Falling From the Tree (Darshian Tales #2)

by Ann Somerville

  Darshian Tales:II

  Falling From The Tree

  ~~~

  Landing Softly

  Ann Somerville

  This story is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  Falling From The Tree Copyright © 2005 by Ann Somerville

  Landing Softly Copyright © 2005 by Ann Somerville

  Cover art copyright © 2104 by P L Nunn. Cover Typography by Kiri Moth.

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  For more information please visit my website at http://annsomerville.net

  Smashwords Edition 1, January 2011

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Published by Ann Somerville

  Contents

  Falling from the Tree

  Falling from the tree: Voyaging

  Falling from the tree: Seeking Home

  ~~~

  Landing Softly

  Falling from the Tree

  It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons—Johann Schiller

  What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life—to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories.—George Eliot

  Voyaging: 1

  Karik was sure the merko had gone into the stable through the hole in the wall—she’d been carrying enough food that she had to be feeding young, so maybe this time he’d be lucky. He stood still and listened hard. In his imagination, he traced the path a small mammal might take to avoid detection, one that could run up timbers and along rafters with ease on agile, clawed feet.

  There....

  There was a store box Pa kept old harnesses and worn-out saddles in. Karik crouched down, then he went very still again. Yes...there it was—the shrill piping of young merkos, shrieking for insects and grubs.

  “What are you doing, Ka-chi?”

  He fell back, startled, then sighed as he got to his feet and dusted off his pants. No chance now of getting himself a nest of baby merkos, and by the time he came back, the mother would have moved them again. “Nuh-nothing, Meran.”

  But his visitor crouched down to look where he had been. “What’s that noise?”

  “Baby mer-merkos. There’s a nest b-behind there.”

  “Yuck, why are you looking for them?”

  She looked at him in puzzlement. He was used to that look. None of the children in the village were interested in the smaller wildlife except as food, however much he tried to tell them that animals like merkos were useful because they killed the pests that ate the crops. They looked at him much as Meran did now, and then they’d laugh. He was used to that too.

  Knowing the nest would be abandoned now, he decided to pull the store box away and have a look, but as soon as he moved it, there was a flurry of furry action. Meran screamed in terror. “Get it off me! Get them away, Karik, they bite!”

  She was swiping at her clothes and shaking her braid as if there were hundreds of merkos all over her, instead of a single fierce-looking individual who had fallen off her leg almost as soon as it had run up it, before dashing for cover. Karik shoved the box back and then grabbed her hands. “It’s all ri-right. Gone.” For a healer’s daughter, Meran could be pretty squeamish.

  She went still. “Are you sure?” He nodded. “Oh good. Hate them, they’re so ugly, with those noses, they look like they’ve got something wrong with them.”

  “The-they ju-just....” He stopped, frustrated at his stupid stutter which made a simple explanation so hard. He took a deep breath. “They eat in...sects. The...the nose fi-fi—”

  “Finds insects?”

  He nodded curtly, annoyed at her finishing his words—he hated people doing that to him—then stood and pulled her up. She sat on the store box, idly dusting off her trousers, and then she patted the place next to him to indicate he should sit down. “You’re strange, Karik. But you’re cute too.”

  He stared at her. She was smiling at him in a way he didn’t much care for. “Cu-cute?”

  “Yes. Pretty.” She reached behind him and pulled his braid out. “It’s so pale, like a cloud.” He was astonished at her boldness, but she seemed not to notice. “But it’s not soft...it should be soft with that colour.” He pulled the tail of the braid out of her hand, wondering why she was suddenly so fascinated by his hair. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen it before. “You’re really different. You’ve even got hairs here....” She touched his face where the slightest wispy moustache was starting to show, much to his intense displeasure. Pa didn’t have hair there. None of the men in the village did.

  Karik turned his face away from her hand, wishing she would back off. “Wuh-what do you want?” As if he couldn’t guess. He’d seen young girls flirting with some of the other boys in the village—he’d just never thought to be the target of it himself.

  “Don’t get annoyed. I’m just talking,” she said, sounding hurt. “I did my chores, and Ma’s visiting Meis so I thought I’d come find you.”

  “Oh.” She seemed really offended. “S-sorry.”

  “It’s all right. I should have known you’d be down in the dirt, looking at bugs or something.”

  “N-not bugs.”

  She laughed a little. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude about your pets. You’re really strange sometimes.” She touched his face again. “But you’re really handsome too.”

  He could feel his face burning, and knew his cheeks would be bright red in a way that those of no other person in the village could turn. Sometimes he wished he could paint his skin brown so he didn’t show every passing emotion on his stupid face. “M-Meran.” He was wondering how he could get away from her without hurting her feelings.

  She was leaning towards him, as if she was trying to get a closer look at him, but her eyes were half closed. “Mer—” His protest was cut off, not by his stammer this time, but by her lips touching his. He stumbled backward and fell off the box. “Meran, don’t!”

