Return to the Whorl

by Gene Wolfe

Page 11

 

  "Aye, laddie. Meant ter call hon him, but he was nae ter home. Door hopen an wife dead, layin hin a box. Felt a her. Met hup wi him an Horeb Wafter. Kenned who he was an he dinna. " Slowly and heavily Pig sank to the grass. "Lucky fer Pig, yer say. Huh. Lucky fer him? Timell say. Pig dinna ken nae moren Horeb there. "

  He lay back, his sheathed sword clasped to his chest. "Yer best ter call him Horn when he wakes. An rouse me, will yer?"

  In a moment more he was snoring. Hound and Tansy stared at each other, but found nothing to say.

  He was in a boat, and there was a monster greater and more terrible than the leatherskin below it, its face showing through the long smooth swell. He opened his old black pen case, dipped a black quill into the little ink bottle and began to write furiously, conscious of how short-how terribly short-a time was left to him.

  I am just setting out for Pajarocu, he wrote, knowing nothing of what is about to transpire there, not even knowing that my son Sinew has decided to track me down and go to Green with me, or that mygrand- son, Krait, the son of my daughter Jahlee, will soon join me as a son.

  The scratching of the quill slowed and died. He stared at the paper. Who was Krait? He had no daughter, no sons.

  To the west, a lonely bird flew over the water, black as it crossed and recrossed the sun; he knew the bird was Oreb, and that Oreb was calling, "Silk? Silk? Silk?" as he flew. The bird was too far, its hoarse voice too faint to be heard. He thought of standing and waving, of calling Oreb to him, of lighting the lantern and running it up the mast for Oreb to see, so that the leatherskin or something else in the water would come to him, would come called by his burning prayer at sunset. He thought of looking over the side at the monstrous face beneath the water, of challenging it to emerge and destroy him if it could. He did none of these things.

  The boat rocked, becoming the cradle he had made for Hoof and Hide, a cradle large enough for two, so that Nettle, sitting in the sea, could rock the two together, rocking with her left hand while the right drove the quill: Enlightenment came to Patera Silk on the ball court; nothing could be the same after that. The book that they had never been able to begin begun at last, the book that lay behind his effort to make paper, behind the paper-making that had succeeded where nothing else would succeed, the paper-making that had made him the envy of his brothers and the pride of his mother, the papermaking that had been the salvation of the family.

  I am just setting out for Pajarocu. Who was Pajarocu and what had he done? He crossed out the words and rewrote them: It is worthless, this old pen case. It is nothing. You mightgo around the market all day and never find a single spirit who would trade you a fresh egg for it. Yet it holds-

  Enough. Yes, enough. I am sick with fancies. That was it. That was good. He reached down to turn the page so that he might begin a new one, but there was no need; the one he had written remained blank.

  He stood up and shouted, but he could not recall the birds name and the bird would not come in any case, could not hear him, remained in his pen case no matter how wildly he shouted or how loudly he waved his arms. Something with tusks and shining eyes was swimming to him, swimming east, always and forever east, in a spearstraight line from Shadelow, its wake marked already by faint phosphorescence.

  He shouted until Seawrack rose from the sea to comfort him, smoothing his hair with two smooth, white hands. "Its only a dream, Horn, only a dream. If you need anyone, Hound and I are right here. "

  He wanted her to stay, to lie in their boat with him and comfort him, but she vanished when he tried to hold her, and it was getting dark and Green rising, a baleful jade eye. There were water bottles in the racks; but the boat was gone and the salt sea with it, the sea that was a river called Gyoll in which corpses floated, savaged by big turtles with beaks like the beaks of parrots, the river that circled with whorl, the river over which the stars never set. He had come to the end of that river, and it was too late.

  He sat up. The well-remembered walls of the pit encircled him, walls marked with dank crevices opening on ruinous passages half filled with earth and stones. "Its dirt up here," a voice behind him rasped. He turned and saw Spider sitting behind him on the tumbled column, Spider in conversation with small girls in starched frocks. "Its all dirt," Spider repeated, and added, "I can tell from how its made. "

  He asked politely how he could find Hyacinth.

