The Wild Dead (The Bannerless Saga 2)

“Enid,” he said, coming up beside her. “We’re never going to find the weapon. We’re never going to find who did it.”

“We don’t know that. We’ve only just started poking at wasp nests.”

“It’s too . . . it’s too . . .” He shrugged expansively, arms raised.

“Too what?” Enid asked.

“It’s too much.”

She said, “If you had a chance to find the weapon. If you assumed that someone wouldn’t throw away a thing as valuable as a good sharp blade, in a settlement that doesn’t have a blacksmith, what would you do?”

He thought, staring ahead, steps pounding. “Track down every blade in town. Can’t really look for blood—the killer would have washed it, yeah?”

“Likely.”

“Then we’d have to follow the body. Track where she was and what she was doing before she died. But that would mean—”

“Yeah. We talk to her people.

”

“That’s not realistic. It’s outside our watch.”

“That boy might come back.”

“Or he might not.”

“Then maybe we should wait and see.”

“Enid—”

She cut him off with a gesture; they’d arrived back at the clearing and shouldn’t be seen arguing in front of the local folk.

The pyre was sinking to ash, and most of the Estuary folk had drifted off. And why should they stay to watch the whole thing burn? The woman wasn’t theirs.

Kellan had a length of rusted rebar that he was using to poke at the base of the pyre, collapsing ashes, bringing air to the buried segments of wood, causing flames to rise up again, then subside. The barest shape of Ella was still visible, a shadow buried in light. There were bones, charred, broken. After dark the last of the embers would glow orange, and fade.

Mart had brought out a low stool and sat fireside, whittling on a length of wood. A spoon, looked like. Something with a long handle for stirring. Enid eyed the knife he was using, but it was too small to have made the wound that killed Ella.

Enid came up beside him. “How are things?”

“Calm,” Mart said, and Kellan shrugged, seeming to agree. “Sad. She was just a kid, really.”

“You knew her well?”

He paused a moment and shook his head. “Not any better than anyone else around here. Just saw her the few times. It’s still sad.”

“You ever meet an outsider named Hawk?” she asked. “Young man, about this tall?” She gestured to indicate a height close to her own.

The two men looked at each other. Kellan seemed stricken, like she’d just accused him of something. Mart managed to settle his expression and put on a thin smile. “Yeah, sometimes. He’d come with Ella but never stayed long.”

Enid pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “I just talked to him. He’s been watching from the trees. He seemed angry.”

Mart shook his head. “Poor kid. Did you have to tell him what happened?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“He liked her,” Mart said.