Memory Hunted (6 page)

"I promise," Timothy said. "Kit would kill me with the
mood she’s in anyway."

Tell weighed Timothy. He nodded once. The young man snatched
a cloak from the wall pegs and disappeared outside in a gust of snow flurries.

"I don’t know what’s gotten into that fool boy. Maybe
I shouldn’t have praised him, but he hears little enough of that. And he is a good
lad." Gert squinted at Timothy. "Thinking of joining us?" He took a long pull from
the mug.

"Daeric is just going to show us to Belafonte. Then we
will be on our way." Timothy force himself to meet the older man’s gaze.

"Is he now? I wonder just what he is up to. He’s usually
more direct," Gert said. "Enemy of the Church, are you?"

"Uh, I…" Timothy glanced away.
I hope that Kit is
as quiet as she can be.
He had the feeling these men could hear a hare sneeze
a mile away.

"No way to deny it. If you don’t march with them out
here, you are their enemy. Can’t tell me you came out here to see a dead town."
Gert frowned into his mug and placed it on the nearby table. He replaced his pipe.

Timothy’s head throbbed. He needed to come up with some
type of story.
Maybe they won’t watch us if we can make them think we are one
of them.
"I got caught with a book the Church didn’t like."

Gert studied Timothy. The pipe flared red, and moments
passed. Timothy sweated under his coat. Finally, Gert nodded. "You have the look
of a book man. Inquisition’s been burning them with fury since that Luther made
his list, I hear. You look surprised."

"I—I’m sorry. I—I didn’t think the news—"

"Would make it this far out? It doesn’t much, but I get
out. I’ve been looking for a book written by Marco Polo. Heard of him? Think his
book was burned?"

Timothy sat in the chair Tell once occupied.
Here
I am, trapped in the middle of some fight between bandits and a camp of Church soldiers
and speaking to a man about books. It makes perfect sense.
He shook his head.
"Sorry. Can’t say I have."

"Ah well, pity that. What was your book?"

"Uh…one of Luther’s…"

Gert grinned around his pipe stem. "Yeah, I can see that
causing trouble. Add your women to that, and makes some sense why you are out here."

"Daeric hasn’t told me what my part is with the mission
yet."

"It’s not a mission as much as something that needs to
be done. The young lads like to call it a mission, though. Inquisition needs to
be knocked down several pegs. Foolish job, but I’ve got nothing else going on. Besides,
I can’t abandon my old friend." Gert shrugged. "So tell me. What did this Luther
write to cause such a muck?"

Kit chewed on her bottom lip, casting side glances at
the slim, dark-haired girl beside her. The girl’s baggy trousers swished as she
moved, and her jaw-length hair bobbed. Equally dark eyes darted away whenever she
noticed Kit was looking. Yuzu clasped the wolf fur the boy gave her.

Kit scratched her arms.
Why must fleas pester me at
a time like this? I shouldn’t have insisted on hiring Daeric. I should have let
him follow us and taken care of him. Like…like how I did Evelyn.
She still felt
the woman’s fingers on her. She didn’t regret what she’d done, but it made her feel
different. If Timothy was in danger, she would do it again.

Instead of doing what needed to be done, Daeric’s scent
had gripped her. It didn’t addle her mind like her shepherd’s scent—the thought
of Timothy being
her
shepherd made her feel warm.
I have to know why Daeric
smells as he does.
The strange familiarity hounded her memories. Desire and
hope, with their sharp and evergreen incense, laced his scent. It was good Timothy
was a little dense. The woolbrain might just try something if he knew just how strong
Daeric’s desire was. Try. Her shepherd was meant to be a scribe at a desk, yet when
he forgot himself he could be a fox too. She remembered the comforting feel of his
hand when they escaped Fairhaven. She had never met anyone who could make her feel
normal. Her ears and tail didn’t matter to him. Whenever he looked at her, she felt
like he saw her instead of a demon or a fox.

Kit tripped on an uneven board. Yuzu grabbed her arm.
The girl’s smile quavered as much as Kit’s stomach did.
Does Daeric know what
I am?
She didn’t see how the man could know, but it always returned to her ears
and tail. She often wondered if it would have been easier to cut her tail off. Maybe
then everyone would have left her alone.

