The Farseekers (8 page)

'I don't know,' I said. 'But if they are in hiding, they won't want to see us any more than we want to stumble into their midst, if it is a settlement. I'm going to farsense our route. If there is any sign of a settlement, we'll change course and bypass it.' I closed my eyes.

For a moment I was half mesmerized by my own exhaustion and the monotonous sound of rain on the canvas roof of the caravan. I forced myself to concentrate and then my probe was flying swift and low along the path we planned to take. I touched briefly on the minds of various nocturnal creatures, but found no human mind. At one point I was startled when a cloud of shadowy birds rose, flittering and shrieking indignantly, disturbed by my questing. Finding nothing, I came back along the same path, swinging out on both sides.

My probe brushed briefly along the static barrier on the fringe of the Blacklands, then I went back further towards the road, along the banks of the Suggredoon. I was surprised to realize we were less than an hour's ride from the river. We planned to follow the Suggredoon down to where it disappeared underground at the foot of the lower ranges. Not far from there we would find the Olden way.

Making a last sweep of the area, I encountered a numb area. I tried to penetrate it, but it was like trying to see in a blinding snow storm.

Defeated, I withdrew and opened my eyes.

'Are you all right?' Matthew asked.

'Did you find anything?' Domick asked.

I told them the result of my farsensing. 'It sounds like Blackland static,' Matthew said.

'It was like that, but denser and cloudier, and in the wrong spot,' I said. 'Maybe it was tainted water - that feels different but still gives off static.'

'But no settlement,' Domick persisted.

'I couldn't sense even a single person, let alone a settlement,' I said, feeling relieved. 'I think Gahltha must be right. Maybe it was a hunting party.'

Matthew looked doubtful. 'I dinna think anyone would come here to hunt. T'would be like takin' midmeal in a graveyard. Maybe it were soldierguards lookin' for escapees?'

I chewed my lip. 'It wouldn't be possible to have a machine that would create that kind of blocking static, would it?' I asked.

Pavo looked thoughtful. 'That would mean someone had found a way to modify a Beforetime machine. The Zebkrahn took years to modify - first Marisa then Alexi and then the Teknoguild worked to change what seems to have been no more than a thing originally devised to measure brain waves. I doubt it could happen again. Besides I think you would know if it were a machine.'

'It must be some sort of poisoning then,' Domick said dismissively.

It was a cold night. I slept restlessly, dreamed of running through dark tunnels and woke with the feeling that I had forgotten something important. After racking my brain, I pushed the nagging feeling to the back of my thoughts.

Pulling the flap aside, I was delighted to find sun streaming through the tree-tops. The others stirred in the blaze of light, blinking and groaning. The ground was soaking wet, and there was no question of lighting a fire, but it was lovely to stretch our legs and walk around. I was very stiff but suspected I would have been worse without Kella's healer wizardry.

Gahltha and the other horses emerged from the trees as we were finishing a scratch firstmeal. Darga accepted a bowl of milk with a polite flap of his tail. We tied the oilskins which were still wet on top of the caravans and washed our faces in a streamlet. Domick worried that the water might be tainted but Darga pronounced it safe. He had an acute sense of smell, and could tell when water was bad.

We set off far more cheerfully than the previous day. I felt happier, despite Gahltha's insistence at my riding bareback. Mounting him was an awkward debacle because my legs were too stiff to flex easily. But once up, I felt more comfortable than I had on the saddle, though less secure.

The sun shone in a golden autumn way, and Jik played a jaunty harvest song on his gita, accompanying himself in a surprisingly sweet singing voice. Even grim Domick appeared to enjoy the impromptu concert, and the horses perked their ears as if they liked the sound.

Later, I listened to a communication between Darga and Avra about funaga. I was amused to hear their interpretation of human parenting but Gahltha snorted loudly at Avra's observation that children seemed less dangerous than grown funaga.

'You do not know anything about the funaga and their ways,' he told her icily. 'They are all the same. I have been beaten savagely by a funaga child who laughed at my pain and jeered when I bled. Like poisoned ground, funaga bear poisoned fruit.'

I shivered at the venom in his voice.

