Beka Cooper: The Hunt Records, page 55
I nodded.
“Now will you remember you make enemies with every hobbling?” he demanded.
“Yes, sir,” I said, and rubbed my forehead. “I’m not likely to forget.”
“Tunstall, enough,” Goodwin told him, to my startlement. As if she hadn’t chewed my head when I first came to after my beating! “If you’d seen her laid up, you’d know her lesson will stick,” Goodwin went on. “And we’ve come with better meat for our stew. Cooper, sit down. That is, if my lady permits?”
Lady Sabine had eased into her chair, next to Tunstall’s bed. “Cooper, go on, sit,” she urged me. “You look pale.”
Not as pale as she was yesterday, Pounce commented. He waited until I was seated, then jumped into my lap. Achoo settled over my feet.
“Have an apple,” Lady Sabine told us, pointing to a bowl on a low table next to Goodwin.
“My lady, thanks for the apples you sent,” I told her. “Vivianos are my favorite.” I looked at the one I’d plucked from the bowl after Goodwin chose her apple. This too was a Viviano.
“My father has a turn for raising apples, and the Vivianos are his pride,” Lady Sabine told me. “I will be sure to tell him that they eased a good Dog’s sick leave.”
Such a compliment from my lady made me sweat. I took a bite from my apple so I wouldn’t have to say anything in reply.
“Zia,” my lady called. She looked at Goodwin and me. “We have fresh-made cider, barley water—Clary, are you on duty, or will you have something stronger? Beka?”
Tunstall stirred as a small girl of twelve or thirteen came out of the rooms in back. “Zia, I will have the bitter brown—” he began.
“You will have the tea the healer prescribed,” my lady said firmly. “And nothing stronger. It interferes with the spells. Doesn’t my big strong Dog want to be on his feet breaking heads sooner before later?”
“Tyrant,” he said. He relaxed against his pillows with a scowl.
Lady Sabine kissed his forehead. “Sheer self-interest, my love. The longer you are in bed, the more tempted I will be to kill you. I am much too fond of you to enjoy a world without you.” She looked at us and raised her brows.
“I am off duty, and I will have ale,” Goodwin said, grinning.
I’d finished my bite of apple. “Cider, please,” I said quietly. The sight of a serving girl in Tunstall’s rooms was interesting. She must be in Lady Sabine’s employ, which made sense. I know my lady does not cook, and she does not keep slaves.
The girl Zia curtsied. “Tea for the master, ale and cider for the mistresses,” she said. “My lady wishes …?”
“I will have the rose hip tea, Zia, and thank you.” Lady Sabine watched her vanish into the back rooms again. “I couldn’t manage my barbarian without her,” she said when she looked at Goodwin and me again. “She has all those delightful, feminine skills I lack.”
Tunstall took her hand in his. “But she can’t whack a Rat with a longsword like you,” he said, and kissed my lady’s fingertips.
It’s delightful and lonely to watch them together. They are so different, but they fit so well. I’ve known married folk who’ve been together twenty year and had ten children who don’t fit as they do.
“So what’s the news, and why aren’t you on duty?” Tunstall asked Goodwin. “It must be good to bring you roaring at my door.”
“It is, trust me,” Goodwin said, her mouth full of apple. “It will fill you with joy. My lord Gershom presented our collected report to Sir Vannic and Sir Acton.” She told them all of it, checking the details with me. She left the surprise for the end. “Cooper and I are off to Port Caynn the day after tomorrow to sniff about there for a while. Nestor Haryse is going in advance to prepare the way.”
“Scummer, pox, and wound rot!” roared Tunstall, slamming his fist down on the bed. “Gods curse the pig-tarsed mammering craven currish beef-witted bum-licking gut-griping louts that did this to me! May every flea, leech, and hookworm in all creation find and feast on them!” And then he spun off into a round of curses in Hurdik that made Lady Sabine laugh. Finally he ran out of breath and glared at us, his brown eyes bulging in his head. “You know what this means?” he asked us. “Do you know? Ahuda’s been hinting she wants to shake up the cage Dogs, put a real Dog among them to smarten them up! Once I’m on my feet, with you and Cooper gone, that Dog will be me! Rank and mewling paperwork instead of the street, and those lily-fingered grubs babbling in my ear all the cursed day! I won’t have it! And Cooper’s too young for a hunt!”
