Dawn Of The Dreadfuls Part 13

"We are not a full regiment but just a company of one hundred," Lt. Tindall said. "The only officers are the captain, myself, and a young ensign barely old enough to attend b.a.l.l.s himself."

"Oh. There are so few of you?" Mrs. Bennet marveled, sobered... for all of two seconds. "Well, that should make you very much in demand, Lieutenant. You'll never get a second's rest once the music starts!"

"Fortunately, I have just completed a month's leave on my family estate in Oxfordshire, and I find myself refreshed and ready for any challenge."

The lieutenant's lips twisted to the side, signaling (in case his words hadn't done so sufficiently) that he was being amusing. And, indeed, Mrs. Bennet seemed mightily amused. Or pleased, at any rate.

A huge grin had spread wide on her face the moment she heard the words "my family estate."

"Oh, my girls will put that to the test, Lieutenant!" she cried with glee. "They shall! They truly shall!"

Jane's gaze went so low it looked like she was searching for something that had fallen down her dress.

"I must admit," Lt. Tindall said, "it pleases me to learn that your daughters have time for more la-" the young officer coughed, "traditional pursuits."

Ladylike-clearly that was the word that had stuck in the man's throat. Elizabeth felt a sudden, near-overpowering urge to stick her foot there, too.

"Oh, pay no mind to those toys," Mrs. Bennet said, nodding at Jane's katana. "My girls are as genteel and well bred as am I! La!"

The lieutenant was casting a rather dubious glance at Lydia and Kitty-a decapitated dreadful was proof their swords were no toys-when Jane found the strength to speak to the young man at last.

"Can one not be genteel and well bred and do one's duty?" she said softly.

Lt. Tindall's eyes-both as blue and, till then, distant as the sky-went dewy. "I'm sure some could."

"How do you manage it, Lieutenant?" Jane asked.

From Elizabeth, the question would have sounded impudent. From her sister, however, it was the essence of sincerity.

"I endeavor to always remember who and what I do my duty for," Lt. Tindall answered solemnly.

Jane nodded. "It has been the same for me, Sir."

Lt. Tindall just gaped at her a moment, obviously overcome with admiration. Without trying to-she never did-St. Jane had converted another worshipper.

The spell was broken by the tromp of heavy footsteps in the hall, and Master Hawksworth came bursting in. He scanned the room with a single jerk of the head, not lingering for so much as a second on the stranger in red. When he saw Elizabeth, he sucked in a gulp of air, close to but not quite a gasp, and took a step toward her.

"You are well then, Elizabeth Bennet?"

"You weren't told?"

Elizabeth glanced at her sisters, confused.

Lydia shrugged. "We couldn't find him."

"I became separated from the others during the search," Master Hawksworth said. "Where were you? What happened?"

"I fell in the forest, Master."

Elizabeth wasn't looking at Lt. Tindall, so she couldn't see his eyebrows arch at her "Master." Though she fancied she could feel the little breeze they stirred as they flew up his forehead.

"While attempting a Leaping Leopard," she went on. "And there was a dreadful."

Master Hawksworth had been breathing hard, as if out of breath. Now he froze.

"You slew it?"

"I fought it, but... no. It got the better of me. Fortunately, there was someone else there. He was armed with a pistol, and-"

"Him?"

The Master jerked his head at Lt. Tindall without bothering to look his way.

"No, Master. Another man. A doctor by the name of Keckilpenny."

Master Hawksworth almost seemed to shrivel. His head hung a little lower, and his shoulders sagged. But then he quickly drew himself up to his full height and a.s.sumed what Elizabeth had come to think of as the Master Stance: chin up, arms crossed, legs spread wide.

"Fetch your katana and daggers and bring them to the dojo immediately, Elizabeth Bennet. You are obviously in need of special tutoring."

"Yes, Master."

"I killed a dreadful, Master!" Lydia crowed as Elizabeth rose to go.

"I helped!" Kitty protested.

"Oh, a little. But it was my idea."

"All you said was 'Let's behead it.' I'm the one who suggested 'Satan's Scissors'!"

"Oh, girls, girls, hush, please! I can't stand to hear another word!" Mrs. Bennet wailed, fanning herself with a fresh hankie.

Everyone else ignored them.

