Song for a Scarlet Runner

by Julie Hunt

Siltboy looked shocked. ‘Shadow is our true friend. We don’t trade him.’

  ‘Let him be our friend, too,’ the mother said. ‘Lem, come with me to the smokehouse.’

  She and one of the older boys disappeared behind the hut, returning with a large piece of meat. It looked like half a goat.

  ‘For you.’ She laid it at Shadow’s feet and watched with satisfaction as he took it in his mouth.

  ‘He’s hungry,’ Siltboy said. ‘He hasn’t eaten for nine hundred years.’

  The mother laughed a big open laugh, then she looked at Siltboy and me and decided we needed feeding as well.

  ‘You poor children. You look famished.’ She clapped her hands and sent a couple of girls into the hut. They came out with cooked potatoes, oatcakes and green beans for us to eat. I noticed the sleek slip in after they’d left the hut. No doubt he would help himself to the food inside.

  After we had finished eating, the mother spread a mat on the ground and laid a bundle of clothes on it.

  ‘Help yourselves,’ she said. ‘You can’t go to Hub in rags.’

  ‘Hub is far from here,’ the man with sandy hair said. ‘You have a Great Hound, but the pass is steep and dangerous. Do you know the way?’

  ‘They have a scarlet runner,’ the old man told them. ‘Those creatures can find their way anywhere.’

  I chose a pair of cloth pants and a felt jacket. Siltboy picked up a shirt and fingered the fabric.

  ‘What weave is this?’ he asked.

  ‘Flax,’ the mother replied. ‘Linen.’

  He put the shirt in his bag and chose some other items from the pile.

  ‘Glads, jerkin and breeches. Have you no helmet?’ he asked.

  Some of the children giggled and their mother silenced them with a look. She handed Siltboy a woollen cap with earflaps.

  ‘Take this,’ she said kindly. ‘You don’t need a helmet. The battle is over.’

  Siltboy put on the cap and picked up two pairs of trousers – one just his size and the other longer than he was. He chose the second pair.

  ‘No, Siltboy,’ I said. ‘They’re too big.’

  ‘Let the lad take the large ones,’ the old man cried. ‘His people were giants. They set the stones on end.’

  One of the bigger girls handed us each a cup of sweet tea. ‘To see you on your way,’ she said. ‘Your visit is our good fortune. I never thought I’d see a Great Hound. May good luck follow you to the ends of the earth.’

  We left the farm and Shadow carried us through the foothills. The sleek sat between Siltboy and me, occasionally chirping to give directions but mostly sleeping. His face looked fuller than usual and his belly was tight.

  ‘You’re bad, Sleek,’ I said. ‘To steal from those good people.’

  He opened one eye and gave me a shrewd look.

  ‘Let him be,’ said Siltboy. ‘Sleek has his own way.’

  Shadow kept up his steady pace, loping through the trees with long, easy strides. Soon we left the lowlands behind and moved into steeper country. Our hound slowed down and made his way along narrow tracks and animal pads. From time to time I looked back and saw the forest far below, and away in the distance, the farm. The sun was high when the path we were on petered out. Shadow paused, hot and panting, while the sleek slipped to the ground and ran on ahead.

  The sleek led us high into the mountains, and he kept going long after darkness had fallen. At times we climbed down as Shadow had to scramble over boulders. At other times, when we were riding, our legs scraped against a rock wall and we knew Shadow was taking us along a narrow ledge.

  All night Shadow climbed the mountains, following the sleek. Siltboy and I had to hold on tight to stop ourselves sliding backwards. Sometimes we heard loose pebbles clattering away below and I was glad we couldn’t see beneath us. I took Siltboy’s bag and put it carefully over my shoulder. I didn’t want the everlasting daisy to get battered on the journey.

  I wondered where Eadie would be. She might still be in Hub, or she might have taken one of the many roads that led from there. Someone would know which way the marsh auntie had gone.

  The sleek picked his way ahead of us, directing Shadow with clicks and low chuckling sounds and sometimes a shriek.

  ‘Are you tired, Siltboy?’ I asked.

  ‘Worn,’ he replied. ‘Battle weary. But that is the way of the great quests.’

  When cold gusts of air hit us in the face, we knew we had reached the top. Shadow lay down, panting, and we snuggled into him, sheltering from the wind. The moon came up and its gentle light shone over a bare, rocky plateau.

