But even if thiswas as far downstream as theSunlit Meadows went, that still didn’t mean that it wouldn’t make stops on its way north.
Maybe, Dumery thought, he could ask the boat’s crew where the man in brown was going. They might know. They might even be willing to tell him.
Just as that thought occurred to him, he felt something like tiny fingers grabbing at his arm. He turned his head, startled, to look for the cause.
The spriggan grinned up at him. “Found you!” it said. “We have fun, yes?”
“No,” Dumery said. “Go away!”
“Aw,” the spriggan said, “we havefun!”
“No,” Dumery repeated. Before the spriggan could reply, he demanded, “Whatare you, anyway? Where did you come from?”
“Me, spriggan!” the creature said. “Came from magic mirror, me and all the others.”
“A magic mirror?” Dumery asked, intrigued.
“Yes, yes,” the spriggan agreed. “Mirror!” It mimed staring at a glass, its eyes bulging absurdly.
“Where?” Dumery asked. “Where was this magic mirror?” He remembered that the very first place he had glimpsed a spriggan had been in Thetheran’s laboratory; had that despicable wizard created these little nuisances?
The thing developed an expression of comical and complete bafflement. “Don’t know,” it said. “Not good at places.”
“In Ethshar?” Dumery persisted.
The spriggan thought about that for a moment, then said, “Don’t think so.”
“Then how did you get here?” Dumery asked. “I saw a couple of you... you spriggans in the city before I left, I think.”
“Yes, yes!” it said enthusiastically. “All over, now. Go on ships and in wagons and ride everywhere we can!”
“Oh,” Dumery said. He considered this for a moment, then asked, “Why?”
“Havefun!” the spriggan explained. “Spriggans have lots of fun! You and me,we have fun, now!”
“No,” Dumery said, losing interest.
“Fun!” the spriggan repeated.
Dumery just stared at it, silently.
It stared back.
After a long moment the spriggan realized that Dumery wasn’t going to say anything more.
“Havefun!” it repeated.
Dumery just stared.
The spriggan looked up at him for a minute longer, then said, “You no fun.” It kicked Dumery’s leg and walked away.
The kick didn’t hurt; in fact, Dumery hardly felt it. All the same, he was tempted to swat the stupid little creature.
He didn’t; he just stared after it as it stamped off.
When he looked back at the dock he saw the tillerman on theSunlit Meadows casting off a final hawser. While Dumery had talked with the spriggan the crew had been readying the boat for departure.
“Hai!” he shouted, jumping up and running down the slope. “Hey, wait!”
His feet pounded on the planks, and one popped up beneath him and tripped him.
He fell sprawling.
When he lifted himself up again theSunlit Meadows was well clear of the dock, the sweeps working steadily, propelling it upstream. Dumery could see no one aboard paying any attention to him, or to anything else the boat was leaving behind.
In fact, he couldn’t see much of anyone aboard save for the man at the tiller; the sweeps were working by themselves, by magic-or at least by some completely invisible force-and everyone else seemed to be belowdecks.
Dumery wanted to cry. The man in brown, the dragon-hunter, the key to his future, was aboard that boat.
And he, Dumery, wasn’t.
He looked around and saw a few miscellaneous people smirking at the pratfall he had just taken; he didn’t cry, but instead climbed solemnly to his feet. He brushed dust from his sleeves and pretended to ignore his surroundings, including the slow, uneven drumming noise that was coming from somewhere.
“Hai,boy,” someone called, “better look out behind you!”
Startled, Dumery turned and looked back at the land.
A small herd of cattle, perhaps a dozen head, was marching down the road toward the dock-straight toward him.
Dumery blinked, and started backing out further onto the dock, but then stopped.
That wasn’t going to work if the cattle were really going to charge right out; he would just be crowded off the end of the dock into the river. Since he didn’t know how to swim that was not a pleasing prospect-to say the least.
Instead he turned aside and jumped from the edge of the dock onto the deck of a convenient, if small, boat.
He misjudged his landing and sprawled once more. This time, when he lifted his head, he found himself looking at an old woman’s grinning face.
“Hello,” Dumery said.
“Hello yourself, boy,” the old woman replied gleefully.
“I, ah... I wanted to get out of the way,” Dumery explained as he shifted around into a sitting position.
“I gathered that,” the woman said, with a smile that exposed her two remaining teeth. “And you’re free to stay until the dock’s clear; I’m in no hurry.”
A possibility occurred to Dumery. He asked, “Where are you going, then?”
Perhaps he could beg a ride, if she were headed upstream, and maybe he could catch up with theSunlit Meadows somewhere.
“Downstream to Ethshar,” she said, dashing his hopes. “Got family there I haven’t seen since the third moon last rose.”
Dumery puzzled for a moment over that expression. He’d heard “when the third moon rises” used to mean “never,” but this was different. If there had ever actually been a third moon it had been gone for a thousand years or more, or so Dumery had heard, and this woman didn’t lookthat old, so he assumed it was a figure of speech.
It must just mean not for a long time, he eventually decided.
“Oh,” he said, disappointment plain in his voice.
“You were looking for a ride upstream?” she asked.
He nodded.
“Can’t help you there. You missed theSunlit Meadows, and by the look of you you couldn’t have afforded it anyway. Only other boat I know bound for the north is that cattle barge they’re loading, and I wouldn’t expect them to carry passengers.”
“Cattle barge?” That reminded him of what the crewman on theSunlit Meadows had said when Dumery had offered to work for his passage. He stood up and peered across the dock.
Sure enough, the cattle were being herded across a heavy gangplank onto a great flat-bottomed barge.
“That’s right,” the old woman said. “The lords up in Sardiron like to get their beef from the south. I’ve heard they think it’s better-tasting and more tender than the local meat.”
“Oh,” Dumery said, reaching a quick decision. “Excuse me, but I think I’ll be going. Thank you very much for your help.”
“You’re welcome, boy,” she said, watching with amusement as Dumery clambered back up onto the dock.
He had had a sudden inspiration when she had said the cattle were going north, and now he acted on it; he ran forward and slipped between two of the steers as they were herded across the gangplank onto the barge.
The drovers were too busy keeping the cattle headed the right direction to worry about anything else, and the barge crew was crowded to the ends, out of the way of their frightened and rambunctious cargo. If the drovers noticed Dumery at all they didn’t mention it, and the barge crew, he was sure, hadn’t seen him.
Of course, his chosen method of boarding was not particularly comfortable. The cattle jostled against him from all sides, and several times he narrowly avoided falling and being trampled. Even staying upright, three or four times a heavy hoof landed directly on his toes, making him gasp-but not cry out-with pain.