Heart Journey (19 page)

T’Cherry grunted. “Don’t like the idea of being high in the atmosphere where you can freeze and can’t breathe on your own. Above the mountains would be faster, though,” T’Cherry said. “Stridebeast takes a week, an eightday, to Gael City. Even a glider runs a couple of days by Ambroz Pass. My best express airship time now is six septhours.” He eyed the narrow canyon. “Ambroz is wide enough for two ships. This one is only good for one, with a fast glider road in the middle and a slow lane for stridebeasts on the eastern side.”

T’Cherry opened a belt pouch and took out a small pad of papyrus, handed a sheet to Raz. “You make the CH-90 airship.”

Raz set his fingers on the papyrus to ensure the proper folds. He visualized the sleekest low-flying airship Cherry Transport and Shipping had, gathered and sent his Flair to the papyrus. The sheet twitched and folded, tore and bent until it became a miniature papyrus model of the CH-90. With another stroke of his finger, he tinted it silver and red, with the flowing name of
Del’s Delight
across it. Humming, he sent it rocketing through Fairplay Canyon, wasn’t too careful and it scraped along one side. “Hmm. Tight fit, but it can be done.” He smiled at Del. “A challenge for our pilots; they’re going to love you.”

Meanwhile his father had made the fastest glider they had for the transport of perishable luxury goods, tinted it a red with orange flames, and zoomed it along the twists and turns of the bottom of the canyon, his brows knit. The words
Elecampane Express
on the model blurred with the speed. He grunted a laugh as the model sped from the canyon right off the table, caught it with his Flair, and sent it to hover before Del. With a little bow, he presented it to her. His face had lit with glee. “That cuts the time we currently take for this model by a third. Even with the canyon being east of the direct route.” He rubbed his hands. “Thank you.”

Del smiled and stroked the little model with her forefinger. “It occurs to me that we might have done this when I first presented the maps to you.”

His father shrugged again. “I trusted you and your rep and the eyeball we did. Had to move fast to get the land.”

“Yes,” Del said.

Raz bumped his airship against her nose and she laughed, took it, and examined it, looked at his father’s. “These are wonderful.”

“Our creative Flair,” T’Cherry said, “making models.”

“Something to be truly proud of,” Del said. She waved and the holographic canyons collapsed. The maps rolled up and lifted to a side table.

She turned to his father and said, “Would you like lunch? Lots of stuff in the no-time. I think there’s furrabeast steak and vegetables.”

“Mmmm, my thanks. I like it rare.”

Del went through another door. “Be right back. Thought I’d have some soup. We have all kinds, but I’m going with potato cheese with herbs, Raz?”

“You have beef broth with vegetables?” His father and Del stared at him, both very active people. The play had occasional physical demands but nothing like the professions of the other two. “Sure,” Del said. “I’ll get it all.”

There was a small pop and Shunuk sat in the corner.
I could eat again,
he said. He pointed his muzzle at Raz,
Greetyou, storyman.
The fox slid his gaze to T’Cherry; he raised his mental voice.
Greetyou, sire of storyman.
Sniffing, Shunuk added,
Greetyou, pilot. I am Shunuk, Del’s Fam.
His bushy tail wagged.

“Greetyou, Shunuk,” T’Cherry said gravely. He stared at the fox. “You don’t eat kittens, do you?”

Shunuk sniffed.
No, not even non-Fam kittens or cats. Humans get angry if you eat pets
.

“That’s right,” Del said, bringing in a tray full of food. The mingling of smells made Raz’s mouth water. He saw she’d given him some herbed flatbread that steamed with warmth. Both he and his father rose to relieve her of the weight of the tray.

T’Cherry was closer. “I’ve got it,” he said, then, “I think I might like a fox Fam. You got any brothers, Shunuk?”

“He comes from the south,” Del said. “I don’t think so, but he’s made friends with most the fox dens here.”

Shunuk said,
Since we are Fams and not lowly fox and we are prized now, all our kits survive, even the runts. I will ask if any want to be with a pilot.

His father had winced at the mention of a runt, but inclined his head to Shunuk and rumbled, “My thanks.”

They all laughed. “Wise fox,” his father said.

Del said, “Raz, there are spelled placemats in the sideboard. I don’t much like this table, but no use ruining it.”

The mats were golden. Raz quickly set them out, and he took his soup and bread and flatware, gave Shunuk his plate of furrabeast bites in the tiled corner.

Del served his father first, then sat down at the table, looked to T’Cherry. “Blessing?”

His father rumbled. “We thank the Lady and Lord for the skills of those past and present who have provided us with this food. Blessed be.”

“Blessed be,” Raz and Del echoed.

Shunuk slurped his meal.

There was silence as they all ate, then Raz sent his father a straight look and said, “Shunuk called you a pilot.”

“I am,” his father said comfortably, forking a nice chunk of steak into his mouth.

“Yes, you are. But I don’t think any of us want you taking runs through Fairplay Canyon Pass when it’s done.”

T’Cherry’s brows dipped. He chewed. “Think I can’t handle it, boy?”

“I love my father,” Raz said.

“No use giving Celta an extra life through . . . misadventure,” Del said. “Life’s tough enough here. Sicknesses. Low birth count. Sterility. Fires.”

Raz met his father’s eyes. “I am definitely talking to Mother and Seratina about the pass runs.” He smiled. “Maybe we can go down several times to look at the place when the gliderway is being built—good Family outings that will give our women good visuals.”

“And the rock walls should be sheered some,” Del said. “Yeah, could be plenty dangerous at high speed.” She frowned. “I didn’t much consider that.”

“You travel by
stridebeast,
girl,” his father said with the superiority of a man who used technology and Flair to travel. He stared down his nose at Raz. “I wasn’t the one who scraped the side of my model going through Del’s canyon.”

