House of Names

by Colm Toibin

  ‘What did you tell him about us?’ Orestes asked Leander.

  ‘I told him the truth,’ Leander said. ‘Nothing else would have made sense. He saw the blood on my clothes. I told him we were in a fight. But I didn’t tell him that we killed a guard and I didn’t tell him how much money our families would pay for us. He doesn’t know who we are.’

  ‘He can sell us all the same,’ Mitros said. ‘Even if he thinks he won’t get much, it might be worth his while to sell us rather than protect us.’

  ‘If we don’t get food, we’ll starve,’ Leander said. ‘And there is no other house for miles. He said that the next house is more than a day’s walk. After that, it’s the sea. There’s nothing here. We might have walked the wrong way.’

  He was preoccupied.

  ‘His wife doesn’t like us,’ Mitros said.

  When the man came into view again, he shouted to the dogs, which circled the boys more keenly, one of them snarling as it did so. When Mitros tried to pat the dog with which he had been friendly earlier, the dog moved away and sat near the front of the house, wagging its tail. The man went into the house and closed the front door.

  They waited then, afraid to move, as the day waned. In the last half-hour of light, they watched the swallows and martins frantic in the air, almost too loud for any other sound to be heard.

  The dogs seemed to grow more alert as time passed. Although Orestes wanted to relieve himself, he knew that the dogs would respond to even the smallest change. Once it was dark, he saw the stars appearing in the sky, but there was no moon as yet.

  ‘Do nothing that I don’t tell you to do,’ Leander whispered. ‘Watch me. Is that agreed?’

  Orestes pressed Leander’s hand with his own to indicate his assent. Soon, as silence reigned around them, Mitros started to cough, which caused the dogs’ barking to grow louder. Orestes and Leander held him to prevent him doubling over with the pain.

  ‘Just don’t move,’ Leander said. ‘The dogs will get used to the noise.’

  As the moon came up, the man appeared from the house. He shouted some words to calm the dogs.

  ‘You can walk on now,’ he said. ‘All three of you. We have decided we don’t want you here. It is too dangerous.’

  ‘We have no food,’ Leander said.

  ‘The dogs will attack you if you don’t walk,’ the man said. ‘And if you ever come near here again, they’ll go for your throats.’

  ‘Even some bread?’ Leander asked.

  ‘We have nothing.’

  ‘Which is the best way to go?’

  ‘There is no good way, except back to the mountains from where you came. All the rest is sea.’

  ‘Who owns the next house?’

  ‘It’s guarded by dogs as well. They won’t even bark. They will tear you to pieces when they smell the blood.’

  ‘Are there islands?’

  ‘There are no boats. They took our boats to fight their war.’

  ‘Is there water to drink?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘No spring or well? No stream?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  ‘Who lives in the next house?’

  ‘It doesn’t matter. She’s an old woman but you will never see her. Her dogs are like wolves. You’ll only see her dogs.’

  ‘Can you give us water before we set out?’

  ‘Nothing.’

  The man whispered something under his breath to the dogs.

  ‘Walk slowly in single file,’ he said in a louder voice to the three. ‘Don’t turn.’

  Orestes noticed that the man’s wife had appeared at the door, standing in the shadows with the dog that Mitros had petted close to her. The dog was still wagging its tail.

  ‘My friend’s cough –’ Leander began.

  ‘The dogs will follow you for a mile,’ the man interrupted. ‘If you try to turn back or even speak to each other, they will attack. If your friend starts to cough again, they won’t know what that is and they’ll attack him.’

  ‘I can’t . . .’ Mitros said.

  ‘Concentrate hard,’ Leander whispered to him.

  ‘Leave now,’ the man said and then shouted some orders to the dogs, which followed slowly behind them. They walked on until the dogs turned back and then they continued and did not look behind again. Soon, they came to a place that was sheltered by some bushes. They sat down. Mitros was the first to fall asleep. Leander said that he would stay awake while Orestes slept. He would wake him later so that he could then keep a lookout.

