sort of powerful illness in your town. An inflammation of the bowels, is what I heard, with fever.’
‘It was, and a terrible bad fever, too. I had a touch of it, but Da died of it, and our little sister did, too. Mam wore herself out, I think, nursing them, and then this spring, when it was so damp and chill –’ Neb felt tears welling in his voice.
‘You don’t need to say more,’ Salamander said. ‘That’s a sad thing all round. How old are you, lad? Do you know?’
‘I do. Da always kept count. I’m sixteen, and my brother is eight.’
‘Sixteen, is it? Huh.’ Salamander seemed to be counting something out in his mind. ‘I’m surprised your father didn’t marry you off years ago.’
‘It wasn’t for want of trying. He and the town matchmaker just never seemed to find the right lass.’
‘Ah, I see.’ Salamander pointed and smiled. ‘Look, your brother’s asleep.’
Clae had curled up right on the ground, and indeed he was asleep, open-mouthed and limp.
‘Just as well,’ Neb said. ‘He’ll not have to listen to the tale this way.’
Neb told the story of their last day on the farm and their escape as clearly as he could. When he rambled to a stop, Salamander said nothing for a long moment. He looked sad, and so deeply weary that Neb wondered how he could ever have thought him young.
‘What made you go look at the waterfall?’ Salamander asked.
‘Oh, just a whim.’
The yellow gnome materialized, gave Neb a sour look, then climbed into his lap like a cat. Salamander pointed to the gnome with his cooking spoon.
‘It’s more likely he warned you,’ Salamander said. ‘He led you here, after all.’
Neb found he couldn’t speak. Someone else with the Sight! He’d always hoped for such. The irony of the bitter circumstances in which he’d had his hope fulfilled struck him hard.
‘Did anyone see you up on the cliff?’ Salamander went on.
‘I think so. Two Horsekin rode our way, but they were too far away for me to see if they were pointing at us or suchlike. We ran into the forest and hid.’ Neb paused, remembering. ‘I thought I heard voices, but the waterfall was so loud, it was hard to tell. There was a scream, too. It almost sounded like someone fell off the cliff.’
The yellow gnome began to clap its hands and dance in a little circle.
‘Here!’ Salamander said to it. ‘You and your lads didn’t push that Horsekin down the cliff, did you?’
The gnome stopped dancing, grinned, and nodded. Salamander, however, looked grim.
‘Is he dead?’ Salamander said.
The gnome nodded yes, then disappeared.
‘Ye gods!’ Neb could hear how feeble his own voice sounded. ‘I always thought of them like little pet birds or puppies. Sweet little creatures, that is.’
‘Never ever make that mistake again! They’re not called the Wildfolk for naught.’
‘I won’t, I can promise you that!’ Neb paused, struck by his sudden thought. ‘They saved our lives. If that Horsekin had got up to the top of the cliff …’ His voice deserted him.
‘He would have found you, truly. They have noses as keen as dogs’.’
‘Well, that’s one up for Clae, then. He told me that. But sir, the Wildfolk – what are they?’
‘Sir, am I?’ Salamander grinned at him. ‘No need for courtesies, lad. You have the same odd gift that I do, after all. As to what they are, do you know what an elemental spirit is?’
‘I don’t. I mean, everyone knows what spirits are, but I’ve not heard the word elemental before.’
‘Well, it’s a long thing to explain, but –’ Salamander stopped abruptly.
With a whimper Clae woke and sat up, stretching his arms over his head. Conversation about the Wildfolk would have to wait. Salamander flipped the griddle cake over with the handle of the spoon before he spoke again.
‘May the Horsekins’ hairy balls freeze off when they sink to the lowest hell,’ Salamander said. ‘But I don’t want to wait that long for justice. Allow me to offer you lads my protection, such as it is. I’ll escort you east, where we shall find both safety and revenge.’
‘My thanks! I’m truly grateful.’
Salamander smiled, and at that moment he looked young again, barely a twenty’s worth of years.
‘But sir?’ Clae said with a yawn. ‘Who are you? What are you really?’
‘Really?’ Salamander raised one pale eyebrow. ‘Well, lad, when it comes to me, there’s no such thing as really, because I’m a mountebank, a travelling minstrel, a storyteller, who deals in nothing but lies, jests, and the most blatant illusions. I am, in short, a gerthddyn, who wanders around parting honest folk from their coin in return for a few brief hours in the land of never-was, never-will-be. I can also juggle, make scarves appear out of thin air, and once, in my greatest moment, I plucked a sparrow out of the hat of a fat merchant.’
Clae giggled and sat up a bit straighter.
‘Later,’ Salamander went on, ‘after I’ve eaten, I shall tell you a story that will drive all thoughts of those cursed raiders out of your head, so that you may go to sleep when your most esteemed brother tells you to. I’m very good at driving away evil thoughts.’
‘My thanks,’ Neb said. ‘Truly, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for all of this.’
‘No payment needed.’ Salamander made a little bob of a bow. ‘Why should I ask for payment, when I never do an honest day’s work?’
Just as twilight was darkening into night, Salamander built up the fire and settled in to tell the promised story, which fascinated Neb as much as it did young Clae. Salamander swept them away to a far-off land where great sorcerers fought with greedy dragons over treasure, then told them of a prince who was questing for a gem that had magic, or dweomer, as Salamander called it. He played all the parts, his voice lilting for the beautiful princess, snarling for the evil sorcerer, rumbling for the mighty king. Every now and then, he sang a song as part of the tale, his beautiful voice harmonizing with the wind in the trees. By the time the stone was found, and the prince and princess safely married, Clae was smiling.
‘Oh, I want there to be real dweomer gems,’ Clae said. ‘And real dweomermasters, too.’
‘Do you now?’ Salamander gave him a grin. ‘Well, you never know, lad. You think about it when you’re falling asleep.’
Neb found a soft spot in the grass for his brother’s bed. He wrapped Clae up in one of the gerthddyn’s blankets and stayed with him until he was safely asleep, then rejoined Salamander at the fire.
‘A thousand thanks
