"Told him to stop. When he didn't… well, we give him what he asked for."
"Which was?" Rudi said, willingly playing straight man to the grim oldster.
"He asked for earth and water. Said it was symbolic, a way of acknowledging we'd take his Prophet for bossman and that everythin' here would obey him."
"So you gave him earth and water?"
"Plenty of both down at the bottom of that old well, I'd say. After we dropped him in headfirst."
Odard laughed outright, and made as if to applaud. Everyone else at least smiled, except Mrs. Brown, who winced a little. Rudi didn't find it particularly humorous, but he wasn't unduly shocked either. An ambassador who tried to play politics against his hosts that way for feited protection and could expect to get a spy's treatment. Brown went on:
"After that, we decided we'd sell New Deseret anything they could pay for. The Saints' money spends as good as anyone's; they're good neighbors from all I hear-better than Boise. If they use what we sell 'em to keep this Prophet busy out Montana way, the more power to them."
"And we're heading east, ourselves," Rudi said. What did Aunt Judy say… He remembered, and muttered it: "Gevalt!"
"Figured you were," Brown said. "Even if your sisters didn't say much. Well, I got that letter from your mother, and more I don't need to know."
He nodded towards the twins, who smiled with identical smugness.
One of them said, "We picked up all the gear we'll need in Bend, too. A big wagon, tents, extra weapons, and everything else, paid for out of the Dunedain account at the First National branch there."
"So if you were to head east with the herd…" Brown said delicately. "Well, that would be a help to Bob and the boys, a whole bunch more blades and bows. Comin' back, that won't be so hard; they can move faster."
And we'll be on our way, Rudi thought. A little rest and a good meal brought the excitement bubbling back and forced down homesickness. On our way to the Atlantic!
"It's a favor, and that's a fact," Rudi said, and leaned over to shake Brown's hand again, to seal the bargain this time.
After that the Browns tactfully left. Rudi looked around the knot of his relatives and friends and almost-friends and sighed.
"All right, first things first, then," he said. "You all want to come with me?"
A chorus of nods. Rudi went on:
"We'll be going a long hard dangerous way, then. Someone has to be in charge, and that one is me. This is not some game; I have to get to this Nantucket place. Ingolf I need for a guide, and because he's got the expe rience, sure. Everyone else is there to help us get there and back again. All that means I'm in command, and Ingolf is my number two. Do you understand what I'm saying, now?"
"Yah," Ingolf said. "In rough country, there's got to be discipline, by God." A grin. "And besides, you're young but you learn quick."
The twins nodded-in chorus. By the Threefold Morrigu, am I going to be able to take having them in my sporran for a whole year? Rudi thought ruefully.
Odard shrugged. "You're better qualified for it than me," he said cheerfully. "Ingolf is too. If I'm going to do something this crazy, I want it to work, by Mary and all the saints."
"Good," Rudi said, ignoring his own doubts-half the battle was sounding confident. "The next thing to re member is that everyone pitches in. Nobody's a nobleman on this trip… or we all are, whichever. Right?"
Odard's nod was a little slower still this time; Rudi judged that he hadn't considered all the implications of Adventure, particularly the part about scrubbing out pots with sand and latrine detail.
"And Odard, your man there isn't going to do your share of the chores, either."
The slanted blue eyes blinked at him. "But of course, Rudi."
Castle Todenangst,
Willamette Valley Near Newberg,
Oregon May 6, CY23/2021 A.D.
Juniper Mackenzie spread her hands. "Your message was the first I knew of it, Sandra."
They weren't exactly friends, but then they weren't exactly enemies anymore either, and they had known each other a long time now. She made a gesture.
"By the Ever-Changing One, by the Maiden, the Mother and the Hag, I swear it. May She turn her face and heart from me if I lie. I didn't even suspect it. Nei ther did Rudi, as far as I know-and he doesn't lie to me. According to the message John Brown sent me, Rudi was surprised himself when he showed up at Seffridge Ranch and found Mathilda there, the creature."
Across the polished malachite of the table, the shoulders of Portland's ruler slumped a touch.
"I believe you," she said quietly, and laid her fingers on an open letter. "That's what Mathilda says… and she doesn't lie to me. I almost wish I didn't believe you. Then I'd have someone to be angry with. Besides that little idiot herself!"
Her fist tightened on the lustrous green stone. It was a small fist; they were both petite women. The force behind it was nothing to sneer at, though; Tiphaine d'Ath and Conrad Renfrew flanked her on either side, symbols of the power that awaited that subtle mind's orders.
"And I can't even send an army to bring her back," Sandra said bitterly. "It's too late. Any force big enough would be too slow, and any fast enough would just make her conspicuous without being big enough to protect her."
Juniper had brought nobody with her except her man Nigel, and that partly because she'd known he would simply refuse to stay behind when she put her head in the lioness's mouth.
And sure, she might have believed a written message. But coming here makes it certain.
"I'm worried for Rudi, too," the Mackenzie chieftain said gently. "Worried sick. And I love Mathilda as if she were my own. If it's any consolation, I fear for her as well."
Sandra's brown eyes met her green. "He isn't your only child."
Juniper's brows went up. "Sandra, do you think that I would mourn Rudi less because I have Eilir and Maude and Fiorbhinn? That they're. .." She hunted for a word. "Spares?"
"No," Sandra said softly. "But your whole life wouldn't be a waste if you lost him. Mathilda is the one thing I can be entirely proud of. What have I worked for, if not for her?"
Then she shook herself and put on briskness. "What can we do?"
Juniper nodded respectfully. "Not a great deal, except keep this as quiet as possible. But news will get out, es pecially now. Mathilda
… I'm afraid Mathilda has made this considerably more dangerous. She is conspicuous all by herself, and even more so when she's not here, if you take my meaning. People are used to Rudi disappearing about his own business for a while, and Dun Juniper is more out of the way to start with."
"We will keep it as quiet as we can," Sandra said. "And there's something else we can do."
At Juniper's inquiring look, she went on: "Get ready for the war."
Juniper nodded soberly, then looked east. "And pray for our children, Sandra," she said. "We can do that, too."
Chapter Thirteen
Southeastern Oregon
May 14, CY23/2021 A.D.
Rudi Mackenzie opened his eyes and poked his head out into the dry chill. The sun threw a crimson band along the eastern horizon even before it rose. A rim of purple rose above that; stars faded there, but they still glittered in a frosted band towards the west. The camp was stirring. He made himself swing out of his sleeping bag, despite the cold rime on its glazed leather covering. Quickly he pulled out the coat and boots he'd stuffed down in it, and drew his plaid around his shoulders blanket-wise. From what he'd heard, this country east of Picture Rock Pass got very hot indeed in summer. But it was nearly five thousand feet up here; winter hit hard too, and relinquished its hold reluctantly.