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The little old hostler seemed even more gnarled and grumpish than usual
and he did not speak either, just thrust his whole head into the trough. That
explained matters.
He emerged spluttering and shivering, then started cupping water with his
hands and rinsing his armpits and shoulders.
"The big one's fixed," he growled without looking at Rap. "Want you to
take it out before the next tide."
Rap looked around to make sure there was no one behind him. There
wasn't. Well! The sunlight brightened. A wagon ride was a much more enticing
thought than more sentry duty, even if Thosolin did not indulge himself in other
petty testings. South to the mainland, where there was more to keep a man
occupied... but Inos expected to go riding and she would not have many more
chances before she left. He felt a sudden, nasty pang and told himself to grow up
and be manly. There was some evil in every good, as the priests said, and a man
must obey orders.
He thought tides. It would need fast work to rig up four horses. "Who's
driving?"
"You."
"Me!"
"Deaf today?" Hononin splashed his face again.
Rap took a deep breath. Then another. He tried to speak calmly. "Who's
going to mother me?" Ollo, probably. He was around and he had brought the big
one in.
"No one."
Rap put his head in the water to give himself time to think. It proved to be
a stupid idea, like being kicked. It filled his ears and ran up his nose and he came
up feeling much worse than when he went in. But then he had not been drinking
last night. Maybe it felt better than a hangover. He gasped and spat.
It had not helped his thinking much.
Why the change of plan? The second wagon would be fixed also before
evening.
One wagon by itself was unusual. If the driver ran into trouble on the
causeway on a rising tide, then he might need another team-- quickly! Or a good
sorcerer, as the saying went. One man alone was unusual too. And a beginner?
By himself? He'd held the reins often enough on the easy bits, but that was all.
Why him at all? Why not Jik or Ollo, who knew what they were doing? Why him
by himself?
Perhaps Hononin had heard about the testing yesterday. He might be
frightened that Rap had impressed Thosolin and would be taken away from the
stables to be a man-at-arms. Or perhaps the hostler did not want one of his hands
treated like that again.
Yet Rap had never been trusted with a wagon on his own before, or not
far, at least. Certainly not for the whole trip. He shivered with tingles of
excitement. He would be one of the drivers, then--perhaps only the junior driver,
but more than a stableboy. He could eat at the drivers' table! Man-at-armsing
could wait a while--he was young yet.
"You can do it, can't you?"
"Yes," Rap said firmly and tried to look matter-of-fact. He could handle it.
"You'll see me down the hill, though?"
"Can you do it?"
"Yes."
"Well then," Honinin said. "I trust you, even..." He began wiping his face
with his shirt and walked away. The rest of the sentence remained unspoken or
was lost in the shirt.
I trust you, even... Even what?
* * *
Snowball had loosened her right front shoe. Rap went and told Hononin; Hononin
cursed and headed for the castle commons. Apparently the farrier was not there,
because the man who arrived to deal with the matter was young Kratharkran, the
apprentice, ostentatiously wiping crumbs from his mouth and pouting at being
dragged from important business. Although his father was an imp, Krath was
more jotunnish than most jotnar. He'd been sprouting like a snowdrift lately. Rap
had spoken with him the previous evening, but in his leather workclothes, he
looked as though he might have grown a span since then.
Despite his height, he had an absurdly squeaky voice. He peered down at
Rap with disbelieving blue eyes. "How long have they trusted you with a wagon?"
"As long as they've trusted you with a hammer!"
They grinned in mutual satisfaction, and Krath set to work. When he had
fixed the shoe, he solemnly asked Rap's approval, calling him "driver".
Equally solemnly, Rap thanked him and said it was a nice piece of work,
which it was. Krath agreed and wished him luck, and strode off to resume his
meal.
All of which had been very businesslike and felt good, but by the time Rap
had the team harnessed and ready, he knew he was going to be cutting the tide
very close. He found the old man counting sacks in the feed room.
"I'm ready," he said, trying to look and sound relaxed.
"Go, then." Hononin did not even turn round.
