by Ana Salote
Mrs Midden turned her floury face towards Molly. ‘What do you want?’
‘Only to see how you are, and I’ve brought some old friends with me.’
The waifs filed in behind Molly.
Mrs Midden struggled to get down from the table. Her petticoats swept a rubble of dough with her. ‘It’s come to this has it?’ she said. ‘You’ve brought them out of whatever hole you’ve been hiding them in. And what have you been feeding them while I’ve been making do with cat food? They’re near as fat as you. It’s all wrong. I won’t have it. Get them out, get them out.’ Mrs Midden advanced towards the waifs.
‘Aunt, aunt!’ Molly held Mrs Midden’s arms. The old cook struggled weakly.
‘And that one, that one at the back,’ she pointed at Oy, ‘he started it all. How can you bring him here? You mock, Molly cook, you mock.’
‘Aunt, listen. We’re all here to help you.’ She led Mrs Midden to a chair next to the range and sat her down. The waifs quietly and efficiently began to tidy the kitchen.
‘Leave my pies. Leave my pies.’ Mrs Midden began to cry.
‘They’re starting to smell,’ said Molly. ‘It’s drawing every cat on the estate. The waifs will have your kitchen gleaming in no time. Isn’t that what you’ve missed? You’re an artist aunt, a pastry artist. You don’t want to be bothered with such things as cleaning and you can’t work with gritty flour and rotting fish. We’re going to make everything just like it was, and you’ll be back as queen of the kitchen. There’s a young lady who is just longing to learn from you and she’ll make a better apprentice than I ever did.’ Molly beckoned to Blinda, already dressed in a cook’s apron, and already, after several days of uninterrupted eating, beginning to fill her clothes roundly. She’s nothing like Oy. She favours stodge and she can’t wait to roll and dollop in the best Midden tradition.’
Blinda curtseyed. Mrs Midden blew her nose on her apron.
‘Come on now. Let’s get you tidied up.’ Molly gestured to Blinda who helped Mrs Midden into a clean hat and apron. ‘There, you look better already.’
Mrs Midden smoothed the gleaming apron and adjusted her cap. ‘Feeling better,’ she said.
‘How about a rhyme then?’ said Molly.
Mrs Midden shook her head.
‘Not ready for that yet? See the kitchen, how it’s starting to shine. How about we unpack those rolling pins? Then we’ll sit in the parlour like old times and let the waifs finish cleaning up.’
Mrs Midden stood unsteadily and they left the waifs to their cleaning, scouring and buffing.
After that work began on the rest of the house. Raymun supervised the heavy labour and did much of it himself. Alas enjoyed solving all kinds of practical problems. A house tailored to the whims of one man was steadily transformed into a house that would suit a few hundred children.
When the first rooms were completed Alas and Gritty took the barge to fetch Lucinda, Lizbuth, Billam, Henret, Jakes and Elyut from the factory. The journey back was noisy and exciting. They all lay down on the decks together and propelled the boat through the tunnel with much echoing laughter. They jumped out near the pond which was free of iron beaks though still home to swans who were unchained and no longer destined to have their necks wrung by Sly and knotted by Mrs Midden. Molly and Blinda greeted them with cake, then they explored the house and gardens freely, noting all the changes. Where were the horrible statues? Wasn’t the ballroom floor great for skidding on? Didn’t the study look different? Look at the basement, stacked with dismantled bone cabinets. And so on. Lucinda very deliberately left cake-sticky fingerprints on the malachite banister.
All of them asked after Oy. Gritty went to look for him. She found him in the peelhouse experimenting with the Lellick.
‘All the old crowd are here and they all want to see you,’ she said.
‘I will come,’ said Oy, ‘once I get this batch ready.’
She helped him chop the fungus into small pieces. ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with me,’ she said. ‘I know I should be happy but...’
‘You miss Gert, and adventure,’ said Oy.
