The chiefs and teachers clapped politely as I made my way to the place that had been kept for me at the far end of the row of chiefs, near my father’s chair. Some were my playmates from when I was a kid, my friends and my enemies; some were the friends or enemies of my dad. Opposite me, next to the Head Teacher, was an empty seat that had been kept for Starlight.
I looked round the cave, nodding to anyone who caught my eye. Nineteen out of twenty teachers were there, I quickly counted, and fifteen out of twenty chiefs. Just as I’d feared, Chief Dixon had brought in all his closest friends, and made sure that several of mine were missing. In fact, I could see only four that I thought I could rely on, the only really powerful one being Chief Earthseeker, my dad’s old hunting companion, who’d first taught me to ride a buck and shoot with arrows.
Chief Dixon himself was right beside me. “Welcome back, Headmanson,” he said, his face a mask. “A comfortable crossing, I hope? I thought it was best to come ahead and get things ready for you.”
Horns blew and my dad came shuffling into the cave, leaning on Purelight’s arm. The chiefs and teachers bowed.
“My son has chosen a housewoman,” Dad wheezed when he’d settled into his seat, “and he’s come to hear what you’ve got to say about it.”
Straight away Head Teacher Michael stood up, fat and bald, his pale longwrap sewn with the Three Last Words.
“I don’t want to criticize your son in any way, Headman, but I’m worried worried about what I’ve heard.” He rubbed his hand over his mouth. “And the reason I’m worried, Headman, is this. The Ringwearer must speak for Mother Gela herself, and it’s no small thing to understand the mind of the Mother of Eden. No small thing. We teachers have been working away for generations—for generations—reading, and talking, and thinking, so as to understand her better. But across the Pool there are all kinds of strange ideas. Even our fellow Johnfolk at Brown River thought that President was a woman until we went back over there and put them straight.”
The chiefs and teachers laughed.
“Yes, I know!” Michael exclaimed, shaking his head as if in disbelief. “And remember that’s the Johnfolk on Old Ground! This woman isn’t even one of them, so how can she possibly bring the people of New Earth to a better understanding of Mother Gela?”
He spread out his plump, short-fingered hands, throwing the question out to the whole Council, and lowered himself awkwardly back into his seat.
As the chiefs and teachers clapped, my dad looked across at me with one eyebrow raised. It was up to me. But my mouth was dry dry: too dry to trust myself to get out words, so I signaled to one of the bats to bring me a drink. Before it reached me, little red-faced Chief Gerry, one of Dixon’s closest friends, was up on his feet.
“I’m worried about the kind of folk she comes from, too,” he said. “The girl is pretty, apparently, and of course the Headmanson is a young man, and we all understand how a young man feels, but the Ringwearer must be a big person, and she must understand the needs of the big people.”
I looked round the cave as he sat down. The only support I was fairly certain of came from Earthseeker, from two young chiefs called Roger and John, and from a young teacher called Harry. But Roger was chief only of a small cave, John only had two three houseplaces out top, with maybe thirty metaldiggers and a hundred bats, and Harry was low low down on the list of teachers.
Beside me Chief Dixon leapt to his feet. He bowed to my dad and to me, then walked right out into middle of cave so everyone could see him. John’s hand, he had so much power here in Edenheart, but somehow I still had to stand up to him.
“Just a minute, please,” I said, jumping to my feet.
The bat had given me water and I could speak.
Dixon glared at me, but he had no choice but to bow and sit down again.
“I’ll start with your point, Chief Gerry,” I began, trying to remember the words I’d been putting together in my mind ever since we left Veeklehouse. “You’re chief of Brightflame Cave and, if you don’t mind me saying so, you seem to be forgetting the woman your own cave is named for. If I remember rightly the story of John’s meeting with Brightflame, she was carrying skins to the water to wash them. That doesn’t sound to me like a big person.”
“Quite right!” shouted out Chief Earthseeker, my good old friend, and he stood up and clapped, though no one else clapped with him.
