She finished and stretched her shoulders, lookingdown the tree-ramp speculatively. P.J. sat quietly, glancing from Jeanne to Maggie. Cady justbreathed.
Maggie chewed her lip, not satisfied yet. "He'shere just to visit? That's all?"
"I'm a slave. You think I asked him personally?""I think you know."
Jeanne stared at her a moment, then glanced atP.J. Her look was almost sullen, but Maggieunderstood.
"Jeanne, she's been through hell already. Whatever it is, she can take it. Right, kiddo?"
P.J. twisted her plaid cap in a complete circleand settled it more firmly on her head. "Right," shesaid flatly.
"So tell us," Maggie said. "What's Hunter Redferndoing here?"
Chapter 13
I think," Jeanne said, "that he's here to get Delosto close the Dark Kingdom out Shut up the castleand come join him Outside. And, incidentally, ofcourse, kill all the slaves."
Maggie stared. 'Kill them all?'
"Well, it makes sense. Nobody would needthem anymore."
"And that's why you were escaping now," Maggiesaid slowly.
Jeanne gave her a quick, startled glance. "You'rereally not as stupid as you seem at first sight, you know?"
"Gee, thanks." Maggie shifted on her branch. Aminute ago she'd been thinking how good it would feel to get away from the twigs poking her. Now she suddenly wanted to stay here forever, hiding.She had a very bad feeling.
"So why," she said, forming her thoughtsslowly,"doesHunter Redfern want to do thisright now?"
"What do youthink? Really, Maggie, what do you know about all this?"
Four Wild Powers,Maggie thought, hearing Delos's old teacher's voice in her mind. Who willbeneeded at the millennium, to save the world-or todestroy it.
"I know that something's happening at the millennium, and that Delos is a Wild Power, and thatthe Wild Powers are supposed to do something-"
"Save the world," Jeanne said in a clipped voice."Except that that's not what the Night People want.They figure there's going to be some huge catastrophe that'll wipe out most of the humansand then they can take over. And that's why Hunter Redfern'shere. He wants the Wild Powers on his side insteadof on the humans'. He wants them to help destroythe human world instead of saving it. And it lookslike he's just about convinced Delos."
Maggie let out a shaky breath and leaned herhead against a branch. It was just like what Deloshad told her-except that Jeanne was an uninterested party. She still wanted not to believe it, but she had a terrible sinking feeling. In fact, she had a strange feeling of weight,as if something awfulwas trying to settle on her shoulders.
"The millennium really means the end of theworld," she said.
"Yeah. Our world, anyway."
Maggie glanced atP.J., who was swinging her thin legs over the edge of a branch. "You stillokay?"
P.J. nodded. She looked frightened, but not unbearably so. She kept her eyes on Maggie's face trustingly.
"And do youstill want to go to the castle?"Jeanne said, watching Maggie just as closely."Hunter Redfern is a very bad guy to mess with.And I hate to tell you, but your friend Prince Delosis out for our blood just like the rest of them."
"No, I don't still wantto go," Maggie said briefly. Her head went down and she gave Jeanne a brooding look under her eyelashes. `But I have to, anyway. I've got even more reasons now."
"Such as?"
Maggie held up a finger. "One, I've got to. gethelp for Cady." She glanced at the motionless figure clinging trancelike to the fir's trunk, then held upanother finger. "Two, I have to find out what happened to my brother." Another finger. "And, three,I have to get those slaves free before Hunter Redfern has them all killed."
"You have to what?"Jeanne said in a muffled shriek. She almost fell out of the tree.
"I kind of thought you'd react that way. Don'tworry about it. You don't have to get involved."
"I was wrong before. You areas dumbasyoulook. And you are totally freaking crazy."
Yeah, I know, Maggie thought grimly. It's probably justas well I didn't mention the fourth reason.
Which was that she had to keep Delos from aiding and abetting the end of the world. That wasthe responsibility that had settled on her, and she had no idea why it was hers except that she'd been inside his mind. She knew him. She couldn't justwalk away.
If anybody could talk to him about it and convince him not to do it, she could. She had absolutely no doubt about that. So it was her job to try.
And if he was really as evil as Jeanne seemed tothink-if it was true that he'd killed Miles... well, then she had a different job.
She had to do whatever was necessary to stophim. Distant and impossible as it seemed, shewould have to kill him if that was what it took.
"Come on," she said to the other girls. "Cady, do you think you can climb down now? And, Jeanne,do you know a way into the castle?"
The moat stank.
Maggie had been glad to find Jeanne knew a wayinto the castle. That was before she discovered that it involved swimming through stagnant water and climbing up what Jeanne called a garderobe butwhat was all too obviously the shaft of an oldlatrine.
"Just kill me, somebody," Maggie whispered halfway up. She was soaking wet and daubed with un thinkable slime. She couldn't remember ever beingquite this dirty.
The next moment she forgot about it in her worryabout Cady. Cady had managed the swim, still doing everything she was told asif she werein a trance. But now she was getting shaky. Maggiewondered seriously whether this sort of activity was helpful to somebody who'd been poisoned.