I looked at d.i.c.kon. "Superst.i.tion?"
"Could be. They"ve never seen one of these creatures."
"Exactly. And if they"ve seen some prints in the snow-well, when snow melts so do the prints. Outwards. So a small print would look bigger after an hour or so. Right?"
"Could well be wolves, as you suggested."
"Wrong time of the year for them to be hungry. Shall we chance it? It"d save three or four days" travel. . . ."
"Why not? I"m game if you are."
"Of course!" At least I would have if my ring hadn"t kept on insisting that somewhere ahead lay the possibility of danger. But this way would save so many days, and if we were careful . . .
In order to try and reach the gap before nightfall, we set off before dawn.
None of the villagers came to see us off. At first it was easy, a clear track leading up towards the forest, which we hoped to skirt to the east. On the fringes we could see where the villagers below had started to clear the wood for fuel, for we came across chippings, a discarded and broken axe, a couple of sleds they used for transporting the wood.
d.i.c.kon pointed to one of these. "Why shouldn"t we borrow one? It would make carrying all this stuff much easier. Quicker, too. The runners on the underside are obviously meant for snow."
Growch c.o.c.ked his leg, then thought better of it. "Good for a lift, too, for those poor critturs as "as short legs . . ."
"We can"t just steal it. . . ."
"I said "borrow," " said d.i.c.kon quickly. "Once we get to the top we can send it back down. The slope"ll carry it back."
"All right, we"ll haul it unladen till we get to the snow line, to preserve the runners, then we"ll load it up."
When we stopped to eat the sun was already high in the sky, and I reckoned we were nearly halfway to the summit. For some reason, although nothing stirred except a couple of eagles taking advantage of the thermals high above, we all felt irritable and uneasy. d.i.c.kon kept glancing over his shoulder in the direction of the forest we were skirting, my ring was getting more uncomfortable by the minute, although I reckoned any threat would come from the trees and we were giving them a wide berth. Growch said his mind felt "itchy." I knew exactly what he meant.
We carried on climbing. The forest thinned out to the left of us, and we came across the first patches of snow as the air grew colder. To our left the sun began its western descent and I realized it would be a race for the gap between us and the dark. We stopped briefly for food again, and this time we loaded the sled with everything portable, including Growch.
I looked up. Another couple of hours should do it, and there would be the valley I had dreamed of for so long, the valley that cushioned the fabled Blue Mountain. "Here be Dragons. . . ."
"Let"s go," I said. "Let"s go!"
Now we were crunching our way through real snow, unmelted all the way through summer, not the slush we had encountered on the lower slopes. The sled slid easily in our wake; we had attached the rope so that we could both pull it. The slope however grew steeper, and now we were bending forward, me at least wishing I had stouter boots: the cold was already striking through the soles and I had hardly any grip, but at least we were nearly there. The thinning forest was behind us and the gap was only some half mile away. The last bit looked the worst; the incline became so steep that it looked as though we should have to crawl on hands and knees.
We took a final breather; less than a half hour should do it. The breath plumed from our nostrils like smoke. Growch"s eyebrows, such as they were, were rimed with frost. The sun was near gone, a red ball waiting to slide down the western mountains.
"Right," I said. "One more push should do it. . . . What"s the matter?" d.i.c.kon was staring at something in the snow just ahead of us. With a sudden look of horror he backed away, his hands held out in front as though he was pushing the sight away from him.
"Look, Summer," he said. "Look there! It was true what they said!"
And there, clear as crystal in hitherto untrodden snow, was the print of an enormous eight-toed foot.
Chapter Twenty.Three I clapped my hands to my mouth and stepped back in unconscious repudiation, but there was no denying what I had seen. It was as clear as the ice that lined it, reflecting the last of the red sun so it looked as though the giant that made the print had bled into the snow. d.i.c.kon pointed out another print, another and another. They came from just above us and then went away down towards the forest.
I swallowed, hard. Those footprints were just as large and terrifying as the villagers had indicated, and I couldn"t begin to imagine the height and breadth of a creature who boasted feet that big. And eight toes . . .
Suddenly the sun was gone, like blowing out half the candles in a room at once, and a cold chill of terror gripped us all. Without realizing it d.i.c.kon and I were holding hands and a trembling Growch was actually sitting on my feet, his hackles raised, moaning softly.
"We-we"d better get going." I found I was whispering, although there seemed to be nothing moving in the snow. "It"s clear straight up to the gap, and if we .
My voice died away as a hideous ululating howl split the quiet around us, followed by another and another. With one accord we ran, sled forgotten, scrambling on all fours to find a grip. I could feel the hairs rising at the back of my neck and my heart was bounding like a March hare.
