Seeker (8 page)

"Give him back!" she cried.

"I got him now!" he replied, taunting her. He held the bleating puppy high in the air above his head.

She took a step towards him, but he danced back, away from her.

"You come after me, I'll smash him!" he cried. "I'll smash his head on a stone!"

"No!" Morning Star came to a stop. "Don't hurt him!"

The puppy was squealing and struggling in the goatboy's big-knuckled hand. Amik stood, ears pricked forward, growling softly. Morning Star, choking with fear and anger, turned to her father.

"Papa! He can't!"

"You let me be," called Filka. "You got a dog already. This dog's mine now."

Arkaty tried to calm him down with his gentle voice.

"Come along now, Filka. This is no way to do things. We're all friends and neighbors."

"I'm not good enough for you," retorted Filka. "Don't think I don't know. Funny-in-the-head Filka, you say. But I got special friends."

Arkaty made a move towards him.

"Let me be!" cried Filka. "Or I kill the little dog!"

And he really did swing the puppy down towards an outcrop of rock, but he stopped short when Morning Star screamed.

Arkaty lowered his hand.

"This is not kind," he said reproachfully.

"Not kind!" jeered Filka. "When was anyone ever kind to Filka? But I got special friends now. So you can all just let me be!"

With these words, he turned and ran off up the hillside, into the deepening twilight.

Morning Star burst into bitter sobs.

"He's so horrible! So horrible!"

Her father put his arm round her and comforted her as best as he could. She clung to him and sobbed and sobbed.

"I'll go and have a word with him tomorrow," he said.

"He's hateful, hateful, hateful."

"He's a cranky lad, I know. But he's good to his goats. He'll be kind to the little pup."

"I never even said good-bye."

There was nothing to be done for now. They climbed the path on into the sheep field, and there her father settled her down and pulled the rug over her and let her cry out all her tears. When at last she fell silent, he kissed her wet cheeks and said to her, "So who else do you need to say good-bye to, then?"

She looked up at him, blinking the tears from her eyes.

"Are you going to tell me?" he said. "Or is it to be mumbo-dumbo all the way, until you go?"

"Go where?"

"To your holy island."

"You know!"

"How could I not know? You're my own child, aren't your?"

"Oh, Papa! How can I ever leave you? Say you don't want me to go, and I won't go."
"Oh, so you won't go. And what then?"

"I'll stay here with you."

"And what will you do here with me all the rest of your life? Nothing is what you'll do. No, my lambling, you go and see what's to be seen and come back one day and tell me all about it."

"How will you get along without me?"

"Am I newborn? Didn't I get along for almost thirty years before you showed yourself?"

"Won't you be lonely?"

"No doubt I shall. And maybe you'll be lonely, too."

"Yes. I will."

She put her arms round him under the rug and hugged him close and was filled with love for him.

"So you'll be off the morning after next, I think."

"Oh, Papa. You know everything."

"And it's a long way to your holy island, and a dangerous way to get there."

"I'll not come to harm."

"You'll not come to harm because you'll not go alone."

"Not go alone? But you can't leave the flock."

"And that is why I've arranged for you to have a companion on the road."

In this way, to her astonishment, Morning Star learned that her father had been quietly preparing for this time. He had made arrangements to hire an escort to go with his daughter all the way to the holy island. So all the time she had been fearing to break it to him that she was leaving, he had been planning her departure.

"What sort of companion?"

"A man who knows how to chase away any spikers who want to cause trouble. The book factor is arranging it all. The book factor is bringing him."

"Papa! How much are you having to pay for this?"

"That's of no importance. What else is my money for?"

"But I don't want a companion. Truly I don't."

"Then take him for my sake. You're safe with me, and you'll be safe on the holy island, but between the one and the other there's bad men and mad men and all sorts else."

She hugged him even tighter under the rug.

"I shouldn't leave you."

"The sooner the better," he said. "I shall be able to do as I please for once in my life."

