Blood Red Road (33 page)

Ike an Jack both swear that the quickest way to Freedom Fields lies through these mountains, the Devil’s Teeth. There is another route, the one that’s most used, but it ’ud mean retracin our steps almost back to Darktrees. So here we are, an all because Jack jest had to have Ike join us. He better turn out to be worth the trouble.

This may be the quickest way but it ain’t well traveled an no wonder. These ain’t mountains that deal kindly with people who try to cross ’em. They’re steep an jagged with no way of keepin to the high ground. They force us to climb up an then lose the height we jest gained by climbin down agin.
It ain’t good ridin country, that’s fer sure. The goin’s so hard that we mainly hafta walk the horses.

An it ain’t jest the mountains. There’s the fog.

It come down on us the day after Ike closed the door of the One-Eyed Man an it ain’t showed no signs of liftin. It lies on the mountains night an day, heavy, dank an bone-chillin. It swirls around our legs an strokes our faces with its clammy fog fingers.

I hate it. I cain’t stand it if I cain’t see the sky. No matter how bad Silverlake was, at least you could count on big skies, always high an wide, comin right down to meet the earth. A person could breathe there.

We go along without talkin fer the most part, huddled in our cloaks, heads down. When somebody does say somethin, they talk quiet. Even big Ike with his boomin voice talks soft. A normal voice sounds too loud, almost shockin, in this muffled fog world. There ain’t no birdsong. No rustle of animal feet. It’s like we’re th’only souls alive.

Emmi’s made friends with Tommo.

They ride along together. He talks to her in his strange hoarse voice. Or he’ll use his hands an fingers to speak. She seems to unnerstand what he means, jest like he’s talkin like normal folk do. Like it ain’t no different.

It’s gittin so’s they’re almost brother an sister, Tommo an Em. I’m glad. It’s good fer her to have somebody near to her own age. An she’s lookin happier, not peaky like she’s
bin fer so long. Ever since we left Silverlake really.

But it’s all changed between Jack an me.

It started at the Wrecker city an got worse after he pulled me outta the river. The last time we spoke to each other was when he told me not to smile at Tommo.

We’ll say one or two words if we hafta, but he don’t tease me no more or let his hand brush aginst mine an both of us make sure our eyes don’t meet. It’s like I only dreamed that he held me an kissed me till my spine melted.

Well, what did you especk? Every time he came near you, you pushed him away
.

Oh, it’s a waste of time thinkin about Jack. Soon I’m gonna be back with Lugh. Then him an Emmi an me’ll find ourselves somewhere good to settle. A place that’s green an kind, by runnin water. Maybe near to Mercy. An we’ll be a family agin. That’s all I care about.

I shiver an pull my cloak around me tighter.

It’s so cold in the fog.

Even colder without Jack’s smile.

It’s bin two whole days of fog but it’s finally startin to thin out some. It ain’t lifted entirely, but the wind’s picked up an it’s
gone all wispy, like long gray feathers driftin lazily around us. The air’s still cold an dank. Hard to believe it’s the middle of a summer afternoon.

That’s when we come upon the hanged men.

Four of ’em. Danglin by their necks from nooses tied to the branches of a big, lightnin-black tree. They turn gentle in the breeze, their faces an hands gray where they bin covered with wet ash that’s dried. The fog winds itself around their bodies.

We pull up. Fer a long moment we sit there an look. Nobody says nuthin. Epona’s horse snorts.

Then Jack gits down from Ajax. He walks over to the tree an feels the hand of the nearest man. He crouches down an checks the ground. He shoves his hat back an looks at Ike.

It’s Skinny Nick, says Ike, an uh …

McNulty, says Tommo.

That’s right, says Ike, McNulty. An the two fellas who was with ’em. They was all at the One-Eyed Man the night before you showed up. Left together on foot the next mornin.

They bin dead fer at least a couple of days, says Jack.

They must of crossed somebody, says Ash.

Yeah, says Ike, that’ll be it. Poor bastards. He clicks to his horse an leads the way past the hangin tree. I hold back while th’others go on. Wait while Jack swings hisself onto Ajax.

You an Ike know who done it, I says.

Yup, he says. A little nerve jumps at the corner of his mouth.

Was it the Tonton? I says.

Looks like it, he says.

Why’s there ash on their hands an faces? I says.

Uninvited guest ain’t ezzackly welcome at Freedom Fields, he says. Sometimes the Tonton hang you, other times they’ll cut yer head off an put it on a spike. But they always put ash on the face. It’s how you know yer in their territory. Wise man sees that, he turns around an gits the hell out as fast as he can.

But we ain’t turnin, I says.

No, he says. Wisdom ain’t a virtue I ever aspired to.

Ever since we come across the hanged men, I cain’t stop thinkin about Vicar Pinch. About DeMalo an the rest of the Tonton.

With every step, we git closer to Freedom Fields. Until now, I ain’t gived much thought to what we’ll be up aginst. Who we’ll be up aginst. But now I do.

The Tonton hang people in trees. Cut off their heads an stick ’em on spikes. Fer nuthin more’n wanderin into their King’s territory. Men like them wouldn’t think twice about killin Lugh. All the things Helen told me run through my
head. All the things I know about Pinch an DeMalo. But I need to know more. I gotta know my enemy. I need to know what Jack an Ike know.