  "Down there. " The blond girl pointed. "Shes down there like Spider and me. "

  The dark girl nodded. "Down there where youre going, and she cant ever come back. Take a cake for the dog. "

  Spider nodded, too, saying, "Its dirt down there. I can tell from how its made. " Spider took something green from his pocket and handed it over. It was one of the crawling green lights that lined the tunnels, and it began to crawl across his palm, gleaming in the hot sunshine until he closed his fingers around it. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you very much. "

  "Oh, you aint thanked me yet," Spider told him. "Youll thank me when youre down there. "

  He knelt and wiggled through the opening and back onto his boat, where the crawling green light he had put upon the ceiling was Green rising in the east, a baleful eye. Pig was seated in the stern, his hand upon the tiller and Oreb on his shoulder. "Good Silk," said Oreb. Pig removed the dirty gray cloth that had covered his eyes; and when it was gone, he, who had supposed that he could see, could actually see.

  And Pigs big, bearded face was Silks.

  "This is really very kind of you," he told Hound when he had washed and sipped the mate Tansy made for him, "but wont we be getting a late start?"

  "Yes," Hound conceded, "but it doesnt matter much. Usually I start before shadeup, as Tansy will attest, Im sure, because she always gets up too, even though I tell her not to, and makes breakfast for me. "

  Tansy laughed. "I go back to bed after he leaves. "

  "If I have good weather," Hound continued, "and drive the donkeys for all Im worth, theres a nice old inn in the middle of the city that I stop at. Its not too terribly expensive, and Im right there to start my buying the next day. "

  "I understand. "

  "But even if we left this instant, we couldnt possibly reach the city before shadelow. So well camp along the road someplace, or stay at a country inn I know about. Its not as nice as the one I usually stay at, but it will save us a few bits, and if we rough it beside the road, that will cost nothing. Either way, well finish the trip tomorrow, and Ill start my trading tomorrow afternoon. "

  Tansy asked, "Shall I cook something now for you two, or wait till Pig wakes up?"

  "Wait," Hound told her. "Hell eat more than Horn and me put together. "

  "Then Id like to show Horn our shop. Can I?"

  Hound looked at him, shrugging. "Do you want see it? Its very ordinary, except for being so small. "

  Tansy said, "But its where we work, so its not ordinary to us. Its ours, and the others arent. "

  Their shop was on the village square, a very short distance from the little house on the edge of the village in which they lived. He stayed respectfully behind them as they mounted its three steep steps and unlocked its door.

  "I dont think well have any customers this early," Tansy told him, "but if we do, well sell them whatever theyve come for, and then lock up again when we go. Ill open up for the day after you and Hound and Pig leave. "

  "You said it was small. " He paused to look around at the shiny pots and pans suspended from the ceiling, the barrels of nails and the hammers and saws hung from nails in the walls. "But its bigger than our house on Lizard, and we raised three children in that house. "

  "There are rooms up above, too," Tansy told him. "My father used to rent them out. We tried to, but we couldnt find anybody who wanted them. "

  Hound said, "There are so many empty houses these days. Anybody who wants a house can just move in. "

  "So we keep the extra stock up there, and theres a bed so Mother can nap when she gets too tired. We s
hould have brought you here last night, then you could have slept in a bed. "

  "My father had a shop like this in the city. I shouldnt say like this, really, because his wasnt as big. He sold paper and quills and ink, and account books and so forth. "

  Hounds eyebrows went up. "That might not be a bad idea for us. You cant buy paper here in Endroad. Ill see what a ream goes for in the city. "

  Tansy said, "Nobody here will want that much. "

  "Of course not. " Hounds voice was brisk. "One bit for two sheets of paper and one envelope. Well have a big bottle of ink, too, and sell it by measure. "

  "You couldnt sell quills here," Tansy said. "Just about everybody hunts, or keeps geese and ducks. "

  "Or both," Hound added. "Look at this maul, Horn. I made it myself, so it cost us nothing, and weve got it priced at nine bits, which is what youd have to pay for a maul like this in the city. The head is elm and the handles ash. I finished them both with pumice and flax-seed oil. "

  "That doesnt burn well in lamps, but its a good polish for wood," Tansy said.

  He accepted the maul and carried it to a window to admire it; and she, somewhat timidly, stepped closer and pushed up the sleeves of his plain brown tunic. "What happened to your arms?"

