'Sack and a half. Last night's take would buy five or six. But we could have charged more,' Rafik said, and Andrew's face was growing red with his laughter.
It was a trivial sum, of course. Barda's list had grown:
one full set 0f decent clothing 600
poured stone, 10 tonnes 2000
glass panes 700
flour 100
silverware 200-1000
paint 500
chairs up to 2000
tables up to 4000
soap 100
curtains 500-1000
advertising ???
napkins, ~l00 (logo?) 200
washer 5000
cookware:
stew pots 50
teapot 20
butcher's table! 1500 or make one
tea
guide spot and power account 8850
line wire 4000
When Jemmy went to fetch wood for the pit, Andrew was there. 'I found grain,' he said.
'What, you mean before we crossed the last ridge?'
'Well, yes, in that last valley, but not where you were. We followed you on the ridge. Just before the sun came up I was looking back. It was all yellow. Earthlife yellow. It's not far from the Swan. I can show you.'
'What kind of grain?'
'Two or three kinds. I went back to check, day before yesterday. Grain. Why would the settlers bring anything that looks that much like wheat and isn't?'
Jemmy thought it over while he and Andrew collected deadwood. They'd been here nine days, and they hadn't had to chop down trees for firewood, but the day would come.
He said, 'Then all we need is a mill.'
'I'll show you next time I go out, you want to come.' Andrew moved off, dragging a log.
There was just too much wrong with that.
Grain: right. Barda's daddy, or his daddy or his, would have planted wheat and rye around the Swan. But it was a great find. Why wasn't Andrew taking the credit in his usual booming voice? Or demanding some favor in return? And when had he had the chance to check it out?
He found Willametta on the hill above the Swan. 'Willya? Did you see any grain hereabouts before you got to the inn?'
Willametta looked around. Her windbreaker had become a bag for onions and mushrooms. 'I didn't.'
'Did Andrew?'
'No. Why?'
'Any idea where Duncan's got to?'
She'd seen his worry. 'It's all going fine, isn't it? Why are you turning weird now? I haven't seen Duncan Nick since breakfast.'
'Maybe I started weird. How would you like to go to Destiny Town?'
'What?'
'Somebody has to buy stuff. It sure isn't me, not with this accent!'
She smiled. 'I guess I could stay out of trouble. Do I look like a living woman now?'
'Close. Let's test that.' He took the bag she'd made of her windbreaker and set it down.
'Jeremy, Destiny people won't see this much of me.'
'Speaking for the felons assembled, we're relieved to hear it.'
Conversation deteriorated.
Winnie looked into the wood, grinned at them, and passed on. Then dashed back, scooped up Willametta's windbreaker, and ran away laughing. They were in no condition to chase her down.
Too many of them had spent too much of the day arguing possibilities. Nevertheless the arguments had culled Barda's list into what they needed most that cost least. By the red light of evening's coals it had all evolved into a plan.
Someone was going to have to go into town.
At some point that person had become Andrew.
He was going alone. 'You were right, Jeremy. One of us is just skinny. Two together look like walking dead.'
'Our bones aren't showing through so much now,' Jemmy agreed. 'You can pass. Most of us could.'
'But not you. You'd make a mistake.'
'Not Barda either. Barda, the places that sell supplies for an inn would all know your face.'
Barda grinned. 'They'd all tell me how wonderful I look. All that lost weight.' She looked down at her windbreaker. It was too dark to see food stains, but she said, 'I'd kill a prole for a stack of napkins.'
'How high?'
Felons were tottering off to their beds. Duncan Nick wasn't among them. Duncan hadn't come to dinner. Jemmy hadn't seen him since breakfast. It bothered him most because he'd been expecting it.
Andrew said, 'Come with me at dawn, I'll show you where the grain is. '
He'd been expecting that too. 'Not dawn,' Jemmy said. 'I'll clean up from dinner and set up breakfast first. I'll start after that and catch up.'
They went into the inn. They left the hall lights on all the time now. Unbelievable luxury, and Spiral Town saw none of it. Felons and merchants took it for granted, and nobody wondered why, nobody but Jemmy Bloocher.
The ninth day had a lid of dark clouds.
Jemmy watched Andrew leave. His pack looked heavy. Jemmy waved; but there were things he had to do before he set off after Andrew.
Cleaning out the pit wasn't one. Those ashes would get to be too much of a good thing, but for now they were authentication of the restaurant's age.
There were squirrels and songbirds about. They did some of the cleaning up of spilled food. When Jemmy, Amnon, and Winnie finished the job, they left scraps in the wood.
Curious looks followed his departure. His pack was light. He'd hidden the gathering's trove of speckles. He didn't want to be carrying that down the Road.
He crossed the bridge and moved immediately to the center of the Road.
The river ran on his right, chuckling unseen. Jemmy moved briefly to its edge: a curve of melted rock flowing straight down into rushing water, He moved back to center. He'd considered climbing to the ridge, but that would have slowed him, and....e could be overreacting. Seeing murder in every face.
Willametta was no creature of evil. She would have been free of the Windfarm in less than a year. She'd followed Andrew for love, it seemed.
And Winnie's story, told by others, was that she'd killed a man because it was the only way to be rid of him. She had scars and broken bones to show for their time together, and he'd stalked her after she ran to Destiny Town. Maybe Destiny justice would have imprisoned him. Maybe she'd kill quicker next time a man gave her a hard time. She was probably no threat to a man like Jemmy.
Barda would never do anything to hurt the Swan. But the Windfarmers were felons. Duncan Nick was