“She’s done better Dog work than most third years, and she’ll be with me,” Goodwin told him. “You know she’s got a knack for investigation. Stop whining, you great jabbernob.”
“Take one of your maps,” Tunstall advised me. “Remember what you did with the Shadow Snake? Mark where you find coles. Mayhap the places where they turn up will ring about the forge, if it’s in Port Caynn.”
“Do you think it will be that simple?” Lady Sabine asked us.
Goodwin shrugged. “We may get lucky. I don’t believe in luck, myself—”
“Nor I,” Tunstall admitted.
“Me neither,” I said.
“But the one time we don’t look for luck might be the time we get some,” Goodwin said.
“I’ll remember the map,” I told them, fixing it in my memory.
“Go armed even when you sleep,” Tunstall said. “You’re taking Pounce and Achoo?” He yawned.
“We can’t leave them,” Goodwin said. “Pounce would follow, and the hound is glued to Beka. Tunstall, you’re worn out.”
“I’d see you out, but they tell me my shins will break like cheap pottery,” Tunstall said wearily.
“Two weeks and you’ll be back to your work,” my lady told him. She walked us outside. “He’s glad to see you up and about, Beka. We both are.” She went inside and closed the door behind her. I’m glad she didn’t wait for me to answer. I was too confused and awkward to know what to say.
Goodwin insisted on walking me to my lodgings, though it was opposite her way home. “I know Pounce and Achoo are as good as a pair of Dogs, but I don’t trust the Pell brothers’ kin not to make a try for you if they find you away from Rosto’s doorstep,” she said. “Isn’t my lady something? I feel better, leaving Tunstall in her hands. She’ll keep him from acting stupid.”
“That she will,” I agreed.
“I wonder if she’d watch my Tomlan. If I’m not there to do the shopping, he lets himself be cheated by every vendor with a sad tale,” Goodwin told me. “And he gives away every copper in his pocket to urchins who could easily find work.” She took a deep breath. “But they’re right—it has to be you and me. We can be spared. This is an excellent chance for you, Cooper. If we can get a scent of the counterfeiters, it could bring you to the Lord Chancellor’s notice. It’s always good for your career to have friends in high places.”
“I like my career on the streets,” I muttered. “Same as Tunstall.”
Goodwin snorted. “Even Tunstall needs the right friends sometimes. You’re both lucky you have me to watch out for that side of things.”
“You don’t think I’ll fall on my bum, then?” I asked. I was glad for the chilly dark that hid my face. “Even if I did let the Pells get the jump on me this once?”
Goodwin tweaked my ear gently. “Cooper, if I’d thought that, I would have suggested Jewel trade partners with me for this hunt. Now listen, and practice our tale. After the Pell brothers cracked your poor head, Lord Gershom decided to send you away until the rest of the family rushers are taken and questioned. If you’re to move up in ranks, you’ll need to see the way other towns handle their Dogs, so you’ve been sent to Port Caynn, with me, your partner, for nursemaid.”
I almost took hold of her arm, but lost the courage for it. “Goodwin, I never do that. No more does my lord! He don’t favor me, and I don’t ask for favors! If that were so, why am I in the Lower City, instead of Upmarket, or Unicorn District?”
Goodwin took out her baton and set it twirling, like she does when she is thinking. “True. Ah—I have it. You’re in the Lower City because of my lady, who dislikes you. And it’s my lord who put you with Tunstall and me, seeing that we’re the best Dogs to keep you from getting killed.” She glanced at me. “No one you care about believes any of it, Cooper, and that’s all that matters. If you haven’t learned it by now, folk will listen to the silliest muck, so they’ll gobble this tale up. My lord gives us plenty of coin to look busy and stay out of the way, I play the loose Dog, and you play the pretty pet.”
“I hate it,” I grumbled.
“I know you do, so give it plenty of practice,” Goodwin ordered. “That pout you’re doing is very good, for example. You’ll want to use it.” I growled and spat, which only made Goodwin cackle.