  He glanced down at their soiled bandages. "I cut myself somehow. I want to say reaching into some brambles, because they are injuries of that sort; but I dont remember exactly how it happened. "

  Hound said, "Some of those look pretty nasty. "

  "I saw them when he took the maul," Tansy said. "Im going to take those off and put something on the cuts, Horn, and then Ill tie them up again for you. Sometimes somebody cuts himself in here, so I keep bandages and things upstairs. " She hurried to the narrow stair at the back of the shop.

  He told Hound, "Im putting you to a great deal of trouble. "

  "Were glad to do it. " Hound took the maul and restored it to its place on the wall. "I just wish we could do more for you, and that my father could be here to help. Hed like to, I know. "

  As Hound spoke, Oreb swooped though the open door to perch on the handle of a scythe. "Stand up. Big man. "

  "Pigs awake, you mean?"

  Orebs scarlet-crowed head bobbed. "Pig up. "

  "In that case, we ought to rejoin him as soon as possible. "

  "Go shop," Oreb explained. "Bird say. Say shop. Pig go. "

  Hound chuckled. "You know, Im starting to understand him. Is your friend coming to meet us here, Horn?"

  He nodded, hearing Tansys small, swift feet again upon the stairs. "I only hope he can find it. "

  "If he could find his way to Viron from the East Pole, he can find our shop in this village. "

  "Roll up your sleeves," Tansy ordered; and then, "Wait, Ill do it for you. Hold out your arm. This may hurt. "

  "I hope so. "

  She glanced up at him. "You do? Why?"

  "Because I feel that Ive done something wrong, that Ive failed a test of some sort and deserve to be punished. "

  He paused, recalling the kitchen and the woman who had tied the bandages Tansy was cutting away with scissors. "Did I say something last night about not remembering when I slept last? Thats incorrect; I slept in a field of new wheat. I dreamed about Nettle sitting on the beach, and trying to warn her-trying to warn somebody anyway, and failing. "

  "Poor Silk!" Oreb flew to his shoulder.

  "Yes, poor Silk indeed, with no one but a fool like me to search for him. He may or may not need help, but every god knows New Viron and I do. "

  "Hold still," Tansy directed. "This isnt the first time youve hurt your arm, is it? Thats an ugly scar. "

  At the door a new voice asked, "You say you were the only un lookin for Calde Silk, stranger?"

  Hound said, "Gods be, Merl. Is there something we can do for you this morning?"

  "Mornin to you n your wife. " A spare, middle-aged man in a worn tunic of faded green stepped into the shop. "Saw your door open is all. "

  Tansy glanced up. "This is our friend Horn, Merl. Hes cut himself, and Im salving them for him. See how brave he is?"

  "Youre lookin for Calde Silk, you says?" Merl rubbed his stubbled jaw.

  "Yes, I am. Do you know where I can find him?"

  "Was in the old manse, only nobody hardly seen him there. "

  "Can you tell me where that is?"

  Oreb fluttered dolefully. "No go. "

  "Well, I could right enough. Only hes not there no more. Not now, anyhow. " Merl drew himself up. "You seen these men that got their heads all wrapped up, Hound? They got shawls or somethin tied around them like a woman. "

  Hound shook his head. "You mean here?"

  "Right here in Endroad. Im tellin you. You see em, stranger?"

  "No see," Oreb declared for both.

  "Unless you mean my friend Pig, who ties a cloth around his head to conceal his sightless eyes, I have not. "

  " Stead of a hats what I mean. I figure theyre fixin to kill him. They got slug guns n swords, n these here big knives. " Merl pointed to a corn knife on the wall. "Bout like that un, only nicer. They come to my place in the big dark of yesterday. Scared Spirea n Verbena to where they crawled right under the bed. Fact. "

  Hound asked, "How many were there?"

  "Theres three. " Merl paused. "Foreign-lookin, n had foreign- soundin names, too, to where I dont recollect em. Not from nowheres near heres what Myrtle says to me, n she had the right of it. I told how to get to the old manse, n I tells em try there. I dont know as how hes in there, I says, only you state your business with him, n maybe youll find out somethin youre needin to know. "