foolishness. If Pegs be dead, then where’s the sense in sending a party to search for him? If Pegs be captured then I don’t believe he would lead the Gorji to us. He would never speak to ’em – and if he did, I doubt they’d hear or understand. ’Twould be a greater danger to us all to seek him out than to let matters bide.’
‘Very well,’ said Ba-betts, ‘let us hear from the Wisp. Isak – what say you?’
Isak, the small and wiry leader of the Wisp, immediately stepped forward from the line of his tribe, red-faced and obviously itching to speak. There were one or two mutters of ‘Goo on, Isak!’ and ‘You tell ’em, now!’ as he swung his arms and strode out towards the Whipping Stone.
‘Well, I’ve ztood and listened to some talk,’ began Isak, not even bothering to acknowledge the Queen, ‘ ’bout the zo-called dangers of venturing on to Gorji land. What do ’ee think
we
do? An’ almost every night too! We’m out there, clottin’ for eels, settin’ our traps an’ such, while you’m all still abed. We’m creeping through ditches, hidin’ in the withies when the cutters be almost treadin’ on our toes as we try to get home of a morning. We knows the Gorji by
name
, half of ’em! I could zay what they had for
breakfast
, by the stink of ’em! I tell ’ee all this – thee who hasn’t left this vorest in a hundred fourseasons, if ’ee be lookin’ to zend out a party on a
horse
-hunt, then it might as well be
we
. ’Cause we’m out there already!’ And Isak huffed his way back to the line of the Wisp, to be met with the approval of his fellows: ‘Well said, Isak.’ ‘That told ’em!’
And it was true. The Wisp, who had lived off the wetlands for as long as could be remembered, continued to work it still – though whereas once it had been their home, they now visited the nearby rhynes and ditches only by night, setting their eel-traps and night lines, and retreating to the safety of the forest by day. The other tribes, by contrast, had set no foot upon Gorji soil for many generations.
Ba-betts raised the Touchstone once more, and Maglin gestured with his hand to quiet the rising hubbub.
‘And what do the Naiad say – they who have bred this remarkable horse,’ said the Queen, ‘that is the cause of all our grief?’
Phemra, leader of the Naiad, exchanged a few words with Spindra, from whose stock Pegs had been raised, then stepped forward from the ranks and into the arena, a broad figure in a belted cloth jerkin and leggings which were tied beneath the knee. He removed a wide brimmed hat, woven from coarse grasses, and bowed briefly in the Queen’s direction. His round face, normally cheerful, had grown sombre in the last two days, and now looked deeply creased and troubled. His voice shook slightly as he spoke.
‘With respect, my Lady,’ he said quietly, ‘Pegs was hardly the cause of our grief. He did what he were asked to do – or tried to, leastways. ’Twas not his choice, nor ours neither, but he were willing. And now, if he’s gone, then we ought to be athinking on what
has
gone, and what we’ve lost. Pegs was born of Spindra’s herd, ’tis true, but Spindra didn’t breed ’un. No one can breed a hoss with wings. We don’t know where he come from – nobody do. But he were wiser then arn o’ we, I do know that. And now we stands here while our friend, thass right, our
friend
, for a right good friend he were to us, lies out there among they giants, or maybe injured in some gurt ditch and we’m just
standing
here? And there’s Spindra, sick wi’ worry these two days past, and me
knowing
where Pegs has gone but not saying anything, for Counsel says to keep a still tongue. What does that make me? A hemmed fool, thass what – for listening to such claptrap in the first place, and for allowing Pegs to go. But I’ll tell ’ee what – I means to make amends for it. And you may all decide what you hemmed well please, but I be goin’ out there arter
‘Very well,’ said Ba-betts, ‘let us hear from the Wisp. Isak – what say you?’
Isak, the small and wiry leader of the Wisp, immediately stepped forward from the line of his tribe, red-faced and obviously itching to speak. There were one or two mutters of ‘Goo on, Isak!’ and ‘You tell ’em, now!’ as he swung his arms and strode out towards the Whipping Stone.
‘Well, I’ve ztood and listened to some talk,’ began Isak, not even bothering to acknowledge the Queen, ‘ ’bout the zo-called dangers of venturing on to Gorji land. What do ’ee think
we
do? An’ almost every night too! We’m out there, clottin’ for eels, settin’ our traps an’ such, while you’m all still abed. We’m creeping through ditches, hidin’ in the withies when the cutters be almost treadin’ on our toes as we try to get home of a morning. We knows the Gorji by
name
, half of ’em! I could zay what they had for
breakfast
, by the stink of ’em! I tell ’ee all this – thee who hasn’t left this vorest in a hundred fourseasons, if ’ee be lookin’ to zend out a party on a
horse
-hunt, then it might as well be
we
. ’Cause we’m out there already!’ And Isak huffed his way back to the line of the Wisp, to be met with the approval of his fellows: ‘Well said, Isak.’ ‘That told ’em!’
And it was true. The Wisp, who had lived off the wetlands for as long as could be remembered, continued to work it still – though whereas once it had been their home, they now visited the nearby rhynes and ditches only by night, setting their eel-traps and night lines, and retreating to the safety of the forest by day. The other tribes, by contrast, had set no foot upon Gorji soil for many generations.
Ba-betts raised the Touchstone once more, and Maglin gestured with his hand to quiet the rising hubbub.
‘And what do the Naiad say – they who have bred this remarkable horse,’ said the Queen, ‘that is the cause of all our grief?’
Phemra, leader of the Naiad, exchanged a few words with Spindra, from whose stock Pegs had been raised, then stepped forward from the ranks and into the arena, a broad figure in a belted cloth jerkin and leggings which were tied beneath the knee. He removed a wide brimmed hat, woven from coarse grasses, and bowed briefly in the Queen’s direction. His round face, normally cheerful, had grown sombre in the last two days, and now looked deeply creased and troubled. His voice shook slightly as he spoke.
‘With respect, my Lady,’ he said quietly, ‘Pegs was hardly the cause of our grief. He did what he were asked to do – or tried to, leastways. ’Twas not his choice, nor ours neither, but he were willing. And now, if he’s gone, then we ought to be athinking on what
has
gone, and what we’ve lost. Pegs was born of Spindra’s herd, ’tis true, but Spindra didn’t breed ’un. No one can breed a hoss with wings. We don’t know where he come from – nobody do. But he were wiser then arn o’ we, I do know that. And now we stands here while our friend, thass right, our
friend
, for a right good friend he were to us, lies out there among they giants, or maybe injured in some gurt ditch and we’m just
standing
here? And there’s Spindra, sick wi’ worry these two days past, and me
knowing
where Pegs has gone but not saying anything, for Counsel says to keep a still tongue. What does that make me? A hemmed fool, thass what – for listening to such claptrap in the first place, and for allowing Pegs to go. But I’ll tell ’ee what – I means to make amends for it. And you may all decide what you hemmed well please, but I be goin’ out there arter
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