by Martin Gibbs
In which we meet another citizen of Belden and see the world through his simple eyes. There are also demons and tunnels and men of mystery.
Chapter 6 — Bimb’s Tale
A simple man may have much to offer the world. His view is narrow and his experiences limited. But yet he may see the things we miss, he may hear voices we drown and may speak a simpler truth.
Prophet Azherin
My name is Bimb. B-i-m-b. Bimb. Fa is smart and likes words. He likes letters you can’t hear, he says, so he named me Bimb. Nobody says the last b. I don’t like the name. I can’t spell it. I can’t spell anything. Fa told me the letters so I could tell people. I make music and I like numbers. I don’t like my name. Fa likes it. Ma does not like it. She’s quiet and likes to knit by the fire. Ma cries a lot. I don’t know why. But Fa smiles at me, pats me on the back, and calls me Bimb. I love my Fa.
We live near the big town of Vronga, where all the people like to go. That’s what Fa says. “Anybody who is anybody goes through Vronga!” he will say. He gets mad that the city seems to get close to our farm. Says soon we will be in town. But we live in quiet now. We have a big field and Fa grows pumpkins and turnips there. I like turnips. And music.
Fa says winter will be here soon. We have pumpkins and turnips in the field, but Fa has already brought many inside or to Vronga. People buy his food. They like it and give him coin. He can buy Ma’s medicine, but she still cries.
I went to our turnip field. I counted the turnips left. Seven, eight...there was a rotten one. Nine, ten. I pulled a green weed. There were not many weeds. Fa said the cold nights killed the weeds. It is hard work to take out all the weeds. We did that all summer, me and Fa.
Suddenly a man was in front of me. I jumped backwards. Where had he come from? I looked around. All I saw was the turnips and pumpkins. And the big hill by the end of the pumpkin rows. There was a large rock stuck in the hill. Maybe he came out of the rock. How could a man come from the rock? Did he fly here? Can he fly?
“Is this your farm?” he asked me. He did not smile. He was shorter than Fa. He had a very large backpack on and I think it was going to tip him over. I thought about him falling on a pumpkin. There would be a mess of orange. We could toast the seeds. I love toasted pumpkin seeds. I laughed.
“I’m sorry, what is so funny?” his voice was bad and it scared me.
“You are very strong.”
He nodded, but his eyes were dark and mean. “Yes. And I am in a hurry. Please! Is your mother or father home?” His hands kept tickling themselves, and his head seemed to not want to stay still. Why was he bouncing so much? And I did not see where he had come from.
“Y-yes, Fa is by the fire. Ma is sleeping again.”
The strange man’s head bounced like a rabbit. Then he ran to the house. He did not say thank you. Maybe he did come from the rock. A rock person would be mean and not be nice.
It was colder. I went to the house. Fire sounded good. Maybe Fa could make his hot spicy drink, and we could all share. We had not had visitors in so long. Not since the man came to see Ma. Now she sleeps more.
When I took my coat off and went inside, Fa and the visitor were talking fast.
“But I need to get to the University now!” the strange man was saying.
Fa put up his arms. He was a big man. He was very nice to everyone. He once lifted a whole wagon cart off of a man. A whole cart! With the wheels on! And one time a bad man was on the road and Fa only looked at him. The bad man ran away. “Now, now young man, you have traveled countless miles and you are tired. You have never been to Vronga?”
“No.”
“Then you have no idea where you are going. Sit here and rest, and –”
“But I need—”
Fa sounded angry. “Let me finish! No, you rest here. Get some sleep. I will run to town and return the person you need. Who is it you are trying to contact?”
“A mage. A mage at the University. But, I cannot—”
“Yes, you can. You can trust me. I know why the city does not encroach on my land. I know that stone slab and where it leads. Ah! Do not worry, I am not one of them. I can be trusted to send the message and not to repeat it.”
For a long time the man did not speak. He lost his voice. Or he was scared. But who is scared of Fa? Fa said sometimes his eyes scared people. Like mine. His were blue-gray. He said they “pierced” but not like a sword. Fa never hurt anyone. He was big and strong and sometimes people were scared. Nobody should be afraid of Fa!
