ROAD TO CORDIA Read online

  “What good are you,” demanded Lee-Uno, “if you can’t even get a healer for our village?”

  The Elders were silent. Everyone was silent except for Aunt M'eer, who was moaning softly and rocking back and forth in grief. Her hands were crossed over her stomach as if she had the mother of all bellyaches.

  Lee-Uno pushed through the crowd to get to Aunt M'eer. “You foul bitch!” she screamed at the rocking woman. Aunt M'eer turned away, still rocking back and forth. Little short grunts were coming out of her as if someone was punching her in the stomach, forcing the air out.

  “Perverted beast!” Lee-Uno began to pummel the older woman. “You stole my mother away from us.”

  “For the Circle’s sake, that was ten years ago,” muttered one of the villagers.

  “You murdered her, didn’t you? Admit it. You killed her for her trade goods.” Lee-Uno was screaming now. “Well, you’ll never get one single bronze. It belongs to me.” She was pushing, kicking, and hitting the older woman.

  Several men grabbed her and pulled her off Aunt M'eer.

  “We will have none of that,” squeaked Elder Jo’Oner. He was truly shocked. “We do not fight amongst ourselves. We are all travelers in the Lord’s Circle.”

  Apparently, Lee-Uno didn’t want to travel anywhere with Aunt M'eer. She fought to get away from the restraining hands so she could get back to beating the woman who had enticed her mother away from her family. Meanwhile, Aunt M'eer was coming out of her grief-stricken daze and she looked back with equal anger at the younger woman.

  Ja'Nil thought it was lucky for Lee-Uno that they had her restrained. In a fight, Ja'Nil’s monies would be on Aunt M'eer. She wouldn’t put it past her aunt to slice the younger woman into fish bait.

  Suddenly Lee-Uno burst into tears. Several women surrounded her, clucking sympathetically, and urged her out of the building.

  It was very quiet in the hall. Carefully, not looking at Aunt M'eer, people started filing out. There were things to do. Cho’s body must be cleansed and a fire built in a great circle. As the last man left, he stopped in front of Elder Jo’Oner.

  “Elder,” he said. “Too many of our people are dying that could be saved. Perhaps you are getting too old for your job, senile perhaps. I advise you to get a healer for our village even if you have to go to Cordia yourself.” Then he left.

  Now the five Elders, the grieving Aunt M'eer, and the orphans were the only ones left. Elder Ban’Et spotted Ja'Nil and Sildy. Rog had snuck off with the villagers. “You children go to bed,” she ordered. “Immediately.”

  Sildy scurried into the sleeping room. Ja'Nil followed.

  Inside their room, Sildy plopped herself down on her bed. “I’m hungry,” she whined.

  With a sigh, Ja'Nil knelt, pulled out the box from beneath her bed and opened it. Aside from a spare set of clothes, it was empty. Ja'Nil looked up at Sildy.

  “I ate it yesterday,” said the Sildy. “Well, it was going stale.”

  * * *

  Ja'Nil couldn’t sleep. Between the hunger, Sildy snoring away in the next bed, and the loud voices of the Elders and Aunt M'eer arguing in the next room, Ja'Nil was wide-awake. Anyhow, lately she found sleep more and more…unpleasant.

  “I want that self-righteous little prigger censured by the council.” Ja'Nil heard Aunt M'eer say in her rough voice.

  Ja'Nil shifted nervously in her bed. Aunt M'eer always made Ja'Nil want to be somewhere else – somewhere far away.

  “Now Fisherwoman M'eer,” said Elder Ban’Et, always the peacemaker, “Lee-Uno may have been a little, uh, rude.”

  “Rude!”

  “But do remember she has just lost her mother and…”

  “And she accused me of murder. Me! Cho was my…” Her voice sounded almost tearful.

  “We all know what Cho was to you,” said Elder Jo’Oner.

  Ja'Nil could just imagine Aunt M'eer’s heavy brows lowering, her jaw jutting, and her posture ready to pounce. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Her voice was low and dangerous.

  Elder Jo’Oner backtracked rapidly. “Just that we all know she was your… ah, Special Person. We realize how deeply committed you were to each other. I for one, certainly sympathize with your grief.”

  “The question is,” broke in Elder To’Tol, “who will take the trading goods to Market City now that Cho’s dead?

  Their voices grew lower and then became a soft rumble. Ja'Nil’s eyes grew heavy. The last thing she heard before she finally drifted off was Elder Jo’Oner’s voice. “We must have a healer. It’s the only way to be sure.”

