Firesong (35 page)
It all seems so long ago. Did you ever think it would lead us to this?
Of course
, said Kestrel.
What else was it all for?
Liar
, said Bowman.
You had no idea.
Once Bowman had rejoined the gathering, the children sang their song with Teacher Pillish, and everyone laughed and clapped as the little chicks popped out. Then Hanno Hath took Pinto’s hand in his and led her to stand before Mumpo. There in the sunlight by the wind singer they clasped hands and looked into each other’s eyes and spoke the words of the vow.
‘Today begins my walk with you.’
The children fell silent, sensing the solemnity of the moment.
‘Where you go, I go. Where you stay, I stay.’
As he spoke, Mumpo looked into those fierce black eyes, and he marvelled that anyone could love him so much; he who had been the bottom of the class, the one who never understood, the lonely one.
‘When you sleep, I will sleep. When you rise, I will rise.’
Oh, it’s taken so long, thought Pinto. But now it’s come at last.
‘I will pass my days within the sound of your voice, and my nights within the reach of your hand, and none shall come between us.’
That’s all I ask, thought Mumpo. Not to be alone.
That’s all I ask, thought Pinto. To love you till the day I die.
Baby Ira gave a loud chortle of delight. A ripple of laughter ran round the gathering.
‘This I vow.’
Mumpo took Pinto in his arms, and they kissed.
Bowman watched, and looking out through his eyes, Kestrel watched with him. They remembered dawn sunlight piercing winter trees, a promise that had not been broken.
Why should it ever end? Why shouldn’t we love each other for ever?
They remembered too a greater light, that had for a moment touched all things. The memory now reached out from them, here at the betrothal, as if that long-ago light was bathing and transforming this crowd of laughing friends, and the laden tables, and the creaking wind singer, and the homeland, and the ocean beyond, until all was turned to light, themselves too, and the dazzling moment hovered weightless, astonished, beautiful, ravished by the song that never ends.
The End
Smarties Gold Award Winner
William Nicholson is one of the greatest and most imaginative writers of today and has won countless awards for his work in television, plays and films.
The Wind Singer
, the first title in the Wind on Fire trilogy, won the Smarties Prize Gold Award and the Blue Peter Book Award. His latest novel,
Rich and Mad
– his first for teenage readers – received much praise, and he has written several successful adult novels. He is an acclaimed Hollywood screenwriter; his work includes
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
, the Bafta award-winning
Shadowlands
, and
Gladiator
, for which he received his second Oscar nomination. William Nicholson lives in Sussex with his wife, Virginia, and their three children.
EGMONT PRESS: ETHICAL PUBLISHING
Egmont Press is about turning writers into successful authors and children into passionate readers – producing books that enrich and entertain. As a responsible children’s publisher, we go even further, considering the world in which our consumers are growing up.
Safety First
Naturally, all of our books meet legal safety requirements. But we go further than this; every book with play value is tested to the highest standards – if it fails, it’s back to the drawing-board.
Made Fairly
We are working to ensure that the workers involved in our supply chain – the people that make our books – are treated with fairness and respect.
Responsible Forestry
We are committed to ensuring all our papers come from environmentally and socially responsible forest sources.
For more information, please visit our website at www.egmont.co.uk/ethical
Egmont is passionate about helping to preserve the world’s remaining ancient forests. We only use paper from legal and sustainable forest sources, so we know where every single tree comes from that goes into every paper that makes up every book.
This book is made from paper certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC), an organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of forest resources. For more information on the FSC, please visit
www.fsc.org
. To learn more about Egmont’s sustainable paper policy, please visit
www.egmont.co.uk/ethical
.
Table of Contents