The White Rose

Chapter Thirty-Three: MISSING MAN

"Hi, fellow," One-Eye said, punching a finger into the soldier's chest, pushing him back."Yeah. It's your old pals."

Behind me, Tracker stared across the compound. The collapse of the headquarters building was complete. Fire snapped and crackled inside. Toadkiller Dog loped around the end of the ruin.

"Look at that." I punched Goblin's arm. "He's running." I faced Case. "Show us your friend Corbie."

He did not want to do that.

"You don't want to argue. We're not in the mood. Move it or we walk over you."

The compound had begun to fill with yammering soldiers. None noticed us. Toadkiller Dog loped up, sniffed Tracker's calves, made a sound deep in his throat. Tracker's face gleamed.

We pushed in behind Case. "To Corbie," I reminded him.

He led us to a room where a single oil lamp illuminated a man on a bed, neatly blanketed. Case turned the lamp up.

"Oh, holy shit," I murmured. I plopped my butt on the edge of the bed. "It ain't possible. One-Eye?" But One-Eye was in another universe. He just stood there with his mouth open. Like Goblin.

Finally, Goblin squeaked, "But he's dead. He died six years ago."

Corbie was the Raven who played such a grand part in the Company past. The Raven who had set Darling on her present course.

Even I had been convinced he was dead, and I was by nature suspicious of Raven. He had tried the same stunt before.

. "Nine lives," One-Eye remarked.

"Should have suspected when we heard the name Corbie," I said.

"What?"

"It's a joke. His kind. Corbie. Crow. Rook. Raven. All pretty much the same thing. Right? He waved it under our noses."

Seeing him there illuminated mysteries that had plagued me for years. Now I knew why papers I had salvaged would not come together. He had removed the key pieces before faking his last death.

"Even Darling didn't know this time," I mused. The shock had begun to wear off. I found myself reflecting that on several occasions after the letters began arriving I had skirted the suspicion that he was alive.

A raft of questions rose. Darling not knowing. Why not? That did not seem like Raven. But more, why abandon her to our mercy, as he had, when for so long he had tried to keep her away?

There was more here than met the eye. More than Raven just running off so he could poke into doings at the Barrowland. Unfortunately, I could question neither of my witnesses.

"How long has he been this way?" One-Eye asked Case. The soldier's eyes were wide. He knew who we were now. Maybe my ego did not need deflating after all.

"Months."

"There was a letter," I said. "There were papers. What became of them?"

"The Colonel."

"And what did the Colonel do? Did he inform the Taken? Did he contact the Lady?"

The trooper was about to get stubborn. "You're in trouble here, kid. We don't want to hurt you. You did right by our friend. Speak up."

"He didn't. That I know of. He couldn't read any of that stuff. He was waiting for Corbie to wake up."

"He would have waited a long time," One-Eye said.

"Give us some room, Croaker. First order of business is going to be finding Raven."

"There anyone else in this building this time of night?" I asked Case.

"Not unless the bakers come in for flour. But it's stored in the cellars down to the other end. They wouldn't come around here."

"Right." I wondered how much his information could be trusted. "Tracker. You and Toadkiller Dog go stand lookout."

"One problem," One-Eye said. "Before we do anything, we need Bomanz's map."

"Oh, boy." I slipped into the hallway, to the exit, peeped out. The headquarters building was afire, sputtering halfheartedly in the rain. Most of the Guard were fighting the fire. I shuddered. Our documents were in there. If the Lady's luck held, they would burn. I returned to the room. "One-Eye, you have a more immediate problem. My documents. You better get after them. I'll try for the chart.

"Tracker, you watch the door here. Keep the kid in and everybody else out. All right?" He nodded. He needed no special coaching while Toadkiller Dog was around.

I slipped out, into the confusion. No one paid me any heed. I wondered if this was not the time to take Raven out. I exited the compound unchallenged, dashed through the drizzle to Blue Willy. The proprietor seemed astounded to see me. I did not pause to tell him what I thought of his hospitality, just went upstairs, groped around inside the concealment spell till I found the spear with the hollow shaft. Back down. One vituperous look for the landlord, then into the rain again.

By the time I returned, the fire was under control. Soldiers had begun to pull the rubble apart. Still no one challenged me. I slipped into the building where Raven lay, handed One-Eye the spear. "You do anything about those papers?"

"Not yet."

"Damn it…"

"They're in a box in the Colonel's office, Croaker. What the hell do you want?"

"Ah. Tracker. Take the kid into the hallway. You guys. I want a spell where he has to do what he's told whether he wants to or not."

"What?" One-Eye asked.

"I want to send him after those papers. Can you fix it so he's got to do it and come back?"

Case was in the doorway, listening bleakly.

"Sure. No problem."

"Do it. Son, you understand? One-Eye will put a spell on you. You go help clean up that mess till you can get the box. Bring it back and we'll take the spell off."

He looked like getting stubborn again.

"You have a choice, of course. You can die an unpleasant death instead."

"I don't think he believes you, Croaker. I'd better give him a taste."

