Shardik (80 page)

Shouter and Bled, receiving the boys as they left the slave-dealer, fastened them together in threes or fours by thin chains drawn through the lobes of their ears. Each chain was secured at one end to a short metal bar, the other being hooked to the belt or wrist of an overseer. When these preparations were complete, all lay down to sleep where they were on
the
marshy ground.

Kelderek, chained like
the
rest, had been separated from Radu and lay between two much younger boys, expecting every moment that a movement by one or the other would pull the chain-links
through
his wounded lobe like the teeth of a saw. Soon, however, he realized that his companions, more practised than he in making misery bearable, were less likely to trouble him than he them. They stirred seldom and had learned
the
trick of moving their heads
without
tightening the chain. After a
little
he found that both had moved close to him, one on either side.

‘Not used to this yet, are you ?’ whispered one of the children in a broad Paltcsh argot that he could barely understand. * ‘Buy you today, did he?’

‘He didn’t buy me. He found me in the forest - yes, it was today.’

‘ ‘Thought as much. You smell of fresh meat - new ones often do, ‘doesn’t last long.’ He broke off, coughing; spat on the ground between them and then said,
¹
‘Trick’s to lie close together. It’s warmer, and it keeps the chain slack, see, then anybody moves it don’t pull.’

Both
children
were
verminous
and
scratched
continually
at
the sodden,
filthy
rags
covering
their
thin
bodies.
Soon,
however, Kelderek
was
no
longer
aware
of
their
smell,
but
only
of
the
mud
in which
he
was
lying
and
the
throbbing
of
his
wounded
finger.
To distract
his
thoughts
he
whispered
to
the
boy,
‘How
long
have
you been
with
this
man?’

¹
‘Reckon
nearly
two
month
now.
‘Bought
me
in
Darl
’

‘Bought
you?
Who
from?’

‘My
stepfather.
Father
was
killed
with
General
Gel-Ethlin
when I
was
very
small.
Mother
took
up
with
this
man
last
winter
and
he didn’t
like
me,
only
Fm
dirty,
see?
Soon
as
the
dealers
come
he sold
me.’

‘Didn’t
your
mother
try
to
stop
it?’

‘No,’
answered
the
boy
indiffer
ently
.’
‘Suppose
you
had
food,
had you,
only
he
took
it
away?’ ‘Yes.’

‘Shouter
said
almost
no
bloody
mucking
food
left,’
whispered
the
little
boy.’
‘Said
they’d
reckoned
to
buy
some
before
this,
only
there’s no
mucking
place
to
buy
it
here.’

‘Why
did
Genshed
come
into
this
forest,
do
you
know?’
asked Kelderek.

‘Soldiers,
Shouter
said.’

‘What
soldiers?
¹

‘Don’t
know.
Only
he
don’t
like
soldiers.
That’s
why
he
put
the rope
across
the
river;
get
away
from
the
soldiers.
You
hungry,
are
you?’

‘Yes.’

He
tried
to
sleep,
but
there
was
no
quiet
The
children
whimpered, talked
in
their
sleep,
cried
out
in
nightmare.
The
chains
rattl
ed, something
moved
among
the
trees,
Bled
leapt
suddenly
to
his
feet, chattering
like
an
ape
and
wrenching
every
chain
fastened
to
him. Raising
his
head,
Kelderek
could
see
the
hunched
figure
of
the slave-dealer
a
little
distance
off,
his
arms
clasped
about
his
knees. He
did
not
look
like
a
man
seeking
sleep.
Was
he
-
like
Kelderek
himself
-
conscious
of
the
danger
of
wild
animals,
or
was
it,
perhaps, possible
that
he
had
no
need
of
sleep
-
that
he
never
slept?

At
length
he
fell
into
a
doze,
and
when
he
woke
-
after
how
long he
could
not
tell
-
realized
that
the
child
beside
him
was
weeping, almost
without
noise.
He
put
out
his
hand
and
touched
him.
The weeping
stopped
at
once.

“There’s
a
lot
can
happen
yet,*
whispered
Kelderek.
‘Were
you thinking
of
your
mother?’

‘No,
’
replied
the
boy.
“bout
Sirit’

‘
W
ho’s Sirit?* ‘Girl was with us.’
‘
What’s happened to her?’ ‘Gone to Leg-By-Lee.’ ‘Leg-By-Lee
? Where’s that?’ ‘Don’t know.’

‘Then how do you know she’s gone there?’ The boy said nothing.

‘What is Leg-By-Lee
? Who told you about it?’ ‘Where they go, see?’ whispered the boy. ‘Only anyone goes,
we say they’ve gone to Leg-By-Lee
.’ ‘Is it far away?’ ‘Don’t know.’

‘Well, if I managed to run away and he brought me back tomorrow
, would I have gone to Leg-By-Le
e?’ ‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘ ‘Cause you don’t come back from Leg-By-Lee.’ ‘You mean Sirit’s dead?’ ‘Don’t know.’

They fell silent. A man may be forced to set out into bitter cold, and in the very act of doing so be conscious that the future is desperate and his chance of survival small. Yet this mere reflection, coming at that moment, will not of itself be enough to break his spirit or penetrate his heart with despair. It is as though he still carried, wrapped about the core of his courage, a residue of protecting faith and warmth which must first be penetrated and dispelled,
little
by
little
, hour after hour, perhaps day after day, by solitude and cold, until the last remnants are dispersed and the dreadful truth, which at the outset he perceived only with his mind, he feels in his body and fears in his heart. So it was with Kelderek. Now, in the night, with the sharp, ugly noises of wretchedness all around him and the pain crawling about his body like cockroaches in a dark house, he seemed to step down, to review his situation from an even lower level, to feel more deeply and perceive more clearly its nature, devoid of all real hope. He believed, now, in
the
prospect before him - the passage of Linsho and the long journey up the Telthearna, actually pas
sing Quiso and Ortelga, to Tere
kenalt; and then slavery, preceded perhaps by the vile mutilation of which Shouter had spoken. Worst of all was the loss of Melathys and the thought that they would remain ignorant for ever of each other’s fates.

It was Shardik who had brought him to this - Shardik who had
pursued him with supernatural malevolence, avenging all that his priest-king had done to ab
use and exploit him. He was justl
y accursed of Shardik, and in his punishment had involved not only Melathys but the Tuginda herself - she who had done all she could, in the face of every obstacle put in her way, to preserve
the
worship of Shardik from betrayal. With this bitter reflection he once more fell asleep.

50
Radu

When he woke it was sunrise: and as he stirred, a centipede as long as his hand, dark-red and sinuous, undulated smoothly away from beneath his body. Shouter was drawing out the chains and coiling them into his pack. The forest was raucous with the calling of birds. Already, where
the
sun shone, the ground was steaming, and everywhere flies buzzed about patches of night-soil and urine. A boy close by coughed without ceasing and all around the children raised their thin voices in foul language and oaths. Two boys lay quarrelling over a fragment of leather which one had stolen from the
other
, until Bled’s stick brought them cursing to their feet.

Shouter gave out small handful
s of dried fruit and watched while
they were eaten, his stick ready against any snatching or fighting. He winked at Kelderek and slipped him a second handful.

‘Mind you eat it yourself, too,’ he whispered, ‘mucking quick.’

‘Is that all until tonight?’ answered
Kelderek
, appalled at the thought of the day’s march.

‘It’s nigh all there is left anyway,’ said Shouter, still keeping his voice down. ‘He says there’s no more to be had until we get to Linsho, and that’s supposed to be tomorrow evening. I reckon he didn’t know what this place was going to be like. We’ll be lucky to get out alive.’