The Waters Rising (34 page)

At the wall, Bear stopped and whistled, three notes, repeated three times. After a moment, the whistle was returned and someone’s head appeared at the top of the wall. There was conversation, which Abasio could barely hear, as the window was not only dirty but tightly closed. The conversation between Bear and the visitor was brief. The head disappeared. Bear turned and went alongside the house and back toward the abbey.

When Abasio reached the loft door, he saw Xulai standing against the wall of the house beside the small tree, tears streaming down her face.

He slid down the ladder and went to her, whispering, “You disappeared!”

“I thought he couldn’t help but see me!”

“He didn’t. He went right by you!”

“It felt weird. I wanted to vanish; I felt something happening to me; my skin tingled, like I was retreating into the background. What did you see?”

“Shadows, like a little tree against the stone. You’re crying! Why?”

“He’s selling me, Abasio. Bear is selling me!”

“Shh. Tell me what he and Precious Wind were talking about.”

“Some time ago my father gave Prince Orez a small fortune to be sent here, to this abbey, to be held for Precious Wind and for Bear. The prior signed a receipt for it and the messengers brought the receipt back to my father. Before we left Wold, my father gave it to Precious Wind. She has it.” She buried her face in her hands, pressing them together as if to hold her head in place.

“All Bear knew was what Precious Wind told him, that he would be rewarded for his long and faithful service. He probably expected to get it before he left Woldsgard. Certainly he expected to get it here. So, he asked someone if there was something here for him, and the person he asked went to the prior and received word that there was not. He is very angry.”

Abasio pulled her to him, hugging her closely. “Knowing Bear, Precious Wind probably intended to get the payment from the abbey but not pass it on to Bear until we were on a ship headed for Tingawa. Any earlier than that, he would lose it all.”

“I know. That’s what I told Precious Wind.”

Abasio murmured, “Bear’s weakness for wagering is almost legendary! I knew that about him within hours of the time we met at Woldsgard. One of the stablemen told me he won two gold pieces from Bear betting on which flea crawling up his arm would bite him first.”

“I know all the reasons, Abasio! But we should have told him something! Reassured him! I thought Precious Wind would have done that, though maybe she didn’t want to get into a fight over it now. Bear is very angry and it would cause a great trouble if he went after the prior, because we
know
the prior has lied to us.”

Abasio nodded slowly. “Yes. That may be part of her thinking. There’s no doubt another part. Any man who can be bought once can be bought again—by anyone else who pays more. Precious Wind may suspect he’s involved in some scheme. She sounded shocked and wary to me. Who was the man at the wall?”

She shivered. “The man at the wall was Jenger, the duchess’s man. He was with her when they stopped us on the road. Bear told Jenger he’d get me into this house quickly, so they could come over the wall and take me. He said to wait until he left on his scouting trip south, then they could get me out of here with no trouble.”

“You’re sure he was the Duchess of Altamont’s man?”

She nodded, wiping her face with the backs of her hands. “Oh, yes. Both times I saw his face clearly. I heard his voice.”

Abasio took his arms from around her and stood away, thinking. “There’s something going on here that doesn’t make sense. When did this man, Jenger, have time to make any agreement with Bear? When did he have time to get here? We only arrived yesterday. Bear was with the other men the entire trip from Benjobz Inn to here, and he hasn’t left the abbey today. I can see the gates from where I’m staying, near the stables, and he didn’t go out on a horse.”

She shook her head hopelessly. “Could it all have been decided before we left Woldsgard? If I hadn’t made the horse biscuits, we’d have been there on Altamont ground when the duchess came the next morning. Maybe Bear meant us to be there.”

Abasio walked back and forth, mumbling to himself, finally stopping to say, “No, no. I don’t think so. I saw him then, during the trip down the valley and that episode at the bridge. He was genuinely irritated. I don’t think he had been
bought
before that. The story he told us about this house being safe because there are troops in the forest, however—that may be something we can check. Either Bear lied, or he was careless in what he said, or—”

“Or the abbot will confirm that there are troops . . .”

“But we’ll have to confirm what the abbot says,” he said grimly.

She clung to Abasio, feeling that if she let go of him she would fall into some kind of abyss. “Bear was my teacher, Abasio. He was almost what I thought a father would have been. He’s been with me since I was a little child. How could he!”

“Hush,” he said. “We’re moving too quickly . . .”

She remembered, all at once. “My . . . my mother said that. She said one may neither accuse nor exonerate until one knows for sure. It was one of her
fumitos,
her sayings.”

He managed a grin. “Very wise. There is another possibility. This could be Bear’s attempt to play his own game against the duchess.”

She shivered, feeling something cold and hard form inside her, like a rod of iron extending from her legs up into her brain, as though she had swallowed a poker without knowing it. She had known Bear for a very long time. She had never known him to be dishonorable. Cynical, but there was much in life to be cynical about. “How do we find out? We must know which it is!”

“First, you must forget what you have just heard and seen—”

“I can’t. Not possibly.”

“Not forget, but behave as though you are not aware. Then, you must leave it to me to find out what his intentions really are. This all seems terribly sudden, terribly unexpected. Almost as though . . . something, someone, is pushing him.”

“Oh, when he was talking to Precious Wind, he said his betrothed is calling to him! And he won’t talk to you. Bear is terribly proud. He doesn’t talk to people about personal things.”

“No, and trying to get him to talk would destroy my reputation as a wandering news carrier, a vendor of what’s happening elsewhere, a general odd-body who dyes napkins and is otherwise ignorant of everything important.” He hugged her to him, trying desperately to ignore the fact that she felt frighteningly like another young woman he had held this closely, this desperately. His reverie was abruptly broken by a squirming something between the two of them. He drew back just as an unexpected creature erupted from Xulai’s cloak pocket.

