Poppyland

ONE THE KIDNAPPER AND THE WITCH

“Blonde, should be about ten or eleven years old. You sure you haven’t seen her?” asked Selwyn Rutherford. He stood in the middle of a back alley, surrounded by merchants, grocers, traders, and commoners. The man under interrogation was a butcher; his butcher’s knife lay on the dust-covered floor as he shook fearfully in Selwyn’s grasp.

The butcher shook his head. “I’m positive! I haven’t seen her!”

“Useless bastard,” Selwyn sighed, reaching into his pocket. He drew a knife. The butcher gave a squeal of alarm as Selwyn moved to punch the dagger straight into his—

“Seeeelwynnnnn,” sang a girl behind the aforementioned interrogator, in a tone that did not in the end reach very many different pitches after all. “You ought to know better than me what killing a man in broad daylight will do.”

Selwyn relaxed his grip on the butcher’s collar. He shot one last frown in the man’s direction before the meat-maker scurried away and out of sight. A long fringe of black hair fell over Selwyn’s eyes as he said resignedly, “I suppose you’re right, Edel.”

The girl who stood before Selwyn Rutherford now was a beauty of utmost elegance. Her raven-dark hair flowed straight down past her shoulders, while a pair of dark blue eyes penetrated even the strongest of armor. A tiny, button-like mouth with smooth, supple lips gave her pale face the look almost of a doll.

“Edelweiss,” she corrected in that same singing tone that amounted to very little melody. “In any case, you shall be pleased to learn that I have located the girl for whom we are searching.”

Selwyn’s eyes perked up at the news. “Excellent. Where is she?”

The two companions began to stride down the alley in lockstep, ignoring the looks from commoners and tradesmen alike at their foreign-looking dress, and even more unfamiliar faces. They turned out of the alley into an even more crowded square, where merchants and other tradesmen shouted hoarsely over each other’s voices from behind their booths and storefronts.

“Apparently the girl is being kept as a daughter by one of the doctors of Burman,” said Edelweiss as they walked. She laughed. “The man from whom I extracted the information was quite willing to speak after I was through with him.”

“Not again,” groaned Selwyn. “You seduced him?”

Edelweiss gave him a sidelong look with her trance-inducing eyes. “That was how I managed to get you to open up the first time we met, was it not, Selwyn? Perhaps you are jealous that you cannot keep me for yourself?”

“Of course not. I have no reason to be love-struck over a heartless vampire.”

“You may rest easy this evening, Selwyn,” said Edelweiss, “for it proved quite unnecessary to seduce him. That poor blacksmith became rather talkative after a bit of simple coaxing.”

Selwyn sighed. “So you bled him. And yet you chastise me for trying to knife a man in public.”

Eventually, the travelers found themselves navigating a much quieter lane. Large, two-story townhouses stood on either side of the boulevard. Their brick walls were scrubbed clean to the bone, with vines of ivy crisscrossing up and down their facades. The slate roofs of the buildings were equally spotless.

The driver of a horse-drawn carriage parked near the curb gave Selwyn and Edelweiss a funny look as they passed. Catching himself staring, he took off his hat and saluted them. “Perchance you require a ride, sir and madam?”

Selwyn waved his hand and grinned at the driver. “Nope, sorry there, young fella. I’d also advise you to hit the road before this witch over here turns you into a puddle of red stuff. She eats kids like you for breakfast.”