The Wayfinder

by Darcy Pattison

  Valda realized her advantage. “I’ll slice that waterskin into strips if you don’t give me the Wolf Head.” She advanced, forcing Win backward across the bare rock, closer and closer to the Rift.

  Behind Valda. Win saw Lady Kala slip past the other Wolf Clan warriors. She called to him. “Give me the Wolf Head. I’ll throw it into the tunnel and she’ll have to battle the tatzelwurm for it.”

  “Yes. No.” There was no time to think. Win took another step backward, but he was running out of room. Maybe he should give the Wolf Head to Valda. But he couldn’t trust her, and she wouldn’t let them go, anyway. He’d also promised Siv. The amulet would destroy Valda and the entire Wolf Clan. It would enslave the black wolf cub and the rest of Lady Kala’s pack.

  He tried to dodge around Valda, but she was there slashing at the waterskin. He tried to penetrate her guard, but his lunge unbalanced the waterskin and another precious drop fell to the rock at his feet.

  He couldn’t let even one more drop spill!

  “Give me the Wolf Head!” Valda demanded.

  “No!” Win was only a foot away from the edge of the Rift. He tried to feint to the right, then leap to the left, but Valda wouldn’t fall for it. She pounced on him, grabbing at the amulet. Her hand clutched the amulet’s string and the strap to the waterskin. Win wheeled about, trying to loosen her hold. They fell, right at the edge, with Valda on top. She squirmed, still holding the amulet string. Then Lady Kala hit them, knocking Valda’s face into Win’s chest. Water from the skin squirted into Valda’s face, and she licked it. A puzzled look came over her.

  Valda heaved backward, throwing Lady Kala off her. Lady Kala snapped at the amulet and caught it in her mouth. Valda waved her arms, wildly trying to retain her balance, while still struggling with the Tazi for the amulet. The amulet string broke, throwing Lady Kala off balance. She fell and rolled. Then her hind legs slipped over the edge.

  Valda struggled to get off Win while he rolled to his belly and lunged for Lady Kala. The waterskin was caught beneath him, and the precious water squirted in a thin stream into the Rift. The hard-stone edge cut into Win’s chest. He caught Lady Kala’s forelegs. Their momentum pulled all three toward the edge. Suddenly Valda lurched upright, leaving Win and Lady Kala sliding toward the Rift.

  Win had to let go, or both he and Lady Kala would fall. Or the water would be all gone.

  But he couldn’t turn her loose. He wouldn’t let her fall.

  With his free hand, Win tried to catch hold of the cliff. There were no handholds, only loose rock that fell away soundlessly into the gulf below them.

  Win slipped farther. Valda was slapping at his legs, trying to grab them.

  Lady Kala’s hind legs scrabbled at the cliff face, trying to catch a tiny ledge or something to stop her fall. Instead she wrenched Win farther off balance. His shoulder ached from holding the free-hanging weight. He slipped a few more inches. Now the waterskin swung free under his belly.

  They were beyond help.

  They fell together into the Rift.

  Falling and falling and falling. Wind whistled in his ears, and his hair blew back from his face. Still, Win couldn’t let go of Lady Kala.

  They were silent, still falling into the Rift. Win regretted only that he couldn’t take the waterskin home to Hazel. Somehow he found one hand free holding the waterskin up so the precious water wouldn’t drip out. He laughed at the irony. It wouldn’t help. They were falling and falling and falling and falling, plummeting to the bottom of the Rift.

  THE FRIEND

  Win closed his eyes, refusing to watch the Rift bottom coming closer and closer. His hand still clutched Lady Kala. They collided with something.

  “Oh!” cried Lady Kala. She still held the Wolf Head firmly in her mouth.

  They fell again for a moment before starting to rise. Win opened his eyes to watch great muscles struggling to pump golden wings. Paz Naamit had caught them! But the strain of two bodies hitting with such force was almost too much; she labored to stay level. Would they fall again?

