Free I Can See Clearly Now by R. J. Davnall Page B

Federas quickly.
    The canal swung
around the hillside above the concrete ruin of the old city and
then turned West again where Federas clung to the side of the
valley. It was a small town even by modern standards, dwarfed by
the old city, though every building was stone and slate, not
wood.
    Rel took the
first track down off the canal path. It had been stepped once, but
the paving was starting to disintegrate and the mud made it slick
and treacherous. He got both his backpack straps over his shoulders
- they pinched at his neck, too tight since his shoulders had
started to broaden - and descended with his arms half-extended for
balance, leaning slightly backwards.
    Pushing Dora
and the Gift-Giver from his mind again , Rel threaded his way
between the houses and down to Main Street. The streets were
bustling with every kind of activity people thought looked normal.
No-one wanted to do anything to alert Van Raighan, but everyone
wanted to be on hand to see him taken. Every housewife in Federas
seemed to be about, standing in twos and threes looking over each
other’s shoulders and trying to find new things to say about the
weather. Children ran everywhere, apart from the few who hung out
of first-floor windows. A couple had even climbed onto rooftops and
would have been grounded for a month if their mothers weren’t so
distracted.
    The Warding
Hall was at the bottom of Main Street, the grey hulks of the old
city looming behind it like monstrous tombstones. There were fewer
people here - maybe the Sherriff had actually managed to get a
little way through everyone’s thick skulls on the subject of not
alerting the master thief. Still, the way Brea Godin was looking
around, you’d think she was out in the wild being stalked by a
feral something, not chatting to Meli Tofarn about the other
woman’s dress.
    Inside was a
different matter. There were just the seven guardsmen and the
Sherriff, standing quietly by their pillars. At the head of the
room, the Stable Rods stood on their bare stone plinth, shimmering
even without Clearsight. Good for hundreds of years yet. The
Gift-Giver couldn’t have been here about those.
    Trying to force
himself to focus, Rel walked straight up to Pollack, who said, “No
change?” The Sherriff was a broad man, running to fat in places,
and round cheeks and a double chin took most of the anger out of
his glare.
    “None. Sir, if
you want things to go according to the Clearviewing, I have to be
here, on-hand.” Rel glanced at the clock above the entrance, and
chewed his lip. There was no need to sound quite so desperate.
Yet.
    A sneer pulled
at Pollack’s upper lip for a moment. “You’re sure we’ll catch the
swine?”
    “If I’m here,
sir. If not, I don’t know. He may not even come. Deviating from the
viewing can produce strange results.”
    “Pah! He’s
coming here, boy. He’s been coming North for months and not missed
a single Hall. We’re next.” Spittle flew as the Sherriff spoke. Rel
ground his teeth. He was nineteen, not a boy, and he knew Clearsight. Pollack knew very little, except how to get on Rel’s
nerves.
    “If he sees me
around the town somewhere, he might be able to sense my Gift. It
might scare him off.” Rel’s neck hurt, though whether from looking
up at the Sherriff or the effort of being reasonable while
explaining for the fiftieth time, he couldn’t tell. Stronger Gifted
could sense the presence of other gifts, and everyone knew Van
Raighan was strongly Gifted. No-one seemed to know which Gift,
though.
    “Same arguments
as before, hum?”
    “Sir, you have
to let me be here! Do you want Van Raighan to succeed?” It was all
Rel could do to keep from begging. Few towns were closer to a
Sherim than Federas. Without the Warding, there would be Wildren in
the streets, maybe even in the houses.
    Pollack made as
if to spit, then caught himself. Who knew what would alert the
thief? At least he’d got that through his thick skull. Instead he
made a sound