Gahltha's pace quickened after that. On a flat stretch he broke without warning into a trot and I promptly fell off. My only consolation was that the wet ground was soft. My anger made no impression on Gahltha, who insisted that I would not have fallen if I had been gripping with my knees the way I was supposed to. Louis laughed uproariously, and though the others restrained their amusement, my next fall sent them all into gales of laughter.

I kept my temper with difficulty, realizing Gahltha wanted to goad me. And, also, I knew he was right, however sarcastic he was. I had been sitting lazily.

By the time we stopped for midmeal I was covered in mud. It was not worth changing, so I merely washed my hands and face to eat. The afternoon was worse than the morning despite my forlorn hope for an easy walking pace. Gahltha decided I must progress to riding at a gallop. Again pride kept me from protesting that he was progressing too quickly.

So we cantered and galloped, and when the wagons moved too slowly for Gahltha, he would ride ahead, then turn and ride back. By late afternoon I was beginning to feel the rhythm of his movements, and understanding that knowing and feeling the rhythm was the main part of riding, apart from balance. Once or twice I even found myself enjoying the speed.

We had been travelling parallel to the Suggredoon most of the day but after midmeal, the river broadened suddenly, swollen from the night's rain. The undergrowth thickened too, slowing the caravans to a walking pace. Avra went slightly ahead with Domick seeking the easiest path for the caravans. Later Gahltha and I took over, leaving Domick free to range farther ahead.

We hoped to reach the foot of the mountains before nightfall, but Domick returned just as the sun fell behind the mountains. One look at his grim expression told us his news was bad.

'I found the place where the Suggredoon goes under the mountains, but I couldn't find any pass. We went a fair way up from the river, but there was nothing. It looks like the Land has changed, blocking off the pass,' he reported glumly.

'The opening could be aslant so that you would have to be coming from the other way to see it,' Pavo said.

'I hope you're right,' Domick said. 'But that's not all the bad news. Just ahead there are great patches of swamp and wetlands. The wagons won't have a hope of going through, and it will take days to go round.'

There seemed no point in pushing on in the darkness. We decided to make camp on a high, grassy knoll beside the Suggredoon.

Louis, Jik and Matthew went to forage for dry wood while Kella organized nightmeal. Domick unharnessed the horses and checked the wooden wheels for 9tress cracks. Pavo was sitting near the wagons poring over his maps.

I went to bathe in the river, but just as I reached the edge of the clearing, I heard Kella and Domick begin a heated argument. Sighing, I turned back. The last thing we needed was guild rivalry.

Before I could intervene, Pavo broke into a violent fit of coughing. Kella stared at him for a moment, then went over commanding him to open his mouth.

'Don't be stupid, I swallowed a fly.' He laughed and waved her away. But Kella's face was deadly serious.

'What is it?' Domick asked her.

The healer ignored him and laid a hand over Pavo's thin chest. The smile faded from Pavo's face and, suddenly, I felt frightened.

'Why didn't you tell anyone?' Kella asked in a subdued voice.

Pavo smiled sadly. 'What good would it have done, eh? I don't need a healer to tell me what the matter is.'

'Rushton would never have let you come, if he had known,' Kella said.

Pavo turned away abruptly. 'Don't you think I know that?'

'What is it?' I asked, coming back into the clearing.

Kella looked at me bleakly. 'The rotting sickness. It's in his breathing.'

'Are you sure?' Domick asked.

'It's not hard to feel, once you know. And the coughing is always a sign. There's nothing I can do for him. Nothing,' she added flatly.

Pavo still had his back to us, rigidly unmoving.

'You'll have to . . .' I began.

'No!' The mild teknoguilder whirled, eyes ablaze. 'I won't go back. You said yourself there's nothing to be done. I accept that, but I'll go the way I want. I won't be a problem. Tell them,' he demanded of Kella.

She nodded. 'He'll cough and there will be bouts of pain. He won't be affected badly until near the end - three or four months . . .'

I gaped. Pavo stared into my eyes, his own pleading and determined at the same time. 'You will need me to get to the library.'

I wished Rushton were there to decide, instead of me. After a long moment, I nodded and Pavo's shoulders slumped visibly as if he had been holding his breath.

'Thank you,' he said.

I felt tears in my eyes and was relieved to see Matthew and Jik arrive, laden with dry wood. Jik froze and stared about him, sensing the tangle of emotions. I sent a quick shielded instruction to Matthew, and he began to make a fire, diverting Jik's attention.

