Frost said “Any news from the Park Crew?”
“Ladner’s woman got a fever and died. But the rest is all right. They’re livin’ on rabbits and traded food. There’s a cougar in the Park, but it’s stayed away so far.”
Daniel Charlie said “Do they send a message?”
Hemlock found he was facing Noor again. Again he turned away. “No, the Park Crew don’t send no message.” He was obviously not finished, but he did not continue.
After a minute Frost said “Does someone else send a message?”
Hemlock nodded. “Someone else.”
“You going to tell us?”
“I am. I’m goin’ to tell you.” He stood there nodding for a while. They all waited. Even King and Margaret sat near the curb and stared up at the Messenger.
Hemlock said “I got a message for all of yous from two women. These two women is stayin’ with the Park Crew. They give me the message when I was there. Their names is Ice and Spring.”
Hastings said “Do we know them?”
Jessica said “They’re with the Church Gang.”
Everyone except Hemlock turned and looked at Noor, who held her breath, stared at Hemlock and returned nobody’s glance.
He continued “This here is the message of Ice and Spring. Langley and his soldiers come one night to the Church when we was sleepin’. Hollyburn was on guard, and he shouted plenty, but there was too many of them, and they just walked right into the Church. They lit a torch. Powell got out the 22, but they kilt him with their crossbows. Langley said, ‘All this stuff is too good for the likes of yous.’ They took their swords and they kilt Hollyburn and they kilt 101. We run out the back. We thought Ash was with us, but he wasn’t.”
Jessica was standing behind Noor. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her.
“They kilt Robson too.”
Noor screamed.
But Hemlock seemed determined to deliver the message he had been entrusted with. He attempted to raised his voice above the scream. “…too terrible…” could be heard, and “…don’t know if we can go on….”
Noor’s scream faded to a loud, ragged sobbing.
Hemlock swung his backpack halfway off and dug something out of it. It was a short piece of plastic pipe with a few evenly spaced holes bored in it. “They sent this here for Noor.” He had to turn to her now to present the memento.
But Noor had torn free of Jessica, grabbed a spear and was already thirty yards down the bridge. She was sprinting full out toward Town.
Frost and Tyrell and Daniel Charlie shouted her name, but she did not slow down. Frost said “Jesus Christ. They’ll kill her for sure this time. Marpole, see if you can catch her.”
Marpole dropped his arrows and threw off his bow. But as he dashed down the bridge with the floating strides of a young man the distance between him and Noor only increased.
Again there was shouting from the group at the top of the bridge. It was even more frantic this time, and included Jessica’s shriek, which was as much a lament as a warning.
Will! No! Will!
Will passed Marpole halfway down the slope.
Marpole slowed, stopped and turned to wait for the others, all of whom except for Hemlock the Messenger were jogging toward him with their bows on their backs and their spears in their hands.
At the bottom of the bridge Noor veered westward off the trail into an expanse of scrub, weeds, blackberry vine and mud, out of which rose a few three-storey apartment blocks. She had to slow a little as she dodged among the obstacles that lay between her and the taller building that stood to the northwest beyond the others. She did not use any of the abundant cover to hide her approach. She ran more or less directly toward Langley’s building, with the spear held low in her right hand.
Suddenly she stopped, whirled. Somehow the point of the spear missed her brother as he leapt. She fell backward under him into a leafless salmonberry bush. There was a loud crackling as several of the canes splintered. She pushed him away and took off again toward the building. She still had the spear. But Will dove and caught a foot, and she sprawled on the ground. He flung himself on her back, but she easily threw him off. She hissed “Go home!”
He had hold of the embroidered vest with both hands and would not let go. He had enough breath to whisper “You got to come back. You’re not thinkin’ straight.”
She tried again to break away. They struggled for a few seconds but then stopped. A person was standing above them. As she tried to rise to her knees in order to get a good thrust at the man he stepped forward, kicked the spear out of her hand and then stepped back again. He had a sword. Noor scrambled up, leapt back a pace and reached for her own sword. The man dropped the tip of his weapon, took two quick steps and with his free hand punched Noor in the face. She cried out, and her feet flew from under her, and she crashed onto her back and lay there stunned.
Will pushed himself backward a little.
The man said to him “Nope. You stay right there.” He tapped him on the head with the tip of his sword.
The man waited. In a minute Noor rose up onto her elbows. Her cheek was split near her eye. A thin sheet of blood flowed down onto her long neck. She looked at the man.
He said “Langley cut me ’cause of you. Remember? I got a scar now on my front. It’s shaped like a X.”
It was the stocky, moon-faced man who had been among the soldiers when Langley detained her on her way back from visiting the Church Gang. Noor could see two long diagonal slices in the wool of the man’s shift, poorly repaired.
“It’s still sore. ’Cause of you. Now let’s see yours. Let’s see your front. Take off that pretty vest and that shirt. You might as well take of them pants too.”
Noor rose to a sitting position. There was no point trying to draw her sword. She looked around. Her spear was a dozen feet away in a clump of wilted bracken. Will was still trying to edge backward on his stomach. His face was white.
The man said “It’s going to happen don’t matter if you’re alive or if you’re dead. Don’t make no difference to me. Long as you’re halfways warm.” He said to Will “Lay down on your face and put your hands behind your back and keep them there.” Will did so. His hands trembled. The man said “If you keep still and shut up, me and your sister are going to show you what’s called the facts of life.”
Suddenly Noor was on her feet. But she was groggy. She stumbled as she grabbed at her sword.
The man roared and lunged. But before his blade touched Noor the man’s eyes widened, and the thrust went wide. Sailing above the blade, King hit him like a battering ram. The man hollered and toppled backward, and the sword fell free. As the dog and the man struck the ground King was already tearing at his throat.
Noor managed to run, but had to steady herself on her brother’s shoulder. They headed back toward Frost’s Bridge. Behind them King’s snarling grew faint. When Will looked back he saw two figures closer to Langley’s building moving through the brush toward King and the soldier. He stopped, called “King! King, come on!” but Noor forced him to continue running. They made it to Town Trail and saw Frost and the others hurrying toward them.
As they walked quickly and silently up the bridge Will turned often to check for King. But the old apartment buildings always blocked his view of the area.
At the crest of the bridge Noor did not stop. Jessica offered to go on with her, but Noor shook her head. Jessica said “You better let me wash that cut for you.” Noor shook her head again and kept walking.
Frost lowered himself onto the sidewalk with his back against the railing, and Will fell into his lap sobbing loudly. Frost rocked and soothed him as he watched Noor walk alone down toward the farm.