Return To The Whorl Part 15

Hound stared.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. Go on, I want to hear the rest."

"This augur would come to the rich man's house and ask about her. Each time the rich man would make some excuse, saying that his daughter was ill or away. Soon the augur became suspicious. He had a hatchet, and he would come at night with his hatchet and chop open the shutter and let the ugly daughter out. Then she would go from house to house asking people to take her in. No one would because she was so ugly, and so she played tricks on them, throwing their supper plates at them and making them hit themselves with their own fists, and so on.

"But a G.o.d told the augur to go away, and he did. General Mint killed the rich father, and there was n.o.body left to let the ugly daughter out or feed her, so she starved to death in her room. But her ghost still haunts the house, walking on top of the wall or on the roof, and sometimes she stops travelers. If she stops you and you're polite to her, she'll tell your fortune and bring good luck. But if you even hint at how ugly she is, she'll curse you and you'll die within a year."

"Tell good!" Oreb applauded with his wings.

Hound smiled. "There it is. That's all I know except that there's a family in Endroad who claim to have the hatchet, which they say the augur left behind. I've seen it and it's just an old hatchet, with no magic powers as far as I know. You look very thoughtful, Horn."

He nodded. "I am, because your story suggests that Silk has left Viron--that he's on Blue or Green, if he's still alive. Patera Silk was the augur who pried open Mucor's shutter with his hatchet, and thus beyond question the augur in the story. I'd guess that the wise witch in black robes represents someone's confused recollection of Maytera Rose; but Silk was the augur. There can be no doubt of that."

He turned to Pig. "No one--very much including me--ever asked what became of the other people who were living here, but we should have. Silk killed Blood, and Echidna killed Musk; Hyacinth became Silk's wife, and Silk cared for Mucor until she came to Blue with her grandmother. Doctor Crane--I almost forgot him, and I shouldn't--was killed in error by the Guard. I have no doubt that some others, many of Blood's bodyguards particularly, were killed in the battle that freed Silk and the other prisoners the Ayuntamiento was holding here. Still, there must have been two or three dozen cooks and maids and footmen and prost.i.tutes."

Pig's eyeless face addressed the fire. "They tell yer how onie blind mon can see a woman, bucky?"

"No, Pig. Not really; but they tell me something equally important that I may have been in danger of forgetting--that real stories, real events, never really end. When Nettle and I wrote our few pages about Blood, we thought that Blood's story and this big house's were over and done with. Blood was dead and the house had been looted, and there was nothing left to do but write it down as we had heard it from Silk and Hyacinth and the old man who had built the kite. He had come with us to Blue, by the way, and didn't want us to use his name, although he told us a great deal about Musk and his birds. We never foresaw that Blood and his daughter and his house would live on in legend, but that is clearly what has happened."

" 'Tis a book h'or somethin' yer wrote, bucky?"

"Yes, that my wife and I wrote together. May I have some of your wine, Hound?"

"Certainly. You said you didn't want any."

"I know." He wiped the mouth of the bottle, and put it to his own.

"H'on me h'account, bucky?"

"Yes. You can't drink since you've lost your sight. That, at least, is what you've told me."

"Aye. A mon what drinks has got ter see, h'or falls."

"I understand. We were together, you and I, Pig--closer than either of us is to Hound, though he and Tansy have treated us so well. If you couldn't drink wine, I wouldn't. We're going to be separated for a while now, and to tell you the truth, I think a few swallows of Hound's good wine may be needed to keep off the ghosts. Here you are, Hound, and thank you."

Hound accepted the bottle. "Do you mean the ugly daughter?"

"Was nae h'ugly ter me," Pig said rather too loudly.

"Silk talk!"

"No, I'll be looking for Mucor--for the daughter in your story." He stood, aided by his staff. "I'm going to leave my lantern here with you. As you say, the candle is valuable and may be irreplaceable. I shouldn't need it to see her any more than Pig needed eyes. It had never occurred to me to ask how Silk saw Mucor when she wasn't physically present."

Pig rose, too. "Comin' wi' yer, bucky."