“You are an excellent driver. But I wish you wouldn’t take many chances,” Del said, smiled. “I like my friend.”

His father’s face tinted a little red. “Thank you, but, you, Del Elecampane, you’ve lived a chancy life. How many chances are you gonna be taking in the future?”

D
el stared at her bowl, her expression sobering. “Not as many as
in the past now that most of my Family is gone.” She drew in her breath. “There’s plenty of work around here and Gael City.” Her lip curled. “I’ve been asked to map the new streets of what used to be Downwind. Came from Steep Springs, pretty sure their maps are out of date, too.” She sighed. “City maps.”

Quiet gathered again and Del spooned a few bites of potato soup into her mouth, but Raz didn’t think she tasted them. Her stare was fixed out the window that looked onto a formal garden. He didn’t think she saw that view, either. “I’ve been wanting to travel again to the Bluegrass Plains,” she said. She grimaced. “I’m not really a city woman.”

His belly coated with a chill that Raz didn’t like. He was most definitely a city man.

“Thank you for an excellent lunch, Del.” T’Cherry burped discreetly in his softleaf. Pushing back from the table, he lifted his plate and silverware to clear. Del rose hastily and took them, arranged them tidily with her own on the tray.

Raz reluctantly chewed the last of his tasty flatbread and put his things on the tray, too, then lifted it. “I’ll take these to the kitchen.”

He followed Del and helped her put the plates and flatware in the cleanser. “Thank you for lunch, Del, and for the companionship.”

Her dimples showed. “Always a good time with the Cherry men.”

“I’m glad you think so.” He took her hands, just stared at her, her pretty springreen wine eyes, her curly hair of many shades of blond. Fascinating.

He kissed her hands, leaned forward to brush his lips against hers.

His father coughed loudly in the dining room.

Del chuckled, squeezed his hands, and drew away to go back into the dining room. His father had taken the new copy of her map and waved toward the roll. “I want to take this back home for safe-keeping, then return to the yard.” His lips flattened. “The fire mages informed us that we were lucky that it was raining. The fire started in the old den, then the smoke alerted us to the problem, but the rain confined the flames to that building until the fire mages were called. It’s a total loss.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Del said.

Raz went and threw an arm around his father’s shoulders, hugged. “None of our original stuff in there, right?”

Grimacing, his father said, “No, but a lot of centuries-old copies of our oldest documents. They had value, too, scribed by different ancestors. That stings.”

“Better things than people,” Del said.

His father flushed, said gruffly. “Sorry, didn’t mean—”

She patted his shoulder. “’Course you didn’t.” She took the map and ran her fingers along the roll and it was encased in a protective covering—both physically and with a Flair shield. “I’ll show you to the teleportation room in the entryway.”

“Thanks.” His father glanced at Raz and sighed. “Guess you won’t let me take your glider, Cherry.”

“No, and it’s really too bad that you promised Mother that you wouldn’t get a sports vehicle.” Raz shook his head in false commiseration.

They trouped out of the dining room that none of them liked and to the entry hall, which was even more gilded. His father kept his face expressionless, Raz thought that the previous Elecampanes had taste that wasn’t quite top-notch, and he didn’t think that Del even noticed her surroundings.

His father stepped into the teleportation area, initiated the spell, saluted Del with his rolled map, and disappeared.

Raz stepped close and put his arm around her waist. “It’s been an eventful day.”

“Yes, it has,” she said. She looked up at him and blinked. “You have a performance tonight, don’t you?”

“Yes, the fifth time I take the villain down this week. I want to continue to see you, Del.”

“You will.”

He bent and pressed his lips against hers in a gentle kiss, swept his tongue along the sweetness of her mouth. “A lot. Exclusively.”

Her eyes were serious as she replied, but he noted her breasts rose and fell with her quick breath. “I agree.”

“For as long as you’re in Druida.”

She stiffened a little, lifted her chin. “All right.” She tilted her head and Raz realized she was listening to the rain that had started up again. For an instant the charred, blackened, and smoking timbers of the old den at the yard came to his mind, then he shuttled it away.

“Come on upstairs to the green parlor. It’s cozier. We can talk and listen to music strips.”

He lifted her hand to his lips. “Learn to know each other.”

She cast a narrowed gaze at him. “That’s definitely one of your actor voices, Raz.”

He laughed, clasped his hand with hers, and walked to the base of the stairs with her. They had no sooner gotten to the top and turned down the corridor before a chiming sound reverberated through the house, announcing visitors.

A few steps later, they turned into the green parlor and Raz saw Straif Blackthorn,
FirstFamily GrandLord Straif T’Blackthorn
, holding a little girl in his arms that was the image of Del.

Raz’s spine stiffened; he tightened his clasp on Del’s fingers. This man had been her lover, close enough to her to manage her affairs when her Family died while she was away. He was father to this child . . . the remaining child of her Family.
Her
child, also. Too many strings between the two of them. Strings that seemed to vibrate.

“Greetyou, Del.” T’Blackthorn moved forward with the same easy stride Del had, one that spoke of many miles walked and ridden.

“Greetyou, Straif,” Del said. Her gaze seemed fixed on the little girl, as if she was unaware or unconcerned with the tension between Straif and him. Raz rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. Straif did not miss that action.

“Straif, Doolee, this is Cerasus Cherry. Raz, this is an old friend, Straif T’Blackthorn, and my cuz, Helendula Elecampane-Blackthorn.” She untwined her fingers from Raz’s, walked toward them, and held out her arms to the child. “Greetyou, Doolee, good to see you back again so soon.”

“Dd . . . dd . . . dd.” The little girl took her thumb from her mouth and flashed a dimpled smile at Del, held out her arms. Del took the child and kissed her cheek, settled her on a hip.