Page 57 of A Skirl of Sorcery
Keep Our Neighbourhood Safe! Keep Ban Siths Out!
I glared at it. The ornery bastard.
Thane gave a low whistle. ‘Jeez. Your neighbours are kinda crazy.’
‘They’re afraid,’ I muttered. ‘But fear doesn’t give them the right to act like this.’ It was incendiary, nasty and uncalled for. I hissed, giving my best impression of She Without An Ear when she was forced to endure some petting, then I clambered over the Dinsburys’ garden wall and yanked the sign out of the ground.
I returned to the street with it clamped under my arm. As Thane raised an eyebrow, I proceeded to smash it against the ground until I’d turned it into kindling. A light went on in the Dinsburys’ house and the curtains twitched. I didn’t turn my head: let them stand behind their window and watch the show if they wanted to. They should have expected this sort of reaction.
‘Feel better now?’ Thane enquired.
‘Not really.’
‘I’ll get the next one for you,’ he promised.
I frowned, then realised that there was a similar sign on display in Slasher’s garden further down the street. Maybe I should have been pleased that there were only two signs to deal with, but I knew it was unlikely to stay that way. This was pack mentality. Even though Keres hadn’t emerged from her bed since she’d arrived, more of my neighbours would follow suit with anti-ban sith rhetoric. Under other circumstances, I’d have dealt with the situation more diplomatically but I had bigger problems eating into my time.
Thane was true to his word. He pulled up Slasher’s sign and destroyed it easily, then hand in hand we walked to my house. There would be considerable fall out from our actions – but I wasn’t sure I cared.
As soon aswe reached home, I let Thane in before heading upstairs to check on Keres in her flat. Dave was asleep on the sofa, his chest rising and falling with wheezing regularity. I reckoned I could have bashed a pair of cymbals next to his ear and he wouldn’t have woken up. Keres, however, was a different matter. Whether it was because of her illness or because she was unused to sleeping during the night, her eyes opened the moment I poked my head into her room.
‘Hey,’ I said quietly.
Keres blinked in return. Instinctively, I realised she wasn’t feeling chatty. ‘Do you need anything?’ I asked.
She swallowed. ‘No,’ she whispered. She continued to watch me, a question in her eyes.
‘Nothing concrete yet,’ I told her. ‘But I’m chasing something that might prove useful.’
Her body sagged and I registered the worry in her eyes. She wasn’t concerned for herself, she was worried for me because I’d given her my word I’d find a way to help her. It was possible that rather than boosting her confidence and well-being I’d only made things worse.
‘I’ve got this, Keres,’ I told her, trying my best to sound confident.
She nodded but I sensed that she didn’t believe me. She had a point: my assassin skills were superlative but my investigativeskills could do with some improvement. I might do well to sign up for some sort of private eye training programme.
I filed the thought away for the future. As useful as training might be, right now there wasn’t any time. Keres’ life was on a clock.
I refreshed the jug of water by her bedside and went back downstairs. When I walked into the kitchen, Thane was leaning against the counter saying, ‘ …and please, Tiddles, behave yourself. We’re guests here.’
The ginger cat sniffed balefully.
‘Have you run out of cat caviar?’ I asked.
‘I’m saving the rest for tomorrow,’ Thane said. Tiddles offered me a narrow-eyed look. ‘I can only find four of your five, but I’ve said hello to them all in turn.’
‘He Who Roams Wide will be out and about.’
Thane nodded then looked at me more closely. ‘How’s Keres?’
‘Much the same.’ I met his eyes. ‘Not good.’
He stepped forward and drew me into a tight hug. ‘We’ll sort out the trows’ landlord tomorrow,’ he murmured. ‘And then we’ll know more. We’ll find whoever is behind this.’
‘Yes.’
‘You’re Kit fucking McCafferty,’ he declared.
‘I am. And you’re Thane fucking Barrow.’
