A Whisper of Wings (37 page)
Read A Whisper of Wings Online
Authors: Paul Kidd
The two hunters sighed and looked back up at the moon.
Somewhere in the forest, the prey was waiting.
***
Kïtashii pushed her way between the bushes, quickly brushed her skirt in an effort to remove a thick layer of travel stains. The skinny girl then walked boldly through the Vakïdurii village, approached a washer woman and gave a solemn little bow.
“Pray excuse me madam. I am looking for a hunter called Kotaru. Do you know where I might find him?”
The woman scrubbed her wet hand across her cheek, blinking in surprise.
“Kotaru? Kotaru? Rain no child! E’s no relative of mine!”
“Please madam, it’s very important that I find him. He’s a jiteng player for the Wrens.”
“Wrens eh?” The woman peered suspiciously at the child. “You don’t sound like you’re from around these parts.”
“I’m from another village. Please, I have a message for Kotaru.”
“Ha! Well if it’s jiteng players you’re after, the royal village is the one to try. Our fine new King’s been holding games and feasts for the best part of a week!”
“I shall bid you a good day, madam. I thank you for your help.”
Kïtashii turned to go; the washer woman calmly put away her chores.
“Katakanii by the look of you. And not a scrap of food’s been past thy lips for the best part of a week. By yer “ma’am’s and manners” I’d say you were a dancer. You have a the look about you.” She wrung out her dripping laundry, her eyes fixed upon Kïtashii’s face. “Now what brings a wee girlie so many days from home?”
Kïtashii began to walk away, and the washer woman propped her hand upon her chin.
“Going already lass? And what if I were to tell our hunters there are Katakanii poaching on our land?”
“It would be a lie, and it would do you no good in any case. It would take more than mere hunters to find us.”
“Us? Aaah so there’s more than one of you. I thought I saw a pair of green eyes watching from them trees.”
The washer woman poked a finger at Kïtashii’s nose.
“You’re skinny as a snake! When did you last eat. Come on, out with it!”
Kïtashii gulped.
“We-We ate… Maybe the day before yesterday. Shadarii found us eggs. I think Shadarii hadn’t eaten for a day before we left.”
“Sweet Rain girl! Get your friend and come along. The Wind’s clean passing between your ribs.” The woman thrust at Kïtashii’s skinny rump. “Well go on, go on! I’ll not have a pair of corpses on my conscience. I’ll swap thee a meal for a smile - I never seen such a grim wee face. Go on!”
Sometime later the travelers slumped beside a fire. The sensations of warmth and food wove a drowsy spell; Shadarii blinked her eyes and let Kïtashii drag the knots out of her filthy fur. Kïtashii worked on in silence, tending to Shadarii’s needs.
The washer woman had spared nothing for her guests. Tea bubbled on the hearth while yams steamed in the ashes. Warm sleeping robes were piled beneath Shadarii’s rump. The dancer hung her head and felt her world spin dizzily around her. Hope blazed within her heart; she had escaped her sister, she had broken through the dreams and darkness. Kotaru might be only a hundred spans away! Shadarii smiled even while her head nodded to her chest.
Kïtashii dragged a ball of fluff out of her comb and went on with her grooming. The Vakïdurii woman looked at Shadarii’s face and pulled her chin.
“She looks tired. She doesn’t say much, does she?”
Kïtashii’s voice rang strangely soft and cool.
“No. No, she doesn’t say much.”
“She looks a strange one. Eyes like a poet, soul of a healer.”
“She’s not like you and I, Pekaka. She’s not quite the same as anybody.”
The comb moved in hypnotic patterns down Shadarii’s fur, and Kïtashii stared at the even furrows left gleaming in its wake. She sighed as Pekaka reached out to touch her hair. Strong hands lowered her down onto a sleeping mat and tucked her beneath a robe. The little girl fell asleep before her head even touched the ground.
Shadarii dozed where she sat. Pekaka went back to tending her hearth fire, hardly sparing either of her guests a glance.