  Finally, sleep overtook Ja'Nil. And she dreamed.

  CHAPTER 2

  She dreamed she was on her father’s boat, The Ta’Serc, In her dream, she is ten years old again.

  The same beautiful day. Her family safe and happy around her…and then the wave, twice the height of the Ta’Serc, a monster thrown up from the deep.

  Frantically, Daddy spins the wheel, trying to turn the bow in to the wave. But the Ta’Serc is just a fishing boat; speed of response has never been required of it. The wave is horribly dark, its crest a sickly yellow. It looms over them, blocking out the daylight as it crashes down.

  Tons of water snap the mast, tossing the massive oak timber about like a kindling. It falls across her father’s chest, pinning him to the sea-swept deck. The steering wheel is shattered. A spoke of the wheel, broken off into a razor sharp point, is sticking out of Daddy’s side. Bright red blood pumps from him to mingle with the rain and seawater.

  “Can you move it?” yells Mama.

  “What?”

  “Move the mast.”

  Ja’Nil tries. God of the Circle knows she tried. She claws at it, pushing and straining. Nothing.

  “Use your gift,” Mama yells.

  Ja’Nil closes her eyes, pictures the massive timber lying across her Daddy’s chest. She tries to “see” it floating up and moving gently away. Nothing is happening. It won’t budge.

  The storm is still crashing against the Ta'Serc, rocking it dangerously. Now there is thunder along with whipping wind. Lightning flashes across her closed eyelids. She can’t concentrate. She can’t concentrate! She can’t “see” it.

  “Ja'Nil,” Mama calls out, trying to be heard over the sound of the storm, over Yonny’s screaming. “Get in the lifeboat. You and Yonny. Tie yourselves in.”

  Ja'Nil just looks at her.

  “Do it,” orders Mama.

  “But Daddy…”

  “I’ll help him. You do what I say.”

  Just before Ja'Nil reaches Yonny, the boat gives a peculiar lurch.

  “Mama,” says Yonny, his voice filled with horror.

  Ja'Nil looks back in time to see another wave catch Mama and carry her off into the hungry sea. All the while, Mama’s eyes are locked on Ja'Nil.

  Did Mama scream? Of course, but Ja'Nil can’t even hear her own screams over the sounds of the storm.

  “Stop all that noise,” said someone.

  Something grabbed at her. The sea was reaching out to drag her down, too!

  “No!” said Ja'Nil. She struck out wildly.

  “Will you stop that moaning, you useless brat.”

  “Er, Fisherwoman M'eer, perhaps a little kindness.”

  “Oh, go blow yourself, you old fool. She doesn’t need kindness; she needs a good kick in the ass.”

  Ja'Nil opened her eyes. Elder Jo’Oner and Aunt M'eer were standing beside her bed. In the next bed, Sildy was lying very still with the covers over her head. Ja'Nil knew she was awake, because she wasn’t snoring. Also, she could see Sildy’s beady eyes peering out.

  “Are you awake?” asked Aunt M'eer.

  Ja'Nil sat up and nodded.

  “Good, get your stuff together. We’re leaving on the morning tide.” Aunt M'eer turned and started for the door.

  “Leaving?” Ja'Nil’s voice came out as a croak.

  The only answer was the slam of the door.

  * * *

  Ja'
Nil was dragged out of bed when it was still dark, and given a hasty breakfast of hot chocee and a sausage roll. The roll was only half eaten when Aunt M’eer came for her. The terrifying woman marched right up to the bench where Ja’Nil was sitting, grabbed her by the neck of her tunic, and pulled her to her feet.

  “Tide’s upon us. Move it!”

  Ja’Nil’s mouth was half filled with sausage roll, so she was unable to protest effectively, as Aunt M’eer dragged her out the door and down the path that lead to the wharf.

  “No!” Ja’Nil dug in her feet… to no avail. Aunt M’eer dragged, poked, and prodded her all the way down to the wharf. Once there, Ja’Nil was literally thrown into the boat.

  Lying on the slippery deck, Ja'Nil was promptly sick to her stomach. Lord of the Circle, save me… her prayer was abruptly cut off when Aunt M'eer threw a pail of seawater over her, and then gave her an ungentle kick in the side.

  “Clean up that mess.”

  Ja’Nil was still on her hands and knees when her aunt ordered the docking lines let loose.

