Journey To Light: Part I of the High Duties of Pacia Read online

CHAPTER 30

  Graice and Holder § 7

  When he woke, Holder was still lying on the cold ground but someone had tucked one blanket under him and laid another over him. The campfire had burned low but no clouds blocked the star-dazzle so he could see Ignacio drowsing at his right side. The stars also showed Holder that it was middle-night. Sitting up carefully and using his left arm for support, Holder realized that someone had taken off his shirt. Clutching his hand to his neck, he called out, “Where is it?”

  Ignacio snapped into full alertness and said, “Where’s what?”

  “The thing I had around my neck.”

  “You mean this?” Ignacio said as he handed Holder a leather thong with a thin pendant made of carved wood, the kind of thing some men kept as a good luck charm. It was a finger-length long and one of the flat sides was embossed with the image of a bird. Ignacio asked, “What type of bird is that?”

  “A golden lark, the peace bird,” Holder replied as he tied the thong around his neck. “Dimas made this for me; he was good at that sort of thing.”

  “I’ve never seen one before,” Ignacio commented.

  “I always wear it under my shirt. It’s a private thing that I keep hidden.”

  “Actually I meant I never saw a peace bird before they all flew away,” Ignacio said. “Madrére Sybille says they were common in Pàçia before the fall but I never went with her all the way to Abbelôn. I understand that people thought it was a good omen when the birds perched on the walls.”

  “Interesting story, but can I change the subject long enough to get my shirt back?”

  “Not the one you were wearing, I’m afraid. The sleeve was still smoldering when we took it off of you but I dug out one of your spares,” Ignacio said as he reached behind himself and picked up the other shirt. “We didn’t try to put it on you earlier because you kept groaning when we moved your arm. How does it feel now?”

  “I can move it,” Holder said as he proved his point by raising the arm. “But it feels like someone is sticking a thousand needles into it. I can manage the shirt now, anyway.” Ignacio handed it to him and Holder put it on and then asked, “Where’s Graice?”

  “She and the Madrére are finally asleep in the tent. I suggest we not disturb them yet.”

  “I agree; let them rest.”

  Ignacio hesitated then said, “Um, maybe I shouldn’t tell you this, Holder, but I think you should know. There was some, uh, tension between the two of them when they examined you. Examined your injury, I mean.”

  “What made them tense?”

  “Well, they did look at you closely, from the waist up that is, and found no visible injury other than those blisters on your wrist. Both are skilled in the healing arts. That aroma you smell is from the ointment they put on your arm and shoulder.”

  “Ignacio, you’re a good friend but you’re beating around the bush.”

  “Um, well I guess I am. Let me be blunt. When that metal monster crashed into the water, all three of us ran to where you fell. Graice got a head start and she runs faster than me so she reached you first and helped you as you collapsed. By the time I arrived, she had already unbuttoned your shirt and pulled it open across your chest. I made her let me finish getting it off, but Sybille saw what had happened and said some words to the Sistére about, um, propriety. When they went to the tent later, they had more conversation which I deliberately avoided hearing.”

  “Propriety? I don’t understand.”

  “Please don’t repeat this, but I think the Madrére is wrong and Graice did nothing improper,” Ignacio said. “We were all very worried about you being hurt – where would we be without you, after all – and it was reasonable that Graice should hurry to examine the injury. What difference would it have made if I’d undone the buttons first? They both touched you during the healing.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “I don’t either except that lately Madrére Sybille seems concerned whenever Graice is near you. I have no idea why. Maybe whatever you said to Sistére Graice before you passed out set off the Madrére’s temper this time.”

  “I don’t remember saying anything.” Holder said but then he shook his head and thought, or do I? “Well, I’m glad that you three didn’t try to move me to the tent. I’m too heavy for you to carry.”

  “Our friend Rafe offered to help. He’s as big and strong as you are but both ladies said it would be better not to move you while you were unconscious.”

  “I presume he and Belo have continued their journey,” remarked Holder. “They seemed in a hurry and this is prime traveling time for them.”

  “They haven’t left at all. They’re on guard protecting us right now,” Ignacio told him.

  Holder frowned and asked, “Did Graice do something to make them change their minds?”

  “What? Oh, you mean her, ah, ability,” Ignacio responded. “No, she didn’t. They volunteered willingly. Now little Belo is flying somewhere up in the darkness and Rafe is lurking in the woods keeping an eye out for anything that might come. Wait, is lurking an acceptable word to use about a lupun?”

