He had reached what he thought was almost certainly the lowest level of the building-at least it was partially below the level of the ground outside, as he could tell by the view through a barred window-before he again caught sight of Wen Chang. This time he was able to reach the Magistrate’s side before anything happened to keep them apart.
He seized him by the sleeve. “Magistrate, I have seen the Sword! For a moment I almost-”
“I, too! The man who has it is down here now. Quickly, go that way! Carefully, for he is deadly dangerous.”
With gestures and a few hurried words the Magistrate, rapier in one hand and torch in the other, directed Kasimir down one dim corridor, then turned away and plunged down another himself.
Kasimir, his own torch fallen and extinguished somewhere behind him, moved into dimness as silently as he could. Then he paused, holding his breath to listen.
He could hear only the drip of water somewhere. And farther off, out of sight of the hidden desperation of this struggle, some slum-dweller plunking a stringed instrument.
And now, another sound, also faint, muffled by walls and angles of walls. A muffled pounding . . . Kasimir stalked forward through the dim, half-buried cellar.
Then he was once more taken almost completely by surprise. He caught one bright glimpse of a long blade lifted high, in an energetic arm. In an instant, it was going to swing down directly at him.
In the rush of movement the hood covering the head of this new opponent fell back, momentarily revealing the face. Kasimir had barely the space of a heartbeat in which to recognize that the figure brandishing the sword-or Sword-at him was definitely Natalia. The light was bad, and he had only a brief glimpse, but still the physician felt certain that he was not mistaken.
Again Kasimir could only try to throw himself out of a weapon’s path. He might not have succeeded, except that when the blade came swinging at him there was a hesitation, a hitch in the swing that allowed Kasimir to survive.
The enemy rushed past him, and a moment later a heavy door had slammed behind the fleeing figure.
Kasimir allowed himself to remain dazed only for a moment. Then, just as he was scrambling to his feet, a shout in the Magistrate’s voice sounded from somewhere behind him.
Let Natalia go-he could not be certain that her weapon was the Sword. In a few moments Kasimir had scrambled halfway across the cellar to join Wen Chang and Captain Almagro, who with some of their men were holding a torchlight meeting in front of a closed and very substantial-looking door.
The Captain appeared to have relaxed a little.
“We’ve got him, and the Sword too! That’s a blind wall on that side of the building. There’s no other way out of that room.”
But Wen Chang was already stepping back, shaking his head even as he sheathed his rapier. His eye met Kasimir’s.
“Come, quickly!” the Magistrate rapped out, and in a moment was running for a stairs that led up to the level of the street.
Kasimir ran after him immediately, ignoring the Captain’s startled, querulous call behind them. Already Kasimir thought he understood Wen Chang’s haste.
Wen Chang in the lead, with Kasimir continually a step behind him and unable to catch up, the two of them negotiated the tortuous passages of the main floor, and burst out at last into the night. Wen Chang as he ran was able to gather with him a half-comprehending reinforcement of Watch and Firozpur warriors, a group whose footsteps pounded after Kasimir. The moment they were outside, Wen Chang looked back over his shoulder, beckoning to Kasimir.
“The wall of that basement room must give on this alley to our right-quick!”
Kasimir and the Magistrate, a small mob of followers just behind them, thundered around a corner of the building into an alley. There was a heavy thudding sound from somewhere ahead, as if someone, Kasimir thought, were still battering on a door and trying to break it down.
But before they had run halfway down the alley, Kasimir realized that they were already too late. A moment later they had come to the smoothly carved hole in the lower stone portion of the wall. The cut-out pieces of heavy stone were still lying where they had fallen from the touch of the hurrying Sword.
Now someone was coming through the hole. Kasimir stepped back and raised his cudgel. But in a moment the light from the torch he still held in his hand was falling upon the furious, bearded features of Captain Almagro Understanding had come to the Captain too late, and rage had come with it. He now had a better understanding of Stonecutter’s true nature.
But the Sword had now vanished in the night, along with the mysterious person who now possessed it.
CHAPTER 11
THE fighting in the old warehouse was over, the last sullen spasms of physical resistance crushed. Now Kasimir the physician was called upon to tend the wounded.
There were not so many of these as he had begun to fear there would be; he estimated now that there must have been about fifteen people in all in the building when the raid began, and more than one had probably escaped, but the great majority had given up without a fight as soon as they became aware of the strength of the attacking force.
Two of the small handful of occupants who had elected to fight, both of them men, were beyond the help of any surgeon, while another had suffered a badly gashed arm. This last man could be expected to live, and even to use his arm again, once Kasimir had stopped the bleeding and administered some stitches. On the other side, one of the Watch had been run through with a long blade and was dying; another had sustained a knife cut on the hand. Casualties among the Firozpur troopers were limited to one, who had hurt his leg, not too badly, falling through a trapdoor between floors in the darkness.
Before Kasimir had finished doing what he could for these people, the swift runners sent out by Captain Almagro in pursuit of the unknown person carrying the Sword had returned to the scene of the raid, reporting that they had failed even to catch sight of their quarry. No one was surprised at their failure. There had been no real hope of overtaking the fugitive in darkness, particularly not in the warren of streets and alleys making up this neighborhood, in which the forces of law and order were at best unwelcome.
The Captain cursed his luck, and went on to the next thing. As part of his preparations for the raid, Almagro had arranged to have a couple of heavy wagons, cages on wheels, brought up to the building at the appropriate time. These had now arrived on the scene, and all of the prisoners were bundled into them. Wen Chang gave the catch of captives a cursory looking over, but, having done so, showed no particular interest in any of them.
Kasimir had not yet mentioned to anyone the fact that he had recognized Natalia. But he made the identification now, as soon as he had the chance to pull the Magistrate aside, and make sure that the information reached his ears alone.
Wen Chang stared at him intently in the dim light obtaining in the street. “You are sure?” “Yes. I am certain it was Natalia.” “The light inside the building was very bad. You say you cannot be sure that the weapon she was holding was Stonecutter.”
“True. Nevertheless, I am sure that it was she who held it.” Again the moonlight came and went around them, with the passage of a cloud.
“All right.” Wen Chang sighed. “Let me call Almagro over here and we will tell him alone before we separate. But say nothing about this identification to anyone else just yet.”
“I won’t.” In a moment Almagro had joined them. The Captain, not surprised that the Magistrate had chosen to be suspicious of his subordinates, went through the same routine of questioning the certainty of Kasimir’s identification. Kasimir went through the same routine of giving reassurances.
Wen Chang suggested in a low voice: “A matter that calls for thorough questioning of all your prisoners, old friend. To find out which of them might know her.”
“Indeed, they shall be questioned. Though most of them may have to wait until tomorrow-I am going to need some sleep.”
“And so are we. Good thought is impossible in a condition of great fatigue.”
Having seen Almagro off with his pair of cage-topped wagons and their unhappy cargo, Wen Chang, Kasimir, and their mounted Firozpur escort returned to their inn, where they found that the landlord had successfully guarded their quarters in their absence.