Guards of Haven: The Adventures of Hawk and Fisher (Hawk & Fisher) Read Online Free PDF

LUCY’S ESTABLISHMENT. The sign boasted a portrait of the lady herself, which suggested she’d looked pretty faded even when the sign was new. Hawk casually tried the handle. It turned easily in his grasp, but the door wouldn’t open. Locked. Surprise, surprise. Maybe he should have let Fisher have the front door after all. She was a lot better at picking locks than he.
    On the other hand ... When in doubt, be direct.
    He knocked politely on the door, and waited. There was a pause and then the door swung open, and a hand shot out and fastened on his arm. Hawk jumped in spite of himself, and his hand started towards his axe before he realized the person before him was very definitely not the spy Fenris. Instead, Hawk found himself facing a large, heavyset woman wrapped in gaudy robes, with a wild frizz of dark curly hair and so much makeup it was almost impossible to make out her features. Her smile was a wide scarlet gash and her eyes were bright and piercing. Her shoulders were as wide as a docker’s, and she had arms to match. The hand on his arm closed fiercely, and he winced.
    “I’m glad you’re here,” said the woman earnestly. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
    Hawk looked at her blankly. “You have?”
    “Of course. But we must hurry. The spirits are restless tonight.”
    Hawk wondered if things might become a little clearer if he went away and came back again later. Like maybe next year.
    “Spirits,” he said, carefully.
    The woman looked at him sharply. “You are here for the sitting, aren’t you?”
    “I don’t think so,” said Hawk.
    The woman let go of his arm as though he’d just made an indecent proposal, drew herself up to her full five-foot-nine, and fixed him with a steely glare. “Do I understand that you are not Jonathan DeQuincey, husband of the late and much lamented Dorothy DeQuincey?”
    “Yes,” said Hawk. That much he was sure of.
    “Then if you have not come to see me in my capacity as Madam Zara, Spirit Guide and Pathway to the Great Beyond, why are you here?”
    “You mean you’re a spiritualist?” said Hawk, the light slowly dawning. “A medium?”
    “Not just a medium, young man; the foremost practitioner of the Art in all Haven.”
    “Then why are you based here, instead of on the Street of Gods?” asked Hawk innocently.
    Madam Zara sniffed haughtily. “Certain closed minds on the Council refuse to accept spiritualists as genuine wonder-workers. They dare to accuse us of being fakes and frauds. We, of course, know different. It’s all part of a conspiracy by the established religions to prevent us taking our rightful place on the Street of Gods. Now, what do you want? I can’t stand around here chatting with you; the Great Beyond calls ... and I have customers waiting.”
    “I’m looking for the gentleman who just came in here,” said Hawk. “Tall, thin, wears a green cravat. I have a message for him.”
    “Oh, him.” Madam Zara turned up her nose regally. “Upstairs, second on the left. And you can tell the young ‘gentleman’ his rent’s due.”
    She turned her back on Hawk in a swirl of billowing robes, and marched off down the narrow hall. Hawk stepped inside and shut the door quietly behind him. By the time he turned back, Madam Zara had disappeared, presumably to rejoin her clients, and the hall was empty. A single lamp shed a dirty yellow glow over a row of coats and cloaks on the left-hand wall and a tattily carpeted stairway that led up to the next floor. Hawk took a small wooden wedge from his pocket and jammed it firmly under the front door. That should slow Fenris down if he made a run for it. Hawk carried lots of useful things in his pockets. He believed in being prepared.
    He drew his axe. The odds were that the spy Fenris was alone with his contact. He wouldn’t want to risk unnecessary witnesses. So, two-to-one odds. Hawk grinned, and hefted his axe. No problem. Things were looking up. If he and Fisher could bring in both the spy and