Halfmen Of O

by Gee, Maurice

  ‘Jimmy, you can’t.’

  ‘You watch me.’

  ‘He’ll kill you.’

  ‘Wrong, younker. I’ll kill ’im. I got me knife. Brand says ‘e’s down at Sheercliff. So that’s where I’m ’eadin’. Mebbe by the time yer gets there with yer fancy wings I’ll ’ave ’im ’angin’ in a tree fer dog tucker.’

  Susan looked at his fierce old face, with its hanging lip and whiskery chin and bloodshot eyes. She reached out and took his hand. ‘Jimmy, you killed the Bloodcat. You paid us back.’

  ‘Yerss, reckon I did. I was a bloddy ratbag, girl. I been a ratbag all me life. But Cling made me worse. I got ter pay ‘im out fer that. An’ fer gettin’ ’is boys ter pig-stick me. But I saved yer, so I don’t owe yer nothin’. This is fer me. Reckon I won’t be easy till I’ve settled with that joker.’

  ‘Jimmy –’

  ‘No use talkin’ girl. I got me mind made up. Startin’ in the mornin’. Now I’m gettin’ some shut-eye. I gotter keep me strength up. All these veges I been eatin’ has got me kinda weak in the knees. Next thing I’ll be chewin’ me cud like a bloddy cow.’

  He got up and stumped off to his bed.

  ‘Nick, Cling will kill him.’

  ‘I don’t know. Jimmy’s pretty tough. He killed the Bloodcat.’

  ‘That was luck. He will be no match for Cling,’ Brand said gloomily. ‘He does not understand evil. But we cannot stop him. So let us get the gliders made. I will take men out to cut the rods. Breeze and Verna, see about the cloth. And Susan, you had better get some sleep. You must learn to fly tomorrow.’

  Jimmy set off early in the morning. Susan and Nick walked through Shady Home with him. He had a blanket rolled on his back and a bag of dried fern root in his hand. ‘Don’t tell Breeze,’ he grinned, ‘but I’m gunner chuck this away when I’m down the track. It don’t agree with me.’

  ‘What will you eat, Jimmy?’

  The old man looked cunning. ‘Yer can’t tell me there ain’t no deer in this bush. An’ rabbits. I seen the signs. I reckon I can trap some. An’ there’s some juicy lookin’ birds. An’ eels in the creeks. An’ trout. I’ll live pretty good. Brand give me a firebox. I’ll be scoffin’ baked trout ternight. Then ole Cling better watch out. I’ll twist ’is ’ead around so ’e’ll be able ter watch the fleas crawlin’ up ’is backside.’

  ‘Be careful, Jimmy.’

  ‘Don’t yer worry about me. Watch out with them wings, yer hear?’

  ‘We will.’

  ‘See yer, then.’ He set off down the track out of the village and disappeared in the trees. Nick and Susan walked back to the green where the Woodlanders were putting the final touches to the gliders. They felt vulnerable now that Jimmy was gone. Susan looked at her glider without confidence. ‘I can’t fly in that.’

  ‘Sure you can,’ Nick said, but looking at her he was anything but sure. She had grown so pale and thin.

  The Woodlanders carried the gliders to the top of the hill. Susan’s was made of green silk. Breeze had painted Shy flowers on it. Her own was pale gold and Brand’s was brown. Nick explained the principles of hang-gliding to them. He had designed the slings for an upright position, not prone. The gliders were, he said, simple Rogallo types, with arrowhead, keel and cross-tube … Susan stopped listening. They would work or they wouldn’t. All she knew was that she must get down Sheercliff. If she could not fly she would have to climb. She felt the stone-silk gloves wrapped in a tiny bundle in her pocket. She did not believe Seeker had given them to her for nothing. He had foreseen a use for them.

  ‘Now,’ Nick said, ‘I’ll demonstrate. Then Brand and Breeze can follow me. Then Susan. Any questions?’ There were none. He climbed into his harness and made a simple flight down to the green. ‘Right,’ he yelled, ‘the wind’s okay. Remember everything I said.’

  Brand flew down, and Breeze. They did it perfectly. They were so light and quick, they were natural fliers. It was Susan’s turn. She climbed into her harness and looked down the hill. Suddenly it was steep. Nick seemed tiny down there. She waved at him limply and gripped the bar. Then she started to run awkwardly, and was surprised at the weight above her and the way the wings buffeted and jerked. Then suddenly everything was smooth, she was lifted as though by a hand and was floating on air. The hillside fell away, the silver stream floated by, and the smooth grass of the green, with Nick and Brand and Breeze standing on it. Their gliders rested on the grass like giant butterflies sunning their wings. They waved their arms.

