Chasers of the Wind Read Online Free PDF Page A

as evidence of his peaceful intentions even stepped back toward the gates.
    “So you understand that these whispers of so much money have not gone unnoticed. Your life is at risk.”
    “What else did my old friend wish to convey?”
    “Not much else. It was Joch Threefingers who named the price.”
    Fire flashed in his gray eyes. And then it instantly faded.
    “Well. Thank you for the news. Give Mols my thanks.”
    “Actually, he’d much prefer that you gave it to him personally.”
    “I’ve not been missing Al’sgara so much that I would return.”
    “It’s dangerous here—all the rats know you. Don’t flee. We’re staying at the inn. We’ll be there for five or six days. If you change your mind, let us know.”
    “An honorary escort?”
    “Something like that. Take it easy.”
    Without saying a further word, Whip walked to the gates. Midge was the last to exit. True to form, he left walking backward.

 
    2
     
    I wasn’t about to show them out. That would have been too great an honor. I stayed on the porch, watching as the runt closed the gate behind him. That fellow is truly repulsive. In the good old days in Al’sgara I’d had a face-off with him. At the time, it was Midge who had to step aside. But that doesn’t mean that he recognized my right to take the best contracts. Far from it. It was nothing more than a temporary, forced retreat. And now, despite all the years that have passed, I could expect trouble from him at any moment. I will not turn my back on him.
    The unexpected arrival of my former business associates had made quite an impression on me. The Damned take them! Until now I had thought us impossible to find. Five years of moving from place to place and all of it in vain!
    We hadn’t lingered anywhere for long, and we didn’t allow ourselves to become acquainted with anyone, let alone befriend them. We held ourselves stiller than the water under the grass. Layen and I knew that regardless of the fact that we were long dead to all, they would keep looking for us. Especially in the first two years.
    We successfully avoided the roundups. At that time the Guards, the Viceroy’s soldiers, and the Walkers’ people were searching for a man and a woman. Twice they all but caught us, and twice we escaped by the skin of our teeth. Then, when the worst was over, we kept being cautious. Thus another three years passed. Subsequently, believing that everyone had forgotten about us, I brought Layen to the very outskirts of the Empire. To the south. Beyond the Blazgian swamps. To the forest.
    We had spent two tranquil and happy years in this village. Neither my wife nor myself was especially overjoyed to live in such a godforsaken place, but we needed to bide our time, wait it out a little longer, and then head to the sea and try to find passage on a boat of some kind. To sail off somewhere even farther away.
    And now, just when I had begun counting the days until our departure, the past, from which we so long and successfully ran, was insensitive enough to just show up at our door. It passes all understanding how they could have found us after we’d run like jackrabbits, twisting our trail so the hounds wouldn’t catch us.
    It’s laughable!
    That which the spies of the Walkers could not accomplish, that old buzzard Mols had pulled off with ease. How? How, the Abyss take me, had he found us out?
    The door swung open and Layen sat down next to me. We were silent for a time. We just listened as Whip’s associates climbed up onto their horses and rode away from the house.
    “What do you think?” I asked my wife.
    “They speak the truth—you can’t run from the past; sooner or later it will catch up with you. We have maybe a week, but no more. Then it will be too risky to stay here.”
    “It’s too bad we’ll have to leave all this. It’s a good house.”
    And I really did think it was too bad. It’s funny. All the time I was dreaming about leaving this hellhole, but now the time has come