Part 13 (2/2)

Sherlock looked back along the road as theytheir distance but not dropping too far back He couldn't see anything, but he felt that he had to do ot Rufus to pull off the road and hide the cart behind a barn for twenty minutes while he carefully watched every vehicle and rider that went past He didn't recognize anyone, and nobody looked confused at the fact that the people they were following had suddenly vanished

At one point, while they aiting, Sherlock leaned across to Rufus 'I thought you ht have been taken by the Paradol Chamber, back on the train,' he said

'Why would you think that? We haven't seen hide nor hair of them since Moscow a apart fronosed insane and locked away'

Sherlock griht I saw Mr Kyte at Newcastle Station He was standing behind a pile of luggage, and he was staring straight at ht maybe the Paradol Chaainst us for et even with me, and with you'

'Be that as it , 'I didn't see Mr Kyte on the station If I had, I would have taken that great red beard of his and shoved as much of it as I could as far down his throat as I could reach Take my advice, Sherlock a never trust a red-headed man, or a red-headed woinia has red hair,' Sherlock pointed out

Rufus turned to fix Sherlock with a warning expression 'In that case, my friend, you have a problem'

Uncomfortable at the way the conversation had turned back to him, Sherlock said quickly, 'What do you think these people ith Mr Crowe?'

'The sa you seee'

'But what's Mr Crowe done to them?'

'Amyus Crowe is a complicated beast,' Rufus replied 'On the one hand he's civilized and fair-enteel On the other' He paused 'Let's put it this way a I think if we knewwe found'

'He told us that he used to be a spy for the Union against the Confederacy during the War Against the States,' Sherlock protested 'And after that he was responsible for tracking down Confederate cri the War'

'Yes,' Rufus adths he went to in order to recover those cried to bring back to face trial and how many happened to die in shootouts before he could take them captive Remember, Sherlock, the hed 'Except that in this case it would appear thathim, and not for money They want payback'

'You don't like him, do you?'

Rufus smiled 'Ah, you picked up on that, did you? No, he's not the kind of man I would choose to sit with over a tavern table, with beer in our glasses and tobacco in our pipes I don't think ould have ue about I have a strong respect for the sanctity of human life, whereas I think Mr Croould have no proble another man's life for little provocation What's worse, he doesn't likewhat Rufus Stone had said He couldn't find fault in his logic or his description of Amyus Crowe, but neither could he square the harsh words with the genial smile that he had seen on Mr Crowe's face or the way he had taken Sherlock under his wing and looked after him Were all people like this a complicated, not easily understood? If that was the case, what about Rufus Stone hiht aside He would rather believe that what people displayed on the surface hat they really were

'How land, hunting Mr Crowe?' he said eventually

'Impossible to say,' Rufus mused 'There were three in the tenee a assu, and not just soet two left that we know of Trouble is, there ht be others we don't know of'

'There were two carryingme,' Matty added

'So that's at least four people still at large Problee came over here with money, then he could just hire whatever support he needed of any nationality There's people in every major town and city in the British Isles that would ahed 'There's no end of bad ht theood man is worth ten bad ones'

Matty snorted, and Rufus eyed his would be a lot better'

'When I grow up,' Sherlocktoat hiht You and your brother between you, but in radically different ways'

'But I' to work for the Government like Mycroft does'

'Why not?' Matty asked

'I don't like taking orders,' Sherlock said darkly 'Not from anyone I know that soot back on the road there was nobody in sight It looked as if they had got away fro spotted

The landscape was a s of rock The terrain undulated such that they were never on a level road for et around soer rocky areas

Craes with thatched roofs Virulently green es, looking like some kind of seaweed that had been deposited on shore by a stor The air sulls cried out like abandoned babies

As the cart rounded the side of a hill Sherlock suddenly saw the sea laid out beneath thelitter in a hypnotic pattern, points of light dancing on a grey-green background Closer to the shore, waves broke in parallel lines of white foam that appeared froain

'Well, this is Crae 'Any idea where we go now?'

'We could always ask if anyone's seen a big American bloke with a white suit and a white hat,' Matty piped up

'I think he would have dumped the distinctive clothes,' Sherlock observed 'And we've both been with hione into taverns and other places to ask questions, and done it in an English accent so good that he ot the hunter's skill of being able to blend with the background so well that you just don't notice him until he wants you to By now he'll have picked up a Scottish accent so perfect that you would think he was born in Edinburgh'

'So I repeat the question,' Rufus said 'Any idea where we go now?'

Sherlock thought for a moment 'We know that he wants to be found by us, because he left a coded e for us So he'll have left a trail that only we can follow, or he'll assu in the centre of the village, because he would be too visible Despite anything he does with his accent and his clothes, he can't disguise his height Virginia is with him as well So he'll find a place out by itself, and he'll probably keep Virginia hidden away' He let his mind run loose on the various parae on the e,' hepeople seeing hih up, so that he would be able to see anyone coe of height Anyone who found him would have to approach slowly, uphill, while he could throw rocks and stuff downhill at theht choose a place on top of a hill, so that he and Virginia could escape in any direction if they were attacked, but that would mean attackers would be able to come at him from any direction while he could only watch in one direction at any ti him No, it's more likely that he would choose somewhere towards the top of a hill but in a cleft or a dip or so at hi from the front'

'That narrows it down,' Rufus said 'We can ask around for cottages that meet that description'

'There's a better way,' Matty said

'What's that?'

'Kids e' Matty thue there's kids likeYou can't stop 'em Just find one an' slip 'i'

'Better than that,' Sherlock added, 'he's probably paying theetically a 'go everywhere and know everything He'll be slipping theers They'll be watching out for us, as well'

Enthused by this strategy, they headed towards the centre of the village Whenever they passed either an individual kid with unkeether, Matty slipped off the cart and went to talk to them Each time he ca, but Sherlock couldn't help notice that whenever their cart was pulling away, the lone kid or one of the group would slip off They all headed in more or less the same direction

'Should we follow one of them?' Rufus asked after a while The cart was parked on a stretch of dirt road near the centre of the village

'No,' Sherlock and Matty said together

'They're probably reporting back to another kid, an older one who acts as a central point for es,' Sherlock explained

'He'll send a runner to Mr Crowe,' Matty added 'If we get near that older kid, he'll just up sticks and run for it, and then we'll be back at square one'