  But she just followed him down, and suddenly he had a lap full of girl. “What’s wrong, Ka-chi? There’s nothing wrong with kissing.”

  Actually, he was pretty sure kissing was on the list of things he really shouldn’t be doing—and neither should she. He shoved her and she fell back onto her rump.

  “Karik!”

  “Meran? Karik?” Meran froze, and when Pa came around the edge of the stall, Karik knew how it must look to him. “What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” she said too quickly, scrambling up and looking as guilty as hells.

  Pa frowned at her. “Myka was looking for you, Meran. Why don’t you run along and see what she wanted?”

  She nodded quickly and almost ran out of the stables, leaving Karik still lying on the ground. He really didn’t know how he was going to explain this.

  His father held out his hand to help Karik up, and he took it, but he didn’t look at Pa
as he dusted himself off. “Sit down, son.” Karik sat on the box again. “I assume there’s a perfectly innocent explanation for what I just saw?” his father asked as he sat down next to him.

  Karik nodded. “Wuh-wuh—” He stopped, clenching his fist in frustration. Stupid stutter. Pa put a hand on his shoulder and waited patiently for him to get his mouth under control. “We...were...looking at merkos.”

  “Merkos? In here?”

  “Y-yes. Nest. B-behind here.” He pointed down at the bottom of the box. “Gone now.”

  “Right. And Meran...?”

  “Wuh-was being s-silly,” Karik said firmly. “She just s-startled me.” He didn’t want to get her into trouble.

  “I bet she did,” Pa said heavily. “I might have a word with that young lady’s parents later on. She’s getting a bit forward for fourteen.” Privately, Karik agreed with him. His father gave him a rueful smile. “I know I can trust you not to hurt her, but she’s just not old enough to know what she might be getting into. I’ll have a word with her too, if you like.”

  Karik nodded, appreciating the offer. Pa wouldn’t stammer and blush as he said what needed to be said, and it would be good not to have to hurt Meran’s feelings. He was very fond of her, seeing her almost like the sister he’d never had, but it seemed that he really needed to avoid being trapped alone with her for a while until she got this out of her system. At least most of the other girls preferred boys who looked more like they did. Maybe Meran had done it on a dare. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been used that way.

  “So why were you hunting merkos again?”

  “I wuh-wanted to catch a whole fuh-family this time.”

  His father chuckled. “You remind me of Kei, you really do. Your mother will have a fit if you keep a whole family of those damn things in the house. You know what she said when the last one got loose.”

  “I ju-just wuh-want to study them.”

  “Hmmm, that’s what you always say. Maybe we can try and trap them together. It’s always easier with two, you know that.”

  “Yes, Pa.”

  His father’s eyes crinkled up as he smiled. “Good. Now I’ve got you though, I can ask—how do you like the idea of a trip to Darshek with Risa and me next week?”

  Karik stared at him in astonishment. “Me? Really?” He’d been taken to Darshek a couple of times when he’d been much smaller, when Ma had gone with Pa on one of his trips, but, of course, he could remember nothing of it at all. Now he was older, it was his job to look after the remaining beasts while Pa was away. Who would do that if he went?

  “Why not? Misek and Pia are bringing up a load of seeds and dried plants from the herbarium for me to take to Darshek, and Gyo is coming with them. I thought you two might like the chance to see the city—Misek already said Gyo can go. We could do with the help, with the winter bean harvest coming in—it’s a good crop this year and it all needs to go up. I could ask Lori or one of the other men to come, but I’d like your company just this once.”

  Karik flushed with pleasure. “I’d ll-like that too, Pa.”

  Pa slapped his thigh. “Then it’s a deal. We can visit Kei and Arman in their house for a change, and you can see how a big important healer lives, eh?”

  Karik grinned. Pa was always teasing uncle Kei about being so high up in the academy now, although Karik wasn’t actually sure what he or Arman did. The only time that he’d dared asked Arman, he’d given him an odd smile and said he was just a servant. Which made no sense when Meis explained what a servant was. Karik couldn’t really see Arman cooking or washing dishes, or cleaning a house. That surely had to have been a joke.

  Pa wanted him to help with a sick beast that needed catching up, so they walked out together to the fenced pens where Pa kept his pack animals. As they climbed through the fence, the sick beast was easy to spot, a little way off from the herd. His father had already tried to catch him on his own but the damn thing was proving uncooperative, he’d said. “Drive him that way, Karik,” he said, already walking towards the animal. “Damn, he looks worse. Still spooked too.”

  Karik nodded, and wondered what Pa would do if this one wasn’t going to be fit to travel—it was one of the bigger beasts, one they would need to take the heavy bean harvest to Darshek. Pa usually took eight or so animals, some times as many as sixteen, either tied to the wagons or pulling them in a train. He didn’t used to take such big loads, but once Risa had come to work with him, he could manage them. Sometimes he talked about Karik working with him too. Karik wasn’t sure he wanted to do that.

