EverNight

Chapter 2 – A New Lead

The wind whipped around her as she dug her heels into the sides of her mount, encouraging the white stallion into a gallop. The sun was setting, and what little light that filtered down through the thick branches above was fading fast. Kate Beckett knew that the lack of light would hamper her investigation. Esposito and a detachment of guards had preceded her while she'd talked with the commander of small squadron of soldiers garrisoned in a nearby hamlet from the location she'd been sent to investigate. They had been of little help, and the stop had only served as a delay.

The day had started off relatively calm in the city of Yorkshire and the surrounding villages. There had been no incidents aside from two tavern brawls, one pickpocket, and a heated quarrel between two pig farmers over a large sow about to give birth. However, after the midday meal, unusual reports had begun to filter in from vagabonds and merchants traveling along the forest roads. Kate had taken it upon herself to question one of the peddlers, a short round man with bushy eyebrows, and found that the true details hidden within his rather exaggerated recollection to be quite worrisome. She had immediately informed Captain Montgomery of her suspicions, after which he had ordered her to investigate.

In the distance Kate could spot the flickering orange light of torches and knew she had finally caught up with Esposito and the other city watch guards. As she neared them, she spotted what looked like some cutthroats attempting to snatch two small children. She watched as one of the archers launched an arrow, taking out the leader of the brigands. But the others had faster wits that she'd given credit, and were soon making off with the two boys.

"Esposito!" Kate called out as she pulled the reins back and brought her horse to a halt as she arrived on the scene. "Send five more men after those bandits. I want those boys rescued."

"On it, Lieutenant," he said with a brisk nod, and quickly issued out orders to his subordinates.

Feeling the tightness in her chest loosen after she watched five guards rush into the forest in the direction the bandits had absconded with the young boys, Kate slowly dismounted. One of the remaining guards quickly rushed forward to grab the reins as she stepped forward to confer with Esposito.

"What have we got?" she asked, all business. Early on in her service with the Yorkshire Watch, Kate had mastered the art of masking her emotions. Scenes like the one in front of them were rare, but never failed to remind her of a night nine years prior.

"This one here is our bandit leader," Esposito gestured to the large brute lying face first in the mud, blood slowly oozing out around him. "Went down with two arrows." He stepped over the body as Kate carefully maneuvered around it, avoiding the pooling blood. "This is the one I think you'll be more interested in."

"Indeed," Kate said with a raised eyebrow as she squatted down to inspect the original corpse. The jagged cuts and gashes were consistent with an animal attack. As always before examining a body, Kate took a moment to simply pause and reflect, to remind herself of the reason she'd taken up this calling. It was a ritual of hers. It helped keep her sane in the face of so much death.

"You think it was a wolf that did this?" Esposito questioned, cocking his head to the side as he stared down at the mauled body, and then after some thought added, "Or a pack of wolves?"

"No," she shook her head, glancing up at him before returning to her examination of the body. "See these slashes here," she indicated three large gashes along the man's chest with a finger. "These were made by one animal. A big one." She narrowed her eyes, pulling her lower lip under her teeth as she thought of the similarities to another attack.

"Like what?" Esposito asked, brow furrowing in befuddlement.

Kate sighed and ran her hand across her forehead. She looked up at him, unsure how to explain. Not many knew about her mother's death, and how profoundly it had affected her. She'd worked with Esposito for several years now, and he knew that the death of her mother had helped spur her into her current profession. But he did not know her theory on her mother's killer, and she was uncertain as to whether or not he would even believe it. Not many did.

According to the legends, their kind were attracted to red. And her mother had always been fond of the color, and even as a little girl would wear a red cloak, which had earned her the moniker of 'Red Riding Hood'. Johanna had continued to wear a red cloak throughout her life. She'd been wearing her favorite red cloak the night she'd been attacked and killed. Kate wore one herself, but now, it was out of defiance, goading them. She had spent the last nine years preparing, and she was ready. All she needed was to capture one, and maybe then she could find out who killed her mother.

Some people would have called the beast that killed her mother a lycanthrope, or werewolf to the common folk.

But not Kate.

To her, the beast that killed her mother would always be the Big Bad Wolf.

There were not many who would believe such tales of werewolves and the like, which was kind of odd considering the bountiful amount of wondrous and terrible creatures that inhabited the world. But no one had actually ever seen one. As a result, they inhabited a realm of lore alongside dragons, long since extinct, only the bones left behind as evidence of their existence.

"Did you ever hear tales of werewolves growing up?" she asked tentatively, cautiously hoping her colleague to trust her.

Esposito knitted his eyebrows together. "Yeah, my grandmother would tell us stories to warn us about staying out late at night." He paused, realization hitting him. He shook his head, casting a dubious look in her direction. "Oh, no, no, no. You don't seriously believe that… that a werewolf killed this man. Do you?"

Kate offered an ambiguous expression, and let him draw his own conclusions. She knew it was unlike her to show belief in such things, always a head in reality. But in this, there was no wiggle room. She was absolutely certain that a werewolf had killed her mother that fateful night, and that another one had attacked this man. And since the kill was fresh, it could very well still be stalking these very woods.