  ‘Maybe Hub is on the other side,’ I said. ‘Siltboy, ask the sleek how much further we have to go.’

  ‘Can’t,’ he replied. ‘The gift is gone.’

  He looked up at the stars, and he was smiling.

  ‘It must have happened when you crossed the river,’ I said.

  ‘True,’ he said. ‘Small price to pay for finding the way to the world.’

  SWEET SAGA!

  The sleek woke us early the next morning, chittering loudly. My head was buried in Shadow’s straggly fur, and I was warm and cosy and would have like to sleep longer, but the sleek wouldn’t have it. He nipped Shadow on the ear and the great dog leapt up with a yelp, scattering Siltboy and I. We were lucky he didn’t tread on us. The sleek didn’t leave us alone till we were mounted on Shadow and he was sitting at the front.

  We travelled across the plateau with the cold wind in our faces. The barren ground grew softer, sprouting a carpet of spiky grass. Low shrubs and tiny twisted trees grew here and there, and we heard creatures rustling in the bushes as we passed. Shadow was interested in all the scents and sounds. He kept lowering his head to sniff the ground, but every time he did this the sleek snarled and dug in his claws. Shadow didn’t seem to mind much – perhaps he didn’t even notice – but when the sleek bit him hard on the back of the neck he turned around and snapped, knocking Siltboy to the ground. The sleek leapt into a tree and crouched there shrieking while Shadow ran off with his nose to the ground.

  ‘Halt, Shadow!’ Siltboy called, but the dog took no notice.

  I held on tight, hoping Shadow would turn around, but he didn’t. He careered forward, dashing this way and that, then he began whining with excitement. He was on the track of something. I almost dropped Siltboy’s bag as I struggled to keep my grip.

  ‘Halt!’ I heard Siltboy cry. ‘Shadow. Stand!’

  His voice faded behind me as Shadow raced across the countryside, splashing through creeks and dodging around the trees. I looked down as the ground flashed past. Perhaps I should make a leap for it, I thought. Who knows where I will end up if I stay on Shadow’s back.

  ‘Please stop, Shadow!’ I cried.

  I was gathering up my courage, ready to jump, when he began to slow down – not because I had asked him to stop, but because he had found something dead lying on the ground up ahead. The smell of it nearly made me faint. I couldn’t see what it was, or what it had been – it was too far gone for that. It had been something big, though – maybe a cow, or one of Siltboy’s aurochs. Shadow put his paw on the carcass and pulled up a long strand of gizzard until it snapped, spraying me with a foul-smelling liquid, then he tossed the guts in the air and gulped them down.

  I lowered myself to the ground and got out of the way as Shadow tore into his breakfast, bolting down gobfuls of rotting meat and crunching the bones. When he had finished, he lay down and rolled in the mess that remained.

  I heard Siltboy calling in the distance. ‘Peat, are you all right? Are you hearty?’

  ‘No, I’m not hearty!’ I yelled. ‘Your dog is disgusting.’

  Shadow was on his back, waving his enormous paws in the air. His mouth was open and bits of gore were stuck in his teeth. He looked as though he was grinning.

  Siltboy appeared among the trees, running hard. ‘Come, Shadow,’ he panted. When he was close enough to see what was happening, he slowed to a walk. ‘Sit!’ he cried, a
nd the big dog reluctantly got to his feet, scratched his ear and looked the other way.

  ‘Drop!’

  Shadow lay down at Siltboy’s feet, looking a bit apologetic, as if he hadn’t meant to cause any trouble. Siltboy held his nose.

  ‘A hundred sorrows, Peat,’ he said. ‘Shadow is new to the world. He has to learn.’

  ‘But he’s older than you are!’

  ‘Yes, but he’s not been full-bodied for a long time.’

  I looked up at Shadow’s back. His shaggy coat was matted with the mess and slime. ‘How are we to ride?’ I asked.

  ‘We must walk.’

  Just then the sleek trotted past with his nose in the air. Shadow went to follow him but Siltboy cried, ‘Hound, you stay back. Downwind.’

  We followed the sleek along a narrow path, and Shadow walked behind us with his head down and his tail between his legs. The path wound its way through some trees and ended at a small lake, which sparkled in the early-morning sunlight. The water was stained a red-gold colour, and you could see through it to the sandy bottom.

