'They sound almost as bad as Romni,' Vandien observed affably.
'The Duke has ordered his Brurjan troops to keep the Romni well away from his province. So I have never seen one, but I have heard ...'
'I was raised Romni.' She knew Vandien had been trying to get her to see the humor of the boy's intolerance, but it had cut too close to the bone. That conversation had died. And the afternoon had stretched on, wide and flat and sandy, the only scenery the scrub brush and grasses drying in the summer heat. A very long day ...
At least the boy had been keeping quiet these last few hours. Ki sneaked another look at him. His face looked totally empty, devoid of intelligence. But for that emptiness, the face could have been, well, not handsome, but at least affable. It was only when he opened his mouth to speak, or bared those yellow teeth in his foolish grin, that Ki was repulsed. He reached up to scratch his nose, and suddenly appeared so childish that Ki was ashamed of herself. Goat was very much a child still. If he had been ten instead of fourteen, would she have expected the manners of a man, the restraint of an adult? Here was a boy, on his first journey away from home, travelling with strangers to an uncle he hadn't seen in years. It was natural that he would be nervous and moody, swinging from sulky to overconfident. His looks were against him too, for if she had seen him in a crowd, she would have guessed his age at sixteen, or even older. Only a boy. Her heart softened toward him.
'We'll stop for the night at those trees ahead, Goat. Do you think that greener grass might mean a spring?'
He seemed surprised that she would speak to him, let alone ask him a question. His voice was between snotty and shy. 'Probably. Those are Gwigi trees. They only grow near water.'
Ki refused to take offense from his tone. 'Really? That's good to. know. Vandien and I are strangers to this part of the world. Perhaps as we travel together, you can tell us the names of the trees and plants, and what you know of them. Such knowledge is always useful.'
The boy brightened at once. His yellow teeth flashed in a grin. 'I know all of the trees and plants around here. I can teach you about all of them. Of course, there is a lot to learn, so you probably won't remember it all. But I'll try to teach you.' He paused. 'But if I'm doing that, I don't think I should have to help out with the chores every night.'
Ki snorted a laugh. 'You should be a merchant, not a healer, with your bargaining. Well, I don't think I will let you out of chores just for telling me the names of a few trees, but this first night you can just watch, instead of helping, until you learn what has to be done every night. Does that sound fair?' Her voice was tolerant. 'Well,' Goat grinned, 'I still think I shouldn't have to do any chores. After all, my father did pay you, and I will be teaching you all these important things. I already saved you from camping near the Tamshin.'
'We'll see,' Ki replied briefly, struggling to keep her mind open toward the boy. He said such unfortunate things. It was as if no one had ever rebuked him for rudeness. Perhaps more honesty was called for. She cleared her throat.
'Goat, I'm going to be very blunt with you. When you say rude things about the Tamshin, I find it offensive. I have never met with any people where the individuals could be judged by generalities. And I don't like it when you nag me after I have said no to something, such as the driving earlier today. Do you think you can stop doing those things?'
Goat's face crumpled in a pout. 'First you start to be nice and talk to me, then all of a sudden you start saying I'm rude and making all these rules! I wish I had never come with you!'
'Goat!' Vandien's voice cut in over the noise of his protest. 'Listen. Ki didn't say you weren't nice. She said that some of the things you say aren't nice. And she asked you, rather politely, to stop saying them. Now, you choose. Do you want Ki to speak honestly to you, as she would to an adult, or baby you along like an ill-tempered brat?'
There was a challenge in Vandien's words. Ki watched Goat's face flood with anger.
'Well, I was being honest, too. The Tamshin are thieves; ask anyone. And my father did pay for my trip, and I don't see why I should have to do all the work. It's not fair.'
'Fair or not, it's how it is. Live with it,' Vandien advised him shortly.
'Maybe it seems unfair now,' Ki said gently. 'But as we go along, you'll see how it works. For tonight, you don't have to do any chores. You can just watch. And tomorrow, you may even find that you want to help.' Her tone was reasonable.
'But when I wanted to help today with the driving, you said no. I bet you're going to give me all the dirty chores.'
Ki had run out of patience. She kept silent. But Vandien turned to Goat and gave him a most peculiar smile. 'We'll see,' he promised.
The light was dimming, the trees loomed large, and with no sign from her the team drew the wagon from the road onto the coarse meadow that bordered it. She pulled them in near the trees. The big animals halted, and the wagon was blessedly still, the swaying halted, the creaking silenced. Ki leaned down to wrap the reins around the brake handle. She put both her hands on the small of her back and arched, taking the ache out of her spine. Vandien rolled his shoulders and started to rise from the plank seat when the boy pushed past him to jump from the wagon and run into the trees.
'Don't go too far!' Ki called after him.
'Let him run,' Vandien suggested. 'He's been sitting still all day. And I'd just as soon be free of him for a while. He won't go far. Probably just has to relieve himself.'
'I hadn't thought of that,' Ki admitted. 'You and I are used to a long day. It would be harder for the boy, especially to ask a stranger to stop the wagon for him. Maybe we should make a point of stopping a fewtimes tomorrow. To eat, and to rest the horses.'
'Whatever you think.' Vandien dropped lightly to the ground. He stood stretching and rolling his shoulders. 'But I don't think that boy would be embarrassed to say anything.' He glanced over at Ki. 'And I don't think your coaxing and patience will get anywhere with him. He acts like he's never had to be responsible for his own acts. Sometime during this trip, he's going to discover consequences.'
'He's just a boy, regardless of his size. You've realized that as much as I have.' Ki groaned at her stiffness as she climbed down from the driving seat.
'He's a spoiled infant,' Vandien said agreeably. And I almost think it might be easier to humor him as such for this trip, instead of trying to grow him up along the way. Let his uncle worry about teaching him manners and discipline.'
'Perhaps,' Ki conceded as her fingers worked at the heavy harness buckles. On his side of the team, Sigurd gave his habitual kick in Vandien's direction. Vandien sidestepped with the grace of long habit, and delivered the routine slap to the big horse's haunch. This ceremony out of the way, the unharnessing proceeded smoothly.
As they led the big horses out of the traces and toward the water, Ki wondered aloud, 'Where's Goat gotten to now?'
A loud splashing answered her. She pushed hastily through the thick brush surrounding the spring. The spring was in a hollow, its bank built up by the tall grasses and bushes that throve on its moisture. Goat sat in the middle of the small spring, the water up to his chest. His discarded garments littered the bank. He grinned up at them. 'Not a very big pool, but big enough to cool off in.'
'You did get yourself a cool drink before stirring up the mud on the bottom, didn't you?' Vandien asked with heavy sarcasm.