Part 4 (1/2)
”Perhaps the good sir and his servant would hide now?” asked Ris.h.i.+. ”Several roads pa.s.s along here, and we are certain to meet many foolish Mar who would be most alarmed to see Ysdar's devil riding in a yak wagon.”
Atreus and Yago ducked down between the carpet rolls, half-coveringthemselves beneath the cotton tarp Bharat used as a dust shroud. Ris.h.i.+ slappedthe reins, urging the yaks forward onto the precarious canyon trail. The listingtrack turned out to be more heavily traveled than any of the roads they had beenon so far. Several times an hour, Atreus and Yago had to pull the dust shroud over their heads as Ris.h.i.+ eased to the side of the road to let pa.s.s anotherwagon or a caravan of yaks. Twice, after hearing of an approaching patrol, he andYago hid in the rocks below the road bank.As it happened, both patrols were heading back to the comforts of Edenvale and paid little attention to Ris.h.i.+ or the wagon. The leaders paused only long enough tobrag about how close they had come to catching Ysdar's devil, a.s.suring thetwo carpet sellers that they themselves had chased the fiend deep into themountains and made the Yehimals once again safe for travel. Ris.h.i.+ and Bharatthanked them profusely for their efforts, and when a pa.s.sing salt caravan mentionedyet a third company down in the willows, no one thought it necessary for Atreus and Yago to leave the cart. The two westerners simply remained in back, peering outbetween their guides, ready to pull the dust shroud over their heads at an instant'snotice.
After a time they rounded a bend and felt cold vapor in the air. Perhaps a mileahead the shoulder of the mountain curved away, exposing yet more of the snowhummocked plateau and revealing the head of the canyon, where a lazy river cametwining out of the willows to plunge into the gorge. The result was a beautiful horsetail waterfall, so long it turned to mist before reaching the rocks below.
The road left the mountainside just past the waterfall, then began branching offthrough the willows. One of the less traveled offshoots turned toward the sky-scratching peaks Ris.h.i.+ had pointed out as their destination, crossing the river via asuspension bridge of woven vines and swaying planks. They were halfway acrosswhen the third patrol emerged from the willows on the other side. The company hadonly two dozen warriors, but riding beside the leader was a small man in a cloak andsable hat. His face was paler and more fine-boned than those of his Mar companions, and in the crook of his arm he carried an elaborately carved staff decorated withmystic symbols.
”Now look what your greed has brought on us, Bharat,” hissed Ris.h.i.+. ”A wu-jen!”
”Wu-jen?” rumbled Yago.
”From Shou Lung,” Bharat explained.
*They are sorcerers of great skill. The equals of Ysdar himself, it is said,” Ris.h.i.+ said,speaking so softly that Atreus could barely hear him. ”But I have dealt with their kindbefore. Cover yourselves and have no fear.”
Atreus and Yago slipped down between the carpet rolls and pulled the dust shroudover their heads, then listened to the wagon rumble the rest of the way across thebridge. At the far end Ris.h.i.+ pulled far enough ahead so that he was not blocking the way, then stopped.
”A pleasant afternoon to you and your men, sir,” said Ris.h.i.+. ”What news of Ysdar'sdevil?”
”Many rumors, but no news,” came the leader's unusually frank reply. The hollowclop of hooves on wood sounded behind the wagon as the patrol started across the bridge. ”For all the havoc he is spreading, he has proven a most elusive devil.”
”Then you will certainly be pleased to hear that he has fled,” said Ris.h.i.+. ”Alreadythis morning I have spoken to two different patrols who chased the devil deep into the Yehimals and were forced to turn back only because of enormous avalanches.”
The leader's good-natured laugh was cut short by the angry Wu-jen. ”In ShouLung, we find little humor in failure. Naraka, it is your people's barbaric love of lying thatcauses us to return without success. Had we not spent fifteen days chasing wild Marrumors, I would have this devil hanging outside the Paradise Mahal already.”
*That is most certainly true, honored Wu-jen.” Ris.h.i.+'s tone, at once sardonic andpatronizing, managed to convey how sorry he felt that Naraka and his men had toendure such a pretentious Wu-jen. ”I will not detain you further from your terribly important duties.”
Ris.h.i.+ slapped the reins, and the yaks started forward.
”Did I say you are free to go, driver?” asked the Wu-jen. ”Wait one moment”
”Oh, begging the Wu-jen's pardon!”Ris.h.i.+ took his time halting the yaks, and the wagon traveled more than a dozenpaces before coming to a stop ”It was my impression that he had no interest in thewords of a lying Mar,” Ris.h.i.+ explained.
”I find it wiser to pay more interest to what Mar do not say than to what they do,”retorted the Wu-jen. Atreus heard two ponies pa.s.s back along his side of the cart,but the rest of the patrol seemed to be continuing across the bridge. ”Where do youcome from?”
”Last night, we camped*”
”Not you, driver,” said the Wu-jen. ”Let your master tell me.”
The two Mar were silent. For a moment, Atreus feared they were waiting for him tospeak. Then the cart rocked as Bharat turned sideways.”M-me?” ”Is there another master on the cart?” retorted the Wu-jen. Atreus clutched his dagger. Not for the first time, he wished that he had grabbed his sword instead of his gold when he jumped off the elephant.When Bharat did not answer the Wu-jen, Ris.h.i.+ said, ”I hope the Wu-jen will forgivemy boldness, but he is terribly mistaken. I am the master here.”