  The beast they were going to catch up was roaring and being unusually skittish. Pa already had the rope in hand he was going to use to throw over the animal’s neck. It was Karik’s job to distract it. The other beasts were in the far corner watching them approach their herd mate, but not reacting. It would be different if Karik and his father lost control and the sick beast dashed towards the herd. They had to stop that happening.

  “Now, son,” Pa said calmly, as if he wasn’t talking about the urs beast at all. Karik moved away and when his father nodded, he suddenly flung up his arms. The beast looked his way and started, but Pa had the rope over its neck in an instant. “Get the harness, Karik.”

  Karik made a grab for the harness on the animal’s head, wishing he had his Pa’s height as the beast reared up and forced him to jump for the straps. He got a hold of them, but they were wrenched away as the animal jerked and tore the rope out of his father’s hand, then tried to bite him. Pa grabbed the rope again and got hold of the harness, but the beast lashed out with its foreleg, catching Pa on the knee, making him crumple in pain. Then the animal delivered a final insult by kicking his father in the side as it bolted away, leaving him groaning in the dust.

  It had all happened so fast, Karik was already trying to chase the animal away as it ran off of its own accord, before he realised his father was hurt.

  “Pa!” He dropped to his knees—his father was white-faced and in obvious agony. He didn’t know what to do first—if he left Pa like this, the beast might come back and trample him, it was in such a strange mood. He looked around—he could see no one nearby at all. “Help! Someone! Pa’s hurt!” He looked down at his father. “Pa, can you walk?”

  “No,” Pa whispered through gritted teeth. “Get...Jena.”

  “But the beasts—”

  “Get...her.”

  That decided him. Pa knew beasts better than anyone and if he thought it was safe to leave him, then it was. “I’ll be quick.”

  He never ran so fast in his life, yelling for help—later he would think it was odd how his stutter disappeared completely for those few desperate minutes—and to his relief, he saw Risa coming out of the stables. “Pa’s hurt, in the herding pen. Go help, I’ll get Ma.”

  Risa wasted no time, dashing past Karik towards the pen. Karik could then look for his Ma, who was probably still in their house, he thought.

  His mother was in the garden, picking herbs. “Ma! Pa’s hurt—kicked by a beast!”

  She dropped her basket and got up immediately, her face stricken. “How bad?”

  “Knee, side. Not head.”

  “Oh gods. Right, find Banji and Peit, tell them to bring a litter. Go quickly, son.”

  She ran into the house, while Karik continued through the village, looking for his father’s friends, both big, strong men who could lift another with ease. Peit was at his house, fletching arrows, but told Karik that Banji was at the mine, too far to come quickly. “Lori was up on Fedor’s roof a few minutes ago—see if he can come. I’ll go to Jena.”

  Karik ran to the clan head’s house, and saw Myka and Meran walking up the street. “Karik, what’s wrong?” Myka asked.

  “Pu-Pa—hurt. Pens. Need Lori.”

  “Gods, Jena’s gone to him? Meran, go get my kit. Karik, get Lori. Go, Ka-chi!”

  And so Karik ran, hoping all the help he was sending to Pa would do some good. He could see Lori up on the roof, a tile in hand. �
�Lori! Pa’s hurt. I need you!”

  Lori raised a hand up in acknowledgement, and disappeared briefly, before coming out from beside the house. “Where?”

  “P-pens. Beast k-kicked him.”

  “Pissing hells. Come on, lad. Did anyone get a litter?”

  Karik had forgotten to tell Peit to fetch one. “No.”

  “That’s all right, we’ve got one in the house. Give me a minute.” He was already untying his workman’s apron as he went inside.

  Karik could only wait anxiously, wondering how bad his Pa’s injury was. Urs beasts could kill a man, or a carcho who tried to prey on a herd, but the domestic ones were much less inclined to lash out unless they were injured or frightened. Pa had had his share of bruises and bites, but never anything serious. To see his big strong father helpless on the ground like that, made Karik sick to his stomach with fear.

  “Come on, lad, let’s find him. Don’t look so worried, Reji’s tough as tanned jombeker hide.”

  Karik couldn’t find it in him to answer Lori’s reassuring smile, but he ran after the man down the street and out to the pen where he could see people clustered around his father. Risa kept the beasts back—Karik couldn’t see the injured one, but hoped it had just dropped dead, the bad-tempered creature. He came to where Ma and Myka were both tending to his father. Pa was conscious, but also in a lot of pain judging by how he was grimacing and biting his lip. Ma looked up. “Oh, good, you’ve got the litter. Lori, Peit, let’s get him to the house.”

  Karik stood aside and let the older, taller men handle things in their own quietly efficient way. His mother didn’t look too anxious, but he went to her side as she started to follow the litter. “Ma?”

  She turned and gave him a reassuring smile. “Oh, Karik. He’ll be all right. He’s just got a couple of dreadful bruises and he might have cracked a rib. Don’t look so worried, dear.”

  The endearment cheered him up a little and he was able to walk calmly behind the litter back to the house. He supposed he really ought to stay and help Risa with the beasts, but he needed to reassure himself that his father would be all right.