Chapter 4: Tracking

Vincent shook off the memories.

He sighed, and then he focused on the report he was writing. He concentrated on getting it complete. He had just finished when Paul came back with Ty. The prisoner had been conscious for a while, but Vincent hadn’t spoken to him. When he and Ty stood in front of the man, he looked at them in fear.

They both knew they had developed a reputation that if they got on your trail, you would end up in prison. But the young man’s fear seemed irrational. Ty said, “What’s your name?”

Ty’s gift had gotten to the stage that few could even try to lie to him anymore. Even women found that they would blurt out straight answers and couldn’t even tell him half-truths.

“Tom, your Lordship,” the young man answered. He found he couldn’t tear his eyes from Ty’s. He shivered in fear and his eyes seemed to bulge even more.

“Who was the leader of your gang?” Ty asked.

“Frankie Yates, your Lordship.”

“Who was the man of class with your gang?”

Tom’s mouth opened and closed several times, and then he got out. “He calls himself Sir Allan Dale, but Frankie said that wasn’t his real name.” Tom pulled his eyes from Ty so that he could look at Vincent. Fearfully he said, “Frankie said that Allan’s real name was Albert Arrondale.”

Vincent felt his heart wrench and then fill with dread. He had barely spared a thought for his father in years. To him, the man was dead. To learn that he was very much alive was a shock. He looked at the grim expression on Ty’s face. They were hunting family. It left a bad taste in both men’s mouths.

“Do you know where he is living?” Ty asked.

The guy shook his head vigorously, “No, he just meets us in different locations determined by him and Frankie. He and his men take the goods and give us our share of the money from the last haul.”

“What do you know about Snort?” Ty asked.

The man gave them a look of disgust, “My Lord, I hate that shit. Frankie’s a mean-arsed son-of-bitch at the best of times. But ever since we met up will Allan, he has become crazy. I was planning on taking my share this time and moving back south. When Frankie starts snorting that stuff and then drinking, it’s not good for someone.”

“Did they take a twelve-year-old girl from a farm a couple of weeks ago?” Vincent asked.

Tears welled in the man’s eyes, and he swallowed several times before nodding a yes. “I tried to help her,” he said through his tears.

“I snuck over to the Countesses place and got some leaf. I made the girl a strong tea and even added snort, so she was out of it and she didn’t feel so much pain. Frankie damn near killed me when he found out.”

“He said it spoiled his fun. I think he gets off on the girl’s pain. I haven’t been with the gang long, and I didn’t know of his disgusting habits. I was just waiting for my last payment, and then I was out of there. Jacko was coming with me.”

“Which one was Jacko?” Paul asked.

“The skinny little dude with the big ears.”

They continued questioning him for another half hour. Ty found that after the first few questions the guy simply volunteered the information, so he didn’t have to keep forcing him. It was better for his headaches if he didn’t have to push them.

They now had descriptions of the four who got away and the names they were currently using. Vincent wrote out the brief description for the Clicker message and then a more extended version. Leigh took the short story to the Clicker office and sent it out as a bulletin. This meant that it went to every relay office and they were to send it to the local Constables to be on the lookout for the men.

He made sure it went to the Nordland connections, as they believed that was where the gang went. The letter went down to the clerks, and they copied and sent it via the postal system to all of the Constable departments.

Leigh told them to make sure a copy was made for both Kings and to put Ty’s name on them. Both Kings had agreed on a letter with Ty’s name, and family crest went straight to them and not through their flunkies. It was also delivered by Constables and not by the regular post. Ty added a postscript to each letter and got them sent.

They decided Paul, Leigh and Vincent would pack their camping gear, take a Constable each and go check out the six main trails Paul knew about. They decided who went where on their maps and finished up for the day.

As Paul had predicted it did rain that afternoon, washing away his trail. So it was just as well they had planned to do it the harder way. Paul had selected the two trails he believed were the most likely and then sent Leigh to check the eastern trails as Vincent wanted the western trails nearest the coast. Paul thought the gang didn’t go too far off the main highway.

Vincent, however, had a feeling that they may go further afield. His father was supposed to be in Paulartica, the continent to the east, or even D’Jang the continent to their southwest or Iceland that was to the north. Having been exiled, he shouldn’t have been in any of the five Regions of Ausland or the other two Kingdoms of Nirvana.

Vincent knew his father hated the rural settings. He had always been happiest in Bavindor. He preferred being near the sea and amongst lots of people. Also, if he were using snort, he would need to be close to where it came into Nordland.

Vincent knew he should have discussed what he knew about his father with Ty and Paul. He was hoping, however, that if he found the man first, he could convince him to go back overseas. Albert was his father after all, and he didn’t really wish to see him hung.

One of the trails Vincent was to follow, took him through the coastal mountain range between the two kingdoms. The trail led to a small city called Sailfish Cove that had a busy port. It was mostly used for fishing and trade with D’Jang. It, however, also had a reputation for being used by smugglers. That was where he believed his father was.

Paul had assumed either of the other trails because they were wide enough for wagons. They hadn’t found the wagons when they confronted the gang. Frankie must have had them hidden in a different location. If strangers did come across the men camped in the forest, the loot wasn’t with them.

Ty gave each man a pouch of documents that proved they had the permission of Duke Eric Gessner, King Jonas Dahl and King Harold Whitmore IV to pursue criminals across the border as required. Jonas and Eric had agreed to this arrangement, particularly as most of the criminals were preying on their people too. The robberies were also affecting business, between the two Kingdoms.

The boys did need to meet up with their counterparts on the other side, and if the criminals were arrested in Nordland, they did become subject to Nordland law unless Jonas or Eric agreed to extradition. So far, in the last three years, they had found that neither side cared whose jail the crooks went into as long as they spent time in one.

Ty had excellent relations with the Nordland Constabulary and Duke Eric. They saw eye to eye on many issues, and extradition was rarely an issue unless the criminal had committed the worst crimes in Nordland.

Ty had no problem with them keeping them in this case.

The men set out early the next morning.

They split off in their pairs as they came to the best access to the trails they were going to follow. The trail Vincent was planning on tracking first, cut off not far from where the men had been camped. He was sure it was the trail, which the gang had used. He had with him a grizzled, old veteran called, Smoky

Smoky liked the same obnoxious cigars Paul did. Although, he spent more time chewing on them, than actually smoking them. They found an area where they believed that wagons had been hidden, an hour down the trail. “Going by the wilt in these leaves Vincent, I would say the wagons were here about three days,” Smoky volunteered.

Vincent nodded that it tied in with about how far he believed the wagons would have gone from where the owners had been killed. Usually, the owners didn’t fight the brigands, but this time they had.

The man had been an Apothecary, and he had purchased a lot of Nadack seed and Lavender oil from Willow. He had even bought two large wind generators as they worked well on the coast. The other wagon had the cables, energy cells and light fittings for the house he was building for his new wife. Now she was a new Widow.