Brotherband 4: Slaves of Socorro (5 page)

There was no answer, and he edged inside the kitchen, turning back to make sure that Kloof hadn’t come any further. She sat watching him. Her tail thumped once or twice on the ground.

‘Good girl,’ he said softly. ‘Stay.’

He held up a hand to reinforce the command, then moved through the kitchen to where he could peer into the restaurant itself.

‘Mam?’ he called softly.

There was no reply. He tried again, a little louder this time.

‘Mam? Are you there?’

‘She’s gone to the market.’

The voice was right behind him and he leapt in shock, spinning round to see Thorn standing only a metre away.

‘Orlog’s breath, Thorn! Don’t sneak up on me like that!’ he said, his voice rising to an undignified high register.

Thorn shrugged. ‘I didn’t sneak up. I just walked in here, while you were bellowing for Karina.’

‘Well, you might have let me know you were there!’ Hal said, regaining his composure and trying to cover his embarrassment with righteous indignation.

Again, the old warrior shrugged. ‘I did. I said, “She’s gone to the market.” You seem a little jumpy today,’ he added, eyeing the younger man curiously.

‘Jumpy? Not at all,’ Hal replied. He looked around the kitchen, moving to the bin where Karina threw meat offcuts. It was nearly full and he took a large handful of beef scraps out.

Thorn raised an eyebrow. ‘Your jumpiness wouldn’t have anything to do with that whacking great black and white horse you’ve got parked outside, would it? By the way,’ he added, gesturing to the meat in Hal’s hands, ‘last I heard, horses don’t eat beef. They eat grass and oats.’

‘It’s not a horse. It’s a dog,’ Hal told him.

‘Could have fooled me,’ Thorn replied. ‘Although the floppy ears have a doggy side to them.’

It occurred to Hal that Thorn must have come past the dog to enter the kitchen. ‘How come she didn’t bark when you came in?’ he asked.

‘Horses don’t bark. And besides, they like me. I have a way with horses.’

‘Is that right?’ Hal said. He stepped past Thorn to the door and elbowed it open. Kloof was still sitting where he had left her, eyeing the door and thumping the ground with her tail. ‘And I keep telling you, she’s not a horse.’

He descended the stairs, and held out the meat to Kloof. Her ears came up and she reared back off her forepaws with excitement, bringing them thudding back to the ground together.

‘Horses do that,’ Thorn observed.

Hal tossed the meat onto the grass in front of Kloof. She trembled expectantly, eyes riveted on him, until he gestured to the meat.

‘Go ahead,’ he said, and she immediately dropped her head, snuffling and whuffling as she gulped up the meat in great mouthfuls. He looked sidelong at Thorn. ‘Horses don’t do that,’ he pointed out.

Thorn tilted his head to one side in mock surprise. ‘Well, what do you know? Maybe it is a dog after all. Where did you find it?’

‘She found me, up on the mountain track. Came out of the bushes and frightened three years’ growth out of me. I thought she was a bear.’

‘Bears don’t grow that big,’ Thorn said. ‘Any idea who might own her?’

Hal shook his head. ‘Haven’t seen her around the town,’ he said. ‘And she’d be a bit hard to miss. My guess is she got lost in the mountains and wandered over the ridge.’

‘She’s pretty scruffy,’ Thorn said and Hal nodded.

‘Needs a brushing. I’ll get onto that.’

Kloof had finished the meat and was sniffing around experimentally, hoping that another piece might have materialised out of thin air. Hal clicked his fingers and she looked up instantly.

‘Come on, Kloof,’ he said and started to walk towards the back of the building, where he and Karina had their living quarters. Thorn, of course, still lived in his small lean-to against the side of the building.

‘What did you call her?’ Thorn asked, tagging along with Hal and the dog.

‘Kloof,’ Hal said.

Thorn frowned. ‘Kloof?’

The dog reared her forepaws off the ground again.
Kloof!
she barked.

Thorn made a moue with his mouth. ‘Forget I asked. Well, I’ve got work to do. I was varnishing some benches when you came in and started bellowing for your mam. Better get back to it. Oh, and good luck with Karina,’ he added, as he turned away.

