Nigma (The Waifs of Duldred Book 3) Read online

  NIGMA

  ANA SALOTE

  Copyright © Ana Salote 2019

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means without prior permission from the copyright holder.

  CONTENTS

  1 The Nose

  2 Lil Lies Down

  3 Dead Water

  4 Messages

  5 Into the Valley

  6 Confession

  7 Companions Three

  8 Wurr Pass

  9 Redbo

  10 The Healing Camp

  11 Yeheva Camp

  12 Rigaw visits Fettapigi

  13 Scorpit Sands

  14 Stony Silence

  15 Under the Wall

  16 The Red Caves

  17 Hitting the Spot

  18 Drowning

  19 E for Exiles

  20 Pearls and Swine

  21 Reunion with Molly

  22 Different Tunes

  23 The Four Day Rule

  24 Winners and Losers

  25 Return to Duldred

  26 Cats and Cupboards

  27 Last Leg

  28 Oy goes Home

  For he comes, the human child,

  To the waters and the wild

  With a faery, hand in hand,

  For the world’s more full of weeping than he can understand.

  1 The Nose

  On the mattress was a lot of nose and a small amount of body. Rigaw’s men brought the bobo hound into the fort and laid it out in front of her Density, the Fellona Bominata.

  Bominata walked around it.

  ‘Is it sleeping or dead?’ she said.

  Rigaw jabbed its thigh. It twitched and began to breathe. The nose quivered and warmed into action. Its sections pulsed and oozed mucus. The bobo’s frightened eyes watched Rigaw as it breathed Fellund. It did not like what it breathed and its body began to contract.

  ‘They warned us about this,’ said one of the men. ‘Be advised to stand aside, your Density. It’s going to...’

  The bobo sneezed. A punch of wind carried Bominata backwards. Mucus rained on everyone. ‘Where...? I can’t see,’ said Bominata.

  ‘Snot in your eyes, Fellona,’ said her woman, Meccanee.

  ‘Mop me then,’ said Bominata. Meccanee mopped.

  ‘One of the downsides,’ said the man. ‘It’s sensitive to changes of air. But that’s a nose alright.’

  ‘More of a funnel really,’ said the other man. ‘Like one of those giant flycatchers you get in the desert, except it’s catching smells.’

  ‘I don’t care what it looks like,’ said Bominata. ‘Will it do the job? Will it find the hareboy?’

  ‘It can smell quarry two druns distant, further when the wind’s right,’ said Rigaw.

  ‘And how far away is the boy?’ said Bominata.

  ‘Six days – but not so far in distance. The marshes would hold him back,’ said Rigaw.

  ‘Remind me, how is it that he escaped?’

  ‘The Nonduls tricked us. They spread his scent everywhere. The hounds were confused.’

  ‘And it took how long for you to catch on? Two days?’

  ‘Yes, Fellona,’ Rigaw admitted.

  ‘And then?’

  ‘I went after him but a storm came. The dogs were deranged in the lightning and the rains washed the scent away.’

  ‘You might be the heaviest of all my husbinds but you’re also the dimmest. You should have carried on, dogs or no dogs. I think you are lying when you say you live to please me. Well, what have you got to say? Do you live to please me or not?’

  Rigaw kept his head bowed. ‘I live to please you, Fellona. Why else would I ride ten druns with a pig across my saddle, crawl after the pig’s behind through fetid truffle caves, only to find the place full of cutthroats demanding half my fortune for a dog?’

  ‘It was the least you could do. You leave here as husbind – just. You will return as husbeen unless you bring back the hareboy. Go.’

  Rigaw’s face was blank but he left with a twist in his step as though he were grinding something into the ground. ‘Load the dog into the cart and take it to the gates,’ he said.

  The men lifted the mattress and carried it out. The hound continued to quiver with the overload of strange smells. ‘I think he’d kill her if he could,’ said one of the men. ‘She humiliates him something terrible.’

  ‘Have you seen how he looks at her when her back’s turned?’ said the other.

  ‘I don’t know which one hates the other more.’

  Meccanee heard them. She stored what they said.