”Truly?” asked the Wu-jen. ”That is most surprising. I would have thought a blindmaster needs a seeing driver. Tell me, Blind Helper, why does a seeing master need you?”
”I am not a helper.” Bharat's voice was indignant. ”We are both bahrana carpet sellers. We are equals.”
”Ah, then why does the driver call himself master?”
”Because he is a liar and a thief who thinks he can cheat a blind man out of his due,” answered Bharat. *Tell me, good Wu-jen, is it fair that one man who is the equal of another should receive only a third of the profits?”Atreus bit his lip to keep from snarling aloud at the veiled threat, but Ris.h.i.+ took it instride.
”Pay the blind fool no attention,” said the Mar. ”Certainly, the Wu-jen will agree thatwhen one man does two-thirds of the work, he should have two-thirds of the reward?”
”The Wu-jen will agree that it is none of his concern,” replied the Wu-jen. ”But ablind man's senses are very sharp. Perhaps he hears this devil or smells himsomewhere along the way?”
”No, I heard nothing unusual.” Bharat's answer came quickly*too quickly, Atreusthought. ”And it is impossible in this cart to smell anything but my greedy partner.”
”Ah, most unfortunate for us. But we are grateful for your candidness. It is very unusual for a Mar not to make up a story.” The Wu-jen's voice grew less suspicious,though the irony in his words was not lost on Atreus. ”By what road did you come?”
”By the Thanza road.” Ris.h.i.+ answered quickly, robbing Bharat of the chance tomalign him further. ”From Edenvale.”
”Of course . . . the Thanza road,” said the Wu-jen. ”Strange, I do not recall anyone mentioning a blind merchant. You Mar are so full of gossip, and selling beautiful carpets is an uncommon occupation for a blind man.”
”That is easy to explain,” Ris.h.i.+ said. ”The old fool cannot tell whether his eyelids areup or down. It often looks like he is napping. And now, if the great Wu-jen permits, wemust be on our way. We have far to go before dark.”
”And where are you bound, Blind Man?”
Bharat hesitated. ”I am not sure.”
”Not sure?” asked the Wu-jen.
”I am never certain where my lying partner is taking me.” Bharat s.h.i.+fted in hisseat. ”Since he does not consider me his equal, he does not often tell me.””You know this time,” Ris.h.i.+ said. ”We have already agreed, and it is too late tochange now.”
Bharat remained silent, and Atreus grew so angry that his hand began to hurt from squeezing his dagger. After this was over, he would let the pudgy Mar know what he thought of blackmail.
”I am waiting,” said the Wu-jen. ”What is your destination?”
”Oh, begging the Wu-jen's forgiveness,” said Bharat. ”My friend is right. I recallnow that we are going to Gyatse.”Ris.h.i.+ groaned.”To Gyatse?” scoffed Naraka, the patrol leader. ”You cannot sell carpets in Gyatse.”
”If the patrol leader has stayed in Gyatse, perhaps he has noticed that they have only stone floors,” said Ris.h.i.+. ”There is not one carpet in the whole village... and avery cold village it is! They have a great need for our carpets.”
”Need, yes, but they are paupers in Gyatse,” said the Wu-jen. *The whole villagetogether could not buy a single carpet. Perhaps we should look at these carpets.”Atreus braced himself, ready to spring the instant the dust shroud was pulled back. Suddenly the wagon rocked, and Bharat cried, ”Save me!”Atreus flung off the dust shroud and saw Ris.h.i.+ holding Bharat by the shoulder ofhis cloak. ”Help! Ysdar's devil has blinded me!” Bharat screamed and tried to fling himselfoff the wagon, but Ris.h.i.+ jerked him back to his seat.
Yago sat up facing the rear of the cart, and Atreus rolled to his knees facing thefront. Outside the cart, the Wu-jen was twisting around to reach into his saddlebags while Naraka, on the far side of the sorcerer, was awkwardly trying tobring his lance to bear. Yago started to push himself out the back of the wagon,but Atreus caught the ogre by the shoulder and shook his head. The last thing he wanted was to fight it out with Naraka's patrol here.Bharat continued to struggle, crying, ”They're after my gold!”
Ris.h.i.+'s free hand flashed up and struck Bharat in the gullet, then whipped back,launching something small and silver in the opposite direction. The Wu-jenscreeched and clutched at a tiny dagger protruding from his throat, and Bharat tumbled back into Atreus's lap, coating everything in the cargo bed with gouts of warm, coppery blood.
As Atreus struggled with Bharat's gurgling form, Ris.h.i.+ ducked Naraka's awkward lance thrust, then slapped the yaks with the reins. The wagon lurchedforward and the leader began to shout at his patrol. Atreus pushed aside Bharat's gurgling form and spun toward the rear of the wagon, expecting to find Yago struggling to block half a dozen flying lances.
Instead most of the patrol was on the other side of the river struggling to organize itself. Only the last three riders in line were able to answer their commander's call, and even they were just backing their ponies off the bridge.
”I could go wreck that bridge,” suggested Yago. As he spoke, the ogre struggled in the cramped s.p.a.ce to gather his legs beneath him. ”Wouldn't take much to getpast them three riders.”
Atreus shook his head. ”If it did, you'd be trapped and alone,” he said. ”Better to stay together.”
”Help!” screamed Ris.h.i.+. ”Help*he will kill me!”
Atreus turned to find Ris.h.i.+ trying to duck Naraka's lance and steer at the sametime. He caught the weapon by the shaft and shoved it away, then peered around the front edge of the canopy.