short of it. Were I to do so, who I truly am would forever be unknown and through all my life I would feel a part of me lacking.'
At these words Smoit's battle-scarred face fell with sadness and regretfully he bowed his head. But after a moment he clapped Taran heartily on the back. 'My breath, blood, and beard!' he cried. 'You've a will to chase the wild goose, will-o'-the-wisp, looking-glass, or whatever it may be; and I'll say no more to keep you from it. Seek it out, lad! Whether or not you find it, come back and Cadiffor will welcome you. But hasten, for if Gast and Goryon are ever at loggerheads again, I'll not vouch for how much of the cantrev will be left!'
Thus Taran, with Gurgi and Fflewddur Fflam, set off once more. In his secret heart Taran cherished the hope he might return to Smoit's realm with proud tidings of his parentage. Yet he did not foresee how long it would be until he set foot in Cantrev Cadiffor again.
Chapter 6
A Frog
FROM CAER CADARN the companions made good progress and within a few days crossed the Ystrad River, where Fflewddur led them for a time along the farther bank before turning northeastward through the Hill Cantrevs. Unlike the Valley Cantrevs, these lands were grayish and flinty. What might once have been fair pastureland Taran saw to be overlaid with brush, and the long reaches of forest were close-grown and darkly tangled.
Fflewddur admitted his roving seldom brought him to these parts. 'The cantrev nobles are as glum as their domains. Play your merriest tune and the best you can hope for is a sour smile. Yet, if the old lore is true, these realms were as rich as any in Prydain. The sheep of the Hill Cantrevs? Great Belin, it's said they had fleece so thick you could sink your arm in it up to the elbow! Nowadays, alas, they tend to be a little scruffy.'
'Aeddan told me Arawn Death-Lord stole many secrets from the farmers of the valley,' Taran replied. 'Surely he robbed the shepherds of the Hill Cantrevs as well.'
Fflewddur nodded. 'Few treasures he hasn't spoiled or stolen save those of the Fair Folk, and even Arawn might think twice before trifling with them. Be that as it may,' he went on, 'I'd not change the Northern Realms, where my own kingdom is, for any of these. There, my boy, we raise no sheep, but famous bards and warriors! Naturally, the House of Fflam has held its throne there for? well, for a remarkably long time. In the veins of a Fflam,' declared the bard, 'flows royal blood of the Sons of Don! Prince Gwydion himself is my kinsman. Distant ?distant, it's true,' he added hastily, 'but a kinsman nonetheless.'
'Gurgi does not care for famous sheep or fleecy bards,' Gurgi wistfully murmured. 'He is happy at Caer Dallben, oh, yes, and wishes he is soon there.'
'As for that,' answered Fflewddur, 'I'm afraid you'll have hard travel before you see home again. It's anyone's guess how long it will take to find your mysterious Mirror. I'll go with you as far as I can,' he said to Taran, 'though sooner or later I shall have to get back to my kingdom. My subjects are always impatient for my return…'
The harp shuddered violently as a string snapped in two. Fflewddur's face reddened. 'Ahem,' he said, 'yes, what I meant was: I'll be anxious to see them again. The truth of it is, I often have the feeling they manage quite well even when I'm not there. Still, a Fflam is dutiful!'
The companions halted while Fflewddur slid from Llyan's back and squatted on the turf to repair his broken string. From his jacket the bard took the large key which he used to tighten the harp's wooden pegs, and began patiently retuning the instrument.
A raucous cry made Taran glance quickly skyward. 'It's Kaw!' he exclaimed, pointing to the winged shape plummeting swiftly toward the companions. Gurgi shouted joyfully and clapped his hands as the crow alighted on Taran's wrist.
'So you've found us, old friend,' cried Taran, delighted to have the crow with him once again. 'Tell me,' he went on quickly, 'how does Eilonwy fare? Does she miss? all of us?'
'Princess!' Kaw croaked, beating his wings. 'Princess! Eilonwy! Taran!' He clacked his beak, hopped up and down on Taran's wrist, and set up such a jabbering and chattering that Taran could barely make out one word from another. The best he could understand was that Eilonwy's indignation at being forced to learn royal behavior had by no means dwindled, and that indeed she missed him? tidings that both cheered Taran and sharpened his yearning for the golden-haired Princess.
