Rachel Golden and the Retriever of Sin (16 page)

They looked like a cross between butterflies and dragonflies.
Big
ones. Their wingspans were maybe a foot across. They had the fat bodies and antennae of butterflies, but their wings were long and thin, and in pairs like a dragonfly’s. And they were transparent. Veins or glowing green ran through them which lit up the cellophane wings like light through stained glass. It was breathtaking.

The party stood at the entrance to the cavern for a moment, mesmerized by the sight, until the rabbit hustled them along. ‘There’ll be plenty of time for staring when you’re in jail,’ he said, then winked at the mole. ‘Unless of course you get sentenced to the seals.’

Rachel felt the bottom drop out of her stomach. Was he
serious
? Would they really be put to death for the life of one butterfire larva? She looked up again at the creatures as they clouded the high ceiling. In flight their wings moved so fast as to be a blur, allowing them to hover and dip like helicopters. She could see why they were important, here in this underground world. Not just for their light but their beauty also. To the rabbits and moles, killing a butterfire must be like killing a swan or a hummingbird.

A couple of hours later, while they were awaiting trial, Kel was leaning on the bars of their cell and staring out into the weird underground world of rabbits and moles. Rachel was sitting cross-legged on the floor reading
Cosmic Banditos
, and Ros and AC were sleeping.

‘This is kind of amazing,’ Kel said. Rachel looked up from her book that she hadn’t really been reading. She was thinking about the two kisses she and Kel had shared in the last couple of days. Were they really doing the right thing? Getting… ‘involved’ in the middle of a mission? Surely it was a bad idea. What if they broke up? What would happen to their Hero/Safeguarder relationship? Still, she had other things to think about. Like their upcoming trial, for instance. She put the book down in her lap.

‘What’s amazing?’ she asked.

‘I’ve been watching the rabbits and moles,’ he said. ‘They have like this whole society going on. Look.’ He pointed at a couple of rabbits that were pulling a cart piled high with carrots and lettuce. ‘They obviously farm vegetables somewhere. And there are shops and businesses.’

Rachel got up and came to stand next to him. She’d had a good look around when they were first brought in, but her attention had been more taken up with the butterfires and crystalline walls. But now that he mentioned it, the part of the cavern they could see through the bars of their cell looked to be like a sort of city center. There were shops and restaurants. Rabbits and moles bustled past, talking to one another, laughing, arguing. Some wore suits and ties as if they were businessmoles. Others were in working clothes. Some, like the ones who had arrested them, were naked (or as naked as you can be while wearing fur). It was very strange indeed.

She watched a couple of rabbit kittens playing close by, and suddenly felt overwhelmed. She turned her back to the cave and slid down the bars of the cell, coming to rest on the ground with her arms hugging her knees. She felt so
useless
. She was certain to fail the Hero test now. She’d been gored, tricked, trapped, lost the Retriever of Sin and now got them arrested. Technically it was AC who had done that, but she was supposed to be the leader of sorts, wasn’t she?

Kel turned around and sat down next to her. He was fidgeting nervously. ‘Look, Rach,’ he said, not catching her eye. ‘I know this must be difficult for you. It’s difficult for all of us. We’re all on our tests in this mission. You shouldn’t feel so alone and responsible.’

Rachel nodded glumly, not really feeling any better.

Kel continued. ‘But I kind of messed up too. I did something I shouldn’t have.’ Rachel looked at him out of the corner of her eye. Oh? ‘There are rules.’ He sighed, trying to choose his words carefully. ‘About Safeguarders and Heroes.’

Oh god. Rachel’s pulse quickened and her palms got clammy. She knew
exactly
where this was going. He was going to spout some garbage about them not being allowed to go out because they were partners or something. But really it was because she was such a miserable failure of a Hero. She just knew it. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words died in her throat.

‘The Council has very strict rules,’ he went on, ‘that are in place to protect—’

She didn’t hear the rest of the sentence because a loud clanging noise interrupted it. She and Kel turned to see a mole raking his nightstick up and down the bars of the cell. He was wearing a dark blue jacket with a copper badge over the breast.

‘Whassat? I’m up,’ AC mumbled in a not-quite-awake slur. He jumped to his feet and ran straight into the wall of the cell, almost knocking himself out. Ros sat up, yawned and scratched his ear with a hind paw.

