Rigg saw that Param wasn’t with them. He went back a short way and found her.
“I can’t go on,” said Param.
“Time to rest then,” said Rigg. “This isn’t good ground for a camp, though. Can you go a little farther to see if the ground levels out above this rise?”
“No,” said Param. “I don’t mean it’s time to rest. I mean I can’t go on.”
Rigg looked at her. It was true that she looked tired and bedraggled and she could use a bath and her clothes could use a washing and her hair wanted combing, but what of that? They’d been trekking for nearly three weeks.
“You mean you want to go back?”
“No,” said Param. “I don’t want to go at all.”
Rigg was nonplussed. “You want to stay here on this slope until you die?”
“It won’t be long.”
“Actually, you ate and drank only a few hours ago. So if you stay here it will take several days for you to dehydrate enough to die. And then you’ll fall and roll down the slope, so you won’t actually stay here until you die.”
“She’s got a point,” said Umbo. He and Loaf had followed at once when Rigg went back for Param. “Where are we going? How far is it? Do you have any idea?”
“It’s farther than this,” said Rigg. “Assuming the escarpment is roughly round or oval, it has to turn completely east before we’ve rounded it to the south and can strike out for the coast.”
“If anything we were told is true,” said Param.
“We weren’t told anything,” said Umbo. “The voice only talked to Rigg.”
“We heard it,” said Param. “Oh, please don’t fight over this. I just can’t go on, that’s all I’m saying. I’m exhausted. You said I’d get stronger, but I’m not.”
“You are,” said Rigg. “Much stronger. You walk farther each day, you move faster, you rest less often. Of course you’re stronger.”
“Walk farther, farther, farther, and up and down forever,” said Param. “The whole land looks the same.”
“But it’s not,” said Rigg. “It changes. With the elevation. We have different trees in this forest now, higher elevation yet from farther south. Different animals, a different season.”
“If there’s a difference, I can’t see it,” said Param.
Were people of the city all as blind as this? “We’re making progress,” said Rigg. “This is what a journey requires.”
“We had a carriage when we left the city,” said Param. “We had horses after. And we were running from danger. There’s no danger here. Where are we going? Why?”
“We’ve talked about this before. And you had the choice, when we were still near the Wall. You could have—”
“But I didn’t,” said Param, “and now I’m here. Why couldn’t we all have ridden that self-moving wagon you rode on, and gone into the starship, and flown away?”
“Because it’s buried under millions of tons of rock,” said Rigg. “To start with.”
“I know you’re doing what they said to do,” said Umbo. “And you’ve provided food for us, and we’ve been safe. But look at us. Look at Loaf. This is what came from doing what these machines told us to do. Why are we listening to them?”
“Good question,” said Olivenko, who had finally come back to join them.
“What else can we do?” asked Rigg. “If we’re in danger from starships from the home planet of the human race, then—”
“If,” said Param. “Ships between the stars? Really?”
“We saw the ship that planted us here when it arrived,” said Rigg. “As we passed through the Wall.”
“We saw something,” said Olivenko. “We only have the machines’ word that it meant what they said it meant.”
“Do you have some better source of information?” asked Rigg. “If what they say is true, then we’re the best hope of the human race—human races—of Garden.”
“Have we met any living humans from another wallfold?” asked Param.
“Why did your father train you, if you were just supposed to leave the wallfold where that training had some application?” asked Umbo.
“Do what you want,” said Rigg. “Go where you want. I’m going on.” Rigg rose to his feet and began to climb up the slope.
“So you’ll just leave us?” asked Param.
“You’re free to come,” said Rigg. “Or stay and rest.”
“He’s bluffing,” said Umbo. “He knows we can’t get food without him.”
“He won’t leave Loaf,” said Olivenko.
“He won’t leave me,” said Param.
But Rigg kept walking. Yes, he had started this maneuver as a bluff, but Umbo’s assertion of it as fact made him harden his resolve. They wouldn’t starve—Olivenko and Umbo were resourceful, even if Param and Loaf were useless. And if Rigg turned around now, then their trek would collapse into a democracy, which meant that whatever whim struck them would change their plans. There’d be no purpose. And he’d be trapped with them.
So Rigg would move on, and let them do whatever they wanted. Either they’d run and catch up with him, or they wouldn’t. In the former case, this nonsense would stop; in the latter, then he wouldn’t have to play at being leader anymore.
Nobody followed him. Nobody called after him. And Rigg never looked back.
Without others to provide for, Rigg realized he wouldn’t have to stop so soon, wouldn’t have to search for a camping place with water and firewood at hand. He didn’t have to hunt or trap for food. With the bit of meat he had saved to eat as he walked, he could keep moving until dark. Or later—following the paths of animals, he wouldn’t fall into canyons or pits in the dark.
But if they changed their minds, they’d never catch him if he doubled his pace. So it was time to decide: Did he want to leave them behind and proceed alone? Or did he want to give them a chance to rejoin him?
He had already gone too far for them to catch up before nightfall, especially if they had dithered before changing their minds and following him. But he could build up a big, bright fire, set traps for meat, and then get a late start in the morning. It would be good for them to spend a night in the dark and cold without him.
In the morning, his plans began to seem foolish. Were they following him or not? They were too far for him to search out their paths; did that mean they weren’t coming, or that they were moving slowly? He cooked and dried the flesh of the animals that his traps had taken during the dusk and dawn. And still they didn’t come.
So I’m on my own, he thought. It made him feel bleak. Lonely. But it also eased his mind. I have no more responsibility, he thought.
Only his mind wasn’t so easy after all. What if they had tried to follow him in the dark, and got lost? They had no knack for tracking. Umbo should be able to follow, though—he had grown up near the woods, and he was smart.
But they were burdened with Loaf. And Param. How much ground could they cover? As long as he had been with the others, Rigg had ranged ahead, then returned to the group, again and again. Now, since he had stopped checking back with them, just how far and how fast had he gone? Without his encouragement and guidance, how slow had they become? Maybe they were trying to catch up with him. Or maybe they were lost.
Slow, or lost.
Or heading back to the Wall, without any means of getting more food.
And Rigg gradually realized that their lives were more important to him than getting his own way. Yes, they had rebelled against his authority, but it was authority he hadn’t asked for, and didn’t want. He had taken charge only because he knew how to survive in the wilderness; but what difference did it make how quickly they moved? It’s not as if he had some urgent appointment in the next wallfold. And it had been stupid to go on alone. What if he needed them? Umbo and Param had time-shifting skills that might save him. And Olivenko, the only soldier they had left, might be just as necessary.