Nox pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m getting a headache. A big fat throbbing one, relentless as a moth.”
She spoke as if it were a mere annoyance that they had realized where Rigg was hiding. Her calmness dispelled most of his fear. “Do you think we can talk them out of this? Or will you try to keep them busy while I climb out on the roof?”
“Quiet,” she said. “I’m building a wall.”
Since her hands were doing nothing at all, Rigg assumed her wall must be metaphorical. A wall between herself and her fear?
As if he had asked aloud, she whispered an explanation. “A wall around the house. I’m filling it with a will to turn away.”
He should have known that Father would have become her teacher because she had some kind of interesting talent. “They’re already at the door.”
“But nobody will want to come any farther. For as long as I can sustain it.”
“How long is that? Minutes? Hours?”
“It depends on how many wills are attacking it, and how strongly determined they are,” she answered.
She took her fingers from the bridge of her nose and walked to the back door, then spoke through it to the guards in back. “I’m opening the front door in a moment, so you might as well go around.”
“Do you think I’m fooled?” asked a male voice from the other side. “As soon as I leave, you’ll come out the back.”
“Suit yourself,” said Nox. Then, to Rigg, she said softly, “That’s how you get people to outsmart themselves. If they think they’ve found your plan, they’ll stop looking for it.”
“I heard that,” said the man on the other side of the door. “I can do that spell myself.”
“We weren’t doing a spell,” said Nox. “We were just talking.”
As they walked to the front door, Nox added, for Rigg’s ears alone, “Don’t go through the door when I open it.”
She opened the door. Standing right there were two burly men. One was the blacksmith, and one a farmer from an outlying homestead. Just behind them, but off the porch, stood the cobbler Tegay, father of the dead boy Kyokay. His face was streaked with tears and Umbo was clinging to his arm, half-hidden behind his father’s bulk.
Rigg wanted to run to Umbo and tell him what had happened-tell him everything, the magic and all, so that Umbo would understand that Rigg was only trying to save Kyokay, and had risked his own life to do it. Umbo would believe him, if they only had a chance to talk.
The two men at the door made as if to come inside-to burst in, from their posture-but after a shifting of weight they remained outside after all.
“He was not here when you searched,” said Nox. “I did not know he was coming.”
“You say,” said the farmer.
“I say,” said Nox, “and you know my word is good.”
“How do we know that?” asked the blacksmith.
“Because I pay my bills promptly,” answered Nox, “even when my tenants haven’t paid me.” Then she called more loudly. “Tegay!”
“You don’t have to shout,” said the cobbler softly, from behind them. They moved aside a little, so Nox and Tegay could see each other.
“Why do you accuse this boy of killing your son?”
“Because my boy Umbo watched him throw Kyokay over the falls.”
“He did not,” said Nox.
“I did too!” cried Umbo, taking a step closer to the porch.
“I’m not calling you a liar,” said Nox. “I’m saying that you are telling, not what you saw, but what you concluded from what you saw.”
“Same thing,” said the blacksmith.
“Umbo,” said Nox. “Come here.”
Umbo stepped back and stood close to his father again.
The cobbler said, “I’m not letting him into that house, not while that child-killer is there!”
“Umbo,” said Nox, “what did you actually see? Don’t lie, now. Tell us what your eyes actually witnessed.”
Rigg knew that Umbo would tell the truth-he was no liar. Then he’d realize for himself that Rigg hadn’t thrown or pushed, but had only reached out to try to save.
Umbo looked wildly from Rigg to Nox and then up at his father. “It happened like I said.”
It surprised Rigg that Umbo would persist in his mistake. But perhaps Umbo was afraid to change his story now. Everyone knew how Tegay beat him when he was angry.
“I see,” said Nox. “You were supposed to be watching Kyokay, weren’t you? Keeping him out of danger. But he ran away, didn’t he? Ran ahead of you, and when you got to the top of Cliff Road, he was already out on the rocks.”
Tegay’s face changed. “Is that true?” he asked his son.
“Kyokay didn’t obey me, but I still saw what I saw,” Umbo insisted.
“And that’s my question,” said Nox. “Scrambling up that road, you were out of breath. You had to watch your handholds and footholds so you wouldn’t fall. There are moments you can glimpse the falls and see what’s happening. But you wouldn’t have stopped to look, would you?”
“I saw Rigg throw Kyokay into the water.”
“While you were still coming up the road?” prompted Nox.
“Yes.”
“And when you got to the top, what did you see?” asked Nox.
“Kyokay was hanging from the lip of a stone, dangling over the falls. And Rigg was stretched out across two stones trying to slap and pry at Kyokay’s hands! And then he fell.” On that last sentence, a sob burst from him at the memory.
“And then what did you do?” asked Nox.
“I went back to the shore and picked up stones and threw them at Rigg.”
“You thought you could avenge your brother with stones?”
“Rigg was having trouble getting back onto his feet. I thought I could make him lose his balance and fall in.”
Hearing Umbo admit to having tried to kill him was infuriating. “And you nearly did, too,” said Rigg.
Nox hushed him with a gesture. “Umbo, you saw your brother die a terrifying death, falling from the top of Stashi Falls. You thought you understood what happened from the glimpses that you saw. But let me tell you what really happened.”
“You weren’t there,” growled the farmer.
“Neither were you, so keep your mouth shut,” said Nox calmly. “Rigg just came back from two months of trapping. On his back he was carrying all the furs that he and his father had gathered. Did you see that bundle of furs?”
Umbo shook his head.
“Yes, you did,” said Nox. “That’s what Rigg was throwing into the water when you caught a glimpse of him as you scrambled up Cliff Road. That’s what got swept over the falls, not your brother. Your brother was already dangling from the rock. Rigg got rid of his burden so he could go and try to save him.”
“No,” said Umbo. But he did not sound very certain.
“Think,” said Nox. “Rigg must have done something with his furs. Where were they? Would he have left them on the other side? What do Rigg and his father always do with the furs they bring to town?”
Umbo shook his head.
“And then you say Rigg stretched himself across two rocks. Why? To slap at Kyokay’s fingers and push him from his perch? Why would he need to do that? How long could Kyokay have held on anyway? Did he have the strength to climb back up onto the rock? Was the rock even big enough?”
“I don’t know,” said Umbo.
“The only story that makes sense is the true one,” said Nox. “Rigg was crossing where he and his father
