Written In Red Part 55

CHAPTER 25.

Slow and steady, Monty thought as the cab did a crawl and slide down Whitetail Road. Slow and steady.

Every time they reached a traffic light, he listened to the zzzzzeeeeeeeee of tires spinning as the cars tried to get enough traction to move through the intersection and keep going. When they finally reached the Chestnut Street intersection and it was clear they were going to wait through several changes of the traffic light before the cab would be able to make the turn, Monty said, "I'll get out here," and paid the driver.

"I think we'll get through this storm all right," the cabby said as Monty got out. "It looks like the snow is letting up."

Asia listened to the putt putt brrmmm of a BOW growling its way through snow. Then she called the special messenger.

"Simon Wolfgard is headed for the Green Complex. Your benefactor's property should be there already. Looks like some employees are staying overnight in the apartments above the shops, but there's no one in the business part of the Courtyard who will interfere with you."

"We're all in position. The Stag and Hare is still open and crowded. You can blend in there. As soon as we've reacquired the property, we'll be heading out of the city. I'll call you."

Maybe he would call her. She had a feeling she might be conveniently left behind. That was fine. The messenger and his men were just the diversion she needed to acquire the pup and get out of the Courtyard before the Others knew what happened.

She waited another minute, then left the maintenance garage and hurried to the garage that held the BOW Darrell had driven last week.

That s.p.a.ce was empty, but when she opened the next door, that garage contained a BOW. She unhooked the vehicle from its power source and got in. The BOW grumbled when she turned the key, but the engine turned over. She located the controls for the lights and wipers. When she turned on the lights, she noticed the power bar showed a thirty-percent charge.

She couldn't remember how much charge the BOW had used the night Darrell had driven to the Green Complex, and that annoyed her. Asia Crane, SI, would remember that kind of detail from just a glance at the dashboard.

It'll be enough to get me there and back, Asia thought as she turned off the lights and backed out of the garage. After all, I'm not the one breaking the trail.

Muscling the BOW into the tracks left by Simon's vehicle, Asia headed for the Green Complex and the bit of fur that was going to make Bigwig and the other backers piles of money and make her a very famous woman.

A gust of wind playfully pushed the BOW. Simon growled, not sure if that gust was simply weather or if it was Air amusing herself. Either way, the direction had shifted, which meant the storm was curling around the city instead of continuing to slam through it. That softening had to be Winter's doing, with help from Air. It was still a good day to get home and stay home, and with tomorrow being Earthday, clearing the delivery area and the parking lot could be done leisurely. And he liked the idea of Wolves digging out the cars stuck in their lot. That would be more fun than being in human form and shoveling.

Maybe they could let the ponies . . . ? No, he wasn't ready to encourage the ponies to reveal their true nature and abilities by clearing the snow in the places where humans could see them. But inside the Courtyard was another matter. Tornado, Cyclone, and Twister were not small forces, but they could work smaller for play. He could tell by the way the road had been cleared that Jester had hitched one of them to the pony sled so that Meg would be able to get home. And Blair had noticed short snow funnels that moved along the Courtyard's interior roads at the speed of a trotting pony. The three ponies were pleased because they didn't get to use their natures often in this part of Thaisia, and Blair was pleased because he wasn't using time or fuel to plow the roads.

And Meg could drive anywhere she wanted within the Courtyard without getting stuck in the snow, which pleased all of them.

It took more time than usual, but he reached the visitor's parking at the Green Complex and slowed to consider. The lane leading back to the garages hadn't been cleared at all, and any vehicles that were back there weren't going anywhere for a day or two. That left the spots across the road from the complex.

Someone with large, powerful limbs had swiped most of the snow from the guest spots. Simon wasn't sure two BOWs could fit into the cleared s.p.a.ce and have room for the drivers to get out, but there was plenty of room for him, and n.o.body else would be using a vehicle to get home. In his smoke form, Vlad could travel faster in this weather than any other terra indigene except the Elementals.

He studied the snow next to the cleared s.p.a.ce. Then he turned off the BOW's lights and let his eyes adjust. With the lights on, it appeared that what stood beside the parking s.p.a.ce was a swirl of snow. But in the dark, that swirl became a shape.

Henry Beargard was a large man and a ma.s.sive Grizzly. But when Henry took the spirit bear form, he was even bigger. And standing on his hind legs, as he was now, he looked like he could pluck the stars from the sky.

Simon asked.

Henry paused. He growled. She had shared those words with Henry, the spirit guide for their Courtyard. And the Grizzly was restless.

Henry dropped to all fours and moved off. Simon watched him go, his form visible only because the Wolf knew what to look for. He parked the BOW and hurried across the road, wondering if he'd find Sam at his apartment or at Meg's. Then he stopped, listened.

he called. she replied. Nothing out there now, but he had heard it.

she said.

He hurried to his apartment. As he put his key in the lock, Nathan said, Simon finished unlocking his door, but went up the stairs to Meg's porch. Nathan's fur had a light coating of snow, making the watch Wolf nearly invisible in his chosen spot.

Nathan c.o.c.ked his head. He didn't have a chance to respond before Tess called, he said.

A thought occurred to him that formed a bone in his throat. Tess paused. A BOW wouldn't do anyone any good on the city's streets, especially in this weather, but someone could get fairly deep into the Courtyard before finding roads the ponies hadn't cleared at all.

Simon went back down the stairs. Nathan followed him. They stood perfectly still-and listened.

Jester looked at his charges, then at the big flakes of snow that would have been prettier if there hadn't been so many of them.

