Tamisa asked, "How does your brother know somebody came to our house lastnight, Yoseh?"
He reflected. It wasn't exactly a secret around here, was it? "He spent thenight in the alley so nobody could get in or out of the maze."
"Oh."
"More of us are going to stay tonight. I know I am."
"Oh. Oh." Flustered. "I think I'd better get back to my chores. Before mymother ... Arif. Stafa. Come on. It's time to go."
Yoseh sat there wondering if he'd said something wrong.
Aaron had been distracted all morning. Not enough to make mistakes but enoughto slow him down. Cullo had commented, not unkindly, expressing a genuineconcern. Aaron had not been able to shake it.
Billygoat sat down beside him as he started on his lunch. "Think it'll rain?
Looks like we got some clouds coming in."
Aaron grunted. It did not look like rain. Just clouds.
"City could use a good washdown."
Aaron grunted again.
"You ever notice the difference between men and dogs, Aaron? A dog comes toyou begging, you give him the sorriest scrap, he's properly grateful. A mancomes to you desperate, you try to give him a hand, four times out of five heturns on you. Makes the whole damned thing your fault. On the whole, I think Ilike dogs better than I like men."
His piece spoken, Billygoat got up to go.
"Wait," Aaron said. "Sit down. You're right. I'm sorry. I apologize."
Billygoat harumphed. "I reckon that means you got another problem to hit mewith and be ungrateful about later."
"No! Look, I said I'm sorry. The problem I had-it got solved, all right, butthen it didn't, either, really. It only made more problems."
"Yeah. That's the way she goes, most times. You hear about that child-stealergot caught over my way yesterday? Tried to grab a kid, got hisself chased downand stomped to death. That ought to ease your worries some."
"I heard. I also heard he used some kind of sorcery, same as the one who tookthe child where I live. And the Dartars were chasing that one up Char Streetalmost the same time the other was getting himself killed. If there're two ofthem maybe there're three or four or a hundred."
"I swear. You ain't going to be satisfied till your boy does get got. You livein Char Street. I come over Char Street this morning. You got two thousandDartars packed in there asshole-to-elbow. Who you think would be dumb enoughto try something with odds like that?"
"The Living might."
"Heh! We're getting around to something here, aren't we?"
Aaron told most of it, keeping the names out.
Billygoat listened. He thought. He said, "I figure they lied to him, not you.
Handy way to twist his arm. Anyway, what you worrying about it for? Ain't yourproblem. You're starting to get silly, like some of these fools around hereall in a panic because of some Turok bandits all the way around to the otherside of the gulf."
Aaron had not heard that news yet. He had to have the story told.
Bel-Sidek glanced around as he left his home. "It gets any thicker out herepeople will be climbing over each other."
Hadribel's men began forcing a way through the press.
"Gently," bel-Sidek told them. "Let's not attract attention." They werealready. Raheb Sayed had them fixed with her basilisk's eye.
"How will Cado respond?" Hadribel asked. The news about the Turoks had comeonly a moment before word that it was safe to approach the traitor's house.
What Hadribel really wanted to know was if this was likely to become anopportunity for the movement.
"No telling. That son of a whore is as crafty as Fa'tad, in his way. Wouldn'tsurprise me if he made the whole thing up just to see how everybody jumps.
We'll be very careful with General Cado."
"How can we get the old man out through this mess?"
"By investing heavily of patience, I suspect."
They crossed Char Street, entered an alleyway. Even there they faced foottraffic trying to beat the press on the artery. The walk took so long Hadribelfelt compelled to scout their destination again.
"Still safe," he concluded.
"Let's get it done." Bel-Sidek was uncomfortable with this. But he had toknow.
Hadribel hammered on the traitor's door. The woman responded. She looked atthem without recognition, uneasy but not frightened, as though used to findingstrange men at her door.
"My husband isn't here. You'll find him ..."
"I know," bel-Sidek said. "It's you we want to see." He pushed forward. Shehad to retreat or be trampled. Bel-Sidek, Hadribel, and two of Hadribel's menwere inside before she protested.
"Please relax," bel-Sidek said. "You're in no danger. We want to ask a fewquestions."
She looked for someplace to run. There was no place. They had taken all thoseaway. "Who are you? What do you want?"
The questions were predictable. Bel-Sidek had decided to answer them honestly.
"We are the Living. We want to know where you went last night."
She started shaking. She said nothing.
"One of our men was murdered last night. A very important man. My commander.
It was done by a woman. You were out and in that area. If you felt you had areason, if you suspected who the man really was ..."
Her eyes grew huge. Her mouth hung. She swung her head back and forth inlittle jerks. She tried to speak but could not force anything out.
"You didn't do it? How can we believe that? Where did you go?"
"I ... can't ... say."
"Why not?"
"Because you're evil, wicked men. You'd go terrorize people just becausethey're my friends."
"I don't intend debating relative morality or our duties to the city thatnurtured us. We believe we're right. We're convinced our ends are just. A heroof Qushmarrah was murdered in his bed. We mean to find the woman responsible.
If you're not guilty, show us."
The woman spat. "You haven't done enough to us already, have you? Youoverlooked one member of the family." She spat again. "To hell with you. Goahead. Kill me. You've taken away everything I have to live for, anyway."
Hatred fouled the air. Bel-Sidek was startled by the fever of it. "I'm notgoing to kill anyone. I don't think you did anything but go to Char Street tovisit your friend Laella. But my comrades want something more convincing thanmy guesses."
"What if I said I did go there?"
"I want to know what you told her and what or who you saw in the street, coming and going."
She sat down on the floor, against a wall. "You see? No matter what I tellyou, you won't be satisfied. You'll want more. And there'll be nothing in itfor me but pain. You want me to talk to you, give me my son back."
"I'd be tempted. If I had him. We don't make war on children. They aren'tresponsible for the crimes of their fathers."
The woman stared at him for half a minute, radiating hatred and disgust. Shespat again, directly at him. "You want me to believe and trust you, telling mea bald-faced lie like that? After you dragged my husband out last night toshow him that you do have Zouki?"
Bel-Sidek stepped back, told one of the men, "Don't mark her.
Hadribel." He took Hadribel aside. "Tell me what you did with the traitoragain."
Hadribel repeated his story.
"Did he see the boy?"
"She thinks so."
"The General said we'd pretend. I think I smell something. The old man had adark streak. It may have infected part of the movement. I want to know."
Hadribel scowled. He had worshipped the General, too. He did not want to thinkthe old man had done something less than perfectly righteous. "I'll see what Ican find out."
Bel-Sidek went to supervise the woman's interrogation.
She was damned stubborn. She would not talk.
Azel approached Government House reluctantly. He did not like having beensummoned.
The mechanism had existed for years but the Herodians had not used it before.
That disturbed him. Till he stepped inside Government House he thought aboutwalking away from it.
He was especially uncomfortable with the news about the Turok pillagers. Theywere a random element that could destabilize an already rattled situation.