SPIRIT WALKER

Chapter 21: The Quicksilver man

Tull spent that day in a daze. He had never met anyone who believed in him, and Phylomon's faith seemed the product of a deranged mind.

Tull couldn't decide whether to tell Phylomon and the others what Tchupa had said about the armies of Craal. The words frightened him, and he did not want to give this evil kwea to others.

Besides, they would be traveling to the White Mountains soon enough, and they would learn firsthand whether the armies of Craal could overrun the Rough. For a while, Tull went to look for Wisteria. He found her shopping with Tirilee, and the two seemed preoccupied, so Tull and Ayuvah worked on their wagon all day.

The wagon was made to be pulled by a mastodon, not by oxen, and the men had to take the doubletree from the glass seller's wagon and switch it to their own, since the glass seller's wagon could not carry the kind of weight they would be hauling once they filled their great barrel with water. It was easy work, requiring only strength and patience.

Once, Tull stopped and stared at his hands.

Ayuvah asked, "Did you cut yourself? Are you all right?"

"These do not look like the hands of a doctor, do they?" Tull asked. "I could never cut someone open in surgery." They were large and clumsy, more like the paws of a bear really.

"They are just hands," Ayuvah said. "I speak truthfully, I would rather have a human with his clever little hands cut me open. Still, you are as smart as a human. You can do some things. You can fix broken arms. You could make medicines."

"Dr. Debon said that Neanderthals were born to throw spears—our arms rotate at the shoulder more perfectly than a human's can, and because our arms are stronger, our toss is more powerful than a human's, too. Our hands are big and strong because they were made to grip heavy things, like spear shafts."

Ayuvah smiled. "Humans cannot throw spears, that is certain. And Fava could beat up the strongest human in town. One day we shall rule them."

"They will always rule us," Tull said. "They will make clever little things that we cannot, and we will sell our souls for baubles. Their doctors and engineers will own us. Still, it feels good to work with my hands, to fit this doubletree to the axle."

Ayuvah wrinkled his brow. "Tull, I know you believe that we will sell ourselves to the humans, and this bothers you. But my father is a Spirit Walker. Someday, he says, we shall be their teachers. We shall overthrow the Slave Lords. Bashevgo will crumble to the sea, and the God of Terror will die in Craal. Then the humans will look up to us, not down upon us."

Tull snorted in derision. "The Pwi will never attack Craal," he said, bending over to inspect the size of the bolt holes on the doubletree.

Ayuvah slapped Tull's face. "Do not laugh at the words of my father," Ayuvah shouted, then he stepped back in dismay. "Forgive me, my brother! Forgive my anger!"

Tull looked up at him, startled more than angry. "Forgive my unruly mouth," Tull begged.

By evening the ground had dried from the passing thunderstorm and a chill wind took its place, bringing the smell of winter. The camp swelled by another fifty people, and, as often happened when there was nothing to do, people began to party.

Many Pwi got drunk on sweet-potato wine, but the Okanjara cooked a great bowl of thin stew filled with hallucinogenic mushrooms, a crude opium made from the heart of wild cabbage, and poisonous seeds from wild cucumbers, and in early afternoon, they began to feed.

Phylomon looked the pot over, and declared, "Anyone who eats this stew will not be sane for a month." But many among the Pwi went to the Okanjara camp to eat.