The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [131]
“Are you sure? How do you know?”
He shrugged. “Instinct as much as anything. But Jik can sense their sincerity. If we were forced to leave him or Pavo behind, I think it would be safe for them here.”
I did not respond to the question in his voice, knowing that Jik must accompany us however dangerous the expedition had become. “You’re right to think of leaving soon, or we’ll waste the time we gained coming through the mountain. You scouted ahead?”
Domick’s face was impassive. “Yes. We’re above Rangorn, but we can easily get to the ford without passing through the town. The ford is unguarded, though Grufyyd says there are guards at the ferry terminal. You will need papers to cross.”
“We’ll have to manage without them until we reach Sutrium. We need to try to get hold of another cart. That way we should be able to leave together—all of us.” I touched his hand. “Go to bed now.”
He slipped out as soundlessly as he had entered.
The next morning, Katlyn came in to change the bandages on my feet. “Poor ill-treated feet,” she said gently, unwrapping them. “I put on a salve to numb them so you could sleep. The scars are deep and have not healed well, though they are old.”
“I have to be able to walk,” I said.
Katlyn nodded. “If you must, these will carry you. But walking will increase the hurt. If they are ever to heal properly, you must rest them completely for many months, perhaps even longer.”
Katlyn looked up at me, her expression serious. “Child, there is something I want to say to you. Kella told me you are making for the west coast, in search of sanctuary. But I dinna think you will find any safe place on the coast. I want ye to think of staying here with us.”
“Here?” I echoed, astounded by the offer.
Katlyn reached out and touched my hand. “This is a safe house, a refuge for runaways … and for others. You could help us in our work. Help others like yourself …”
I stared at Katlyn, my heart beating fast, for her eyes told me clearly that she knew we had not told her the truth about ourselves.
“Think on it,” she said softly. “Talk with the others. Let us know tonight what you decide.”
14
“WHAT WILL YOU tell her? Won’t she find it odd that runaways refuse refuge?” Pavo asked when I told the others of Katlyn’s offer.
“I will tell them the truth,” I said. “As much of it as we can. I think we owe them that.”
Grufyyd turned out to be a big, silent man with a brown beard and somber, smoke-gray eyes. After we had eaten nightmeal, my first out of bed, I asked the couple if I could retell our story.
“We have so often had to lie that it’s hard to see where the truth can be told,” I began. “It is true we are escapees, in one sense, but that was a long time ago. Now we, and others, have a secret … place in the highlands. There are a lot of us there now, mostly no more than children and many runaways. Some came to us, more we helped get away.
“Until recently, we thought our existence a secret. Then we started to hear rumors that the Council meant to investigate the highlands, so our leader decided to send down a delegation to see what we could find out. And at the same time, we came to find a … a friend who is hiding somewhere near Murmroth and Aborium.”
Katlyn and Grufyyd exchanged an odd, tense look.
“How did you come to be half-drowned on the banks of the Suggredoon?” Grufyyd asked in his rumbling voice.
“We were in the White Valley looking for an Oldtime pass through the mountains. We didn’t want to use the main roads. But we stumbled on a secret camp run by Henry Druid. He takes prisoner anyone who gets too near. He uses the men for labor or else makes them join his armsmen.”
Katlyn cast an appalled glance at Grufyyd. “Armsmen. Then he still means to get revenge?”
Grufyyd shook his head sorrowfully.
“We escaped, but the Olden way proved impassable. We were desperate