It was in this unpleasant state of paranoia, gnawing hunger and delayed mayhem that Benito came running back to say that they had their first customer of the day.
For purposes of foraging, Daneh and Rachel had split up with Daneh taking the south route back along the trail and Rachel, accompanied by Azure, the north.
Daneh had left three snares at likely looking small-game trails along the west side of the walkway. The snares were simple period ones, braided horsehair bound into a loop. If a rabbit or something came down the trail it would tangle into the loop and get held there until the snare was checked. Or until something else came along and ate it; that had happened more than once on the trip and they’d lost one of the snares that way. But it was the best they had.
She had reached a small stream, crossed by a simple log bridge, and was considering whether it would be a useful place to lay their last trotline when three men appeared out of the woods.
Herzer’s stomach dropped when he saw Daneh being held by Guy and Galligan.
“Dionys, this is a friend of mine,” he said. He had taken a position as far at the rear of the group as possible, but Benito was still behind him. And as the group spread out on the trail Boyd and Avis dropped back as well.
“Well, that’s a nice looking friend you have,” Dionys said. “Who are you?”
“I’m Daneh Ghorbani. And I know who you are, Dionys McCanoc. What is the meaning of this.” Daneh’s jaw was set but her voice trembled ever so slightly at the end.
“Well, there’s a toll for using this road,” Dionys replied. “I wonder what you have to pay it with.”
“You’re joking,” she snapped, looking at the group then at Herzer who was looking anywhere but at her. “You’re… you’re insane.”
“So some people have suggested,” Dionys said, drawing his sword and placing the tip on her throat. “But I wouldn’t suggest using that term at the moment, woman. Ghorbani… that name rings a bell. Ah! The wife of Edmund Talbot is it?”
“I… Edmund and I are friends, yes,” Daneh said quietly.
“How pleasant!” McCanoc replied with a feral grin. “How exceedingly pleasant. And where is your daughter?”
Daneh had been halfway waiting for the question. “She was in London when the Fall happened. I hope she’s all right.”
“Better than you, I think,” McCanoc said with a smile. “And I know just how you can pay your toll!”
“Dionys,” Herzer said with a strained voice. “Don’t do this.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t think of taking first place,” he said, turning to the boy and pointing the sword at him. “That’s your job.”
Herzer stumbled forward as Boyd struck him in the back and he found himself looking directly at Daneh. The journey hadn’t been easy on her, either; her bones stood out fine on her face and there was a smudge of dirt on her cheek. He looked her in the eyes and saw in them resignation backed with something else, something very old and dark.
“Dr. Ghorbani, I’m sorry,” he whispered and leaned forward to drive his shoulder into Guy.
The man was smaller than he and was rocked out of the way. From that position all that Herzer had to do was keep his feet to start running. He made it across the small bridge in a single bound and quickly turned left, smashing his way into the brush and trees along the trail. With that, he was gone.
“Well,” McCanoc said, swishing his sword back and forth. “That was… somewhat unexpected.” He looked at Guy who was crumpled up on the ground and shook his head. “Get up from there. What a wuss.” Galligan had caught Daneh before she could get away and now held both of her arms behind her. “Hmmm… well, it’s still time to pay your toll.”
“Do it,” she spat. “Do whatever you’re going to do and be damned to you.”
“Oh, we’re already damned. Benito, hold her other arm. You others, grab her legs. I haven’t had a woman in over a week and I’m tired of jacking off.”
Herzer stumbled through the woods, looking for a stick, a tree branch, any sort of weapon. He finally collapsed to the ground, panting and crying. Even through the rain-muffled woods he could hear sounds behind him but he closed his ears to them, looking for something, anything that could help.
The forest was old grown with a thick undergrowth of bracken and privet. The branches that were on the ground were all old and rotted but finally he found a sapling that had grown to man height then died off from lack of sunlight. He tried to find his path back through the woods but the privet had covered it over. Finally he found a stream, he hoped it was the right one, and he followed it back, part of the time splashing through it. Dionys was the main threat, with his sword and size. But even Benito’s rotten bow and lopsided arrows, despite the rain, would be a danger. The others just had knives.
If he could just make it back in time.
Guy heaved himself off the doctor and looked down at her.
“Should we cut her throat now?” he asked. “That’s what we always do with the homunculi.”
“No,” Dionys said, wiping at a scratch on his cheek. “But take her rain coat and pants as penalty for not paying the toll willingly,” he laughed. “Let her live.” He kicked Daneh in the side.
“Live. Go and tell your paramour what we did. Tell him we’re coming for him. Not today, not tomorrow, but soon enough. And then, we’ll finish the job.” He gestured at the group and walked down the path to the south across the bridge. “There’ll be more where she came from.”
Daneh rolled over on her side in the mud and covered her face with her hands as the group walked off. She wouldn’t cry. She refused to let them get that satisfaction. She had stayed stone faced through the entire ordeal and she knew that that had taken some of the pleasure of it from them. It was the most she could do and she wasn’t going to lose it now.
She waited until she was sure they were gone and got to her feet, fumbling her clothes on as best she could. She wished that she could tear them off and throw them away, burn them even. But she had to have something against the cold and the wet. She stumbled to the stream and rinsed her mouth spitting out the foul taste and worked at a loose tooth; Dionys had tried to get some response out of her, but other than that one scratch when she worked her hand free she wouldn’t give it to him. There were other cuts and bruises on her body and she winced at the pull of her ribs; there might be a crack there.
Finally she sat down on the bridge and just let the rain fall until she heard steps squelching up the road. Afraid that one of them had come back for seconds, she stood up and turned to run. But it was just Herzer, holding a sapling taller than he was with dirt still attached to the rootball.
Herzer took one look at her and dropped to his knees, head down, cradling himself around the useless stick.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Herzer…”
“I’m so sorry, there was nothing I could do, they would have killed me and…”
“Herzer!” she snapped. “I don’t have time for your angst, damn it. I lied about Rachel. She’s up the road. We have to find her and get her out of here before they do.”