  “Get off my wings!”

  Win scrambled to pull Lady Kala to the center of the eagle’s body, where they balanced carefully. Still, he kept one hand under the waterskin, not willing to lose a single drop more.

  Paz Naamit spread her wings to their full span of twenty feet and let the updrafts carry her for a moment. She pumped her great wings and finally gained control. Win’s heart was in his throat. Paz Naamit wobbled as the ocher-streaked rock came closer. Would they crash? Win squeezed his eyes shut again. The eagle landed awkwardly on a wide ledge.

  Win slid off and pulled Lady Kala beside him. They turned to the great eagle. “O Golden One, we owe you our lives.”

  “Haaazel’s son, I could not let you fall! Haaazel would have saved my hatchlings if she could.” She turned her golden eyes toward the waterskin. “What is this?”

  “Water from the Well of Life. If you will kneel, I will put a drop into your eye.”

  A trilling sigh escaped from the great bird. She lay down on her chest and lowered her head to Win’s level. “Will it hurt?”

  Win laughed. “No.”

  Gently he pulled the cork from the waterskin. The water smelled sweet and clean. He held the waterskin over the blinded left eye and let one drop fall onto its surface. Paz Naamit blinked wildly, and with each blink the white film grew more and more transparent, until the eye was clear.

  The eagle rose upright, towering over Win. With a great screech she thrust herself off the ledge and soared over the Rift. For a minute Win worried that she wouldn’t come back, and they would be stranded.

  Lady Kala reassured him. “She just celebrates the return of her vision.”

  This time Paz Naamit’s feathered feet landed smoothly with pinpoint accuracy. She tipped her head until the golden eyes with metallic flecks were staring straight at him. “Winchal Eldras, you have my gratitude. For as long as you may live, you maaay call me or my children and we will be there to help you.”

  “O Golden One, today I need help. Is it possible to take this waterskin across the Rift to Hazel?”

  “Don’t you want to go, too? I can fly you across if you wish.”

  The Finder’s Bell rang in his mind. Home.

  “Take us up to the top first. We must finish our business there.”

  Win took the amulet from Lady Kala, tied the broken ends together, and put it back over his head. Then the golden eagle ferried them to the top of the cliff. The Wolf Clan warriors backed away when she landed with Win.

  Valda motioned them back, then came forward to talk to him. “I don’t know what that water did to me, but I know that for the first time since we were babes, I want to work with Siv, not against her. But it would be an easier life with the great wolves at our side.”

  “Siv asked me to take care of the Wolf Head. You must learn new ways to live. Make friends, not slaves, of the wolves.” From Valda’s frown Win saw that she struggled to accept this idea. He continued, “I put healing water into your well, too. For ten days it should heal any of the Wolf Clan’s hurts. Go back and tend Siv.”

  “Siv! You’re right, she needs the healing water, too.” Still, Valda hesitated. She tapped the amulet on Win’s chest. “If there comes a day when we need the amulet, will you answer my call?”

  Win nodded. “If the need is desperate, yes. Send Paz Naamit for the amulet.”

  Valda turned away to gather his companions and return to their village.

  Win knelt beside Lady Kala. “Your leg is still bleeding. Let me.” He put a drop of water on the cut and watched it heal itself. He picked a burr from her silver paw. Then he squared his shoulders, stepped back and stood looking across the Rift. “Since Paz Naamit can carry me across the Rift, you needn’t come. You can return to your pack.”

  “No.”

  “What?” He turned back to her.

  Lady Kala arched her eyebrows, and her topknot blew in the Rift wind. “No. Winchal Eldras, I choose you.”
<
br />   Win’s heart thumped in his ears. Lady Kala’s coat was ragged, a disgraceful state for the Jamila Kennels. Yet her eyes sparkled with a joy he hadn’t seen when they first met. He sank to his knees. “What about your freedom?”