  ‘Into the tarn.’ Siltboy pointed, and Shadow plunged in, swimming up and down, barking with delight. Siltboy and I took the opportunity to have a wash as well. Afterwards, I put on my new clothes. I would have liked to keep wearing my old dress, the one my mother had made, but it was torn and tight on me and full of holes. Only the dress the marsh auntie, Olive, gave me had withstood the strain. I rinsed it out and put it back on, with the new pants under it and the felt jacket on top.

  My wool dress went in Siltboy’s bag; I couldn’t see myself wearing it again but I didn’t want to leave it behind. Siltboy put his new shirt on under his breastplate and wore my vest over the top, even though it was tatty.

  When we were dressed, Siltboy climbed a tree and came back with three eggs. ‘One for each,’ he said. ‘Shadow has no need.’

  He handed an egg to me and gave one to the sleek, who took it carefully in his paws and made a hole in it with one sharp tooth before sucking out the contents. When he had finished, he licked his lips and cleaned his paws.

  Siltboy lit a fire. ‘If only I had helmet,’ he said. ‘We could boil them.’

  He cooked the eggs on a flat stone and we ate them with our fingers. When the sleek appeared with a fish, I was more than happy. We cooked that as well.

  ‘Right, Sleek,’ I said when we had finished our breakfast. ‘Show us the way!’

  The sleek looked at me for a moment, then his eyes turned into slits and his tail began to tremble.

  ‘Calm yourself, Sleek,’ Siltboy said. ‘She didn’t mean to boss you.’

  The sleek’s tail flared. I bit my lip.

  ‘Sorry, Sleek,’ I muttered. ‘I meant to say, When you are ready, if you don’t mind . . . you’re the leader.’

  ‘Always we do your bidding, brother Sleek,’ Siltboy said quietly.

  The sleek’s tail settled and he yawned, then we sat looking at the water for a long time before he finally got up, stretched and decided we could leave. Once we were moving he must have thought we should make up for lost time, because he sat on Shadow’s head and urged him forward, down steep slopes and along a track that wound its way off the plateau.

  Shadow’s breakfast wouldn’t have been my choice, but it seemed to have done him good because he ran much faster than he had the day before, bounding over logs and creeks until we were climbing again towards a high ridge. When we reached the top, Shadow stopped. We gasped at the sight before us.

  ‘Sweet Saga!’ Siltboy breathed. ‘Be it a wheel, a gold brooch, or the spikes of some spidery flower?’

  ‘None of those,’ I said. ‘I think it’s a city. It must be Hub!’

  We looked down on a vast settlement built around a lake that shone like a mirror in the sunlight. The water was as golden as the water where we had swum, and there was a huge domed building in the centre of it, which looked like Mother Moss’s oven only many times bigger. Four bridges spanned the lake, connecting the building to the rest of the city. North, south, east and west. The surrounding hills were green, and roads and rivers led in every direction, so that the lake and its building looked like the middle of a strange spidery flower.

  ‘Wondrous made,’ whispered Siltboy. ‘I never seen the likes of it, not even in dreams.’

  ‘Me neither. That must be Upper Hub. I bet there’s a ladder inside that dome – a ladder with a thousand rungs. It goes down to Lower Hub, where the night markets are. That’s where we’re heading.’

  The look of amazement on Siltboy’s face turned to worry. ‘Shadow is not one for the rung-work,’ he said. ‘Is there an easy way down?’

  I didn’t know. I gazed at the marvellous city. A ring road circled the lake, and the buildings around it were every colour of the rainbow. The roofs weren’t thatch or sod – they must have been made of something shiny, because they glittered in the sunlight, making the whole scene look like a piece of enormous jewellery.

  ‘This is the centre of the world, Siltboy. From here you can go anywhere you want.’ I could hardly believe what I was seeing.

  ‘I don’t know where I want, Peat,’ Siltboy said in a small voice. ‘Will the muck aunt be here?’

  ‘She may be. She might be telling stories, or treating people who are sick; or she might have left for another place. Let’s go and find out.’

  The sleek didn’t take us towards the lake. Instead, he found a track that skirted the city. It wound through a forest of trees that had been planted in rows. The leaves were gold, and the air was bright with birdsong and flickering sunlight.

