Jack, the giant-killer by Charles De Lint Page A

him.”
    “It’s not so bad,” Finn said. “That was Arkan Cany—one of Crowdie Wort’s foresters.”
    “Does that make him one of the good guys or one of the bad guys?” Jacky asked.
    “Crowdie Wort owes his allegiance to the Laird.”
    “Then why was his forester watching us?”
    “I…” Finn looked from Jacky to Kate, then
    shrugged. “I don’t know. The air is thick with rumours. Foremost is the fact that you mean to rescue the Laird’s daughter, so the Laird’s folk can only wish you well. But at the same time they know that you’ve been to see the Gruagagh, so those more deviousminded amongst the Seelie Court are suspicious that your rescue attempt is just a story and that your presence in the scheme of things spells yet another disaster for the Laird’s folk.”
    “You’re kidding, right?”
    Finn regarded Kate seriously and shook his head.
    “With winter coming, the loss of the Laird’s daughter is the worst thing that could have happened to us. Without her to sing the lockspells on Samhaine Eve, we could all lose our lives that night.”
    “You’re not making sense,” Jacky said. “What’re lock-spells? What happens on Samhaine Eve?”
    “The dead walk. Not just the sluagh, but all the dead, and we have no power against them. They are jealous of our living, so on that one night we hide in places locked safe with spells that only the Laird’s daughter knows.”
    “Well, she must have learned them from someone .”
    “She did. From her mother. But the Lady Fenella is gone and Lorana has no daughter yet to pass the knowledge on to. Without the lockspells, we are easy prey for the dead. They wouldn’t kill us all, but enough so that we could not survive the winter being harried by the Unseelie Court.
    “We were stronger once. We had revels on
    Samhaine— gathery-ups and all manner of fun. The Lady Fenella led us in the songs then and just the singing of them kept the dead at bay. But now… now we hide in safe places locked tight with spells and wait for the night to pass without a smile or a laugh passing our lips. For those that the dead catch on Samhaine Eve—they become the sluagh of the Unseelie Court. There is no afterlife for them, and no borning again.”
    “Bhruic said Lorana was the green soul of
    Kinrowan and he was its heart,” Jacky said. “Wouldn’t he know the songs, too?”
    “No one knows what the Gruagagh knows or
    doesn’t,” Finn replied, “except for maybe the Laird himself. But Deegan is none too happy with the Gruagagh for losing his daughter, and there’s few in the Seelie Court that would trust the wizard enough to let him lead us in the songs.”
    “I like Bhruic,” Jacky said.
    “He can glamour anyone to like him.”
    “It wasn’t magic—it was just, oh, I don’t know. I just know he’s not evil.” She hoped.
    “And I know that you’re not evil,” Finn said, “but there’s still some that won’t trust you simply because you’ve been the Gruagagh’s guest.”
    “I’d like to meet this Gruagagh,” Kate said before an actual argument broke out between Jacky and the hob. “Why don’t we go see him now on the way to my place?”
    “We can’t,” Jacky said. “He said I shouldn’t return.”
    “Well, could you at least show me his Tower?”
    “It’s just a house,” Finn said, shaking his head.
    “And Learg Green’s too dangerous for us now.”
    But Jacky, feeling obstinate, disagreed. “Oh, we can look at it,” she skid. “We can go to Kate’s place by following the river. It won’t be dangerous just to walk by,” she added to Finn. “There’ll be lots of people in the park—jogging, playing ball, walking their dogs and babies.”
    “And how many of them will belong to Gyre the Elder?”
    “Who knows?” Jacky replied with a shrug. “But you said yourself that they wouldn’t do anything when there’s lots of people around.” She eyed his plate of pastries. “So eat up and let’s get going.”
    Finn looked