Part 39 (2/2)

Che was inclined to agree. He moved down another story. This one contained storerooms with bags of grain, bins of turnips, wine kegs, and hanging carca.s.ses. Kitchen supplies.

He came to a dining room. Food was laid out on a large table. The look and smell of it was very appealing. He reached for a toasted roll.

”If I were Fornax, I'd bait my trap with poisoned food,” Mars said.

Che's hand paused, then reversed. ”Good point. We need to beware of everything, not merely guards.”

They moved on, discovering many things, but no Justin/Earth. Also no guards. ”I distrust this,” Mars said. ”There are no guards here because it is irrelevant. Fornax doesn't mind how much time we waste searching where our quarry isn't. In time we will blunder into a trap and be done for.”

Che considered. It made more sense than he liked. ”Then let's do the unexpected. Rejoin the others of our party, and seek Fornax herself.”

But here the angry Demon had some caution. ”Fornax is a Demon. Mortal bodies can't touch her.”

”They can touch her mortal body, though. What would happen if we abducted Jaylin and took her out of the castle?”

”I doubt we could succeed. This is her bailiwick.”

Che pondered. ”What are the chances that Justin and Earth are near her?”

”Very good! That way she can be sure her prey is not escaping. It is Demon logic.”

”Let's get the others.” But then Che hesitated. ”Which one first? Sim is very smart, but Breanna can see in darkness.”

”Breanna,” Mars said.

”Breanna,” Che agreed. It was not that he valued one over the other, but that the girl's talent could indeed be most useful. They might accomplish more in darkness than in light, especially if the guards needed light to function.

They returned to the upper pa.s.sage where they had separated from Breanna of the Black Wave. They walked down that pa.s.sage, tracking the faint scuff marks on the floor and the fainter lingering smell of her black lotus perfume. She went down a stairway to a darkened ballroom, where human beings were dancing, by the sounds.

”Odd that it is in darkness,” Che remarked.

”She eliminated the torches,” Mars said.

The Demon was right. The girl had rendered the chamber dark, because she was at no disadvantage, while the guards might be. But it seemed she had not located Justin here.

Che circled the dark room, guided as much by sound as sight, for there was almost no illumination. Beyond was another chamber, where the torches had not been disturbed. It contained statuary and paintings of archaic style. Breanna had moved right on through it to a room containing flowering plants. Beyond that was a locked door with a key still in it.

”Beware!” Mars said. ”They would not leave their key.”

Indeed they would not. Something was wrong. Breanna's traces led up to that door, and not away from it.

”Where would that door lead?” Mars asked.

Che checked his mental coordinates. ”Outside the castle. We are at the outer wall.”

”Then they have been locked out.”

Che looked around carefully. ”A guard must have done it. Sneaked in and closed it behind.”

”That means there is a hidden guard here.”

Che checked more carefully. Then he saw it: a panel that did not quite match. He tapped it, and it make a hollow sound. He found a crevice, got his fingers in it, and slowly swung the panel open, like a door. There was a s.p.a.ce behind it large enough to hold a guard. It was empty.

Now they knew how it was done. Che went to the door, turned the key, and opened it. But he did not step through. ”Black Wave,” he murmured.

”Horsetail!” Breanna cried, appearing. She had obviously been ready to tag him out as he came through the doorway. She stepped into him and hugged him. ”We got tricked. I sure am glad to see you.”

”Yes. The guard hid in a panel until you pa.s.sed by. We concluded that Justin and Demon Earth must be near Fornax, and that searching the rest of the castle may be a waste of time. So we thought we should merge our forces and broach the Demoness.”

Breanna nodded. ”Let's get Birdbrain and do it.” But she paused. ”First-show me that panel.”

He showed her. She put her finger to her lips, and pointed to the other side of the door.

Of course! There could be another panel-and the guard could be there. He nodded.

Breanna tapped the nearer panel. ”That's really something, Che,” she said aloud. ”I wonder whether I could fit into it?”

Meanwhile Che was moving as silently as possible toward the other side. He found a similar panel.

”Don't close it on me, Che!” Breanna exclaimed. She tapped the floor with her foot, as though a hoof were landing there.

The panel Che was watching cracked open. He caught it and yanked it the rest of the way. A guard fell out. Che tagged the guard on the shoulder. Another down.

”We're getting smarter,” Breanna remarked, with satisfaction. ”We thought the guards would all be walking fixed routes. They're more canny.”

”It occurs to me that perhaps we have been going about this wrong,” Che said. ”We have searched for Justin, and the guards lurk in ambush. We should search for the guards instead.”

”And take them out!” she agreed. ”Then we can search for Justin without always looking over our shoulders.”

”But first let's check on Sim. I'm concerned.”

”For sure.”

They returned to the top pa.s.sage, and tracked Sim. He had gone on down to the base of the castle, where there was a dungeon. Sim had pa.s.sed though it to another locked chamber. But that chamber was empty-except for a pair of shoes.

”Justin's shoes,” Breanna said. ”Decoys-same as his handkerchief and b.u.t.ton.”

”But where is Sim?”

Sim was nowhere. His traces went up to the boots, and stopped.

Then Che spied another crevice. He pointed to it. Breanna nodded. She stood guard while Che worked on what turned out to be a stone set flush with the floor, the cover to a deep hole. ”Sim,” Che called down that hole.

There was a squawk. ”Here!”

Sim scrambled up, and they helped him out. He was all right. He had been tricked and trapped just as Breanna had. They felt the continuing fear of the Demon Jupiter, but helped moderate it with their love and anger.

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