"I want you to know a little more about me since you
are showing me your secret. Whatever it happens to be," Yuzu said. "I’ve always
been a mother. I mean, I haven’t…" She took a deep breath. "I grew up as a weaver.
When Ma died I had to take care of my younger brother. Then—then both Da and Jessie
died in a fire. Da saved me and went back into our house for Jessie. He never came
back out. All I had was Allen." She studied Kit. "I—I never had an older sister
before. I want to be able to talk to you about these things. I can learn a lot from
you."

"Now isn’t really the time," Kit said. "We are in just
a little trouble."

"They haven’t really done anything threatening."

Kit stared at the girl. "They didn’t attack us with spears
and kidnap you."

"If they had wanted to really hurt us, they would have."

"Maybe."
I wouldn’t have let them,
Kit thought.

Red-orange light flickered from the last door in the
hall. Inside the sparely furnished room, a battered copper tub steamed.
If only
I had the time
. It felt like a waste to leave a perfectly good bath to go cold.
Kit smelled damp winter air wafting from the door to the right. The faint scent
of decay tugged at her nose. How did humans live without smelling such subtle things?
Maybe they could smell it but did not speak about it. Kit took a deep breath. She
was just wasting time.

"What is it you want to show me?" Yuzu asked. She wrung
her hands.

Kit strained her ears. Her hood muffled the sounds slightly,
but even that small amount may be important. She hadn’t told Timothy that Daeric
often caught her unaware. She thought it was because Timothy’s moping had distracted
her, but she also hadn’t heard Tell either. These hunters were good—too good. She
could hear Timothy speaking about something in the room down the hall. Otherwise,
it was quiet.

 Would Timothy come if Yuzu yelled or did something that
would that attract attention? Kit frowned. She hadn’t thought of that possibility.
She wished she’d thought this through better.  She wished she had thought the
entire journey through better.
Just watch. I will go through all of this and
not remember anything.

 
"Look, you don’t have to
show me. Let’s get the supplies and figure out a way to get Timothy and get away."
Yuzu had taken a step back while Kit dawdled.

Kit smoothed her face. There was nothing for it. She
was going to have to risk it.

"Once you know about me, there is no going back. Ever."
Kit couldn’t keep herself hidden forever. She was tired of hiding. She took a deep
breath.

"I am a fox."

Yuzu blinked. "A fox? Do you mean…?"

Kit lowered her hood. The cold air felt good on her ears.
She smoothed the fur but forced herself not to scratch. Yuzu’s eyes followed Kit’s
hand. She gasped. Kit squashed a sigh. "I am a fox, as you can see."

"I have heard stories—you are not going to eat my eyes
now, are you?" Yuzu tensed.

"Eat your eyes? " Kit shook her head. That was a new
one. "Timothy still has his eyes, right?"

Yuzu relaxed a fraction. "Y-yes."

"Well, with that out of the way, you can drop this sister
nonsense." Kit felt a small stab of regret.
Odd
. "We can focus on getting
out of here."

Yuzu studied Kit. "I see why you want go to Belafonte.
The stories say fox people are from there."

The girl had spunk, even if she looked like she wanted
to run through the wall. "We need to get out of here first," Kit said.

"Can I touch them?" Yuzu asked. "Your ears."

"No. We don’t have time for—"

"How do I know they are real?"

"Does it matter? I might just eat your eyes after all,"
Kit said.

Yuzu hesitated and then grinned. "And I could yell and
ruin everything."

"Do that, and you will end up head first in the bath,"
Kit said.

"I am not so easy—"

"Fine! We are wasting time." Kit crossed her arms. "Just
get on with it."

Yuzu raised her hand and paused. Her hand trembled.

"Hurry, or I will do whatever it is you think foxes do."

Yuzu shook her head and touched Kit’s ear. Kit shivered
at the touch. She liked Timothy touching her ears, but this made her squirm.

"They are real!" Yuzu snatched her hand back. A flush
rose on her cheeks. "Wait. So all of the stories are true?"

"Enough of them. Are you done, or shall we wait for Daeric
to come and feel my ears up too?"

"I have a fox for a sister!" Yuzu smiled. "Which stories
are true? Have you seduced—"

Kit’s ears twitched. The sound of heavy boots reverberated
against the floorboards. Someone was approaching from common room. The sound
grew louder as they approached the hall.

 Yuzu watched the ears with open curiosity. "They move!"

"Yes, they move. Someone is coming." The boots
stopped. Kit heard Timothy say something about an inferno. A deep voice
responded, and the boots clomped away from the hall’s entrance. Kit released a
breath she held.
Why would he talk about fire? Probably some dusty book he
read.