  At dawn, Orestes noticed the seabirds and felt that their cries grew louder and more alarming as they flew directly over him and his sleeping companions. Anyone pursuing them would know where they were, he thought, just as anyone ahead of them would know that they were approaching. The crying of the seagulls, in particular, was shrill. When he looked up into the sky, Orestes saw hawks hovering high above them in the pale morning light. Anyone for miles around would now be sure that there were intruders in the landscape.

  As they walked on, they could smell the salt from the sea, and a few times, as they climbed small hills, Orestes caught glimpses of its blueness. He was aware that they were walking away from food, and from water that they could drink. The house that the man had mentioned, the house guarded by dogs, was the last chance they would get. He presumed that Leander was working out a plan, but Leander was even more downcast than Mitros, and Orestes was afraid to ask him what he had in mind.

  As they stopped for a rest, panting with thirst, in a rock-strewn field, Mitros lay back with his eyes closed. Leander searched for stones or pieces of rock that he could hold in his hand.

  Slowly, Leander gathered them into a pile. He removed his vest and tried to make a sling that would carry as many rocks as possible, testing the weight, throwing out some when they seemed too heavy. Without asking any questions, Orestes followed suit, noticing a new brightness in Leander, an expression on his face that exuded determination and something almost close to confidence.

  When they alerted Mitros, he opened his eyes and stood up and walked behind them. They made their way forward more slowly now, listening for the slightest sound, as Leander fashioned a stick for himself from a stunted tree, later stopping to do the same for both Orestes and Mitros.

  Once he began to dream of food and water, Orestes did not think he could move another step. As he tried to imagine their destination, it became the palace with his mother at the door waiting for him, and Electra and Iphigenia inside.

  With a shudder, he wondered where Electra was and if she had been kidnapped too, or if she had been taken to be killed as Iphigenia was killed, with screaming and the bellowing of animals. For a moment, he wanted to cower so that no one could see him, but he was beckoned forward by Leander.

  They walked for some hours towards the setting sun. Orestes was tired carrying the stones. Mitros was having more and more trouble walking. Since they were burdened by the weight of the stones, they could not support him. All Leander could do was talk to him, in a soft, cajoling voice, even though he too was out of breath as they climbed a hill.

  For some of the day, there had been no birds above them in the high sky, but now, as their shadows lengthened, the sea-birds returned, flying lower and lower, seeming almost angry as they swooped down close.

  Leander stood behind Orestes as they studied what lay ahead. Orestes checked every inch of the landscape, but saw no sign of any habitation. Orestes wondered if the man had been fooling them when he told them that there was a house here. He could see that Leander was worried, but he knew that it was best not to ask what he thought as they sat beside Mitros, who was lying flat on the ground with his eyes closed.

  Leander spoke to Mitros gently and said that it would not be long before he had a bed to sleep in and some food and water. He must come with them for this last stretch. Orestes could see the sea on two sides now; they were heading towards the end of the land. If there were no house here, or no well or spring, he knew that they were finished and
would have to turn back.

  Ahead of them, the vegetation became more dense, which made him think that there was a water supply. And there could easily be a house hidden by the bushes and the pine trees. As they moved, the seabirds that had been following them seemed to withdraw, and there was only the sound of sparrows and other small birds. This sound was soon broken, however, by the barking of dogs. Leander signalled to the other two to run into the shelter of a bush on one side of the path as he went behind a thin pine tree on the other side. When they were settled, he began to whistle.

  As the first dog rushed ferociously along the path, Leander hurled stones at it, causing it to stop in its tracks and snarl. Orestes tried to aim precisely at the dog’s head, managing with one jagged rock to make the dog fall on its side. Leander stepped out and began to beat the dog on the head with a stick, returning to his supply of rocks for one hard enough to smash its head. As he did so, a second dog came down the path. Within a few seconds, it had Leander by the arm with its teeth, making him scream and writhe in pain. Orestes shouted to Mitros to get a heavy rock from his pile, as he took the stick and began to beat the dog.

