The Luck Of The Wheels (6 page)

'Lovely,' Ki muttered to herself, caught up in his clean lines and proud head.

'Aren't they?' Vandien said as the girls slid from the roan's back.

She had to nod to that, too. She guessed their ages fell somewhere between fifteen and eighteen years, but could not say which was the older. They were like enough in height and limb to be twins, but there the resemblance ended. The dark-haired girl with the startlingly blue eyes would have been a beauty anywhere, but her beauty would not have been enough to keep anyone's eyes from her sister. The other girl's hair gleamed between bright copper and rust. Her mismatched eyes, set wide above a straight nose, met Ki's frankly; it made what might have been a fault into a flashing attraction. Where her sister was olive, she was pale. Freckles bridged her nose irresistibly. When she smiled, her teeth were very white. She glanced from Ki to her sister, and then to Vandien. 'I'm so glad we caught up with you!' she said breathlessly. 'We didn't hear you'd left until after noon. If Elyssen hadn't been able to borrow this horse, I'd never have been able to catch you!'

'Borrow!' Elyssen exclaimed. 'And I'd better have Rud back before morning, or Tomi's master will have hard words for him.'

'Ssh!' the red-haired girl chided her sister, but amusement leaped between them like sparks. They both turned hopeful faces to Vandien. Silence hovered.

'Come to the fire and tell us why you needed to catch us,' Vandien suggested. 'We can offer you a cup of tea after your long ride, if nothing else,' he added.

Dark was falling rapidly on the open plain. The tiny fire was like a beacon now as Ki and Vandien led the way to it. The girls came behind them, whispering to one another.

'Did you notice the bundle tied to Rud's saddle-cloth?' Ki asked him softly.

Vandien nodded. 'I told them we couldn't take passengers.'

'But then you did!' It was the red-haired girl, stretching her legs to catch up with them. 'We heard in Keddi that you were taking Goat to Villena. So we knew you'd changed your mind, and because Tekum's right on your road ...' Her hand settled on Vandien's arm, forcing him to meet her hopeful eyes.

'We don't take passengers,' Ki said gently. Going to the fire, she set the kettle of water to simmer.

'But if you're taking Goat to Villena, why can't you take Willow to Tekum?' Elyssen objected. 'If he's a passenger, why can't she be one? We've money to pay for her passage.'

'Because no angry father is going to come tracking him down. Brin sent Gotheris with us.' Vandien's voice was firm, but Ki heard the reluctance that tinged it. Willow's wide eyes suddenly brightened.

'But that isn't how it is! You can ask Elyssen if you don't believe me. Papa doesn't mind me marrying Kellich. It's only that Papa hasn't much money right now.'

'Yes, and too much pride to tell Kellich so,' Elyssen cut in. 'So when Kellich asked Willow to come away with him, Papa forbade her. Because he couldn't give her those things that every woman should take with her when she goes with a man.'

'Perhaps a cup of tea would make all this clearer,' Vandien suggested. Ki gestured that they should seat themselves on the quilt near the fire. As she moved to take mugs from the dish-chest strapped to the wagon, she wondered what she was going to say. She had never taken passengers before. She hadn't been enthused about taking Goat. She did not adapt easily to the pressures of sharing her life with other folk. Even Vandien had at first seemed more of a nuisance and an intrusion than a companion. She had saddled herself with Gotheris for two weeks, and already regretted it. Now this Willow was asking to ride along as far as Tekum. The worst part was that Ki could not think of any excuse to say no. Could two riders be any worse than one? And there was the money to think of, at a time when money was hard to come by. She glanced back at them, at Vandien nodding intently to the girl's story. She didn't have to ask his opinion. She added tea herbs to the kettle.

'... so it happens all the time. When the girl's family has no joining gifts to give her, or the boy's family cannot afford to start him in a home, they run away together. Then both families say what wretched scamps their children are. But as soon as the first grandchild is born, the couple comes back and asks for forgiveness, and of course they're forgiven, and everything is fine again.' Willow spoke fervently, while Elyssen nodded eagerly.

'It's so, Vandien! I swear it! Papa won't be angry. When Kellich went away, Willow cried for days and days, and Papa was horribly upset.'

'You needn't tell him I cried!' Willow broke in, nettled.

'But you did! And Papa was angry, just as he always is when one of us is sad and he cannot change it.'

'Are you sure he isn't angry because Willow won't give way to his will?' Ki asked. She passed out mugs, and then took the tea from the embers where it had been brewing. She filled the mugs they held out.

