Laurie Marks Elemental Logic 02 Earth Logic

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who
knew an adventure when they saw one, cheered the travelers out the gate.
Clement had never worn snowshoes before, but managed to avoid tripping over
her
own feet until the watchers could no longer see her. That first day, she fell
down regularly. That first night, she lay with Davi on the sledge, sleeping
in
short bits until, awakened by cold, she got up to put more wood on the fire
and
to turn her drying clothing. The child slept undisturbed in a solid,
wool-clad
lump, with a wool cap tied under her chin. When the snow began to glow
faintly,
reflecting a distant dawn, and the stars that populated the frozen sky began
to
wink out, Clement dressed in clothing that was almost dry and halfway warm,
loaded up the sledge, strapped herself in the harness, and set forth once
again.
That day, she finally mastered the snow-shoer�s leg-swinging waddle. The
sledge
seemed almost weightless as she guided it down the hillside, and even when
they
reached the flat, she was amazed at her own speed. Davi rode behind her,
complaining once of thirst, but subsiding when Clement explained that the
water
had frozen solid in its jug. But Clement became aware of her own thirst now.
Dry-mouthed, she could not swallow the sweetened oatcakes in her pockets.
Snow-blind, she could not see the passing countryside. A tugging at the
harness
brought her out of her daze.
Davi pointed, it seemed, into the sky, which was, Clement noted giddily, a
gorgeous color: winter twilight. Across it lay the faintest smear of smoke.
�Ah!� Clement turned them down the hillside, where she could not see a wagon
track, and in a last burst of blind energy got them practically to the
farmhouse
door before she fell for the first time that day, and was too tired to get up.
�Haven�t got your snow legs yet?� A farmer in woolen clothing redolent,
though
not unpleasantly, with cow manure, hauled her to her feet and undid the
harness
buckles. �I saw you coming,� she added. �So we�ve put the kettle on. Snow
took
you by surprise?�
�Not really,� Clement gasped. �I planned to travel home before autumn mud.
But
the child took sick.�
�Bad luck.� An angular woman Clement�s age or older, she made light work of
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lifting the sledge to the shelter of the porch, while Clement stood in dumb
tiredness with Davi in her arms. She had concocted a much more elaborate
explanatory tale for herself, but the farmer didn�t ask for it. The farmer
said,
�We�ve got an empty bed. Two of the children married out this year. Twins.
Went
to the same household so they could still be in the same family. Come in,
come
in.�
In the kitchen, a half dozen people looked up from chopping vegetables to
chorus
a distracted welcome. The angular farmer collected a tea tray and led the way
to
an equally crowded parlor. Clement sank into an empty chair and was plied
with
hot tea and generously buttered bread as Davi drank a mug of hot milk,
sitting
in her lap. The angular farmer waved away Clement�s thanks, saying obliquely,
�It�s been a good year. Good milk, healthy calves.�
And if it hadn�t been a good year, Clement wondered vaguely, what would the
farmer say instead? That there was always enough to go around, or that what
is
given comes back eventually? Davi got down from her lap and joined some other
children on the floor, who moved over to let her watch their game. The
angular
farmer, Mariseth, Seth to her friends, refilled Clement�s teacup, cut her
some
cheese, and sat knee-to-knee with her. Clement recognized the cheese, which
was
even better here, where it had been made. The fear in her slowly came undone,
like an old, stiff knot. Seth�s knee was warmer than the heat from the fire
as
she recounted bits and pieces of information that might interest a traveler,
and
Clement asked questions, expressed surprise, uttered an occasional cautious
comment. There was not much she needed to do; the farmer�s incurious
friendliness was like a path she needed only follow.
During the raucous supper, some twenty-two people ate willy-nilly, sitting or
standing wherever there was space, all talking at once about cows and cheese
and
distant news from far-off places. Seth had status here, Clement noted, a
lieutenant in her way, risen to that unacknowledged position over many years.
Davi circled back to Clement�s lap again, and ate obediently from her spoon.
�I
didn�t tell!� she whispered.
�Good girl.� Clement fed her some cheese, but Davi didn�t like it, and the
farmer offered a bowl of curds instead, which Davi emptied happily. Then the
child fell asleep, and Seth, who had not been out of conversation distance
all
evening, commented, �A smart girl you�ve got there. But serious for her age.
What is she, three?�
Clement nodded vaguely. �I wonder if I should have given her longer to
recover
from her illness. But I needed to go home.�
�She�s a bit too pale and quiet. But maybe she�s a quiet kid? Those thinkers
often are, like you.�
�Me?� Clement gave a laugh.
�Thinking hurts, doesn�t it? Too much, maybe. I�ll show you where you�ll
sleep.�
In a bare cubby of a room, heated by a stove tiny as a kettle, someone had
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brought the contents of the sledge and hung everything that was damp to dry.
With the farmer there, Clement had cause to be grateful for her recent sick
nursing, for she undressed Davi and put her to bed without any obvious
display
of inexperience. Seth lit a little lamp that she put on a high shelf, out of
child�s reach. She set out a chamber pot, and folded Davi�s clothes. Clement
felt a rising warmth, as though that muscular leg still pressed hers.
Seth said, �You�re not so tired as you looked when you first arrived.�
�It was food and drink I needed. Tomorrow, I�ll have Davi hug the water jug
to
keep it from freezing.�
�Oh, we�ll send you on your way with a foot warmer full of coals. That�ll do
the
job, and keep your girl from getting chilled if the wind starts to blow. Some
of
that cheese, too, since you liked it so much. How about a nip?� she added.
Clement followed Seth down the hall to her own room, where apparently she
slept
in grand solitude beneath brightly colored scrap quilts, beside a small stove
that she swiftly lit and stoked, then poured Clement a little cup of brandy
from
a long husbanded bottle. Clement sipped very cautiously, thinking to preserve
at
least some of her fleeting wits. �I feel a bit like a cow you�re herding,�
she
said.
Seth gave a wide, startling grin. �If you were a cow, I could force you into
the
barn.�
�Oh, I�ll let you herd me in. But why�?�
Seth sat beside her on the settle, thigh to thigh. �You�ve seen some things [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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