The Farwalker's Quest Read online

  While she worked up enough spit in her dry mouth to speak, she noticed the telling dart’s point. Its broken tip had been beaten or filed. Someone had tried to repair it.

  “Well,” she said, fidgeting to hide her surprise, “I know some of these trade marks. Like this one is Healtouch and that one is Tree-Singer and that one is Fool.”

  He stepped close enough to breathe on her neck. Ariel closed her eyes, quailing. He smelled like fish oil and mud.

  “This is the only dart, so far, that delivered itself to a child.” Scarl spoke in his shadowy voice from behind Elbert. “That seems a bit odd.”

  Thankfully, Elbert stepped back.

  “Well, it really delivered itself to a tree,” she said. “That’s where I—we—found it.” She hadn’t planned to bring Zeke back into the danger, if there was any. She couldn’t help it. She needed to spread out the fear.

  Scarl merely gazed at her with those wide-set eyes, dark and unblinking. She felt as if they could see past her skin to find the secrets held by her soul.

  “Anything else we can help you gentlemen with, then?” Luna asked. Her voice was pleasant, but Ariel knew the visit had ended.

  Elbert tapped the dart on his thumb before he slipped it back into his pocket. “Just one thing,” he said. “For their help with the experiment, we’ve been giving most folks a reward. Finding is what we do best. Can we do a bit of that for you now?”

  “Goodness, a reward.” Luna stood, giving Ariel silent permission to jump up as well. “None is needed, I’m sure. Besides, we’ve nothing lost or lacking that I can think of. Have we, Ariel?”

  Ariel’s eyes darted, her mind suddenly blank. Now that it was almost over, the strain wrung her out empty. She could only shrug.

  “Well, we’ll be here a few more days, I expect,” Elbert said, as Luna ushered him out. “That may give you time to think of something you need.”

  Before the door closed behind them, Ariel decided what reward she wanted most. If she hadn’t known her mother would scold her for rudeness, she would have begged the Finders to leave right away. The knowledge that the crow man slept just across the lane had given her nightmares last night. Ariel needed to sleep better this evening: her Naming test was only hours away.

  CHAPTER

  6

  The whole village turned out for Namingfest. The chance to take time off from chores, play games with neighbors, and celebrate the first day of April in sunshine had everyone smiling.

  Everyone, that is, except Ariel, Madeleine, and Zeke. Though the day was held in their honor, first they faced tests. Students hardly ever failed, but it did happen. Nobody wanted to spend a humiliating year as a Fool. Besides merciless taunting whenever adults weren’t around, it meant sitting through another year of classes before the test could be taken again. The second time, most people settled for Fisher or Reaper, regardless of what they had wanted before, simply because those two were hard to mess up.

  A few people remained Fools, of course. Some wanted to be Fools all along. They didn’t often admit it beforehand because parents never approved. Sure, class clowns basked in attention, but once they’d grown up, Fools had to be awfully amusing to earn food from others every day of the year. Singing and juggling weren’t really enough. Most Fools ate bugs for some of their meals.

  The grown Fools of Canberra Docks lived for festival days like today, though. Everyone brought treats to the village square for a shared picnic around the sycamore tree. Ariel clung near her mother and watched her give away fresh bread and butter. Zeke’s mother, a Kincaller, tended two cows, so Zeke’s broken arm meant that Luna would have plenty of milk and cream for a while.

  Ariel couldn’t possibly eat. The tests would begin soon, and her stomach felt like a rock. Plus, she’d spotted Elbert and Scarl laughing with a handful of Fishers. She couldn’t imagine why they didn’t go home.

  Restless, she paced the square. She spied Zeke with his family near the sycamore, a favorite of Zeke’s father’s. Since Canberra Docks had no Judge, Jeshua Tree-Singer and his old sycamore were clearly in charge of the village. Today would determine if someday that role would fall to Zeke.

  When he saw her, she waved. He waved back, looking nervous. She remembered what he’d said about two bad things happening before the Finders left town, with a third coming as they departed. The fire must have been one of the two. She hoped the loss of the dart was the other.