Elyssen dimpled with merriment. 'Then why would he give her coins, all he could spare, and tell her to forget that worthless Kellich and buy the horse she's always wanted?'

'He knew that if I had owned a horse, I would have followed Kellich as soon as he left. But the money wasn't enough for a horse. I know, for I tried to buy one. But I thought it might be enough for my passage. See?' Willow untied the little cloth pocket from her sash, and before Ki could speak, she had upended it onto the quilt. A heavy crescent coin and a brief shower of copper and silver bits spilled from it. She looked up from Ki to Vandien, her mismatched eyes innocent and hopeful. 'Is it enough to pay for my passage to Tekum?'

'It's enough to get your throat cut, if you're foolish enough to show it to strangers on the road,' Vandien growled.

Willow's eyes grew wide, and Elyssen leaped to her feet.

'Oh, sit down,' Ki told them both. 'Vandien was trying to warn you, not threaten you.'

Ki met Vandien's eyes, read his silent comment. 'They'd only try to buy passage with someone else if we told them no,' she said.

His dark eyes lit. 'I suppose,' he agreed. He turned to Willow, who still stared at him anxiously. 'That's Ki's way of saying you can ride with us.'

'Oh, Willow!' Elyssen sighed, while Willow began to scoop up the money and thrust it at Vandien, as if she feared he would change his mind at any instant.

'Thank you. Oh, thank you. I promise I won't be any trouble to you. I promise. Oh, I can't believe I'm really going. Elyssen said I'd never get older people like you to understand how much I need to be with Kellich and how much he needs me!'

Willow looked into her sister's face, and saw Elyssen's dark eyes mirroring her own joy. She flung herself at her sister, hugged her wildly. 'I'll never forget how you helped me, Elyssen, never! And when your time comes ...'

Elyssen squeezed her tight, her eyes near closed, her face between laughter and tears. Suddenly her dark eyes flew open. 'Goat,' breathed Elyssen.

Willow broke from her arms. She followed her sister's stare, and a strange silence fell. Ki and Vandien exchanged glances, puzzled at the sudden dampening of the girls' spirits. They were poised as if a wild beast threatened them.

Goat stood at the outer edge of the fire's light. His arms were laden with something. His expression was something between delight and disbelief. He came on haltingly, as if uncertain of his footing. He glanced from face to face, searching for an answer to whatever question was in his mind.

'Oh, Willow,' Elyssen breathed in dismay.

'I'll be all right,' Willow said in a soft, fierce voice. 'I told you I would. I know how to take care of myself, Elyssen.'

'Be careful anyway!' Elyssen whispered. She stood, saying hastily, 'Well, all is settled, except for Rud and me. I promised Tomi I'd have him back in plenty of time to be rubbed down and rested before morning. Good-bye, all!'

'Wait, Elyssen!' Willow called, and hurried off after her sister into the darkness.

Goat came on, first glancing after the girls and then back to Ki. His arms were heavy with small, fuzzy brown objects. He carried them to the edge of the quilt, where Vandien and Ki sat. Stooping down, he asked in a hoarse whisper, 'What did she say about me?'

Ki met Vandien's puzzled glance. 'Nothing, Goat. Only that she had heard you were going with us to Villena, and she wanted to know if we'd mind another passenger.'

Goat's eyes widened. 'She wants to go to Villena with me?'

'No. Only as far as Tekum. I understand her lover is there, and she goes to join him.'

'Kellich.' A wealth of disdain was in his voice. And disappointment? Ki couldn't be sure.

'What's that you have?' Vandien asked the boy.

'Burr-fruit. From the Gwigi trees. You know.' Goat seemed subdued, almost shy. He glanced to where the two girls stood, heads bowed together. Willow had taken her bundle from Rud's back. The two sisters hugged suddenly, tightly.

'No, I don't.' Vandien reached and took one from the boy's armload. He turned it curiously in his hands. 'I've never seen one before. Are they edible?'

Goat started at Vandien's question, as if he didn't remember they had been talking. He glanced at the burr-fruit in Vandien's hands. 'After you singe them in a fire, you can crack them open. They're sweet inside. I picked them to share.' Rud's retreating hoofbeats drew his attention away again. He stared at Willow, who stood in the semi-darkness watching her sister ride away.

'One might almost guess you were trying to make up for the way you behaved earlier,' Vandien observed heartlessly.