“I’m sure,” I said, my mouth getting drier all the time, “that none of you would question the judgment of John Redlantern. And I’m sure none of you would deny that Brightflame was a fine Ringwearer. After all, she’s your great-great grandmother, Chief Gerry, as well as mine, and Chief Dixon’s, and Teacher Michael’s, and . . . well . . . pretty much all of you.” I was pleased to see several men nod and smile. I took the mug from the bat again to moisten my tongue. “As to Starlight not knowing everything we know, Head Teacher, well, I’m afraid that’s true, but she’s smart smart, and smart people learn quickly. All they need is a good teacher, and we have the best teachers here.” I bowed toward Teacher Michael and the whole row of teachers. “I’m hoping, Head Teacher,” I said, “that you yourself will take this on. After all, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t know any more than she does, and I promise you Starlight will be a whole lot easier than me.”
That seemed to go down well. Teacher Michael actually laughed.
“Starlight is pretty—and the small people will like that—but she’s also smart and strong. I’m sure she’s the right choice, and I want you to know I’ve made up my mind.”
I bowed to show I’d finished, but I remained standing, taking a firm hold of my right hand with my left to try to stop them from shaking.
Dixon and Gerry exchanged glances. Their closest supporters were leaning forward in their seats to catch their eyes. But while they were still trying to decide what to do, my own friend Chief Earthseeker stood up again and began to clap.
“Smart and strong! Just what we need!” he called out, looking about himself as he, too, sought out his supporters on both sides of the cave.
And this time Teacher Harry stood and clapped, too, and then so did John and Roger, each of them looking round for their friends.
The other chiefs and teachers hesitated. It was still hard to be certain which way this would go, but three more chiefs stood up together, two teachers followed them, and then—Tom’s dick!—the Head Teacher himself hauled himself to his feet, followed by all the remaining teachers.
I felt my dad’s attention sharpen. Chief Dixon stood again.
“I only met her myself for a short time, Headmanson,” he said in a bright bright voice that made a pretense of being keen and interested. “It seems you’ve seen things there that I didn’t see. But why don’t we all meet her now and decide for ourselves?”
A ringman went to the door and Starlight appeared. She was wearing a red longwrap and she stood for a moment at the end of the cave, the only woman there, taking in the scene. She didn’t act like a chief’s daughter—a chief’s daughter would have bowed to my dad and me, and would have known the important men whose presence she needed to acknowledge—but, John’s brave walk, she did not look like a small person, either. Taller than half the men there, she took in everything with eyes as sharp and fierce as my dad’s.
And she was as beautiful as fire.
Starlight Brooking
“I’m Starlight,” I said. “Starlight Brooking. I come from Knee Tree Grounds.”
That red cave was only one of many wallcaves in the Headmanhouse, but it was bigger than our whole Meeting Place back on the Sands. All down it, on both sides, men were leaning forward in their seats to watch me. I was the only woman, the youngest person there, the only one not used to others bowing before them every waking. Greenstone called them big men, and they were big, because their reach extended beyond their hands and feet, and far out beyond this cave. All across New Earth, right at that moment, men and women and bats were working away, so I’d been told, for these few men.
They’d looked me up and down when I came in, like Nob Head traders sizing up how strong a boat was, and how stable, and how fast it would go on the water. Now, hearing me speak, they glanced at one another and pulled faces. I didn’t know if it was the way I spoke they found funny or what I said, but either way it made me angry.
“So this is how you make people welcome in Edenheart?”
Their mouths opened in surprise, but from the far end of the cave there came a harsh bark from old Firehand.
“Yes, welcome the girl! Tom’s dick and Harry’s, she’s come a long long way to meet you!”
He began to clap, and on both sides of the cave the big men of Edenheart followed his example as Greenstone met me in middle of the cave and led me to my seat.
“Tell us how much ground your people have, how many helpers, and how many bats?” one of the chiefs asked me when the clapping had died away.