‘Why would I need good luck?’ Hal asked. He had a vague feeling that pretending not to know what Thorn was alluding to would make it less likely to happen.

‘You’ll need it when you ask her if you can keep Choof there,’ Thorn said.

Kloof!
said the dog.

Thorn bowed in her direction. ‘I stand corrected.’

‘I don’t need to ask my mam if I can keep her. I don’t need anyone’s permission. I’m a skirl. I have my own ship and my own crew. I don’t ask permission. I give it. And I hereby give it to myself. I may keep the dog.’

Thorn grinned. ‘Let me run a few possible reactions past you,’ he said. He thought for a few seconds, then quoted, in a reasonably accurate imitation of Karina’s voice:

‘I won’t have it here. It’ll get hair all over the place. And it’ll smell. And it’s too big. It’ll eat us out of house and home. Take it back where you found it.’ He paused. ‘How’s that for starters?’

‘She’ll be a great watchdog,’ Hal said in reply. ‘She’ll keep thieves away from the house and the restaurant. And she’ll keep pests away too.’

‘All excellent arguments,’ Thorn said, turning to go.

Hal caught his sleeve, betraying his underlying anxiety about Karina’s reaction to the dog. ‘Do you think they’ll convince her?’

‘Not for a second.’

Hal pursed his lips as his friend strolled back to the front of the building, where he had been working. He looked critically at Kloof.

‘Maybe I should tidy you up. If you’re brushed and shining, she’ll see what a good dog you are.’

He went into their living quarters, looking for something to brush the dog with. Needless to say, he found nothing in his own room, but in Karina’s dressing room he came upon an old hairbrush and a carved wooden comb. He nodded to himself.

‘She’s had these for ages,’ he said. ‘She won’t mind my borrowing them.’

He went back outside and set to work on Kloof’s coat, dragging the comb and brush through her matted fur, gradually clearing the tangles and brambles that she had collected, and stripping out the old, dead hair. She grunted with pleasure at the touch of the brush, only complaining when he attacked the thick tangles around her ears, pulling her head sideways as he did. Being an alpine dog, she had a double coat, and there was twice as much work to do. But after a good hour of brushing and combing, when his arms were aching from the effort, her black coat was shining and lustrous. He looked at the pile of loose hair growing around her, marvelling at the sheer volume.

‘I’ve nearly got enough for another dog here,’ he muttered.

Kloof grunted at him.

‘Where in the name of Boh-Raka did you find that? And what is it?’

Karina’s voice cracked like a whip. Hal turned nervously and rose from the low stool where he had been sitting. His mother was a diminutive woman by Skandian standards, and she was still beautiful by any standards. She could also be extremely intimidating when she chose to be.

She was choosing to be now.

‘It’s a dog,’ he said, trying for an ingratiating smile. He gestured with the hairbrush. ‘Look how shiny her coat is.’

Karina’s eyes widened with rage as she saw the brush in his hand. ‘What have you got there? Have you been brushing that . . . cow . . . with my hairbrush?’

He looked at the brush as if noticing it for the first time. ‘It’s an old one,’ he said. ‘You’ve had it for years. I knew you wouldn’t mind.’

‘Does it occur to you that I’ve had it for years because it is my favourite hairbrush?’ she said icily.

Hal actually backed away. Kloof looked worried.

‘Your favourite?’ he said, desperately tugging at the thick wads of dog hair caught in its bristles. ‘I’m sure it’s all right.’

‘It’s ruined.’

‘No, no,’ he said, discarding huge handfuls of dog hair, tossing them behind him as if that would prevent her seeing them. ‘It’ll be good as new, I promise. I’ll clean it up in a jiffy. See?’ He held it out to her, realised that it was still heavily laden with dog hair, and snatched it back again, tugging more tufts of black and white fur out of it.

‘What makes you think I’d want to put it anywhere near my hair now?’ she asked. ‘I’m surprised you didn’t take my good sprucewood comb as well,’ she added bitterly. He glanced down at the comb, lying on the ground beside the stool. Hastily, he covered it with his foot.

‘Well, I have to admit, I did look for it. But I couldn’t find it anywhere. I think it might be lost.’ And if it’s not, he thought, it will be the minute you give me a chance to lose it.