  Finally Zeke’s father and the Storian stood up together in the shade of the sycamore. Luna and Madeleine’s parents joined Zeke’s mother at its base. The chattering stopped. The youngest kids drew close to watch. Ariel pressed her hands to her chest. She had to work for each breath.

  Zeke, the eldest by a few months, went first. He stood straight before his father and the Storian.

  “I buried something last night among the roots of our tree,” Jeshua announced. He pointed out a mound of freshly tamped dirt. “Your test, Ezekiel, is simple—but not easy. Find out from this tree or any other what I’ve buried. No one else knows. Come back and declare it. We’ll dig it up to see if you pass. You’ve got until nightfall.”

  “Yes, sir.” Zeke no longer looked nervous. He gave the sycamore a long stare before heading slowly toward his maple. The villagers, cheering him on, parted so he could pass. His gaze never left the distant grove.

  Ariel squirmed. She didn’t know how he could keep from breaking into a run. When he passed the edge of the square, she dragged her attention back to his father.

  Madeleine went next. Before Zeke’s father had even begun, she declared, “I want the Kincaller test.” Ariel had never heard the shy girl speak so surely.

  The crowd hummed. Madeleine was the daughter of two Reapers, and nobody had guessed she might want to do something else. Even her mother looked startled. Many Reapers handled animals, but generally in slaughter. Kincallers befriended creatures that did not provide meat, including some that weren’t useful at all.

  Taken aback, the grown-ups in charge whispered together. Bellam Storian bent to consult with the mothers of both Madeleine and Zeke.

  “We’re not really prepared,” Jeshua told Madeleine. “You should have said something sooner.”

  “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure sooner.” Her voice had dropped back to its usual shy whisper. If Ariel hadn’t been up front, she wouldn’t have heard.

  Storian straightened. “I’m told, Madeleine,” he said, “that you’ve made pets of some pigeons. Are they caged?”

  “Sort of,” she said. “I made a coop from an old blanket.”

  “Your test, then, is this: Go put them in something smaller, a fish basket perhaps. Bring them here. Someone—” He scanned the crowd. “Someone will carry them a goodly way into the forest.”

  “I’ll do it,” said a voice in the back. Ariel turned. All eyes fell on Scarl, who added, “I’ve got a horse.”

  “Very good,” Storian agreed. Ariel nearly fainted. She couldn’t believe the Storian would let a stranger take part in a Naming test. He might do something mean to make Madeleine fail.

  Another voice laughed. “The Finder will become a Loser for the day!”

  Storian nodded. “Indeed. He’ll take them away and release them. We’ll limit how far he should go.” He looked gravely at Madeleine. “Find them or coax them back here by nightfall to pass.”

  Madeleine blanched. “All five of them?”

  When the Storian hesitated, Jeshua answered. “At least three. You’ve not made it easy on yourself, Madeleine. But that’s not a bad thing. We’ll all be hoping for you.” Jeshua raised his eyes to the villagers. “Not helping, though.” Heads nodded.

  Ariel thought she would choke on her heart. Poor Madeleine! Not only would she likely fail the test, she’d lose her pets, too. This year’s tests seemed many times harder than usual. Of course, she’d never stood with those tested before. Ariel watched Madeleine cross the square to gather her birds, not blaming her for dragging her feet.

  “Ariel.”

&nb
sp; She jumped at Jeshua’s voice.

  “Healtouch?” he asked.

  She nodded and clasped both hands around the glass bead at her throat.

  “Your test has three parts,” he said, glancing at Luna. Ariel wanted to stamp her foot at the injustice, but her mother nodded, approving.

  “Unless someone has taken ill suddenly!” he added. The crowd laughed. Ariel held her breath, certain Elbert would claim to be sick and she’d have to heal him.

  “All right, then,” Zeke’s father went on at last. “There are three things you’ll need to bring us, Ariel. The first is a sample of your needlework. Healers must have clever hands to stitch wounds.”

  Ariel exhaled. She could stitch something that afternoon if she had to.

  “The second,” Jeshua said, “is a bucket of fish guts. Healers must not mind ugly sights or unpleasant things to touch.” He surveyed the crowd. “I’m sure we have a Fisher who can supply what she’ll need?”