  “Yes, but it’s always a good idea to ask about words to use when speaking to a lupun. Never say that one is hiding, for example. ‘Lurking’ means a lupun is waiting around and being menacing, which they don’t mind, but ‘hiding’ implies some question about their courage. Why would someone hide unless he was afraid, you see?”

  “I do see,” Ignacio said. “Belo told me that lupuns can be sensitive about any perceived slights. I’ve talked to both of them while you were sleeping, Holder, and they’re very interesting guys.”

  Holder held a hand against one ear and shook his head. “Do you hear something?”

  “Just the splashing of the stream; nothing else.”

  “My ears are ringing. I hope this doesn’t last,” Holder said. Then he looked up and Ignacio flinched when they heard Belo’s voice from overhead.

  “I’m glad we’re interesting to you, friend Ignacio,” Belo said as he fluttered down to land. “I’m sorry to you, friend Holder. Tat ringing in your ears was me calling to Rafe to say you were awake. He’s coming too.”

  “I didn’t hear a thing,” said Ignacio.

  “Hu-mens can’t hear my highest voice but Rafe can. You’ve seen what big ears he has.”

  “I got byoo-tee-full ears but they’re not as amazin’ as my nose,” Rafe’s voice rumbled from behind Ignacio. The man twitched nervously again and wondered how someone that big could move so quietly.

  “It’s true,” Belo confirmed. “All lupuns are great sniffers but Rafe is te best of tem all. He scented you from half a league away and knew right ten tat you were two man-guys, one big and one not, and two man-ladies, one old and one young. Oh, he smelled your wagon-beasts too, but tat part was easy for him.”

  “Remarkable,” Ignacio commented.

  “I ain’t so proud of it. I missed somethin’ till I got closer,” said Rafe. “Was simple to sniff how special your little young man-lady is, but I couldn’t tell how good Holder smelt at first.” The man looked surprised so Rafe continued. “Didn’t mean you smelt nice. No man-guys ever smell nice. Sometimes man-ladies do but not guys. I’m just sayin’ you smell like you’re good. You know, one of the good guys.”

  “Thank you,” Holder replied. “But what do you mean about . . .”

  “Rafe is referring to Miss Elysia,” Ignacio interrupted to remind his friend to use their false names and then he asked Rafe, “Why did you say she’s special?”

  “Never smelt a hu-man like her before, guy or lady. Smells nice and good but that ain’t all. Don’t know how ta ’splain it, but she ain’t just dif’ernt, she’s real you-neek,” Rafe said and then he looked at Belo. “Did I pernounce that word right?”

  “Yes, unique. You did very well and I agree tat’s te right word to describe her.”

  “Ain’t easy to talk ’cause my mouth ain’t shaped like a hu-man’s,” Rafe told the men. “Just like Belo tr
yin’ to say ‘tthhh’ wiff his needles in the way. Ya know, the sheafs.” Holder understood him but Ignacio looked confused.

  “Yes,” said Belo. “Te sheats tat hold our needle-teett are right behind a kiropteran’s incisors. Tat keeps us from getting our tongues in te right spot to pronounce what Rafe said.”

  “Kiropterans use their needle-teeth to inject a sedative into their prey before they feed,” Holder explained to Ignacio.

  “I must admit that conversing with you gentlepersons is very educational,” Ignacio said sincerely. He was becoming familiar with their speech and realized they both meant the word ‘sheaths.’ “I’ve never traveled to Hinterland or said more than ‘hello, how are you’ to persons of your kind so I really don’t know the right things to say sometimes.”

  “If Ignacio says anything wrong, it’s just due to his lack of knowledge. I’m sure he means no offence,” Holder said

  “Tat’s perfectly clear,” Belo reassured them.

  “Yeah, and I been so amazin’ nice lately that I got used to bein’ this way,” added Rafe.

  “He likes to say tat word,” Belo explained. “But he truly is very nice.”

  “Amazin’ nice,” Rafe insisted.

  “Holder, Rafe was kind enough to run back and retrieve our wagon after Belo spotted it from the air,” Ignacio told him. Holder looked across the campfire and noticed for the first time that the wagon was parked and the waybeasts had been unhitched and tethered.

  “Your beasts ran into a small canyon, and when tey could go no fartter tey couldn’t figure out how to turn te wagon around,” said Belo.

  “Just too stubborn is really it. Beasties just didn’t wanta turn,” Rafe replied in defense of the waybeasts’ intelligence.

  “Well, thank you both again,” said Ignacio, and he turned to Holder. “When Rafe came back leading the waybeasts, they were better behaved than they are with you, Holder. I know you told me earlier that the animals wouldn’t be afraid of him but I guess I forgot that in all the excitement and I was surprised.”

