The Wheelwright's Apprentice (14 page)

20

Art had spent the best part of a day worrying about Amia’s request. How could they save the baby and still allow her not to be pregnant? He decided to stop worrying. He had a couple of months yet before it started to show and a solution was bound to present itself. He was a miracle worker, wasn’t he? Amia certainly thought so, and she was the one person he really didn’t want to disappoint.

He decided to to concentrate on his role as a wheelwright’s apprentice. He appeared to have weathered the disaster of Ellary’s healing without anyone being the wiser about him having the Will. He was a hero with his master as he believed that Art had carried her the best part of a mile to the healers at the Temple. The reality was that he had transported her there in a blink. He was a hero for saving her life, but that was because he had done all the healing himself. He felt that might have been more of an effort than carrying her all the way there. It had been very tiring.

He had only seen Ellary once since she had come home, at supper the previous night. She had properly thanked him then, but had not spoken to him otherwise. Today he was working with Dannoy. They were varnishing a set of carriage wheels, and Dannoy was showing him how to avoid obscuring the more delicate decorative carving. For Art, it was absorbing and different, if a bit on the smelly side. Dannoy dipped his brush in the varnish pot and frowned. “What’s that in the pot?” Art squinted and he saw a small lump. “Fish it out will you?” Art dipped a shard of wood in, and the lump stuck to it. “What do you suppose it is?”

Art set it down, and watched the varnish slowly flow away. “It looks like a button from my shirt.” He peered down. “Must’ve fallen off just now.”

“Clean it up and sew it back on. I know you can.” Dannoy winked at him. It was a reference to the time they had thought he had taken one of the master’s tools.

It had been the third button again; this meant someone had been into his room. Art sauntered over to the well, and washed the button off as best he could. He was in no hurry to find out who had gone into his room. He had stopped worrying about either Ellary or Trorn trying to make him look bad, and if he rushed up to the room immediately, that someone might wonder how he knew they had been there. He took his time rubbing the last of the varnish off and washed it again. At last he was ready to go to his room.

When he opened his door, there was Ellary sitting on his pallet. “You didn’t make me wait too long, diludtio his rod you?”

Art did not have to feign surprise. She was about the last person he had expected to see. “W..w.. what do you want?” he stammered, and then gathering himself, asked, “What can I do for you, Miss Ellary?”

She gave a little girlish giggle. “Gim, you are so formal! I should be the one asking what I can do for you. You did save my life after all.” Art had no idea what to say, so he kept quiet and waited. “I wanted to apologize. I tried to show you up and you managed to avoid all the nasty little things I did to embarrass you. Yet you said nothing.” She stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. “You are the type of person who likes to fight his own battles and solve his own problems. I admire that.” She leant forward and gave him a little kiss on his cheek. He was so taken aback that he couldn’t move. “You battled for me too.” He was still frozen in place. Ellary gave him a big smile and took both his hands. “Gim, do you have the Will?”

That jerked Art out of his reverie. “Do you think I would be slaving away as a wheelwright’s apprentice if I did?”

Ellary sat back down. “The two days I spent in the Temple recovering were most interesting.” She grabbed her shoulders, squeezed them, and turned her head slightly to one side. “I was talking to one of the attendants there. He said that I was amazingly lucky, because although the senior healer was away, his relief, a boy called Art, just happened to be there - on a day he wasn’t expected - and worked on me on his own for at least two hours. He told me that my injuries were so extensive that it would normally have needed two Willed healers to save me, but the boy managed to save me on his own.” She turned her head back and looked him full in the eye. “I think I woke up once or twice, and what I remember was seeing your face.”

“That would have been while I was getting you there. You were in and out.” He felt that explanation would be perfectly reasonable.

“I’m not so sure. They said this Art had recently come from Red City, and so did you. You spend time helping out at the Temple too!”

“Art is a dedicated boy. I see him from time to time, but he is nothing like me. I fetch and carry, as it is good to help others. Art performs miracles. Saving you was a miracle.” Art made sure to keep his tone ordinary and matter of fact. He could not afford her hear him sound worried or distracted.

