will necessarily mean that power and rule is to be restored to the Orte lgans. Indeed, there is a saying, “God does not do the same thing twice.” ‘
‘Then, saiyett, if we find him, what are we to do?’
‘Simply wait upon God,’ she replied. ‘If our eyes and cars are open in all humility, it will be shown us what we are to do. And you had better be ready, Kelderek, and submit yourself with a humble and honest heart, for the accomplishment of God’s purpose may well depend upon that He can tell us nothing if we will not hear. If you and I are right, our lives will soon cease to be our own to do with as we will.’
She began to walk slowly back towards the fire and Kelderek walked beside her. As they readied it she clasped his hand. ‘Have you the skill to track a bear?’ ‘It is very dangerous, saiyett, believe me. The risk -‘ ‘We can only have faith. Your task will be to find the bear. As for me, I have learned in long years the mysteries of the Tuginda, but neither I nor any woman alive has ever performed them, nor ever seen them performed, in the presence of Lord Shardik. God’s will be done.’
She was whispering, for they had passed the fire and were standing among the sleeping women.
‘You must get some rest now, Kelderek,’ she said, ‘for we have much to do tomorrow.’
‘As you say, saiyett. Shall I wake two of the girls? One alone may give way to fear.’
The Tuginda looked down at the breathing figures, their tranquillity seeming as light, remote and precarious as that of fish poised in deep water.
‘Let the poor lasses rest,’ she said. ‘I will take the watch myself.’
10 The Finding of Shardik
As the sun rose higher and moved southward round the hill, the watery glitter from the reed-beds, reflected into the trees along the shore, was sifted upwards through the translucent leaves, to encounter at last and be dimmed by the direct rays penetrating among the higher branches. A green, faint light, twice-reflected, shone down from the under-sides of the leaves, speckling the bare ground between the tree trunks, placing the faintest of shadows beside fallen twigs, glistening in tiny points upon the domes of pebbles. Dappled by the continual movement of the sunlit water, the leaves seemed stirred as though by a breeze. Yet this apparent disturbance was an illusion: there was no wind, the trees were still in the heat and nothing moved except the river flowing outside. 68
Kelderek was standing near the shore, listening to the sounds from the jungle inland. He could tell that since his adventure of two days before - even since their landing the previous night - the confusion in the forest had lessened and the agitation of movement subsided. There were fewer cries of alarm, fewer stardings of birds and flights of monkeys through the trees. No doubt many of the fugitive creatures had already fallen prey to others. Of those surviving, most must have begun to move eastwards down the island in search of food and safety. Some, probably, had taken to the water again, making for the Telthearna’s southern bank on the opposite side of the strait. He had seen prints here and there in the mud and narrow passages broken through the reeds. The thought came to him, ‘Suppose he should be gone? Suppose he is no longer on the island?’
‘We would be safe then,’ he thought, ‘and my life, like a stream after a cloudburst, would return between the banks where it ran two days ago.’ He turned his head towards the Tuginda who, with Bel-ka-Trazet, was standing a little way off among the trees. ‘But I could not become once more the man who fled from the leopard. Two days - I have lived two years! Even if I were to know that Shardik will kill me - and like enough he will - still I could not find it in my heart to pray that we should find him gone.’
The more he considered, however, the more he felt it probable that the bear was not far away. He recalled its clumsy, weary gait as it made off
‘Then, saiyett, if we find him, what are we to do?’
‘Simply wait upon God,’ she replied. ‘If our eyes and cars are open in all humility, it will be shown us what we are to do. And you had better be ready, Kelderek, and submit yourself with a humble and honest heart, for the accomplishment of God’s purpose may well depend upon that He can tell us nothing if we will not hear. If you and I are right, our lives will soon cease to be our own to do with as we will.’
She began to walk slowly back towards the fire and Kelderek walked beside her. As they readied it she clasped his hand. ‘Have you the skill to track a bear?’ ‘It is very dangerous, saiyett, believe me. The risk -‘ ‘We can only have faith. Your task will be to find the bear. As for me, I have learned in long years the mysteries of the Tuginda, but neither I nor any woman alive has ever performed them, nor ever seen them performed, in the presence of Lord Shardik. God’s will be done.’
She was whispering, for they had passed the fire and were standing among the sleeping women.
‘You must get some rest now, Kelderek,’ she said, ‘for we have much to do tomorrow.’
‘As you say, saiyett. Shall I wake two of the girls? One alone may give way to fear.’
The Tuginda looked down at the breathing figures, their tranquillity seeming as light, remote and precarious as that of fish poised in deep water.
‘Let the poor lasses rest,’ she said. ‘I will take the watch myself.’
10 The Finding of Shardik
As the sun rose higher and moved southward round the hill, the watery glitter from the reed-beds, reflected into the trees along the shore, was sifted upwards through the translucent leaves, to encounter at last and be dimmed by the direct rays penetrating among the higher branches. A green, faint light, twice-reflected, shone down from the under-sides of the leaves, speckling the bare ground between the tree trunks, placing the faintest of shadows beside fallen twigs, glistening in tiny points upon the domes of pebbles. Dappled by the continual movement of the sunlit water, the leaves seemed stirred as though by a breeze. Yet this apparent disturbance was an illusion: there was no wind, the trees were still in the heat and nothing moved except the river flowing outside. 68
Kelderek was standing near the shore, listening to the sounds from the jungle inland. He could tell that since his adventure of two days before - even since their landing the previous night - the confusion in the forest had lessened and the agitation of movement subsided. There were fewer cries of alarm, fewer stardings of birds and flights of monkeys through the trees. No doubt many of the fugitive creatures had already fallen prey to others. Of those surviving, most must have begun to move eastwards down the island in search of food and safety. Some, probably, had taken to the water again, making for the Telthearna’s southern bank on the opposite side of the strait. He had seen prints here and there in the mud and narrow passages broken through the reeds. The thought came to him, ‘Suppose he should be gone? Suppose he is no longer on the island?’
‘We would be safe then,’ he thought, ‘and my life, like a stream after a cloudburst, would return between the banks where it ran two days ago.’ He turned his head towards the Tuginda who, with Bel-ka-Trazet, was standing a little way off among the trees. ‘But I could not become once more the man who fled from the leopard. Two days - I have lived two years! Even if I were to know that Shardik will kill me - and like enough he will - still I could not find it in my heart to pray that we should find him gone.’
The more he considered, however, the more he felt it probable that the bear was not far away. He recalled its clumsy, weary gait as it made off
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