"Don't tell me you actually approve of all this?" Lt. Tindall said to Master Hawksworth. "Young ladies going about fighting with these strange, barbaric weapons?"

"I'll tell you what I don't approve of," the Master grated out. "Failure." He spun on his heel and started for the door, speaking over his shoulder to Elizabeth again. "Now come. After you've finished your dandbaithaks-a hundred should suffice-we will identify where you erred and ensure it never happens again."

Elizabeth followed wearily, still aching from her fall and the fights with the dreadfuls and the walk to Meryton and back again. Yet despite it all, it was such sweet relief to escape the drawing room-and her mother and Lt. Tindall-she almost pitied her sisters.

CHAPTER 18.

MR. BENNET'S LIBRARY-his private sanctuary, his refuge from foolishness and chatter and, in short, Everyone Else-had never felt more crowded. The captain's Limbs were, by necessity, big, burly men, being beasts of a very peculiar burden (and one which weighed no less than fifteen stone). Standing at attention bracketing the captain, they blocked off an entire bookcase.

It was somewhat unsettling to find so many soldiers facing him across the top of his desk: It made Mr. Bennet feel a little like he was facing a firing squad. Yet the one thing that would have perturbed almost any other gentleman-the fact that the guest seated directly across from him had nary a (lowercase l) limb left-was, for Mr. Bennet, a much-welcome comfort. There was no need to ask the captain whether he'd served during The Troubles. Lydia and Kitty had described how the other soldiers broke ranks and ran from a single charging dreadful, but their commander was obviously a man of experience-hard, h.e.l.lish experience. And that was precisely the kind all England needed to call on now.

Mr. Bennet told the captain all that had happened since he'd sent word of the dreadfuls' return to the War Office in London. Some of it, he learned, Elizabeth had already pa.s.sed along. There was much his daughter didn't know, however, perceptive though she was. Much Mr. Bennet had been holding back for just this moment, when there would be no questions, no gasps. Just much-needed action.

"As I'm sure you noticed when you marched past St. Chad's," he said, "we haven't taken the necessary measures at the cemetery. Until now, I've lacked both the manpower and the standing for such a step. I thought I might have an ally: a peer with an estate near here. Unfortunately-and unsurprisingly-he proved unreliable. In fact, I don't think he's so much as set foot outside his manor house since catching sight of his first unmentionable. And without his influence..." Mr. Bennet shook his head and sighed. "People have forgotten what once was necessary. That's especially true in a quiet little hamlet like this that never saw the worst of it even when half the Midlands was feasting on the other half's brains. Of course, there are strategic advantages to such naivete. I'm sure you remember well the danger posed by panic en ma.s.se. But now that you and the rest of your regiment are here, I think we can safely-"

"There is no regiment," Capt. Cannon said.

Mr. Bennet c.o.c.ked an ear, as if he'd simply misheard what the man had said as opposed to disbelieving it.

"Pardon?"

"My company is attached to no regiment," the captain said. "We are here alone. One hundred men, all told."

"But... surely you must realize... if it's all beginning again... beginning here in Hertfordshire, this time..."

Capt. Cannon simply stared back at his host with an air of imperturbable composure Mr. Bennet found both admirable and infuriating.

"d.a.m.n it, man, the Burial Act's been repealed five years now!" he snapped. "Five years we've been letting people bury their dead with their heads on their necks! Which means this very moment there's probably a pack of zombies tunneling around under St. Chad's cemetery like so many moles! Have you any idea how many men-well-trained, disciplined men-it will take to deal with that? And how many more will be needed to secure the roads and patrol the countryside?"

"The War Office felt a company of a hundred would be sufficient for the task at hand here," the captain said coolly.

"The only thing a company of a hundred will be sufficient for, Captain, is hors d'oeuvres! It's been weeks since the first unmentionable sat up in his coffin. You know what could be coming next. A thousand men would be hard pressed to do what needs done in time!"

"Nevertheless," Capt. Cannon said, "we have one hundred."

"Why, by G.o.d? No more could be spared?"

"No more are being made available," the captain said, and his expression finally changed. No longer was it simply impa.s.sive. Now it was a wall of cold stone.

This far and no further, the look said.

Mr. Bennet leaned back in his chair and blew out a long breath. First the Order let him down by sending such a young master-and one, he was discovering, who was p.r.o.ne to diversion. Now his old comrades in the War Office had disappointed him, as well. More than disappointed him. Thrown him and his family to the undead wolves.

