Tortus Bay

2.22: Logistics and Crime

The number of days until the next festival—the next unpredictable confluence of magic—steadily ticked down. Something shifted about the energy in Tortus Bay, and Henry was astounded that he had not noticed it last time. Perhaps it hadn't happened then. Or perhaps he had chalked it up to the newness of life in the village.

The streets thinned out early in the day, transforming the usually bustling A.M. Bazaar into a sidewalk event. Yellows and greens snaked into the sky, ushering along with them the repressed electricity of a coming storm. Henry's main focus, to everyone's general frustration, continued to be finding Clair. Aria encouraged him to focus on the paper, Kara insisted that he go back into hiding, and Teresa wanted only for him to rest. But he was certain that if he could only find the girl, and hear what she had to say, that it would resolve every other one of his issues at once. She would be the linchpin.

"Why not talk to this Taylor person, then?" Teresa asked, with a sigh of frustration. She had herded her daughters upstairs to afford her guests a private conversation. They spread out, as usual, in the Bramble's kitchen, sipping strong black coffee as they spoke. "If you think he knows where she is, that should be your first step."

"No good," Kara said. "I talked with him the other day. He got Henry's covert message alright, but the only thing he did with it was hide a note for her in her house."

Henry held his head in his hands. "We could have done that."

"Only reason he got in is because he's a deputy. Supposedly Leia is in and out of there every day. Top priority surveillance."

"Then we use him to get back in," he said, "at least to look for clues."

Kara shook her head. "Leia is suspicious. Of everyone, I think, but especially Taylor. He used to get all the drudge work—now he gets no work, period."

"But Clair must have seen the message," Teresa said, "or else where did Emmaline Cass' body go?"

Henry had been through all of this, over and over again. It only led in circles. "The fact is, we don't know anything. Anything could have happened to that body. We can't assume that we were the only people who knew about it. Not after what happened with the Mayor."

"Yes," Tersa said, "the man who can consort with wolves. If what you have said about him is true, then we have a much bigger issue on our hands."

"It's true. What else could it have been?"

She shrugged. "He lured you to that spot in the forest specifically to show you that scene. He wants you to know what he can do. But let me ask: how is it that you managed to outrun an entire pack of wolves? And why didn't you clearly see any of them?"

"You're saying it was a trick."

"A glamour, perhaps. The ability to exert control over animals, especially that number of animals simultaneously, is vanishingly rare. Especially outside of the confluence."

"So, as you've said, is bringing a dead man back to life."

"That is not necessarily what we are dealing with there."

Kara cleared her throat. "Okay, we're getting off track again. What is our plan for right now? For today?"

"We don't have enough information," Henry said. "If Emmaline's body isn't in that park when the festival dawns, we're in for a repeat of last month. And Mathas might only be a nuisance right now, but who knows what will happen to him then. We have to find Clair. Teresa, are you willing to help?"

"The girl is alive, at least. And not too far away from the village. Every bit of magic leaves a trace, and I am familiar enough with her to know those things. For anything else, we will have to resort to a bit of trickery." She drew a small, plain brown strip of leather from her pocket, and pressed it into Henry's hands. A strange symbol was burned into the face of it, blackened around the edges.