In the cavern on Mona, Kaw also managed to convey, Glew the giant had been restored to his original size by Dallben's potion.
Kaw himself was in the best of spirits. Still gabbling at the top of his voice, he flapped his glossy black wings, hopped from Taran's wrist to greet the other companions, and even perched on Llyan's head, where he busily ran his beak through the great cat's tawny fur.
'His eyes will help our search,' Taran said to Fflewddur, who had left his harp to come and stroke the bird's sleek feathers. 'Kaw can scout the land better than any of us.'
'So he can,' agreed Fflewddur, 'if he has a mind to and if you can make him heed you. Otherwise the scamp will have his beak in everyone's business but his own.'
'Yes, yes,' Gurgi added, shaking a finger at the crow. 'Heed commands of kindly master! Help him with flyings and spyings, not pryings and lyings! '
In answer, the crow impudently thrust out a sharp black tongue. With a flirt of his tail he fluttered to the harp and began rapidly twanging the strings with his beak. At the bard's cry of protest, Kaw hopped from the instrument's curved frame and snatched up the tuning key, which he began dragging across the turf.
'He's brazen as a magpie!' cried Fflewddur, setting off after the crow. 'He's thieving as a jackdaw!'
No sooner did Fflewddur come within half a pace of him than Kaw nimbly hopped away again, bearing the key in his beak. Squawking merrily, the crow stayed always out of Fflewddur's grasp, and Taran could not help laughing at the sight of the long-shanked bard vainly racing in circles, while Kaw danced ahead of him. When Gurgi and Taran joined the pursuit and Taran's fingers had come within a hair's breadth of the crow's tail feathers, Kaw shot upwards and flapped teasingly a short distance into the woods. There he lighted on the gnarled branch of a tall, ancient oak, and peered with bright beady eyes at the companions gathered below.
'Come down,' Taran ordered as sternly as he could, for the bird's comical antics made it impossible for him to be seriously angry. 'I've tried to teach him to behave,' Taran sighed, 'but it's no use. He'll bring it back when he feels like it and not before.'
'Hi, hi! Drop it!' called Fflewddur, waving his arms. 'Drop it, I say!'
At this Kaw bobbed his head, hunched up his wings, and dropped the key? not into the bard's outstretched hands but into a hollow of the tree trunk.
'Dropped it! Dropped it!' croaked Kaw, rocking back and forth on the branch, jabbering and chuckling gleefully at his own jest.
Fflewddur snorted. 'That bird's ill-mannered as a starling! He's had his merriment, now I shall have the toil.' Muttering hard comments about the impudence of waggish crows, the bard flung his arms about the trunk and tried to haul himself upward. Less than halfway, his grip loosened and he came tumbling down to land heavily amid the roots.
'A Fflam is agile!' Fflewddur panted, ruefully rubbing his back. 'Great Belin, there's not a tree I can't climb? ah, except this one.' He mopped his brow and glared at the high trunk.
'Gurgi climbs, yes, yes!' cried Gurgi, springing to the oak. With shaggy arrris and legs working all at once, in a trice the creature clambered up the tree. While Fflewddur shouted encouragement, Gurgi thrust a skinny hand into the hollow.
'Here is tuneful key, oh, yes!' he called. 'Clever Gurgi finds it!' He stopped short. Taran saw the creature's face wrinkle in surprise and perplexity. Tossing the key down to Fflewddur, Gurgi turned once more to the hollow. 'But what is this? What else does Gurgi find with gropings? Kindly master,' he shouted, 'here is strange something all set away in hidings!'
Taran saw the excited creature tuck an object under his arm and slide down the oak tree.
'See with lookings!' cried Gurgi as Taran and the bard pressed around him.
Kaw's prank was forgoften in the moment and the crow, not abashed whatever, flew to Taran's shoulder, stretched out his neck, and crowded forward as if determined to be first to glimpse Gurgi's discovery.