  At the main gate the bobo hound was lifted onto the cart. Rigaw’s man, Skulp, brought her cloths to smell. She raised her head with a short snuffle. Then she dropped back as though exhausted.

  ‘Is it sick?’ said Rigaw. ‘Have I paid three fortunns for something that’s about to die?’

  ‘It’s a trade-off, Capun,’ said Skulp. ‘The bigger and better the nose, the weedier and weaker the body. You opted for nose.’

  ‘I opted for nose,’ said Rigaw.

  ‘You look tired, Capun. You get in the back and I’ll drive.’

  Rigaw lay down with the nose, too tired even to shield himself from the damp stream of its breath.

  Alas unfolded the Nondul map. It was artfully drawn; the forest breathed, the water flowed and the mountains seemed to rise out of the parchment. There was no wearing in the folds and the inks were bright. But the map was very old. Much had changed since it was drawn.

  Alas pointed to the southwest corner which showed rising land puddled with small lakes. ‘Here’s where we are. Now we got some choices to make. The Felluns have been stealing rivers since this map was made so what was dry is wet and what was wet is dry. We want to reach the mountains. We can rule out a straight course north as it’s trackless and mostly desert according to Emberd. We can follow the Offel Canal: it ain’t shown here but we’re told it runs straight to the edge of Scorpit Sands. That would be risky what with all the traffic going up and down it. Or we could go by the Cheelah Gorge and hope to find water.’

  ‘I go the way of the gorge,’ said Lil. ‘It is hospitable.’

  ‘If you mean it’s full of craics,’ said Alas, ‘that may be so, but it’s dry country. What do you two think?’

  Lil did not wait to hear what Oy and Gritty thought. ‘I am going home to Craicanmar and the gorge is the way I am going. You can accompany me if you please.’

  ‘Well we do please,’ said Gritty, ‘but Alas is right, we got to think about water.’

  ‘I know the sound of water,’ said Lil.

  ‘We all know the sound of water,’ said Alas.

  ‘Where is the nearest water?’ said Lil.

  ‘In the marshes I should think,’ said Alas, ‘half a day back.’

  ‘No,’ said Lil, ‘I hear water underground, there where the trees grow.’

  Alas deliberated. ‘There’ll be water near the villages and quarries. It’s the gaps between that bother me.’

  ‘If there is water I will find it,’ said Lil.

  ‘If.’ Alas looked questioningly at Gritty and Oy. Gritty spread her hands and shrugged. Oy nodded. ‘Alright, we’ll try it,’ said Alas. ‘But first there’s a canal to cross. That’s a danger point. If it don’t work out we got to be willing to change course.’

  Lil sniffed. Alas folded the map and they took to the hills.

  The ink of the Berd mapmaker was barely dry on Rigaw’s map. It was all very precise and drawn in the reds and wines and rusts that suited Fellun eyes. Rigaw tried to put himself in the mind of the hareboy. It was not easy since he never considered the feelings of
others. He stared and stared at the map. He supposed that Bominata was right: the hareboy would head for the Nondulan hills. Then what?

  On his brand new map Rigaw could see what the hareboy could not: rough country for the hareboy and smooth roads for Rigaw. Rigaw could overtake the boy easily. Then he had only to wait with the bobo on the far side of the hills and the dog would tell him where to close in. The map-reading had tired him. ‘A man shouldn’t have to think to get what he wants,’ he said to Skulp.

  ‘No, he shouldn’t, Capun,’ Skulp answered. ‘Fists and clubs should be enough.’

  ‘Brains weren’t meant as weapons,’ said Rigaw. ‘They get in the way of the skull. We’d be better off with a solid head and none of that mush in the middle.’

  ‘Makes you feel sick, don’t it Capun?’

  Rigaw grunted and pushed the map towards Skulp. ‘You look. Once he’s over the hills where do you think he’ll go?’

  Skulp bent his head close to the paper and followed the thick red lines with his nose. ‘Sorry, Capun, it don’t make no sense to me.’

  ‘Look, this thing with boats on is the canal.’

  ‘Ah, the boats give it away don’t they, Capun? If that there’s the canal and if I was to be running away from you, then I’d go up it.’

  ‘Not over it?’

  ‘No, Capun.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘I like riding on boats, Capun.’