‘I do,’ said Gritty. ‘I want to go back with you, Oy. I can’t wait for Gert to come to me. I want to fetch her myself.’
‘I should think that will be alright,’ said Oy. ‘But you could stay here and be warm and fed. Bram will look after Gert and bring her back safe I’m sure.’
‘No, I can’t stand the waiting. I’m fond of Molly and the others but it’s not the same as family. And Alas has got Lucinda and Lil has got Raymun – that ain’t right is it, Oy? I mean what does she see in him?’
‘Go and ask her?’ said Oy. ‘She’s in the pot room.’
‘I can’t ask her that.’
‘When a question takes root in your head it’s better to ask it. One thing Lil don’t mind is honesty.’
Gritty went to the pot room. It seemed to be empty at first but there were sounds from one of the tall china cupboards. She opened the door. Lil was inside.
‘Do you mind?’ said Lil irritably.
‘I’m sorry.’ Gritty peered into the cupboard. Lil had stacked linen around the sides. ‘Making yourself comfortable?’ said Gritty.
‘And why wouldn’t I?’ said Lil.
‘It looks like you ain’t so set on the Glumaws then,’ said Gritty.
‘Now, miss,’ said Lil, ‘there’s a chord in your voice I don’t take to. We’ll have it out if you please.’
Gritty took a breath and paused. She took another breath and spoke. ‘All this time we’ve been together and all we’ve been through; you know how I admire you, but most of the time you act like you don’t even like me, and then you meet Raymun and talk to him so respectful. I ain’t never heard the like from you, not even with Per. You even told him your name. You never told me your name. I don’t know why you even like him. He always favoured the Master over us – he was a traitor to his own kind.’
‘Now we come to it. You left your own sister behind because you fancied a bit of adventure. Was that a betrayal? Are you a traitor?’
‘I was being true to my jenie, that’s all. It’s what they taught us in Nondula. And Gertie needed to stay and be true to hers.’
‘Raymun is the same.’
Gritty was quiet. Lil waited. Then Gritty said, ‘Work: that’s Raymun’s jenie ain’t it.’
‘Yes, I hear it in him, and many other things. Did you ever try to get to know him? Did you even ask him his name? Where you see betrayal I hear loyalty. He did not judge his master. He saw the weakness behind the bullying and he felt for him. Raymun made the best of what he was given. He resolved to be cheerful no matter what. And the Master raised him up when you left, gave him authority over the ones that beat him. He turned it down. Raymun knows what he is. He didn’t have Nondul scholars to tell him. He found it out himself. There is a man.’
‘I suppose.’ Gritty looked ashamed. ‘What is Raymun’s surname?’
‘Digwel.’ Lil’s lips twitched. ‘Raymun Digwel.’ She lingered fondly on the syllables.
‘Digwel. I remember the family. They were hard workers. Cheery through the worst harvests.’
Lil nodded proudly. ‘Raymun has started to build me a cupboard. He looked at me from every side and had my measurements by eye. He said that he would make me a perfect cupboard and I trust that he will.’
‘Is that all you needed to make you happy, a perfect cupboard?’
‘I don’t suppose you’ll let me alone until I tell you everything. You’re as nosey as a Chee. I was looking for a place not a person. I never expected to find a home in a person. I hardly know which end my head is. Raymun has tuned my fork. His song goes with mine. Craicanmar out there has gone. It’s in here now.’ Lil ran her finger slowly around her ear.
28 Last Leg
Oy chopped, boiled, strained and evaporated until he had what he wanted: very pure, intensely yellow Lellick powder. Unfortunately, one large fungus made only a fingertip of powder. Dr Sandy, Gritty and O
y formed a Lellick-picking party and took a cart out to the woods. The fungus was chill and flabby in their hands. It smelled of earth and butter. They brought back six sackfuls. Oy took the fungus to the kitchen for boiling. Mrs Midden spread herself across the stoves. She wouldn’t be a party to poisonings she said. Molly talked to her but Mrs Midden did not believe that the fungus was for medicine. She began to pant and rant. When that happened it took days to calm her so Molly asked Raymun to build a stove in the smokehouse which he did. Oy and Gritty set to work. It took five days to fill three pouches with powder. Each one weighed fourteen snegs. ‘It’s enough to treat Linnet for the rest of her life,’ said Oy, then he frowned, ‘if we get there in time.’
