European, part Chinese. It was quite a difficult face to work out because it was neither one thing nor another. It was also covered in grime and dirt. Her hair was black, cut short at the front, tied with another scrap of cloth at the back. She had a very slender neck. If he hadn’t just seen it for himself, he wouldn’t have said she’d have had the strength to fire an arrow with enough force to kill a creature at least twice her own size.
She was looking at him very strangely. She held up a hand, signalling to the three men to stay where they were, then swung herself down from the horse and walked towards him. She stopped a few feet away, gazing at him with a mixture of wonderment and disbelief.
“Sapling,” she said.
Jamie waited.
“You are Sapling!” the girl exclaimed. She was speaking the same language as the man-scorpion and she sounded almost annoyed.
“No. I’m Jamie.”
“Jamie?”
“Yes.”
“No, you’re not.” The girl shook her head. “You’re Sapling.”
“I think I know my own name,” Jamie said. It occurred to him that it was one of the very few things he did know.
The girl thought for a moment. Then she nodded. “Names change,” she said. “It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you’re alive. It really is you! I can’t believe it…” And before Jamie could stop her, the girl threw her arms around him, kissed him on both cheeks and buried her face against his chest. Then, abruptly, she pushed him away and burst into tears.
“Scar…” One of the three men had climbed down from his horse and came over to her. He was about thirty, a great bear of a man with a beard, a scar high up on his cheekbone and a broken nose. Standing next to her, he looked twice her size.
“Leave me alone, Finn,” the girl said. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. The tears had stopped as quickly as they had come. “So Matt was right,” she went on. “Why did I have to argue with him? He told me you’d be here…”
“Who is Matt?” Jamie demanded. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on? I don’t know where I am. I don’t get any of this. One minute I was
… somewhere else. And now I’m here. Scar. Is that your name?”
The girl nodded. She looked at him again and now there was puzzlement in her eyes. “Do you really not know who I am?”
“No.” But even as Jamie shook his head, he knew he was wrong. He had seen her before. It made no sense at all, but he was certain that she was the girl in his dream. Two boys in a boat. His brother, Scott. And her.
The other two men had also dismounted. They were younger than Finn, fair-haired, obviously brothers. One of them seemed to be wearing a metal glove. But then he moved his arm and Jamie realized, with a feeling of queasiness, that the entire hand was missing and had been replaced with a steel replica. All of them were staring at him. Jamie knew they were waiting for him to speak but he had nothing to say.
“My actual name is Scarlett,” the girl explained. “But everyone calls me Scar. That’s what you always call me.”
“I’m sorry. I’ve just told you, I don’t know you.”
“Of course you know me. You’ve just forgotten. After everything that’s happened, I’m not surprised.” She stopped and examined him and suddenly she was sad again. “You know, I cried when I saw the flames. I thought it was all over. But it wasn’t just that. I couldn’t bear the thought that I’d never see you again.”
“What flames? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The man called Finn had been listening to this with growing impatience. Now he stepped forward between them. “We can’t talk here,” he said. He looked around him. “If there was one shape-changer, there’ll be others. The fields are crawling with the enemy. We have to get back to the city before we lose the daylight.”
Scar nodded. “You’re right, Finn,” she said. “You’re always right. That’s what’s so annoying about you.” She glanced at Jamie. “Are you hurt?” she asked.
“No.” Jamie shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
“We have your horse.”
Jamie looked past her and saw a fifth horse that had been led behind the others. It had no saddle, just a rough blanket folded in half. “I can’t ride,” he said.
The man with the metal hand had overheard him. “What madness is this?” he exclaimed. “Is this the boy or isn’t it? Maybe this is some sort of trick.”
“Be quiet, Erin,” the girl snapped. “Matt sent us here and he surely knew what he was doing. Let’s all hope so. Anyway, we’ve been told what we have to do.” She turned back to Jamie. “We have to travel about ten leagues,” she said. “And if you don’t know how to ride now, all I can say is, you will certainly have learned by the time you arrive. And since you claim not to know me, you may not know the others either. This is Finn. He’s saved my life so often he has little time for anything else. And the other two are Erin Silverhand and his brother, Corian.”
The two brothers nodded but Erin still didn’t look convinced. Meanwhile, Corian had led Jamie’s horse forward. It was a grey and from where Jamie was standing it looked enormous.
“Listen to me,” Jamie said. He had already forgotten that he was speaking a language he had never learned. The words simply tumbled out naturally. “I’ll come with you. It seems I don’t have any choice. But there’s something I want to know first. You seem to know who I am – so tell me this. Is Scott here?”
The two younger men exchanged a look but said nothing. Finn turned to Scar, once again waiting for her.
“Scott,” she said. “Is that what you call your brother?”
“Yes.”
“You are twins.”
“Yes.” Jamie was growing impatient. With every second that passed, he was becoming more confused.
“Scott is here,” Scar said. “But that is not our name for him. We call him Flint. Sapling and Flint. When I first saw you just now, I thought for a moment that you were him. I never was able to tell the two of you apart.”
“Where is he?” For the first time in ages, Jamie felt a spurt of hope.
“Not too far. We will camp tonight in the City of Canals…”
“What city?”
“It has no other name – if it did, it would have been lost long ago.” Scar glanced up at the sky. It hadn’t been very bright to begin with but it was already getting darker. “We should listen to Finn. If we stay here talking, we’re all going to end up with our innards on a stick. I suggest we move.”
Jamie reached out and took the bridle of his horse.
“I’ll help you.” One of men – Corian – came up to him and cupped his hands, and while his brother held the horse steady, he hoisted Jamie up. Jamie had never sat on a horse in his life. The nearest he had been to one was at the Clark County Fair when he and Scott had been on the road. But it was exactly the same as with the sword. The moment he straightened up on the horse’s back, he felt in control. He wasn’t nervous. Even without knowing what to do, he thought he would probably be able to control the horse and make it move in the right direction.
But if he was pleased with himself, he was knocked back down to size a moment later. Scar sprang onto her own horse with a single movement and a look on her face that reminded him that she didn’t need two men to help her up. Finn, Erin and Corian all mounted equally easily.
“To the city,” Scar said.
The four of them set off with Jamie in the middle, just behind Scar. He had no idea where he was. He had no idea where he was going. But he was comforted by the fact that at least he was no longer alone.
IN THE RUINED CITY
Scar had said they would ride for ten leagues, but as Jamie had no idea exactly how far a league was, the