  ‘He won’t be able to get a ride.’ Rigaw snatched the map away. ‘Over,’ he decided. ‘He’ll go over the canal. Do you know why? Because once he gets round the bog there’s climbing to do and that makes it hard for us to follow.’

  ‘Right, Capun. People with no brawn have to fall back on brains. Where a Fellun goes in straight lines and fights anyone who gets in the way, these featherweights are sneaky.’

  ‘If we can keep him this side of the canal we can run him down.’

  The waifs lay under blankets on the ground. There were no rocks or anything resembling a craic for Lil. She knocked a tree trunk with her fist then tried her back against it. It’s a poor way to sleep,’ she said. ‘Three sides open as a clam with no shell.’ She was not happy or comfortable but she closed her eyes.

  Alas was restless. After a while he got up with his blanket round his shoulders.

  ‘Alas?’ said Oy.

  ‘I didn’t mean to wake you,’ Alas answered. ‘I don’t feel easy enough to sleep. I’ve got the gripes. Per said gripes is either fear or my jenie talking and if I make my mind quiet I’ll know which is which. Only my mind’s never quiet.’

  ‘This is what I do with fears,’ said Oy. ‘Imagine the trains that used to run round the factory. Now pack your thoughts in the carriages and send them off.’

  Alas tried it. ‘There’s more thoughts coming behind,’ he said.

  ‘Keep packing them off,’ said Oy. ‘Just keep doing it.’

  Together they packed up their thoughts and sent them down the tracks.

  After a long silence Alas whispered, ‘I did it. My head went like a black cave with the cool night air running through it and the night sounds. My gut started to think for itself.’ He touched his lower belly. ‘It felt busy, like it was getting ready for something, then it went tight. I stayed with it and it got stronger.’

  ‘That’s your jenie,’ said Oy. ‘What did it say?’

  ‘It said something’s coming after us. Should we wake the others?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Oy.

  Oy woke Gritty and Alas called to Lil. Lil split from a tree trunk and walked towards them. Alas explained his feelings.

  ‘What do you want us to do?’ said Gritty.

  ‘We should cross this open ground in the dark and rest up when it’s light. I’m pulled that way.’ He pointed to where the stars shaped like a saucepan sat low in the sky.

  ‘That’s off course,’ said Lil. ‘I’d rather walk through the night than tree-stand but I won’t go in the wrong direction.’

  ‘Gritty, what do you say?’ asked Alas.

  ‘If our course is set to the swan why head to the saucepan?’

  ‘Jenies mostly know best,’ said Oy.

  ‘Fear mostly knows worst,’ said Lil.

  ‘I’m not afraid,’ said Alas.

  ‘Aren’t you?’ said Lil.

  Oy stepped between them. ‘Why don’t we set off now, like Alas says? We can go careful towards the swan, like Lil says, and Gritty says, and if Alas gets any more feelings we can...’

  ‘Run around in circles,’ said Lil.

  ‘We can think again,’ said Oy.

  ‘That’s good enough for me,’ said Alas. Gritty and Lil nodded. They broke camp and walked on.

  So wagon and waifs were headed for the same spot. The waifs came from the West, Rigaw from the South.

  2 Lil Lies Down

  The next night there was a frost. Alas’s jenie said it was alright to make a fire so Oy brewed a tea with warming herbs. Lil stood on the edge of the fire circle. Oy handed her a cup. She sniffed it and took a sip. ‘Horrible,’ she said. Oy offered to take the drink back, but Lil held it close to her chest. ‘Horrible but hot,’ she said, taking another sip and another. She tilted the cup and swallowed what was left. She tucked her chin and her eyes rolled. In a minute her spine softened. In another minute she was slouching. Shortly after that she settled onto her knees.

  ‘What’s wrong? Are you faint?’ Gritty went to help her up.

  ‘Cold and tired,’ Lil answered. To the waifs’ surprise she went on talking. ‘I’m tired of tree-standing. I want my own craic. I grew in it you know. It shaped me and I shaped it. I’ll never find another fit like it. My craic and the song of Craicanmar was all I needed. I didn’t know till I lost them both. That song – a flanner wouldn’t understand how the old Dresh tuned the rock. Slow as the weather they did it till the whole of the gorge made music; even the sound of a fly landing was beautified there. I’ll have some more tea.’

