfires burned, throwing enough heat to push the cold
down to cool even where they stood.

"Daeric had better come," Timothy said.

"He will," Kit said.

"No drinking." His voice sounded sterner than he meant
it to sound.

Kit glared at him for a moment before putting on an innocent
expression. "Only a little, Daddy? Ale and pork—pretty please? It’s not like I have
a big, bad man after me." Kit’s voice boiled under the singsong, childish tone.

Timothy groaned. "Sorry. This just has me worried. I—"

Yuzu crossed her arms and leveled a glare similar to
Kit’s.

Kit seized Timothy’s coat collar and pulled him nose
to nose. "I said I won’t have you treating me like a child again, didn’t I? That
you would regret it. Didn’t I?"

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…my nerves dance like a yearling.
I don’t want to see you get hurt."

"This plan has me just looking pretty for the hunter.
As if I was some princess in a castle or a fox in a cage. Don’t want me to get hurt.
Am I some precious glass that breaks at a touch, Timmy?"

"N-no."

Kit jabbed a finger into his chest. Her other hand tightened
its grip. "You are lucky I like you, but don’t treat me like some helpless twit
who does not know how to take care of herself."

Timothy straightened his shoulders and grabbed her wrist.
"I didn’t mean it like that. I only want to—"

"What?"

"Protect you," Timothy said.

Yuzu rolled her eyes.

Kit frowned. "I don’t always need or want your protection.
I will not be treated as a child."

"I don’t see you that way. I have a debt to repay."

She let his collar go. "You can’t help who you are. Sorry.
My nerves are dancing like your whatever-type-of-sheep-it-was too." She sighed.
"I like you for who you are."

"I like you for who you are too." Timothy said.

"Ugh. Let’s eat before I lose the rest of my appetite,"
Kit said. "I forgive you for being stupid. Charmingly stupid and good-hearted stupid,
but there had better not be a next time."

Timothy let out a long breath.

"My sister is forgiving, Timothy," Yuzu said. "Do all
men have the silly idea that women need protection? If you ask me, men need women
to protect them. I’m going try this sauce." Yuzu wandered toward the cooking pits.

Timothy rubbed where Kit had jabbed her finger.

"Forget it. Let’s go before Yuzu eats all of it," Kit
said.

Timothy scanned the celebrating men. They gathered in
clusters around makeshift tables. Only a few held weapons and acted alert.
I
hope Kyle’s men follow orders. Kyle was always lax in that regard.
Most were
well into their mugs. A bell clanged, and a voice bellowed over the din. Balwar
and Kyle stood in front of the cooking fires. The soldiers rushed to form haphazard
ranks.

Balwar waited until the men stilled. He rubbed his thumb
on the crucifix that hung from his neck. "You have faced many hardships and lost
many friends. Tonight we celebrate their lives rather than mourn their deaths. Pray
with me." Balwar touched his palms together. Most of the soldiers mirrored him.

Close to the roasting boars, Yuzu folded her hands and
bowed her head. But she kept looking at the sauce-slathered pork. Kit stood with
a hand resting on her cocked hip. Timothy caught her gaze and shook his head. She
frowned. Several soldiers glanced at her.

"I won’t. Not in their way, Timmy."

"At least look like you are," he whispered. "We already
have enough trouble."

She sighed, folded her hands, and bowed her head.

Balwar’s voice rang out. "
Réquiem ætérnam dona eis,
Dómine, et lux perpétua lúceat eis. Requiéscant in pace
. Amen."

Kyle lifted his head and gazed at the soldiers. "It would
be nice if we could understand what we are praying, right, boys?" The soldiers laughed.
"But what does it matter? We have beer, music, and pig with my special sauce. Let’s
remember those who owe us money and can’t repay. Now go eat. That’s an order."

The men broke ranks, moving toward the casks and boar.
Music lilted the winter air. Balwar said something to Kyle that made him laugh and
clap the Inquisitor’s back. Together they disappeared into the crowd.

"What are you grinning at?" Kit asked.

"Kyle. He treats everyone the same. I can see him cracking
a joke to a king and clapping his royal back."

"As long as he doesn’t tell anyone I’m a fox, I don’t
care what he does."

"Somebody’s hungry."

"And tired of being hunted." Kit glared at several young
men who watched her from their table.

