The Witch Watch Read Free Page A

do wonder what that was all about. They’re wizard hunters. Well, wizard killers, really. I wonder why they would bring along a woman for grim work like that.”
    “Let us make every effort to not find out,” Gilbert suggested.

     
    “We need to find out where they ran off to. That was an abomination, for sure,” Alice insisted. She was standing with Captain Turpin in front of the tomb, looking off into the distance where the fugitives had vanished into the trees.
    The captain nodded. “I’ve sent Lieutenant Stanway after it with the rifles.”
    “Not all of them,” objected Private Archer, holding up his own rifle.
    “All of the other rifles, then,” the captain said with irritation, obviously not appreciating the correction from a subordinate. Turning back to Alice he said, “Jack won’t give up the chase easily. You know how he is about the undead. You and I need to sort out things with these four.” He pointed at the old men gathered in a heap at the door of the tomb, “No good all of us running off and leaving them loose to make more trouble.”
    Alice relented with a nod. Of course the captain was right. She wanted to chase after the abomination because it was the most interesting of the problems at hand, but interesting threats weren’t always the most dangerous.
    She and the captain stooped down and searched the robed men while Private Archer stood with his rifle ready in case any of the men proved more dangerous than they seemed. The captain seized the swords and daggers the men had been carrying. All of the prisoners were alive. Two were conscious, although stunned and muttering incoherently. One of these had a broken nose.
    “I wonder why the abomination attacked them?” the captain muttered.
    “Perhaps it’s a feral. They might have botched the revivification,” Alice said, chewing on her lip thoughtfully. The question had been loitering in her mind as well.
    “It didn’t look feral to me.”
    “No, it didn’t,” she admitted. “It ran away, and not towards us when we started shooting. I suppose it could have been a betrayal. These foul sorts are always plotting, even against each other.”
    The captain examined the tomb entrance. A door of iron bars hung open, and a broken chain was piled nearby. He lifted a padlock and held it up to the light for Alice to see. It had been covered with a wax seal. “Looks like the church sealed this place up, and this lot opened it again.”
    “They didn’t have a key, or they would have used it instead of cutting the chain. And they were up to no good, or they would have called a locksmith. Let’s see what we can learn inside.”
    “Archer, watch these men,” said the captain. “Keep them here. Shoot them if they give you any trouble. And watch out for spellcraft. They’re dazed now, but we don’t know how they’ll behave once they recover their senses.”
    Private Archer sighed and assumed his post guarding four helpless old men.
    Alice took the lantern and led the way in. She was very relieved that their working relationship had advanced to the point where the captain no longer insisted on marching out in front. She didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know that he would follow her down the steps.
    She was glad she’d chosen to wear trousers. She disliked showing off her legs like this, but practicality should always come before propriety. She was wearing a man’s trousers and jacket that had been tailored to her unusually narrow frame. She was wearing sturdy riding boots, which came up almost to her knees. She tried to offset the masculinity of her outfit by growing her hair long, and tying it up in many colorful ribbons.
    “What does your device say, Miss White?” The captain asked.
    Alice consulted her ethergram, which was mounted on her arm with rough leather straps. She flicked one of the dials a few times and watched the needle in silence. “Nothing. No spellcraft, at least. There’s a bit of activity, but I’d say