Dhampir - By Barb Hendee & J. C. Hendee Page 0,139

Magiere.

What simpletons these mortals were. Then she caught a flash of thoughts joined in a cluster. Frightened, but simple and clear.

Children. Where were they?

Turning in the night air with eyes half closed, she felt for their origin, as if the cluster of thoughts were a breeze she could feel upon her face and judge its direction.

Moving quietly along the sides of buildings, Teesha stopped when the wash of thoughts across her became strong and near. She found herself facing the end of one of the main streets toward a stable in the lower half of town not far from the tavern. On the roof, she could make out two adult men crouched or sitting. She felt the tension in them, and it was easy enough to send them a tingle of apprehension that made both turn toward the shoreline, as if unsure whether they had heard something. She slipped silently across the road to the wall of the stable.

Teesha lingered on the outside, carefully separating the patterns until she could identify at least ten… no, twelve young minds somewhere within. She was about to step in and seek them out, then stopped.

Empty streets smothered in fear.

Children hidden away.

Two guards on the roof.

They had laid a trap in the town.

She slipped inside the stable's door. Upon her entrance, a large bay gelding threw his head and snorted. Entering his thoughts, she calmed him.

"Shhhh, sweet beast," she crooned softly to the horse. "The night is when you sleep."

The gelding quieted, pawed once at his stall floor, and settled with eyelids drooping.

Teesha sensed that one of the smaller girls missed her mother terribly. Looking about, all she could see were two bales of hay, straw scattered thickly across the floor, a few broken pitchforks, and the one horse in its stall. The other five stalls proved empty. She looked about once more, then stood motionless.

"Murika," she called in a gentle voice. "Where are you?"

Silence followed and then, "Mama? I'm down here."

Down. They hid somewhere below.

She searched the floor, pulling aside the straw as quietly as she could, and finally found a trapdoor. Fairly well-crafted, it was disguised with a layer of dirt beneath the scattered straw. It opened easily, and peering down, she found a huddle of small children, all looking back up at her with curious stares. Not one was above eight years old.

Teesha smiled warmly.

"Well, hello," she said. "What are you doing?"

"Hiding," a green-eyed boy of about six answered. "You should hide too. Something bad is going to happen, and we have to be quiet."

"You're not being quiet," scolded a smaller girl to his right.

Teesha nodded in agreement and then sent out the mental suggestion that this event was only a dream. "I'll be very quiet, too. Now tell me, which one of you wants to marry Leesil?"

A lovely girl of about five years old stood up. Although her hair was badly in need of a brushing, creamy skin and tiny features marked her as a future beauty. Even her miniature hands were already dainty and fine.

"I'm Rose."

Teesha's smile blossomed. "Well, he sent me to find you. Come, dear."

Little Rose hurried over without question and held up her hands. Teesha grasped them and lifted her out of the hiding hole. As Teesha carried her from the stable, she felt the softness of the girl's muslin dress and the warmth of the small body beneath the cloth. No one on the roof saw them leave.

The streets were almost black this far from the center of town. Teesha flitted from the deeper shadows of the buildings, working her way out back to move along the shore side of town. She occasionally caught the presence or thoughts of a fear-filled person hiding somewhere nearby. And though she could not see them, as with the guards on the roof of the stable, it was easy enough to push their thoughts and drive their attention away from her path. She dashed quickly across the last open space and around to the backside of The Sea Lion.

Teesha shifted Rose to sit on her hip and wrapped one arm around the child's waist.

"Hang on to my neck, dear," she murmured. "We're going to climb up the building and then crawl through your window."

"I like your dress. I always wanted a red dress," Rose answered.

"Well, then you should have one, as red as they come. Now take hold of my neck."

Scaling the tavern was a simple matter for Teesha. She cradled Rose carefully while entering through a broken upstairs