  One of the watching village woman protested that perhaps it was all too much for the poor child.

  Oh, yes, agreed Ja'Nil. Please someone get me out of here.

  Unfortunately, the woman shut up when Aunt M'eer glared at her.

  Then the tide caught them and Aunt M'eer snarled at her to raise the mainsail. Her only escape was to swim. Swim? Ja'Nil shuddered. She was even more afraid of the sea than she was of Aunt M'eer.

  “Where are we going?” she finally asked.

  “To Cordia.”

  CHAPTER 3

  At first, it wasn’t too bad. They steered north following the coast. The wind was mostly with them so they made fair time without having to do much tacking. There were no fishing nets out to slow them down. Instead, the boat was loaded with the trading goods the village sent off once a year, usually with Cho.

  So Aunt M'eer is taking Cho’s place, thought Ja'Nil. She’s probably taking Cho’s share of the profits, too. Lee-Uno will do a fire dance when she finds out. Still, it was none of Ja'Nil’s business.

  Suddenly, something occurred to her. “But if you’re taking the trading goods…” she said aloud, before trailing off.

  “What did you say? Speak up, girl. I hate it when people don’t finish their sentences. Makes you seem half-witted. You a half-wit, girl?”

  Ja'Nil gritted her teeth and took a few deep breaths. “If you’ve got the trade goods,” she said, “that means we’re going to Market City, not Cordia.

  “We’re going to Cordia,” said her aunt.

  “But Market City is closer, isn’t it?” asked Ja'Nil.

  “My contract is to Cordia. Village needs a healer. Now shut up and keep an eye out.”

  Ja'Nil looked around at the vast empty sea on her left and the steep cliffs of Cancordia on her right. “What am I looking out for?” she asked.

  “You really are an idiot, aren’t you? You’re useless.”

  “Then, why did you bring me along? I didn’t want to come.”

  “Don’t talk back to me.”

  Ja'Nil dropped her eyes, unable to meet her aunt’s glare. Aunt M’eer snorted. “Wasn’t my idea, believe me. Elder Ban’Et thought you could earn enough credits to pay the priests for your adult ritual. Because I’m sure as all the seven hells not shelling out for it. All of you, always trying to get my money. Taking advantage of my good nature.”

  Now Ja'Nil wanted to snort, but she didn’t have the courage. Daddy had pitied her aunt. “Always thinks she’s going to be robbed,” he had said, shaking his head.

  “And has she been?” Mama had asked.

  “It’s all in her mind,” said Daddy. “Gets worse every year.”

  Don’t think about Mama and Daddy, Ja'Nil told herself. She turned away to scan the horizon, blinking her eyes rapidly to contain her tears.

  It was late afternoon, the wind was holding steady. A soft mist had been falling for some time. Ja’Nil shivered. She had only one change of clothes and needed to keep the other set dry, so she shivered and endured. She also did whatever Aunt M'eer told her to do, including keeping an eye on the horizon, refusing to even glance down at the choppy waters just a few feet from where she was standing.

  She had been staring at the sail for several minutes before it finally registered that a strange boat was heading for them.

  “Ah, Aunt M'eer.”

  “What?”

  “There’s a sail out there.”

  “What? Where?”

  Ja'Nil pointed. Aunt M'eer took out her spyglass and trained it on the fast approaching sail, which now could be seen to have a boat attached to it. It was definitely headed for them.

  “Can you make out the village insignia?” asked Aunt M'eer.

  “No, it’s blank. Why would a boat not have an insignia?”

  Aunt M'eer didn’t answer.

  “Could they be pirates?”

  “Don’t be more stupid than you have to be. Queen Ten’Aj routed the pirates years ago. Cancordia is the safest country in the world. The seas are as safe as our roads. ”

  “Maybe these aren’t Cancordian pirates,” said Ja'Nil.

  Aunt M'eer continued to stare out at the rapidly approaching boat. “Put on more sail,” she said.

  “What?”

  “Unfurl the main, you moron. We’ve got to get out of here.” Aunt M'eer was busily raising the jib sail.

  “But…”

  “Look.”

  Ja'Nil looked. As she watched, the strange boat was finally hoisting an insignia. Not one that Ja'Nil had ever seen before.

  “What is that?”

  “The Green Raven. Raise the mizzen, too,” she said. Aunt M'eer herself moved quickly to the helm. No longer content with the steady but gentle breeze, she began tacking to take full advantage of every shift and thrust of the wind.