An they know plenty, I’m sure of it. I’m gonna make ’em tell me. They owe it to me.

I wait till we’re settled into camp fer the night. Epona’s takin the first watch. Ash an Emmi an Tommo’s wrapped in their bedrolls, already asleep. Ike’s propped aginst a log. His head lolls forwards onto his chest.

Jack an Nero sit by the fire playin dice. Once Jack found out how good Nero was at countin, he carved a pair of dice an taught him how to play. Nero throws one at a time, usin his beak.

I go an stand over ’em. Nero throws two sixes.

Damn, says Jack. You beat me agin. Never thought I’d find myself losin to a crow. Think he might be cheatin.

Nero bobs up an down, squawks with glee.

If he is, I say, he learned it from you. I wanna word, Jack. With you an Ike.

He sighs. Like he’s bin expectin this. But he stands up an gives Ike a nudge with his foot. Ike wakes with a grunt.

What? he says.

C’mon, says Jack. Saba wants to talk.

As Ike heaves hisself to his feet, Nero flaps up to sit on my shoulder. He rubs his head aginst my cheek. He always knows when I need somebody on my side. Like tonight.

I lead ’em away from the campsite. Climb uphill through the trees till I git to a rocky outcrop. I turn to face ’em. The fog’s completely gone an it’s a warm night with a high sky. A midsummer night sky. I can see Jack an Ike clearly.

All right, I says. Tell me what you know about Freedom Fields. Tell me everythin.

They look at each other.

I bin straight with you, I says. I told you everythin. What Helen told me about the midsummer sacrifice an why they took Lugh. Pinch might be dead but Lugh ain’t safe, not till we git him outta there. Now you two gotta be straight with me. You need to tell me everythin you know. That way, at least we got a chance of figgerin out what we might be up aginst.

Well, you know more’n we do, says Ike. We only heard things from travelin folk. You know, you meet somebody from time to time an you git talkin an—

Ferget it, Ike, says Jack.

What?

I said, ferget it.

But I thought we said we’d—

Ike, he says. Saba’s right. She needs to know what we’re up aginst.

I knew it! I says. I knew you knew more’n you was lettin on. Gawdammit, Jack, why didn’t you tell me before? Why didn’t you tell me right away, when you found out where I was headed?

I know I should of, he says. But I didn’t want you to know till you had to.

I ain’t a child, I says. I don’t need you to pertect me.

I know, he says, I know, I’m sorry.

Think I’ll … head on back to camp, says Ike.

Coward, says Jack.

Go on, Ike, I says. Jack’s gonna tell me everythin I need to know.

Right, he says. Well … if I hear any screamin, I’ll send Emmi. He disappears without a sound. Not a rustle or a footstep. Fer a big man, Ike moves real quiet. Nero must be startin to feel restless because he takes off after him.

Then it’s jest Jack an me.

All right, Jack, I says. Start talkin.

Four years ago, he says, I was in the wrong bar at the wrong time. Got picked up by the Tonton. They’re always on the lookout fer strong workers. Fer slaves. That’s how I ended up at Freedom Fields.

You was there, I says.

I was, he says. Let’s sit down.

We sit facin each other, on a couple of rocks. A bit too close
fer my likin. His feet nearly touch mine. The heartstone’s hot aginst my skin.

That’s where I met Ike, he says. We got slaved there about the same time. As you can imagine, him an me didn’t take kindly to a slave life, workin in a chain gang in the fields. But everybody else … well, nuthin seemed to bother ’em. We figgered out why pretty quick. A big waterwagon ’ud come around twice a day, once in the mornin an once in the afternoon, an fill everybody’s waterskins. There’s chaal in that water.

Helen said it was all about chaal, I says.

It slows yer brain down, he says. Makes you stupid. A good thing if you wanna control people. But if you take too much, everythin speeds up. Yer heart races, you git all excited an aggressive, you don’t need sleep or food.

I think of Mad Dog, back at Hopetown, what he did to Helen. Of the crowds in the Colosseum, bayin fer blood in the gauntlet.

I seen what it can do, I says.

Me an Ike ’ud fill our waterskins with the rest, he says, but we never touched it. We’d sneak water from the irrigation channels in the fields.

How long was you there? I says.

A couple of months. Jest long enough to collect what we needed to pick the locks on our ankle chains. Then we had to wait fer a stormy night. The dog patrols don’t go out when there’s lightnin or bad weather, it spooks ’em.

So you got away, I says.

An counted ourselves lucky, he says. We hit the road, layin low, keepin outta trouble. Ike eventually settled at the One-Eyed Man. But I kept on goin.

Till you ended up in the cells at Hopetown, I says.

Yeah, he says. Wrong bar, wrong time. Agin.

You’d think you’d learn, I says.

You’d think.

Whaddya know about the King? I says.

He was crazy, says Jack.

I know, I says. I seen him.

He was crazy, he was smart, an he controlled everythin an everybody, he says. Lived in a big white house up at Freedom Fields. The Palace. With the finest of food an drink. Everythin. Amazin stuff from Wrecker days. Soft chairs, big tables, lookin glasses, pictures hangin on the walls. He had house slaves who’d crawl on their hands an knees if they went into a room where he was. If you looked at him the wrong way, he’d run his sword through you. I only ever seen him from a distance. That was close enough.