‘Up you get, sirs,’ the mole said, ‘and madam,’ he added, tipping his hat to Rachel. ‘The judge will see you now.’ He took out a huge bunch of keys and unlocked the cell door. ‘Hope you’ve had time to prepare yourselves a good defense,’ he said. ‘Very serious crime, first degree pesticide.’

‘You’re kidding, right?’ Ros said, staring at the mole.

‘Nossir,’ the mole-cop said. ‘But as my old man used to say: Every dog has his day. In court, that is.’ He laughed and winked at Ros. Oh
good
, Ros thought. A hilarious policemole.

The courtroom, when they got there, looked like an old English one. The entire room was made of ancient-looking dark wood and green leather and brass. There were a handful of rabbits and moles in the public gallery, who booed them as they entered. It would probably have been disheartening if they weren’t all in shock at what they were seeing.

They had only been seated at the defense table for a minute, when the cop or bailiff or whatever he was told them to all rise for the Honorable Justice Pepper Benjamin. Of course, Rachel thought, closing her eyes and massaging her temples. Rabbits are called Pepper. Why would their judge be any different? She could feel a headache coming on.

After a few minutes of paper shuffling, the Honorable and ancient Judge Benjamin peered at the defendants over the top of his half-moon glasses. ‘The court will now hear the case of the Crown versus Mr. Assorted Colors—of no fixed abode—who is charged with first degree pesticide. How do you plead, Mr. Colors?’

AC stared blankly at the judge.

‘Guilty or not guilty, Mr. Colors?’

The stare continued.

‘Mr. Colors, did you or did you not kill a butterfire larva?’ The judge sounded like he was getting annoyed.

AC brightened, finally understanding the question. ‘Oh! Yessir I did Mr. Honorableness,’ he said, and grinned at his co-defendants.

‘So you are entering a plea of guilty?’

Assorted Colors seemed unsure of this and looked at Ros. The dog shook his head almost imperceptibly. ‘No, my Honor. I mean, I
did
do the thing you said, but I don’t want you to know I did it. So I plead not guilty.’ He looked very pleased with himself and gave Ros a big theatrical wink. Ros put his head on his paws in despair.

The judge sighed. ‘Very well then. Prosecution?’

They sat for about 15 minutes while the court was shown AC’s toothbrush as evidence, and the original rabbit and mole gave testimony of how they had come across the defendants at the tunnel gate and arrested them. It wasn’t looking good.

They were asked if they had anything to say in their defense, and they all looked at AC. He had fallen asleep again. ‘Uh, no your honor,’ Kel said, half rising from his seat and trying to look suitably humble.

Judge Pepper Benjamin sighed again. ‘Very well. The court finds Mr. Assorted Colors guilty of first degree pesticide. Uh, the rest of you… Guilty of conspiring to commit pesticide. I sentence you to two hours incarceration.’ He banged his gavel and looked at his watch. ‘Which I see you have already served while awaiting trial.’

Rachel was stunned. She looked at Kel in amazement. So that was it? They were free to go? The judge saw their looks of astonishment. ‘It was just a caterpillar,’ he said. ‘But the law is the law. You had to answer for your crime.’

The dazed but happy Hero party thanked him and stood up to leave. ‘
However
,’ the judge added, ‘You are outsiders. Not only of the burrow, but of this world also, I am led to believe?’ He looked over at the prosecution table and got a nod of confirmation. ‘And we cannot have outsiders knowing the location of our burrow. Not in these… troubling times. So for the sake of National Security, I sentence you all to the seal gate.’ He banged his gavel once more.

Rachel’s mouth fell open in shock. ‘Now hold on!’ she shouted, jumping to her feet. ‘You mean to tell me that for killing that… that
worm
,’ she waved her hand at AC’s toothbrush, ‘we get nothing, but because YOU brought us here to stand trial for it you’re going to throw us to the seals??’

The judge banged his gavel furiously at her outburst. ‘Young lady,’ he said when she and the outraged cries of the court had calmed down, ‘as I previously stated—the law is the law and must be adhered to.’

Now the whole Hero party was on its feet. It looked like they were going to have to try to fight their way out. Rachel scanned the courtroom. Apart from the bailiff that had brought them in, two other moles in uniform were flanking the doors—all with claws that could cut through granite. It looked hopeless. ‘Ah crap,’ she said, feeling her shoulders sag. ‘We would probably have been better off against the Dark Ones.’