  While Mitros threw rocks at the dog, Orestes hit it harder and harder. Finally, the dog fell over, with blood coming out of its mouth, leaving Leander gasping, his hand moving quickly to his arm to stop the bleeding. All three of them looked ahead, Orestes aware that if more dogs came in groups, they would not be able to withstand them. As Mitros held Leander, checking the wound in his arm, Orestes heard the sound of barking. He had time to fetch a number of rocks before a large black dog came bounding towards them, showing its teeth. He concentrated fiercely as he took aim and directed a rock towards the dog’s open mouth, instantly choking it. The dog fell on its back with a howl of pain.

  Now there was just the sound of whining. The first dog, still alive, was trying to get to its feet, even though half its head was open. Orestes stepped quickly towards it, and slammed a rock down on the animal’s body. He went across and knelt beside Leander, noting the huge raw tear in his arm.

  ‘Make him sit up,’ Orestes said.

  Slowly and with difficulty, crying out in pain, Leander moved into a sitting position. As he opened his eyes wide, Orestes saw him checking the scene with something close to his old vigilance. He stood up, holding his right arm with his left hand.

  ‘There could be more dogs,’ he said, as if nothing much had happened.

  They sat in the shadows as the light began to wane and the birdsong grew louder. Orestes felt so tired that he thought he could lie on the soft grass between the trees and fall asleep. He imagined that both Leander and Mitros felt the same.

  He was half dozing when he heard the voice of a woman. He looked in between the branches to see her bending over one of the dogs, crying out its name. She was old and very frail. When the woman saw the other dogs, she let out a shriek, moving from one to the other, calling each by name, eventually cradling the head of one of them, using lamenting words. Orestes watched her stand and look around her; he was aware for a second that if she looked closely she would see him. From the way she squinted, however, he could tell that her sight was not good. She moved away, back to where she had emerged from, still crying out words and the names of the dogs, raising her voice as if trying to wake the dogs up from death.

  They waited as darkness fell. Orestes believed that if the woman had more dogs, then she would not have lamented the dead ones with such intensity. Nonetheless, he was listening for the smallest barking sound. He heard other animal noises, the bleating of goats, and sheep and chickens, but no sound that suggested a dog. As Mitros began to vomit, Orestes felt the urge also. Leander warned them to be quiet. Afterwards, Orestes lay exhausted, close to Mitros, who reached out and held his hand for a moment. He did not know whether the grip was to let him understand how exhausted Mitros was, or how hungry and thirsty, or how afraid. Leander sat apart from them as though he were angry. When the moon appeared, he stood up.

  ‘I want both of you to remain here and be quiet,’ he said. ‘I’m going to talk to her.’

  As they waited for Leander to return, Orestes heard many sounds that suggested footsteps, someone approaching. In all the undergrowth around them, he realized, there was movement, small animals scratching about. There was also a sound that he did not recognize at first. It was like a human sound, someone breathing in and out. He listened and indicated to Mitros that he should listen too as this sound, like someone larger than they were who was sleeping peacefully, breathing with ease, came and went. It made him certain for a short time that there was someone nearby, someone who would wake soon and who would have to be dealt with. And then Mitros whispered to him: ‘It’s the sea.’ Suddenly, that made sense. It was the waves swelling and coming in towards the land and breaking and then, in a quick, hushed breath, going out again. He did not know that this sound could be so loud. In the camp when he was with his father he had seen the sea, and he must have slept near it, but he had never heard it like this before. He was sure also that this breathing sound had not been there earlier. Maybe, he thought, the wind had changed or the sound belonged to the night.

  As they waited, it was almost as if they were being rocked in a boat, so regular was the rhythm of the water. Orestes felt that if he concentrated on the sound of the sea and forgot everything else, then at least he would not have to think, but as time wore on and Leander did not return, he worried that he would be left in charge of Mitros, with no idea whether he should make an attempt to approach the woman’s house as Leander had done, or lead Mitros back along the road, where they would have no protection from the other dogs, or from the guards who might be in pursuit.