I thought the fire would go out. But he finally said something. “There are no more Protectors.” He said this very quietly. Fa may not have heard him, because he didn’t say anything either.
“Please…” the stranger said finally.
Fa made that noise in his throat. It meant he had decided something. “Aye. I will go. You rest. Hello, Bimb!” he smiled. I like his smile. He roughed up my hair and I smiled. “I have to run to town. This man has had a long journey and he needs to rest. See he gets what he needs. Spicy cider is on the stove.”
And he left.
The stranger looked at me funny. People look at me funny. It is probably my eyes. Ma says they are a “stunning blue”. Stunning means to stop someone. So people stop when they see my eyes. I smiled at him.
“Aye ... Bimb, is it?”
I nodded happily.
The stranger made a noise. It sounded like a dog. A mean dog. But we don’t have dogs. Not after Blackie died. “I see. Well, I need rest. You won’t mind if I sleep here?”
I shook my head. “And afterwards we can have the hot spicy drink. I like it. Fa makes it real good.”
He made that noise again,; then he lay down and slept. He snored loud.
I sat watching him for some time. He looked very tired. I know he had come a long way, but I don’t know from where. It was like he had flown in the air or run underground. It seemed strange to just be there. Nobody in the field. Then he was there. Now he snored loudly. I wanted the spicy drink, but he made funny faces when he slept.
Suddenly Fa came in. The stranger sat up. “For Sacuan’s sake!” he yelled. “You scared the living Light out of me!”
“I—”
“Never mind, never mind! What have you heard of the mage?”
Fa smiled. There was someone with him. An old man. He had white hair and a very large white beard. He looked silly. His robe was dirty. He smelled like an inn. His nose was ugly and bent. Like an old turnip. Ugly Nose.
“I found your mage,” Fa said.
I grabbed his arm. Mages scared me. They were old men and Ma said they could sink ships and kill children. Fa said they did good work. Ma said they were demons. I wanted the mage gone. He stood in our house, and I wanted him gone.
“Son, son, everything is alright. This man works for the Light.”
“That is true, young man. What is your name?”
He had a very ugly nose. I wanted him to leave. Now.
“Son…?”
“It’s…it’s alright, Bimb, this man is here to help us.”
Ugly noses never helped me. Mean, ugly, ugly noses. I went to the kitchen for the spicy drink. Fa or Ma won’t have any, so I will. Ugly nose must leave. Must leave!
But no, Fa kept talking to him.
“I’m sorry, he is—”
“Sacuan bless us all,” Ugly Nose said softly. “I understand.” How can a soft voice be hard like stone? “In any case, my dear Protector,” he talked to the stranger who made the funny noises, “what seems to be the problem?”
“I’ll tell you!” The man talked very fast. As fast as a grouse taking off. I drank the spicy drink. My head started to hurt. “Lost! Lost! The Temple is lost! I was bringing supplies from the woods and returned to screaming and loud noises. Someone screamed ‘Gozath’ or something, the Temple went dark, and the old man destroyed Gozath and then silence. I’m sure the old man did not survive the attack, he sent out some very colorful spells.”
“What colors?” Ugly
Nose asked.
“Purple and green and white…I can’t remember.”
“Is anything left of the attacker?”
“No.”
“I see.”
It was quiet for a long time. Why was it so quiet? I peeked out, but Ugly Nose saw me and I looked away. I had to pee. But Ugly Nose kept talking. I had to go past him to go outside. I did not want to see him. I did not like him. He was scary. Mages were scary.
“Sacuan help us,” Fa said.
“Sacuan help us all,” Ugly Nose said at the same time.
It was quiet again. A cricket started singing in the kitchen wall. One-two, one-two, one-two, four-eight, four-eight, eight-sixteen, one-two, I counted.
Fa kept talking with Ugly Nose and the strange man. I went to the barn. We had nice horses. My sutan was there too. I sat on a big box of straw and played.
