Free Norton, Andre - Chapbook 04 by Serpent's Tooth (v1.0)

Andre Norton
     
     
     
    The
haze was thinner than a drifting cloud, moving with the travelers... was no
rain here to temper the burning of the rough soil under Rentam's bare and already scarred feet.   Modic rode, even in this time and place he held to the
dignity of a Seeker, but the trembling legs of the bony horse he bestrode (it
was the worst mount of his train) threatened any moment to collapse, spilling
rider on the ground.   Only the Seeker's
will kept the horse going along a wandering seam in the surface of the stones
they had chanced upon an hour ago.
     
    In Rentam coiled and wove the old fears which had been bred in
his kind for generations.   He had been
sure of disaster to come ever since this thin-faced man, with a jaw and nose
which had the side view of a sword, had come to the village to demand, with a
certainty overriding all other wills, a guide for journey west.   Neither had Modic followed the rules of the Betweener village but had
stabbed with a gloved forefinger at Rentam and called
for him.
    Though Sequine , the Speaker, had argued it was not the tall
youth's turn.
     
    Modic had only grinned fiercely and shaken his head when the first
two drawn properly by lot came to him, saying that Rentam looked sturdy enough to lead a Traveler into the Questionable Land .   At last Sequine had
shrugged and nodded.   Each of them knew
sooner or later a guide found the Gate of Death.   Now women and children hid in the mud-brick
huts as all had heard of Betweeners slain for drunken
amusement, or because would-be Seekers had been irritated by some small
matter.   From the moment Modic had made his choice they knew that it was Rentam who must go.
     
    A
half company of riders appearing on the bluff above had been an open warning
for the clan village to obey Modic's desires.
     
    "No
knife."   The Seeker had ridden
closer to inspect the guide's equipment which Sequine's own son had brought forth.   Modic kicked out as the boy passed him with such skill that
the knife, a little loose in the scabbard, flew to strike against a hut wall.
    "Leave
it, you!"   Modic moved his mount again until it stood between the Speaker and the boy.   The Seeker said no more, but Rentam nodded to the Speaker.
     
    "Obey
... for the good of the clan."
     
    In
that last moment of boyhood the guide lost belief that truth and right were
strong against any evil which might prevail.   Now to be separated from his own people had only one meaning .. . this
doom-faced warrior had a secret, and surely no one would live to betray its
discovery.   There were his men beyond;
might he be able to get rid of them as easily?
     
    "You
pledge yourself..   ."   That was no question.   More like an order. Rentam nodded.   He could sense the tension seep
out of the rest of the villagers.   A
bargain had been struck and surely this one, who knew so much of their customs,
would now leave.   It was unfortunate
about
    Rentam of course, but he had no kin here closer than a cousin, and
between them had been many quarrels.   What was the life of one man compared to all the village?
     
    They
had set out at the first color of sunrise and had kept plodding on straight
into the heart of the vast waste.   The
now risen sun pressed a blanket of heat down upon them.   They all carried water gourds which they had
filled at the village spring.   Yes, Rentam thought, watching them when he believed Modic no longer checked upon him, these were indeed
Seekers.   Certainly they used water
frugally at the rest stops Modic ordered each time
the shadows of the towering stones standing here and there lengthened
appreciatively.
     
    Also
they watered their beasts, first giving them to drink out of their helms and
washing out the nostrils of each with a damp cloth.   For themselves they allowed only what must
have been a swallow or two.
     
    Hereabouts
the desert land was not still flat for there appeared a way which ran straight
as if that had been cut by the