  A chorus of agreement ran through the crowd.

  “Finally,” Zeke’s father continued, “you must bring us a certain few plants. Your mother says you know plenty already. It wouldn’t be fair to expect you to say what they’re good for, but you should be able to remember a list and recognize them. Are you ready to hear them?”

  Grinding her teeth, Ariel nodded. This might not be so bad.

  “They are foolsbane, marshyellow, fiddlefern, chamomile, goat ivy, and swarth. Your mother assures me they all appear this time of year. Do you see why we’ve chosen these six?”

  With a gulp, Ariel nodded. Everything on the list had a twin that was either useless or poison.

  “A healer’s intuition should guide you in choosing which are wholesome, even if your eyes can’t do it for you. Shall I repeat them?”

  Hoping she’d simply remember the telltale signs, Ariel nodded stiffly. She ticked a finger for each as he went.

  He finished, “You, too, have until nightfall.”

  Unlike her two friends before her, Ariel didn’t care what anyone thought. She set off at a run.

  The fish guts would take the least time, so that’s where she started. She tapped the arm of a sturdy woman who lived on her boat at the docks.

  Felia Fisher winked. “Oh, have I got fish guts for you.” She led Ariel to the pier and what looked like a pile of seabirds. As they reached it, the birds lifted off, their wings beating a stench into the air. Ariel had certainly smelled it before, but it still turned her stomach.

  “Borrow a bucket from my boat if you like, child,” Felia said. “Your mother might not want hers smelling so fresh.”

  “It’s got pollywogs in it, anyway,” Ariel told her.

  Felia laughed. “Remind me not to drink water at your house!”

  With a shout of thanks, Ariel ran to the boat for the bucket, glad she hadn’t worn her new yellow skirt. If all went well, she could don it later, along with her new last name.

  When she returned, the birds had gone back to their feasting. She shooed them away, held her breath, and dipped the bucket. It scooped up loops of fish intestine, loose scales like stinky snowflakes, and putrid, unidentifiable ooze.

  The villagers in the square smelled Ariel coming. Heads turned. Palms waved at the air before noses. Ariel walked up the aisle they formed, wishing she hadn’t filled the bucket so full. Her arm ached.

  “That’s close enough,” laughed the Storian as she approached. Ariel set the bucket at his feet. “No, no,” he continued. “Please take it away now!”

  “That’s not what Jeshua told her!” someone shouted. “There was nothing in the test about taking it back!”

  The crowd erupted in hoots and pleas for Ariel to take it away. Giggling, she hefted the bucket again. Cheers followed. She was filled with a prickly love, not just for her mother and friends but for all of Canberra Docks—even the guts pile.

  No longer nervous, she went next to her house for a needlework sample. The most artful work she’d ever done with a needle or pin was her bone dart, but she didn’t want to show that. Zeke still had it, anyway. She dug through the sewing kit her mother had given her long ago. There wasn’t much in it; Ariel considered stitching only slightly more fun than chores. But she found a half-complete handkerchief she’d embroidered with a sun and a cloud. She stuffed it into her pocket. If she had time after collecting her plants, she would add a nice flower.

  Running across the meadow, she chanted in time with her footsteps the names of the plants that she needed. Foolsbane, marshyellow, fiddlefern, chamomile, goat ivy, and—She halted. What was the sixth? She repeated the first five, tapping each finger. Her second thumb remained silent.

  A tornado spun in her belly. She’d forgotten one! She walked on, shaky, trying to keep the whirlwind in her guts from rising into her head. She told herself she had all afternoon. She would carefully collect the first five. Then she’d sit and name every plant in Luna’s workroom, every plant she’d ever heard of. When she said the right name, she’d remember.

  Despite this plan, she still felt like throwing up.

  Marshyellow was easy. It grew near the hole in the creek where the pollywogs lived, and it didn’t look that much like its twin. Wishing she’d thought to bring a basket, Ariel yanked a handful from the water.

  True chamomile flowers dotted the meadow. She resolved to get those on her return.

