by Shannah Jay
Narla frowned at him. 'Nothing goes on for ever. Not even the Tanglewoods.'
'Oh, doesn't it? Well, this journey feels as if it's been going on for much longer than for ever. It's a miracle we've got so far, an absolute miracle, and it'll be an even greater miracle if our luck lasts. Still, it might, I suppose. I never really believed that Brother of yours bothered about us before, but I'm beginning to believe it now. Who else could have kept us safe through all this?'
'Your faith in his powers must be a great comfort to him,' said Herra drily.
Davred grinned at Katia and put an arm round Erlic's shoulders, giving his son a quick hug that drew a sideways look and a strange glinting smile from him. Erlic was very different from the other two children.
'Why don't you try being optimistic for a change, Jonner?'
'I'll be as optimistic as you like once I find out where we are and once we're really back in the Twelve Claims. I just hope we can find a route then that will keep us away from Those of the Serpent. I've no desire to find myself in one of their shrines again. I'm not in the mood for making public sacrifice and I never did enjoy being whipped.'
'Do they really whip people?' asked Narla, eyes wide.
'Oh, yes. They seem to enjoy drawing your blood. And as for sex - they make it a dirty thing, they do.
Make you do it in public on a great black altar. Ugh! Puts you right off, that does. I remember once in - '
'Shut up!' said Quinna. 'Just shut up and walk.'
'But I was just - '
A heavy hand descended on his shoulder and shook him roughly. 'I said shut up and walk! We don't want to hear any more about Those of the Serpent. From what Benjan's told me, they make the scummiest of Rimrascals seem kind and friendly. I'll never understand why anyone needs to act in that filthy way. Stabbing you to death is one thing, but torturing you and twisting your life around so that you live in misery stinks of -
of carrion! I'll face them when I have to, but in the meantime, I'd rrather not think about such rrogues.'
That silenced everyone.
They're getting very tired, Herra thought. We all are. We've been travelling for a long time, at other people's mercy. We need a rest, then we need to take our own lives in hand again. Brother, I pray you, let us pause somewhere for a while.
In a short time, they all stopped, for they really did come to the edge of the Tanglewoods. A clearing, much smaller than the one near the great tree, gave them relief from the riot of greenery that seemed to have been assaulting their eyes as well as their bodies ever since they entered the woods. At the other side of the clearing, guarded by two tall trees, a creeper-covered arch offered egress into open sunlight.
Nothing could be seen clearly through the arch, however, so they all paused by common accord to gather their strength before they faced the unknown yet again. The air here was blurred as it was at the entrance to the Tanglewoods, so all they could see were hints of rolling scenery and a tantalising shimmer of colours and shapes.
'Aren't we leaving?' demanded Jonner. 'What are you all waiting for?'
Herra laid a hand on his arm and looked across at Katia, who was standing alone a few paces away from them, her brow furrowed in thought.
Katia stared across at the arch and, for a minute, the air seemed to flicker around her head. 'Before we leave,' she said slowly, 'I'd like to thank the great beings who dwell in the Tanglewoods for helping us. May we gather again here, Elder Sister, before we pass through this portal?'
'If you think that right, dear child.'
'I think it's necessary.'
Jonner looked longingly at the blur of sunlight at the other side of the arch, but obediently took his place in the circle next to Lerina. The girl was looking so apprehensive that he gave her a smile and a wink. After a twitch of surprise, she smiled back at him, another child's trusting smile in a young woman's face. Like the twins, she hadn’t spoken a great deal since her transformation, but she’d followed her mother around and done as people asked her with a fair degree of understanding, and with that same sweet expression on her face. The thought of this innocent creature falling into the hands of Those of the Serpent made Jonner feel sick. In fact, the thought of facing them again himself was making him shaky.
As they linked into a circle, silence fell across the clearing, a silence in which they could feel the throbbing presence of the trees and the warmth of this strange companionship the trees had shared with them.
As the Kindred gathered, a thread of green began to run around the edge of the clearing behind them, and by the time they broke the circle, the green had turned into a beringa vine laden with fruit.
