CHAPTER 1: Sniffing Around
A massive dog that outweighed most men sniffed the air despite the steady rain washing away lingering scents. Fawkes Fairchild stepped off the dock, patting the dog who swung his nose towards the biggest of the three docks and growled.
"Too many men to pick out a single scent from this far." Fawkes grimaced at the only ship there chock full of thieves who had murdered his Grandfather. A sailor stood by crates at the bottom of the gangplank and two more wandered on deck. The hilts of cutlasses buckled at their waists over cowled longcoats of river lion skin that kept off the rain declared the sailors on the Eddy Rider nervous. On the third dock, made low to berth fishing boats, at least half a dozen fishers sat under simple deck tents aboard their boats as they drank rum and fondled their heavy turtling spear. All the while they stared at the ship, eagerly waiting for a sailor to step off their dock.
"Let's hope we don't have to look there, JuJu." He gave the Eddy Rider one more glare then turned away before any of the sailors noticed him staring. Despite trading spices from his keelboat, the fishers considered him one of their own. The last thing he needed right now was for any of the Hand, the gang of thieves who owned the Eddy Rider, to be even more suspicious of him.
He sighed. Shyri Cragjumper, the lovely girl he adored, had come to him all distraught that her annoying little brother Thimmy had gone missing. Wracked with guilt that he had been taken by the Hand while out looking for her when she had stuck out to be with Fawkes last night, she had begged him to help her find Thimmy. It had hurt deeply to see her tears and that she felt she had to beg for his help. That second pain had passed quickly, though, and his heart forgave her. The guilt tearing through her had been an agony to see and, had she been fully herself, nothing he said would have sent her home.
"Let's go." Fawkes strode out of the dockyard.
JuJu led the way into town. Their only chance of finding Shyri's little brother was by finding his fresh scent. Whatever scent trail the boy left last night was either washed away or trampled over by who knows how many feet. The huge dog had a magically discerning nose but even a gentle breeze could carry a scent astray before washing it out. JuJu had to get close to every building or hideaway they could find to be sure that was the source of any scent he caught.
A good-sized town of about four hundred people, Blackstone would take time to search. It would be faster if JuJu's brother PeyPey came with them but that would leave the Gosling unprotected. His cabin door was magically locked while the only window that was too small for a man to wriggle through was intricately locked. Normally that would do, but the Hand had made some weak attempts for the keelboat so it was best PeyPey stood guard. Even better would to not go meandering about town but he had promised Shyri he would find her brother and, by Boki, he would.
As they trudged along the wet streets, a woman or two would dash in and out of one shop or the other. Men strolled in pairs or trios, all of them armed with a truncheon or dagger. Some walked about town looking for Thimmy. Others wandered about looking to either start trouble, end it, or run. Even the town watch went in pairs.
A shout came from down the street. Whirling with a hand to his dagger, Fawkes relaxed though not by much. Three men stood blocking the street as they faced two of the town watch. A woman stepping out of a shop with her basket full took one look at the two groups of men and dashed back inside. A pair of men behind the town watch stopped. They stood taller and dropped their hands to the cudgels looped to their belts.
"Damnation. That's Gyro, blocking the way. " Fawkes muttered under his breath, his hand still on his dagger. What in Inferna was Shyri's eldest brother getting up to? JuJu grunted, an ear turning back to catch the words Fawkes spoke.
After a long moment of eerie silence, the two town watchmen turned around and strode away. The pair of men reaching for their cudgels quickly moved their hands away and stood aside to let the watchmen pass.
"Things are gonna get bloody if Thimmy stays missing."
Growling out a groan, JuJu snorted and returned to sniffing the air.
For three more hours Fawkes and JuJu wandered about town. They came across two more tense moments but no signs of Thimmy. Fawkes considered searching the wild orchard until JuJu grunted out a low growl.
They were on the east edge of town now, near the warehouses and Haggler's Storehouse, a Hand hangout. The big bay doors were partly open with a man standing just inside. Mallets tapping on barrels and men Jovially calling to each other sounded out from the storehouse, a warning that there were plenty of them inside. The massive dog stopped and stood sniffing the wind.
"Careful, JuJu." Fawkes did his best to look bored and uninterested in the storehouse.
Snorting, JuJu peed at the end of the wide wagonway before leading Fawkes past the rest of the warehouses and into the rough growth. Fawkes, though worried someone from the storehouse watched them, did not hesitate or call JuJu away from whatever he was interested in.
The big dog continued toward the river before stopping in a thick stand of chokecherry trees. He turned to sniff at the warehouses.
"Damn. Thimmy is here?"
JuJu shook his head but narrowed his eyes. He kept sniffing.
"What is it then?"
JuJu sniffed hard as the wind drifted by. He went down the short steep bank. and stepped into the water sniffing towards an old boathouse about fifteen paces from the shore. Looking back at Fawkes, he whined.
Fawkes stared at his dog, then back at the boathouse. It had a solid rock foundation that rose two feet above the water. The wood was all Thrundank timbers, which explained why they were still standing despite their ages of being over water. What had drawn JuJu off the search for Thimmy?
JuJu whined again and looked at Fawkes, giving his tail a slow wag.
"This is not the best time to go swimming," Fawkes protested but he took off his cowled longcoat and draped it over a low bush. Its muted browns blended well with the brush, making it hard to see unless someone came walking down the bank.
"This had better be worth it." Sitting on a rock, Fawkes pulled off his boots and stuffed a sock into each one. Hanging them upside down on branches beneath his slicker, he stood up. He hated wearing wet boots.
Gritting his teeth, Fawkes waded in until the cold water was halfway up his thighs. Sucking in a deep, bracing breath, he dove in, low and quiet. Sheer reflex from the river hitting him below the belt made him surface. Managed not to gasp or splash, he regained his breath. Wanting to get this miserable swim over with, Fawkes made another quiet dive and swam for the boathouse, JuJu beside him.