Seeing that she wasn’t going to get any sort of admission, Ellary quickly changed tack. “I guess Trorn was trying to show you up too?”

“I really have to thank you for that,” Art said with a grin. “If I hadn’t been on the lookout for you and your antics, he would have got me good!”

“You must have known he tried to set you up, but you never said anything to my father about that either.”

“It’s all history now. I don’t think of it any more.”

“Gim, you are an amazing guy. I really misjudged you. I’ll be keeping a really close eye on you.” She got up and as she was walking out she turned, saying, “Please talk to me from now on. Don’t wait for me to say something, and you can drop the “Miss”.

Art lay down and thought,
“That’s all I need; the boss’ daughter has taken a shine to me. That’s minor, though. The real problem is deciding what on earth I am going to do about the baby.”
He took his time sewing the button on.

Ten gratifyingly normal days later, it was again time for a shopping trip. Art was again called over by Master Jangon, who said, “Gim, please go with Ellary to the market. As long as you are with her, I know she’ll be safe.”

Art guessed he had doomed himself to be a cart horse once a week for the foreseeable future. Such are the rewards of heroism. He was fast becoming a cynic.

As they walked, Ellary broke the silence. “I asked you to talk to me but you haven’t. Have I done anything wrong?”

Shifting the bags from one shoulder to the other, he let out a deep breath, “It’s not you. I have a lot on my mind.”

“Care to share?”

“Sorry but this isn’t for sharing.”

“Has it got anything to do with your Will?” She smiled casually at him.

“Oh no! You are not still riding that horse are you?” He tried to sound a bit exasperated.

“I’ll ride it until I come to the winning post. You seem so different from the other boys our age. You are calm, mature and much more sensible - and competent - than any other boy I’ve met. The Will is the best fit to explain you.” She dimpled. “I am a very suspicious girl.”

“What’s on the shopping list today. I hope I can carry it all.”

“Don’t try to change the subject! You’re much too good at almost everything. I said I would watch you, and I have been doing exactly that. Anyway, I don’t think you could have carried me all the way to the Temple, at least, not before I would have bled to death.”

Art couldn’t think of a good reply so he said nothing.

“Don’t think I’m not grateful, but when you save a girl’s life, she becomes fascinated with her savior.” Now she was behaving flirtatiously, smiling and grabbing his arm and squeezing it.

“Have you got over that girl in Red City yet?” She was still clinging. She felt him stiffen. “Sorry I’ve hit a nerve.” She let go of him and was quiet for a while. As they neared the market, she tried again, “If you had the Will you could flit over to see her regularly.”

He gazed on her stonily with an expression that said, “Drop it!” He followed that up with, “Don’t even think of going anywhere near the livestock pens, or I’ll leave all the stuff and go home.”

Halfway round the market they had stopped at a vegetable stall where Ellary was buying cabbages and carrots. She was taking her time, picking out the best ones when the stallholder, a fat lady wearing loose fitting clothes and a yellow scarf piped up, “Aren’t you the girl that got gored and trampled a fortnight ago? Oh my! We all thought you would die for sure. I was nearby buying chickens and I saw it all. The bull was trampling you and suddenly it fell over. Its leg was shattered. Then a boy swooped in, picked you up and that was the last I saw of you.”

Ellary pointed at Art who was hanging back, resting the shopping on the ground. “That boy?”

“Looks real like him. What happened then?”

“I woke up completely cured about four hours later. I was very weak. I was kept there for two more days”

Art came forward and told the stallholder, “It’s not surprising you didn’t see us after that, there was so much confusion. I meanfu

Ellary persisted. “Wasn’t it so convenient that the bull’s leg collapsed right then?”

Art calmly replied, “The leg was probably already damaged in some way. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it had been slightly broken to start with. It would make sense if the bull was in pain and that was why it was acting up and getting aggressive. While it was getting out it must have knocked the leg against something and moments later it gave way.” He had thought of this explanation beforehand.

“I suppose it’s possible but it’s very farfetched.” Ellary’s voice was getting louder, and showed great, disdain.

