back at the shop wanted me to wake up. Reluctantly, I responded. I wished there was some way, any way, to let Sahra know I had gotten her message. “I love you, Sarie,” I thought.
“I love you, Murgen,” Sahra said, as though she had heard me.
The shaking grew more insistent. I turned loose of the temple of Ghanghesha but refused to be managed completely. I tried to drop in on the Radisha for a closer look at her scheming but Smoke shied away with an aversion almost as strong as that he showed for Soulcatcher. She is the darkness.
The earth blurred beneath my point of view. I was low and moving fast. Maybe that helped defeat some of the spells making Goblin and Mogaba so hard to find. I got a clear, if brief, look at both as I whipped past.
They were on the move. Mogaba seemed to be gathering strength. The forvalaka was with Goblin. Both groups moved inside an envelope of crows.
Soulcatcher probably had a better idea of the big picture than I did.
“Don’t you ever learn?” Croaker snarled.
I barely had strength enough to sit up and reach for something to drink. I had spent a lot more time out than I realized while it was happening. Sarie always did make me lose track of time.
“Shit,” I murmured. “That took it out of me. I could eat a cow.”
“You weren’t supposed to be dealing with family things. You keep it up, it’s going to be crow, not cow.”
You could not find an edible cow in this end of the world, anyway.
I grunted. I had a pitcher of something sweet in one hand and a warm loaf of bread in the other. At that moment it did not occur to me to ask why he would accuse me of getting involved in family things.
“It’s dark already. Our people are all climbing into their holes and pulling them in after them. I need you rested and ready because I want you over there watching the Shadowgate. And not sightseeing, either. We need to get a signal up the instant Longshadow cracks the gate.”
I lifted a hand. As soon as I cleared my mouth I asked, “Why don’t I watch Longshadow? Smoke don’t want to get close out there. I might not see the shadows moving till it’s too late. Longshadow I can see while he’s making his summons.” I dumped some sugar water in behind the last bite of bread.
Smoke groaned.
“Shit.” Suddenly, the Old Man looked like he wanted to cry.
“Where’s One-Eye?” I asked. “Better get him in here.”
Smoke had not made a sound in years.
“You find him. I’m the physician here.” He headed for Smoke’s cot.
“Good idea.” I got myself up and stumbled toward the doorway on still feeble legs.
62
It was a great night for all hell to break loose. I had not really noticed the gathering darkness while walking the ghost, so lost in thought had I been. But clouds were moving in to deepen the darkness. “One-Eye!” I bellowed. “Get your dead ass over here now!”
I considered the clouds. My suggestion looked real good now.
Where the hell was that little shit? I climbed on up out of Croaker’s dugout. “One-Eye!” I headed for his hole. Surely he did not intend to spend the night there? He had not done nearly enough work on it to make it a good place to wait out a night when shadows were slithering about, wizard or not.
I was almost there when the little wizard came scuttling from the direction of my shelter. “What do you want, Kid?”
“Where the hell you been? Never mind. We got trouble with the ghost.”
“Uhm?”
“He’s making noise,” I whispered. Then I glanced around. I had forgotten to guard my tongue.
It was my lucky night. There were no crows anywhere around.
One-Eye glanced over his shoulder. “Making noise?” He did not believe me.
“Did I stutter? Get your ass in there. Croaker’s already checking him for physical problems.” I continued to look for listeners. Mice and bats and shadows have little ears, too.
A boreal light rippled between Overlook and the jagged ruins of Kiaulune, reflecting brilliantly off the metal in the fortress wall. It was just a sputter, though, as Lady got tuned up. A moment later the only light visible anywhere came from the surviving chambers of crystal atop Overlook’s towers. Longshadow’s favorite was particularly bright.
“You gonna stand around and gawk or are you gonna get on with business?”
That was One-Eye. Turn everything around so any delays would be my fault.
I took one last look around before I went inside. Still nothing. I dropped the rags covering the doorway, moved a shadow repellent candle on a stand into place between the doorway and the rest of us. I lighted it from the nearest lamp. We ought not to count on Longshadow to keep our timetable. “I wonder if the Shadowmaster isn’t curious about why we aren’t showing any lights and making any noise.”
“Hush,” One-Eye told me. He whispered, “Thought you said Croaker was giving him a physical.”
Croaker was sitting in my chair, slumped. “He was when I left.” I grabbed a pitcher and sucked down a bellyful of sweet water.
“He don’t look real frisky to me,” One-Eye said. He poked Smoke.
“I didn’t say he got up and danced a hornpipe. He groaned. In all the time I’ve been around him the only noises he ever made was when we thought he was coming down with pneumonia. A groan looked like a big thing. Croaker agreed.”
The Old Man made a noise. He returned to flesh. As soon as his head cleared he told us, “It’s going to be interesting. Longshadow just sent for Howler, Singh and the girl. He’s ready to get started.”
One-Eye grumbled, “A thrill a minute around here. Shadows again. I knew I should’ve picked up that farmland and got out. Swizzledick here says the runt’s been getting uppity. Talking back and everything.”
“He made a sound,” Croaker snapped. “Call it a groan. And when I tried to take a look at the girl he shied away and gave off a sort of feeling to do with shadows.”
“‘She is the darkness,’” I quoted. “Lately he’s done it any time I take him close to anybody female. It’s strongest near Soulcatcher. Sarie and the Radisha tie for number two.”
“Ah,” One-Eye said. “I’d almost forgotten that old witch. How’s she doing, Murgen?”
“You care?”
“I hear Cordy’s on his way. He might want to know.”
“You’re going to tell him we can spy on his bounce baby?”
“Grr. I guess not. But I owe him a couple, three big tweaks.”
Personally, I doubt that anybody has ever gotten ahead of One-Eye anywhere. Except maybe Goblin. One-Eye is the kind of guy who gets even with you first.
One-Eye is also the kind of guy who can still hand out the occasional surprise after two hundred years. “I don’t make it through the night tonight, there’s a will in my bedroll. Most everything goes to Goblin. Couple things, though, I want Gota to have.” He was peeling back Smoke’s eyelids at the time so did not notice when Croaker and I exchanged startled looks.
Croaker said, “You don’t make it, there’s not much chance we’ll still be here, either.”
“The Kid will be. His mother-in-law claims he’s destined. What for, who knows? The only one who ever did is dead.”
Before the Old Man could ask, I said, “He’s talking about something Hong Tray came up with way back in Dejagore. I’m not sure what it was. Sarie and I talked about it but they never made it clear to her, either. Something about the future of the Nyueng Bao. I know it bugged the shit out of Uncle Doj and Mother Gota. Thai Dei’s more neutral but he’s not keen on it, either. I think he’s glad he doesn’t really know what’s going on.”
“I think you’ve pretty well shaped the future of those people already,” Croaker told me. “We’ve still got half the tribe traipsing around behind us. Where’s your pet, One-Eye? I haven’t seen him in a week.”
“JoJo? Damned if I know. Long as he stays out from underfoot... Look, I don’t see anything different about this guy. Not from here. Let me take him out, see if there’s any change in him where he’s at.”