We slept inside the caravans again because of the sodden ground, but left the flaps open for fresh air. Obernewtyn seemed very far away.

Near dawn, I was jolted awake by Domick poking his head into the wagon.

'Quick, there are people coming, men,' he hissed urgently.

I farsensed the area and almost fainted with horror. There were at least a dozen men approaching the clearing. 'It's too late to escape. You get away. I'll send the horses away and contact you once I find out what this is all about. I'll farsense Gahltha to find you. Quickly,' I whispered.

He nodded, melting silently into the grey, pre-dawn shadows.

My heart thundering, I farsensed Matthew and Jik, warning them to let me do any talking. I wondered what sixth sense had woken the coercer even as I farsensed the horses, urging them away.

Our only hope, I knew, was to be taken for the gypsies we appeared to be. I cursed my stupidity in not taking better precautions after Avra had found the tracks.

'Ho. What have we here?' called a gruff voice. I leaned out of the caravan. Three men stood in the open, illuminated by the dying embers of the fire. Behind them, the dark sky showed pink and grey traces of the dawn. I sensed the other men waiting in the bushes.

'Who are you? What do you want?' I shouted.

'Gypsies,' sneered one, a fat, bristle-bearded man with a great pouting stomach and pale glistening eyes.

'Perhaps,' said the voice which had first hailed us. It belonged to a muscular young giant with ginger hair. The third man was frail and unlike the other two, clad in a long, fine woollen gown much like the garb worn by Herder priests. I was terrified that we might have fallen into Herder hands. I prayed the priest would not recognize Jik, and hurriedly warned him not to draw attention to himself. With his dark skin, dyed hair and gypsy clothing, he did not look much like the Herder boy we had rescued.

'Who are you to be waking us in the middle of the night?' I demanded. Gypsies were not known for their

'Get out of those wagons, all of you!' snarled the black-bearded man.

This is a funny time to want your palm read,' I grumbled. 'If you mean to rob us you'll be disappointed.' I climbed out and put my hands on my hips as the others followed. I watched the man in the robe closely, but he did not seem to recognize Jik. 'Well, you have us all out. Now what?' I asked.

The ginger-haired woodsman quirked his brow speculatively. 'Is this all of you?'

'Enough for you,' I said cheekily. Gypsies were never subservient.

'Are you the leader of these people?' asked the man in the robe. He had a curiously colourless voice and very cold eyes.

'For now,' I answered after swift thought. 'My father is the leader of our troop. We are to meet up with him in Arendelft.' I nodded at Pavo. 'My cousin there fell sick and our party split in two. Though I don't know what business it is of yours,' I added rudely.

'What are you doing here if you are headed for Arendelft?' asked the robed man.

My heart jumped. 'We heard there was an Olden way through the mountains,' I said weaving truth with lies. The best lies are the ones that are mostly true, Louis always told us. He was glaring belligerently at the men and I hoped Matthew had told him to keep his mouth shut.

'There is no such pass.' The robed man stepped forward and I resisted the urge to step away. 'Enough of this. We will bring them back to camp.' More men stepped out of the trees. I pretended to look surprised. 'Find the horses and bring these vans.'

'Where are you taking us?' I demanded.

The robed man did not answer, but the ginger-bearded woodsman grinned over one shoulder. 'You are to meet the great man himself. The Druid.'

Through the trees I could see a settlement. I realized we were headed for the blank area I had been unable to penetrate the night before. This and the knowledge that we had been captured by Henry Druid, filled me with apprehension. We could hardly have got into a worse mess deliberately.

But more disturbing, as soon as we entered the area of blankness, my powers were useless. I could not even reach Matthew who was directly behind me. And I could not reach Domick, outside the area.

Mindbound for the first time in my life, I was overcome with panic and the feeling of being trapped. Glancing over one shoulder, the look of rigid terror on Jik's face acted like a bucket of cold water on my own fear. I made myself smile reassuringly and the stark tension in his movements subsided. I concentrated on calming myself. I had to find a way to free us, and that would only be possible with a cool head. Methodically, I tried reaching all the others, including Darga, who padded along quietly beside Jik. I could not sense a single thought. Again I tried Domick, then Gahltha.