  ‘Susan,’ Nick yelled, ‘pull your weight forward. You’re going too far.’

  But she went over them in a dream.

  ‘Your weight. Shift your weight to one side.’ She wondered why she should do that. It was lovely floating in the air. She felt she could fly right down to Darkland, down to the Motherstone. Then she looked ahead and saw treetops rushing at her. They came with the speed of cars, and she screamed and flung her hands over her face. She felt a jolt that rattled her teeth. She heard the tearing of cloth and snapping of rods. She was tipped upside down, and she lay in the tree, cupped in the wings of her glider like a fish lying on a plate. She did not move. She felt even to speak might send her crashing down. Then she heard voices. Nick was calling from the ground. Brand and Dale and Verna were climbing up the tree. She heard them coming with the speed of squirrels. In a moment their faces popped up over the edge of the sail and goggled at her.

  ‘Susan, are you all right?’

  ‘Yes. Yes. Just get me out of here.’

  They got her to the ground. Breeze examined her for cuts, but she was all right. Brand and Dale lowered the wrecked glider from the tree.

  ‘Why didn’t you shift your weight?’ Nick raged. ‘I explained it all. Forward and back when you want to go up and down. Sideways for turning.’

  ‘I didn’t listen.’

  He could not believe it. He half turned away, with his hands on his hips. ‘Well … well … of all the …’

  ‘You listen to me, Nick. I’ve got one thing on my mind. That’s the Halves. And the Motherstone. I’m filled with that. There’s no room for anything else. I can’t listen. I can’t concentrate.’

  ‘You’ve got to –’

  ‘No. I flew, didn’t I? I got in that thing and flew. When I get to Sheercliff I’ll do it again. And you can fly beside me and tell me how to turn and go up and down. That’s all. I’m not going to practise any more.’

  ‘Listen –’

  ‘No.’ She climbed to Breeze’s house and lay down on her bed. She took the Halves from their pouches and held them on her chest. ‘We’ll get there.’ She heard the sounds of the Woodlanders mending her glider. ‘I’ll fly if I have to. Or climb down holes. Or walk on water. We’ll get to the Motherstone.’ She slept.

  The next morning they started out for Sheercliff. Susan was still in disgrace with Nick. He travelled with the Woodlanders bringing the gliders. That was not easy in the forest. They fell behind Susan and Brand and Breeze. Brand carried a pack holding four Halfman cloaks. Breeze had food in her pouch.

  ‘But it won’t last long. Once we get down there we’ll have to move quickly. We will fly down to the coast and ask for help from the Seafolk. Perhaps they know a way into the city.’

  ‘How will we breath?’

  ‘I’ve sewn pads of Shy into the cloaks.’

  ‘We have had spies in Darkland,’ Brand said. ‘Otis Claw holds a court each day. Halfmen bring their disputes to him and he judges them. It is his game. As likely as not he will order both parties slain or thrown to his dogs. Yet the Halfmen come. They come in great crowds, for sometimes when the whim takes him Claw gives great rewards. Or perhaps he will let one person slay his enemy on the spot. That amuses him too.’

  ‘Odo Cling is a child beside him,’ Breeze said, shivering.

  ‘We will go to his court. We will slip in with the crowd. Then perhaps Susan will find a way to reach the Stone.’

  Their day’s march brought them close to Sheercliff. In th
e morning Brand sent out scouts. They came back with news that the way to the cliff was clear. Halfman squads were posted north and south, at the head of paths leading down to Darkland, but Cling had left the bluff called Deven’s Leap unguarded. The cliff was undercut and could not be climbed.

  They came to it in the afternoon. Deven’s Leap was a huge stone forehead jutting over Darkland. Bush came half-way down it, like a fringe of hair. The brown smoke lay below, like greasy linoleum. It ran into the distance north and south, but opposite the Leap it narrowed like the waist of an hourglass. Susan saw the blue shine of the sea.

  ‘The smoke will not advance over the sea,’ Brand said. ‘Salt air destroys it. If we can reach the coast we will not need our Shy.’

  Quietly the Woodlanders brought the gliders to the edge of the trees.

  ‘Go now,’ Brand said. ‘We will fly at dusk. There will be a breeze from the sea. And moonlight for an hour. If we are lucky Odo Cling will not see us.’

  Verna embraced Susan. The Woodlanders melted back into the forest. Nick crept along a narrow crack in Deven’s Leap and chose a place for their take-off. When he came back he explained to Susan again about the mechanics of hang-gliding. She tried to listen. She was gloomy. It seemed to her this flight was reckless. Since she had had the Halves she had felt herself cut off from everyone. She took this as a sign that she must carry out her task alone. Nick and Brand and Breeze would hinder it. But there was no way she could get away from them. Brand brought out their Halfman cloaks. They were black as night. Susan trembled as she pulled hers over her head. She and Nick took off their sneakers. From now on they would have to travel barefooted. Breeze painted their faces and arms and legs with dye crushed from the bark of a tree.