"Nah… you're pulling my leg? Right?" he narrowed his eyes and shook his head again. Little out a little laugh. "Good one, Beckett. You had me there for a second."

"Yeah, you got me," Kate relented with a forced laugh, easily lying. It was easier. She could see he was not ready to believe, at least not yet. There were other pressing matters at present. "Probably a wolf," she asserted as she stood up. "A large wolf."

Esposito nodded in agreement as they stepped away from the body. The carters would soon be arriving to carry the body back to the township mortuary. She did not envy the local undertaker his job. As Kate moved around the fallen bandit leader, she stopped and gazed down at the two arrows protruding from his body.

"Beckett?" Esposito inquired, unsure as to why she'd stopped.

One of the arrows was different. The arrow in the brute's neck was clearly Yorkshire crafted, the feathers was unmistakable unique to the fletchers of Dice Street. But the second arrow, the one in his chest, was different. The white feathers weren't from any common bird used by the Dice Street fletchers. She reached down and yanked the arrow out, examining the iron head.

"What is it?" Esposito inquired, watching her with hesitant eyes.

Kate handed the arrow to him and he examined it. "Just unusual," she said. "The Yorkshire fletchers use dark feathers."

"An arrow's an arrow," he offered with a shrug. "Our funds have been running low as of late. Doesn't matter wear we buy them, as long as they work."

"True," Kate sighed, rubbing her forehead. Maybe she was overthinking things and it was making her see patterns that weren't there. It had been a long day, and her long trip out here hadn't produced the results she'd been hoping for.

"Almost seems like a wasted trip," Esposito said, interrupting her thoughts as they walked back up to the road, "when all we have is a rogue wolf roaming the forest."

"I wouldn't say that," Kate gave him a little glare. "As would the families of those two young boys." She rested her hand on the pommel of her sword, glancing away to stare off into the woods. There was a menace out there, and it was taking all her willpower not to just march off and hunt it down.

"Speaking of," Esposito inclined his head towards the eastern road where the ten soldiers who'd been sent to rescue the boys were returning victorious.

The young lads both looked to be in shock and Kate offered up her mount to transport the boys back to their village. Esposito went with them, accompanied by the ten rescuers, leaving her with ten soldiers to scour the local vicinity for any evidence that might shed more light on the killing. But with the fast approaching nightfall, she doubted they would find anything.

"Lieutenant!" a man hissed from the far side of the road.

Kate glanced up from the tracks she was investigating. She trotted over, and he pointed out the disturbances made to the bushes along the small incline. There was barely enough light from the moon to spot the indications of footprints. She followed them as they trailed away from the road and into the brush, mysteriously stopping by the trunk of a gnarled looking tree.

She frowned and signaled from the guard to pull out his sword. Doing the same, Kate gripped the hilt of her sword tightly in her hand as she slowly paced around the tree, eyes wide and alert. Someone had been observing them. Controlling her breathing, Kate focused her senses on her surroundings. Any little detail could be crucial at a time like this.

The night was silent. Too silent.

Kate skidded around the tree, circling it once more as she looked for clues. There were no more tracks. They ended by the tree trunk and simply disappeared… or stopped. She glanced up at the guard and gave a slightly jerk of her chin. He nodded, understanding. Slowly, they tilted their heads up.

A shadow fell from above, colliding with her. Kate grunted as she collapsed to the ground. For a brief moment she was too stunned to act. She laid there, immobilized with surprise, before her facilities returned to her. Pushing up, she clutched her sword and swung it up in a defensive posture only to be met with nothing but air. Whatever had fallen upon them was gone. The guard was clambering up to his feet, shaking head, looking somewhat dazed. She looked at him and he looked back, equally perplexed. The watcher was gone.

Kate scowled in irritation and sheathed her sword. With the dwindling light it would be damn near impossible to trace the observers tracks. But she wasn't ready to give up just yet. She stalked back to the road, just in time to greet the undertaker as his cart rolled up.

"Lieutenant Beckett," he inclined his head in recognition. "It seems you've found me more than one corpse to haul away."

"Hope that's not too much of an inconvenience, Perlmutter," she replied with a straight face.

"Not at all," Perlmutter replied in his normal caustic manner. "The more the merrier."

Kate bobbed her head and moved away, letting the undertaker and his attendants get to work on moving the bodies. Perlmutter may be abrasive at times, but she respected his abilities. He was one of the few undertakes in all of five kingdoms who would actually perform a necropsy. She was tolerant of his acerbic attitude because she knew he would be able to provide her with detailed reports afterwards.

"What are your orders, Lieutenant?" one of the guards asked.

She furrowed her brow and watched as Perlmutter and his assistants moved the bodies into the cart. Sighing, she turned away and glared out into the darkening forest. "It's too dark to do much else," she said. "We'll camp here for the night and do a proper search in the morning."

Something had to give. Kate had been hunting for clues about the mysterious beast that had killed her mother for years, and now that it appeared similar attacks were occurring, she found herself with little to no evidence to back up her claims that it was the work of the Big Bad Wolf, or similar creatures. But tonight had been different. Someone had been observing the crime scene. And if she trusted her abilities to detect the minutest detail, Kate was positive that their observer had been there long before her or her men had arrived.

He knew something. And Kate was not going to let this lead slip past her fingers.