  As she entered the woods, she yearned to stop by Zeke’s tree, but she decided she’d better not waste any time. With marshyellow slapping wetly against her calf, she found fiddlefern and, after a long hunt, a goat ivy vine. To her relief, she remembered the notched leaf shape that identified the ivy. The fern’s sharp scent confirmed that find.

  She had just started her search for foolsbane when she felt something odd—not a healer’s intuition, but the tickle that suggests somebody watching. The skin between her shoulder blades crawled.

  “Zeke? Is that you?” She swiveled, searching. “Madeleine?” Maybe the other girl had come this way after her birds. “Madeleine, it’s me. You can come out. There’s no rule against talking. Just helping.”

  The wind sighed. The birds had stopped chirping. Someone was definitely here with her.

  Ariel bent back to her hunt for the foolsbane. Although her eyes roamed the ground, her attention remained tuned for the crack of a twig or a movement.

  At last she heard the footfall. She jerked her head up. He stood in full view before her, no longer trying to hide. It would have been difficult anyway, so close and with a horse at his side.

  CHAPTER

  7

  Frozen, Ariel stared at Scarl. He’d ridden out in the fair weather without his coat, so nothing hid the long knife he wore at one hip.

  The plants in her hand slipped to the ground. Just before she whirled to escape—as though he’d been timing her courage, in fact—he spoke.

  “Well met.”

  She didn’t believe for a moment that their meeting was any accident. Nobody could sneak up so well in the woods without trying. Her limbs shook in anger as well as in fear.

  “What are you finding today, Ariel?” he asked. She could barely make out the soft words over the rustle of the forest.

  “Only what I’m supposed to,” she said.

  He ducked his head as if amused. “Of course. That would be plants for your test, yes?”

  When she refused to even nod, he added, “Watch out for the swarth. Its poisonous brother is plentiful here. I passed some just there.” He jerked one thumb back the way he had come.

  Ariel’s breath caught. The sixth plant! Her test, though, felt distant. She narrowed her eyes and tried to guess what this stranger wanted.

  When she still didn’t respond, he shifted and patted the neck of his horse. A cold twist of pleasure unfurled in her chest. She’d discomfited him—not much, but a bit. Her pinching fear eased slightly. Ariel noticed then that his horse was lathered with sweat. He’d ridden hard, either before releasing Madeleine’s birds or on the way back. Ariel could only h
ope the horse was tired and that she could dodge through the trees better, if she had to run.

  “Healtouch.” Scarl turned his penetrating eyes back upon her. “Are you sure that’s the right trade for you?”

  “I would never want to be a Finder, if that’s what you mean.” The hot words slipped out and then hung in the air like a mistake. Precisely because of that dread, she pushed herself a step closer to him.

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she added. Her voice remained steady—almost.

  Scarl raised one eyebrow. “I can see that.” Inside, he was laughing, she was certain.

  “Go away.” It sounded more like a plea than she wanted. To make it stronger, she added, “You’re not supposed to bother people who are taking their tests.”

  He did smile now, a thin stretch of the lips. He tipped his head at her politely and swung onto his horse. In a breath, the pair had passed into the green flicker and vanished.

  Ariel collapsed to the ground.

  After a moment of inhaling the familiar, safe smells of leaf mold and dirt, she sat up. The words she’d exchanged with Scarl were burned into her brain. As her thoughts found their way back to her test, though, a grin spread on her face. He’d mentioned the one plant she couldn’t remember. He’d meant to scare her, she thought, and he certainly had. But he’d helped, too. As birds began warbling again, Ariel jumped to her feet and collected the plants she’d let fall.

  Another thought dashed away her victory grin. Helping was against Namingfest rules, and he’d been in the crowd when Zeke’s father said so. Maybe the Finder had done it on purpose.

  Ariel couldn’t cheat. The idea churned in her stomach. She probably would have remembered the swarth on her own, but now she’d never know. And what if Scarl told someone that he’d met her and brought up the name of a plant? One of his comments rang horribly in her ears. “Healtouch—are you sure that’s the right trade for you?” He had found her in the woods specifically to make her fail.