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Well, mother made us a people, and her a bard from her youth. And little enough else they had to do on the long evenings of the Black Months but make music, in the early days. Though we aren?t as… constant… about it as the Rangers, to be sure.
By the time the light faded Rudi and Edain had roughed out three more bows, and guided the best of the Southsider makers through the begi
Driving it into his memory; none of them have their letters here.
A woman was crooning to her own baby Edain?s song about the mother and how she tricked the child of the faerie folk into revealing his imposture.
Well, and we?ve given them that wealth, too, the which nobody can take, Rudi thought. For what is living, day by day, but living out the story you?re in?
Few stayed up much past dark here, when a burning stick was the best light they had-and that used sparingly, lest it draw enemies. Edain yawned and stretched when he?d emptied his plate the second time, smiling. ?It?s cheerful you are,? Rudi said. ?Sure, and I?m glad to do some work,? Edain replied.?Traveling and adventuring are well enough-the things we?ve seen and done, Chief!-and fighting, well, you fight when you have to, not when you wish. Hunting?s work and play at once. But I miss the dun and the fields.?
His eyes grew distant.?Wheat harvest will be over, but there?s the soft fruit and the apples and the rest of the orchards, and haying, and soon it?ll be time to raise the spuds and get the turnips into the clenches, and put all right for the fall plowing, and there?s always the stock. Or going over to Sutterdown and helping with the grapes there. It makes me fair itch a bit to miss it all, not to mention the Sabbats and Esbats and the Wheel of the Year. I?d be glad even to muck out the dairy, and that on a cold wet day in the Black Months, so.? ?Now, boyo, that?s going far and far!? Rudi laughed.
He was a warrior by trade, though of course he?d done his share of fieldwork and put his hand to this and that, in the smithy most often. Shoveling compacted manure out onto a cart was one particular chore he didn?t remember fondly; it made getting in the sheaves or even pig butchering pleasant by comparison. He spoke lightly: ?Dun Fairfax has a fine dairy barn, but I miss sitting in your mother?s kitchen more, watching her taking an apple pie out of the oven, and the outrageous fine smell of it, and the taste of it too with a piece of her cheese and a big glass of cold fresh milk.?
When he said it he wished the words back; Edain smiled at the half jest, but Rudi could tell he was wishing himself back there, at table with his parents and brother and sisters and the rest of the Aylward household. ?But there?s some here glad enough of your presence,? he said teasingly, to break the moment.
It was true, too. Two Southsider girls were standing behind the barrel-chested bowman, one of them winding a lock of her black hair about her finger and both smiling and giggling when he turned to look. They were considerably cleaner than most of their tribe. Edain had whittled them combs and toothbrushes and shown them the use of the Sweet William that bloomed by the creek a little way from here; you could get a good lather out of the roots, which was why it was also known as soapwort.
And the washing of them was a piece of instruction he probably enjoyed more than trying to turn their menfolk into bowyers, Rudi thought.
Between constant toil and weather and one child after another-so many died, and they didn?t seem to have any idea how to prevent conception anyway-the Southsider women aged even faster than their men, but these were a few years younger than Edain. ?Ripe as summer strawberries, they are,? Rudi said; one of them looked at him, and pouted when he shook his head smiling. ?Ah, I?ll be off to my blankets, then, Chief,? Edain said, brightening considerably as he let himself be led into the shadows with one girl tugging at each hand. ?And to sleep, eventually, eh?? Rudi called with a grin, and Edain threw a laugh over one shoulder.
Theirs were not a bashful folk. Didn?t the Charge of the Goddess Herself say?All acts of love and pleasure are My rituals?? Rudi remained by the embers of the fire himself; there had been plenty of those lingering glances cast in his direction, but there weren?t so many unattached women here he could be sure of avoiding trouble over it. And he hadn?t had the heart for dalliance right now anyway.
What with worry, toil and care. Ah, the merry life of a hero! And it?s pure joy to be the Chief, too; well, I?ve seen that wear on Mother over the years, that I have.
The rest of the little tribe rolled themselves into scraps and tatters of pre-Change cloth or crawled between stiff hides; Jake had a nearly intact sleeping bag, which he drew across the sleeping form of his woman and their two living children. Others huddled together, with leaves as extra insulation and protection from the mosquitoes.
At least they don?t have lice, Rudi thought; probably none of their founders had, and they?d been too isolated to pick them up since.
The sentries ghosted out to take up their positions; the rain had faded away into a close damp night, and there was absolutely nothing wrong with the skill with which the lookouts vanished into the rustling, buzzing darkness. They?d had to learn that well, or die horribly. Jake fished a drumstick out of the remnants of the perpetual stew in the communal pot, originally an aluminum trash-can roughly cut down with the jagged edges hammered over, and took a meditative bite. ?And now my friend, you and your folk were to help me with my task?? Rudi said softly.?I wouldn?t ask it save that need drives me; we must have those wagons at the bridge, and soon. The lives of oath-brothers and kin and one very dear to me rest upon it.?
Jake frowned and looked around at his sleeping people.?You helped us plenty,? he said. A hesitation.?You could be the big man here, if you stayed. Plenty of the bitches would like you, even more than the Archer. You could show us lots and lots, make us strong. Strong like your Clan, that you talked about. Show us how to get right with the spooks, too.?
Rudi smiled, but there was real respect in his nod as well as pity.
This man may be a savage and pig-ignorant of a thousand things, but he knows that to be a true Chief is to serve his people?s need, he thought. And he?s realizing how great their need is, now that he?s seen a glimpse of the world outside. He?ll give anything he has to aid them, even his own position. ?My friend, it?s honored I am by your words,? he said, which he found was true.?But I have my own kin and friends to think of. Also I could not help you as much as you think. Your people?s problem is not only that you lack skills, but that you are too few, and your enemies too many.? ?Yeah.? Jake?s fist hit the ground.?There?s lotsa things we could do, if we could settle down an? not run an? hide all the time. Mebbe plant corn, even, like the Iowa men, n? raise cows instead of just killing them. Fix up houses so?s not so many of our littles die in the cold time, learn the making of stuff… Can?t do that if the Knifers and the Bone Breakers and the Skull Cookers are always up your ass.?
Rudi nodded; you couldn?t plow and plant if the horizons were always apt to spew out armed men without warning. ?I?ll stay until you?ve men who can make bows,? he said gently. ?But I must be getting back, you see.? ?Yeah,? Jake said dully, and crawled under the opened sleeping bag.