“I would say me working as a wheelwright’s apprentice and having the Will is even more farfetched.” His loud voice dripped sarcasm.

The stallholder couldn’t stop herself from butting in. “A lover’s quarrel; oh my! It takes me back to my youth. Have fun making up.” They both went red and shut up.

Ellary pulled Art away, and replied normally, “That’s the only thing I can’t fathom. Why would you be playing apprentice if you have the Will? Come on, we’ve a lot more to buy.”

Art stifled a groan, hefted up the already heavy bags and followed dutifully.

On the way home, Ellary changed tack and asked, “Do you still think of your girl in Red City?” Art who was mostly concentrating on carrying the shopping comfortably could only manage a muffled grunt in reply. Ellary altered the tone of her voice to something that she thought would be a bit seductive. “We girls can tell, you know. Trorn looks at me appraisingly, the boys in the street ogle me, I even catch Dannoy glancing at me occasionally but you...you don’t. It doesn’t seem you have noticed I’m a girl...yet.”

“Miss Ellary,” He deliberately used the “Miss” as he was only interested in getting home and dumping off the shopping. “I have actually noticed that you are a girl. Of course it wasn’t until I had been working for your father for a month.” He quickened his pace, and she had to hurry to catch up.

The atmosphere at supper that night was slightly different. Neither Ellary nor Art talked directly to each other, as usual, but Art felt her eyes on him all the time. He ignored it as best he could. Nevertheless he found it rather uncomfortable.

That night there was a tap on his door It was Ellary. The words, “Do you think you should be here?” burst unbidden from his mouth.

She strode in. “If it was Trorn or even Dannoy, my father would be more than a bit upset. However, Gim, as it’s your room, I think his reaction might be a lot different.” She closed to within six inches of his face. “You saved my life, and you have been the perfect apprentice since you came here. You even do volunteer work at the Temple, and you have never looked at me lustfully. He may not actively be pushing me onto you, but judging by what he has been saying about you recently, I don’t think he would object.”

Art sat down on the chair. In the circumstances, collapsing on the pallet would have been a little unwise. Ellary sat on the pallet instead. “I know I am an attractive girl. All I have to do is to walk down the street. Since we see each other every day, you would have at least shown a tiny bit of interest in me if your heart wasn’t firmly fixed somewhere else.” Art didn’t deny it so she moved closer to him.

“You are horrible. It’s going to take me forever to find a boyfriend I can admire. Inevitably I will compare them to you and they will all fall short.” She took his hand. “You saved my life and were all too modest, asking for nothing.” Art appeared to want to say something but Ellary waved her hand. “Let me finish, this is hard for me. You have behaved perfectly since you came here. My father thinks the world of you and praises your competence. You are mysterious and intriguing and you are soft on the eyes too.”

Here she caught Art in a little grin. He was remembering when he designed his “Gim” face. He had wanted to make it good looking.

“Of course, I am still convinced yo
u have the Will.”

Art sighed, “That’s the conundrum, isn’t it? There is no way to prove I don’t have the Will, but if I did I could prove it instantly.”

Ellary stood up and pulled Art to his feet. She told him, “I want only one favour from you. Please think of me if you are ever free to do so.” Ellary pulled him into a bearhug and whispered, “This is the only thanks I can give you for saving my life. Please let me be your friend if nothing else.” She pulled away and rushed out of the door, now unable to stop herself crying.

21

Several days later, when she had completely regained her composure, Ellary spent some time thinking. She was convinced that Gim, her father’s apprentice, had the Will. She really did believe that she would have died in the time it would have taken him to carry her to the Temple after the bull had trampled and gored her. Both Ellary and Trorn, his fellow apprentice, had tried to show him up, for different reasons, but he had effortlessly avoided the pitalls they had put in his path.

He was infuriatingly competent and had never looked at her as a girl. She knew it wasn’t boys he liked as he had mentioned a girl in Red City, the last place he had lived. This was paradoxically the clincher. The only way he would still be holding strong feelings for a girl who lived hundreds of miles away was if he had the Will and was able to flit over and visit her whenever he wanted.

