Telepath Read online

  Lizeth frowned, shaking her head, “I’m just really fast.”

  “Oh, I’ll agree that you’re really quick. But you’re not just reacting faster than anyone else possibly can. You’re reacting before your opponent even starts.”

  She snorted dismissively, though Tarc saw the doubt in her eyes, “No one can do that.”

  “You’re almost right. Almost no one can. But you’re someone who can. Think about how you called the coin correctly every time—just before I revealed it to you. Because you could see it uncovered in the future.”

  “Are you accusing me of witchery?!” she asked in a seething tone.

  “No, I’m saying you have a talent. You’re not casting spells. You have an ability. You’ve got something that almost no one else has. And I’m not accusing you. If I accused you, I’d have to accuse myself since I also have a talent.”

  She snorted, “A talent for throwing knives. Yeah, I’d agree with that one.”

  He shrugged, “I’m not any better at throwing them than you are. My talent lets me push them back onto the target after they’re thrown.”

  “Bullshit!”

  Tarc shrugged again, “It’s true. And you have a strange ability too. Don’t be ashamed of it, but don’t tell anybody about it either. There are people who’d call it witchery and might try to kill you for it.”

  She shook her head, “That is the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard.” She turned and strode away.

  “Lizeth!” he called after her.

  She didn’t slow.

  I’ll let her calm down, he thought.

  Chapter Six

  When the sun was directly overhead, Daussie and Kazy climbed the steps to the Odd Duck tavern. Kazy pulled the door open somewhat tentatively. Daussie peered inside but didn’t see Daum or Eva, only a scattering of strange men.

  Kazy said, “Some of those guys are complete buttwipes. Let’s sit outside on the stairs.”

  As they settled onto the stairs, Daussie asked, “How far away can you tell about people? You know, what kind of people they are?”

  Kazy got a thoughtful look. “The closer they are, the more I can tell.” She tilted her head, “It also seems to depend a little bit on whether I already know them. For instance, I kind of always know where you are, even if you’re all the way across the camp. But, to tell whether strangers are decent guys or jerks—they have to be within 15 to 30 meters. Complete assholes kind of light up the room. So, looking in the door there, I could’ve had some idea about any person in it. But mostly I noticed that three of the five guys at the table nearest to the door were real SOBs.” The door creaked open behind them and Kazy scowled without looking around, “Those three jerks who’re in the doorway now.”

  Daussie turned to look at them. They’ve had a lot to drink, she thought unhappily.

  One of them said, “You girls are pretty. Real pretty. Especially you, blondie.”

  Disgusted that the men had only come out because they thought she and Kazy were pretty. And irritated because they differentiated between her and Kazy’s looks, Daussie said, “And you guys are drunk. Drunk, unpleasant, and dirty. Please, just leave us alone.”

  “Ooh,” the one who’d spoken before said in a cheerful tone. “She’s got a mouth on her. I like a mouthy bitch.” He lifted an eyebrow at his companions and his tone turned ugly, “It can be so much fun… Teachin’ ’em not to be so mouthy.” Suddenly he clapped his hands to his face. He gasped, then coughed violently. Sinking to his knees, he started hacking and snorting.

  His two friends stared at him.

  Daussie put a concerned tone in her voice. “Looks like he’s gotten sick. You guys should take him to a healer.”

  The men looked at one another, then after a few more seconds, they bent and each took an arm.

  As they started to lift him, Daussie said, “Unless, you think you might catch it from him?”

  One lifted his hand and wiped at his nose. Then the other. They dropped their friend and backed away into the Odd Duck.

  Kazy whispered frantically, “What just happened?!”

  Daussie eyed the man, on his hands and knees, hacking and snorting just outside the doorway. Speaking softly, she said, “I teleported some cayenne into his nose. Then a tiny bit of chili pepper into the other guys’ noses. I think I overdid it on the first guy.”

  “Teleport it back out!”

  “I would, except he’s hacked and coughed and spread it all around. His nose is full of slime and he’s moving all around so it’s hard to find it.” She got up and started walking toward the man.

  “What’re you doing?!”

  “Getting closer so I’ll have better control.” Daussie started teleporting the mucus out of the man’s nasal cavities and airway. She only moved it far enough so it’d fall into the big puddle he’d already coughed up. She looked up at Kazy, “Go ask inside for a glass of water. Maybe I can help him wash some of it out.”

  She kept cleaning out the mucus, taking it out right back to the membranes inside his nose, hoping she’d get the capsaicin with it. When Kazy came back out with the water, she teleported some of it into the back of the man’s nasal cavity and sinuses just after he’d finished inhaling. He sneezed and coughed, blowing snot violently out across the porch.

  When she looked up, she saw her parents standing there with Vyrda. “What happened to that guy?” Eva asked distastefully.

  Daussie opened her mouth to explain what she’d done, then realized her mother hadn’t told Vyrda that Daussie could teleport. She shrugged, “I think some kind of bug flew into his nose.”

  Eva rolled her eyes.

  Daussie knew her mother’d seen right through her explanation.