But she could see the colors glowing round him, and there, mingled with the rose red of his love for her, was the darker violet of heartache. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see; but even with her eyes closed, she felt his pain.

"You're too good to me."

"And why shouldn't I be?" he said. "Being good to my child is the same as being good to myself."

T
HE BOOK FACTOR ARRIVED PUNCTUALLY, BENT LOW
under the weight of his pack of books. He carried his pack in his own peculiar way, taking the full weight on a strap that went over his forehead. Thus laden, he would tilt himself forward and, balanced by the weight on his back, would proceed at a steady trot that looked as if he were forever running to stop himself from falling on his face.

"Here I am again," he declared, letting his pack sink to the ground. "And glad of the rest, believe you me."

With him was the biggest man Morning Star had ever seen in her life. The book factor watched Arkaty's face and saw with satisfaction his expression of awe.

"Well, old friend. Have I done right by you?"

"Right enough."

The big man held out a big hand and boomed out in a big voice.

"Barban at your service."

"Trained as an axer," said the factor with pride. "Retired from active duty now."

"You're most welcome, sir," said Arkaty.

"And this must be the little lady." Barban stooped down to place his face at the level of Morning Star's eyes and showed her his strong white teeth. "We'll get you to your destination, little lady, as safe as if you was still at home."

"Thank you," said Morning Star. To her dismay, she realized that she disliked him intensely.

"You'll take a glass before you go?" said her father.

"I never say no to a glass," said the big man, and laughed a booming laugh.

They went into the house, and Arkaty poured out four glasses of his most special wine. Morning Star knew the bottle had been saved to drink on her last day. Barban, who did not know this, drank down his glassful in a single swallow, as if to show what a big throat he had. Her father, wanting the moment to last, raised his glass to his daughter and gave her a sweet smile.

"To you, my star."

She raised her glass to his, and they clinked.

"And to you, Papa."

Barban put down his glass, tore open his jacket, and bared his naked torso at them.

"Hit me!" he cried. "Go on, hit me! Any of you. Hit me anywhere you like."

They looked at him in surprise. He was standing with his legs apart and his arms pulled back, inviting a blow to his bare chest or stomach. A gold medal hung round his neck, with an image of the sun on it.

"Hard as rock! Go on! Hit me!"

"I'm confident you're a suitable escort for my daughter," said Arkaty.

"Try the goods before you buy," said Barban. "You're paying for the best. I want you to know it."

"I'm not really accustomed to hitting people," said Arkaty.

Barban turned to the book factor.

"You, sir. Take a swing at me. Do your very worst."

"Well," said the factor. "If you think I should."

He struck the big man lightly on the abdomen.

"No, no!" cried Barban. "I didn't say tickle me. I said hit me."

Morning Star found the whole display ludicrous. She put down her glass. The book factor hit Barban again, rather harder. The big man laughed.

"Still can't feel you!"

"Let me try," said Morning Star.

She reached out her fingers, found a plump fold of flesh just above his hips, and pinched hard.

Barban let out a shrill shriek of pain.

"Ow-ow-ow!" he screamed.

"I think he felt that," said Morning Star, her eyes round with innocence.

"That was a pinch!" He glared at her, as he rubbed the hurting flesh. "That wasn't a hit; it was a pinch."

"I think you should apologize, my dear."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Barban."

"Only girls pinch," he said bitterly.

"That's all right, then," she said. "I'm quite sure we won't be attacked on the road by girls."

The big man buttoned his jacket up again. He turned to Arkaty, no longer smiling.

"You have the money?"

"Yes. I have it here."

He took a money box and tipped its contents out into a small bag. Morning Star realized he was proposing to pay out the full fee there and then.

"Papa," she said, "I'm sure the usual practice is to pay half the fee now and the other half when the job is done."

"Is that so?" said her father. "Is that the usual practice?"

"Usual when there's no trust," said Barban. He threw an angry look at Morning Star. His colors had gone orange-red, the very worst combination.