Suddenly an excited murmur ran around the room. She could see the looks of panic on the faces of the observers as they repeated the words ‘Dark Ones’, looking around in fear as if expecting to see one of the fearsome beasts.

The judge pounded his gavel again until silence descended. ‘Young lady,’ he said to Rachel in a quiet and grave voice, ‘did you say…
Dark Ones
?’

In the judge’s chambers Rachel, Kel and Ros spent the next half hour explaining everything that had happened since they arrived on the Altworld. Of course, to Justice Pepper Benjamin, the Altworld was just ‘the world’. He listened to their story without interrupting, and when they were finished he stood up and poured himself a glass of orange liquid from a crystal decanter. ‘Carrot spirit?’ he asked, holding up the bottle. Everyone but AC politely declined. Alcohol vapor was visibly rising from the neck of the decanter.

Seated behind his desk once more he sipped from his glass and exhaled thoughtfully. ‘This is indeed troubling news,’ he said. ‘We have tried to keep ourselves isolated from the unicorns and Overlords for centuries.’ He gestured to the bare earth walls visible between bookshelves that were heaving with leather-bound legal tomes. ‘But recently there have been… disturbances. We are familiar with this man “El” you mentioned, but did not know he was working with the Overlords.’ He looked at Rachel’s red hand. ‘And if they sent the Dark Ones after you, you are in serious danger.’

Kel looked like he was about to reach for Rachel’s hand, but she pulled it away before he could take it. She thought back to what he had been about to say back in the cell, before they were summoned to court. But they could work out that whole mess of crap later; other matters were more pressing.

‘Of course,’ Pepper went on, ‘you’re safe from being tracked down here in the burrow. Globes are useful, but cannot see underground. As I’m sure you know, since you were attempting to approach the castle through the old mine tunnel.’

They nodded, wondering what this meant with regard to their death sentence.

‘The rabbits and the moles have historically been a neutral society,’ Pepper said, leaning back in his chair. ‘But these are uncertain times we’re living in. The fact that a Hero party has come to our world is proof positive of that.’ The old rabbit twitched his graying whiskers. ‘I cannot say with any certainty that we can help you in your mission, but hinder you we shall not. I will need to speak to the Crown and his advisors. Would you stay here, tonight, as our guests? I believe that it’s already dark in the aboveground. It would be foolish of you to venture out when Dark Ones are abroad. We can offer you food and beds and any other provisions you might need.’

The Hero party all exchanged looks. Barley 30 minutes ago they had been on death row. Now they were being offered shelter and possibly help. It sounded almost too good to be true, but what else could they do? None of them relished the prospect of braving the aboveground with Darks Ones abroad. They all gave Rachel small nods of assent.

‘Sure thing, Mr. Justice Pepper Benjamin,’ she said. ‘We’d be honored. We can stay here for a night. One question though: Do you have such a thing as a hot bath?’

RACHEL SIGHED AND SLIPPED FURTHER DOWN INTO THE STEAMING HOT BATH in her room. As the only girl in the Hero party she had been given her own suite in the hotel. Kel, Ros and Assorted Colors were all bunking together next door. She added another squirt of the organic marigold and chamomile bubble bath to the water, and dropped in a couple more hot rocks that had been heated in an open fire.

After almost a week in the Altworld, this was the best feeling imaginable. The most amazing thing ever. Well, most amazing since the butterfires in the crystal cavern. And riding the wild unicorns. Alright they were
all
pretty damn great times, but right now she was enjoying this one the most.

There was a politely quiet knock on the door. Rachel scooped some bubbles into strategic places and told the knocker to enter. She felt a little uncomfortable at first as the rabbit from housekeeping brought in fresh towels and a pile folded laundry for her, and she wondered if it was a boy or a girl rabbit. But did it really matter? I mean, would you care if a rabbit of the opposite sex saw you in the bath? Me either.

Anyway, she was a little reassured that the rabbit was wearing a maid’s apron. She signed the room service slip and filled in what she hoped was a good tip, but the currency was something called ‘shekels’, so it was hard to tell. She thought again how nice it was for the Justice Department of the burrow to be picking up their tab. She’d thought about getting a massage too, but changed her mind when she pictured a mole doing it (only because of the claws—she isn’t racist).