  “Well, now you know. I’m sure wild animals flee when he’s hunting but domesticated livestock won’t run away just because he’s a lupun.” Holder said.

  “Yeah, that last part’s jus’ a miff,” said Rafe.

  “Yes, purely a mitt,” Belo concurred. When he saw Ignacio’s confusion, he added, “You know, an old story tat’s not really true.”

  “You mean a myth?”

  “That’s what I said,” Rafe grumbled.

  “Me too,” said Belo.

  “Did Mother Sægesse talk to you two while I was unconscious?” asked Holder.

  “No, not really,” Belo said as he looked up to avoid making eye contact with the men. “She was very busy tending to you, Holder, and didn’t have a chance to speak witt us.”

  “Then she got all grumpy-like. Didn’t want her grouchy at us so we stayed back,” Rafe said more bluntly. “Wasn’t real polite to the special man-lady.”

  “Tat’s none of our business, Rafe.”

  “Cain’t help hearin’ things, can I? But don’t worry guys. I won’t say nothin’ to nobody.”

  “She’ll probably want to talk in the morning,” Holder said to them. “Will you stay?”

  “We have no place better to go and don’t need to hurry now tat te ting over tere can’t chase us anymore,” replied Belo.

  “You may have gotten an incorrect impression of Mother Sægesse tonight,” Ignacio assured them. “She really is an extremely good person and very wise as well.”

  “You really married to her, uh, man-friend?” Rafe asked. He did fine with Holder’s name but wasn’t ready to tackle the pronunciation of Ignacio yet.

  “Um, yes,” the man replied hesitantly. Rafe sniffed him and then turned to Belo.

  “He ain’t doin’ any better wiff his lady than we been doin’ lately,” said Rafe. Ignacio blushed and Holder suppressed a smile.

  “Be polite, Rafe,” Belo insisted.

  “What? I ain’t?”

  Belo sighed. “Tere’s someting more important we need to ask our friends. Tis is a bit awkward gentle-mens, but Rafe and I haven’t eaten since yesterday.” Although Ignacio didn’t notice, Holder saw both of their necks tense and twitch as they struggled to avoid looking sideways toward the waybeasts.

  “We’d go huntin’ for ourselves but that thing scared away ev’ry animal around here,” Rafe explained.

  “Where are my manners?” Ignacio exclaimed. “We have food. What would you like? There’s a lot of hardbread and some very nice dried fruit . . . what?” The last word came when he saw the looks on their faces.

  “Let me help,” offered Holder. “Rafe, you won’t like the flavor but we do have a supply of dried meat. Please fetch him a large portion of jerky please, Ignacio.”

  “Certainly,” the older man said as he stood and went to get it.

  “I’m sorry, Rafe, but we need our waybeasts. It may seem unfair but I believe Belo can take what he needs without hurting them.”

  “Yes, I can,” responded Belo. “I’ll take a small amount from each and tey’ll never know it.”

  “Life jus’ ain’t fair,” Rafe complained but there was no bitterness in him.

  “Will your sedative leave them groggy in the morning?” Holder asked Belo.

  “No, I’ll be careful.”

  “Then go feed now while the ladies are asleep,” said Holder and Belo scurried away. Before Ignacio got back with the jerky, Rafe’s nose caught the scent and his face distorted into an expression that no human could possibly copy.

  “Salt?” he cried out in disgust. “You dried out perfeckly good meat and put salt on it?” Lowering his voice, he grumbled, “No ’ffence to you guys, but hu-mens are jus’ crazy.”

  Just before the sun rose, Holder shook Ignacio and asked him to awaken Sybille and Graice. When the ladies emerged from their tent minutes later, Holder told them, “We should leave as soon as possible to get away from this place. If you want to talk to Rafe and Belo first, you should to do it before the sun comes all the way up. The kiropteran doesn’t have a cape with him.”

  “I understand,” Sybille said, seeing the two friends waiting on the edge of the campsite. “Graice, I think you should come and hear this too.”

  “I’ll be there in a moment, and if you want to keep our identities secret remember to call me Elysia, Mother.”

  “Don’t be long,” said Sybille. She stared at Graice a moment before walking to where Rafe and Belo stood. Holder couldn’t interpret the look on Graice’s face but then she turned to him and her usual warm smile returned.

  “Are you feeling all right?” she asked him.

  “Yes, I am. My arm still hurts and tingles a little but I can move it normally now. It’s much better than last night so whatever you did to relieve me worked.”