"You don't want to look it over?" The old man never, ever, let a wagon go
off down the hill without a personal inspection, not even if Ollo or Jik was driving.
And surely he would want to look at Snowball's shoe?
He still did not turn, obviously mad about something. "Just go!" he
barked. "Don't miss the tide!"
Rap shrugged and left. He had not even been given the inevitable warning
to take care through the town. Most odd!
Hurrying back to the yard he met Fan on her way to feed the chickens. He
asked her to tell Inos that he had to rush off.
Shivery with excitement, he climbed up to the bench. Before he could
crack his whip, he heard a high-pitched shout behind him. Lin was running across
the yard with a bag in his one good hand. He looked up hopefully at Rap. "Want
some company?"
"Sure," Rap said. Lin was a terrible gossip, but bearable. No one could
find anything useful for him to do since he broke his arm. "What's in the bag?"
Awkward with his cast, Lin clambered up to the bench. "Cheese, mostly,
and a bit of leftover mutton. Rolls."
Rap's inside was too jumpy to want food yet, but he should have thought of
it for later. "Enough for both of us?"
Lin nodded solemnly. "The old man said you'd had no time for breakfast."
Rap lowered his whip again. "What's into him today?" he demanded.
"He's acting odd! Since when has he cared if I missed my breakfast? Why's he
running me out of town like this?"
Lin had great ears for scandal. His dark eyes twinkled. "You were holding
hands with Inos last night."
"So?" Rap asked uneasily. "What's that to do with him?"
"Nothing, Rap. Nothing."
"Out with it!"
Lin giggled. "Her daddy noticed."
I trust you, even if others don't.
Rap slammed the brake handle fiercely, cracked his whip much louder than
he had meant to, and sent the wagon rumbling forward.
* * *
Between the castle gate and the harbor were fourteen hairpins. Going
down was easier than coming up with a load, but it was still tricky. Rap had
watched it done often enough, but he had never been allowed to handle brake and
reins in the town. It was odd that Hononin had not known that.
The first two were easy, but he breathed a hearty sigh of relief when had
rounded the third, which was canted steeply. A wagon out of control could be
almost as bad as a shipwreck. He was aware that Lin was watching him closely
and hanging on very tight with his good hand. Fortunately it was still very early
and there were almost no pedestrians around to mangle.
Four and five were not too bad. Six was a horror, with the wagon standing
on its head above the team, wheels scratching on cobbles... too close to the wall...
the unloaded, too-light rig starting to slither sideways... Rap discovered that he
was soaked with sweat and needed two more hands than the gods had given him.
The next one was the worst... He was going to catch the tide. He was not going
to make a mess of this. If he failed he would never forgive himself and Hononin
would never trust him again. And Inos would hear how he'd run over pedestrians
or smashed up a wagon or even knocked in the side of a house and killed horses...
it happened sometimes.
Trust yourself his mother had said. If you don't, who will?
He yelped, pulled the reins, tightened the brake, and the rig stopped.
Silence. Lin looked at him curiously. "What's wrong?"
Rap wiped an arm across his streaming forehead. He was panting as
though he'd run all the way up from sea to castle. "Listen!"
Lin listened and his eyes widened--clopping hooves and the rumble of iron
on cobbles. Then it grew suddenly louder and another team appeared ahead of
them, crawling round bend number seven, horses wide-eyed and steaming, hugging
the buildings to have room to swing their load through the curve...then the wagon,
with the driver shouting curses and a load of new peat dribbling water off the back.
Nasty stuff, fresh peat. It was heavy and it could shift, but peat couldn't be stacked
over the winter in that climate, so the first loads were always still wet.
"Boy, if we'd met that..." Lin said, and shivered. Sometimes it could take
hours to straighten out a meeting on one of the bends, backing the load down the
hill, jackknifing it, even.
The oncoming team straightened up and began to move faster. Iki was the
driver. He grinned and then showed surprise when he saw only Rap and Lin.
Struck dumb by the thrumming of wheels, he pointed back down the hill and held
up one finger. Rap nodded and signaled zero and tried to look as though he did
this all the time. Then Iki had gone and Rap reached for the brake again.