“I may be indeterminate,” said the fisher, “but I’m certainly not incorporeal. If this man is close enough to you to hug you like that, then he should certainly be close enough to know about me.”

Xulai managed to suppress hysterical laughter. She whispered, “Abasio, this is Fisher. He was bequeathed to me by my mother. That is, she’s the likeliest one to have done it, though neither he nor I can say for sure. He is a kind of advance warning system, or a guide if I’m lost, or anything else that’s helpful.”

“And it really is helpful,” said Fisher, with some satisfaction, “to know to whom one can safely go if the person I am protecting has to be rescued from a dungeon or saved from being killed. Obviously, that will not include the man Bear. Not now.”

“No,” agreed Abasio, seeming totally unsurprised that he was being addressed by a member of the weasel family. But then, he had come from a country that had had a good many talking animals, creatures left over from the Big Kill, when men had played with genetics as a child plays with blocks. “No, for the time being, at least, I’m your safest bet. I’ll work the other end of the conspiracy. Either this is really a trap to catch Xulai or Bear is laying a trap for the duchess. Whichever, the duchess doesn’t know me at all. I’m a stranger, and strangers, particularly when drunken or sleepy, can overhear all kinds of things.”

“Abasio, remember what Nettie said! The duchess was at Benjobz Inn when Nettie and the Farrier brothers were there, spying. They stayed out of sight, but you were there at the same time, making royal fripperies for Benjobz. She might have seen you, and Jenger may have been there, too.”

He cast his mind back to his visit at Benjobz Inn. Though he thought he had not been seen by the duchess, certainly she might have seen his wagon. And mentioning the duchess raised the interesting question of how she had managed to get to the inn at the same time they did without having been seen on the road. The winding road onto the heights allowed one to see people two days behind on the road, but they had not seen her. This would imply another route. What possible other route? Up was up; it could not be turned over to run downhill, and he had never heard anyone mention any other route up or down than by the falls, which was invariably fatal!

He took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. “First things first. I won’t let the wrong person recognize me. You go about your business as though you know nothing. Tomorrow I’ll check out the disposition of troops. The men I’m housed with know a lot about who is where and what’s going on. If the troop business was a lie and Bear lied to Precious Wind about it, that’s a bad thing. Then we’ll have you ask the abbot about the security of the houses and see what he says. If he backs up the lie, that will be a worse thing. Then we know . . . Well, we know we have to get out of here. The two of us can travel more quietly than a whole wagon train of equipment and people.” And maybe he’d have to leave his own wagon and equipment behind, he thought. His wagon was beloved. He and Ollie had traveled in it. However, it was uniquely identifiable.

“And what if the troop business is not a lie?” she asked.

“If it’s not a lie, then you may have a chance at some schooling after all.”

She took a deep breath. “The schooling is secondary! It was to be a way of passing time. My father made me promise to get to Tingawa. He said even if I was so old I had to walk with a cane, it was imperative that I get there. He said it was the most important thing I had to do with my life, even if I did nothing else.”

He stared at her. “Ah. So there is a little wheel inside the big wheel, or t’other way round. You’re saying that your physical arrival in Tingawa is the primary thing, no matter what else we do?”

“Yes. We have to do that, and as soon as possible.”

Fisher stuck his head out of her pocket. “Her understanding is correct. Those are my instructions, also.”

Abasio sighed deeply. “Even so, sudden moves are often mistaken. Innocent or guilty, it would be good if Bear went away before we do.” He laughed harshly. “It would also be very good if what’s-his-name, Jenger, got himself killed before we leave. And it would be simply marvelous to have more information. So, while we’re finding things out, talk about the new house with people at the school. Someone may know why they have all these houses vacant, all at once.”

She nodded, wiping her face on her sleeve. “There’s one more thing, Abasio. There’s a big crate under the wain. It’s supposed to be court clothes the princess left for me. Actually, it is court clothes, but there’s something else in there. The princess told me about it years ago. If I leave, I have to take it with me.”

“What is it?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s small; it’s in a blue wrapper. Precious Wind said it’s some kind of helper for a traveler, and it sounds like we’re going to be traveling.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Fisher. “I’ll get it.”

“Weasels don’t chew their way through wood!” said Xulai.

“Rabbits do. So do beavers. I think I can manage whatever type of teeth may be necessary. A small package wrapped in blue. I don’t suppose you know where in the package it is?”

“One corner of the crate bottom has a red mark on it. It’s in that corner.”

“You’ll be safe enough while you’re at school, so I’ll get it then. I’ll bring it to Abasio. He can hide it in his wagon.”

She cried hopelessly. “I hate all this.”

Abasio reached for her again, more carefully. “So do I, love, so do I.”

The word he used pierced her. At Woldsgard, only Oldwife had used that word to her. Not Precious Wind or Bear. Not her . . . her father or mother. For long moments she stood in his arms, simply stood there, momentarily but perfectly at peace. At last she stepped away.

“Do you call many people ‘love’?” she whispered.

“One other, once,” he said, smiling at her. “You don’t mind, do you? I promise not to ravish you or embarrass you in front of other people.”

“Who was she?”

Abasio sighed. “I . . . it’s hard for me to talk about her. Some people, including yourself, Xulai, whoever you are, aren’t really describable. It is possible for me to introduce you to her. She left me all her memories and a great deal more in that magic helmet I told you about. Next time we have a little time, all right?”

It was growing dark, so they ran to the abbey walls to find Brother Derris waiting for them. “You must have measured every room twice,” he said. “People were getting worried about you!”

“My fault,” said Xulai offhandedly. “We were talking about some of the places Abasio has traveled, and the time just got away from us.”