following a path back in time-Rigg’s own path. And he had done it in order to warn him of something.
Umbo slowed down-Rigg could see that he was mouthing the words with difficulty, and yet they came so rapidly that Rigg could still only just barely understand him.
“Give the jewels to Loaf to hide them at once.”
Rigg nodded to show he understood. He could see Umbo sag with relief-and in that moment he disappeared.
Rigg walked around to where the coachman was watering the horses. “I’ve changed my mind,” he said. “There are plenty of coaches here, I can see, so let me pay you for bringing us here and then if we happen to meet for the road back to the dock, so much the better. But meanwhile you’re free to take another fare.”
The man named a price for the one journey, looking vastly disappointed. Rigg knew the fare was much too high, but he doubled it and paid the man, who bowed and fawned and made himself so obnoxious with gratitude that Rigg was glad to turn and jog away from him, trotting toward the others.
They came to him at a walk, and Loaf brandished a pass for three visitors for the whole day. Rigg thanked him, but then drew them away from the tower.
“Where are we going?” asked Umbo.
“We’ll go to the tower soon enough,” said Rigg. “But something must happen first.”
“What?” asked Loaf.
“I’ll tell you where we can’t be overheard by half the pilgrims here.”
They headed for the men’s latrines but then passed them by. Not until they had found a secluded place behind the latrine wall did Rigg stop and, facing the wall, draw the small bag of jewels out of his trousers.
“What are you doing?” whispered Loaf harshly. “Get that back in your pants.”
“No sir,” said Rigg. “I’m giving it to you for safekeeping.”
“Why? A pickpocket’s as likely to get it from me as from you.”
“Quieter,” said Rigg. “I had a warning.”
“Who from?” asked Umbo.
“You,” said Rigg.
Umbo blanched, then looked at Loaf and back again. He seemed nervous. “I’ve been with Loaf the whole time, I didn’t say a word to you.”
“The warning came from you-you in the future. You were very upset. You told me to give the jewels to Loaf, and he should hide them at once.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Loaf. “How could Umbo warn you about anything when he doesn’t know what you’re talking about?”
“He knows all right,” said Rigg. “He’ll explain it to you later. For right now, Loaf, take this bag and hide it- someplace where it will be safe for a few days or a few weeks or a year. I don’t know how far in the future Umbo had gotten before he was able to come back and warn me.”
“I suppose this means I actually learn how to do it,” said Umbo. “Since it was me who came, and not you.”
“If I’m understanding you aright,” said Loaf, “then you’ve lost your mind.”
“Take it on faith for now,” said Rigg. “If I can trust you with wealth like this, you can trust me and Umbo not to be insane.”
“I don’t think the two things have anything to do with each other,” said Loaf, but still he took the little bag in his massive hand. “I’ll hide it all right, but if someone sees me do it or finds it by chance, it’s on your head, not mine.”
“Exactly,” said Rigg. “And to be safe, don’t tell Umbo or me where you hid it. I don’t know what the danger is, but there must be an excellent reason for me not to have the jewels, and it seems to me that it’s best if I also don’t know where they are. I think Umbo will be safer, too, if only you know.”
“So if I die, they’re lost forever,” said Loaf.
“I already have wealth beyond my wildest dreams,” said Rigg.
“Just like a child… easy come, easy go.” But Loaf turned away and walked into the park-like woods that surrounded the tower grounds, while Rigg and Umbo started off toward the trail of pilgrims headed back to the tower from the latrines.
“We might as well go, as long as we’re here,” said Umbo.
“Who knows when we’ll get a chance again? Something’s going to go seriously wrong or you wouldn’t have come back to warn me, and it’s probably going to be soon or you wouldn’t have warned me right when you did.”
“Maybe that was the only time I could find you.”
“Who knows?” said Rigg. “I don’t like knowing that something’s going to go wrong. Here I spent the past couple of weeks thinking I was handling things rather well.”
“But things going wrong, that’s the usual, isn’t it?” said Umbo. “My brother died. Your father died. Whatever happens next can’t be as bad as that.”
“Unless I get killed,” said Rigg. “Falling out of the boat into the water and I drown and so you had me give the jewels to Loaf so-”
“I’d tell you not to drown,” said Umbo, “and if I wanted to steal the jewels, I’d tell you to give them to me.”
“So you’ve already thought about this?” asked Rigg.
“Just keep peeing,” said Umbo.
By the time they were through, Loaf was back.
Umbo asked, “Where did you go?”
“Shut up,” replied Loaf. “What now? What’s this all about?”
“Rigg and I decided that whatever it is, it’s probably not the worst thing in the world. I mean, we know that you and I are still alive, whatever happens to Rigg.”
“I thought I told you to shut up,” said Loaf, sounding more like he meant it now.
They showed their three-person pass to a different set of guards from the ones Loaf had talked to before, so they wouldn’t see Rigg’s rich-boy clothing and decide they had been defrauded of their rightful bribe. Then they joined the throng of pilgrims going in.
Though the outside was metal, inside the structure was massive stone, with a long narrow ramp climbing in a spiral up the inside walls. There wasn’t a window in the place, and yet it was brightly lighted by magical globes hanging in the air.
“This ramp is steep,” said Loaf.
“You’re getting old,” said Umbo. “I could run all the way up.”
“Do it then,” said Loaf.
“No,” said Rigg. “The ramp is narrow, and all it takes is one pilgrim getting irritated and giving you a shove.”
“But I can’t die,” said Umbo. “Because I’m alive in the future to come back and warn you to do whatever.”
“Maybe you came back from the dead,” said Rigg.
“Come on, that’s impossible,” said Umbo.
“Coming back from the future is impossible, too,” said Loaf. “If you can explain one, you can explain the other.”
Rigg wasn’t at all sure he could explain anything, at least not well enough to be sure Loaf would believe it. After all the years Father had pressed on him the importance of telling no one, he had no practice in explaining anything to anyone. Nox already knew, and Umbo had a gift of his own. Yet to tell Loaf less than everything now was to make it plain that he was not trusted. That would make him resentful-and therefore less trustworthy. If future-Umbo thought it was safe to trust Loaf with the jewels, it seemed pointless not to include him in the secret of their shared power to reach backward in time.
All the other pilgrims on the ramp ahead and behind them were engaged in their own conversations. Keeping their voices at a normal volume, Rigg and Umbo told him about their abilities, and what they were able to do together. Between Loaf’s questions and Rigg and Umbo correcting each other, it soon was clear enough.
“You still have that knife?” asked Loaf. “It didn’t disappear or anything, did it?”
“In my luggage,” said Rigg.