"Rap!" Lin said. "How did you know?"
Rap hesitated. How had he known? His own team had been making far
too much noise for him to have heard. Could the horses have heard and sent him a
signal with their ears, a signal that he had seen without knowing? Not likely at all.
Could he have caught a reflection in a window? The sun was shining on the
windows, so that was not very likely, either. But he had known. He had been
quite certain that there was a wagon coming that corner. That was rather an eerie
feeling. How had he known?
"Just one of the things you youngsters have to learn," he said. "You go
scout for me."
Lin made an obscene suggestion. He studied Rap with a very puzzled
expression for a moment before jumping down and heading for the corner.
They were losing time. Lin was clumsy with only one good arm and Rap
had to stop dead each time he needed to come aboard, then stop again to let him
off before the next hairpin. They finally met the second wagon between twelve
and thirteen, and then it was a fast run down to the harbor.
There were few ships there that day. The sun blazed hard from quicksilver
water, the gulls were bobbing and preening, and the air bore the tangy scent of fish
and seaweed. A very slight breeze was ruffling the surface, but there were no
waves. Anxiously Rap eyed the causeway ahead.
"Too late!" Lin sighed.
"Not much swell," Rap said stubbornly. "I'll risk it."
He stood up and thumped the reins on the horses' backs, urging them to a
canter, wondering if Lin would demand to be let off. He would not be able to
swim with that cast on his arm, but Lin probably did not know how to swim
anyway. There was no point learning--a man died of cold in a few minutes in the
Winter Ocean.
Then Rap remembered that he could not swim either.
Lin did not speak. The wagon picked up speed, thundering along the top
of the quay towards the long curve of the causeway that led to the distant shore.
Most of it ran over land--low islands and rocks, dry land except in the big winter
storms--but there were four low spots and the tide was already running over three
of them. The wagon bounced and rolled and sent seabirds screaming; then there
was water on both sides of the way and Big Damp was coming up ahead.
Rap took that one at full speed. It was straight and shallow and he did not
sense any worry from the horses. Water shot out in silver sheets and salt spray
splashed in his face and then they were safe on the other side, Duck Island. It had
been deeper than he had expected, though.
Lin, still sitting and thus lower than Rap, had been soaked. He whistled
and then laughed, a little nervously.
"I hope that new wheel stays on," he remarked.
Little Damp was still dry, except for a few spray pools, where wavelets
were starting to splash over.
Now they were climbing over Big Island and Rap slackened the pace so as
not to heat the horses. But he stayed standing.
The rocks and shingle alongside the road gave way to the harsh, stubborn
grasses that enjoyed the challenge of living so close to the sea, and for a moment
the water was out of view. Then the wagon rolled roughly over the crest and
started steeply down. Ahead lay the main stretch of causeway... except that most
of it wasn't there.
Lin squealed, "Rap!" and straightened up.
Rap had not expected the gap to be so wide already. Already the blue tide
was pouring through, shiny and beautiful under the sunshine. He had never seen
this, except from shore. The wind was strong now and cold, whipping the horses'
manes, but the waves were very small. The raised roadway ran out into the sea
ahead for a short way and then dipped under. Far away to the left, jutting out
from Tallow Rocks, was the other end.
There were two bends in the road. Somewhere.
"Rap, you can't!"
"Get off then!" Rap snapped, without slowing the wagon. He was not
going to sit for six or seven hours on Big Island and be laughed at for the rest of
his days. In truth, he was already too late to stop, for the roadbed was raised and
there was no room to turn and this part would be under water in an hour or so.
Backing up would be tricky. Then hooves started splashing and he saw eight ears
begin to flicker with alarm. He could calm horses by singing to them--not that he
had any sort of a voice, but horses were not music critics. He started singing the
first thing that came into his head
"I traveled land, I traveled sea... "
"Rap!" Lin howled. "You'll go off the road! Stop, for the gods' sake!"
"Shut up!" Rap said and went back to singing. The horses's ears rose again
as they listened to him and they kept splashing their big hooves and the wagon
continued to roll steadily forward. A couple of swimming gulls watched intently,
bobbing up and down as the waves flowed under them.