  “I doubt that we helped. To be truthful, neither the Madrére nor I know exactly how you were injured so any recovery is due to your own strength.” Graice paused a moment before continuing. “Holder, you were pretty groggy after what happened, almost delirious in fact.”

  “Yes, it’s a good thing you came to help so quickly.”

  “So you do remember me being there last night? I mean, you knew it was me and not someone else?”

  “Sure. Everything else seems fuzzy but I knew you were there beside me. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Holder, do you remember telling me to get behind a wall last night? You said the wall was white, just like her dress.”

  “I . . . uh,” he tried to say but Graice stopped him.

  “Never mind, I shouldn’t have asked so soon. We’ll talk about it later.” Try as she might, Graice couldn’t stop her eyes from glancing towards Sybille and their new friends and she caught the Madrére staring back at her. Holder noticed.

  “Rafe and Belo really are interesting persons,” he said with a neutral look on his face. “Ignacio spoke with them for a long time during the night.”

  “Meanin
g I should go over to Sybille and them now?” She gazed at him but learned nothing at all from his expression.

  “Meaning I think they have something important to say.”

  “All right,” she said as her smile returned halfway. She reached out and touched Holder’s forearm lightly before walking away. When she reached Sybille, Graice said, “You can stop watching Holder and me now and concentrate on the conversation.” Belo and Rafe were both looking up at some apparently fascinating thing in the tree branches above and seemed to hear nothing. Because their faces were turned up, or perhaps for another reason, they couldn’t see a little girl glaring at the Madrére from the shadows. Sybille glanced just in time to see the girl frown harshly and disappear.

  Graice had paid little attention to Rafe and Belo the night before so she observed them more closely now. As she had seen when Rafe first appeared, his snout and pointed ears made him identifiable from a distance. Up close, Graice was now impressed with his big sharp teeth and noticed strands of dark gray hair peeking out from his collar and cuffs. He had a lot of short facial hair but it looked softer (furrier, perhaps) than a man’s beard. While Rafe was as big as Holder, Belo was smaller than Graice. The teeth in his little mouth were sharp triangles and his nose was just a slash for his nostrils. His ears, however, were large forward-facing flaps mounted on the top of his head.

  The lupun’s brown shirt and pants were much like those any workingman might wear except for being cut to fit his shape. His chest was narrower in width than Holder’s but deeper from front to back. The legs had thicker thighs and narrower calves than a man’s, and they bent forward at the knee rather than being straight when he stood erect. Belo’s black clothes had once been dressier than his friend’s, but now they were wrinkled after their long travel and scorched by his encounter with the flame-throwing monster. His pants were tailored for his short legs and instead of a shirt he wore a vest which allowed his arms and wings freedom of movement. Neither wore shoes, of course.

  Sybille let them tell their story about why they had left Hinterland without interrupting them but when they finished it was obvious they had left something out – some awkward personal details, no doubt. Graice signaled to Sybille ‘it’s nothing important, don’t ask more’. The Madrére frowned and flashed back ‘I can read very well, youngling, so I already realize that’ before turning back to Rafe and Belo.

  “The description of your ‘politics trouble’ back home concerns me,” she told them. “No good citizens of any kind should ever be forced to leave just because they want to remain peaceful.”

  “Jus’ ain’t fair,” grumbled Rafe.

  “Not fair at all,” agreed Belo.

  “I know someone who should hear what you’ve told me and it’s likely that he can help you,” said Sybille. “Are you willing to travel with us to Lucidus?”

  “But tat’s a man-city,” Belo objected.

  “With walls and buildin’s. A guy could get all trapped and feelin’ bad in that kinda place, see?” said Rafe. Both guys scuffed their feet and looked down and Rafe scratched himself on the ribs and hip.

  “Yes, I understand. You’ll probably be uncomfortable around so many men and women, but Euclind Eudoxio often has visitors from Hinterland so you won’t be as out of place as you expect,” Sybille assured them.

  “We’ve heard of tat name,” Belo told Sybille. To Rafe, he added, “Maybe we should go meet tis guy.”

  “But how we gonna get there?” Rafe asked Sybille. “I can run all day but Belo’s gotta get under shelter in a few minutes.”

  “We’ll ask Holder. Traveling is his department.”

  “Yeah, uh, sounds nice but we gotta think about eatin’ too. Me and Belo need to find a place in the hills where the huntin’s good. Ain’t gonna eat none of that yucky-yucky spoilded meat again. No, no, no.”

  “He doesn’t like salt,” Belo explained.

  “Holder may have an idea about food as well; he’s very resourceful,” said Graice, and she called him over.