‘There’s nothing keeping us now,’ said Gritty, and they went to tell Molly that they were ready to leave. Molly cried, smothered them in embraces and helped them to pack.
Next day Oy went to say goodbye to each of his friends. He wanted to be sure that they had found their jenies and were healthy and happy. Jakes had grown so tall that Lil thought he must have Dresh blood, especially since he was also musical. Lizbuth had taken to making pots. Oy had made her a hair tonic and she was delighted that her bald patches had grown over like a newly seeded lawn. Elyut was fond of riding. He was often seen setting his pony at the hedges all around the park. Henret liked eggs. She looked after the hens and the wild fowl that came back to the lake and even tamed the iron beaks whose eggs were so hard and heavy they could be used as doorstops.. Lucinda liked sewing and reading. Blinda cook was happy helping Mrs Midden. Billam was the only one yet to find his jenie. ‘I’ve tried reading and making and gardening,’ he told Oy, ‘but none of ’em seems to suit.’ Billam giggled.
‘When you came out of the factory and Molly told you to go and play you couldn’t stop laughing,’ said Oy. ‘It seems to me that you’ve hardly stopped laughing since. Maybe that’s your jenie. You’re here to laugh and play.’
Billam was pleased with that and he giggled as he said goodbye.
Oy found Lil in what used to be the bone room. The bones were all gone. Now it was a place for indoor games. Lil was moving things by fractions. It was something she did all over the house. No one knew why except Oy. ‘You ought to tell everyone what you’re doing,’ said Oy. ‘Then they’d be more careful to leave things where they are.’
‘I don’t expect them to understand tuning,’ said Lil.
‘You could teach them,’ said Oy. ‘When Molly has visitors from Crust they all ask what she’s done to make it feel like this.’
‘Like what?’
‘You know... beautiful. They think it’s down to paint and furnishings.’
‘Let them think it. I don’t do it for them. I couldn’t live here with that dark flat song like a stain over everything.’ She tapped her fork against the wall and held it to her ear. She marched across the room and moved a table. ‘Better,’ she said.
‘Has Raymun finished your cupboard?’
Lil smiled. ‘Cupboard, it’s more than that. It’s a custom craic. I’ll show you.’
She took him to the rear of Raymun’s lodge and opened a tall door. A niche in the back wall held the yellow stone she had brought from the Cracnazy. Lil slipped in sideways. ‘A perfect craic cups your ribs and steadies your head with just the right amount of firm. I don’t know how Raymun knew it but he did.’ She stroked the wooden curves inside. ‘Beds,’ she sneered. ‘Like being swallowed by a sponge.’
The two said goodbye next to the tall door, painted in a colour that Raymun called powdibloo.
Last of all Oy went to find Alas and Lucinda. They were talking quietly on the swing in the Mammus Grove. The stone Mammus now lay at the bottom of the lake. Together they watched the small figure walking towards them.
‘I’ve come to say goodbye,’ said Oy.
Lucinda got up and hugged Oy and asked him about his trip and if he had everything he needed. Alas watched Oy with his lips pressed together. Lucinda trailed off.
‘Alas,’ said Oy, ‘before I go, can I ask you one thing?’
‘Anything.’
‘Will you try to get on with Lil? I don’t like to see you two so cool with each other after all we’ve been through.’
‘I wouldn’t say we’re best friends, but there’s respect,’ said Alas. ‘I’ve thanked her for talking me through he storm wall and she said if it wasn’t for me she’d have turned to dust in that craic she was hiding in. Don’t worry, we’ll get along fine.’