  Ja'Nil closed her mouth and jumped to hoist more sail, but Aunt M'eer’s boat, The Profit, was not built for speed. The extra sails helped, but the Green Raven was gaining fast.

  “I thought there were no more pirates,” Ja'Nil muttered to herself.

  By now, she could make out the other boat clearly. It was stripped down for speed with a deep, narrow hull. High on its mast waved the Green Raven banner. There was no way The Profit was going to outrun her. To make matters worse, the light mist was now a steady rain. At least the wind was still holding steady.

  “Take the sword,” yelled Aunt M'eer.

  Ja'Nil turned to her in horror. “Sword?”

  “To cut the lines.”

  “What lines?” Ja'Nil started to ask, just as The Green Raven rammed them. She was knocked to her knees. The pirates, there were five of them, threw grappling hooks onto The Profit. The hooks were heavy and bit deeply into the wooden sides. Ja'Nil jumped to her feet, grabbed the nearest one and tried to pry it out of the wood.

  “No!” yelled Aunt M'eer. “Here, cut the ropes.” A sword came slithering across the deck toward Ja'Nil. She had never held a sword in her life. It was much heavier than it looked. She needed two hands to lift it. She almost lost her balance when she whirled with it to slash down on one of the ropes. The sword was incredibly sharp. It sliced through the thick rope like a hot knife through mare’s butter. Unfortunately, Ja’Nil had put too much power behind it. The blade went through the rope, continued into the wooden guardrail, and stuck there. Ja'Nil was tugging fruitlessly at it when one of the pirates threw another grappling hook. He was pulling on the rope, tying off The Profit to the pirate ship when Ja'Nil finally stopped arguing with the sword, pulled out her knife, and hacked at the rope.

  In the meantime, Aunt M'eer had managed to cut the other two ropes. They were going to escape. Yes! Er, no. Ja'Nil was still sawing at the rope when one of the pirates jumped from his ship onto The Profit. He landed right next to Ja'Nil. He was huge and (God of the Circle!) he stank. Ja'Nil wrinkled her nose and backed away from his odor. He grinned at her. That was even worse. He was missing two of his front
teeth and his breath was indescribable. Didn’t pirates brush their teeth?

  He reached for her; she backed away and slashed at him with her knife. He seemed to find this funny. He kept coming. Ja'Nil backed up and tripped over a neatly curled rope. She scrambled away and picked up a heavy wooden pin used to secure ropes. It was wet and slippery in her hand. She flung it in the general direction of the smelly pirate. To both their surprise, the pin hit him solidly on the forehead. He staggered back. Ja'Nil took the opportunity to push away from the cockpit wall. Unfortunately, she rammed (unintentionally) into the off-balance pirate. He grabbed at her, but she was too quick for him. She feinted to the right, zipped to the left, and shoved him. Open mouthed, she watched as his feet skidded across the wet deck and he toppled into the water.

  There was a scream behind her. Aunt M'eer had a lance sticking out of her left shoulder. Blood was flowing down her side. Suddenly, the present vanished, and for a moment all Ja'Nil could see was blood pumping out of her father’s side. Aunt M'eer looked at Ja'Nil in amazement. “I’m bleeding,” she said, as she slowly crumpled to her knees, leaned over and tumbled into the sea.

  Ja'Nil forgot all about the pirates. She scrambled over to where Aunt M'eer had fallen and stared into the dark waters. The rain was coming more heavily now and it was harder to see any distance. The pirate boat had drifted away when Ja'Nil had cut the last rope. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and a flaming arrow stuck quivering into the deck.

  The fire was spreading with amazing speed. Ja'Nil grabbed up some extra sailcloth and starting beating at the flame. “There she is,” yelled a voice from the pirate boat. “Get her.”

  Get her? They were still here. Why, oh, why didn’t they just go away?

  One of the pirates jumped from his boat onto The Profit. “Come here, girl.”

  “Please go away,” said Ja'Nil.

  “Sure we will, girl. You come with us.”

  “No, thank you, please.”

  He wasn’t as big as the other pirate, but he was big enough. He also wasn’t as smelly, but that wasn’t really saying much. He reached for her. Without thinking, she swiped the burning sailcloth at him. He jerked his hand back, but the sailcloth brushed across his arm setting his shirt on fire. He ripped wildly at his shirt. Another pirate jumped on board. He made no attempt to help his comrade. In fact he laughed. “A hot piece, is she?”