Silver Hooves in the Darkness

Chapter Thirteen

Without the regal cat by her side, loneliness had crossed the Maze with Paola. She took her time running her course with the even pace and rhythm of a canter. Her gem indicated few diversions along the way. Eventually, a wall loomed before her with the book symbol of Dome Biblia.

Paola slowed her speed and transformed back into her humanoid shape. This time, she walked across the breach that opened with a hiss at her approach. The barrier of shrubbery was a welcome sight under the bright dome sky. She plucked a daffodil as she headed toward the town and Gemma's office to report on her first clandestine journey.

*****

"Gemma has died," the librarian clad in white announced calmly.

The dome's orb could not brighten the room, even though the dark drapes had been pulled down, allowing its rays to stream through the two windows.

"They found her sitting here at her desk. It was a day after you left on the Carry she contracted with you to Dome Erba." The young woman shifted on the stack of pillows piled on the chair designed for a bigger and heavier body. Annunciata looked even smaller perched upon it.

From their encounter in the stacks, Paola had gleaned that she and Gemma must have been, if not friends, at least companionable in the ways of a mentor and her student. Annunciata gestured for Paola to approach her.

The equina took slow, measured breaths, to steady herself from the shock of the news given to her. A number of conflicting thoughts bombarded her mind. Would she ever complete her Carry from Dome Pecora? What of ending Sacrifice? Finding no immediate answers, she did as she was instructed.

The little woman smiled weakly, but her brown eyes held sorrow. "You are my first equina, so bear with my inexperience. According to the information I have transferred from Gemma's ring to the written records, you made a delivery of a book and retrieved some herbs for her at Dome Erba. The book I will deal with later, for there is some question associated with its recording."

If they knew what Gemma had taken, what else could they have deduced from the ring record? She would have to produce the herbs from her bag. Would Annunciata ask her to prove that her pouch contained nothing else? It would be an unusual request, but not unknown, if trickery or theft were suspected. The equina stiffened with fear.

"Do not be afraid, equina," Annunciata said, sensing her distress. "I may be inexperienced as a Keeper of the Accounts, but I know what to do. There is no way you can come to harm."

My name is Paola. Gemma made it so, the equina thought with sadness as she knelt by the librarian. Had she become just an identification code once more?

Annunciata shifted awkwardly on the pillows. She considered the ring she held. It was too large to wear on her small, stubby fingers. She gingerly set the ruby against Paola's gem.

The tones and the colors of information passing from gem to ring were too gay for the somber mood both the human and equina experienced. As the last note faded and the equina's gem returned to its normal color, a tear coursed down Paola's face. She moved away from the librarian, her hand touching the wet spot on her cheek. In embarrassment over her grief, she turned toward the window that overlooked the steps of the Library. A small bed of fading daffodils moved in a rising breeze, heralding the inevitable transformation of spring to a summer that Gemma would never see.

Annunciata took the time to make some preliminary notes on paper. She said, "Gemma was known for holding the facts of a Carry in her mind and for only writing them down at her leisure. Not me."

The distraction gave Paola the opportunity to focus. But the gnawing notion that Miacarabella would pop into the small room unexpectedly, and so reveal her power, kept her chained to her turbulent emotions.