'If there was somewhere to sell them, we could make a tidy little profit from those,' said Jonner, looking at the vine longingly. 'More, if we had time to tap some of the sap.' He went and picked one of the rosy pink fruit that hung in fingerspan clusters, biting a piece off and swallowing it with evident pleasure, then popping the rest into his mouth. He gestured to the young people to do the same. Their expressions as they swallowed showed surprise and delight, and they needed no encouraging to eat some more. The adults followed suit.
Everyone loved beringa fruit, but as the vines grew only where they willed, they were a rare treat.
Suddenly, from outside the arbour-like portal, there came the sound of a deleff trumpeting. All the adults jerked round.
' Oh no! They've come to get us again!' Jonner looked behind him along the way they had come, as if he was thinking of fleeing back into the Tanglewoods, but that pathway had closed up again.
'I've had enough of being pushed hither and thither. This time, we shall choose our own path.' Herra led the way across the clearing, her step firm and determination radiating from her trim body. Whether she was wearing a Sister's blue robe, or beige Sandrim leathers as she was now, she was always in charge of herself and her companions, always the focus of attention. 'Come! Let us face what we must immediately. Our Brother has supported us so far. He'll surely lend us the strength we need now.'
'Brother, look down!' everyone murmured automatically and turned to follow her.
Walking through the arbour portal was like walking underwater; they had to push their way through layers of heavy moist air. Even Jonner fell silent as he followed Narla through the invisible curtain, though he heaved a loud sigh of relief when they came to the other side unscathed. They all stopped in amazement.
Two huge traders' wagons stood waiting for them, with four deleff browsing nearby on the shrubs that dotted the margin of the Tanglewoods.
'Look at that!' Before anyone could stop him, Jonner had darted across to the wagons, and was peering inside and running his fingers over the woodwork.
'Hey, these are ours,' he called excitedly. 'Our old wagons. I recognised those scratches straightaway. You can always tell your own wagon, somehow.' Without considering the possibility of danger, he jumped up into the back of the nearest wagon. 'All our things are still here!' he yelled. 'Come and see!'
'No!' said Herra, gesturing to the others to stay where they were. 'Jonner has taken it upon himself to test out our safety. We'll wait until he comes back to us.'
This happened within minutes. Beaming all over his face, Jonner jumped down from the back of the wagon and held out his hands to show them something. 'Look! My knives. I thought I'd lost them for ever.'
He pulled one out of its sheath and stroked its gleaming blade against his finger. 'Little beauties, these are,' he murmured in the tone of a lover.
'Did you bother to notice anything else while you were in the wagon?' asked Cheral, but her sarcasm was lost on him, so delighted was he to get his knives back.
'The only thing that's changed, as far as I could tell, is that there's a pile of old sacks in the wagons. They'd be just perfect for harvesting those beringa fruit. And we've got enough glass containers to tap the vines for sap, too. You get a high price for beringa sap. Best medicine there is. It'd give us something to trade with.'
'That'
d mean going back into the Tanglewoods,' Quinna pointed out. 'Do we really want to do that?'
'What, miss out on a profit like this?' asked Jonner. 'Are you mad? Besides, we'd only have to go as far as that clearing. We don't have to trek through the woods again.'
'How do you feel about this place?' Herra asked Benjan.
'I get no feeling of danger here.' He sniffed the air and walked up and down beside the wagons. 'In fact, things haven't felt so good to me for a long time.' He turned to stare at the horizon. 'And I'd say that there was a village over there. What do you think, Katia? You have the sharpest eyes.'
'Mmm. It looks like a village to me, too.'
'If there's a village, we'll be able to trade for food. Shall we go back and harvest the beringa fruit, then?'
Jonner was looking more alive than he had for a long time. 'I could do some good trading with beringa fruit, and as for the sap - a fortune for the taking, that is.'
'It sounds like a good idea to me,' said Cheral. 'We shall need to start trading if we're to travel safely. What do you think, Elder Sister?'
