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two seemed to be so robbed of speech that Jim became slightly alarmed, as the
moment of their silence stretched out.
"Well," he said, to bring them out of it, "it seems that turning the gold
into brass won't work either."
Herrac's eyes focused andLachlan 's eyes blinked, as he seemed almost to wake
up. He shifted at once from astonishment into something like anger.
"Well," he said, "if ye canna turn gold into brass, what use are ye as a
magician? What is it that ye can do?"
"That," Jim reproved him, "is what I've been busily thinking about. Let me
think a little while longer."
"Weel, weel," saidLachlan , his accent suddenly very broad, "gang ye're ain
gate, then. We'll wait onye . We'll wait a whiles, at least."
Jim could not tell ifLachlan 's reaction was one of disillusionment in
discovering Jim was unable to turn gold into brass, or simplya weariness at
what seemed the hopeless search for a solution. Jim drank a little of the wine
from his cup and thought hard. The truth of the matter was,Dafydd was right.
There ought to be no problem that did not offer some sort of solution. The
only trouble here was that the sort of solution they needed had been looked
for without success for a thousand or more years. In fact, even inhis own
century, there were still no lack of unanswered questions; and no way of
knowing how long it would be before answers would be found.
Nonetheless& he thought hard.
"Tell me," he said toLachlan , "you said you knew the route that this
MacDougall would be taking, and about when he'd be going down it. Did I
understand that you also know the number of fighting men he may have with him
as a guard?"
"I do," answeredLachlan promptly. "He'll be starting his trip with several
dozen. EitherMacDougalls, or those who are friends of theirs. But, somewhere
short of the Hollow Men's land in the Cheviot Hills, he will leave most behind
and go on with only several; and even these will be left behind, at last some
miles back from where he is actually to meet with the leaders of the Hollow
Men."
"And at that time he will have the gold with him?" Jim asked.
"Of course!" saidLachlan . "Do you think those Hollow Men are going to
believe him if the man merely talks about gold? It'll not be the whole down
payment, ye understand. But it'll be enough to make them covetous of more to
come. Also, it will be a load that he can carry easily by packhorse, alone,
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during the last short ways of his trip."
"Do you think it would be possible for us to set up an ambush for him at a
point when he had left everyone else behind and he was by himself?" Jim asked.
"I see no reason why not," saidLachlan . He looked at Herrac. "My old friend
here and his sons would be more than enough. In fact, if need be I could take
him prisoner myself, though he has something of a reputation as a fighter with
the English broadsword and shield."
"Have you thought of a plan, m'Lord?" asked Dafydd.
"No," Jim shook his head, "but I may be on the track of one."
They stared at him with new hope in their eyes.
Chapter Eleven
"Well, don't just sit there, man!"Lachlan exploded. "What's this plan of
yours?"
"I'm afraid," said Jim, getting to his feet from the table, "I can't tell you
right away. As you suggested earlier,Lachlan , it involves magic and I can
only talk about that magic after I've made sure of it. So I'm going upstairs
now to our room for a short while, while I do certain things magical " He
broke off.
"I forgot," he said. "Brian is recovering from his wound in our regular
bedchamber. I'll need a chamber all to myself, even if it's only a small one."
He looked at Herrac.
"Is there such a chamber?" he asked.
Instead of answering directly, Herrac turned his head over his shoulder and
shouted for a servant.
"Ho!" his powerful voice rang out.
Within seconds there were three of the male servants at his elbow.
"Go fetch the Lady Liseth!" Herrac snapped. "I want her here immediately."
The male servants left at a run for the kitchen; and within another
half-minute or so, Liseth showed up. This time, however, she was walking if
somewhat swiftly since there was a difference between being summoned, and
being sent on an errand; particularly if you were Chatelaine of the castle in
which the summons occurred.
She reached the table.
"Yes, Father?"
"M'Lord, here, requires a chamber to himself in which to do some things
magical," said Herrac. "Will you show him to such a chamber, and do whatever
else he may require for these purposes? Thank you."
"Gladly, Father," said Liseth. She turned to look at Jim, standing on the
other side of the table.
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"If you'll come with me, m'Lord," she said, formally, and almost demurely.
"Thank you," said Jim, uncertain whether to address her as m'Lady in this
instance as he addressed Herrac m'Lord because of their respective positions
as commanders of the castle and compromising by not using any direct form of
address or title toward her.
He went around the table and she led him back through the kitchen, upstairs
in the peel tower to the floor just below the one which held the room in which
Brian now lay. She was about to turn off down a corridor leading away from the
stairs when Jim stopped her.
"If you'll forgive me," he said, "I'll have to go to the room that I shared
with Sir Brian and Dafydd, to get my bedding. Could we go up there first?"
"Of course, m'Lord," said Liseth, and returned to the stairs to lead him up
into the room.
Brian was still apparently sleeping there, and the pitchers were on a table
that had been set up by his bed. The four servants gazed at Jim with scared
eyes.
"He looks to be getting along all right," said Jim, to put them at their
ease. "Has he drunk any of the small beer?"
"He has, and itplease you, m'Lord," said the older of the two women, "if your
lordship would glance into that pitcher next to him, he will see that it is
now only about three-quarters full."
"Good," said Jim. "Keep urging it on him whenever he wakes."
A chorus of assent came from the servants. Jim found his rolled-up mattress
that Angie had made, and tucked it under one arm.
"Now," he said to Liseth, "I'm all set. Lead me to the other room."
"This way, m'Lord," she directed.
They went back down the flight of stairs and along the corridor there and
into a much smaller room. To Jim's surprise, it was furnished. There was a
typical, very small medieval bed in a corner, also a rough straight chair of
wood and a wardrobe taller than his head, of dark wood and with its two tall
doors closed and bolted shut. The room itself was so small that he would
barely have floor room on which to unroll his bedding. But what surprised him
the most was a drinking cup with some yellow and white wildflowers in it, just
before the narrow arrow-slit of a window.
Jim had never seen flowers in a medieval dwelling before except in his own
castle, where Angie brought them in to their bedroom. He stared at them; and
then understanding awoke in him. He turned to Liseth.
"Liseth," he said, "is this your room?"
"It is, m'Lord," said Liseth. "I apologize for the smallness and meanness of
it for someone like m'Lord; but all other possible rooms have not been cleaned
for years, or are filled with such stored things, as even removed would leave
an ill atmosphere for m'Lord."
"Well, I must say, I'm grateful," said Jim. "The room is not mean at all,
m'Lady Chatelaine even if it may perhaps be a little smaller than the one
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above. It will do excellently, since I have room to put my bedding on the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]