The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [67]
“Still dressed?” I heard Ariel ask him suspiciously.
“I was reading in front of the fire. I fell asleep,” Rushton said casually. “What’s going on? I heard a commotion.”
“One of the Misfits has escaped,” Ariel said. “Elspeth Gordie. Skinny girl with dark hair and a proud look. Sly bitch.” There was a pause, and when Ariel spoke again, his voice was full of mistrust. “In fact, you must know her. She has been working on the farms.”
My heart thumped wildly.
“I know the one you mean,” Rushton said with a smothered yawn. “Quick with the horses but insolent. Anyway, why all the fuss over one Misfit? Lots more where she came from,” he said coolly.
“The Council has sent some men here after her. She’s wanted for questioning,” Ariel said evasively.
“She’ll be dead before morning if she’s out in it. Storm’s nearly on top of us.”
“I don’t doubt she will die,” Ariel said viciously. “I have let the wolves out.”
“A bit drastic, don’t you think?” Rushton drawled through another yawn. “I suppose you want me to help look for her.”
“You are paid to work,” Ariel snarled.
There was a long pause. “I am paid to manage the farms,” Rushton said at last, his voice cool. “But I might as well come. Otherwise I’ll be up all night listening to your beasts.”
“Good. It’s snowing, so you’d better put on boots and a coat. I’ll come back for you,” he added imperiously. There was the sound of footsteps and the outer door closing; then I heard Rushton’s voice.
“You can come in. He’s gone.”
I obeyed, shivering with cold. “He sounded suspicious,” I said worriedly, but Rushton shook his head.
“He’s always like that. But Alexi must want you badly to conduct a search while the Councilmen are here. Though I doubt very much that he has any intention of handing you over.” Howling sounded in the distance, and he scowled. “We can’t go out the front gate now, but there is one other way to get to the farms: pipes running under the maze. It is a foul labyrinth and hard going, but you are small enough to fit. The problem is there will be dogs in the courtyard, barring the way.”
“Dogs or wolves?” I asked, my heartbeat quickening with hope.
“Half breeds and a few pure wolves Ariel has cowed enough that they will obey him,” Rushton said in open disgust. “Why?”
“I … I can control them,” I offered hesitantly. “With my mind.”
Rushton nodded slowly, and instead of the astonishment I had expected, there was a touch of humor in his eyes. “You can control these beasts? You know they have been tormented near to madness and only obey Ariel out of terror and hunger?”
“I can manage them,” I insisted with more certainty than I felt, knowing there was no other choice but to try, and the longer I stayed, the more dangerous it was for Rushton. Yet I hesitated.
“Before … when you caught me, you said you would kill me if I didn’t cooperate,” I said in a low voice. “Did you mean it?”
Rushton looked at me with the same unreadable expression I had seen on his face that day in the barn.
“It would have been safer for me if I could have,” he said at last. “Best for my friends and for yours. If you are caught, you will reveal my role in your escape, for no one resists Alexi. And if the Council gets you, the Herders will make you talk. Alive you are a danger to all I have planned.”
“Is your plan so important, then?” I asked softly.
“More than you could possibly imagine,” Rushton answered simply.
I stared at his troubled face and willed myself to be strong. “Tell me the way through to the farms. I will not betray you. And I will manage the wolves.” Or die trying, I thought.
“The drains run from the courtyard to the farms and are like a maze themselves, but they were not designed to confuse. Remember to always take the right turn and you will be safe. To get from here to the courtyard, you will have to use the tunnels. I am not so certain about them. My mother told me of them, but she had never seen them herself, and I have had little opportunity to explore.” He explained about the tunnels, then looked up warily as footsteps echoed past his door.
“When you get to the farms,