"I--this is something I would prefer to do alone."

"Be blind h'as me, bucky. H'oreb can tell yer, but better yer had somebody what's h'used ter h'it. Bucky . . ."

"Yes, Pig?"

"Bonnie she was, bucky. Beautiful ter me, ter auld Pig. Yer a smart mon, bucky."

He shook his head, although he knew that Pig could not see the gesture. "No, Pig."

"Yer h'are. Dinna stand nae higher 'n me belt, an' bony. Bonnie ter me, though. Ken why, bucky?"

"Yes, I believe so. Because you could see her, and she was the only thing you've seen in however long it's been. In years."

"Smack h'on, bucky. Yer ken her, dinna yer?"

"Yes, Pig. I--this will mean nothing to you, I realize--but I helped feed and care for her while she and I were living in the Calde's Palace in Viron." He turned to Hound. "Does it surprise you that I lived in the Calde's Palace for a few days?"

Hound shook his head.

"I did, and Nettle and I came to know Mucor there, the woman you've been calling the ugly daughter. Much later, she gave me a tame hus. I'd like to show her that I'm here trying to repay her by finding eyes for her grandmother, and ask where Silk is."

Hound said, "You credit this ghost, both of you."

"Yes. Except that she isn't dead--or I don't believe she is. Certainly she did not starve to death in this house."

"H'if yer h'object ter me comin', bucky--"

"I do. I--yes, I do."

"What'll yer do h'about h'it? Think yer can gae sae hush naebody can hear yer?"

"Pig come," Oreb declared.

"Be talkin' ter her, bucky. An' me? Be standin' behind yer, lookin' h'over yer head. Yer hear, bucky? Said lookin'."

"Yes, Pig. I understand. If I agree to your coming, will you a.s.sist me? There's a climb, and it may be difficult. Will you let me stand on your shoulders?"

"Will he? He will!"

"Then come with me."

Together they went out into the blind dark. One of the donkeys brayed, happy to hear human footsteps; and both spoke to it, equally happy, perhaps, to hear another voice, even if it was no more than that of a friendly animal. When they halted and turned to face the villa again, the faint radiance of the fire, glowing weakly through the open doorway, seemed as remote as the burning city in the skylands.

"Where we gang, bucky?"

"To the room Hound mentioned." He found that he was almost whispering, and cleared his throat. "The room to which Mucor was confined by Blood. We're facing the villa now, and it should be to the right, though I can't be certain of that. Oreb, you can see the building before us, can't you?"

"See house!"

"Good. There was a conservatory at one end, a rather low addition with battlements like the rest, and large windows. Can you see that?"

"Bird find." Oreb took wing. "Come bird!"

"Ter yer right, bucky."

"I know." He had already begun to walk. "This was a soft lawn once, Pig."

"Aye."

"A soft, green lawn, before what was in effect a palace, an establishment more palatial than the Calde's Palace in the city, or even the Prolocutor's Palace. It's hard to believe that all the changes that have taken place here have been--ultimately--for the best. Yet they have."

Pig's hand closed upon his shoulder. "Swing yer stick wider, bucky. Yer h'about ter hit ther wall."

"Thank you. I'm afraid I had practically forgotten to swing it at all."

"Aye. Yer see like yer bird, bucky?"

Hearing him, Oreb called, "Come bird!"

"No. I can see no better in this darkness than you can yourself, Pig."

"Then swing yer stick an' tap ther ground 'fore yer get a fall ter teach yer."

"I will. Have you found the conservatory yet, Oreb?"

"Bird find! Come bird!"

"He's nearer now, isn't he, Pig? Pig, can you judge whether the building on our left is as high now as it was? The original structure is three stories and an attic, as I remember."

There was a lengthy pause before Pig replied, " 'Tain't nae mair, h'or dinna seem like h'it."

"Then we're here." The tip of his staff found the wall. "I'm no acrobat, Pig, and even if I were I'd imagine I might have trouble balancing on your shoulders in the dark. Can you stoop here, near this wall, so I can get on? And remain near enough for me to prop myself on it as you stand up? You'll find me heavy, I'm afraid."

