I smiled serenely. ‘Don’t worry. We’ll find Bin.’
‘You have a contact here? Somebody you know from your EEL days who can pinpoint his home?’
‘Nope.’
‘He told you his address?’ He cast a dubious glance around the empty green space.
‘Nope.’
‘You’ve formulated a tracking spell?’
‘Nope.’ Maybe I could have used the shell that Tiddles had unearthed outside the Shellycoat home to come up with something like that, but I’d not kept it. And anyway, there hadn’t been time to make spells.
Thane’s frown deepened. ‘What then?’
‘Patience.’
He squinted. ‘Patience? That’s your big plan?’
‘It’s the assassin’s greatest weapon – well, that and a lovely sharp dagger.’ I glanced up at the sky, which was darkening to a deep magenta. ‘Although given the way dusk is settling in, we won’t have to be patient for long.’
There was a muffled rumbling noise and Thane raised an eyebrow. ‘Not long at all. I’ve never been here at the right time to see any trows wandering around.’
‘Well, now’s your chance.’
The first trow to appear was a female who emerged from the ground about a hundred metres away. Given the growing darkness, the only way I could tell she was female was by the shape of her bonnet, which was typical of those worn by all trow women. She was followed immediately by another trow-shaped figure, probably a male.
Over to the left, three more appeared. In front of us eight more emerged in a line from the ground as if Mother Earth had given birth to them. Thane whistled.
‘It’s quite a sight, isn’t it?’ I whispered.
‘I can’t make out any of their faces, Kit. How will you tell which trow is ours?’
I grinned. ‘That part’s easy. Bin will be the trow who’s running.’ I delved into my pocket and withdrew a slender torch. I wouldn’t use it to light any faces; there was a far faster way to locate the trow I wanted from this crowd which, now that the sun had disappeared, numbered around three dozen.
I flicked on the torch and angled it up to illuminate my features.
‘He’s met you,’ Thane breathed as several of the trows turned in our direction. ‘And he’s scared of you.’
‘Got it in one. I give it five seconds.’
Thane scanned the area. ‘Five,’ he said, counting down. ‘Four, three, two…’
A single figure broke away from the others and sprinted in the opposite direction away from us. ‘One.’ I smiled coldly.
Then, for the second time that week, I ran Bin the thieving trow down.
Chapter
Twenty-Two
Last time I’d grabbed Bin within seconds of his attempt to flee but that had been on my home turf in Danksville. This time, the trow possessed the advantage because he knew the area. Short legs or not, his sprint was impressive.
He was heading for the same trees through which Thane and I had marched on our way here. I knew that if Bin reached them, there was every chance I’d never find him because he’d hunker down away from the main paths and wait for the danger to pass. I was determined not to let that happen.
I gritted my teeth and pumped my legs faster. Just as I thought I was gaining on him, my toe caught the edge of a hole in the ground and I stumbled. I managed to stay upright but I lost all my momentum, and now my damned ankle – and my pride – hurt.
I gave myself a fleeting second to acknowledge the pain then worked on quashing it so I could focus on the hunt. Before I could pick up speed again, Thane passed me sprinting far faster than I was capable of. Bin the trow might be able to beat a cat lady in a race on home soil, but he couldn’t outrun a determined werewolf a day after the full moon.