We parted at my lodgings, Goodwin saying she’d see me at my lord’s tomorrow night. Achoo, Pounce, and I climbed to our rooms. I’d just put down food dishes for both hound and cat when Pounce said, I will not go with you.
I stared at him. He looked at me from where he sat on my bed, his eyes steady. “Tell me I just heard you wrong,” I whispered.
I will do no such thing. You heard me correctly. My problem with my group of stars has proved more complicated than I can manage from here. This hunt of yours could not have come at a better time.
“But I need you,” I said. “Going off on my own with Achoo and Goodwin, in a strange city, I need you to talk to, and help me out!” I was begging him, and I hated myself a little for it. Did the Pell brothers hurt me in a place the healers couldn’t reach for me to act so—so weak?
I mentioned this to you before, remember, Pounce said. Come over here and sit. I obeyed, quivering all over. Pounce has been with me for five years. He was there when Mama died, when I went through training, and my Puppy year. He never had to go away for more than a day or two before. Pounce settled on my lap and I buried my fingers in his fur. You have become too dependent on me. You will have Achoo and Goodwin. You will do well, he said firmly. My first duty is to these stars, Beka. I have known them for thousands of years longer than I have known you.
“Duty is duty,” I whispered.
You freed yourself of Mutt Piddle Lane without me, Pounce said.
“That was luck,” I retorted. “I never thought Lord Gershom would take us into his house just because I helped him nab a gang.”
You made that luck. You were terrified of those Rats, yet you tracked them to their lair despite your fear. The Dogs frightened you when they would not take the information of an eight-year-old child, yet you were brave enough to stop a nobleman on his horse to give that information to him. You do not need me, Beka. You only think you do.
He stood and rammed his head into my face several times, purring as he did so. Then he was gone. Only his parting words were left in my mind. I will see you when your hunt is done. Seek and find, Terrier.
I couldn’t help it. I cried like a silly gixie whose kitten was lost. I finally stopped when Achoo jumped onto the bed and licked my face all over, but I started again as I wrote all this.
I’ll take Achoo outside. Pounce is gone, and I have to sleep, so I will continue to heal.
He did say he will return.
Three of the morning.
What is the point of going to bed if you will just lie awake? Not only did I have to think of all that must be done, dreading the days to come, but now I could not forget that I would do it without Pounce. I am so undone by the thought that I could not sleep. Achoo did her best to console me, but in the end I left her in bed alone. I set about packing instead, uniforms, breeches and tunics, and my few dresses. I made certain to put the special Dog tools and devices, like my mage-proof gloves and my lock-stuffing clay, into my pack in case I need them. We are only supposed to gather information, but as I have learned over and over in this work, everything goes awry, given time.
Then there was breakfast to face, and my friends. Ersken was plain jealous. He didn’t believe me at first when I said I’d as soon it was him going to Port Caynn. Kora and Aniki took it in stride. Kora promised me some charms to take along. She and Aniki offered to feed my pigeons and dust spinners. I was glad to take them up on the offer.
Tansy was cold and distant to me, chewing over some tough bit of vexation. She finally spoke out over the egg pie. “You and that barbarian partner of yours had Garnett hobbled,” she hissed at me as Kora served out the pie.
I was trying to remember if I’d packed dress shoes. No, I owned no dress shoes since my last pair wore out. I would need the curst things for gambling and eating houses. “What?” I asked Tansy.
“My baker, Garnett—he was taken away.” Tansy kept her voice down as the others chattered and passed bread and drink. “Yesterday, folk said, for passing false coin, him and his guards. And they told me you and Tunstall was there in the morning. So you gave Garnett up, and everyone knows I’m friends with you. They’ll think it was me turned him over to his death!”
“Be grateful it was the Dogs that got him.” Tansy should have known that Rosto would hear. “They’ll keep their gobs shut about whatever Garnett says under questioning. My folk wouldn’t. Then all the town would know he was passing coles on even before I had him strung up somewhere noticeable.”
