by Chloe Garner
“Don’t know,” Palk said. He still hadn’t seen any profit to lying about it, so he didn’t. The green man nodded.
“Wanderer. We get those. Not good for much, if you don’t mind me saying.”
“You see what you see,” Palk answered, wondering where that came from. He’d have to remember it and use it again.
“You just get in to Transit?” the man asked.
“Yesterday,” Palk said. “Last night.”
“Crazy town, at sales time,” the green man said. “Glad I don’t get mixed up in all of that.”
“We’re staying at a tavern down there,” Palk agreed. “Place didn’t empty out until dawn.”
“We?” the green man asked. “You have more than one of you?”
“I’m with a woman,” Palk said. They were going to have to figure out exactly what it was they were, at some point, he thought. Just to have something to tell people.
“Ah,” the green man said. “Sometimes you hear that. I’m Tannish.”
“Palk,” Palk answered, shaking hands.
“You don’t look Drint,” Tannish said.
“Don’t know what that means,” Palk answered.
“Your name, man,” Tannish said. “It’s Drint.”
“Ah. We ended up in a little fishing town. The general store owner gave us names, just to make things easier.”
“Explains it,” Tannish said. “You actually don’t look like anyone I’ve ever seen before.”
“I’ve been hearing that a lot,” Palk answered.
Tannish grinned at him.
“We get all kinds up here, but you’re all kinds of weird.”
“Are you Drint?” Palk asked. Tannish nodded.
“There are lots of us.”
“You look like Whalk,” Palk said. Tannish grinned again.
“Where did you wash up? That’s an old name. Haven’t heard it in years.”
“King’s Path,” Palk said. Tannish shook his head.
“Never heard of it. What’s your girl’s name? He name her, too?”
“Starn,” Palk said. Tannish nearly spit his soup.
“He played a joke on you two,” he said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
“What’s that?” Palk asked.
“It’s an old story,” Tannish asked. “Fairy people, from the moon or something. I don’t remember it, I just remember that they were Palk and Starn.”
“Because we’re pale,” Palk said. Tannish nodded.
“It’s pretty good, you’ve got to admit it.”
Palk shrugged.
“Doesn’t make any difference to me.”
“I guess it doesn’t. What’s that got to be like, man? Not being able to remember anything? Not know who you are?”
“Weird,” Palk said. Tannish grinned again.
“So you’re going to see Gamm.”
Palk nodded.
“Asked around in town, decided I wanted to work for the Tiedmonts,” he said. Tannish shook his head.
“You’ve got guts,” he said. “Gamm’ll like that.”
“How do the other ranches normally hire new people?” Palk asked. Someone told me on the way up that the Tiedmonts just take referrals.”
Tannish nodded.
“I’ve got no clue, man. I came here because my uncle vouched for me. Got two of my little brothers jobs, too, when they got big enough. Don’t talk to the other boys, much.”
Palk nodded, finishing the breakfast the cook had packed for him. Tannish looked over his shoulder.
“It ought to be safe to take you up, now. I’ll just be sure not to be standing on front of the door, in case Gamm throws you out.”
The green man gave him another wide grin, and they walked back to the main tent together. Tannish pushed a section of the tent to the side and let Palk walk in past him.
“Gamm?” Tannish said. “This is Palk. He’s a wanderer, wants to talk to you.”
Gamm was an ashy gray with yellow eyes that had nothing around them to obscure the transition from gray to gold.
“Wanderer,” the man said. Palk nodded.
“Yes. I’m looking for a job.”
“You and half the country,” Gamm said, looking back down at the papers he was working on. “Why would I give one to you?”
“Because I’m here asking for it,” Palk said. He looked over his shoulder. “Unless there’s a line I missed on my way up, I’m the only one here this morning.”
Gamm smiled down at his papers.
“Being a smart mouth may be normal around here, but it doesn’t score any points. What would make you a good wrangler? You know anything about stilth, taims, bobnot?”
“No,” Palk said. “I don’t remember anything about any of the animals I’ve seen since I’ve been here, but I’m strong, I’m smart, and I’m stubborn. You put me to work, I’ll know as much as anyone else you’ve just hired within a few weeks.”
Gamm looked up at him and squinted.
“I know a few things about wanderers,” he said. “Met a lot of them, at this. You don’t know your own name, you don’t know where you come from, and you’ve got no clue what you’re getting yourself into. I ought to send you away, just for that. But I also know that they tend to be what they think they are. They know their capabilities, even if they can’t remember getting them. What else are you good at?”
Palk thought for a moment.
“I actually think I’m good with weapons,” he said. Gamm raised an eyebrow at him and Palk nodded. “I took a knife off of a thief on the way here.”
He took it out of his pocket, unwrapping the blade so Gamm could see. The gray man put a hand out, and Palk let him take the knife.
“You found yourself some pretty low lowlifes, then,” he said. “I knew kids who used knives like these.”
He pulled something out from a small drawer and put it on the table.