  “We were bonded the moment you chose to die with me.”

  “I can’t offer you the luxury of the Jamila Kennels.”

  “Good. Now I don’t have to fear growing old there.”

  Win buried his head in the soft fur of Lady Kala’s shoulder. They would grow old together.

  Beside them Paz Naamit screeched her approval.

  Lady Kala shook herself and said, “The Water of Life. The Prince awaits.”

  “Can you take both of us across?” Win asked Paz Naamit.

  She dipped her head. “I struggled before only because of the shock of breaking your fall. The two of you are light, and I am strong.”

  Win rose and helped Lady Kala climb onto the broad back of the eagle. When they were both seated, the eagle gave a mighty leap. Her wings spread majestically, and they sailed out over the Rift. Far below, the shiny ribbon of water was still in deep shadow. While his left hand held the waterskin upright, Win’s right hand crept into his pocket and pulled out the white rock from Zanna’s cairn. He had traveled through the depths of the Rift and fought his way to the top and across to the black sand of the Well of Life, then back across the prairie to the Rift again—and Zanna was in none of those places.

  Instead she was with him and in him. Later, when there was time, he would tell Hazel and Eli his favorite memories of Zanna and listen to theirs. In the telling Zanna would dazzle them once more with her smile. For as long as there were memories or words, Zanna would live. For a moment he hefted the bone-white stone in his hand, then reared back and threw it into the Rift, back into the depths from which it had come. It fell soundlessly, and he didn’t know when or where it landed. Paz Naamit caught an updraft and spiraled higher and higher. Win laid a hand on Lady Kala’s warm back and turned toward G’il Rim and home.

  THE WELL AGAIN

  Wearing a new striped robe, Win leaned over the well and gently tipped the flask, pure gold with cloisonné designs of royal Tazi hounds and gyrfalcons, letting three drops fall into the water below. He corked the bottle and handed it to Eli. Then he dropped the bucket until it splashed. Crowded around were Kira, Hazel, other Finders in their striped robes, the ironsmiths, the bakers, the weavers, the noblemen and other guildsmen of G’il Rim. Win turned the windlass, and it squealed and creaked as the bucket rose. A shaft of morning sunlight glinted off the clear, cold water. The dark wood of the bucket was tinged green from moss that grew along the cracks of the staves.

  Win pulled it off the hook and dipped up a silver ladle full of the water. Prince Reynard lay on a litter beside the well, fever-glazed eyes watching, but not comprehending all that was happening. Beside him were Lady Kala and the two Borzois. Win held up the Prince’s head and helped him sip the cool water. The Prince lay back again, his face pale against the dark blanket.

  Lady Kala hovered over him. “Prince Reynard, do you hear me?”

  The answer was weak. “Lady Kala?” He struggled to sit upright. “My faithful friend, I knew you would come back.”

  Hazel laid a hand against his forehead. “Calm yourself. You’ve been delirious for days. You have no strength.”

  “No, Mistress Hazel, I feel strong and well.” Again he asked Lady Kala, “Where have you been? I called and called, and you didn’t answer.”

  “I have been across the Rift. I was almost drowned; I was attacked by a crocodile; I escaped a tatzelwurm; I was captured, enslaved, enticed by a wolf pack, burned and twice almost died. But we brought back the Water of Life for the Heartland.”

  The Prince studied her. “You have changed.”

  “My coat—” In the scant hour they’d been home, she had insisted Hazel clip her coat so closely that it would take a year to grow out completely. But her stance was proud and regal as ever.

  “Not that.”

  “Yes, I have changed.” She hesitated. “And I have chosen to bond with Winchal Eldras.”

  The Prince inspected Win with a new interest. “Good. Many noblemen will envy Winchal, but I shall value our friendship even more. When there is time, I would like to hear more of your quest.”

  Hazel called to the crowd, “The fever is broken. Prince Reynard is healed.”