The boy's eyes jerked back to Vandien. 'I suppose,' he muttered. He glanced from the approaching Willow back to Vandien's set face. He didn't want to be rebuked in front of her.

'Good. I was afraid I'd have to reason with you about it later tonight.' Vandien's tone made it clear to Ki that his 'reasoning' might not be conversational, but the inference went right past Goat. Worry furrowed his brow as his eyes darted surreptitiously toward Willow and then veered away. Vandien looked at the approaching girl. 'We won't say anything more about it now. But I'm better impressed with you. A boy who can apologize when he's been wrong isn't that far from being a man.'

The note of approval in Vandien's voice suddenly had Goat's full attention. His face lit up, not into his fool's grin, but a tentative smile. 'There's enough here for all of us. Even Willow,' he added cautiously. 'I'll show you how to cook them,' he offered, speaking more to the girl than to Ki and Vandien.

She stared at him across the fire. Her eyes were as unreadable as a cat's. Then she came smoothly into the circle of the firelight, flowing like water. She resumed her place on the quilt, took up her mug of tea and sipped from it. The slight was obvious, and Ki winced at it. Goat blushed deeply.

'So how do you cook them?' Vandien asked curiously, as if he hadn't noticed anything amiss. But he had, Ki would wager. Probably only she could detect the sympathy in his voice.

'You just... put them close to the embers of... the fire and leave them in there awhile.' The boy's voice kept hitching.

'Well, while you two are doing that, I'll get the main part of the meal going.' Ki filled in the silence with her voice.

'Let me help,' Willow volunteered instantly, her voice as disarming as her smile.

'I can manage,' Ki told her coolly.

'Please let me, I love to cook,' she begged, her face so innocent that Ki wondered if she was unaware of how she had humiliated Goat. Willow's fingers were quick and her smile easy as she sliced dried meat into chunks that simmered separately from the pot of vegetables and roots that Ki prepared. She exclaimed about the tidiness of the wagon when she put her bundle inside, and was generally so charmed and charming that Ki could not hold a grudge against her. Together they set out bowls and travelling bread while Willow told her ingenuously of her Kellich. He was, Ki heard, an excellent trainer and handler of horses, and had been offered a fine position with a wealthy man in Tekum. He was, she told Ki, a young man who was handsome, witty, chivalrous, and merry, a graceful dancer and a skilled swordsman. He was also, Ki surmised from the way she spoke, a bit of a dandy and apt to be quick-tempered. But Willow plainly considered those facets of his character as virtues. Ki smiled to herself.

'Food's done!' Vandien announced, taking the pots from the fire. The savory smell filled the night. Ki poured more tea while he ladled out a generous serving into each bowl. Conversation lagged as the four became aware of their hunger. They ate, spoons rapping softly against bowls. 'Tastes funny,' Goat said once, and then hastily amended his words to, 'I mean different from what I'm used to.' Vandien dipped his head to hide a small smile, and Ki nodded. But Willow stopped eating and stared at him for a long moment.

They were wiping the gravy out of their bowls with travelling bread when Goat suddenly stood. 'These should be done,' he told Vandien, and, picking up a small stick, he coaxed each burr fruit from the fire. Small cracks showed in their furry rinds. After a moment of cooling, Goat picked one up and broke it open. The exposed pulp was between pink and red. Juice ran over his fingers, and a sweet smell filled the air. Vandien tossed one to Ki, who tasted it gingerly. The texture was like a baked apple, the flavor not quite peaches nor strawberries.

'No.' Willow spoke flatly, then softened it with a 'Thank you' to Vandien.

'If you're sure.' He shrugged, withdrawing the offered fruit. 'Goat gathered plenty of these things.'

'They're good,' Goat added timidly.

She shifted her gaze to him, and her face lost its charming smile. Her eyes hardened with an unreadable emotion. With disdain in her voice she said, 'You know I wouldn't eat anything you'd touched, Goat. You know that.'

A long silence fell over the group. The boy, embarrassed, knelt by the fire. He looked at Vandien. Ki raked Willow with her eyes, shocked by the casual cruelty of the girl's voice and words.

'These grow on Gwigi trees?' Vandien asked. His tone suggested that Willow's words were unworthy of notice. He knelt by the boy, only interest in his face, but Ki sensed his annoyance with Willow.

Goat's hand shook slightly as he batted another burr-fruit from the fire's embers. He nodded silently, his head down.