Free The Blood-stained Belt by Brian H Jones Page B

lowlands, I’d drift right over
Dornite territory, and I’d drift right over the coastline.’
    ‘And then
--?’
    ‘Then I’d drift
over the Endless Ocean. I’d drift over the islands.’
    ‘Yes? The
islands?’
    ‘I’d see the
ocean and the islands all spread out beneath me.’
    Dana murmured,
‘That would be beautiful.’
    ‘Yes, it would
be.’
    ‘Tell me
more!’
    ‘The islands
would be like pearls set in the neck-piece of a gown.’
    Dana replied
dreamily, ‘Like pearls? Yes, perhaps they would be – green and
brown and ochre pearls? Who knows?’ She ran her fingers across the
palm of my hand. ‘And could I be drifting with you, seeing the same
things?’
    ‘Of course.
Look at the sky. It’s huge. It stretches from here to the limit of
the world wherever that is. We can’t see the beginning of it and we
can’t see the end. There must be room for a hundred thousand clouds
all drifting at one and the same time. For sure, there's room for
both us and plenty more.’
    Dana said
nothing for a while. Then she remarked reflectively, 'You're not
always practical, are you?’
    ‘Not when I’m
with you.’
    Dana sighed and
said softly, 'Keirine is not a place for people who dream of being
clouds.'
    'No? How do you
mean?'
    Dana didn't
reply for a while. She sat up, arms clasped around her legs,
looking out over the valley. Then she inclined her head towards
Koraina and said almost angrily, 'Oh, out here a person can dream
of clouds and drifting over islands -- and you can dream of
whatever you want to be. But back there -- huh!'
    'Back there?
You mean --?'
    'Yes, in
Koraina, especially there. What do they care about dreams and
possibilities?'
    ‘They dream
about making Keirine safe and secure. Isn't that worth
something?'
    ‘Huh! You dream
about that! Oh, don’t be so – so naive, so – so idealistic -- there
aren’t a lot of people like you – especially back there.’
    ‘But for the
good of Keirine –‘
    'Keirine! What
is Keirine? I ask you, what is it?'
    'It's our home,
Dana, it’s our home -- that's what it is.'
    'Yes. You're
right. It's our home. But for some people it's just one big forage
bin – a bin ten times bigger – no, twenty or thirty times bigger
than anything they've ever got near before.'
    'Forage bin?
What are you talking about?'
    'Oh, Jina, you
don't live in the palace like I do. You don't see them snarling at
each other like hungry dogs getting their noses to a food bowl. You
don’t see them shoving each other out of the way, bowing and
smiling even while they're planning who next to stick their knives
into. You don’t see them crawling on their bellies to Vaxili in the
hope of getting a bigger seat to put their fat bottoms into. You
don't see any of that.'
    'Who are you
referring to?'
    'Who? The
Orifinrians, of course – Vaxili's friends and hangers-on! Who
else?' Dana snorted contemptuously and tossed her head. 'Oh, it's
easy to talk about Keirine being a home for all of us like they do
when they’re talking to the rest of us – but it’s just hollow
words. I’m telling you, it’s just hollow words! When you've seen
what I've seen, you'll realise that it's a home where just a few
people are going to live in mansions while most people are going to
live in shacks on the outskirts of town the same as always.'
    I didn't know
how to reply. I was silenced by the vehemence in her voice and by
the picture that she painted. Dana looked at me knowingly, smiled,
and trailed a hand lightly across my forehead. Then she lay back
and said pensively, 'The clouds ask the questions. But they don't
give the answers.'
    'Maybe there
aren't any answers!'
    Dana put a hand
on my shoulder and gently pulled me downwards. She murmured, 'There
are questions and there are answers. It's up to us to hear the
questions and to find the answers. Sometimes we just have to watch
the clouds and be patient.' She took my hand, murmuring, 'Lie down
again, Jina. Let's watch the clouds some more.'
    After a