Count Jonty Um’s expression darkened. Elodie knew he hated to be feared, and now he was being told to take advantage of the terror.
Masteress Meenore knew, too. “You are a count—nobility. Use that if you can. But if you must, frighten them. You may save lives.”
The high brunka said, “How soon will you be there?”
“Before dawn.”
“Will you stay to help people off the mountain? Most folks live in the valley or on the lower slopes, but several families built their cottages high, to be with their flocks.” The high brunka clasped her hands in supplication. “Please help them.”
“You must not. You may be tempted by your unaccountably kind nature and by the direness of people’s need. Resist! I require the answers to my questions if my inquiry is to succeed.”
His Lordship raised his arms.
Elodie braced herself. She hated the shifts because His Lordship’s face bore such a look of agony. “High Brunka, it may not hurt as much as it seems to. He doesn’t say.”
“Thank you for telling me, lamb.”
His mouth opened in a silent scream; his eyes became slits; his nose wrinkled; his nostrils flared. His body vibrated, became a shrinking blur overwhelmed by his blue cloak and blue cap. His silver pendant on its golden chain slid off the pile of apparel. The ogre seemed to have disappeared.
High Brunka Marya breathed, “Where . . .”
The mound shook, jounced, bounced. Elodie pulled away the yards of cloth to reveal a yellow bird ruffling his feathers. Elodie saw His Lordship’s intelligence shining out of his deeply set eyes.
“Why doesn’t he go?” High Brunka Marya said.
Elodie remembered first. “He’s waiting for you to wind your medal around his neck.”
“Ah, yes.” She did so, and the swift tolerated her hands. She finished and stood.
Elodie, who hadn’t stopped watching her friend, saw the thought fade from the bird’s eyes.
Was he frightened to find himself in a stable, so close to a human, a dragon, a brunka?
He cheeped a high, whistling chirp and flew out into the night.
CHAPTER FIVE
The swift circled the stable once and flew north, his being almost overcome by the burdens the ogre had placed on him: a feeling, two images, and two memories. The feeling: urgency. The images: a volcanic mountain peak that looked like a gaping fish and a building with two chimneys and an attached stable. The memories: a long-haired dog and a girl with big eyes and a wide, expressive mouth.
The wind had died to a bare breeze. The snowflakes were shimmering sparkles. In his heart, urgency paired with the joy of flight.
CHAPTER SIX
Elodie missed her friend instantly. With careful fingers, she brushed hay off his beautiful cloak. Fly safely. Hurry back.
“Madam, a few questions before you and Elodie leave me.”
Leave IT? Of course, for the Oase. She was no use out here.
“When was the Replica stolen?” IT asked.
“I’m not sure. Within the last three days, certainly.”
Three days? Zertrum might already be about to spew! Lambs and calves! IT should have asked this before His Lordship left! Elodie squeezed his cloak, which filled her arms. What had they sent him into?
“Since then, has anyone departed the Oase?” IT asked.
“No one. I discovered the theft late this afternoon after the storm began. We have guests, which we rarely do this time of year—”
“Mmm.”
ITs Mmm always meant something. Elodie felt sure this one meant that these guests might have come in order to commit the theft.
“Poor Master Robbie—he’s a pup, as young as this lamb—grew bored because of the snow and being confined indoors. He asked to see the Replica again.” She added, “He saw it for the first time right after he arrived.”
Elodie decided Master Robbie was a boy, not a puppy. Had he really made his request out of boredom? She felt ITs eyes on her. They exchanged glances. Maybe the boy knew it was gone. She wondered why he was poor Master Robbie.
To the left of the stable door stood a rough cupboard, where she thought she might stow Count Jonty Um’s clothing. She went to it and lifted the wooden latch. What if the thief had hidden the Replica here, a reasonable spot for an escape on horseback?
But the shelves seemed empty. She used her own cloak to wipe away dust on a middle shelf and placed His Lordship’s cloak there, then returned to the heap on the floor for the rest of his things. His boots she placed below the lowest shelf. His silver pendant, which was very valuable, she pushed under his cloak toward the back of the cupboard.
High Brunka Marya was still explaining. “When I went to fetch the Replica, it wasn’t there.” She stood and paced. “I looked in other places, thinking I might have been absentminded when I put it away.” She stopped. “But I wouldn’t have been, not with the Replica. I’d never set it down anywhere except on its pedestal.”
“Did you raise the alarm?”