  ‘I don’t know if you should,’ said Oy.

  Lil swayed.

  ‘He’s right,’ said Gritty. ‘It doesn’t quite agree with you.’

  ‘It agrees with me very well. I don’t know when I’ve felt so agreeable. Actually I’ve never felt agreeable before. I’ll have some more.’ She held out the cup and Oy half filled it. She swigged it back and asked for another.

  ‘Make it weak,’ Gritty whispered.

  Lil’s head drooped. ‘Home,’ she said. ‘Every step is closer to home.’

  ‘Lil,’ said Gritty, ‘suppose that Craicanmar has changed. I mean, who knows what the Felluns did there after they rooted you out? Would you come back to Affland with us?’

  ‘Craicanmar’s no use to the Felluns. The rock is too soft for their liking. Anyway your home would be no home to me.’

  ‘Home ain’t just a place; it’s where your people are,’ said Gritty. ‘And that can be friends or family.’

  ‘Not right,’ said Lil, shaking her head, ‘tune makes home. All that matters – tune.’ Then she did a strange thing. She stuck one arm out and keeping her body straight she dropped sideways onto her hand. She bent her arm lowering herself to the ground, flipped onto her back and began to breathe heavily.

  Alas threw a blanket over the long body. Soon Gritty fell asleep too. Alas and Oy watched as the wind blew on the fire making it glow. Sparks wrote messages in the air.

  ‘I’m glad we’re going back.’ Alas sighed. ‘I could never settle in Nondula. I didn’t know how much I was going to miss Cinda. You grow together, fear together, starve together: it makes a bond. Those few minutes talking to her after the younger ones had gone to sleep – I looked forward to it all day. You know what I mean don’t you?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Oy.

  ‘It gave me a warm spot here.’ Alas pointed into the ark of his ribs. ‘Lil’s lucky in a way. All she needs is a place. With people there’s always leavings and partings. Now you’re apart from Linnet and Gritty’s split from Gertie. When are we all going to be together?’
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  Oy didn’t know.

  Lil woke late and confused. Everything that should have been below her was above her. She was shocked by her intimacy with the ground. She got to her feet quickly, bending in places that weren’t meant to bend and brushing her hands on her skirt in revulsion. She demanded to know what had happened.

  ‘It was the tea,’ said Gritty. ‘It relaxed you. You lay down to sleep.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. I couldn’t have lay down. I must’ve fallen.’

  ‘No,’ said Gritty, firmly, ‘you lay down. Change happens sometimes. The world didn’t end did it?’

  The two looked at each other. Something opened in Lil’s eyes and closed again. She walked off with her washcloth and water. Gritty watched her go.

  The waifs had been in the hills for two days when Rigaw’s cart drew level with them on the road a few druns to the east.

  The bobo’s world was made up of smells. Alas was just beyond it. Then the wind turned and gusted. Alas stood on the threshhold of the bobo’s nostrils and walked in. It was like a shower of glitter in the bobo’s head. It stayed sparkling for a few seconds and went out. The scent was lost again. The bobo wanted the glitter back. It mustered a feeble bark. No one heard it. With all its strength it barked again. The wagon stopped.

  ‘Did you hear that, Capun?’ said Skulp.

  ‘The dog?’

  ‘Coulda been.’

  The men got down and circled the back of the wagon.

  ‘Look’s like it’s moved and...’

  ‘Messed,’ said Rigaw, holding his nose. ‘Clean it up and drive on.’

  The bobo barked again. Its mouth hung slack. It surely couldn’t manage another.

  ‘It must’ve scented something, Capun. They don’t bark for nothing; that’s what the dealer said.’

  ‘Now what?’ said Rigaw.

  ‘They told us to follow the fronds, remember? Let me shine the lamp. See how the nose is like cracked paving. In the cracks is fronds. See them wavy worms? They’re pointing to that hill.’

  ‘Can you see anything moving over there?’

  ‘I know you picked me for my far sight, Capun, but that hill’s a long way off.’