High druid of Shannara_ Jarka Ruus - Terry Brooks [98]
“I thought that, too,” Pen answered, shaking his head. The cold feeling wouldn’t leave him. It had found a home, deep inside, and even being down in the companionway and out of the weather didn’t ease its chill. “But I couldn’t argue about it with him, because he was right — I hadn’t checked it.”
They were huddled together in his tiny cabin, talking in low voices and casting cautious looks at the closed door as they did so. Creaks and groans filled the silences, reminders of the precariousness of their situation. Overhead, they heard the heavy boots of the Rover crewmen as they moved about the decking, making sure the airship didn’t break free of her moorings. They had landed only minutes ago in the lee of an oak grove at the edge of Paranor’s forests, anchored about five feet off the ground while they rode out the storm. Gar Hatch had come below immediately and taken Cinnaminson to his cabin. Ahren and Tagwen were in the Druid’s quarters already by then, the Dwarf sicker than Pen had seen a man in some time.
Khyber frowned. “It doesn’t matter what he says anyway. The point is, we know how he feels. I doubt that he cared all that much whether you went over the side or not. A fall would have been an unfortunate accident, but accidents happen. Carelessness on your part, he’d say, exactly what he warned you against earlier. He doesn’t have to answer for your failure to listen. But saving you works even better. It lets him make clear to you how vulnerable you are. He’s made his point. Now you know for sure not to come near his daughter anymore.”
She paused. “You do know that now, don’t you?”
He sighed. “Stop trying to tell me what to do, Khyber.”
“Someone has to tell you! You don’t seem capable of figuring things out on your own!” She scowled and went silent, and they both looked away, listening to the wind howl across the decking. “I’m just trying to keep you from getting killed, Pen.”
“I know.”
“What was Cinnaminson trying to tell you when you were bringing her down? Did you find out?”
“Just to be careful, to watch out for myself, that’s all.”
“She knew. She was trying to warn you.” Khyber shook her head. “I wish this trip was over. I wish we were rid of these people.”
He nodded, thinking at the same time that he wished he were rid of everyone but Cinnaminson. It didn’t seem fair that a simple friendship should put him in so much danger. He still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it, although he had no illusions about what Gar Hatch might be capable of. Khyber was right about what happened topside. He might never know if Hatch intended for him to go over the side, but he knew for certain that he had been warned.
“Well, the trip will be over soon enough,” he muttered, suddenly bone weary and heartsick. “Probably nothing else will happen now anyway.”
Khyber exhaled sharply. “I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Although he didn’t say so, Pen guessed he wouldn’t, either.
The storm passed around midday, the winds dying down and the rain ending, and the Skatelow resumed her journey east. By then, she was above the Jannisson Pass, leaving Paranor and Callahorn and sliding north along the foothills fronting the Charnals and the Eastland. The weather turned sultry, and the skies were clouded over and gray for as far as the eye could see. Water birds soared overhead from the mountain lakes and rivers, white flashes against the gloom, their cries eerie and chilling. Far to the east and south, the departing storm clouds formed a dark wall splintered by flashes of lightning.
Except for the still-airsick Tagwen, everyone was back on deck by then, looking out at the distant mountains, catching the first glimpses of their destination. It was another day’s journey to the Lazareen, but Pen felt a shift in his thinking anyway. His time with Cinnaminson was growing short, for after the Lazareen there was only another day’s flying before they left the airship. He marveled that only yesterday it seemed as if they had all the time in the world, and now it seemed that they had almost none. Part of his attitude