'I think we should follow Jonner's lead. He is the most expert of us in trading matters, after all. Now that we're back in the Twelve Claims, we'll be relying on you a great deal, Jonner.' She smiled at him.
He beamed and puffed out his narrow chest. 'Right, then. Come on, everyone. If we work quickly, we can get ourselves some top trade goods. Everyone always wants to buy beringa fruit, you know, whether they're fresh or dried. And as for the sap - it'll make us a fortune. You can trust me to get the best price.'
He was the first to go through the portal into the Tanglewoods and, for once, they heard no complaints from him as they worked, picking the fruit until their backs ached and their sacks were laden and all their empty glass jars were full of the sap. As they turned to leave, the vine stopped growing and started to wither, so that before they’d even crossed back to the portal, it had shivered into dust.
'Makes a chill run down my spine, that,' said Jonner, but he brightened up again as he looked at the jar he was carrying.
When they returned through the portal, the deleff moved into the harness and started furling and unfurling their ruffs, ready to set off. Erlic walked over to stand staring at them, then laid a tentative hand on the head of the deleffal.
'Greetings, brother,' he said, so quietly that only Katia, who had followed him across, heard the words.With much laughter, everyone who wanted to ride piled on board. Katia touched Erlic's shoulder and he stepped away from the deleff so that it could move forward. When the people who didn’t want to ride started walking along beside the wagons, he stayed near the deleff most of the time.
Narla, Quinna and the youngsters, who had never seen such things before, seemed fascinated by the great wooden wagons, and Jonner took it upon himself to explain to them how things worked, how the canvas canopy could be lowered or raised, or just partly drawn back, how every fingersbreadth of space was utilised for carrying stock, how the raas root plates in the springs took the worst of the shocks from the bumpy roads.
That poor man's face has not been so happy for a long time, Herra thought, watching Jonner. The adventures have tried him sorely, but he's with us on this Quest for a purpose, or our Brother wouldn’t have sent him to us. And in spite of the troubles we've encountered on the journey, he looks in better shape physically now, fit and tanned, thanks to the exercises Cheral insists he do regularly, not to mention the rigours of the journey itself. He has an air of confidence and energy, as well as readiness for trouble, that he didn’t have before. The man we encountered the day we found poor Carryn and her mother Merryan's headless body was very different from this Jonner. Herra had to hide a smile as she wondered what he would say if she told him how much he’d changed. No doubt he’d complain volubly about that, too.
After they’d been travelling for a while, Cheral insisted that the three youngsters lie down and rest in one of the wagons. 'They're still tired from that rapid growth,' she declared. 'Best if they sleep for a while now.'
Given half a chance, Herra thought wryly, Cheral would mother those children herself.
Cheral found some journey biscuits and hard cheese, fed everyone, then spread soft blankets on the floor of one of the wagons. Alaran and Lerina fell asleep almost immediately, but Erlic shook his head and moved to the rear of the wagon, where he sat quite motionless with his arms around his knees, his strange silver eyes observing all that passed. Cheral didn’t feel it necessary to insist that he lie down.
A little later he got down from the wagon and went to walk beside the deleff, not speaking to them, or even looking at them, but somehow giving the impression of silent communion with them.
* * *
Soon after the Kindred left the Tanglewoods, Robler was summoned to the com-room. He stared at the screens in disbelief.
'They can't have moved so far that quickly! They've only got traders' wagons to travel in. Tell me again what happened.'
Kerem took a deep breath. 'They came out of that cloudy area west of the wildwoods, the one where we get no animal life readings at all. I thought it was just swamps and hot springs, but there must be some sort of a path through it. Anyway, one minute there was no sign of the wagons, then there they were, but with no people in them, and one of the tracers on them was broadcasting perfectly well.
They exchanged puzzled glances. 'How is that possible?' murmured Robler.
Kerem shrugged and continued his story. 'After a while, Davred and the others came out of the misty area.
But they went back in almost immediately. I thought maybe an old scene had got double-recorded, so I tested for it, but there was no sign of malfunction. Then they all came out of the cloudy bit again, laughing together like they'd just come from a party, and carrying sacks of fruit and jars. See for yourself.'
