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workers busied themselves with taking care of the kindia stock.  Ilex?
 I m here. Ilex stepped out of Ten s stall, a brush in his hand.
 Where can I find that man who gave up his chance to ride in the race?
 Blosker. His cabin is down the east road just past the puny monarch tree. It drops a limb every time
there s a wind. He ought to cut it down.
Bardon touched his forehead in a gesture of goodwill.  Thanks.
He turned to leave, but Ilex had one more thing to say.
 You ll be passing Cise s place as well.
 Who s Cise?
 The breaker Mig broke.
Bardon looked into the old man s eyes for a moment.  I ll see to it. He walked more slowly out of the
barn.
Ilex called after him.  There ll be a passel of kids in the yard and a swaybacked, piebald horse tethered
under a trang-a-nog tree.
Bardon waved without turning. Not far from Hoddack s gates the road came to a crossing.
Bardon paused.  I have some errands to run before I go back to the inn. You ladies needn t walk the
extra way. You can go back to Norst, and I ll be along in a little while.
 I want to come, protested N Rae.
The older emerlindian nodded.  A walk is good for the soul.
Bardon cocked an eyebrow at the basket N Rae carried.
 Perhaps Mistress Seeno is tired of being jostled.
 She sleeps when we travel, N Rae said.  In fact, she sleeps more than anyone I ve ever met.
Granny Kye touched her arm.  You ve met very few outside of the ropma, infant.
 That s true. But isn t it also true, Grandmother, that Mistress Seeno sleeps a great deal?
 I think she sleeps when we are awake, and she stands guard while we are sleeping.
 Really?
 Of course. She is your protector.
N Rae nodded. Bardon shook his head. He still found it absurd that the tiny minneken thought she could
defend anyone. He led the way down the darkening road, beneath ancient trees rattling their leaves in the
light gusts of air.
A clutch of o rant children clambered in and around the trang-a-nog tree and over and under the
swaybacked, splotchy horse.
Bardon asked the group in general,  Is your father at home?
 He s sick-a-bed, answered one.
 Can t get up, said another.
 I ll fetch Ma, said a scrawny boy whose twin nodded vigorously and then raced the slightly smaller
child to the door.
The slender woman with graying hair took the five hundred grood gratefully.
 It s half of what I won in Hoddack s race today, explained Bardon.  If Mig hadn t trounced your
husband, he might have been riding the winning kindia.
She wrapped the coins in a scrap of cloth and tucked them into her apron.  You could step in for a bit of
supper, she offered.
Bardon smiled.  Thank you, Mistress, but we have another errand and then some work to be done in
town.
As they walked away, N Rae said,  The horse and the dog were content but hungry.
Granny Kye looked back over her shoulder.  I imagine the children are the same.
 Did you not mindspeak? Bardon asked the granny. He knew Kale might have used her talent to gather
as much information as needed from the poor family.
 As little as possible. The older I get, the more I m inclined to think it s often an invasion of privacy.
In memory, Bardon heard his own voice repeating a principle to Scribe Moran.  Draw the boundary of
the mind that keeps you whole and respect the boundary drawn by another.
Not much farther, they passed a woebegone monarch tree. Many rough stubs showed where limbs had
cracked and fallen. Uneven patches of good growth revealed the heart of the tree to be sound. A man
and his dog came out to greet them. Blosker took his half of the one-thousand-grood prize money
readily.
 I knew that would be one whopper of a race, said the man who d given up Ten so Squire Bardon
could ride.  I ve done that course plenty. It s punishment for rider and kindia. He grinned and bounced
the sack of coins in the palm of his hand.  It s good to have the money without the soreness you re going
to feel tomorrow.
Bardon laughed and agreed. Already his muscles ached for a hot bath.
 Why did you come home? asked N Rae.  Why didn t you wait at the finish line to get your money?
The weathered man pressed the bag of coins against his chest and pondered for a moment before
answering.  Why, to give your friend here a chance to do the honorable thing. Then again, Hoddack
might not have given the squire here the purse to carry to me. Then the old man himself would have a
chance to show his core is aboveboard even if his style of dealing with folks makes you think otherwise.
 Master Hoddack s a strange boss, added Blosker.  Prides himself in being honest because his own
family weren t known for being straightforward. When he married to get the farm, everyone thought he
would be a stain on the neighborhood. But he s honorable in his begrudging way.
Blosker tossed the bag in the air, caught it, and slipped it inside his shirt.  The dame s father ran the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]