Twelve little ponies all snug in their stalls, he thought. And one Coyote who was going to snuggle into the straw with them.

No point going to the Green Complex. He had everything he needed right here. And he wanted to keep an eye on the ponies, especially old Hurricane, who wasn't having an easy time making his way through the snow. That was something he needed to mention to Winter. The Elementals' steeds were slow to age, but even their time in the world came to an end, and their place was taken by youngsters who filled the same niche. Still, it was never easy when a pony reached his time, and Hurricane was a favorite of Air and Water.

He started to close the door all the way when he heard a sound and stepped outside to pinpoint the direction. A motor, yes, but not a BOW or any other vehicle used in the Courtyard.

Baring his teeth, Jester shifted his ears to their Coyote form to catch the sounds better. More than one vehicle with a buzzy motor.

Hadn't Meg said something about buzzy motors? And now that he heard them in a slightly different way, he realized he had heard this sound around the Courtyard over the past few days. But not inside.

he shouted.

His own warning was eclipsed by an explosion coming from the direction of the Utilities Complex.

Simon heard the explosion, pinpointed the direction, and shouted, while Nathan howled a warning.

The incredulity in Blair's voice swiftly changed to fury. No response. None was needed. Anyone coming in to blow up a part of the Courtyard would have guns.

Another explosion, the sound fainter and coming from the western side of the Courtyard-the side closest to Lakeside Park, the side where there was a gap in the fence because of the fire a few days ago.

Howls in the west from the Wolves responding to that threat. Nathan beside him, growling and restless, wanting to rush off and help the same way he wanted to meet the enemy and destroy them.

As Simon spun around to tell Meg he had to leave, Crows were screaming about attackers. And then he heard Jester's fear-filled and angry shout,

Jester listened as the Crowgard raised a call to battle, listened as that buzzy motor sound came closer and closer to the Pony Barn. He watched as smoke filled the winter sky above the Utilities Complex and thought, What else had Meg told them about the buzzy motors? Men dressed in black. Men with guns. Sam howling. But Sam wasn't howling. Plenty of other Wolves, but not the pup, so . . .

Hurricane bolted out of his stall in the back of the barn and cantered toward the open door where Jester stood, followed by Cyclone and Fog. A moment later, one stall window shattered, then another. And a moment after that . . .

"Out!" Jester shouted at the ponies as fire suddenly roared up from the deep beds of straw in two of the stalls. "All of you, get out!" Then he added in a shout to anyone who could hear him, Hurricane bolted out the door.

Buzzy motors. A gunshot. Blood spraying the snow as Hurricane went down.

Jester howled in fury and ran to the pony. Another shot as he dove for cover, Hurricane's dying body shielding him from the bullet.

The rest of the ponies shifted as they surged out of the barn. While they looked like horses, they were now the Elementals' steeds, and the screams of rage that rose from deep within the Courtyard as Hurricane died came from Earth, Air, Fire, Water . . . and Winter.

Cyclone and Fog were the next steeds out the door. As Fog ran, he instantly veiled the land all around the Pony Barn, while Cyclone whipped up the fallen snow into a smothering, stinging weapon. They chased the buzzy motors, no longer bound to flesh that would stumble in deep snow or be stopped by bullets.

Quicksand and Twister raced after Fog and Cyclone, while Tornado and Tidal Wave raced for the Utilities Complex, the snow spinning into a funnel around the hooves of one and rising in a growing wave behind the other. Avalanche kicked up the snow around the barn, smashing through the barn wall and sending a river of snow into the stalls to smother the fire.

Earthshaker and Mist galloped off, heading for the trouble in the western part of the Courtyard. Thunder and Lightning were the last two who leaped out of the barn, cracking the sky with savage light and a rumble that shook the ground.

"Wait!" Jester shouted at them.

They turned back, snorting and stomping.

He didn't know what to tell them. He took care of them as his service to the Courtyard, and they listened to him up to a point. But they weren't his to command.

Then he didn't need to decide what to tell them. In a voice filled with fury, Winter said,

Simon rushed up the stairs and almost knocked Meg over when he bounded into her apartment. He grabbed her arms, aware of Sam running out of the kitchen. The boy's eyes were bright, but Simon didn't have time to consider if that brightness came from excitement or fear.

"Meg, I have to go. The Courtyard is under attack. You and Sam stay here until I get back. Do you understand me? Stay here."

"Go," she said. "We'll be all right."

He raced down the stairs, and he and Nathan trotted toward the BOW. Then he stopped. Three entrances into the Courtyard could accommodate vehicles when the roads were clear. Someone must have come in through the Utilities Complex gate to cause that explosion. But there were also those two breaks in the fence where someone could sneak in. Someone had come in through the one on Parkside Avenue to cause the explosion in the western part of the Courtyard. The other one . . .

Growling, Simon turned to Nathan. "The hole in the Main Street fence is between our stores and the Green Complex."

Nathan said. "They have runners they can put on their feet. Skis," he corrected, thinking of the human word. "And those sleds with motors." Buzzy, annoying things, but maybe useful. "I'll find Blair. You check that hole in the fence and make sure none of those monkeys invading our land are trying to come here." He looked back at Meg's apartment.

Nathan took off. Simon ran to the BOW and headed for the Utilities Complex at a reckless speed.

Meg rubbed her sweaty hands on her jeans, then held one out to the boy. "Come on, Sam. We're going to stay at your house until Simon returns."

"But I wanna stay here," Sam protested.