Robler stared at the com-images. Davred's and Jonner's tracers were broadcasting strongly again and sending clear images up to the satellite, as was the tracer on the wagon. Something was wrong, though, and as the wagons started moving, he watched for a moment, eyes narrowed, then decided to make contact.
'So you're back again, Davred.'
Those who were on foot stopped dead in their tracks and then the wagons came to a halt. Quinna and Narla gaped as Davred took a slim black box from his pocket and spoke into it. 'Ah, Robler. I wondered when you'd contact us. How are things on the satellite?'
'Going well. Why don't you come up here and see for yourself?'
Davred threw back his head and laughed. Indeed, the whole party seemd to be in the best of spirits. 'One day, perhaps, Robler. Not just now. At the moment I've got too much to do down here.'
Kerem had a question of his own and asked it before Robler could prevent him giving information away gratuitously. 'How did you get there? You're nearly at the border of Peneron and the last place we heard from you was over a thousand kloms west of the wildwoods.'
'Magic,' said Davred, his tone solemn, but his eyes dancing. 'A great tree in the forest cast its spell upon us and drew us hither.'
This remark didn’t draw the usual scornful crack from Robler, who had a question of his own. 'Where are the babies? You surely didn't leave your precious children behind? Even with the poor reception from that place you were in last, we could see that they'd been born.'
'The babies are quite safe, Robler. But thank you for your concern.'
'Well, they're not there with you. Fine parents you two are, abandoning your children.'
Davred responded by another of his enigmatic smiles, which always infuriated Robler.
'And your party's grown larger again. Who are those youngsters? And who's that muscular woman? She is a woman, I presume?'
Davred grinned at Quinna, who was listening with great interest, but saying nothing. 'Are you a woman, Quinna?'
'Ask Benjan. He keeps checking me out.' She tried to keep her expression solemn, but her broad face was crinkled with laughter. She’d decided the speaking box was just on
e more harmless piece of the Kindred's magic.
Benjan said very solemnly, 'I can bear witness that she is in every way a woman.'
'There you are, Robler. She is a woman!' Davred chuckled. 'Your powers of observation are as acute as ever.'
'I don't appreciate your levity. Nor will Confex when this recording is sent to Sector HQ. You sound like you've been drinking.'
'No. Just eating the fruits of the forest. Beringa fruits, to be precise. You should try them sometime. They work better than euphorion, because you don't lose touch with reality, and they make you feel as if you could run a thousand kloms without stopping. Perhaps that's how we got here so quickly.'
'Can't you be serious, for once?'
'I'll try to remember your wishes. No levity. No fun.' Davred pulled a face at Katia, who tried to stop a snort of laughter. 'As for our new young friends, we picked them up west of the wildwoods, in the Lands of Nowhere, of course. You of all people will know that we haven't been anywhere else. The youngsters needed our help and we didn't like to leave them behind at the mercy of - er - the strange monsters of the wilds. We shall need to gather more people together now.'
'What do you need more people for? Your precious Quest?' sneered Robler.
Davred nodded, all levity leaving him abruptly. Robler seemed to be trying to cast a shadow over their happiness, or was it that Davred had sensed some danger in his former Exec? He frowned as he replied slowly, 'Yes, of course. For our Quest, our very precious Quest.'
'Nine adults and three youngsters. Powerful fighting force you've got there, Davred. I shall be interested to watch you defeat Those of the Serpent and retake the Twelve Claims.'
Davred's frown deepened. It couldn't be, and yet the emanations were very clear. Robler was exuding the same sort of taint as Those of the Serpent. For a moment, he wished he could go up to the satellite and see how matters stood for himself, but he knew that if he did, Robler would make very sure that he never returned.
Herra filled the silence by remarking mildly, 'Those of the Serpent will defeat themselves eventually, Robler. Beware of pushing your own people too far. You've lost Soo and Mak. How many more will flee from the satellite before the balance is restored to the Confederation in your Sector?'
