Night Gate by Isobelle Carmody Page A

They could hear the creak of the winch pulling them along the cable, the slap of water on the hull, and the occasional sneeze from Goaty. Even Elle’s eyes could not penetrate the mist. It was eerie and clammily cold. Rage had the feeling that they were not moving at all.
    They drifted separately along the deck to meet behind a pile of crates, out of sight of the ferryman and his crew.
    “I am afraid there might be trouble on the other side,” Rage said in a low voice.
    Bear grunted. “There is always trouble when humans are involved.”
    “Mama, you must convince them that you are a wild thing,” Billy said urgently, stroking her arm. “There’s no use just growling at them.”
    “I will do what needs doing,” Bear said, shrugging away his hand. She moved to the edge of the ferry, sat down, and stared across the swirling water. She looked very bearish in the dull light.
    “That man said Mama is out of Order,” Billy murmured. “Seems like Order covers a lot of things.”
    “I think in this case it means Bear is not in the place the keepers want her to be,” Rage whispered. “Let’s talk to that ferryman and see if we can find out anything that will help us.”
    After making a few meaningless, casual comments about the river and the mist, Rage asked the ferryman, “What will happen to the bear on the other bank?”
    He shrugged. “If it is a true beast, it will be sent to the provinces.”
    Rage said lightly, “What if it turns out to be a wild thing?”
    “It will be set free.” He gave her a speculative look. “What’s it to you what happens to the beast?”
    “Nothing, except I thought it was a wild thing and pitied it,” Rage answered. “But if it is a natural animal, I guess it will be well looked after in the provinces.”
    To her surprise, the man’s face darkened and he opened his mouth. Then he seemed to think better of what he had intended to say. He finally said mildly, “Some say there is sickness in the provinces.”
    Rage did not know what to say to this, but the ferryman returned to the previous subject awkwardly. “Time was, everyone petted and marveled at the wild things. Keepers didn’t much like the magicking of them. Felt it showed disrespect to the true animals the wizard had put here. Maybe people did think the true beasts dull in comparison to wild things, but that was just the novelty of them, see? There were no rules or laws about who could go where and do what. No objections if a girl wanted to study magicking, and no provinces, either. Humans, natural animals, and wild things went where they liked it best. Live and let live.”
    “Why did things change if everyone got along so well?” Rage asked, curiosity making her forget caution.
    The ferryman frowned at her. “Don’t the folk in your village teach history to their children? The keepers never liked the making of wild things, like I said. Rumbled and complained enough that the women who did the magicking left Fork and set up their own settlement in Wildwood. Keepers didn’t like that, either. Eventually they set up the provinces on the other side of the river and moved all the natural animals there. The witch women, as they came to name themselves, paid no heed to the keepers. Claimed the wizard would have let them know by now if he objected to their doings. By then the wizard had got reclusive and difficult anyway. Matters stayed that way until magic started to dry up on the wild side of the river. The witch women went to see the wizard about it. A hard, strange journey it must have been, through that Deepwood the wizard magicked around his castle, but when they got there, there was no one home. He had gone.”
    “So the keepers accused the witch women of driving him away with their magicking,” Billy guessed.
    The ferryman gave him a strange look. “Stands to reason, eh?”
    “Do you think the wizard left because of the witch women?” Rage asked.
    “Why else would he go?” the ferryman asked, but Rage