“Our grounds are more than two miles across and two miles wide,” I told him. “We have seventy helpers, and we have more bats than we can count.”
The chief glanced uneasily toward Firehand. “I don’t think you understand what I meant. You talk differently across the Pool, I know. Let me try to—”
“I perfectly understood what you meant,” I said, and looked round for other questioners.
“The Ringwearer speaks for Mother Gela,” said an old teacher with a white beard. “So tell me, do you know who Gela’s father was?”
“I hear her father was President of Earth. I didn’t know that until I came here, but Greenstone tells me that the teachers here are so smart that they can figure out what happened before any of us was born. I’m looking forward to hearing more about it.”
“Or you could just read about it,” said a cold, tight voice I already knew. “It’s all written down, after all.”
It was Chief Dixon, sitting across the cave next to Greenstone.
“For instance,” he said, “the Head Teacher next to you has some words written on his wrap. Important words, here in Edenheart. Why don’t you tell us what they say?”
Well, of course I couldn’t read. There was no shame in that on the Grounds, but you didn’t have to be an Einstein to see that there was shame in it here. I looked at the fat bloke sitting next to me. There were just three words on his wrap, the same ones sewn on each side. I could see the beginning and ending of each word, and I could see that the first word was longer than the other two, but I didn’t know the sounds the letters made except for two at the beginning of the middle word that were also in my own name. L-I. Like the word light in Starlight.
“We speak differently on our side of the Pool . . .” I began.
“Yes, but I’m sure we’ll understand when you read them out,” said the tall chief softly, giving a stealthy little glance along the row of chiefs. “We’ve understood you well enough so far.”
“And we use different letters, too,” I said, to give myself more time.
The second word began with the same sound as light, I was thinking, so that was one clue, and another clue was that these were important words in Edenheart: Something Li Something. I remembered the letters above the door of the Headmanhouse.
“Become like Earth,” I read out slowly, and smiled at the surprise and disappointment on Chief Dixon’s face.
“Become like Earth,” I repeated. “And I must say, what with metal and houses and cars, you guys are doing pretty well at that.”
They all clapped, and perhaps it was the relief of getting the better of Chief Dixon’s test, but for a moment this cave that had seemed so big and scary when I walked into it seemed small small, like I was looking into a tiny hole in the ground and had found a bunch of little bearded creatures down there pretending to be the bosses of the world.
“I agree she’s got things to learn,” Greenstone was saying, searching the faces around him for men who’d back him up. “Of course she has. But you can see for yourself she’s smart smart.”
He made me think of Uncle Dixon or Johnny suddenly. Just like them, he hated it that not everyone would agree with him. You could see that clearly in his face, though he was doing his best to be firm. And it was strange to notice that similarity suddenly, when he’d once seemed like the opposite of everything on Knee Tree Grounds—strange and a bit disappointing.
“I’m the Headmanson and I’ve made up my mind,” he said as firmly as he could. “I thank you all for your helpful thoughts, but this Council is finished.”
Chief Dixon ran out into middle of the cave.
“Okay, Council is finished, but this was a strornry Council, and there are chiefs who couldn’t make it. We must meet again properly soon for a full Council in six seven wakings.”
Greenstone looked weary weary, like he’d paddled all the way across to Nob Head, only to be told to turn round and go straight back.
“Not about the Ringwearer, though,” he said. “That’s settled. That’s settled for good.”
“Well, in that case, we’ve got a lot of other things to sort out.” Chief Dixon looked up and down the rows of chiefs and teachers. “You’ve turned down a chance to heal an old old wound that has divided New Earth since you were a kid.”
“Well, we won,” Greenstone said, coming over to sit beside me.
The old man had got Purelight to help him to his feet and had already begun shuffling toward the door. Now he stopped and looked back at Greenstone with red, watery eyes.
“Won? John’s hand, boy, you’ve moved one piece on the board. One piece. The game’s barely even started!”
