The White Rose

Chapter Twenty-Eight: TO THE BARROWLAND

Oar's weather was less than exciting. Farther north it became misery curdled, though the imperial engineers had done their best to make the forest road usable. Much of it was corduroy, of logs trimmed and tarred and laid side by side. In areas where snow became obnoxious, there were frameworks to support canvas coverings.

"Amazing scope." One-Eye said.

"Uhm." There was supposed to be zero concern about the Dominator since the Lady's triumph at Juniper. This seemed a lot of effort to keep a road open.

The new road swung many miles west of the old because the Great Tragic River had shifted its bed and continued doing so. The trip from Oar to the Barrowland was fifteen miles longer. The last forty-five were not wholly finished. We endured some rough going.

We encountered the occasional trader headed south. They all shook their heads and told us we were wasting our time. The fortunes to be had had evaporated. The tribes had hunted the furbearers to extinction.

Tracker had been preoccupied since we left Oar. I could not draw out why. Maybe superstition. The Barrowland remains a great dread to Forsberg's lower classes. The Dominator is the bogeyman mothers conjure to frighten children. Though he has been gone four hundred years, his stamp remains indelible.

It took a week to cover the final forty-five miles. I was growing time-concerned. We might not get done and home before winter.

We were scarcely out of the forest, into the clearing at the Barrowland. I stopped. "It's changed."

Goblin and One-Eye crept up behind me. "Yuck," Goblin squeaked. "It sure has."

It seemed almost abandoned. A swamp now, with only the highest points of the Barrowland proper still identifiable. When last we visited, a horde of imperials was clearing, repairing, studying with a relentless clatter and bustle.

Near silence reigned. That bothered me more than the decayed state of the Barrowland. Slow, steady drizzle under deep grey skies. Cold. And no sound.

The corduroy was completed here. We rolled forward. Not till we entered the town, buildings now for the most part paintless and dilapidated, did we see a soul. A voice called, "Halt and state your business."

I stopped. "Where are you?"

Toadkiller Dog, more than normally ambitious, loped to a derelict structure and sniffed. A grumbling Guard stepped into the drizzle. "Here."

"Oh. You startled me. Name is Candle. Of Candle, Smith, Smith, Tailor, and Sons. Traders."

"Yeah? These others?"

"Smith and Tailor inside here. That's Tracker. He works for us. We're from Roses. We heard the road north was open again."

"Now you know better." He chuckled. I learned that he was in a good humor because of the weather. It was a nice day for the Barrowland.

"What's the procedure?" I asked. "Where do we put up?"

"Blue Willy is the only place. They'll be glad for the custom. Get yourself settled. Report to headquarters by tomorrow." -

"Right. Where is the Blue Willy?"

He told me. I snapped the traces. The wagon rolled. "Seem pretty lax," I said.

"Where are you going to run?" One-Eye countered. "They know we're here. There's only one way out. We don't play by their book, they stick the stopper in the bottle."

The place did have that feel.

It also had a feel that went with its weather. Down. Depressing. Smiles were scarce, and those mostly commercial.

The hostler at Blue Willy didn't ask names, just payment up front. Other traders ignored us, though the fur trade, traditionally, is an Oar monopoly.

Next day a few locals came around to examine our goods. I had loaded up with what I had heard would sell well, but we got few nibbles. Only the liquor drew any offers. I asked how to get in touch with the tribes.

"You wait. They come when they come."

That done, I went to Guard headquarters. It was unchanged, though the surrounding compound seemed seedier.

The first man I encountered was one I remembered. He was the one with whom I had to do business. "Candle's the name," I said. "Of Candle, Smith, Smith, Tailor, and Sons, out of Roses. Traders. I was told to report here."

He looked at me oddly, like something way back was nagging him. He remembered something. I did not want him worrying it like a cavity in a tooth. He might come up with an answer. "Been some changes since I was here in the army."

"Going to the dogs," he grumbled. "The dogs. Worse every day. You think anybody cares? We're going to rot out here. How many in your party?"

"Four. And one dog."

Wrong move. He scowled. No sense of humor. "Names?"

"Candle. One Smith. Tailor. Tracker. He works for us. And Toadkiller Dog. Got to call him by his whole name or he gets upset."

"Funny man, eh?"

"Hey. No offense. But this place needs some sunshine."

"Yeah. Can you read?"

I nodded.

"Rules are posted over there. You got two choices. Obey them. Or be dead. Case!"

A soldier came from a back office. "Yeah, Sarge?" "New trader. Go check him out. You at Blue Willy, Candle?"

