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and then say just the opposite. Stay there. I'll get something from the boat."
She started to rise, flopped back heavily. "I forgot. I can't walk."
"What a sensible, always alert pair we make," he mur-mured. "If only our
sponsors could see us now." He would have laughed if he hadn't been so tired.
"Thank you for saving my life, Etienne, whatever your motives."
"Anytime. Don't mention it. Do you think you can help me sit up?"
"Be careful," she warned him.
Several faces were suddenly staring down at them. Ono was familiar.
"Hello, Tyl." Etienne clasped his knees toward his chest, trying to alleviate
some of the pain in his back. The nerves thorn argued with every millimeter of
effort.
Tyl executed a most profound sideways Tsla bow. "We did not expect thee to
return, Learned Etienne. Thee were in the right and we in the wrong, and most
grateful am I to be proven so. It was a grand thing thee did. Songs will
commemorate thy deed. And this one's, whose service is unprecedented." He
indicated Yulour, standing in front of the crowd.
"I don't understand, Teacher," Yulour said.
"Dear, sweat, brave Yulour," Lyra murmured. "I know thy customs and why thy
kinfolk did not come, but why did thee?"
"It seemed a good thing to do, so I did it." He looked embarrassed.
"I'll make it up to you," she told him.
"Make . . . up to me? I do not understand."
"I know you don't. Do you understand what I mean when I say that Etienne and I
thank thee very deep?"
"Thos are welcome," the porter replied gravely. "Now I must go and find my
friends."
Tyl watched him go. "A peculiar soul, but many-times blessed, l think."
"He certainly has our blessings," said Lyra. She looked toward the wall. The
shouting had ceased and the Tsla wore leaving the top of the palisade,
chatting easily among them-selves.
"It seems the Na have given up and gone away. Do you think they might attack
again?"
"They vented evil gestures and many shouts," Tyl in-formed them, "but I think
they will not come back for some time. They are not animals and know they
cannot break into Jakaie without first surprising its people. This time there
was no surprise, so they have gone."
"So we're safe?" Etienne mumbled.
"Yes, all are safe now. Jakaie owes thee a debt for the dead-thee have
restored
to them alive."
Etienne's back improved slowly under Lyra's ministering hands. The worst of it
was the body wrap she made him wear. It enveloped him from beneath the armpits
to below his waist and he walked like a recently resurrected mummy.
Among the prosaic Tsla the novelty of the rescue quickly wore off and they
returned to their daily chores. But there were frequent, shy visits from those
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he'd saved and from their relatives and friends to thank him.
The debt they owed, they insisted, could never be repaid. Until Tyl came
aboard the hydrofoil one morning to see the patient.
"There was a mooting." The temperature in the main cabin was seventy-five and
Homat sat shivering off in a corner.
"What kind of mooting?" Lyra asked.
"A community meditation. I am sorry thee were not in-vited, but there was no
time. I have made the people aware of thy problem. Thy wooden undercarriage is
still service-able, is it not?"
"The wheels haven't fallen off, if that's what you mean," Etienne replied.
"There are not here the large draft animals like the Mai have. No vroqupii.
There are lekkas, but they are for riding, not for pulling. Unlike Turput,
here the land is cultivated mostly by hand. But we are Tsla. The Tsla are
strong."
He flexed both arms and they saw the muscles ripple beneath short fur.
"All Jakaie will assist. Will it not be easier to lower thy boat back to the
bottom of the Barshajagad than it was to bring it up?"
Etienne considered their guide's words, trying hard to restrain any
excitement.
Excitement hurt his back.
"Sure it would be easier, but still a difficult descent."
"I have talked long with Ruu-an and the other elders. Them is a way north of
here that descends to the Skar and bypasses the Topapasirut. They say also
that the way is longer and gentler than that which climbs the side canyon we
used.
They say, Etienne and Lyra, that it can be done."
"Who am I to dispute Ruu-an?" said Etienne. He felt like shouting but
restrained himself lest he strain something.
"When can we start down?"
"Soon. The families of those thee saved demand the honor of taking up the
ropes nearest the spirit boat, where the work will be the hardest."
"Our thanks go out to them," Etienne said.
"Thee can thank them thyself." Tyl readied himself to leave. "It will take
some time to organize provisions and find the rope sufficient to secure thy
craft.
Thee will have ample time to thank thy new friends and repair thy back."
"Wait a minute," said Lyra, frowning. "What about the Na? What if they come
back when the town is nearly de-serted, or catch everyone out in the open?"
"This too was discussed during meditation. They will not come near Jakaie for
a long time, so embarrassing to them was their defeat. And after a few days of
descent the tem-perature will grow much too hot for them to follow us."
"We won't argue with that, will we, dear?" He stared meaningfully at Lyra.
As usual, she wasn't intimidated. "If the townsfolk feel confident of their
security, I don't see why we shouldn't permit them to bounce you all the way
down to the river."
In contrast to the agonizingly difficult haul up from the bottom of the
Barshajagad, the descent to a rocky beach northwest of Jakaie and the bulk of
Aracunga mountain was almost relaxing. There were a few rough places, easily
surmounted by the hydrofoil's repellers, but as the Tsla prom-ised the slope
was far gentler than the steep side canyon route on the southern side.
Chanting in unison as they leaned into the heavy ropes, the Tsla were able to
lower the boat on its wheeled cradle faster than the Redowls expected. It was
hard to imagine the vroqupii and their Brul doing the job any more efficiently
than the citizens of Jakaie. It helped that there was none of the sense of
competition among the townsfolk that there had been among the Mai. Homat [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] - zanotowane.pl
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