The Gadget: The Rondon Chronicles Book One by V. Timlin (speed reading book .TXT) 📕

Fitzwil was smoking a pipe. He met her eyes.

“Nat told us what happened, and that you are from another world.”

Anouk nodded and smiled at him. She had taken an instant liking to the couple. She didn’t know why but if Nat trusted them that was enough for her. “Yes, I’m from a planet called Earth, and a country called the United Kingdom.”

Gosh, that sounded weird.

A realisation struck her. Although people in Nat’s world looked like her—well, at least like people from the end of the nineteenth century—Anouk was the alien. So far, she had considered Nat and Stalo the aliens, not her. But now that she was here, it was she who was the odd one out. Her brain boiled at the concept.

“So, how do you find our world? Is it different from yours?” Fitzwil asked.

Anouk took a shaky breath before replying, “I’ve been here only one day, but so far it looks very much like my own.”

She didn’t want to tell them just how different their worlds were in reality, at least, not yet. Explaining the differences alone would be a daunting and awkward task, but while Vari and Fitzwil seemed very nice and Nat trusted them, Anouk wasn’t prepared to reveal all the peculiarities. After all, they had the means to travel to her world, unlike hers to theirs, and that was unsettling, so the less they learned the better. Besides, there were more pressing matters.

“Where is Nat?”

“He left early for the headquarters of the Royal Anglean Constabulary to see Chief Constable Loka.”

“Ah.” A wave of disappointment and anger washed over Anouk. “So he left me in your care after all.”

Vari frowned and shook her head. “No, he didn’t leave you. You were quite exhausted last night, so Nat wanted to let you rest. He just went to give an update and talk to the chief constable. He said he’ll be back by midday.”

“Of course.” Anouk felt a little ashamed by her previous inference. Maybe she was wrong to have doubted him, but the meeting with Madam Valeria had left a bad aftertaste. She had to admit, she was uneasy about their partnership. Nevertheless, Vari seemed sincere, so maybe she was telling the truth. Anouk twisted her lips into a smile. “How usual is it for police to ask help from bounty hunters?”

“Police?”

“Er… enforcer?”

Vari snorted. “Only when they need someone to do the dirty work for them like capturing or killing particularly inconvenient criminals.”

“Law enforcement considers us a necessary evil,” Fitzwil added.

“You are bounty hunters too?”

“We are retired now,” Vari said. “We trained Nat.”

“So, Nat was your apprentice?” Anouk leaned forward with growing curiosity. Nat had been very secretive about anything else but the mission up to this point.

“We were more like parents.” Fitzwil extended his cup towards his wife. “Could I get some more coffee, my love?”

Vari took the pot and filled the cup.

“Nat’s village had just been raided and everyone killed, including his family. We found him wandering half-dead, so we took him under our wing.” Vari sighed and shook her head. “Poor lad, he was only thirteen.”

“That’s terrible.” Anouk tried to fathom how horrible it must have been for Nat to witness the massacre but failed to picture such an atrocity. She doubted she could have survived it without losing her mind. Was that the reason he preferred working alone? Not wanting to lose anyone who mattered? And why he was so overprotective? “Who were the raiders?”

Fitzwil started to speak, but his wife touched his arm and shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, my dear, but it’s really not our place to tell,” Vari said. “But ask Nat. Please.”

There was one person from Nat’s world she could think of capable of such violence. “Stalo?” she whispered.

Fitzwil hesitated, but then nodded despite Vari’s hesitance to say anything more. “Yes. Stalo was a warlord in the Meriweth mountain region to the north where Nat grew up. There was a crystal mine close to Nat’s village; his father worked there. Stalo got it in his head that the miners were stealing crystals, so he punished them and commanded the operation personally.”

“Were the miners stealing the crystals then?”

Vari stepped in. “No. They had been open and honest about the amount they had mined, but Stalo, being greedy and paranoid, didn’t believe them.”

A cold shudder ran through Anouk’s body.

“He had little time to enjoy the fruits of his raid, though. Our current ruler, Ionnas III, had just been elected king, and he launched a campaign against the warlords to unite the country. This happened about twenty years ago. Some warlords gave up their privileges more or less willingly—they got to keep their lands and gained a place in the king’s cabinet. Those who didn’t, lost everything, including their heads. Stalo managed to hideout as a renegade for almost twenty years until one of his allies betrayed him and he was imprisoned. He was sentenced to death, but the night before his execution, just four days ago, he escaped—a huge embarrassment for law enforcement.”

“Oh, I can believe that,” Anouk said.

“Details of his escape haven’t been revealed, but he was heavily guarded.”

Fitzwil continued from where his wife let off. “Of course, the Royal Anglean Constabulary is trying to show how they are working hard to capture him. That’s why the enforcers are strolling the streets in larger numbers, but everyone knows it’s a show and they are inefficient. They wouldn’t rely so much on bounty hunters if they were more on top of their game. They are corrupt and lazy.” Fitzwil huffed.

“That’s how law enforcement works here.” Vari shrugged. “On the other hand, Stalo is dangerous. He needs to be locked up sooner rather than later.” She paused and added firewood to feed the flames. “If Nat is the one who succeeds in bringing Stalo down, he can get his closure. It’s not so much about the reward money.”

Anouk’s insides clenched—Nat was a professional bounty hunter, and this mission was dangerous, even for him, but her… she was an accountant at a small