  When he learned the situation, Holder said, “You’ll probably be able to find game when we leave here but after we leave the hills, few hunting opportunities will exist. There are a lot of farms in the Fallal Valley, however, and I’m sure someone will have a pig or a few chickens they could spare.” At first Graice though he meant they should steal animals (a suggestion which would have offended both guys, although Rafe might have stolen if he got hungry enough, and Belo could feed from livestock without anyone knowing) but the Sistére was mistaken.

  Sheepishly, Rafe said, “We had ta run away quick. Didn’t have time ta grab our money.”

  Belo finished the thought, “So we can’t buy dinner like we would back home.”

  Graice had an amusing thought about the two of them walking up to a farmhouse after dark with money in hand. She said, “I think we can afford to pay for a few meals. Don’t you agree, Mother?”

  As Holder and the others loaded the wagon, Graice pulled Sybille to one side and spoke softly to her. “I need to tell you what Holder said after he was injured.”

  “I thought I heard him speak to you. Why didn’t you tell me about it last night?”

  “Because you were so . . . oh, never mind. Keep your voice down so our friends can’t hear and just listen.” Graice’s tone was harsher than Sybille expected. The Madrére didn’t speak but she did nod her head and Graice described what had happened.

  “Well, it’s no surprise he mentioned a white wall,” Sybille said when the Sistére finished. “Was he delirious?”

  “He knew he was talking to me and not someone else.”

  “So when he said dress, he probably meant your white robe and just misspoke.”

  “Then why did he say ‘her’ dress?” Graice replied. “No, he was speaking to me but he was seeing someone else in his mind – a woman in a white dress standing before the walls of Abbelôn. This means he’s remembered something, a small fragment anyway, without my help, and now I have a clue about what to look for the next time I induce a dream for him. That needs to happen when we reach Lucidus.” Sybille wanted to ask more but she saw Ignacio approaching with their breakfast.

  By noon, Holder had coaxed Rafe to sit on the wagon bench next to Ignacio rather than continuing to walk alongside. Despite the tight squeeze and the jostling of the wagon, both the lupun and Ignacio had managed to fall asleep. Holder smiled when he glanced at them and saw the older man’s head resting on Rafe’s shoulder.

  No one had gotten enough sleep during the night but Graice was still awake inside the wagon. She reclined while listening to Sybille’s rather un-ladylike snores and watching Belo as he hung upside down. The kiropteran had climbed the wooden frame which supported the canvas cover and grasped one of the crossbars with his feet. With his wings wrapped around him to cover his head and arms, he swayed like a pendulum with the wagon’s movement. Fortunately for Belo as well as everyone else, the wagon wheels were hitting fewer bumps and ruts than before. The path smoothed as they went downhill until it resembled an actual road again – just a back-country lane to be sure, but Holder was still able to prod the waybeasts into increasing their speed.

  Even so, they camped for four more nights before the trail wound its way between the last of the tree-covered hills and the wagon emerged onto the level grassland of the Fallal Valley late on their fifteenth day of travel. Belo sat in the back of the wagon talking to the women while Rafe had returned to jogging along beside it.

  “We’ll stop for the night soon and we should reach Lucidus in three or four days,” Holder told them all but suddenly four horsemen appeared in the distance. As they came closer, Holder climbed down and stood in front of the wagon. Unlike Rafe who inhaled deeply, Ignacio held his breath until Holder turned back and gave an ‘okay’ signal. Rafe seemed equally content with the scent from the riders. When the men reached the wagon, the leader introduced himself.

  “My name is Walerian and these men are Beredei, Wicasa, and Filon. We’re scouts from
Lucidus. Our Mayórę sent us to help travelers coming out of the hills. By any chance are there women with you?”

  Holder hesitated to answer but Sybille’s voice came from inside the wagon. “Yes, two of us. We’re coming out to talk to you.”

  “We also have a kiropteran friend inside who would prefer to wait until the sun is lower before exposing himself,” Holder said as they waited.

  “You mean a sanguinan? And a lupun too,” Walerian said as he glanced at Rafe. “Our Mayórę, the Wise One, will welcome a chance to speak to both of them. I hear he has some news of Hinterland.” Before Rafe could ask anything, however, Sybille and Graice stepped from behind the wagon. Walerian responded as soon as he saw them. Turning to one of his men, he said, “Filon, go fetch the carriage,” and the rider galloped away. To Sybille and Graice he said, “We have special orders concerning women of your description. We’ll get you to Lucidus much faster than this wagon possibly could.”