“Ready,” she confirmed, feeling a familiar rush of adrenaline course through her. It was close to the kind of situation she’d been in many times over the years - standing outside a door, knowing there was a skip somewhere on the other side and not having anything apart from her own self and her wits to deal with them.
Girard led the way to the doors at the narrow end of the building and lifted the latch, surprise crossing his face when the door simply opened, with no resistance and no shouts from inside. He headed inside, Hallie at his heels. She pushed the door shut behind them and stood with him, letting her eyes adjust to the even poorer light.
The warehouse stank of fish. That was all Hallie could sense for a few breaths. There was a long table to one side, its surface stained with what might be fish blood and guts, and a large wooden barrel that Hallie’s nose told her was the source of much of the smell.
Farther along the warehouse, there were crates stacked in haphazard, untidy piles. Hallie spared them a brief glance, her attention turning to the side of the warehouse opposite the table, seeing at once why there were no guards. There was no need.
She’d seen some awful things in her life, but she knew that this sight would haunt her.
Nicholas and his men had put the children into a single cage. The structure was crudely made but looked more than strong enough to hold an angryveondkenor two, let alone frightened human children. No child should ever have to lookthat frightened, she thought, fury burning through her. The cage had been shoved against the wall of the warehouse, underneath a gap in the roof above which was letting through a shaft of brighter light. With the extra light, Hallie could see that the cage itself was not tall enough for even the youngest of the children to stand upright. All five of them were huddled together on the hard floor in the far back corner of the cage, eyes huge in their pale, drawn faces, expressions full of fear and wariness as they stared at Hallie and Girard. There was swelling and bruising on the faces of the two older children, but even as she noticed that, the older children - a boy and a girl - put their arms more securely around the younger three, drawing them closer, as if protecting them from the newcomers.
The sight of already frightened children flinching and cringing away from them made Hallie’s throat tighten and her wonder just what Nicholas and his bullies had done.
“Will you check the rest of the space while I get the children out?” Girard asked Hallie, voice low. He was doing his best to sound calm. She knew he wasn’t, from the set of his shoulders and the hint of fury in his voice.
She just nodded and headed into the building, not sure she could trust her voice at that moment.
There was nothing else alive in the warehouse. When she circled back to Girard, it was to find him crouching down outside the open door of the cage, speaking to the children in a soft, soothing voice. He glanced over his shoulder at Hallie.
“They won’t come out,” he said. “I’ve told them we’ll take them back to their parents, but they won’t move.” He straightened to his feet and took a step back. Hallie could see a reflection of her own fury on his face. “Will you try?”
She nodded and crouched down just outside the cage, leaving the doorway clear, but positioning herself so that they could allsee her. Perhaps taking a cue from her, Girard took another step back, giving the children more room.
“I’m Hallie. This is Girard. The Conclave sent us to find out what’s been going on here,” she said. A shading of the truth, perhaps, but it was what she wanted to do. “We met Sylvie and Donall and the others a little while ago. They’re in the meeting hall in the town centre,” she said, aiming for a calm, reassuring tone. The more she spoke, the easier it became as it wasn’t about her, it was about the frightened children. “They’ve really missed you, and they want to see you again. Girard and I both promised that we’d take you back to them.”
“Nicholas told us not to move,” the older boy said. His voice was trembling, and he was staring at her with an expression torn between childhood fear and the instinct to protect and guard the younger ones clinging to him.
“Xander, isn’t it? You and Nixie here have done a great job looking after the little ones,” Hallie said, naming the oldest girl, warmth in her voice. “But Nicholas isn’t the boss of you.”
The unexpected slang made him laugh, as Hallie had hoped it might. He relaxed a fraction and looked at the girl. Nixie. She looked so like her mother, Sylvie, at that moment that Hallie’s heart constricted. There was no way a thirteen year old girl should look that old or that wise.
“Come on,” Hallie said. “We’ll take you to your parents.”
“What then?” Nixie asked, on the cusp of moving. She sounded like a mix of both Donall and Sylvie just then. There was still suspicion in her face and voice. Hallie approved. Being wary was smart.
“Well, that’s up to all of you,” Hallie said. “From what I saw, I think your parents and the others might want to go back to Reunion.” Even as she spoke, the memory of the mass of burned creatures rose up. That morning she would have said it was no place for a child. Now, having seen where the children had beenkept, it seemed a far better option. And they would be with people who cared for them. Who let them use colour and their imaginations to create fanciful and vivid drawings.
“Yes,” Nixie said, fierceness in her face. “That’s our home now. Mum said. So did Dad.”
“That’s right,” Xander agreed, fear giving way to determination. “Donall and Sylvie said it’s going to be ours. Away from the stinkinghochlenand Nicholas and all the others.” Then he blushed, hot colour rising up his face, and looked at Girard. “I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “I didn’t mean anything by that.”
“It’s alright,” Girard answered, managing to sound amused. “It’s far from the worst thing I’ve been called.”
“Oh, really?” one of the younger children asked, looking up at Girard with open curiosity. “What’s the worst thing?”
Girard laughed and held out his hand. The child - a girl, Hallie thought, although it was hard to tell under the baggy clothes and with the knitted cap that covered almost her entire head - crawled out of the cage and put her hand into Girard’s.
That movement seemed to release the others and they all came tumbling out of the cage, scrambling to their feet.
“Well, let’s see,” Girard said. “I don’t think this is the worst thing, but my sister used to call me Groan.” Having met Girard’s sister once, Hallie had no difficulty in believing that.
“That’s not very nice,” the child holding his hand said solemnly. “I like Girard better.”
“So do I,” Girard answered with the same seriousness. He cast a glance over the rest of the group. “Ready to go?”
“Yes,” Nixie and Xander said together.
Hallie went ahead of the group to the warehouse door and took a peek out, making sure there was no one else in sight, before she opened the door wide enough to let everyone through.
