The Tales of Tarya, Books 1-3

Chapter 4 - Blood Money-3

He nodded. With a swift, practiced movement he pulled a small knife from his boot and offered it to Mina.

‘I couldn’t use that!’ she whispered. Uberto mimed cutting rope, and offered the knife again. She took it, glad he couldn’t see her reddened cheeks in the dark. Silently he indicated Mina was to hide in a recessed doorway nearby while Uberto surveyed the warehouse. She slid into place, removing the mask from her face, and waited, her heart pounding. Almost immediately she lost sight of Uberto as he slipped into the shadows and was gone.

Standing alone in the moonlight, Mina regarded the unfamiliar street. She had given no thought to how far from home she was, cocooned as she was in the players’ world. What if she had to leave them to find Paolo? Her breathing quickened. Her world had been so small and comfortable. Nothing unexpected ever happened in Andon. A sound behind her caused her to jump and she clutched her arms around her, shivering in the cool air. She looked around again, quickly this time, her heart pounding in her ears, and her breath caught at the sight of white smoke seeping under the warehouse doors.

Mina thought of the fire that had killed her aunt and scarred her mother, and began to tremble. If Isabella was in there, she had to get her out. As she began to move, she heard footfalls approaching at speed. Mina pushed her body back against the wooden door. Whoever it was, there was nothing furtive about their approach. Aiming for invisibility, Mina shifted her head forward the smallest amount to see the street, but kept her body in the shadows.

A man walked toward the dead end with confident strides, but his face was a dark blur until he reached the brazier. He was familiar, but it took Mina a moment to pin down the memory. He was one of the men from the incident in the square, the one named Carlo. Without hesitation he strode right up to the doors of the warehouse and pounded on them.

‘Rico, what are you doing? Rico, I know you’re in there. I found Katriela at home alone. You never leave her like that. Come on Rico, open up.’

The warehouse door swung open, and someone stepped out. His face was masked by the night’s shadows, but it had to be Rico.

‘I’ve got her,’ he said, his voice soft and fervent. ‘Go get Katriela. I’ve got the healer girl. Innaroi took her away from me, now they can give her back.’

‘What have you done?’ Carlo asked, his voice rising.

Mina fell back against the door, stunned. The healer girl? Did he mean her? Did they know she was standing nearby? Then it occurred to her Rico had left the square before she’d helped Aldo today. He must have heard of the healing that occurred, but not known who had done it. He had grabbed the wrong girl and now he was holding Isabella, planning to force her to heal his wife.

Katriela’s bruised, hopeless eyes arose in her memory. There was no question in Mina’s mind that she would help if she could, but was it possible? She’d probably saved Aldo’s life today, simply by telling stories. And she’d found Isabella, too. But she had no idea how she had managed to achieve either feat.

‘Get Katriela, please,’ Rico said, and there was an unexpected gentleness in his voice. ‘We can help her, Carlo. Make her what she was.’

Carlo hesitated. ‘I don’t like what you’re doing,’ he said, ‘but if I can have my sister back …’ He turned and headed back down the street.

For years Mina had wished she could help her Uncle Tonio, lost in his madness. It seemed now, finally, she’d discovered a gift for healing. Part of her felt she must help Katriela, but she didn’t like the circumstances. She didn’t want to be forced into doing something she wasn’t even sure she could do. Maybe she could make a deal, get Rico to let Isabella go before she helped him. But he had been so volatile earlier, simmering with anger. What if she failed? Before she could make a decision, someone grabbed her arm, at the same time slipping a hand over her mouth.

‘You get Isabella,’ Uberto whispered, close to her ear. ‘I’ll deal with him. There’s a window round the side.’

He slipped the mask out of her hand, and over his face. Then he was gone again. Rico had turned and was walking back into the building. Uberto pranced into the centre of the street, his movements those of Harlequin.

‘A moment of your time,’ he began, and Rico stopped where he stood. He turned to face the player and his face changed from surprise to anger. He charged Harlequin, who stepped aside, waving an invisible cloak as though to hide himself. Mina appraised the situation. Harlequin was tall and wiry, but tricks would not last long against the other man’s desperate anger. Rico was barrel-chested, with big hands, and looked a lot stronger than the older player. She would have to be quick.

Slipping around the side of the warehouse she reached into the blackness until she found a long, horizontal window. It opened inward, so Mina swung her body up and around, her feet going through first. Too late she realised anyone in the building could easily grab her as soon as she appeared. She hoped grimly that the reason Uberto hadn’t mentioned anyone else was because Rico was acting alone. Her feet found solid ground, and she lowered herself into the warehouse.

Inside, it was even darker than the street, and the horrible smell was so pungent Mina began coughing. She couldn’t see at all and her mind froze with fear.

‘Help,’ a voice said. ‘Help me …’

It was Isabella. Her confident tones were gone. She sounded like a child.

‘It’s Mina. I’m here to get you out.’

’Where’s Rico?’

‘Uberto’s distracting him. Where are you?’

’I can’t see,’ Isabella said, and sobbed. ‘He hit me. He’s violent, crazy.’

Mina followed the sound of her friend’s voice, hesitant to walk through the dark, not knowing what she might touch. Shapes loomed around her, but it was so black she couldn’t make out what they were.

