The Silent Deal (The Card Game #1)

Ch 20 - Dust to Dust

CHAPTER 20

DUST TO DUST

  

A creeping fog had settled in the woods that night, illuminating the beams of moonlight that broke through the ceiling of tree limbs. The snow was icy and hard underfoot as the blood brothers crept past caragana and pine trees adorned with climbing holly. Though adrenaline kept their minds clear, the boys chewed ginseng roots to sharpen their senses. Blizzard needed none. He guarded their flank, his great black nose sniffing the air, offering the two boys more protection than all their senses combined.

At the northwestern edge of the forest, they came to the edge of the tree line and gazed south: The diamond-white field sparked under the moonlight; in its center, the ancient oak erupted out of the ground, its twisted branches resembling the tentacles of a giant octopus.

“Let’s sprint. Best not to expose our position for longer than we have to,” Romulus whispered.

With all the swiftness and silence they could muster, the boys made a mad dash toward the oak, shovels in hand. Blizzard doubled their speed and skidded to a stop first. Romulus came next, and Viktor slid in last under the shadow. The world under the tree was different at night. It was still a haven, but now it was one of darkness, while everything beyond its perimeter was bright.

“Let’s make this quick,” Romulus said, moving directly in front of the heart carved in the tree trunk. He lifted his spade to slam into the ground.

“Stop,” hissed Viktor, seeing warning signs from Blizzard: The gray-white hair on the wolf’s back stood up and a low growl issued from his throat.

The blood brothers followed Blizzard’s gaze to the schoolhouse. Through their classroom window, the dull, barely visible light of a candle flickered on the walls!

“Let’s get closer,” Romulus whispered.

“Do you think it’s Dimovna?”

Romulus snorted. “Unless Modest is polishing the desks.”

Viktor laid his shovel in the shadows next to Romulus’ and prepared himself for another, even longer, nerve-wracking sprint. Once again, their feet flashed over the sparkling ground and slid up to the side of the schoolhouse—Blizzard, Romulus, and then Viktor. With his back to the wall, Romulus began inching over to a window. Blizzard let out another low growl.

“He senses someone. We’ve got to move,” murmured Romulus.

No sooner had they crept around the corner of the building than they heard footsteps crunch in the snow toward their old position, accompanied by the stench of tobacco smoke. Blizzard’s throat rumbled, but Romulus closed his fist; the wolf quieted and crouched low to the ground, ready, if necessary, to pounce.

Around the corner, the door to the schoolhouse banged open. Heavy footsteps echoed across the floorboards into Miss Dimovna’s classroom. The window to their side cast the shadows of two figures out onto the field—one small, one large.

“It’s an hour past midnight,” said a female from within the building.

Viktor and Romulus exchanged a glance. It was indeed Miss Dimovna.

“Be grateful I came at all,” boomed a second unmistakable voice: Captain Ulfrik. “This had better be important.”

“The boy who burned my reviews—”

“Don’t tell me this is about your lack of control.”

“But he threatened to kill me! He walked out on my class!”