  ***

  Back in camp that night, Eva pulled Daussie aside while the others were making a small dinner just for the Hyllises. She asked what’d really happened at the Odd Duck. Daussie pulled her agate amulet up out of her shirt and explained how she’d hollowed out two chambers inside of it. “The bigger one has finely ground chili pepper. The smaller one contains cayenne.”

  She explained how the men had been acting toward Kazy and her, then told Eva what she’d done. “I think I used too much cayenne. I’ve been thinking of the chili pepper as something that makes people sneeze, and that cayenne’s just something that would make them sneeze even more.” She shook her head, “I think cayenne’s a whole ’nother level.”

  Eva laughed, “Yeah, a ‘whole ’nother level’s’ about right.” She gazed at her daughter for a moment, then said, “I agree that you should have a weapon that doesn’t kill someone, or even do long-lasting damage like breaking their arms. This pepper trick… I think it’s pretty good, but maybe the tendency for the pepper flakes to stay in the person’s nose isn’t so good.

  “I’m pretty sure we could extract some cayenne into alcohol—using some of your father’s moonshine. Then you’d have a liquid that wouldn’t stay stuck to the mucous membranes. It’d be easier to wash out of your victim. You could put different concentrations of the extract in the two chambers of your amulet. A weak weapon and a strong weapon so to speak, like you intended with your two peppers. The weak one could be more like a sneeze agent than a weapon.”

  “Thanks. Those are great ideas,” Daussie said with a mischievous grin.

  Her mother didn’t grin back. Instead, she said, “Have you ever heard the old saying, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can’t hurt me?’?”

  “Yeah…” Daussie said unhappily, feeling a scold coming on.

  “I think it’s great that you have a weapon, and one that’s relatively mild. But, I’d be disappointed if you started using it on everyone who said something irritating. I hope you’ll use it to protect yourself and others from real injury, but not just because you’re having a fit of pique.”

  “Yes Mom,” Daussie said, eyes downcast. “I already told myself I’d way overdone it on that guy. And, that I needed to be more careful.”

  Eva gave her a
wry grin. “The old saw isn’t completely right. Words can hurt. But making someone sick because they said something hurtful… I think that’s overkill. Others might disagree, but… A problem is that it might not even teach them a lesson since they’re unlikely to associate their illness with what they said to you.”

  Daussie sighed, “You’re right. I’ll try to do better.”

  Eva put an arm around her shoulders, “That’s all any of us can ever do.”

  ***

  They gathered to eat, everyone knowing it was going to be kind of a family meeting. After they’d all eaten at least part of their meal, Daum cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. First, he spoke to Farlin, Nylin, and Grace, “It looks like we’re going to be staying here in Clancy Vail. You need to figure out what you’re going to do.” He looked around at the younger Hyllises to gather their attention, then glanced at Vyrda, “Vyrda found us a tavern owner who’s in financial difficulty. He hasn’t been making enough money to pay the lease on the land, so he’s anxious to sell his building.”

  Kazy, always interested in the financial aspects of business, asked, “Shouldn’t you be worried about whether you’ll be able to succeed where the previous owner couldn’t?”

  Daum said, “We should, and we’ve given it some thought. The tavern, called the Hidden Underground, didn’t have any customers when we were there today. If you don’t have any customers, you can’t make any money. We sampled their food and beer.” He shrugged, “We thought it was pretty bad, so it’s our belief that their problem has been poor quality. If your food and your beer aren’t good, it’s almost impossible to compete with an established tavern like the Odd Duck.”

  Daussie interjected, “Even the Odd Duck’s food didn’t really compare to Mom’s cooking. And, I thought their beer was watery and sour.”

  Daum continued, “If we’re able to build a business like we had back in Walterston, it seems like we could reasonably afford the cost of the lease. It’s a lot, but it’s also the only tax we’d have to pay.”

  Though Daum had been matter-of-fact and businesslike, when Eva spoke her excitement showed through. “It really isn’t much of an inn, having only six rooms—remember we’d be living in at least three of them. Renting the three other rooms wouldn’t provide much income, but if we’re able to build up a good business as healers, they’d be nice for patients who weren’t well enough to go home. The stove in the kitchen’s awful, but we could use the traveling one from the wagon until we could invest in a better one.” She went on to list some of the other problems with the building, and what she thought could be done to remedy them.

  Tarc said, “What’re we going to do with the wagon?”

  Daum glanced at Eva, “I think we should keep it. At least for a while. There’s room to park it behind the tavern next to the stable. Then if we changed our mind it wouldn’t be so difficult to get back on the road. Also, if the Baron decided to raise our rent, it’d give us a way to haul away our stuff.”

  “You’re going to keep the mules?”

  Daum shook his head, “We’ll sell four right away. We’ll need the money. We’d be able to pull the wagon with two mules and two horses if we were forced to leave in a hurry.”

  Daussie frowned, “Should we be feeding two mules that aren’t earning their keep?”

  Eva grinned, “Yes. Vyrda also managed to find the man who has the lease on a certain bit of property north of town. Apparently, he’d been looking to unload the lease for some time now because the land isn’t productive.”