  When Leander approached, he had to call their names, as he could not immediately locate them. The fact that he was almost shouting suggested to Orestes that he was confident that it was safe. They stood up when they heard his voice.

  ‘She says we can stay,’ he said. ‘I’ve promised her that we will stay until she wants us to go. She has food, and there’s a well. She’s afraid of us, and she’s crying because of what we did to her dogs.’

  Bats began to swoop down on them as they walked towards the house, causing Mitros to cover his head in fear. Leander told them to follow slowly and watch every step as the house was close to steep cliffs. Mitros became so afraid of the bats that he had to snuggle in between the two others, seeking protection.

  The woman at the door seemed enormous, almost ominous, in the shadows cast by an oil lamp. She stood aside as they entered and then followed them inside. Orestes looked around the room, feasting his eyes on a ceramic jug of water and a cup beside it from which he imagined Leander had been drinking before he came to find them. Since both he and Leander were bare-chested, having used their vests to make slings for the rocks, he felt oddly uncomfortable in the small space of the room. The woman ignored him and Mitros as she set about examining the wound on Leander’s arm, on which she had earlier put a white poultice.

  Orestes eyed the cup, wondering what would happen were he simply to ask if he could drink and if he could share his drink with Mitros.

  ‘Drink,’ Leander said. ‘You don’t have to ask. There is a well just outside. She has promised me that it is not poisoned.’

  As Mitros almost ran across the room towards the water, the old woman moved swiftly out of the way and stood against the wall watching them.

  ‘I thought for a second there of calling the dogs to protect myself. But I can’t call the dogs,’ she whispered. ‘I don’t have any dogs to call. I have no one to protect me.’

  ‘We’ll protect you,’ Leander said.

  ‘You’ll go when you are fed, and you’ll tell others that I am here unprotected.’

  ‘We will not go,’ Leander said. ‘You must not be afraid of us. We will be better than the dogs.’

  When Mitros had drained a cupful of water, he handed the cup to Orestes, who filled it and drank it down. Leander began to cry out in pain as the woman removed the poult
ice on his arm and replaced it with a thick, white liquid that she spread over the wound.

  ‘Someone has to be on the lookout all the time,’ Leander said. ‘If they are still following us, they’ll come here. The farmer will direct them here.’

  ‘And they’ll burn the house,’ the old woman said. ‘That is what they’ll do.’

  ‘We won’t let them near the house,’ Leander said, as he stood up, his shadow growing against the wall.

  ‘I’ll stand guard tonight,’ Orestes said.

  ‘When the food is prepared, we’ll bring it to you,’ Leander said.

  ‘How long will it take for the food?’ he asked.

  ‘There’s bread here you can carry with you,’ Leander said.

  As Orestes left the house, the old woman shouted something that he could not make out. Then she spoke to Leander, as though he were the only one who might understand her.

  ‘He must not stray too far. There are cliffs. Only the animals know where it is safe. He should take one of the goats with him and follow the goat.’

  ‘Are the goats yours?’ Orestes asked.

  ‘Yes, who else could own them?’

  The old woman left the room for a moment and then returned with a thick tunic that she handed to Orestes.

  Leander led Orestes out into the dark and stood with him for a while until they could make out shapes by starlight. He patted one of the goats that the old woman had called.

  ‘Can you keep awake?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Orestes said. ‘And I can see and I will be careful.’

  ‘If you hear the smallest unusual sound, come and wake me. She has other goats and there are sheep in fields away from here. You might hear them in the distance. And the hens will make noise at first light. And there might be other sounds, bird sounds. But if you think you hear the sound of a dog barking too near, or a human sound, then wake me. We can try to defend ourselves. In the morning, we can make this house secure, or more secure.’