Yuzu looked behind her shoulder.

"It’s okay. Timothy distracted them."

"So you can hear everything he is saying?" Yuzu
asked.

"It’s muffled, but if I wanted to I could."

Yuzu’s eyes widened. "The stories are true then. You
can hear my heartbeat can’t you?"

"Some of the stories exaggerate. Not all of them."

"Wait! Does Daeric know about you? Is that why he…?"
Yuzu’s eyes widened. "That is why he is after you!"

"I don’t—"

Yuzu snatched Kit’s hand and cradled it in both of hers.
Calluses scraped Kit’s skin. "I decided it doesn’t matter you have ears and a tail.
You do have a tail, right? Foxes have tails in the stories. You are my older sister.
I want to know all about you."

"I don’t like you," Kit said.

Yuzu laughed. "Do sisters have to like each other? Sisters
are sisters." She giggled and wrapped her arms around Kit. "I am lucky to have a
fox sister. Most girls have boring, normal sisters!"

Kit stiffened in the embrace.
So much for being afraid
.
She patted the girl’s thin back with an awkward hand.  "Okay. Let go. We need to
get out of here. Let go!"

Yuzu squeezed tight enough to shove air from Kit’s lungs.
The bony girl was strong! She pushed away, grinning. "We have time for a bath, don’t
we, Sis? I want to see your tail."

Kit felt whiplashed with how fast her sister’s mood changed.
Sis. The word was still awkward in Kit’s mind. She shook her head. She hated not
being able to plan. Her wits were muddled. She blamed it on being tired, and on
Timothy. He had to addle her brains by calling her full name and adding his family
name. Kit decided to add her sister to that list of reasons for feeling muddled.
At least she shows little interest toward my shepherd.
The warm sister feelings
wouldn’t last long if she started encroaching on Kit’s territory, but a sister could
make for some fun flustering Timothy.

"I will show you eventually. Let’s go—and keep quiet."
Kit threw open the side door. Wind rushed past, grabbing Kit’s cloak. Snow swirled.
She envied the wolf fur Yuzu wore. Tail or no tail, winter was cold. A wool cloak
only did so much. The fool thing made her itch too. She rubbed her arms through
her shirt sleeves. Yuzu crouched and slipped out the door. Kit smelled the air and
listened. She caught the spicy scent of Yuzu and heard Timothy’s muffled voice from
the common room. She stepped into the night and closed the door behind her. Kit’s
ears stretched and swiveled.
No one will sneak up on me again.
It took a
moment for her eyes to adjust to the night. Snow glittered in the faint moonlight
that dabbled through the skeletal trees.

"I can’t see much of anything," Yuzu whispered.

"Follow me." Kit grabbed Yuzu’s hand and led the way.
They slipped through the sparse undergrowth engulfing the lodge. Her arms burned
and itched.
Damned fleas
. She tried to ignore it as much as she tried to
ignore Yuzu snapping every twig in the forest. She smelled nothing amiss. Orange
light mottled through the stubborn foliage spider webbing a window. She remembered
the fat tree with the strange white bark.

Yuzu tugged Kit’s hand and hissed.

Kit whirled around, almost throwing Yuzu to the ground.
Kit wasn’t going to let another person sneak up on her. She had her vixen pride.

The tangled skeleton forest waved.

"I hit my knee," Yuzu whispered.

Kit shook her head. Her heart hammered her chest hard
enough she thought Yuzu could hear it. The girl gazed about with wide eyes. Yuzu
probably couldn’t see anything beyond the light escaping the windows. To Kit’s eyes,
the night beyond looked gray and flat. The stable stood dark against the trees
beyond. Even her eyes couldn’t penetrate the darkness inside, but the sound of
the horses’ soft breathing calmed some of her nerves. They didn’t smell
agitated from the scent the wind carried. In front of the stable she could make
out the shape of their wagon. The wagon’s tongue rested in the dirt, and the
white tarp laid over the bed shone against the dark stable interior. It looked
as if the mule unhitched and then the wagon was forgotten. If she remembered
right, their travel packs would be just inside the wagon’s bed. It was too cold
for them to leave without supplies. Timothy would grumble to no end if she
didn’t get something. She scanned the area for motion, but everything remained
still. Kit grabbed Yuzu’s thin arm and pulled her over the gnarled roots. "We
are going to run to the wagon over there. Do you see it?"