  Tarc gave her a look. “Are you saying he doesn’t know about…?” He trailed off, not wanting to talk about the salvage possibilities in front of non-family.

  Eva didn’t seem worried about keeping it secret. She smiled again, “Yes, he knows. That was one of his selling points. He acted like it was a big secret, practically whispering that a big ancients’ room had been found underground. Told me it probably had some salvage in it. Kazy was with me when I talked to him and she thinks he’s convinced all the good stuff got stolen out of it the night after it was discovered—not that he told us anything about the theft. Since we’re pretty sure we’ll be able to find some salvage the thieves didn’t find, we’re going to take over that lease too. We hope we’ll need those two mules to haul salvage.”

  Farlin interjected, “You’re basing a major financial decision on what Kazy thinks the man believes?”

  Eva twinkled, “Kazy’s a surprisingly good judge of character.” She lifted an eyebrow, “Remember, she’s the one who vouched for you. She said you weren’t the same as the other Ragas.”

  Farlin said, “I remember…” He turned to Kazy, “and I thank you.” But then he gave Eva a doubtful look, “Even if Kazy judged the man’s character correctly, that doesn’t mean he’s wrong about whether there’s any salvage left.”

  Eva opened her mouth to respond but subsided at a look from Daum. He turned to Farlin, “You may be right. Unfortunately, we’ve already committed ourselves to a year’s lease.” He glanced at Eva, “Which was a decision we may come to seriously regret.”

  Eva giggled, far too happy to suggest she gave much credence to Daum’s concern. She said, “If I’m wrong, we might have to haul that wagon out of town in a big rush after all… But I don’t think it’s going to turn out that way.”

  Tarc said, “If we’re staying in Clancy Vail, you need to know we had a little run-in with Vyrda’s fiancé today.” He glanced at Vyrda and said, “Sorry.” Then he described what’d happened.

  Vyrda looked appalled, “George’s been… bossy. I thought it was just his way of being attentive, but…”

  Eva said, “If I were you, I wouldn’t return to your home or your shop alone. Controlling men like that… sometimes they decide to punish their woman for her imagined transgressions.” She shrugged, “You know him better than we do. Do you think…” Eva trailed off, leaving the rest to Vyrda’s imagination—and everyone else’s as well.

  Vyrda slumped. “He’s always saying how he wouldn’t let his woman do this, or wouldn’t let her do that. But I’ve always thought it was just talk. He’s been so sweet…”

  Eva shook her head in dismay, “The worst of those ‘controlling’ men always seem to start out sweet.”

  Speaking just a little louder than a whisper, Vyrda said, “I know. I’ve taken care of enough of their women.”

  “You want to stay with us tonight?” Eva asked.

  Vyrda nodded, a lost look in her eyes.

  “We’ll take care of you,” Eva said firmly, putting an arm around Vyrda’s shaking shoulders.

  Daum sighed and looked around at the group. “Unfortunately, we’ve got to keep talking about our other business. The fact that the caravan’s leaving tomorrow has really put a rush on our decisions. We were forced to make up our minds about staying here in just one day. Much more quickly than I’m comfortable with. In view of the fact that we might’ve made a rash decision. I think we’ll keep all the mules for a week or two. That way, if something sours the deal we’d be able to try to catch up to the caravan.”

  Farlin gave him a wide-eyed look, “Surely, after what happened to us, and, what nearly happened to you, you wouldn’t go on the road by yourselves, would you?”

  Daum shrugged, “We were on the road by ourselves when we picked you up.”

  “You had Lizeth! Well, and the Ropers. I know they’re not much for fighting, but just the presence of more bodies tends to inhibit raiders. I can tell you that from listening to them talk.” Daum was taking a breath to respond, but Farlin continued, “And, don’t forget, even when you did have those extra people the Ragas still attacked you.”

  Tarc felt surprised by how it seemed to have slipped Farlin’s mind that they’d dispatched the Ragas. Though I guess he has no idea what actually happened. He may think the Ragas fled after a couple of them got hit by lucky arrows. Or, he’s seen Lizeth wielding her sword and thinks she killed a couple of them and the rest of them ran.

 
Daum—apparently not wanting to appear bold in the face of danger—waved his hands as if in surrender, “I agree, we don’t want to head out on the road by ourselves if we don’t have to. We’d have to have serious problems here in Clancy Vail before hitting the road again would seem like the lesser of two evils.” He paused a moment, then said, “What’re you planning to do?”

  Farlin looked distressed, “Nylin and I have to go with the caravan tomorrow. We need to get to Murchison for her wedding. But I’ve already spent the entire afternoon trying to work out how we can do it. I’ve asked all the caravaners but none of them were willing to take us for our labor. They all insist we pay for our passage in addition.” He gave Daum an appraising look, “I spoke to Tarc about this earlier today and I’m hoping he broached it with you. I’m wondering if you’ll consider making us a loan. Once Nylin’s married, we should have little difficulty paying you back. Her fiancé’s family is quite wealthy.”