‘That’s beside the point,’ Karina said, realising she’d been sidetracked from the main subject. ‘Where did you find that . . . monster?’

‘She followed me home,’ he said.

She snorted derisively. ‘Well, I hope you didn’t feed her,’ she said. ‘If you fed her, we’ll never get rid of her. You
didn’t
feed her, did you?’

Hal found it very difficult to meet her penetrating gaze. He looked up at the sky.

‘A bit,’ he said finally. Then, desperate to change the subject, he asked, ‘Mam, who is Boh-Raka?’

Karina’s eyes narrowed.

‘She’s a Temujai demon who delights in beating stupid sons with a hickory branch,’ she said. ‘Hopefully, you may meet her soon.’ Then she gestured at Kloof. ‘Anyway, I’m not having that brute here. It’ll get hair all over the place.’

‘No!’ Hal protested. ‘She doesn’t shed a lot.’

Karina gestured at the yard. ‘Hal, look around, we’re knee deep in dog hair right now. You’ve brushed enough out of her for two more dogs!’

‘We-ell . . . one, perhaps. A small one. Two is a bit steep.’

‘And who’s going to clean up after it?’ she demanded.

He pointed at his own chest with the hairbrush, hastily tossing it aside as he realised he was only drawing attention to it again. ‘I will!’ he exclaimed. ‘I promise!’

‘Hah!’ Karina’s voice soared into an upper register of disbelief. ‘For the first week or two, I’m sure. Then it’ll be me doing all the work. Well, I’m not having it here. Besides, it’ll eat us out of house and home. And it’ll smell.’

From the other side of the house, they heard an explosive snort of laughter.

‘Shut up, Thorn!’ Hal shouted, but the laughter only redoubled. Then he pleaded with his mother. ‘Please, Mam. She’ll be a great watchdog. She’ll keep pests away.’

‘We’ve got Thorn for that,’ Karina said. The laughter from the other side of the house cut off abruptly.

‘Mam, please. She was lost on the mountain, she has nowhere to go. She was so lonely and miserable. Look at that face.’

Karina looked. Unfortunately, Kloof chose not to look lonely and miserable. She grinned and lolled her tongue at Karina. She shuffled forward a few paces, stretching her neck out to be patted. In spite of herself, Karina reached out and ruffled the fur under Kloof’s chin. She was a remarkably handsome dog, Karina thought.

‘Please, Mam? She’ll come on the ship with me. She’ll be a real sea dog. And we could use a watchdog on board.’

There was a certain amount of sense in that, Karina thought. A lot of the wolfships had dogs on board. And a brute this size would keep sneak thieves away when the
Heron
was in a foreign port.

‘Well, maybe . . .’ she said, relenting. Then she realised she was giving in too easily, and felt a need to reclaim the high ground. ‘But the first time she bites a customer, she’s gone.’

‘The first time she bites a customer, the customer will be gone – in one gulp!’ Thorn called from the far side of the house. Hal and Karina exchanged a glance.

‘Shut up, Thorn,’ they chorused.

T
he following morning, Hal walked briskly down to the harbour, with Kloof lolloping along ahead of him. From time to time the big dog would galumph back to look up at him, as if making sure that they were heading in the right direction. Then she would galumph off, staying five to ten metres ahead of him, stopping occasionally to sniff at something fascinating and smelly – like a dead gull or a mummified field mouse.

Hal thought it was best to take her with him. He’d noticed that Kloof had a tendency to chew things – he’d already lost one shoe as a result – and he thought it might be wise to keep her away from his mother as much as possible. Karina had consented to letting Kloof stay, but her attitude was a long way short of enthusiastic. One disaster round the house or restaurant and he knew that Karina’s permission would be instantly cancelled.

Heron
was pulled up above the high water mark on the beach inside the harbour. She was chocked either side to keep her decks level and, as he approached, Hal could see that the crew were already swarming over her, although he wondered if ‘swarming’ was the appropriate word for seven people.

On their last trip to sea, he had noticed that some of the rigging was fraying and in need of repair or replacement. As a result, Jesper, Stefan and the twins were re-rigging the ship with new stays and halyards throughout, smearing thick tar on the new rope to preserve and protect it.