Soon he would come. He always came. In between the spaces. Spaces between the notes in the music. Fa and Ma called them notes, but a note is written on paper. I cannot write on paper. I play music and Fa calls it notes. He—not Fa—comes to me between the notes.
I picked up the sutan. It had ten strings and I liked how it sounded. I have a five string one. It does not sound as good. Ten strings are harder, but I play a lot. Fa says that practice is good. When I play he calls it practice. He wants me to play in inns. Or Temples. I don’t want to. I like to play ten strings. Ten strings are better. They make more notes if you play a lot of strings at once.
You must help my son, the man said. He came to me between the notes in the song. I just started a new song. It was light and slow.
You must help my son, he said again. I heard him the first time. Why was he asking for help? He never did. He always told me tales. The man told me he missed his son.
“Can you talk to him?” I played a note that sounded funny. Then I tuned the sutan. Much better.
I can’t reach him. I’m sure he talks to me—he may even think I talk to him, but I cannot get through to him. Where some of us are gifted in some things, others are not. Your gift is special. People make fun of you, but you have a gift in speaking with those who are gone.
“I learned a new chord!”
I, did you…? Ah! That is nice, Bimb, very nice, I want to hear it.
“You take the little finger, here on this box. Middle finger goes up over on this box and string, then pointed finger way over…” It was hard. “Here! Like this!” I played it then moved to another chord, then back.
That is—
“He is an amazing player, isn’t he?” Fa asked.
“Ach!” They scared me! I almost dropped the sutan. I hoped it would not go out of tune.
“Sorry, son, to scare you. We heard you playing and we wanted to hear. Play that again, that is very nice.”
I started playing. Ugly Nose was there with the stranger. The stranger looked like a bunny. He hopped but said nothing. I looked down and played. I did not want to see Ugly Nose. If I looked away, would he see me?
I stopped after a while. “Have you ever played in the temples?” Ugly Nose asked.
“N-No. People laugh at me.”
“They would not in the temple. Your music is sweet and it is very holy. It fits well with temple music. I would consider it.”
I tuned the sutan.
“What do you say, Bimb?”
“T-thank you, sir.”
“I’m sure he’ll think about it. Maybe I can convince him…”
“Very nice, Bimb. Come, we have much to discuss.”
They talked more. I heard “leave here soon” from Ugly Nose. That made me happy. I played another happy chord. I was glad Ugly Nose was going away.
Please, you must help him.
“How can I help?” Oh! This chord sounds nice! It was eight, four, six…eight…four…then seven. Yes, very—
Please. He is in danger and could get hurt. I think these strangers are going to go someplace far away. I want you to follow.
“But Fa…”
He is going to go with them.
“Why?” Why would Fa leave me? Did he not love me anymore? Only Ma and I would be there. She would cry. No more spicy drink. No more fun running in the fields.
This will be something he must do. Do not worry, I want you to follow him. He is going to be close to where my son is. You must follow—as such you will not be away from him. But I’m sorry he cannot know you are there. You and he both will return home soon. This one thing must be done for all of us. ALL of us.
“Ma too?”
The whole world.
I played my new chord. He talked like Ugly Nose. Like preachers in the temples. They talked about the world. They said if we didn’t do what they said, the world would go away. I didn’t want the world to go away. I wanted to play my sutan and sit with Fa.
Fa was leaving. “Why does he have to leave?”
Something needs to be fixed. Far away from here. My son is also going far away from here and he needs more help than your Fa. Your Fa is going to help these men do great things.
“I am scared of Ugly Nose. What if Ugly Nose hurts Fa?”
He will not hurt your father, I am sure of that. If you follow quietly, you will be able to be close to Fa, but you will be helping me. And my son.
I did not want to go. I did not want Fa to go. Ma would be here and cry. She cries so much I don’t like it. So I play my Sutan and talk to Lyn…that is the name of the man. His son is named Zhy. He is dead, and sometimes he says his son is dead too. But he doesn’t mean dead for real. He can’t talk to his son. I would be sad if I could not talk to Fa. And now Lyn is saying I can’t talk to Fa, just hear him. I did not want to go. “I don’t want to go.”