  ‘Now we look like Halfmen. When we are down there keep your hoods over your faces. Do not let the Halfmen see your eyes. There is no way I can colour those.’

  The sun slipped fatly down to the fringe of the smoke. It turned a dusty red. Brand set out to scout along the cliff. ‘When he comes back it will be time,’ Breeze said. ‘Eat something now. It may be long before we eat again.

  But Susan was not hungry. She drank some water. Nick checked the gliders, going over every strut and joint. He was fussy as a clock-maker, but his eyes in his darkened face shone with excitement. She watched him like a stranger. For him this was just an adventure. She felt years older than him.

  He came back and patted her. ‘Remember Susan, it’s all in the way you shift your weight. I’ll fly beside you –’

  ‘Quiet,’ Breeze said.

  ‘Don’t move suddenly. Just a slight move is enough.’

  ‘Quiet.’ Her hand came over his mouth. ‘That was Brand calling.’

  They listened. Back in the forest came a ululating cry.

  ‘The danger call,’ Breeze said. ‘Get the gliders out. Halfmen are coming.’ She picked up Brand’s and dragged it on to the Leap. Nick and Susan pulled out their own.

  ‘Into them,’ Breeze cried. ‘Don’t wait for me.’ She ran back for her own glider. The cry came closer, urgent, desperate. Nick and Susan struggled with their harnesses. Susan could not manage hers. Nick ran to help her. Then Brand came tumbling from the bush. Deathguards were at his heels. Odo Cling’s voice rang on the Leap.

  ‘Do not kill them. I need them alive.’

  The guards ran by them, cutting them off from the edge of the cliff. Nick and Susan, Brand and Breeze, were held as though in a noose. The Deathguards tightened in, jabbing with their knives.

  ‘No,’ Cling cried, ‘obey me! Soon I will let you kill. I wish to talk with them first.’ He strutted on to the Leap, flicking with his whip. ‘So,’ he said, ‘it has been a long chase. But now your running stops. I have you, Mixies. And your pretty toys. Do they really fly? They will amuse Darksoul. But tell me where my friend Jimmy Jaspers is. He and I have a score to settle.’

  ‘Stand back, Halfman,’ Brand said. He had drawn his knife.

  Cling laughed. ‘You cannot fight us all. You vermin of the woods are quite amusing. Did you wish to fly? We shall let you fly in a moment or two. We shall smash your pretty wings first. Then we shall throw you off Sheercliff. You will get to Darkland after all, Woodlanders. And the Mixie boy will follow. But first, where is Jimmy Jaspers? I have promised myself great sport with him.’

  ‘You’ll never catch Jimmy.’

  ‘We shall see. Take the Woodland hag and throw her off.’

  Two Halfmen sprang at Breeze. But Susan jumped in front of her. She bared her arm. ‘Get back or I’ll burn you.’ The Halfmen stopped. They crouched and thrust out their knives.

  ‘You cannot fight us all,’ Cling grinned. ‘I have twenty men and you are four. But tell me, Susan Ferris, where are the Halves? You have them, that is plain. I see how they eat at you. Ah, Otis Claw will be pleased to have them back.’

  ‘He’ll never have the Halves,’ Susan said. Her eyes darted about, over the panting faces of the Guards and Cling’s red eyes, over the bush beyond. She smiled. She held up her arm, forcing every Halfman to look at it.

  ‘See,’ she said, ‘see. The Halves have taught me many things.’ She did not know what she was going to say next. It did not matter, as long as they kept on looking at her, as long as none of them shifted their eyes and saw Jimmy Jaspers coming fast and quiet, at a crouch, with his clasp knife in his hand, heading for Odo Cling. He came like a great shambling bear from the dark of the trees over the sunlit stone of Deven’s Leap. His mouth was grinning wickedly. His eyes were set on Cling.

  ‘Don’t move,’ Susan cried, ‘or I’ll lower my arm. The Halves will explode and kill us all.’

  Cling laughed. The red of his eyes deepened with amusement. ‘A clever tale, Mixie. Ah, you are clever. But I know about the Halves. I have studied them. They do not work in that way. They seek the Motherstone, that is all. But Darksoul will destroy them. And destroy you. Enough of your games now. Take her, bind her arms. Then we will see how well Woodlanders fly.’