An old woman sat across the coals, her arms firmly locked across her scrawny breast.
“I don’t like it! We ought to tell the chief. Rag-tag foreigners sittin’ on our doorstep? It just ain’t done!”
Pekaka shot a sour glance at her mother.
“We keep ‘em here. There’s more to all this than meets the eye. They’ve come running, and they’re welcome beneath my roof until I say otherwise.”
The old woman scuttled closer and pawed at Shadarii’s wings until Pekaka slapped her hands away.
“Get your damned hands off!”
“I weren’t doin’ nothin’!”
“Well see that you don’t! That girl’s quality, she is, so keep your mitts to yerself!”
“I was just seein’ if the colour rubs off! How do you know she’s quality? She might be havin’ us on.”
“She’s quality and she’s staying, so don’t get no ideas!”
“Well I don’t like it!”
“You don’t have to, you mad old crone. Just tend the fire while I go out. I’m off to find someone who knows these jiteng players the wee girl was on about.”
Pekaka gathered up her shoulder bag and made to leave.
“I’m not of a suspicious mind, Ma. Still, if I even hear a hint that you’ve spread word that these two are here, I’ll send you to my sister. We’ll see how well you fare with that bitch actin’ as your host!”
The old woman seemed to shrink. She grumbled and bent down to turn the tubers in the fire.
“Aaah be off with you! I’ll guard yer two precious little vagabonds, never fear.”
“Just see that you do, old hag. I’m sure m’ sister’s just itchin’ for your company.”
“Shadarii?”
Shadarii twitched, snuggling deeper down beneath her sleeping robe, but the voice came back to croon sweetly in her ear.
“Shadarii. Wakey wakey!”
Mmmmmm - wake up time. Kotaru’s scent still lingering in her nostrils. The stiffness of newly discovered muscles in her thighs. Shadarii snuggled down in bed and gave a little sigh.
Kotaru…
“Come along then! Rise and shine!”
Shadarii’s eyes flickered open. Sunlight danced across her fur, dazzling her vision. She ran a hand down through her pelt and tried to make sense out of it all. Just to make matters worse, someone ruffled up her fur and boisterously kissed her on the cheek.
“Good morning your ladyship! And what a great pleasure it is to have you join us at last. I never knew the dead could walk until I saw your face!”
Shadarii was kissed soundly on the mouth. The girl pushed away and stared up at a grinning face, trying to force the world into some sort of sense.
Mrrimïmei!
The Vakïdurii girl grinned down at her, laughing as she saw recognition finally dawn. Shadarii flung her arms about the other girl and crushed her in a hug. She looked about herself with joy as she saw all her friends beside her once again; Mrrimïmei, Totoru, Tingtraka the scholar girl…
“Ha haaaa! Shadarii! So finally you’re here! Better late than never, eh? You’ve had us worried sick. We almost went out on the rescue operation of the century!” The girl ran fingers through Shadarii’s fur. “So where is he? Where have you hidden him, you silly girl? Is Kotaru safe and well?”
Something cold slithered through Shadarii’s heart. She let Mrrimïmei’s hands drop from her grasp, and the Vakïdurii girl slowly lost her smile.
“He-he’s not with you, is he.”
Shadarii simply stared; it was impossible! Kotaru must be here - he had to be! She had escaped, she had come to him! It was alright now. It was all going to be alright.
“Shadarii listen to me! Where is Kotaru?” Mrrimïmei angrily shook Shadarii by the shoulders. “Shadarii! Tell me! Damn you, what’s happened to him!”
Totoru gently forced his fiancé back.
“Ssssh. Can’t you see? She thought that he was here. Something’s happened. Something bad.”
“She did it!” Mrrimïmei slammed her fist against a tree. “I told him to leave her alone…!”
“Quiet!”