“You know what that is?”
“May I?” Palk asked, reaching for it. Gamm nodded.
“I don’t,” Palk said, picking up the complex object carefully, “but it’s familiar.”
It was designed for projectiles. Maybe not bullets, but something that would be accelerated over the length of a hollow rod, intending to puncture something else. Probably fatally.
“It’s a gun,” Palk said. With another minute of inspection, he was able to take it apart and reassemble it on Gamm’s desk. “I’ve used guns before.”
“Not many people have,” Gamm said, putting it away. “Mostly we don’t have to worry about things like that, but occasionally, we do have to defend ourselves and our property.”
Palk nodded. That didn’t surprise him at all.
“You wouldn’t be uncomfortable carrying one of those?” Gamm asked.
“It’s heavy,” Palk said. “But no.”
“You’ve seen them built lighter?” Gamm asked. Palk frowned, trying to remember.
“Sorry,” Gamm said. “No, I know you don’t know. It means you have, but you aren’t going to be able to tell me about it. Do you ride?”
Palk searched for any sense of familiarity to that, then shook his head.
“No. I don’t think so.”
“But you can learn,” Gamm said.
“Of course,” Palk answered. Gamm nodded.
“You’d need one of the biggest kalts we’ve got,” he said, “but we should be able to make it work.”
“Is that a yes, then?” Palk asked.
“You need better negotiation skills,” Gamm said. “You’re supposed to ask about salary, once I’ve expressed interest.”
Palk took his time answering this.
“I have big dreams, I’m sure,” he said finally. “And maybe someday when I’m indispensable, I’ll threaten to leave for a lot more money, but right now a job is all I want. You pay me enough to live and save a little, we can talk about money later.”
Gamm smiled again, returning to his papers.
“If you have any stuff, go get it. Find T
annish and tell him that he’s got to get you fit to ride before we leave, and then have him take you to see Elli about a bedroll.”
“I would need to bring my wife with me,” Palk said, taking a leap at describing Starn. He wasn’t sure if she would be okay with it or not, but it felt a lot more likely that Gamm would go along with her coming, if she were his wife, instead of his girlfriend or his only friend in the world. Gamm looked up again, this time dismissively.
“Makes no difference,” he said. “I’m busy.”
Palk nodded quickly to him and then did his best not to rush out of the tent. Tannish was waiting for him.
“So?” the Drint man asked.
“He says you have to teach me to ride.”
“You can’t ride, man?” Tannish asked, and Palk grinned as he shook his head.
“I need to go tell Starn. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”
Tannish slapped him on the back.
“Never heard of a boy like you,” he said. “I’ll be here.”
Palk started back down the hillside, wishing he knew a song to whistle.
*********
Starn was asleep when he got back to the tavern. He took his shoes off quietly and sat down on the bed, just staring for a moment.
He could do this.
He was going to make it work.
Starn woke and rolled onto her back to look at him.
“So?” she asked sleepily.
“I did it,” he said. “I’ve got a job with the Tiedmonts.”
She smiled and rolled onto her side again.
“Of course,” she said. “When do you start?”
“I’m going back up there, soon,” he said. “Today. I need to learn how to ride… something. I don’t remember what he called it. But there’s a green man named Tannish who’s the same species as Whalk who was nice to me. He’s going to teach me how to ride. And I know what a gun is.”
She rubbed her face.
“Of course you do,” she said. “Do they?”
“What?”
“I know what all kinds of technologies are that they don’t know about here,” she said. “As soon as you start trying to remember details about them and how they work, it kinds of slips away, like there’s knowledge and there’s memories, and as soon as you start trying to use memories to access knowledge, you’re done, but I know lots and lots of things, if I just let myself know them.”
He was a little stunned. He hadn’t actually put it together that elegantly, yet, but she already knew exactly what he was talking about.
“They have guns here?” she asked. He nodded.
“It sounded like they’re pretty rare, and it wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before, but… yeah.”
“And he’s going to let you use it, isn’t he?” she asked. Palk nodded.
“I think so.”
“I used to like guns,” she said. “I don’t think I do any more.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Don’t know. Does it matter?”
“I guess not. How much money did you make last night?”
“Eight Kennar,” she said. “A little more. How much are they paying you?”
“I don’t know yet,” Palk said. She laughed, putting her hand over her face.
“You trust too much. Don’t remember anyone ever cheating you.”
“I saw the pickpockets on the train,” Palk complained.
“That’s different,” she said. “You trust people in authority. Am I staying here to work another night, or am I coming with you?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “That’s a lot of money.”
“It is,” she said.
“Do you want to do it again tonight?”
“I have men who are going to expect me to be here again tonight,” she said, rolling onto her side to watch him.
Jealousy. That’s what that was.
“Oh,” he said. She grinned.
“I like that you feel that way,” she said. “I won’t do it if you don’t want me to.”
“No,” he said. “It’s okay. It’s a lot of money, and you aren’t going to get another chance to make that kind of money for a while, maybe. Once all of the ranchers leave, I don’t think there’s anywhere that’s going to pay like that.”