"You know, Captain," he sighed, "the only reason I hadn't lost hope entirely was because the army was on its way. Now, however..."

"I would take it as a great favor, Mr. Bennet, if you didn't panic quite yet."

Mr. Bennet searched Capt. Cannon's face for any sign he was being insulted. Yet the other man's expression had softened, as had his voice, and it was quickly clear no slight was intended. He'd merely been reminding Mr. Bennet of something he'd lost sight of: that the soldiers were being thrown to the wolves, too, and the captain might need his help as much as vice versa.

"Agreed," he said with a slight, wry smile. "I won't panic... yet. There will be plenty of time for that later, I'll wager."

The captain nodded. "Indeed, there will."

The two old warriors meditated for a moment on what might be in store for them. Then Capt. Cannon broke the gloomy silence by lifting his chin and saying, "Right Limb. Nose. Itch."

"Well," Mr. Bennet said as the Limb leaned in to scratch at the captain's bulbous nose, "I had been counting on the sway a full regimental colonel would have. There will be resistance when we make our first move, and that will be more difficult to overcome now. Much more difficult, I'm afraid."

"Lower. Over. Harder. Not that hard!" The captain dismissed Right Limb with a jerk of the head. "Mr. Bennet, you are a man of great cleverness, I've been told. A man of courage and honor. Unfortunately, what we need is a man of rank. Someone whose name-or, preferably, t.i.tle-could ease the way for us in the days ahead. This n.o.bleman you spoke of, for instance..."

Mr. Bennet nodded glumly.

"Yes, yes. I was just thinking the same thing," he said. "And believe me, you don't find it half so unfortunate as do I."

CHAPTER 19.

MASTER HAWKSWORTH PACED slowly around Elizabeth as she did her dand-baithaks, and though he kept his observations to her technique-"Back straight, Elizabeth Bennet!"... "Nose to the floor, Elizabeth Bennet!"... "I can hear you breathing, Elizabeth Bennet!"-she couldn't help but wonder how much he was simply observing her. This was, after all, the first time the two of them had been alone in the dojo, and she, for one, was keenly aware that the flush to her cheeks and the tightness in her chest weren't entirely due to the exercise.

The Master had been worried about her, that much had been obvious back in the house. And despite all his bl.u.s.ter, it wasn't the cold, calculating, utilitarian worry of a warrior who needed every sword he could muster against The Enemy.

He cared. Elizabeth was sure of it.

What she wasn't so sure of was what-if anything-she should do about it.

When Master Hawksworth finally let her get up off the floor, he kept circling, looking her over. She knew she was supposed to keep her gaze straight ahead, "piercing infinity" as the Master called it when drilling the girls on their warrior scowls. Yet her self-consciousness grew so acute Elizabeth couldn't keep her eyes up, and soon her gaze was piercing nothing save her own toes.

Master Hawksworth stopped directly before her, his chest mere inches from hers.

"What's this? Staring at the floor? Have I mistakenly brought Jane Bennet to the dojo?"

Elizabeth forced herself to look up and meet the Master's stare.

He nodded once, brusquely. "There. Now I know I am looking at Elizabeth Bennet."

"And you are grateful to see her?"

Master Hawksworth's face took on the look of pained astonishment Elizabeth imagined he wore when he first felt the Fulcrum of Doom, and as he whirled away, putting his back to her, she cursed her own reckless presumption. It wasn't Jane anyone would mistake her for now; it was foolish, imprudent Lydia.

"A student doesn't-!" the Master began. "I am... I should...!"

Then he slumped and sighed and was silent. When he went on again a moment later, he sounded not outraged but resigned.

"Why should I be surprised that you would speak so boldly? You, who are the very model of..."

Whatever his last word was, it came out so softly Elizabeth couldn't even hear it.

He turned toward her again, straightening his back and setting his legs apart as if facing a foe. Yet his expression remained wounded, torn.

"Yes," he said, "I am grateful to see you. Grateful catastrophe did not befall you today. Very grateful to have you back in my dojo. Do you know why?"

Elizabeth fought to swallow a lump in her throat. It felt like it was the size of a baked potato, or perhaps even a smallish ham.

"No," she croaked.