Book 2 - Shadows Linger by Glen Cook Read Free Book Online Page A

said,
“Somebody ought to tell the Captain.”
    “Yeah,” One-Eye said. He made no move to go. Neither
did Silent.
    “All right. I’m elected.” I went. I found the
Captain doing what he does best. He had his feet up on his
worktable, was snoring. I wakened him, told him.
    He sighed. “Find the Lieutenant.” He went to his map
cases. I asked a couple questions he ignored, took the hint and got
out.
    He had expected something like this? There was a crisis in the
area? How could Charm have heard first?
    Silly, worrying before I heard what Goblin had to say.
    The Lieutenant seemed no more surprised than the Captain.
“Something up?” I asked.
    “Maybe. A courier letter came after you and Candy left for
Tally. Said we might be called west. This could be it.”
    “West? Really?”
    “Yeah.” Such dense sarcasm he put into the word!
    Stupid. If we chose Charm as the customary demarcation point
between east and west, Tally lay two thousand plus miles away.
Three months’ travel under perfect conditions. The country
between was anything but perfect. In places roads just didn’t
exist. I thought six months sounded too optimistic. But I was
worrying before the fact again. I had to wait and see.
    It turned out to be something even the Captain and Lieutenant
hadn’t anticipated. We waited in trepidation while Goblin
pulled himself together. The Captain had his map case open,
sketching a tentative route to Frost. He grumbled because all
westbound traffic had to cross the Plain of Fear. Goblin cleared
his throat.
    Tension mounted. He did not lift his eyes. The news had to be
unpleasant. He squeaked, “We’ve been recalled. That was
the Lady. She seemed disturbed. The first leg goes to Frost. One of
the Taken will meet us there. He’ll take us on to the
Barrowland.” The others frowned, exchanged puzzled looks. I
muttered, “Shit. Holy Shit.”
    “What is it, Croaker?” the Captain asked.
    They didn’t know. They paid no attention to historical
things. “That’s where the Dominator is buried. Where
they all were buried, back when. It’s in the forest north of
Oar.” We’d been to Oar seven years ago. It was not a
friendly city.
    “Oar!” the Captain yelled. “Oar! That’s
twenty-five hundred miles!”
    “Add another hundred or two to the Barrowland.”
    He stared at the maps. “Great. Just great. That means not
just the Plain of Fear but the Empty Hills and the Windy Country
too. Just fandamntastic great. I suppose we’ve got to get
there next week?”
    Goblin shook his head. “She didn’t seem rushed,
Captain. Just upset and wanting us headed the right way.”
    “She give you any whys or wherefores?”
    Goblin smirked. Did the Lady ever? Hell, no.
    “Just like that,” the Captain muttered. “Out
of the blue. Orders to hike halfway around the world. I love
it.” He told the Lieutenant to begin preparations for
movement.
    It was bad news, mad news, insanity squared, but not as bad as
he made out. He had been preparing since receiving the courier
letter. It wasn’t that hard to get rolling. The trouble was,
nobody wanted to roll.
    The west was far nicer than anything we’d known out here,
but not so great anybody wanted to walk that far.
    Surely she could have summoned a closer unit?
    We are the victims of our own competence. She always wants us
where the going threatens to become toughest. She knows we will do
the best job.
    Damn and double damn.
     
     
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Chapter Eleven:
JUNIPER: NIGHT WORK
    Shed had given Krage only nine of ten leva. The coin he held
back bought firewood, wine, and beer to replenish his stocks. Then
other creditors caught wind of his prosperity. A slight upturn in
business did him no good. He met his next payment to Krage by
borrowing from a moneylender named Gilbert. He found himself
wishing somebody would die. Another ten leva would put him in
striking distance of getting through the winter. It was a hard one,
that winter. Nothing moved in the harbor. There was no