The howl came again, and this time it was answered by another-from ahead of us.
We came to a sudden, skidding halt.
"What the devil-!"
And d.i.c.kon"s prophetic exclamation was answered by a horrific apparition that rose from behind a huge rock to our right. Nearly twice the size of a man, it was covered in fur-brown, black, gray-and its face was a twisted mask of hate, with huge fangs sprouting from its jaw. Slowly, lumberingly, it left the shelter of the rock and, with arms raised, came down the slope towards us, uttering that hideous howl we had heard before.
As one we fled down the slope towards the shelter of the forest, slipping, stumbling, falling, rolling, all thought gone save the urgency of escape, although something deep inside seemed to tell me to stop, not to run, but it was such a tiny voice that my fear drowned it.
Not looking where I was going I crashed into the trunk of a tree, knocking all the breath from my body, and I whooped and coughed with the effort to draw air into my lungs. I was aware of Growch gasping and panting beside me, and the inert form of d.i.c.kon a few yards away.
I struggled to my feet to see what had happened to him.
"Come on, Growch, we must get-"
"Too late!" he whimpered. "Look behind you!"
I turned, and found we were surrounded. Not by giants, but by strange, hairy humans holding stone axes and primitive spears. They were no taller than I, slightly hunched, and the hair on their bodies, thick on back and arms, was a reddish-black. Prominent brows and jaws, small eyes and noses, wide mouths with yellow teeth and long, tangled hair were common to all and they were mostly naked, though some of the women had bound their babies to their backs with strips of fur.
These creatures looked at us and chattered to themselves in a series of grunts, sibilants and clicks, and a moment later a couple of them dragged the half- conscious body of d.i.c.kon forward and dumped him without ceremony at my feet. He had a bruise the size of an egg on his temple. As I looked down he stirred, put his hand to his head and sat up, opening his eyes.
"Holy Mary, Mother of G.o.d!"
But he wasn"t looking at the strange creatures who now crowded closer till I could smell the rank odor of their bodies; he was staring back up the hill the way we had come. I followed his pointing finger and gasped. Down the hill came striding the giant we had fled from, swaying from side to side, arms spread-Arms? What beast had four arms? I sank to my knees despairingly, clutching Growch for comfort, for surely the hairy people would have no defense against this hideous apparition.
From the giant came that dreadful wolflike howl again, and to my amazement it was answered with like from the hairy people around us, waving their weapons in the air in greeting with what could only be described as grins on their faces.
I scrambled to my feet, pulled d.i.c.kon to his. What the h.e.l.l was happening?
Surely the giant and the hairy people weren"t in league with one another?
Why didn"t they- d.i.c.kon and I gasped together. The giant careening down the hill towards us had been gathering speed in a more and more wild manner and now, suddenly, it broke in two! No, no, all in bits. Two pieces came rolling towards us, another sheared off to the left, one slithered to a stop against a tree- And the hairy people were laughing, dancing, waving their spears!
"Laugh too," came a tiny voice from somewhere. "It"s all a big joke to them.
You"ve been had."
And I only realized just how much when two of the "pieces" came to a stop, unrolled, and became two more of the hairy people, one of them still wearing the misshapen boots that had made such a convincing giant"s footstep. The other man went back and retrieved the mask that had so horrified us, plus the long cloak that had so convincingly covered one man riding on another"s shoulders.
My heart sank even further as our captors, as they must be thought of now, closed in, pointing at the boots, the mask, the cloak, laughing and jeering and miming our terror, confusion and fear when faced with the "giant."
"Laugh with them," came that tiny voice again. "It"s your only chance to get away. . . ."
But I couldn"t. I tried; I forced the muscles of my face into what I knew was a hideous rictus, but I knew it only looked threatening, like that of a chattering monkey. I nudged d.i.c.kon, tried to make him smile, laugh, speak, do anything, but it was hopeless: he was almost rigid with fear.
One by one our captors fell silent, glanced at each other, at us, scowled: we weren"t enjoying their joke. They muttered again, then gestured that we should follow them into the forest. d.i.c.kon fell to his knees again. Growch whimpered in my arms, and my ring felt as cold as ice.
"Do as they want," said the little voice in my head. "Don"t despair!"
So on top of everything else, I was hearing voices. It must be all my terrified imagination, but the voice sounded so much like my dead-and-gone Ky-Lin that I could have cried. Perhaps it was his voice, perhaps his ghost had come back to comfort me. I could feel the tears, warm on my frozen cheeks.
