'What was it you did to the vampires?' he said.
'Me? I didn't do- I don't know,' said Agnes.
'They couldn't even bite us properly.'
'And they were squabbling like kids when they left,' said the man with the mallet.
'You've got a pointy hat,' said Piotr. 'Did you put a spell on them?'
'I- I don't know. I really don't.' And then natural honesty met witchcraft. One aspect of witchcraft is the craftiness, and it's seldom unwise to take the credit for unexplained but fortuitous events. 'I may have done,' she added.
'Well, we're going after them,' said Piotr.
'Won't they have got well away?'
'We can cut through the woods.'
Blood tinted the rain that ran off the wound on Jason Ogg's shoulder. He dabbed at it with a cloth.
'Reckon I'll be hammerin' left-handed for a week or two,' he said, wincing.
'They got very good fields of fire,' said Shawn, who had taken refuge behind the beer barrel used so recently to wet the baby's head. 'I mean, it's a castle. A frontal attack simply won't work.'
He sighed, and shielded his guttering candle to keep the wind from blowing it out. They'd tried a frontal attack nevertheless, and the only reason no one had been killed was that the drink seemed to be flowing freely within the keep. As it was, one or two people would be limping for a while. Then they'd tried what Jason persisted in referring to as a backal attack, but there were arrow slots even over the kitchens. One man creeping up to the walls very slowly - a sidle attack, as Shawn had thought of it - had worked, but since all the doors were very solidly barred this had just meant that he'd stood there feeling like a fool.
He was trying to find some help in the ancient military journals of General Tacticus, whose intelligent campaigning had been so successful that he'd lent his very name to the detailed prosecution of martial endeavour, and had actually found a section headed What to Do If One Army Occupies a Well-fortified and Superior Ground and the Other Does Not, but since the first sentence read 'Endeavour to be the one inside' he'd rather lost heart.
The rest of the Lancre militia cowered behind buttresses and upturned carts, waiting for him to lead them.
There was a respectful clang as Big Jim Beef, who was acting as cover for two other part-time soldiers, saluted his commander.
'I reckon,' he ventured, 'dat if we got big fires goin' in frun' of the doors we could smoke dem out.'
'Good idea,' said Jason.
'That's the King's door,' Shawn protested. 'He's already been a bit sharp with me for not cleaning the privy pit this week-' ;You don't look better.'
'Young man, if we're going to wait for me to look interestin' we'll be here for years.'
She raised a hand and the wowhawk flew down out of the shadows.
'Good thing you were able to get a fire going, all the same,' she said, without turning round.
'I have always found that if I put my trust in Om a way will be found,' said Oats, hurrying after her.
'I reckon Om helps those who helps themselves,' said Granny.
Through the town of Escrow the windows glowed as lamps were lit and there was the sound of doors being unbolted. Over all, the bell went on ringing out through the fog.
'Normally we congregate in the town square,' said Vlad.
'It's the middle of the night!' said Agnes.
'Yes, but it doesn't happen very often, and our covenant says never more than twice in a month,' said Vlad. 'Do you see how prosperous the place is? People are safe in Escrow. They've seen reason. No shutters on the windows, do you see? They don't have to bar their windows or hide in the cellar, which I have to admit is what people do in the... less well regulated areas of our country. They exchanged fear for security. They-' He stumbled, and steadied himself against a wall. Then he rubbed his forehead. 'Sorry. I felt a little... strange. What was I saying?'
'How should I know?' snapped Agnes. 'You were talking about how happy everyone is because the vampires visit, or something.'
'Oh, yes. Yes. Because of co-operation, not enmity. Because...' he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face '... because... well, you'll see... is it rather cold here?'