The Seeker - Isobelle Carmody [37]
Whenever Cameo came to work on the farms, she would join us. I had thought I would have to argue for her inclusion, since she had no abilities beyond dreaming true, but as it turned out, Matthew was quite fond of her, and Cameo swiftly came to adore him. I wondered what Dameon felt of what was growing between them, thinking it must be odd always to be feeling what other people felt. I was curious how he could tell the difference between other people’s feelings and his own.
Midway through one afternoon later that week, Matthew came to the milking shed with a message for Louis and stayed on talking. Usually Louis discouraged gossip during work time, but that day he seemed inclined to conversation.
“Any news?” Matthew asked casually.
Louis was at times a fountain of highland news. It was hard to tell where he got it from, since he appeared to hate almost everyone. I suspected some of it came via Enoch, who was certain to know the old Misfit.
“Nowt much,” the old man answered Matthew.
Matthew grinned at me and waited, and presently the old man went on. “Mind ye, rumor has it something is gannin on in th’ highlands.” Our interest quickened as he took his pipe out, for it was a sure sign he was in an expansive mood.
“I’ve known for an age something was up,” he continued. “Too many strangers up in the high country, sayin’ they lived out a way when it was a lie. ’Tis nowt enough just to listen to what people tells ye. Ye have to look in their eyes an’ watch what they do. An’ them folk belongs to th’ towns.”
I exchanged a puzzled look with Matthew as Louis relit his pipe.
“But why would they lie?” Matthew prompted.
“Think, boy,” Louis retorted with sudden scorn. “What would towns folk be doin’ up here to begin’ with? They’re up to some mischief.”
“I heard Henry Druid lived up there still, that he wasn’t dead. Maybe the Council is sending people to look for him,” I suggested.
The old man looked at me sharply. “ ’Tis nowt th’ Council; I’ll say that straight. They stay away from th’ mountains. They get paid to stay out.”
“I nivver heard the Druid was alive,” Matthew said, looking at me curiously.
“A man like Henry Druid would not be easy to kill,” Louis said, almost as if he knew the man.
Matthew looked at me, sending a quick thought that trouble in the highlands would detract attention from any escapes. We had spoken of escape, but not with any real intention. Yet there was a seriousness in his mind that told me he had thought of it more often than I’d realized.
Matthew persisted. “Th’ last trouble in the high country was his defection, wasn’t it?”
Louis frowned. “Aye. That’d be some ten years ago now. A long time ago past,” he said after a pause.
“Maybe he’s planning to attack the Council,” Matthew said. “For revenge.”
Louis shook his head. “Henry Druid must be over forty now. Not a hothead anymore. He was smart, I heard, and smart turns into cunning when ye get old. He’d never win in an outright battle against th’ soldierguards. He’d find some other way. Though he would hate th’ Council enough, to be sure. His son an’ one of his daughters were killed in th’ troubles,” Louis added.
“What was it all over anyway?” asked Matthew.
“Nobody knows for sure what started it,” Louis answered. “Ye’ll hear th’ Council say he was a seditious rebel settin’ to take over an’ drag the Land back into the Age of Chaos, but that’s only one side to th’ story, an’ Henry Druid ain’t here to talk in his defense. But he was a scholar, not a soldier. I dinna think he would even consider war. Not unless he were sure of winnin’.”
“I heard he was a Herder,” I said. “No wonder there was such a fuss. It was all over forbidden books, wasn’t it?”
Louis nodded his head approvingly. “Aye. That’s what began it. The Council decided to burn all Oldtime books. Henry Druid had a huge collection of ’em, an’ he looked after th’ Herder library, too. The Herders agreed with the Council, but Henry Druid refused. He was a popular man, an’