"Yer, bucky?" Pig squeezed his shoulder. "Had me fetch oot a donsy mon, ance. Cap'n Lann, 'twas." Pig squatted, bringing his voice to the level of his listener's ear. "A heavy mon they said, yer ther h'only ane ter carry him. Climb h'on, bucky."

"I'm trying."

" 'Twasn't easy ter find him, but he did nae weigh nae mair'n a pup. Me arms wanted ter ta.s.s him like a stick. Sae when h'all was safe 'twas back h'again an' here's yer horse. Had h'it behind me neck like a yowe. He was that fashed. Standin' noo, bucky. Got yer han' h'on ther wall?"

"Yes," he said, "I'm ready any time."

It was not as easy as he had hoped, but he was just able to squeeze through one of the ornamental crenels.

"Silk come!" Oreb announced proudly.

"Well . . ." He got his feet, puffing with exertion. "At least it's true Silk was up here once."

He leaned across the battlement, trying in vain to see his friend in the darkness. "Pig, do you think you might hand my staff up? I laid it by the wall, and I'll need it to feel my way along."

"Aye." A pause. "Here 'tis. Put h'out yer han'."

"No close. Come bird."

Oreb's owner felt a sudden thrill of fear. "Don't hit him with it by accident, as I did once."

"Got yer han' feelin' fer h'it, bucky?"

"Silk feel!"

"Yes. Yes, I--stop! It touched my fingers just then. There, I've got it."

"Guid. What h'about me, bucky? How's Pig ter get h'up?"

He straightened up, lifting the k.n.o.bbed staff over the battlement and tapping the uneven surface on which he stood. "You're not. We have no way of doing that, and I'm not at all certain this roof would support your weight. I know Mucor, as I said; and she's been willing to do favors for me in the past. If I find her, I'll bring her to you." He weighed the morality of this statement for a moment and added, "Or send her."

Before Pig could object, he turned away. Once the questing tip of his staff found an aching void where the gla.s.s roof of the conservatory had been; after that, he stepped cautiously and stayed so near the battlement that from time to time his left leg brushed its merlons.

"Wall come," Oreb warned.

The tip of his staff discovered it. His hands, groping by instinct, found a window. He pushed aside what remained of a broken shutter. "Right here," he told Oreb. "Here it is, just as I imagined it. Is there anyone in there?"

"No man. No girl."

He put his staff through the window, turned it sidewise, and used it to pull himself up while the toes of his well-worn shoes scrabbled the wall. "This is the place, I feel sure. This was Mucor's room, the first room Silk entered when he broke into this house."

His staff discovered only the floor, and empty s.p.a.ce. He asked, "Is there furniture in here, Oreb? A table? Anything of that kind?" Putting a hand on the wall, he took a cautious step, then another. "In Silk's day, the door was barred from outside," he told the darkness, "but it seems unlikely that's still the case." There was no reply. After half a minute more of cautious exploration he called, "Oreb? Oreb?" but no bird answered.

"Have you been bad?"

The voice seemed achingly remote. Aloud he said, "As if the speaker were in fact on Blue. As you are, I believe."

Silence and darkness, and the weight of years.

"I'd like to talk to you, Mucor. I've something to tell you and something to ask you, and a favor to ask as well. Won't you talk to me?"

The distant voice did not return. His fingers found the door and pulled it open.

"Have you been bad?"

He thought of Green and the war fought and lost there, of delectable nights with a one-armed lover whose lips had tasted of the salt-sweet sea. "Yes, I have. Many times."

As though she had always been there, Mucor stood before him. "You came looking for me." It was not a question.

"Yes, to tell you that I'm here, and that I'm looking for eyes for your grandmother. I promised her I would."

"You've been gone a long time."

He nodded humbly. "I know. I've done my best to find Silk, but I haven't found him. I'm still looking."

"You will find him." Her tone admitted of no doubt.

"I will?" His heart leaped. "That's wonderful! Are you sure, Mucor? Do you really know the future, as G.o.ds do?"