“Not for no skills,” Starn agreed. “So one more night?”
“You’ll come find me in the morning?” he asked. She frowned at him.
“You aren’t leaving without me, now,” she said. “I’ll come back down here at sunset and put in my shift, but… no. You aren’t leaving me.”
He drew a breath that was surprisingly unencumbered, compared to the one before. She smiled.
“No. We aren’t splitting up, I don’t care how good a reason there is for it. You’re the only person I know and the only person I trust.”
“But you need sleep,” Palk said.
“I’ll sleep there,” she said, getting up.
“It’s a nice bed,” Palk argued, not hoping she would change her mind.
“And they have nice dirt up there. Come on.”
He followed her out of the room and then the tavern, starting the walk back up the slope toward the flocks.
“Oh,” he said, remembering. “I told them… because I wanted to make sure they’d let you come. I told them you’re my wife.”
She paused.
Spent a few seconds looking at the ground a couple of yards away, then nodded slowly.
“I can live with that,” she said.
“What should I have told them?” Palk asked.
Starn looked at him brightly and smiled.
“It’s just a surprise,” she said. “Even now, I’m not used to surprises. I’m not sure I even know what that means. Anyway. No. The only thing you did wrong was not ask first.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. She laughed, tipping her head back and making his spine tingle.
“No,” she said. “You should have asked first.”
Oh.
Oooh.
There was a method to this.
A tradition.
Something important.
He knew it, but he couldn’t remember what it was.
He took her hands in his, feeling the backs of them with his thumbs as he watched. His hands. Her hands. The feel of her skin under his fingertips. Something no memory could replace or dim. He pulled his eyes away, looking into her face.
She gave him a stubborn, pleasant expression that made the words freeze in his throat. She was mocking him. Making him nervous.
He looked at her hands again.
The fingernails were cut short, functional, but kept. He wondered if that was all from before, or if she’d been taking care of them since they’d… become their new selves. The knuckles were lined, just like his, the skin showing signs of work and wear, but nothing approaching real hardness.
Why was he nervous?
It was because he was doing it wrong.
But he didn’t know what he should have been doing instead.
He didn’t even know what the words were, now that he thought about it.
He’d known them, just a second ago, he could have sworn.
He swallowed hard, looking at her again.
Starn’s face softened just a fraction, pity, and he swallowed harder.
“Starn,” he said. “Will you be my wife?”
“Of course,” she said. “I don’t know anything else to be.”
She smiled, teasing, and he frowned at her, finally able to be fake-angry for her playfulness, then pulled her hands behind his back and kissed her.
This was different than the first time.
The difference between knowledge and memory.
The first time, it had just been something he’d known how to do, like he’d always done it. This was different. This was Palk and Starn, two new people, and her mouth against his was different. Less chemical, less mechanical.
Relief. Release.
Something that was new and fully him a
t the same time, a bridge between the past and the present. He curled his arms around her, finding her neck with the crook of his arm, and kissed her harder.
There was a need there so deep that it surprised him, almost pulled him off of his new sense of reality. He didn’t want to let her go. Not now. Not ever. Not to go down to the little town of Transit and waitress, not for him to go learn how to ride, not even to finish walking up the hill.
She pulled away, twisting her head out of his grasp and pushing him away with flat but gentle palms.
“There’s still day left,” she said, looking away from him for a moment. He found he couldn’t look at her, either. Not without pulling her in close again. He took a few seconds to regain control, and then she held her hand out to him. He took it in his, easy, light, and with their quiet agreement that life had to go on, it couldn’t just stop there and then because they wanted it to, they continued up the hill toward the Tiedmont encampment.
*********
“You’re sitting wrong,” Tannish said. Starn was sitting on the temporary fencing, enjoying watching Palk make a fool of himself as he tried to learn to ride a kalt, a quick-witted animal that was almost solid muscle. Palk could feel the compressed power in the body underneath him, respected the speed and endurance and robustness that it represented. He wasn’t afraid of it - though Tannish had seemed to be concerned that he might have been - but he also wasn’t having much luck controlling it.
“No,” Tannish said, chasing after him as the high-strung animal skittered sideways out of sheer malice. “Use your feet. Out there at the ends of your legs, man.”
Palk stuck his legs out straight on either side.
“I am using my feet,” he said. “And I know where they are.”
“No, man, don’t do that,” Tannish said, and the kalt, as if understanding the language, surged forward, nearly unseating Palk. He hauled on the leather cord that went across the animal’s nose, pulling himself upright again as the kalt shimmied to the other side.
“Hold on to him,” Tannish said. “You’re just letting him do whatever he wants.”
“Feels like that’s what he’d do, anyway,” Palk answered.
“You’re worthless,” Starn observed to Tannish on the way by him as she hopped off of the fence and walked across the enclosure. Tannish laughed and threw his arms in the air, going to take her spot.