Shadarii desperately tried to think. Kotaru wasn’t here, and he wasn’t back at the Katakanii village; she had to go back to the cave and trace his trail. Shadarii leapt up, heedless of her lack of clothes, and began to dress back into her filthy leathers. Kïtashii silently joined her, hastily snatching up their paltry belongings.
“Kïtashii, wait! Where are you going?”
The little girl hastened to tie back Shadarii’s hair.
“She knows. Where she goes, I follow. I’ll not leave her ever again!”
“But - but you’re only twelve years old!”
“Shadarii needs me.”
Kïtashii bowed deeply to their hosts, and Pekaka bowed back in bewilderment. Shadarii took her friend by the hand and scrabbled for the door with the jiteng players stumbling in her wake.
“Stop! Shadarii…”
Shadarii swiftly took her bearings and spread out her shining wings. Mrrimïmei quickly leapt in her way.
“No. I’m comin’ with you!
Shadarii waved the girl aside; Mrrimïmei hissed and stood her ground.
“I’m coming! He’s more ours than yours! You’ll not find a way of stopping me!”
Kïtashii narrowed her eyes and glared at the Wrens. Finally she snapped her fingers at the milling adults.
“We’ll wait an hour, no more. Get your equipment.”
Shadarii whirled, but Kïtashii folded up her arms and stared the dancer in the eye.
“I said that I will never fail you. That includes letting you rush off like a fool. I will serve you despite yourself.”
The Wrens had all flown off to fetch their gear. Shadarii gave a snort. She bit back a thudding headache and signed curtly to the little girl.
<
“Because you need me.”
Shadarii turned away and irritably shook her wings. Kïtashii sat down to bide her time and wait.
“Is there a route Zhukora’s men won’t expect?”
Shadarii irritably screwed shut her eyes.
<
“Can we take the battering?”
<>
“Very nice. We love you too.”
Kïtashii cast an eye towards the hearth hut and scratched beneath her scrawny ribs.
“Ah well, at least this way we get some breakfast. Let’s see if there’s any of those roots left over from last night.” The little girl scratched again, wondering if she might have fleas.
“Might not be such a bad idea after all. Pekaka’s mother might be a vile old witch, but she can certainly brew a cup of tea.”
Chapter Fourteen
The little band of hunters flew through a screaming maelstrom. Shadarii plunged ahead of them, swooping down cataracts and riding shockwaves along the gorge. Kïtashii grimly drove the Vakïdurii on, darting back and forth behind the hunters like an angry little gnat.
Spray flashed; Shadarii banked beneath a spur of rock, diving with the river as it plunged straight down a waterfall. The Wrens pulled up in alarm, eyes fixed in panic on a sheer drop of two hundred spans.
Kïtashii shot past them and tumbled in Shadarii’s wake. The Wrens all followed, eyes staring wide as they hurtled themselves straight down towards destruction. Someone gave a yell as they struck a wall of mist.
One by one the Wrens all shot out from the spray - eleven frightened faces taking stock and counting limbs. Shadarii skimmed above the surface far downstream, her ïsha wake splitting the water behind her like a knife.
They had flown like maniacs for two whole days. Shadarii never tired; she pushed herself to impossible speeds, hardly caring whether anybody followed. The girl now circled high onto a cliff and went to ground, and the other Kashra followed her in an exhausted blur of wings.
Hunters collapsed on the grass while Mrrimïmei folded over, almost vomiting with fatigue. Shadarii ignored it all; she saw a familiar cliff face across the river and reeled for joy. The cave was only a hundred spans away! The girl spread her wings and blundered towards her goal.
Kïtashii lunged into Shadarii’s path and instantly brought her teacher to a halt.
“Stop! We don’t know what’s down there. Zhukora might have come looking for us!”
Shadarii whirled, antennae twitching as she searched for ïsha trace. She stiffened as she sensed subtle currents hidden in the shade.
There were Kashra in concealment near the cavemouth. They were extremely skilled; the Wrens had noticed nothing. Shadarii picked out her enemies one by one and sank down into cover.