Ellary resolved to try a new angle. She had been told that this young healer called Art had saved her life, working on her tirelessly for over two hours on his own. She decided to go to the Temple herself and thank him. It was in any case the polite and proper thing to do. She dressed nicely and walked. It was a fine day, and the anticipation of meeting Art had put her in a lively mood. Would it be Gim? Would it be someone completely different? She longed to know.

Arriving at the Temple vestibule, she was stopped by a junior acolyte. His voice dripped sincerity and helpfulness. “How can we help you today, young mistress?”

Returning the sincerity she asked, “Healer Art cured me recently. In fact he saved my life. I never saw him and wanted to thank him. Do you know where I might find him?”

“I am sorry, I really don’t know, but if you go to the end of this corridor,” he waved his arm towards it, “then up the stairs, you will see a big green door. Someone there will be able to help.”

Finding the big green door was no problem, but as she approached to knock, she noticed that the door was ajar and clear voices were coming out. She hesitated. “Anaxis is really sick. We have/spouig to get someone.”

“We have to get him quickly. The last patient with the same symptoms died only an hour or so after going into a coma, and Anaxis slipped into his ten minutes ago.”

“Who do we get?”

“The fastest would be to call in Art. You could get there in fifteen minutes by carriage. All the others live too far away.”

“He told us never to call Art.”

“He didn’t say never. He said not to use him unless we thought he was dying. Right now it looks like he is. That’s the problem with having only one Willed healer here. If he suddenly gets sick, there is no one to cure him.”

Ellary heard the sound of a drawer being opened, and then being closed again. “Here are the instructions as to where Art lives, and the name he uses when he isn’t here. Hurry now, you’d better run.” She moved back from the door and started down stairs as a man came out of the room, running.

Following him as best she could, she thought,
“This is it! If I follow him, he will lead me to Art, and then I will know if Gim is Art or not.”
Hurrying as discretely as she could, she saw the man leave the Temple and get into the nearest carriage.

When she had been younger she had played a game with her friends of hitching rides on the public carriages. The secret was to be clinging out of sight on the back before the carriage started. Jumping on while it was moving was a surefire way of being noticed and thrown off, or even beaten. She sprinted the last few steps and managed to grab the back moments before it pulled off.

Where, she wondered, would the carriage be going? What would this Art look like? The route they took started out being familiar and got more so. The carriage went straight to Master Jangon’s yard. It had to be Gim! She had been right all along! She didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. As the carriage slowed she jumped off, and greeted the passenger as if she had been at the yard all the time.

“Can I please talk to Gim for a moment?” he asked. She saw him folding up a piece of paper. No doubt he had just checked the name.

“Wait here. I’ll get him.” She rushed off and asked her father, “Please, can I borrow Gim for a while? I feel so much better if he comes while I shop.”

Without waiting for a reply, she ran to get “Gim”. He was alone in one of the workshops . “Art!” she cried as she went in.

He looked up, then realized that he had responded to his real name and asked, “Who is Art?”

Ellary found her broadest smile, “You are!” she said triumphantly. “A healer from the Temple has rushed here to fetch you as someone called Anaxis is very ill.”

Art immediately grabbed her arm and dashed out towards the carriage parked at the yard’s entrance, dragging Ellary with him. As soon as he reached the healer, he grabbed both of them in a tight squeeze and then they were all in a rather featureless room elsewhere. Art turned to the healer. “Make sure that this girl stays here in the Temple until I say she can go.” He turned to Ellary. “Sorry about all this. I will explain when I can.” With that he dashed out and was gone.

Anaxis was ill. He had been unconscious for half an hour by the time Art arrived. It appeared to be something similar to the disease that caused delirium in Red City. Art knew how to cureew ll. He it. It was something only a Willed healer could do. His first step was to identify the tiny little creatures responsible by looking at a small drop of Anaxis’ blood with his instrument. That was the key. As soon as he knew what they looked like he could kill them by Willing them in half. Once he had seen to Anaxis, he took the precaution of Willing any other similar creatures within his range to die too. He didn’t know how wide that range was but it seemed a sensible precaution.