  We came to a crossroads with a signpost full of names. It was as tall as the trees, and there were names all the way up. Hub. Lower Hub. Mirth. Nil. The Deepings, Middle Hub, Holloway. Inroad. The Plains. Way of Fields. Alspith. Glut. Sigh River. Fourth World. Fifth World. Uplands. Lookout. Mt Hub. Pinnacle Point. Drift Peak. The Pass . . . I couldn’t read the words at the top.

  Siltboy gazed up as I called out the place names.

  ‘You see, Siltboy. The world is bigger than you think!’ I told him.

  I would have liked to climb the signpost so I could keep reading all the way up, but the sleek nipped my ankles and drove us down the path to Lower Hub. It was a narrow track and it descended into a gully. Only once did we pass anyone – a man with a handcart full of oranges.

  ‘Light my lying eyes!’ he cried. ‘A Great Hound! I thought your kind had all died out.’

  He wheeled his cart to the side of the path so that Shadow could pass, staring at him in such astonishment that he barely noticed the sleek flicking several oranges to the ground and chasing them when they rolled downhill. He took off his hat and bowed his head. ‘Heroes of the hunt, preserve us!’ he said.

  Siltboy ran to catch up with the sleek and we had oranges for our lunch, although the sleek wouldn’t let us stop to enjoy them. He chittered and snapped and hurried us down the narrow path. I could hear a muffled roaring sound coming up the gully and wondered if we were somewhere near the waterfall.

  After some time, the path joined up with a level road that weaved its way through bush and rocks. From time to time I could hear people – snatches of conversation, laughter, the murmur of a crowd. Sweet cooking smells wafted past and set my stomach rumbling. It was puzzling, because there was nothing around us except boulders and trees. Then I realised the sounds and smells were coming through cracks in the rocks. I stopped and listened. The people of Hub were below us – I could hear their voices rising up out of the ground.

  The road ended at the entrance to a cave. There were massive stones on either side, with some swirly patterns carved into them. A slab of rock sat over the top, with a symbol on it that looked like a wheel.

  ‘We’d best leave Shadow outside. If we take him into Hub he will attract too much attention,’ I said.

  We walked away from the track and found a cosy spot for Shadow under some trees by a little stream. He was out of sight of the cave entrance there. Siltboy told him to st
ay, and he lay down in the shade. The sleek sprang onto his back and nestled into his fur, making himself comfortable. The upset from earlier in the day seemed to have been forgotten.

  The cave was really a narrow passageway. It echoed with voices and the sound of roaring water, but no one was coming or going, except for two boys carrying empty fruit boxes.

  ‘Are the night markets open in the daytime?’ I asked.

  ‘Of course,’ they replied. ‘The night markets never close. This is the back entrance.’

  The passage was not like the one I had travelled down with the Siltman and his dogs. This was a short and level thoroughfare and it led straight to the marketplace.

  ‘Strickens!’ cried Siltboy, grabbing my hand. ‘I never seen such a multitude!’

  The markets were just as busy as when I had last been there. People were calling the names of their wares above the roar of the crowd, and I could hear the waterfall crashing in the distance.

  ‘Boots to walk you to your destination!’

  ‘Spice, cloth and tools!’

  ‘Gemstones from the Uplands. Jewel-rocks from the Lowlands.’ ‘Pots, pans, skillets.’

  Piles of goods were stacked in long rows. The smell of fish oil and burning fat from the lamps above mixed with the scent of flowers and spices. Siltboy coughed and leaned close to me.

  ‘I never believed to see so many peoples all at once in the world!’ he whispered.

  ‘Come on. We need to get to the main entrance, to see if Eadie’s boat is there.’

  We entered the fray, pushing our way through the crowds. I held Siltboy’s bag close and wished I’d left the flower with Shadow and the sleek. It was bound to get crushed in the throng.

  We passed mountains of fruit, and rows of every type of vegetable that must exist in this world and others. I pulled Siltboy along past tables where sweets were stacked into pyramids, and ornaments made of gold and silver were laid out on silk cloth.

  Siltboy was wide-eyed. ‘A trove of treasures, Peat. So many wrought things.’ He stopped at a stall full of little round mirrors and stared at his reflection.