"Help us," I whispered. "Wherever you are . . ."
Our captors hauled d.i.c.kon roughly to his feet and jostled us both along a narrow track through the trees. Too soon the last of the light was gone, forest gloom descended, and I had to hold one hand in front of my face to push aside the whippy branches I could hardly see. It was less cold under the trees, and the only sounds were the shush-shush of pine needles under our feet and an occasional grunt or snort from our captors, just like a sounder of swine.
After what seemed like hours, but can only have been minutes, we stumbled into a clearing. Other hairy people came out from the trees: the old ones and young children. About fifty or sixty surrounded us now, pointing, grimacing and, what was much worse, touching us; pulling at our clothes and hair, pinching our cheeks and arms, treating us as though we were strange animals instead of human beings.
I wanted so much to hear that ghosty voice of Ky-Lin"s again, but, try as I could, the noise around us drowned all else. The sound of wood being dragged to the glowing pit in the center of the clearing, the hissing of the logs, the snorting grunts of those around us-I should have liked to cover my ears, but daren"t put Growch down.
The women arranged a framework of sticks across the fire, and on these were spitted several small animals: squirrels, what looked like rats, a small snake.
In baskets at the side were pine nuts, roots, wild herbs and a fungus of some sort. The smell of the cooking meat was hardly appetizing, nor was the sight of the filthy fingers that turned the sticks, poking the flesh now and again to see if it was cooked through.
Hands on our shoulders forced us down to sit a little away from the fire while the men went into a huddle, glancing over at us every now and again and then having some sort of discussion.
I poked d.i.c.kon, a rigid figure of fear. "It doesn"t look too good, does it? Got any ideas?"
He shook his head, probably not trusting himself to speak, and I remembered what the villagers had intimated: these people were cannibals. I shivered, in spite of the heat from the fire, but the ring on my finger, though cold, didn"t convey any threat of imminent danger; for the moment we were safe.
By my side lay one of the "giant"s" boots; shifting Growch a little, I picked it up to have a closer look. It really was rather ingenious. The sole was made of two bear pads, sewn together, just four claws on each, making eight in all; the top was ordinary leather, the whole sewn over a wickerwork frame and padded, so there was just enough room for a human foot: it must have taken some practice to walk properly, especially with someone else perched on one"s back.
One of the hairy ones saw me examining the boot, scowled for a moment, then nudged his fellows and brought over the other with a grin, miming their walk.
He also brought over the mask for me to examine as well.
Near to it was quite crudely carved, I guessed from the hollowed stump of a tree, so that it fitted loosely over the head. The nose was a natural hooked beak of wood, stained red by some sort of dye, the eyes had been burnt out and were outlined in yellow. The top of the mask was covered with hair, real hair, and with a shock I realized it was human. Of course it could have been cut from someone"s hair within the tribe but I had the terrible feeling that it came from some more reluctant source. They showed me the robe as well, and my suspicions were proved right: these were human scalps sewn together.
I pushed everything away with a sudden surge of revulsion, and they laughed as if it were the best joke in the world. Seeing them then one would have thought them a happy and harmless people, until one realized that their secrets would not have been shared if they had any intention of letting us go.
There was a diversion: apparently the meal was ready. Flat pieces of bark and large leaves were produced and filled with nuts, roots and fungi. Sticks were s.n.a.t.c.hed from the fire and fought over, the meat on them charred on one side, raw on the other.
No one offered us anything.
They ate noisily, licking their fingers before wiping them on their stomachs, hair, each other, and the women spat out half-chewed bits to feed to the smallest of their scrawny brats. Too soon for us the meal was ended; they finished with the last of the unwashed pine nuts, crammed into their mouths so that the black, powdery stain covered their faces and hair, the grease on their skins spreading it still further.
Now they were looking for entertainment-or was it more food? Several of the women were rubbing their stomachs, looking at the men, looking at us. My ring was throbbing again, so cold it felt as though it would burn straight through my finger. I looked around desperately, but we were ringed in on all sides. Suddenly two of the men separated from the rest and came towards us; d.i.c.kon and I scrambled to our feet and backed away, a trembling Growch hugged close to my chest.
d.i.c.kon was pushed unceremoniously aside and they approached me, great grins on their faces; in the sudden clarity that terror can bring, I noticed how stained their teeth were: fangs for tearing at the front, grinding molars at the back- One of the men leaned forward, jabbering excitedly-and tried to pluck the terrified Growch from my arms. I had thought they came for me, and was quite prepared to take out my knife and hurt them as much as I could before I was overpowered. But Growch? No, never! Not my little dog spitted over a fire till his hair singed and the blood and fat ran spattering into the fire! I had rather slit his throat myself to spare him the pain and betrayal.