Please…please. You have your Fa, my Zhy has nothing. Only two companions who are trying to kill him. Please…
“Listen to my new chord!” I played it louder.
PLEA—
He was quiet a long time.
That is very beautiful, I—
“I will go.” I wanted to be by Fa. At the end maybe he could see me. I did not want to leave. But I did not want to be alone with Ma. She cried too much. I could follow Fa.
I—thank you. Thank you. For now you must get out to the field where the stone slab is. That is where they are going. Observe, but do not be seen! See if you can find a way into the Tunnels.
“Tunnels?”
Yes, that man who visited you. He did come through the stone. It leads to the Tunnels of Woe that lead far under the ground. To faraway places. They are safe. See, your father and you will be safe—but somehow you must get in. But you can’t go with them and they will shut the gate behind them. Find a way. There must be.
“Find a way.”
And Bimb?
“Yes?” Eight-ten-twelve-fifteen. That was a high note to play. I had another sutan cut to play high notes. High notes were fun.
I will have to try to visit you when you don’t play.
“I don’t understand.” Seventeen…very hard to play. I stretched and made the note. I could not get back to the chord. Start over.
Right now you can talk to me when you play, but soon you will not be able to play for a while, at least not all the time, in order for you to help me.
“I can’t play?”
Later. Later. You will play, but later. Can you let me in without playing?
“I can try.”
It had better work.
I played a high chord. Then I moved to the low one. It worked.
He left.
I did not want Fa to leave. I did not want Lyn to visit. I had to have Lyn visit. He said I had to. If I wanted to see Fa. I could not talk to Fa. I would miss Fa. I loved Fa. I loved the sutan. Would he come without the notes? He did not come without the notes.
I was scared. I wanted the spicy drink.
I played more chords.
* * *
After a long time, Fa came back. My song was almost done. The last chords did not sound right. I changed them. I had to tu
ne it a little. It was hard to keep ten strings sounding nice.
“Son?” Fa sounded sad.
I played. Three-eight-five, four-nine-six.
“Son?”
“What Fa?” I did not look at him. I knew he was leaving. I was sad. He cannot know that you know!
“Son, please put that down for a moment.”
I looked up. He looked sad. “Why are you sad, Fa?”
“I’m—I have to go away for a little while. With these men. Something is broken and needs to be fixed.”
“Broken like the wagon?”
“What wagon?” Something was wet in his eyes.
“The wagon you picked up.”
He smiled at me. “Yes, son, like that. Only this is a much bigger wagon I need to pick up. These men cannot do it alone. I need to help them. I hope I won’t be gone too long.”
“Is it far away?”
“Yes, very far. But they tell me the trip goes faster…with them.”
“How far?”
“Many miles.”
“How many? Fifty? One hundred? Three hundred and twenty-six and a fifth?”
Fa laughed. I liked his laugh. He laughed when I said big numbers. He was not making fun. Fa loved me and thought I was smart to know big numbers. I smiled. “More than that.”
More than that? I was sad.
“Will you ever come home?” My eyes were wet.
Fa’s eyes were wet, too, more wet now. “Yes, son I will. You need to be strong and take care of Ma. See she gets her powders and her rest. You can be a strong man, right? I have wood stacked for the winter, but I hope to be home before it is over.”
Winter would be cold without Fa. “Why do you have to go?”
“Son, sometimes we have to do things that are bigger than ourselves. We have to help others when they are in trouble. Living here, I have always known I might have to help people like this. Now it is time.”
“Even Ugly Nose?”
“Ugly…Nose?”
“The old man. Ugly Nose.”
Fa laughed softly. “Yes, even him. He is a nice man, Bimb, there is no need to be afraid of him.”
“I don’t like him.”
“That is all right, son, that is all right. He won’t hurt us or anyone.” He looked at me a long time. I looked at my sutan. I was sad. “Be strong, son, I will miss you.”
