The Inexplicables (The Clockwork Century 4)

This gave Houjin an idea. He brightened. “Not necessarily. Captain Cly, he’s much bigger than a regular man. ”

“You think your Captain Cly chased me and tried to kill me? Because I don’t, and I haven’t even met the guy. Whatever it was, it wasn’t human. And it wasn’t ever human,” he said with certainty. “You saw it, too. You already admitted you did, so don’t go taking it back, now. ”

“But there’s the fog, and the Blight—it’s so hard to see anything that isn’t right in front of your face. All I saw was a shadow, coming up behind you. And yes, it was big, but…”

“What was big?”

Both boys jumped as if they’d been shocked. They turned to see a slender female figure in the doorway. Her hair was almost solid silver, and she wore it long down her back, but tied in a leather thong. She was Indian, Rector could see that at a glance, and he guessed she must be old enough to be somebody’s grandmother, but she didn’t look ready for a rocking chair. Everything about her was efficient and tough, from the fit of her clothes, which he guessed had once belonged to a man, to the rifle slung over her back.

Tough or no, she greeted Houjin with a toss of her head and a grin, saying, “Hey there, boy. Found yourself some company, I see. Where’s your usual shadow?”

“His mother wanted him over at the fort. I don’t know what for. This is Rector,” Houjin declared. “Rector, this is Miss Angeline. ”

“Ma’am,” he acknowledged.

“Huey pulled you out of the chuckhole, didn’t he?”

“Yes, ma’am, that was me. ”

She laughed. “Those damn holes. Half of them are older than the wall. Hit your head up good, I heard. ”

“Yes, ma’am. ” When in doubt, stay polite; that was Rector’s policy.

Miss Angeline came into the kitchen and helped herself to some of the salmon jerky, then pulled a bag off her shoulders and dumped its contents on the counter. “Picked up some cherries down south a bit, past where the Blight makes them taste funny. I ate some on the way here, but you kids are welcome to whatever’s left. ”

“Thank you, Miss Angeline!” Houjin jumped off his stool and helped himself to a handful. He offered a few to Rector, who accepted, then told the native woman, “It’s funny, right before you got here we were talking about just that—the chuckhole, and how Rector got there. ”

“Running through the dark in the Blight, I gotta assume. ”

“Yes, but running from something strange,” he replied, every word dripping with conspiracy. “Tell her, Rector. Tell her what you saw. ”

“Neither one of us saw it too good. As you were saying. ”

“Rotters?” she guessed.

Rector shook his head. “No, not rotters. Something bigger, and something that still had some brains in its head. It didn’t just chase me, Miss Angeline. ” Rector relayed the rest quickly, and with a shiver he hadn’t expected. “It stalked me. ”

Silence fell between the three of the

m. Rector gazed nervously at Miss Angeline, trying to figure out if she thought there was any truth to his story. She was thinking about it, which he appreciated. In his experience, ninety-nine people out of a hundred would dismiss any given claim out of hand when it came from someone like him.

She asked, “You said it still had some brains. How could you tell?”

It’d been an impression, really. An understanding he’d reached at some point, but when? Oh, yes, now he remembered. “It figured out which way I was running, and it got ahead of me. ”

She nodded. “Might’ve been thinking. Then again, maybe it was too big to follow the way you were headed. How big was it?”

“Big,” Rector said passionately, if uselessly. He attempted to clarify. “Bigger than a person, but smaller than … than … smaller than an elk. ”

“Is an elk the biggest thing you ever set eyes on?”

“Yes, ma’am. ”

“Huh. Mind you, bigger than a man and smaller than an elk—that could be Captain Cly. ”

Houjin grinned. “That’s what I said, too. ”

“Not that I think he’d come after you,” she was quick to add. “Huey, you saw this thing, too?”