Free Arcadia by Iain Pears Page A

andstudies slowly reorganised themselves in his mind to the point where the land of Anterwold began to take shape, particularly the domain of Willdon, which was the central point from which the whole story emerged, just as Sidney’s world emerged from his sister’s possessions as Countess of Pembroke.

7
    Until the soldier – the same one who had shown him kindness – pulled back the covering and gestured to him, Jay travelled in near darkness. Not a single person had so much as said a word to him. Competing emotions had beset him throughout the journey. Fear, of course. Boredom. Resentment. Finally, a burning, desperate curiosity. Just on the other side of the canvas were wonders such as he had never seen before. Forests, woods, houses, mountains – who knew what was there to be looked at? He tried to pull up a piece of the covering so he could see out, but it was too thick and strong. He dreamed of a daring escape, but it was pointless even to try.
    Then he emerged into the fading light of an early evening, with a fresh wind in contrast to the smelly, sweltering heat of the wagon, which he had endured in glum silence.
    ‘Come and sit by me, and keep your mouth shut,’ the soldier said. Jay hurried to obey in case he changed his mind, and squeezed himself down besides the man’s impressive bulk. He looked around and gasped. Not in astonishment or wonder, but in surprise. There was nothing much to see that was very different from his home.
    ‘Where are we?’ he began.
    The soldier shook his head. ‘I said shut up. It means be quiet. Keep your mouth closed. Say nothing. Silence. Do you understand?’
    Jay nodded.
    ‘I will talk. You will not. Agreed?’
    Jay nodded again.
    ‘That’s good. Because there is not much time. We will arrivein an hour or so. Are you frightened?’
    Jay opened his mouth to speak, saw the look on the soldier’s face, then nodded for a third time.
    ‘Do you know what is going to happen to you?’
    He shook his head.
    ‘Thought not. It seems a shame to be scared for no reason. So I’ll tell you what I’ve heard. Okay?’
    Another nod.
    The soldier grunted. ‘You see? You can do it when you try. Right then. You are going to Ossenfud to be a student.’
    Jay looked at him curiously.
    ‘You don’t even know what that is? Very well. A student is someone who learns. What you learn depends on your teacher, but it takes years and years, and the best become Storytellers.’
    Jay could no longer contain himself. ‘A Storyteller! Me?’
    ‘I said the best. Storytellers need years of discipline and immense knowledge and intelligence. They must commit everything to memory and be able to summon it all as required. They are the custodians of the past and the shapers of the future. Does that sound like you?’
    Jay shook his head.
    ‘Precisely. You may become a keeper of accounts, or something like that. Lower, but still important. That’s more like it. The thing is, you were chosen. By that Storyteller himself. Henary, his name is. That’s very unusual.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘That’s not how it’s done, usually. As the Visitors and Storytellers go around the country, they keep an eye open for people. Young, trainable. Generally they are recommended. Someone exceptionally smart. They’ll be noticed by a mayor or a chief. They’ll be questioned, tested. Then chosen. That’s not the way it was with you. Something you must have said or done – and don’t ask me what, because I would have just given you a good thrashing and sent you back to your mother – must have persuaded Henary that you were just such a kid.’
    ‘But I can’t do anything. I know a bit about blacksmithing.’
    ‘You will be taught. Don’t think it will be fun. Long hours, hard work, sitting at a desk all day every day. You’ll wish you were back in the fields. Most people couldn’t stand it. I certainly couldn’t. You can have the power and the glory if you have to become a wizened, half-blind creature with a bent