I could see Greenstone flinching in the blast of his father’s scorn, but Firehand didn’t wait for an answer; he just continued slowly toward the door.
Hmmmph hmmmph hmmmph went the white tree, and the water trickled and trickled along the channel in the floor.
Greenstone managed a smile.
“Well, of course Dad’s right in a way. We’re going to have problems with chiefs and teachers. Headmen always do. But we’ve settled one thing, anyway. In a couple of wakings you’ll put on the ring and be my housewoman. That seems pretty good to me.”
I made myself smile as he’d done, but I felt like he was avoiding something that he really needed to face.
“By the way,” I said, “how did your dad burn his hand?”
Greenstone sighed. “When he was a kid, he had a brother called Harry. Their dad had been tricksy about who should be Headman when he was dead. He’d told some people it’d be Harry, others that it’d be Dad, and when the old man died, Harry and Dad couldn’t agree, and Council was split down the middle. In the end the Head Teacher—I mean the old Head Teacher, the one they had back then—decided to set them a test. He took the ring from their mother, put it in a bowl of water, and set it to boil over a fire. Whoever fetched out the ring would be Headman. Harry hesitated—who wouldn’t do?—but Dad being Dad, he reached straight in.” Greenstone laughed. “Good job I haven’t got a brother. No way would I do a thing like that. No way would I make my brother do it.”
It was a nice, sensible Jeff Redlantern kind of thing to say, and in a way I liked him for it, but at the same time I wished he was the kind who would plunge his hand into the scalding water. After all, hadn’t I done a thing like that when I said good-bye to my uncle, and my brother, and my best friend, just so as to come here to be with him? Hadn’t I hurt myself and taken a risk, for the sake of something new?
“What did Chief Dixon mean about an old wound?” I asked him.
This question seemed to strike deeper than my last one. He kind of shriveled for a moment.
“Oh, that’s a long story, Starlight,” he said quickly. “It’s about that business between Dad and his brother, and the different sides people took.” He gave a tired laugh. “I’m hungry,” he said. “I’m hungry hungry. Why don’t we go and eat?”
Glitterfish Brooking
There was a place on the edge of the Sand where a big lump of rock stuck up out of the beach. It was the only solid rock
in whole of Knee Tree Grounds, and the only place where there was a bit of shadow, real black shadow I mean, not the shadows of tree trunks, in different shades of yellow and green, that crisscrossed the whole Sand. I was walking round the beach there with Mikey, settling him down to sleep, when I noticed a woman sitting there, and I walked nearer to see who it was.
“Starlight?” the woman called out. “Is that you?” And then, disappointed: “Oh, it’s you, Glits. You looked like your sis. I thought for a moment she’d changed her mind and come back.”
It was Angie Redlantern. I sat on the rock beside her.
“I’m sorry I was harsh on you all when you came back without her,” I told her. “It wasn’t really fair, when after all I couldn’t make her stay here in first place.”
Mikey snuffled and wriggled a bit, then snuggled up again against my breast.
“I don’t understand how she could just leave us like that,” I said.
Angie shrugged. “Well, that Greenstone was pretty nice. I’d probably done the same if he’d made me the same offer.” She looked up at me like she was afraid I was going to laugh. “I know that would never have happened,” she added quickly, “but let’s just say it did, I might have done the same.”
“No, you wouldn’t, Angie. You wouldn’t just walk away from us like that. You’d think about how it would make us feel.”
She thought about that for while, frowning, and I stood up so I could jiggle Mikey more easily. Out in the water, the lanterntrees pulsed and shone.
“She had more choices than me, Glits,” Angie said. “Us batfaces have to work to make people like us, so of course we worry about how other people feel. But Starlight, well, that Greenstone guy thought she was wonderful before she’d even opened her mouth.”
Angie looked up at Mikey, his face pressed up against one of my breasts, his hand gently squeezing the other while he slept. She smiled.
“Starlight was jealous of your little boy.”
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