"Perhaps you would rather not accept the job," she said.

"Oh, no! You don't catch me like that! I've come a long way to be here. I'll do my part, and I expect to be paid for it."

"So you shall," said Arkaty.

"You don't seem to realize," Barban went on, still crossly rubbing at the pinch mark on his side, "that you are hiring the very best in personal protection." He pulled out the medal that hung round his neck. "See that? That means axer! Yes, sir. I was one of the mighty axers of the empire of Radiance!"

"I'm afraid I don't know what that is," said Morning Star.

"Axer!" exclaimed Barban indignantly. "The name that strikes dread into the hearts of all men! Axer! Axer!"

Morning Star gazed back at him with no visible signs of dread in her heart.

"Papa," she said, "give Mr. Barban half his fee, and give me the other half. I will pay it when we get to Anacrea."

The big man gave an angry shrug.

"Do as you please. It's all one to me."

"If our friend is happy to accept the arrangement," said the book factor, "it is perfectly usual. The fee is substantial."

"The best costs more," said Barban sullenly.

So it was settled. Morning Star watched as her father counted out the money, and was shocked by the amount. Two hundred shillings! Her father earned a shilling a week for his copying. How could this man be worth so much?

Arkaty put one hundred gold shillings into a little money pouch and gave it to his daughter. The rest he gave to the big man.

"You'll take good care of her, won't you?"

"So long as she takes good care of my money."

"It's a dangerous world."

Arkaty and the book factor then completed their own business; and so at last the time had come to part. Morning Star fetched her bag, which had been packed and ready for days. The book factor heaved on the broad strap of his load, and went out onto the path, beckoning the big man to follow him. Father and daughter were left for a last moment together.

"So it seems like you're on your way," said her father.

"But I'll come back. I'll come back to tell you all about it."

"As to coming back, let that fall as it may."

"And maybe I'll bring Mama with me."

"And again, maybe not."

He gazed at her with his shrewd and gentle eyes.

"There's those that think we hill people a little foolish and backward in our ways," he said. "And I'm not saying it isn't so. But don't trouble yourself to tell them they're wrong. There's all sorts of uses to being thought foolish."

"You're not foolish. You're the wisest person I know."

"And how many people do you know?"

"So you must give me some wisdom, to carry with me.

"So now you're wanting wisdom?"

He made a show of fashioning great thoughts. Then he spoke with gravity, and slowly, giving his advice.

"Never miss breakfast. Know more than you say. Leave rooms quietly."

She kissed him, and he held her close for a moment or two, and both knew that all that needed to be said had been said. Even though they had their arms tight around each other, there opened up a gap between them. For Morning Star, this was the beginning of what she thought of as her real life. For her father, it was an ending.

So they separated. Her father reached into his pocket and took out a little roll of black cloth tied up with string.

"There's for you," he said.

She untied it and found inside a braid of pure white lamb's wool. She put it to her face and felt its softness and smelled its smell.

"A tickle of home," he said. "In case you forget."

"I won't forget."

She went outside. There was the book factor, his pack on his back, the strap over his brow. He now tipped himself forward and had no option but to set off. Barban strode along by his side. Morning Star followed.

She looked back once and saw her father still standing in the doorway, solid and silent as ever, watching her, with Amik by his side. She raised her hand to wave, but he did not wave back. He stood there, glowing rose red with his love for her, and all around the rim of his aura was the tinge of deep violet, because his heart was breaking; but there was nothing she could do. So she lowered her hand and walked on.

On the edge of the village, where the pathway forked, the book factor bade them farewell and turned north. Morning Star and her escort kept to the track that ran due west.

As they went along, they heard the bleating of goats; and there on the steep hillside above was Filka, leading his flock down the mountain. He had a bag over one shoulder, and poking out of the bag was the furry white head of the puppy. He increased his pace when he saw Morning Star, so that he would reach the track before she passed by.