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Finally, The Shemibob said, "We have less time than I thought. We should go now."
Deyv did not recall ever having heard words that made him as happy.
41
SEVENTY times The Dark Beast had crossed the glaring skies.
Thrush was walking now and babbling, on the edge of mastering many words and forming short sentences.
Vana had just a
Phemropit said that it would soon need more "food." They must look for another source of the ore from which it got its energy. The Shemibob had promised that they would keep an eye out for it. But she confided to the rest that there was not much chance they would find the ore.
This made Deyv sad. Though he found it impossible to love the creature, he did have a certain fondness for it. Moreover, he and the others depended heavily upon it for transportation, meat, and protection.
When it expired, they would have a much less comfortable and safe life.
Shortly after this, the Yawtl said that they were getting close to his native village.
"What do you propose to do?" The Shemibob asked. "Take your egg and the Emerald to your home and be a shaman there? Or go on with us to look for the gateway? It would be best if you did both. You might be able to talk your people into coming with us. Then, if we get through the gateway, you and your people will have a new world to settle down in. You might also find new and valuable things to steal."
"If!" Hoozisst said. "I am not one to put much faith in if's. Besides, this gateway probably leads only to some other on this planet. I'd find myself in a worse situation and might never get home."
"Then you will die and your tribe with you."
Deyv thought that if the Yawtl's village was nearby, then so was the place where Feersh had moored her tharakorm. And near that was the cave in which she'd hidden his and Vana's eggs. He asked Hoozisst if he would lead them to it
"What can you give me for this service?" Hoozisst asked.
"Nothing," Deyv said angrily. He hesitated, then said, "Nothing except not cutting your throat. After all,
Yawtl, you owe me. If it wasn't for you, I'd not be in this mess."
"Thank him, then," Sloosh said. "If it wasn't for him, you'd not have had all these educational experiences. You'd be a simple savage squatting in the mud, incapable even of dreaming about the wonderful things you've seen. Not to mention having known me."
"I owe you," Hoozisst said, his eyes narrowed. "But it's not what you think."
Later, Deyv told Vana of his conversation.
"But we can find the cave by ourselves."
"Do you really think if s necessary? We have these." She lifted up her soul egg.
"I'm not sure they're true ones. You know what The Shemibob said when I asked her if she'd fixed them so they'd show a phase-in even if we were mismatched."
For some reason, Vana burst into tears and ran away. Deyv figured out why she'd done that a few minutes afterward. He was sorry that he'd hurt her. But the truth had to be faced. Anyway, he wasn't certain that The Shemibob was just teasing him. Look at how stubborn Vana was about his going to her tribe.
Another thing worried Deyv. That was that the baby had no soul egg. Both he and Vana had looked for a .soul-egg tree during their journey. Of course, they'd found none, since these were either well protected by their owners within the villages or by the Houses or hidden in the forest. Anyway, even if one had been found, it might not have had a matching egg for Thrush. What if, when they got back to their tribe, whichever it was, no match could be found?
Thrush would be killed. It wasn't so bad to lose a babv before you came to love it. At least, that was what Deyv had been told. But to see a spear thrust into the baby now—that vision was unendurable.
He told Sloosh about this.
"You are a savage! Could you do this?"
"What else could I do? I wouldn't like it, I'd be grief-stricken. But that is the ancient way of my people."
"Sometimes," Sloosh said, "I don't know why I bother trying to talk you into going through the gateway."
They ate heavily of a sow that Aejip killed. The Yawtl surprised everybody by insisting on cooking it He exnpained that he was in a good mood because his journey was soon to be ended. He wanted to do some service for the others as a slight repayment for what they'd done for him.
Dew awoke with someone yelling in his ear. He had a bad headache, and his mouth felt as if it had been filled with sand which Aejio had used to bury her excrement. Then Vana was shaking him and shouting that he should wake up.
"Feersh his been killed! Her throat's been cut! And The Shernihob's bag has been stolen!"
Dew tried to sit up, but his elbow kept slipping. "What? Who?"
"The Vawtl!" Vana said. Her face looked drawn and pale, and her eyelids were heavy. "He did it! He did it! Thank Tirshkel, Thrush is safe!"
Dew staggered up to find the room in the vessel in an unroar. It took him some time to determine exactly what had happened. Only Vana at first was aware of it. She'd eaten less than the others because she'd had a stomach upset. The drug that the Yawtl had put in the meat had affected her less. She'd awakened first and despite a sluggish feeling had gotten up to check on the baby. He was still sleeping, having eaten some of the drugged meat.
Then Vana had seen Feersh, lying on her back, her mouth open, a bloody slice ringing her neck. So deep had been the incision that the bone of the windpipe showed.
Sometime during the journey, the Yawtl had found in the jungle a plant containing a drug. He'd prepared it in the pork, in what form no one knew. He must have put aside a piece for himself of undoped meat.
Everybody recalled seeing him eat; they would have thought it strange if he hadn't.
After all except himself had fallen asleep, he'd killed the witch. And then he'd taken off with the bag and all its treasures except for The Shemibob's flashlight and Emerald of Anticipation. She had kept them by her while she slept.
Why hadn't he just cut everybody's throat? That would have been logical. It would have kept them from pursuing him. Also, he could have dragged their bodies out, though it would have been perhaps too much for him to haul the great weight of the Archkerri and The Shemibob. Then he could also have taken the priceless vessel.
No. That would have been too much for him to transport at the same time as the bag. He could have hidden it, though, and come after it later.
Sloosh's opinion was that Hoozisst had spared them for two reasons. One, though he was often sarcastic about them, he really liked them. Except for the witch, whom he hated because she'd cheated him and tried to murder him. Two, the Yawtl probably wanted to give them a run for the treasure.
"We ran him down once, and that hurt his pride. He's giving us another chance, rather giving himself one, to elude us this time. He'll not only have the bag of treasures but the satisfaction of beating us."
"But," Deyv said, "he knows that you can see his psychic tracks. He can't lose you."
"He can if I get tired and give up. Or if I don't chase him at all."
"He won't be able to return to his village," Vana said, "until you've given up on him."
"Until we've given up," The Shemibob said. "Which may be never."
They buried the witch, loaded up, and set out Sometime later, Deyv had a consternating thought. What if the Yawtl went to the cave and took their eggs? It would be just like him; he'd have a good laugh envisioning their faces when they found them gone. He told Vana of this, and she started worrying, too.
Just before sleep-time, there were several mild tremors of the earth. The Shemibob consulted her