"Kyle’s plans work. Somehow they always do."

Kit shrugged. "Time to try this sauce." She stalked toward
the closest cook fire.

Timothy matched her pace. "That may not be a good idea.
The sauce…Kit, the men won’t like—"

Soldiers saw her coming and backed out of the way. Several
made awkward bows and gestured toward the front of the queue. Kit flashed her teeth.

A man thrust out a blue-and-white-pinstriped arm, barring
Timothy’s path. "What are you doing? Get back at the end."

"But I—"

Kit smiled over her shoulder. "You heard the man, Timmy.
It’s not fair of you to walk in front of these hungry, hardworking soldiers."

Timothy sighed.
Well, we wanted Kit to be visible.
Besides, I already know how that will taste.
His stomach grumbled. He schlepped
toward an empty bench butting against the palisade, not far from the musicians.
A bonfire nearby pushed away the cold. The musicians began to play a bouncy tune
on a worn flute, drum, and a strange stringed instrument Timothy had not seen before.
He flopped on the rough bench and scanned the crowd. Kit pointed at a metal bowl
heaped with pork. A soldier ladled Kyle’s sauce over it. Her cloak and skirt moved.
Her tail wouldn’t be wagging if she knew what she was in for.
Timothy watched
for any hint of red or bandana among the soldiers. He rubbed his head.

Men danced in the cleared space, mugs held aloft as they
twirled around locked elbows. The dance pulled at memories of Honheim’s festival.

Yuzu plopped beside him and balanced a wooden platter
on her knees. Sharp, spiced scents tugged at Timothy.

"This seems like a lot of work." Sauce smeared a corner
of Yuzu’s mouth.

"The celebration?"

Yuzu gestured with a slab of pork. "Coming all the way
out here. Is there really a home for Sis in these woods? I mean, Honheim was my
home, but other than wondering about Mira, Colt, and Hoss, I don’t think much about
it."

Timothy watched Kit speak with a group of men. They jostled
a young man with blushing cheeks. Kit held her meal in one hand and covered her
mouth with the other. Her straight back told Timothy she was irritated by the men.
Likely for keeping her from her food.
"Kit’s a fox. Imagine how you would
feel if everyone you met thought you were a demon or wanted you because you were
the last of your kind?"

Yuzu chewed for a moment. "I’m lucky to have a fox for
a sister." She paused. "I have imposed on you two. Honestly, I didn’t know what
to do after Honheim burned." She frowned. "It was like I lost my parents and Allen
all over again. I didn’t have anyone to turn to. I only had you and Sis, and I didn’t
know you. I still don’t. Not really."

Kit held her plate high and slipped around the
soldiers flocking around her. A younger soldier stopped in front of her,
removed his cap, and bowed. She glared at him and said something that made the
man back away in a hurry. His buddies laughed. The throng of men around Kit
made Timothy nervous. Any of them could be Daeric or Jan in disguise.
Kyle
should have ordered the men not to wear their caps.

 
Kit finally escaped her
admirers and stalked toward where Timothy sat. Another knot of young soldiers
enveloped her after only a few steps.

The Inquisitor told her to be visible. I
don’t think that will be a problem.

"I seem to be smitten by Telly, but I’m not." Yuzu pulled
the meat into strips. "I think he’s cute, but he’s a little young. I also don’t
know him. Not like I knew Allen or the children. "

"He doesn’t seem to be a bad person. He helped us, right?"

She nodded. "Maybe with time. I—I want to thank you.
If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to come with you. I would be homeless."

Kit pushed through the men. Her straight back and
heavy steps spoke of her irritation. "We are homeless," Timothy said. His stomach
mumbled.

Yuzu laughed and shook her head. "You know what I mean.
So thank you." She popped a strip of pork into her mouth. "These last few days have
been nice, when I managed to forget we were being hunted by Daeric. Sis and I were
able to talk, like I always imagined sisters could."

Nice for you maybe,
Timothy
thought. "I’m glad you could…talk. I was worried you would…never mind."

"Would what?"

"Rip into each other. Kit has always been hot and cold
like that."

Kit pointed away from her. The men scrambled to follow
the direction she pointed.

"I noticed that, but it seems to work. You fell in love
with her, didn’t you?" Yuzu sucked sauce from her finger and smirked.