  Grinning widely, Win held the bucket over his head and announced loudly. “The well will not go dry for at least ten days, and all who drink from it will be healed.”

  A great roar rose from the crowd. “Hurrah! We are cured!”

  At a signal from watchers posted on the wall, bells began to ring all over the city, pealing out the news: Healing had come to the Heartland.

  Win dipped the silver ladle again and passed it to Eli, who drank. He passed a hand over his eyes. Their eyes met, and Eli smiled at him for the first time in two months. Win smiled back. They would talk later.

  Quietly Eli handed the ladle to the fat mayor who drank greedily.

  Eli held up his hands for silence. “My lord, Prince Reynard, the Wayfinders’ Guild of G’il Rim presents you with this bottle of healing water. May you journey fast as you carry this healing to the rest of the Heartland!” He held aloft the gold-and-cloisonné flask. They had poured almost all the water from the skin into the flask, reserving only a tiny vial for the treasury of G’il Rim. The flask wouldn’t be so vulnerable to the slash of a knife and would be easy to carry across the Heartland.

  Prince Reynard stood and accepted the flask, taking it in his pale but strong hands. “On behalf of King Andar and the entire Heartland, we thank you!”

  Once more the crowd roared its approval and pride in its Wayfinder.

  The Prince turned to Win. “Will you and Lady Kala travel with us throughout the Heartland as we deliver this healing to all? I would be honored.”

  Win looked at Hazel, who stood beside Eli. She smiled and nodded, her liquid dark eyes glinting with the remembered pleasures of traveling and exploring. He was looking forward to telling her his adventures, and maybe—for the first time ever—hearing of her adventures so many years ago. Eli nodded his approval as well.

  He put the question to Lady Kala. “Do you want to go or stay?”

  She quivered, then gave the endearing subtle shake of her tail that Win had learned to watch for. “It is your choice.”

  Finally Win turned to gaze at the Finder’s Bell in its alcove above the K’il Bell Gate. Bells were still ringing all over town, but Win heard the Finder’s Bell clearly over all the rest. It had saved his life the night he’d lost Zanna, and now, at last, he was glad it had. Wherever he wandered, the Bell would be his anchor.

  “Yes, my lord. Lady Kala and I will travel the Heartland with you.”

  The Finder’s Bell pealed joyfully, a promise that no matter where he traveled, one day he would Find his way back home.

  * * *

  THE END

  Also by Darcy Pattison

  MORE HEARTLAND STORIES:

  Download and read FREE the short story,

  SAGE & KING.

  The Wayfinder is the first book and The Falconer is the second novel in THE HEARTLAND TALES collection.

  Read more at MimsHouse.com/Heartland

  READ THE HEARTLAND NOVELS:

  THE WAYFINDER

  THE FALCONER

  c. 2019 by Darcy Pattison

  All rights reserved.

  Previously published as The Wayfinder by Greenwillow Press, c. 2000.

  Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Pattison, Darcy, author.

  Title: The Wayfinder : a Heartland tale / Darcy Pattison.

  Description: [New edition.] | Little Rock, AR: Mim’s House, 2019.

  Summary: Eleven-year-old Win, an apprentice Finder, must go into the

  mysterious Great Rift to find the Well of Life, the only hope of healing the

  Heartland of plagu
e.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019933460 | ISBN 978-1-62944-135-1 (Hardcover) |

  978-1-62944-136-8 (pbk.) |978-1-62944-137-5 (eBook) | LCCN 2019933460

  Subjects: LCSH Fantasy. | Adventure and adventurers--Juvenile fiction. |

  Adventure fiction. | CYAC Adventure and adventurers--Fiction. | BISAC

  JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & Magic

  Classification: LCC PZ7.P27816 W39 2019 | DDC [Fic]--dc23

  * * *

  MimsHouse.com

  Mims House

  1309 Broadway

  Little Rock, AR 72202 USA