Anaxis wouldn’t wake up for hours yet, so Art went to Anaxis’ office and called for tea. He needed it. After downing a cup and calming himself, he felt at last able to face Ellary who must be getting more than a bit annoyed by now. He poked his head out of the door and asked the nearest person to find her for him.

He was nervous. What was he going to say? He had been lying to her since he had met her, and he felt more than a little guilty about it. At least it wasn’t his fault that she had found out; Anaxis had been in pretty dire straits after all.

The door opened and she was ushered in. He stood up. “I have quite a bit of apologizing to do, haven’t I? Can I get you some tea?” She didn’t seem at all upset and sat in a comfortable chair. When he had served her he sat in one beside her. “I haven’t liked lying to you.”

“Don’t worry about that. I am absolutely thrilled that I was right, and the ride was one I wouldn’t mind doing again. By the way, what does ‘Art’ really look like?”

Art allowed his face to flow back to normal. “Well, I see now why you have to wear a different face; you look so like the Count.”

“He is my dad. It’s nothing special. He has an awful lot of children.”

“Why all the secrecy, and why are you a wheelwright’s apprentice?”

“The wheelwright’s apprentice bit is easy. That’s what I did before everybody in my village was massacred. Since that happened my life has been all over the place. It has been really good to be doing something familiar from my past. It has helped me a lot.”

“The secrecy?”

“That’s because this is still training. The whole idea is to learn to live without anyone finding out I have the Will.” He took a big gulp from his teacup. “Not as easy as it seemed was it? Actually I should thank you. You have taught me quite a few things, perhaps unintentionally. I made plenty of mistakes, and I have learned from them.” He leaned forward and grasped her hand. “I need a big favour. Please.” He stood up, put on his best smile and made his pitch. “I need you to keep quiet about me. If you tell anyone, my father will simply move me somewhere else, and I will most likely have to design myself a new face. My life has been so mangled since the massacre that I could do with a good bit of stability.” He sat back down. “I have a more pressing problem. Since Anaxis is incapacitated, I will have to stay here until a replacement arrives. Can you to cover for me with your dad?”

She smiled sweetly. “Don’t think about it. I am not ready to lose you, but I might need a little favour in return.” She leaned back in her chair and paused, “Tell me about your girl in Red City.”

This was an unexpected question. He really didn’t want to talk about Amia. “I don’t want to talk about her, but I want to be honest with you. I have lied to you so much already that you deserve to hear the truth.” He started talking slowly, first about how he had met Amia, how he had seen her when he had been disguhaded to ised as Gim and heard her talking about him. After a while he found himself telling her everything. Somewhere along the way he realized that he had had nobody to talk to about anything he had done since the massacre at Dane’s Hamlet. Of course there was Amia, but their relationship had been rather intensely physical, and he only saw her occasionally. It was rather comforting after a while to unburden himself about his troubles to someone he saw every day.

When he got to the part about Amia neither wanting to stay pregnant nor wanting to lose the baby she couldn’t help throwing in, “No wonder you were distracted! That’s huge! I thought you would have it easy if you had the Will, but it seems you have problems like the rest of us.”

They talked for a while longer until Art had to go and attend the loser of a rather nasty fight. For Art, it was routine, for Ellary, who followed at a distance it was a revelation. The man had a broken leg with the bone sticking out, two knife wounds and a varied selection of bruises and contusions. Art set the man right amazingly quickly and efficiently. It took less than ten minutes for all the damage to be repaired.

Back in the study, Ellary noted, “If it only took you ten minutes with him, why did you need two hours with me?”

“You really don’t want to know. If you told your mother, she would faint before you told her a quarter of the things I had to heal.”

She was quiet f
or a while and then tentatively held out her hand. “Friends?”

He shook it. “Friends.” They both smiled.

A few moments later there was a discrete knock on the door and an acolyte said, “Your relief has arrived.”

After he had thanked the acolyte, Art beckoned to Ellary. “Time to take the ride again! Do you mind arriving in my room?”

“That’s okay. We’re friends.” She grabbed Art around the waist saying, “Don’t forget to change your face.” They vanished.