‘Be careful,’ Isabella said, as though reading her thoughts. ‘The vats of dye are boiling hot.’

Mina felt relief of a sort flood through her. That was what the smell was. They must use this place to dye fabric. Hadn’t Katriela been a seamstress? It must be the family business. Then her mind seemed to freeze again as she realised she would have to navigate her way through a cavern of blackness filled with metal vats of boiling liquid.

‘Keep talking to me, Isabella, so I can find you,’ she said, trying to keep her voice steady to calm her friend. Isabella sounded panicked enough. Shuffling forward, she hoped fervently she would feel the heat from the vats before she touched them. Isabella prattled on, telling Mina how Rico had snatched her from behind the wagons and dragged her here. Mina kept herself calm by chanting. Find Isabella, get out, she repeated, over and over.

A loud clang made her spin around, and she backed into a solid object. She felt a heat haze nearby. But whatever she had just bumped hadn’t been hot. A grinding sound broke the silence as the huge warehouse door slid open. Dim light from the street spilled into the warehouse, revealing Harlequin silhouetted in the doorway. He was sniffing the air, his posture furtive.

With slow dread, Mina turned and saw a huge, smoking vat just behind her. It was suspended over a fire pit by a metal frame. From the side of the vat a copper pipe protruded, ending in a long, flat tub. A slow trickling sound began and Mina saw she had bumped a lever on the vat that must release the liquid into the pipe. This was confirmed when a trickle ran out the end of the piping into the tub.

Mina saw Isabella then, tied up, hunched at the far end of the tub. Dark liquid began to pool at the other end, but no more than a trickle: not enough to reach Isabella. Still, Mina hurried to untie the frightened girl.

As she reached for her, Mina was startled by a loud roar, and Rico charged into the warehouse, pushing Harlequin aside. Mina turned to face him, legs wide apart, ready to challenge him. But Rico had something else in mind. He ran to the lever at the side of the vat, and gave it a fierce yank. There was a screeching sound, a gurgle, and then liquid began gushing through the copper pipe into the long tub.

Mina’s body moved faster than her thoughts. She turned and reached for Isabella, grabbing her under the arms. But when she tried to lift her, her arms trembling with the effort, Isabella didn’t move. In the darkness it took Mina a precious second to notice Isabella’s legs were tied together and pulled up behind her, so she could not stand. Taking a deep breath, Mina tugged again as Isabella moaned and reached her arms up, pleading. Still no movement, and the water was running into the tub now. Using her own body weight, Mina deliberately fell backward, pulling Isabella out of the dye bath just as a wash of liquid hit the end of the tub with an arcing splash.

Both girls felt the sting of boiling droplets on their faces as they collapsed onto the floor together, gasping for breath. Isabella began weeping.

‘Take her and go,’ Uberto said from out of the darkness, his voice calm.

Mina fumbled to unknot the ropes around Isabella’s ankles, cursing at the dim light that made it almost impossible. Her hands trembled badly. She sensed someone standing over them and looked up slowly. Rico loomed there, his expression invisible, but the pain in his voice was unmistakeable.

‘No, I need her. She’s got to heal Katriela.’

Mina fumbled with the knot, feeling it give as she tried to think what to say to buy time.

‘It wasn’t her. It was me.’

Rico didn’t answer.

‘I was the one who healed Aldo,’ she continued, making her voice loud to distract Rico from her busy fingers. ‘And I can help you, but not while you’re scaring me.’

Working blind, she felt the knot start to loosen.

‘You’ll help?’ Rico asked, and his voice sounded pitifully young.

Mina nodded. Behind her something scurried across the floor. Finally, the knot gave way. As it did, Mina remembered Uberto had given her a knife and cursed at her panicked stupidity. The rope fell to the floor and Isabella was able to stand, her movements careful. Mina rubbed Isabella’s ankles and whispered to her to leave.

‘I’ll help him, then come back,’ she whispered, and Isabella nodded. They both stood, and Mina moved Rico aside so Isabella could walk past him and out the door. Rico blocked Mina from following her.

‘I just want to help her. She’s been tied up …’

Rico shook his head.

Mina shrugged. ‘Then take me to Katriela,’ she said, ‘and I’ll see what I can …’

The light from the door hit Rico’s face then, and as Mina watched his features transformed into an expression of total fear. He was looking over her shoulder, frozen in place like a small animal facing its predator.

‘Go.’ Harlequin’s disembodied voice came out of the shadows.

Panic caught Mina. She didn’t dare look behind her. Whatever was going on, Rico was terrified.

‘Go!’

She and Rico both turned and ran toward the doors. When Mina reached the street, Isabella was waiting for her. The player girl grabbed Mina’s arm, urging her to run, and they took off up the alley together.

Carlo came running from the other direction then, blocking their exit. He was alone. When he saw Mina and Isabella he stopped still, but before he could do anything, a cry of pain drew his attention to the pool of blackness just inside the warehouse door. Rico stood there, clutching his hand, his head swinging from side to side. His breathing was loud and ragged. The two girls took advantage of this distraction to run past Carlo and turn into the wider street at the end of the alley.