"Yes." The list of rules had not changed. It was the same paper, almost too faded to read. Basically, it said don't mess with the Barrowland. Try it and if it don't kill you, we will. "Sir?" the trooper said. "When you're ready?" "I'm ready."

We returned to Blue Willy. The soldier looked our gear over. The only things that intrigued him were my bow and the fact that we were well armed. "Why so many weapons?" "Been talk about trouble with the tribesmen." "Must have gotten exaggerated. Just stealing." Goblin and One-Eye attracted no special attention. I was pleased. "You read the rules. Stick to them."

"I know them of old," I said. "I was stationed here when I was in the army."

He looked at me a bit narrowly, nodded, departed. We all sighed. Goblin took the spell of concealment off the gear he and One-Eye had brought. The empty corner behind Tracker filled with clutter.

"He might come right back," I protested. "We don't want to hold any spell any longer than we have to," One-Eye said. "There might be somebody around who could detect it."

"Right." I cracked the shutters to our one window. The hinges shrieked. "Grease," I suggested. I looked across the town. We were on the third floor of the tallest building outside the Guard compound. I could see the Bomanz house. "Guys. Look at this." They looked. "In damned fine shape, eh?" When last seen it was a candidate for demolition. Superstitious fear had kept it unused. I recalled pottering around in there several times. "Feel like a stroll, Tracker?"•

"Whatever makes you comfortable"-I wondered if he had enemies here-"I'd feel better if you were along."

He strapped on his sword. Out we went, down, into the street-if that expanse of mud could be so called. The corduroy ran only to the compound, with a branch as far as Blue Willy. Beyond, there were walkways only.

We pretended to sightsee. I told Tracker stories about my last visit, most cast near the truth. I was trying to assume a foreign persona, voluble and jolly. I wondered if I was wasting my time. I saw no one interested in what I might say.

The Bomanz house had been lovingly restored. It did not appear to be occupied, though. Or guarded. Or set up as a monument. Curious. Come supper I asked our host. He had me pegged as a nostalgic fool already. He told us, "Some old boy moved in there about five years ago. Cripple. Did scut work for the Guard. Fixed the place up in his spare time."

"What happened to him?"

"While back, couple four months I guess, he had a stroke or something. They found him still alive but like a vegetable. They took him over to the compound. Far as I know, he's still there. Feeding him like a baby. That kid that was here to inspect you is the one to ask. Him and Corbie was friends."

"Corbie, eh? Thanks. Another pitcher."

"Come on, Croaker," One-Eye said in a low voice. "Lay off the beer. The guy makes it himself. It's terrible."

He was right. But I was getting adjusted for some heavy thinking.

We had to get into that house. That meant night moves and wizards' skills. It also meant our greatest risks since Goblin and One-Eye went silly in Roses.

One-Eye asked Goblin, "Think we're up against a haunt?"

Goblin sucked his lip. "Have to look."

"What's this?" I asked.

"I'd have to see the man to know for sure, Croaker, but what happened to that Corbie don't sound like a stroke."

Goblin nodded. "Sounds like somebody pulled out of body and caught."

"Maybe we can arrange to see him. What about the house?"

"First thing is to make sure there isn't a big-time haunt. Like maybe Bomanz's ghost."

That kind of talk makes me nervous. I do not believe in ghosts. Or do not want to.

"If he was caught out, or pulled out, you have to wonder how and why. The fact that that's where Bomanz lived has to be considered. Something left over from his time could have gotten this Corbie. Could be what gets us if we're not careful."

"Complications," I grumbled. "Always the complications."

Goblin snickered.

"You watch yourself," I said. "Or I just might sell you to the highest bidder."

An hour later a savage storm arrived. It howled and hammered at the inn. The roof leaked under the downpour. When I reported that, our host blew up, though not at me. Evidently making repairs was not easy under current conditions, yet repairs had to be made lest a place deteriorate entirely.

"The damned winter firewood is the worst," he complained. "Can't leave it set out. Either gets buried under snow or so damned waterlogged you can't dry it out. In a month this place will be loaded ceiling to floor. At least filling the place up makes it less hard to heat."

Along about midnight, after the Guard had changed watches and the oncoming had had time to grow bored and sleepy, we slipped out. Goblin made sure everyone inside the inn was asleep.

Toadkiller Dog trotted ahead, seeking witnesses. He found only one. Goblin took care of him, too. On a night like that nobody was out. I wished I was not.

"Make sure nobody can see any light," I said after we slipped inside. "At a guess, I'd say we start upstairs."

"At a guess," One-Eye countered, "I'd say we find out if there are any haunts or booby traps first."

I glanced at the door. I hadn't thought about that before pushing through.