The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [120]
This incredible situation gave me a clear idea of Lidgebaby’s mental prowess. A baby, his coercive demands were selfish but basically innocent. But what would happen when he grew up and became conscious of the power he wielded? I shuddered, seeing them smile in the collective memory of that first enslavement/wakening of their Misfit minds.
Seeing my eyes on him, Saul frowned and turned away.
“Where will you go, if we help you?” Gilaine asked.
“We hadn’t thought that far ahead. We meant to use an Olden pass we’d heard about to reach the lowlands without going along the main roads.”
Saul snorted. “No one can get through that pass alive.”
I stared. “You mean there is a pass?”
Gilaine nodded. “But Saul is right. No way to go there. Dangerous.”
Jow shifted in his seat and the others fell silent. For the first time, I glimpsed a hint of Daffyd’s features in his face. “Where are you headed?” he asked aloud.
I shrugged. “To the west coast. We thought of getting a boat. I’ve heard there are places …” I hesitated.
“Over the sea,” said the boy musician wistfully.
“I have heard there are places over the edge of the world, where there is no Council or Herder Faction,” Jow said pensively.
“Why do you stay here?” I asked. “It’s terribly dangerous.”
Jow shook his head. “Better to wait until winter is over. And we must wait until Lidgebaby is weaned.”
“Couldn’t you get the mother to go with you?”
“The mother is bonded to an acolyte and has already had one babe burned. She denounced it,” Jow said.
I stared at him in horror. “Why are you offering to help us?” I finally asked.
Jow frowned. “You are a danger to us as long as you stay. You are a danger to Lidgebaby. We’ll help you, but you must understand we can’t let you talk if you are caught. The acolytes are very persuasive.”
I nodded, understanding what he left unsaid. “How can you help?”
“There are two things,” Jow said. “First, we can absorb Lidgebaby’s emanations so that you can communicate with your friends in the compound. Second, we will organize a diversion to give you all time to get away. The timing is good because soldierguards from the training camps below Gelfort Range will leave in a few days to witness the ordination of new Herders in Sutrium. That will mean the main road will be safe for a week or so, and you can cut right through their camp and make for the coast between the lower mountains and Glenelg Mor.”
I bit my lip. It would take several days to go that way, but it seemed there was no choice.
At a word from Jow, Saul seated himself at the table, and the group linked hands. “Be quick,” Jow said. “I’m not sure how long we can hold it.”
They closed their eyes. For a long moment, there was silence. A log cracked noisily in the fire, spitting out an orange flame. Beads of perspiration stood out on Jow’s face.
Then the block was gone.
I gasped in delight, realizing how greatly the restriction had oppressed me. I sent a specific probe tuned to Matthew’s mind. There was too little time to locate him physically. He was asleep when I found him, and I woke him with an ungentle mental jab.
“Wha?” his mind inquired stupidly. “Elspethelf?” he sent.
“I don’t have much time, so listen carefully,” I sent. “Some Misfits here are going to help us escape. They’ll create a joint diversion to give us the chance to get away.”
“We canna use th’ Olden way,” Matthew warned.
I told Matthew about Jow’s alternate route. “They still believe us gypsies—I can’t let them know the truth about Obernewtyn if they intend on staying here. So I told them nothing about Domick. I’m going to try to reach him now.”
Matthew interrupted eagerly. “I was able to farseek with him.” I was astonished. It was impossible to communicate over significant distance with anyone but another farseeker unless communicator and communicant each possessed some deep-probing ability. It seemed Ceirwan was right about Matthew’s developing powers. But there was no time to think about that now.
“Are the horses with Domick?”
“An’ Darga,” Matthew sent. “Wait a minute! If ye haven’t