The Wild Dead (The Bannerless Saga 2)

“I hope so.”

“Kellan’s not with them.”

“I doubt he has any desire to look at it again,” Enid stated.

They waited until the Last House folk caught up to them.

“Hola,” Enid said. “Thanks for coming down.”

“If you think it’ll help,” Mart said. He stood a little in front of the others, a leader. Or a protector.

“I do. She’s up this way.”

They started across the bridge.

“Kellan didn’t come with you?” Teeg asked.

“Figured he’d already seen it,” Mart explained. “I have to tell you, if he didn’t recognize her, the rest of us aren’t likely to. We all see the wild folk when they come downhill. If she wasn’t one of those . . .”

Enid looked over at him. “Even so—we just need to be sure.”

Chapter Eight • the estuary

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Folk of the Wild

As they came up to Bonavista, Juni watched from the porch of the main cottage. Neeve didn’t so much as glance over. They skirted around to the work house.

A couple of the household folk were out back, turning over reeds, drying them. They paused, looked up at the visitors. Stared. All of them had machetes hanging at their belts. Enid wondered, did the outsider folk carry machetes too? If she asked, what would Mart tell her?

She’d worried that they wouldn’t be able to find a killer here. But if she tilted her perspective just a little, everyone looked like a killer.

“Ready for this?” Enid asked. “She was in the water for a time, so keep that in mind.”

She went under the building first, knelt by the body, carefully folded back the canvas, like the wrapping on some dreadful gift. The hair was tangled, framing an ashen, swollen face. Enid debated about whether to expose the wound, and then decided yes, they needed to see everything.

Stepping back, she br

ushed her hands on her trousers and gestured to present the body. Watched their reactions closely.

Mart made a noise, a grunt of shock or sympathy. What anyone might do, seeing such a thing. Telman simply stared. He and Mart were both older, gruff. Like nothing ever surprised them. But this shook them.

Neeve’s expression didn’t change for a long moment, until she put a hand to her mouth and turned away, as if the reality of the image took a long time to sink in, and when it did, it horrified her.

Mart finally shook his head. “Who would do such a thing?”

“That’s what I hope to find out,” Enid answered. “Have you seen her before? Do you recognize her?”

Enid expected denials. The same head shakes. They were so isolated in their household, of course they wouldn’t know anything.

And then, barely loud enough to hear, Neeve said, “Yes, I know her.”

From just outside the work house, Teeg leaned in, eager. “You do? How?”

Telman, standing with Neeve now as if ready to hold her up, glanced back. Mart pursed his lips. None of them showed surprise—only resignation. Might the group have discussed denying this, insisting they’d never seen her? Then what would Enid have done? But it was out now.

“You all know her,” Enid said, nodding at the body. “You all recognize her. Even Kellan? Did he lie to us this whole time?”