  One of the Halfmen sprang. She struck him with her arm and he exploded backwards. Before the others could move Jimmy Jaspers gave a roar. He was ten paces from Cling. He charged over the rock like a boar. He seized Cling in his arm and jerked him in the air. His knife came down and lay across Cling’s throat. Nobody moved. Then Jimmy spoke.

  ‘Tell yer zombies ter keep still Cling, or I’ll gut yer like a chook.’

  Cling was making choking noises. His arms and legs beat like paddles.

  ‘Keep still, yer little bogger.’ Jimmy’s arm tightened on Cling’s chest. He pressed his knife down half a centimetre. Grey blood trickled on Cling’s throat. ‘Tell ’em ter get back. An’ tell ’em ter get away from me friends.’

  ‘Back,’ Cling croaked. ‘Do as he says.’

  His Deathguards had come at Jimmy in a pack. They bristled with knives, their grey teeth gleamed. They crouched and wove like boxers looking for an opening.

  ‘Back. I’ll slice ‘is gizzard.’

  And Cling, his eyes popping, cried again, ‘Do as he says. He will kill me.’ His throat worked against Jimmy’s knife and blood ran thickly down. His arms and legs had stopped their beating and now worked slow and spiky. He was like an insect lying on its back.

  ‘Get over ter the edge of the cliff,’ Jimmy yelled. ‘Go on, yer miserable sods, all of yer. Make one move at me friends an’ yer boss is a goner. That’s right, nice an’ slow.’

  The Halfmen backed away. They snarled like a pack of dogs. They worked their jaws. Jimmy began to follow them. He forced them back until they were at the edge of the Leap.

  ‘I reckon they’d jump orf if yer gave the order, eh Cling? Go on, jump yer sods, the lot of yer.’

  But the Halfmen snarled. They crouched ever lower, waiting for their chance.

  ‘Be careful, Jimmy,’ Susan whispered. But Jimmy was taking no chances. He kept back from the Guards. He hefted Cling higher and kept the knife firm against his throat. Cling’s iron hat fell off. It clanged on the stone and bounced into
space.

  ‘That’s where yer goin’ Cling, if yer try any tricks. Now tell ’em ter chuck their knives orf. Go on, tell ‘em.’

  Cling croaked and wheezed. His grey bald scalp gleamed pathetically. ‘Throw your knives. I order you. Throw them down.’

  One by one the Halfmen obeyed. Their knives glittered as they fell towards the smoke. Jimmy laughed.

  ‘If they lands on any of yer mates down there it’s their bad luck. Now go on yer boggers, clear out. Get orf home an’ I hope yer mothers spanks the lot of yer.’

  The Halfmen milled about. Without their knives they seemed to have lost their will. They shambled in a pack well clear of Jimmy and made their way up to the edge of the bush.

  Jimmy grinned at Nick and Susan. ‘Now get in them hairy buzzers an’ start flyin’.’

  ‘Jimmy, you saved us,’ Susan cried.

  ‘Reckon I did, young Susie. I been trackin’ Cling all day. Now I got ’im. You get goin’, then I’ll settle with ’im.’

  ‘We can’t leave you here, Jimmy.’ She saw the Deathguards lurking in the trees like hungry wolves.

  ‘Yes yer can. I got the drop on ’im. Reckon I might chuck ‘im orf this cliff. ’E’ll pass yer on the way down.’

  ‘Jimmy –’

  ‘Do as he says,’ Brand said. ‘He has given us our chance. Into your harness.’

  Nick helped her. He positioned her at the edge of the Leap, then climbed into his own harness. The four stood poised at the drop like four great birds.

  ‘Good luck,’ Jimmy yelled. ‘Don’t go poopin’ on anyone.’

  ‘Be careful, Jimmy.’

  ‘Yup,’ Jimmy said. He hoisted Cling higher. And Cling saw his chance. His head struck like a snake’s and his teeth fastened on Jimmy’s wrist and bit in deep. Jimmy gave a yell of pain. His knife clattered at his feet. Halfmen burst from the forest and swarmed along the Leap. Some came at the gliders, some at Jimmy.

  Jimmy tore his wrist free, leaving a strip of skin in Odo Cling’s mouth. ‘Get goin’,’ he yelled. Cling was working his own knife from its sheath. But Jimmy had him. He hefted him in the air, caught him by his leather shirt and the seat of his pants, took a step, and heaved him like a sack of oats off Sheercliff. Cling turned slowly in the air. He looked as if he had sprung from a trampoline. Then he began to fall, shrieking thinly. Down he went, down, arms and legs working. He grew smaller, smaller, until he was a dot, and still his shriek came winding up the cliff like a seabird’s call. He splashed into the brown smoke and was gone.