"Maiden, maiden, maiden, Oh... "
Far off to his left, two fishing boats were setting sail from the quay and he
wondered what they thought of this strange horse-drawn vessel plying their
harbor. There were a couple of big rocks coming up on his right, green with weed
and purple with mussels, being lapped by the small waves, and he knew about how
far those were from the road. A fraction more to the left...
There was just enough wind to make the water ruffled and impossible to
see through, but he could tell where the edges were by the way the waves surged
over them. It was safer than it looked, he told himself.
Lin was starting to whimper.
"I gave her love, I gave her smiles,
I wooed with all my manly wiles... "
The rocks floated past on the silvery water and the swell was beginning to
trouble the horses, coming well up their legs now, over the wagon axles. They
were finding the wagon hard to pull. They were towing it.
The water was deeper. The waves no longer showed the edge very clearly.
"Turn, Rap!" Lin sobbed. "We're at the bend, Rap! We must be! We'll go
off!" He rose to his feet, awkwardly holding the seatback with his one good arm.
They were going to get wet boots in a minute. "Rap! Turn!"
Rap was not sure. Distances were deceptive when they were all covered
with water and there were no landmarks at hand. He was thinking of the road
itself, beneath the water, two stone walls filled in level with shingle and rocks,
greeny blue, probably, with the strands of weed waving in the current. There
would be shadows of ripples moving over, like cloud shadows moved over the
summer hills. Fish? He had not expected so many fish, little ones...
"Maiden, maiden...
"Shut up, Lin!"
"...maiden, Oh."
Now he could imagine that watery blue roadway making its turn. He
pulled on the reins and the wagon curved slowly round and apparently he had
guessed right, because they continued their slow progress.
Lin had started to pray to some god Rap had never heard of. A new one,
maybe.
One of the fishing boats was heading in their direction.
The wagon had almost stopped bumping. The tide was stronger here, in
the middle, leaving a wake as it flowed by the horses, and they were getting very
nervous now, no matter how hard he sang.
"Maiden, maiden...
"SNOWBALL!...
"...maiden..."
Too far to the right!
He eased the lead pair to the left and they carried on. But if the wagon
began to float, then it would surely drag the horses off the road.
The second bend, a big, wide curve... the wagon seemed to lift, skew left,
then settle, then lift. He blinked sweat from his eyes, squinting against the sun's
glare, visualizing that underwater causeway, easing the horses around the bend.
Staying away from the edges.
Then Tallow Rocks were straight ahead and the current was behind them
and the road was starting to rise. He flicked the reins for more speed and licked
salty lips. He'd done it!
His hands were shaking slightly and his neck felt sore. He arched his back
to ease it and then sat down.
"Sorry, Lin," he remarked, "what were you saying?"
Lin's eyes were big as oysters. "How did you do that?"
Come to think of it, how had he done that? Rap began to feel very shaky.
It was almost as though he'd been able to see the road under the water. He'd
known where it was, what it looked like, almost. He had not seen it, but he'd felt
as though he knew what it would look like if he could... or as though he could
remember having seen it like that. Which he never had. No man ever had.
Just as earlier he'd known there was another wagon around the seventh
bend?
He did not say anything, just shrugged.
"Another thing we youngsters have to learn, I suppose?"
Rap grinned at him. "Practice by yourself, though."
Lin used some very special obscenities. Where had he learned those?
"Lin?" Rap said. "Lin, please don't go and make a big story out of this?"
Lin just stared at him.
"Lin! You'll get me in trouble."
"I suppose you weren't getting me in trouble?" Lin yelled. He must have
been more scared than Rap had realized.
"It was nothing much, Lin. I was standing up. I could see where the water
was flowing over the edges."
"Oh... sure!"
But Lin reluctantly promised not to make a big story out of it.
They left the water and followed the lumpy track across Tallow Rocks,
wheels spraying silver drops in the air. The last dip was deep, but very short. The
wagon might float there, but it would not matter for there was no current and the
road was not raised above the shingle. He had done it!
