Bitter Gold Hearts

______LI______

Dean rousted me out in plenty of time to get ready. We breakfasted well and packed our field rations. I took a look at my arsenal and picked a couple of lethal engines suitable for a lady. I made Amber practice with them until her mother's cavalcade arrived. A thoughtful woman, the Stormwarden. She had somehow ascertained that I didn't have transportation of my own. She rolled up with a coach, a carriage, and a spare horse. She was in the coach. Willa Dount was driving the carriage. Amber stepped up on the seat beside her. What a lighthearted and friendly drive that would be. I went around the front of the horse and looked him in the eye. He looked back. I saw none of the tribe's usual malice. He obviously hadn't heard of me. The Stormwarden had shown some sense in another direction. I had expected to have to nag her into sending her army home, but she'd brought only the two men atop her coach. I couldn't squawk about them.

I suppose when you're a Stormwarden, you only need guards for show.

"You lead the way," I told Domina Dount. Her face was old stone as she nodded and started her team. Amber settled facing backward when she saw that I would ride rearguard, though most of the time the Stormwarden's coach obscured our views of one another. Willa Dount set a brisk pace, occasionally slowing so her boss could catch up. I stayed fifty yards behind the coach. In the city I watched the citizenry watch it. In the country I watched farmers. And as we moved upcountry I kept mentally reviewing my maps. I didn't see a single place that looked suitable for what I suspected had happened. I thought about moving up beside Willa Dount. She might have given something away.

Sure. Like stones flinch.

But I had a reason for lying back.

Morley overtook me two-thirds of the way to the deadly crossroads. At that point the road passed among trees and travelers couldn't be watched from afar. He dared rein in and talk.

"They're back there," he told me. "Gameleon and six men. They won't be easy."

"They trying to catch up?"

"No."

"Good. We'll put everybody in the sack at once."

"You're crazy, Garrett. Seven of them and no telling what up ahead and you're talking like you've got them by the shorthairs?"

"All they've got is numbers. I've got a stormwarden. Hustle on up and tell Saucerhead."

Morley resumed his lone-rider act in a hurry. It was coming together beautifully. I just hoped I wouldn't be in the middle when it crunched.

I wasn't the most pleased of men when we reached the crossroads. 1 hadn't spotted one place that fulfilled the criteria for my concept of what had become of most of the ransom gold—though I'd seen a few side roads and whatnot that would later bear further examination. If there was a later. If Amber wasn't more defeatist than I was becoming. I made the mistake, for a short time, of thinking I saw a chance for the big hit. You don't want to fall into that trap. It can shatter your perspective. It can narrow your focus until the rest of the world slides out of touch.

"Hold up!" I yelled at Willa Dount. She had turned west without pausing. My fault. I hadn't told her we would be stopping. We got out of traffic's way. I dismounted. Where was Saucerhead? I'd expected him to be waiting. He stepped out of the woods on the south side of the road. From the corner of my eye 1 noted Willa Dount's surprise. I joined him. "What have we got?"

"You were right. She's down there."

"Alone?"

"Nope. Company, and plenty of it. One guy by himself showed up about midnight last night. Then a mob of ogre breeds got there just before I left."

"Skredli?"

He nodded.

"How many?"

"Fifteen."

"Crask and Sadler behaving?"

"They aren't stupid, Garrett. They know their limitations."

"I suppose. I'd better tell the Stormwarden. You scout out a workable approach?"

"Sure. What about those guys behind you?"

"They can take care of themselves." I waited while a string of goat carts trundled past, trotted to the Stormwarden's coach, and invited myself inside.

"Why have we stopped, Mr. Garrett?"

I explained. "I didn't expect it to turn into so large a party. Otherwise, everything's come together. Any suggestions?"

"The man who arrived last night. My husband?"

"Probably. My friend wouldn't know him by sight."

"Does Lord Gameleon know where he's going?"

"I don't know."

"He may need someone to follow."

"We can't sneak up on anybody going straight in."

"I realize that, Mr. Garrett."

"I've got a little help but not enough to handle four-to-one odds."

"You have me."

What was that worth? I didn't ask. "All right. My friend and I will sneak up through the woods. You be careful."

"Take Amber. And you be careful, Mr. Garrett. I have to salvage something from this disaster."

"She'll be all right." I left the coach. "Amber. You come with me."

The Stormwarden left the coach on the other side. She said something to the men on top. The driver nodded. The other descended. He and Raver Styx boarded the carriage. It rolled away as Amber joined Saucerhead and me.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"Going for a walk in the woods." I tied my mount's reins to the coach. We ducked into the trees. Just in time. Lord Gameleon and his boys trotted past. They weren't in livery and made a big deal of ignoring the coach. When they were gone Saucerhead asked, "She s going straight in?"

"I guess. We'll have to hurry. Where's Morley? With Crask and Sadler?"

"Right. Follow me. Miss daPena?"

"Just lead, Mr. Tharpe. I'll keep up."