"Get away! Get your filthy hands off!" I was shouting hysterically. "d.i.c.kon, for G.o.d"s sake do something! Help me. . . ." Now my knife was in my right hand, Growch still held with my left, and as one man advanced still further I connected with a lucky slash across his arm and he retreated with a grunt, sucking at the blood.
d.i.c.kon"s voice came to me. "Give them the wretched animal, for Christ"s sake!
It"s him they want. Give us time to escape. . . ."
I couldn"t believe my ears! Give up Growch! In sudden anger I turned on d.i.c.kon and slashed out at him also, and saw the bright beads of blood spring from a cut across his cheek. Turning, I hit out again at my two attackers, and had the satisfaction of seeing them spring back from the arc of my knife. But now the others behind were closing in and I couldn"t deal with them all- "Help me! Help me!" I didn"t realize I was screaming, or to whom, but all of a sudden everything changed.
"Leave this to me!" boomed a voice, and with a burst of firecrackers that would have done justice to a town celebration, into the clearing came bounding a huge creature, an apparition surrounded with light and noise and color and fire.
The hairy tribe scattered in all directions, sparks from the unguarded fire catching at their hair and stinging their bodies. For a moment I thought we had exchanged one horror for another, then I suddenly recognized the creature for who he was, larger now than I had ever seen him- "Ky-Lin! But how . . . What did-"
"Follow me! No questions, just hurry!"
I can"t remember much of that frantic dash through the trees, out into the snow and up towards the gap. I do remember finding the sled, Ky-Lin taking the rope between his teeth and dragging us all as hard as he could towards safety. I remember, too, the chill of terror when we heard the howls of pursuit behind us, as the tribe realized Ky-Lin provided no threat and they were losing a source of easy food. Their noise came nearer and nearer, a couple of ill-thrown spears skimmed past our heads, and we were there!
A gap as wide as a door, no more, a glimpse of a valley, more hills and we were through. Ky-Lin loosed the rope and the sled careened faster and faster down a slope of snow towards the valley below.
Now the moon was up, and through the tears of cold in my eyes and the wind whipping my cheeks a scene of beauty spread itself beneath, and there in the midst of it all was a coldly blue shape on the horizon.
"Look, look!" I cried out to Ky-Lin who had been left behind. "It"s there, we"ve found the Blue Mountain-"
The sled veered, skidded, struck something hard and I was lifted into the air.
Suddenly everything was upside down, and then my head hit something, lights buzzed through my brain, and everything went black.
Part Three
Chapter Twenty.Four.
The first thing I was conscious of was a pleasant smell: sandalwood, beeswax, pine, cedarwood. It reminded me of Ky-Lin. Then, what must have woken me, a dissonance, not unpleasant, of tinkling bells, and a faraway chanting, a deep resonance of a gong. For a moment longer I savored the light warmth of blankets tucked under my chin, then I became aware of a dull throbbing in my head and an unpleasant taste in my mouth.
I opened my eyes and sat up, immediately wishing I hadn"t done either.
I closed my eyes and lay down again, but must have groaned, because at once there was a rustle of clothing and a woman was chattering away quietly by my side. Her hands were cool on my forehead; my head was raised and a feeding cup pressed to my lips. The drink was warm and fragrant, tasted of mint and honey and camomile and took away the nasty taste in my mouth. I wasn"t about to open my eyes or sit up again, but there was a sort of puzzle that wouldn"t go away: where was I, and indeed who was I? I couldn"t remember a thing, so decided to think about it later. . . .
When I opened my eyes again the room was full of soft lamplight and shadows and I remembered who and what I was, what had happened before, but I had no idea where I lay. My head still hurt, but the pain was lessening. Putting up a languid hand I found a cloth wound tight about my forehead, the rag cool and damp to my touch. The last thing I recalled was riding at a giddy speed on the sled down the mountain, of hitting some obstruction and flying through the air to hit my head on something-it must have been quite a b.u.mp for me to feel like this.
Something moved up from the foot of the bed, and a sloppy tongue and hacky breath announced the arrival of my dog.
"Feelin" better? Thought we"d lost you again we did; glad we didn". Gawd, what a place this is! All corridors, steps, pa.s.sages . . . "Nuff to turn a dog dizzy!
Don"t think much of the nosh, neither. All pap, no gristle, nuffin" to get yer teeth into. Still, most "portant thing is you"re back with us. I said to meself yesterday, I said, if"n she don" wake up soon, I"m-"
"Growch!"