The king had ordered him off Krasnegar before the tide.
Gods save the king.
"You shave now?" Lin asked suddenly.
"Of course." Rap had shaved the previous night for the fourth time and
included his chin for the first time. He would have to get a razor of his own soon.
Lin had a faint dark haze on his upper lip. And he still had a very odd look in his
eye. "Why?"
Lin shrugged and turned away, but after a moment he said, "Funny thing,
growing up. Isn't it?"
Yes it was, Rap agreed, and concentrated on the next water barrier. But
once they were safely through that he relaxed and began to enjoy himself, enjoy the
feeling that now he was one of the drivers... if the old man would ever trust him
again after that mad stunt he had just pulled.
"Yes," he said. "One moment you're feeling all manly and the next you find
you're behaving like a kid again. It's like being two people." A fellow's body
started making all these odd changes without as much as asking permission... what
right did his face have to start growing hair without asking him?
Like being two people... and you only knew one of those people. Growing
up was becoming a stranger to yourself again, just when you thought you'd got to
know yourself. And it was wondering what sort of person you were going to be.
How tall? How broad? Trustworthy? A strong man or a weakling? And what
were you going to do with that man? Master-of-horse? Man-at-arms?
"Girls!" Lin muttered to himself.
Girls.
Inos.
Now they were rolling along the edge of the shingle, passing the lonely
cluster of shore cottages with their racks of fish and nets and a ramshackle corral
and a couple of haystacks starting to sprout. There were stacks of driftwood that
the old women gathered and heaps of peat moss. Bonfires of kelp were sending up
blue smoke. There were girls there and they waved. The men waved back. The
long bent grass waved also.
"We could eat here," Lin said thoughtfully.
"Later."
Beyond the shiny blue harbor lay Krasnegar, a towering triangle with a
castle as a topknot. Yes, it did look like a piece of cheese. Perhaps Rap was
hungry after all, but he'd said later, so later it would have to be. A yellow triangle.
Where had the sorcerer found black stone for his castle?
Inos in that castle.
He thought of horse rides and clam digging and surf fishing; of Inos
running over the dunes, long-legs, gold hair streaming in the wind and her shrieks
and giggles when he caught her; of Inos scrambling up the cliffs in the sunshine,
daring him to come after her; of hawking and archery. He thought of her face, not
bony like a jotunn's or round like an imp's. Just right. He thought of singsongs
and winter firesides with singing and joking and his arm around her as they sought
pictures in the embers.
It hurt, but it was for the best. There could never be anything between a
princess and a stableboy, nor even a wagon driver. He supposed that it had crept
up on them. He really had not noticed it until the previous day. They had been a
bunch of kids together, a dozen or more of them. It had only been near the end of
the last winter that he and Inos had started to drift together, and together start
drifting to the edge of the bunch. And then he had gone off to the mainland when
spring came.
She had kissed him goodbye, but even then he had not thought very much
about it--not until they were apart, and he had realized how he missed her smile
and the comfortableness of having her near--and realized that she didn't kiss other
men goodbye.
And lately he had started to dream about her. But she would go off to
Kinvale and find some handsome noble to come back and be king after Holindarn
died.
And he would have to find some other girl to kiss.
Trouble was, there weren't other girls like Inos.
"Can you remember much of your mother, Rap?"
Rap looked in surprise at Lin, who was still a little paler than usual.
"Why?"
"Some of the women say she was a seer."
Rap frowned, trying to remember if his mother had ever admitted anything
like that or done anything like that.
"So?" he said.
"Growing up," Lin said. "I just wondered... you've been doing some
strange things today, Rap. You've never been able to do things like that before,
have you?"
"Like what? I didn't do anything!"
Lin was unconvinced. "Could it be something that comes with growing up,
like shaving?"
Rap would not talk about such things with chatterbox Lin. "Does that cast
bother you?"
Lin looked down at his arm. "Yes, some. Why?"
"Because," Rap said, "if you start hinting that my mother needed to shave, then you're going to have two of them."
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