Another bullet smacked into Edeard. He shifted his farsight focus to see the injured guard slumped against a wall; holding his pistol up, arm wavering about. He was drawing breath in feeble gulps as his blood spilled onto the floor. Edeard's third hand wrenched the gun from his numb fingers. Rotated it a hundred and eighty degrees. Pulled the trigger.
Three more shots from outside, and the shouting cut off.
'Edeard? Macsen shouted.
'All right! In here.
'Are you okay?
'Wait, he ordered, tightening his physical hold around the girl, keeping his shield as hard as rock. Mirnatha had fainted. He instinctively knew something was wrong. After the first guard had gone down, the second one had fired. Two shots had struck him, and a third was aimed at Mirnatha. They couldn't possibly have come from just one pistol.
The squad were tumbling out of the cellar opposite.
'Wait, he called again. 'Don't come in.
'What's happening? Boyd demanded.
Edeard knew he should have been delighted that all his friends were alive. Instead he scanned round and round the room, looking for the slightest tell tale sign. The cellar floor revealed nothing. There were no human feet standing on it. Edeard used his third hand to shatter the bench the guards had been using. Nothing. He crunched the second bench and all the chairs. 'Lady!
He lifted up a length of splintered wood, and sent it scything round the room. Kanseen and Dinlay were crouched hallway down the corridor, pistols held ready, their faces registering bewilderment as their farsight followed his actions. Edeard swung the wood through three orbits of the cellar without connecting to anything. He scraped it along the wall at waist-height, jabbing it viciously into every alcove as he performed a complete circuit. Again, nothing.
'You're good, he acknowledged, and reached out with his farsight to feel what the cellar floor and walls were feeling, hunting for that elusive pressure of human feet. His perception swept back and forth. Then, finally, the last kidnapper was revealed.
'Very clever, Edeard said, and meant it. He turned round, still keeping Mirnatha centred within his protective telekinesis. He aimed his pistol up at the ceiling to one side of the door, and fired the remaining two shots in quick succession.
The kidnapper's concealment fizzled out as the bullets struck, revealing him clinging to the small lierne ribs like some human spider. He fell inertly to the floor, landing with a dull crack. It was the same man who'd snatched Mirnatha from her room.
Edeard walked over to him and stared down. 'She is six years old, and you used her, he exclaimed in disgust.
The man's mouth opened. Blood spilled out. He somehow managed a small sneer. 'Rot in Honious, a weak longtalk sputtered. Then his thoughts were dimming. Edeard kept his farsight on those final flutters of emotion, searching for the slightest hint of regret. Some explanation of why a person could be so cold.
More blood bubbled out of the kidnapper's mouth as he exhaled for the last time. Yet Edeard could still sense his thoughts, enfeebled wisps of their original strength and pattern. The body had died, but they persisted. Then they moved.
Edeard gulped in shock, and took a step back as the kidnapper's soul diffused gracefully out of his body. The spectral entity hovered over the corpse for a few moments, then ascended into the ceiling and was lost to Edeard's farsight.
'Did you sense that? he asked the squad in astonishment.
'Edeard? Kanseen asked. 'Is it safe?
'Uh, yeah. That was his soul, wasn't it?
'His soul? She edged cautiously across the remnants of the door. Any curiosity was instantly forgotten as she saw Mirnatha.
'Whose soul? Macsen asked brashly as he followed Kanseen in.
Edeard couldn't take his eyes off the ceiling where the soul had vanished. 'The kidnapper's.
'Did you get shot? Macsen asked in concern.
'No.
A moan from Mirnatha succeeded in drawing Edeard's attention back down. 'Don't let her see this, he blurted. There was blood and gore all over the cellar. And the bodies. A scene that was even worse in the cellar at the bottom of the stairs. 'Are all of you okay?
'Oh, now you ask, Boyd joshed.
'I think I'm going to be sick, Dinlay said. His constable tunic was covered in blood.
Edeard's third hand snapped the iron shackles round Mirnatha's wrists. Kanseen blinked at the nonchalant show of strength. 'You carry her, she said, stroking the girl's brow, gentle with concern. Her hand and sleeve was speckled with arterial blood.
'But—
'This is your victory, Kanseen insisted.
Edeard nodded. 'Thank you. All of you.
Boyd's solemn face broke into a wild smile. 'By the Lady: we got her! We bloody did it.
They were all laughing in shaky relief as Edeard scooped up the small child, and carried her out of the cellar. People won crowding round the top of the stairs as he made his way out of the smoking chambers. Workers and family members with worried faces and probing farsight. That worry changed to consternation as the Waterwalker himself emerged into their midst. They backed off fast.
'No good trying to hide, Boyd said as they made their way out through the shop at the front of the building. 'The local constables will be calling. He paused. 'That's if the Culverit family guards don't pay you a visit first.
Edeard stepped out into the midday sun, blinking at how bright it was. It seemed as if he hadn't been outside in the light for a week, yet it was less than an hour since Homelt had taken them to the mansion's cellar. He got his bearings swiftly enough, and started walking down Layne Street.
Mirnatha stirred as they turned into Arnold Avenue, heading for Pink Canal. She started suddenly, looking round frantically.
'It's all right, Edeard told her. 'We're taking you home to your family. Your father and sister are worried about you.
She gave him a wide-eyed stare. 'You're the Waterwalker.
'Yes. I am.
'They took— she cried. 'I was in a dark room. I couldn't farsee anything. They were horrible—I–I—
'It's over. Look. It's a bright sunny day. We should be back at your home in time for you to see the flower boats.
She clung to him. 'What happened to the bad men?
'You won't see them again, I promise.
There were a lot of people lined up along the side of the canal, standing at least six deep as they waited for the end of the ceremony in the Lady's grand church. It was mostly excited children at the front, clutching their flower boats; with parents standing behind, pleading and warning not to put their craft into the water until the Pythia was finished. Edeard actually smiled as he finally saw the multitude of flower boats being held ready. They were spectacularly beautiful; from endearing little paper craft with a couple of daisies clutched by toddlers, to elaborate vessels with a rainbow of blooms crafted by proud older children. Their happy faces were wonderfully uplifting.
He started to make his way through the crowd. Heads swivelled in his direction. Surprise turned to shock when they saw the squad; uniforms covered in blood, tired yet cheerful, with the Waterwalker himself carrying the kidnapped girl whose smiled up at him with shy adulation. Silence fell. The crowd parted, giving him a clear path to the mooring platform at the | end of the avenue.
Someone started clapping. Whispers of amazement turned to exultant longtalk and shouts of approval. More people were joining the applause.