Case's expression told me he did believe. The more he thought about who we were, the more terrified he became.

How had we developed such a fierce reputation? I guess stories grow in the retelling. "I think he'll cooperate. Right, son?"

He nodded, stubbornness dead.

He looked like a good kid. Too bad he had given his loyalty to the other side.

"Do it, One-Eye. Let's get on with this."

While One-Eye worked, Goblin asked, "What do we do after we finish here, Croaker?"

"Hell, I don't know. Play it by ear. Right now don't worry about the mules, just load the wagon. Step at a time.. Step at a time."

"Ready," One-Eye said.

I beckoned the youth, opened the outside door. "Get out there and do it, kid." I patted his behind. He went, but with a look that could have curdled milk.

"He's not happy with you. Croaker."

"Screw it. Get in there with Raven. Do what you have to do. Time is wasting. Come daylight this place will see some life."

I watched Case. Tracker guarded the door to the room. No one interrupted us. Case eventually found what I wanted, slipped away from the work detail. "Good job, son," I told him, taking the box. "In the room with your friend."

We entered moments before One-Eye came out of a trance. "Well?" I asked.

He took a moment to orient himself. "Going to be harder than I thought. But I think we can bring him out." He indicated the chart Goblin had spread atop Raven's stomach. "He's about here, caught, just inside the inner circle." He shook his head. "You ever hear him tell about having any background in the trade?"

"No. But there were times I wondered. Like in Roses, when he tracked Raker through a snowstorm."

"He learned something somewhere. Weren't no parlor trick, what he did. But it was too big for his skills." For a moment he was thoughtful. "It's weird in there. Croaker. Really weird. He isn't alone by a long shot. Won't be able to give you any details till we go in ourselves but…"

"What? Wait. Go in yourselves? What're you talking about?"

"Figured you understood Goblin and I would have to follow him in. In order to bring him out."

"Why both of you?"

"One to cover in case the point man gets in trouble."

Goblin nodded. They were all business now. Meaning they were scared crapless.

"How long is all this going to take?"

"No telling. Quite a while. We ought to get out of here first. Out in the woods."

I wanted to argue but did not. Instead, I went and checked the compound.

They had begun bringing the bodies out of the rubble. I watched a while, got an idea. Five minutes later Case and I stepped out carrying a litter. A blanket covered what appeared to be a large broken body. Goblin's face lay exposed. He did a great corpse. One-Eye's feet stuck out the other end. Tracker carried Raven.

The documents were under the blanket with Goblin and One-Eye.

I did not expect to pull it off. But the grim business around the collapsed building preoccupied the Guard. They had reached the cellars.

I did get challenged at the compound gate. Goblin used his sleep spell. I doubted we would be remembered. Civilians were all over, helping and hindering the rescue effort.

That was the bad news. A few down in that cellar were still alive.

"Goblin, you and One-Eye get our gear. Take the kid. Tracker and I will get the wagon."

All went well. Too well, I thought, being naturally pessimistic after the way things had been going. We put Raven in the wagon and headed south.

The moment we entered the forest One-Eye said, "So we've made our getaway. Now. About Raven?"

I was without a single idea. "You call it. How close do you have to be?"

"Very." He saw I was thinking about getting out of the country first. "Darling?"

The reminder was unnecessary.

I won't say Raven was the center of her life. She will not discuss him except in the most general way. But there are nights she cries herself to sleep, remembering something. If it is for loss of Raven, we could not bring him home like this. It would break her heart all the way.

Anyway, we needed him now. He knew better than we what the hell was going on.

I appealed to Tracker for suggestions. He had none. He did not, in fact, appear pleased with what we planned. Like he expected Raven to become competition, or something.

"We've got him," One-Eye said, indicating Case, whom we had dragged along rather than leave dead. "Let's use him."

Good idea.

Twenty minutes later we had the wagon well off the road, up on rocks so it would not sink into the soggy earth. One-Eye and Goblin wound spells of concealment around it and camouflaged it with brush. We piled gear into packs, placed Raven on the litter. Case and I carried him. Tracker and Toadkiller Dog led us through the woods.

It could not have been more than three miles, yet I ached everywhere before we finished. Too old. Too out of shape. And the weather was one-hundred-ninety-proof misery. I had had enough rain to last me the rest of my life. Tracker led us to a place just east of the Barrowland. I could walk downhill a hundred yards and see its remnants. I could walk a hundred yards the other way and see the Great Tragic. Only the one narrow stretch of high ground barred it from reaching the Barrowland.

We got tents up and boughs inside so we did not have to sit on wet earth. Goblin and One-Eye took the smaller tent. The rest of us crowded into the other. Once reasonably free of the rain, I settled down to probe the rescued documents. First to catch my eye was an oilskin packet. "Case. This the letter Raven wanted you to deliver?"

He nodded sullenly. He was not talking.

Poor boy. He believed he was guilty of treason. I hoped he wouldn't get a case of the heroics.

Well, might as well keep busy while Goblin and One-Eye did their job. Start with the easy part first.