I looked at Rosto. He was getting fair cocksure, first hiring the murder of the Pells, and now talking this way in front of me. “He’s getting tried under King’s Law, proper,” I told Rosto. “And that’s the end of it.” To Tansy I said, “Be grateful he’s not sending other coles out into the moneystream, to enter your coffers through someone else’s hands. Either you’re a good citywoman or you’re not, Tansy. Make up your mind to it!”
She put her face in her hands, then looked up at the others. “I’d never sing on anyone here. Never!”
Rosto slung an arm around her neck and kissed her cheek. “Never thought you would, love. And we’re real careful to talk civilized around Beka and Ersken. On account of we don’t want to ruin beautiful friendships.” He winked at us.
“Oh, good,” said Ersken, feeding a bite of pasty to Kora. “I’m attached to my friendships.”
Rosto leaned forward to eye me. “So you’re off to Port Caynn. How long?”
I shrugged. “As long as it takes.”
Rosto’s smile was as thin as a knife. “Mind those saucy sailor coves, Beka. Their hands are nimble, and they mean no good to a pretty mot like you.”
Phelan laughed. “Our Beka’s ironclad against the wiles of common seamen, aren’t you, lass?”
I got to my feet. Achoo stood with me. “If you mean to talk nonsense, I have errands,” I told them. “And I smile all the time. I just don’t do it for nonsense from coves who only mean to get under my skirts.”
That made them laugh, as I meant it to. I left them that way, thinking well of me. None of them had noticed Pounce’s absence, so I did not have to tell them that he’d left me on my own.
I bought a pair of the thin useless slippers that look good with a dress. Hairpins, too, I needed, and a leather belt to wear under a dress, the kind that would carry weapons. I bought a jar of soft soap, a cloth pouch of sticks for cleaning my teeth, and willow bark tea to ease my monthlies, which were due. I also purchased seed and corn for the pigeons and bread enough for a few days. I reminded myself to leave coin for Kora to pay for more. All these things I left at home.
Next I took myself to Granny Fern’s. I had to let her know I would not be visiting for a while, and that she must call on Aniki or Kora if she needed anything.
Granny knew I’d nearly gotten killed by a Rat’s kin. “You need to watch all around you, lass,” she said as I did a few of her chores, the ones that were none so easy for her anymore. “Here I thought you knew better.”
“Everyone slips, Gran,” I said, hanging her fresh-washed curtains.
“You can’t afford to, not when you’re a Dog. At least you’re alive to talk about it.” She cocked her head at me. “And now you’re off to Port Caynn. Watch them sailor lads. They’ll have your skirts up and a babe in your belly afore you know what you’re about.”
“Everyone keeps warning me about sailors,” I complained. “Why can’t someone tell the sailors to stay clear of me?”
Granny snorted. “Oh, you’re the fierce one now! Just take care no one else catches you unawares and knocks you on the nob! Master Pounce, why didn’t you—” She looked around. “He’s not with you. He’s always at your side, that cat.”
I wrung my handful of sheets out extra hard. “He’s got duties in the Divine Realms, Gran. He told me he’d be away for a time.”
She stared at me, drumming her fingers on her forearm for a few moments. At last she said, “Then you truly need to be on the watch, don’t you? You won’t have your magic cat looking out for you.”
“I have Achoo,” I reminded her. Achoo lay on her back, wriggling in the bit of grass that was growing in my gran’s yard.
Granny looked at Achoo and raised an eyebrow. “Fills me with trust, that one.”
I fixed all that needed fixing and did Gran’s shopping for that day. Before I left, I brought up something that had troubled me. I knew I shouldn’t, but she is my gran. My cousins help her out at times with coin and work, but they have their own worries.
“Gran, I’ll be needing silver in the port. I’ll trade you coppers for whatever silver coin you have, equal up,” I told her.
She had three silver nobles. I gave her three silver half-nobles and the rest in coppers, while I tried to think of the best way to tell her the rest. “I think the silver mining hasn’t been good of late,” I said at last. “I was you, I’d get my coin in copper for a time.”
Granny squinted at me. “Warnin’ me off silver, are you? I heard a bit of gossip.”
“I know of no gossip, Granny. Don’t hearken to it,” I answered quickly. “No more should you spread any and say it’s come from me!”
