The Exile and the Sorcerer by Jane Fletcher Page A

market, did you cross over the river?”
    “Yes. And we climbed up the hill beyond, but not quite to the top.”
    This was only as Tevi expected. The west side of the river Tor was the richer part of town, where the better class of inn was found. It was the place one would expect wealthy traders to stay, but the confirmation of her guess gave her somewhere to start the search.
    “Do you think you’d recognise the inn if you saw it again?” Tevi asked.
    “Probably.”
    “Well, then, if you’ve finished your stew, we might as well be off.”
    Instead of moving, Derry became unaccountably dejected. “Do you think Mama and Papa will be angry with me?” he mumbled.
    “You know your parents better than me.”
    “I’m going to be in big trouble.”
    Tevi was about to assure him that no one would be too hard on a boy, but stopped. Maybe on the mainland, a misbehaving boy might be punished no less severely than a girl. Her face softened, and she tousled his hair. “Even if they are angry, you can’t stay here forever,” Tevi said sympathetically, reaching for his hand. “Come on, let’s go.”
    Tevi led the way into the maze of houses behind the docks. The sinking moon lit the wider roads but did not penetrate the small alleys. Fewer street gangs were about than earlier, although they were more blatantly ill willed. They watched the pair with hostile eyes but made no move to intercept them. Angry shouts told of fighting a few streets away; then a scream cut above the clamour. Tevi was glad to be heading away from the brawl.
    The marketplace was deserted as they skirted its edge on their way to the main bridge. The shop fronts and warehouses were blank and lightless. Even the gangs seemed to have melted into the dark, leaving only a threatening silence. Derry was jittery.
    Tevi put her arm around the boy’s shoulder. “It will be better once we cross over the bridge.”
    However, they did not get that far. The narrow passageway from the market opened onto a riverside wharf for unloading barges. The open area was about ten yards wide and five times as long. The moon lit the water’s edge, but the shadows of warehouses covered the other side in darkness.
    Derry suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed. “There they are.” Despite his excitement, the oppressive, darkened town had affected him, and his voice was barely a whisper.
    Tevi followed the direction of Derry’s outstretched arm and saw his parents at the far end of the wharf. That was not all she saw. The well-cut clothes and obvious wealth of Derry’s parents had not gone unnoticed. Silently emerging from a dark passage, halfway down the wharf, were two stocky figures. The thugs crept furtively through the shadows, cudgels in hand.
    Tevi propelled the boy into a darkened doorway. “Stay here, and don’t make a sound,” she whispered.
    The knife felt reassuring as Tevi pulled it from her jerkin and slipped it into her belt. Then she, too, began to edge around the walls, keeping to shadows.
    The traders were deep in conversation and obviously unaware of the danger until a third figure stepped into the moonlight.
    “Well, well, well. What have we here?” A woman’s light voice delivered the mocking phrase with real menace.
    Derry’s parents jerked around and then backed away, unknowingly retreating towards the two thugs. The other footpad stood her ground, hand on hip in jaunty belligerence, then snapped her fingers. At the signal, the two accomplices stepped from the shadows, swinging their clubs. The sound of footsteps behind them rooted the pair of traders to the ground as they realised they were trapped. The leader of the gang began a slow advance towards her victims, clearly enjoying the game.
    “Now why don’t you behave yourselves, and hand over all your money and anything else that you think I might like?”
    The gang’s attention was fixed on the traders. No one noticed Tevi’s stealthy approach. As the leader got within a few steps of