‘Good.’
The two boys looked into each other’s eyes. Alas was first to speak. ‘I don’t know what to say, except you changed my life, Oy.’
‘I didn’t do anything.’
‘Only that.’ Alas waved his hand towards the gardens where children played in the distance.
‘You won’t convince him he had anything to do with it,’ said Lucinda, laughing.
‘You started it all,’ said Oy.
‘No,’ said Alas. ‘Without you it would have come to nothing.’
‘Will you go back to Poria now you’re near grown?’ Oy asked.
‘Cind wants to see her folks; after that – well we’ve talked of joining up with Bram and Kurt and settling in the mountains.’
‘Life’s too easy for him here,’ said Lucinda.
‘Poria is strong in me,’ said Alas. ‘Survivors need something to battle with even if it’s only the mountains and the weather.’
‘It’s right for you,’ said Oy.
‘And it’s closer to the storm wall,’ said Alas. ‘Easier for you to visit.’
Oy held his hand out. They both knew there would be no visiting. Alas ignored the hand and wrapped his arms around Oy. Then he took him by the shoulders and gave him a little push away. ‘Go on. When you’re ready we’ll see you to the gates.’
Oy left them. Alas pushed the ground with his foot and leaned on Lucinda. The swing lulled them with slow creaks.
Molly, Dr Sandy, Lil and all of the waifs crowded round the gates to wave Oy and Gritty off. The talking and jostling died when the cart appeared in the distance. Everyone got to feeling as sad as they could feel given their happy lives. The cart pulled in. Oy’s closest friends gathered round him to ruffle his hair, pat his back and give him one last hug. Gritty swore to everyone that she would keep him safe and return with Gertie and all the news before long.
Oy and Gritty climbed up to their seats. The cart rattled off towards the mountains. Alas stood staring at the space where it had been.
Gritty was glad to be on the move again. She chattered like a Chee about their past adventures and how truly remarkably it had all turned out. Oy was quiet. He kept one arm around his bag as though he feared to lose what was in it. It wasn’t over for him. The most important thing was yet to be done. They passed Mair’s farm and the trapper camp. Then the cart tilted skywards as it climbed the mountain road. Bram and Kurt waited where the road ran out. They offered the comfort of the snowhouse but Oy wouldn’t waste a minute of daylight. ‘Linnet’s waiting,’ he said, ‘and I’m already late.’
Bram proved to be good and useful company. In the Glumaws he was sure of his ground. When a snowstorm struck he quickly built a shelter; he found food in the least likely places and he whistled away all weariness and discomfort.
They passed below the storm wall without difficulty. It wasn’t so frightening when they knew there was an end to it. Bram marvelled and his marvelling continued all the way to Nondula. Oy and Gritty also wondered greatly because so much had changed. They would not risk getting lost in the Cracnazy so they walked the long way around the border. Many times they passed groups of Chee deserting from distant camps and heading back to their homelands because, they said, the dam was broken. The Chee told different stories but they all agreed on one thing. Two women and a girl had brought it all about. Their names were Yehvo, Ferralee and Gertie. What the Chee could not agree on was which of them had survived. When Gritty heard this she felt faint. Not to know the truth was unbearable. She was ready
to run all the way back to Nondula. Oy was just as anxious. They slept little and pressed on with all the speed they could.
Before long part of the rumour proved to be true. They saw the mighty Cheelah flowing where there had been desert. Once barren lands were already turning green. Then, in a village close to the river, they found Clair and the Nondul healers treating those caught in the first flood and also casualties from fighting between the quarry workers and their masters.
Clair welcomed them with her usual warmth but she was too busy to stop for long. In fact, she asked for Oy’s help. She knew the power of his hands to heal fractures and one of her patients had badly shattered legs with infection in both flesh and bone. Oy was willing. Clair led him to the bedside of a lady called Ferralee. She had been pulled from the river, black all over with bruising and barely alive. ‘But she’s strong,’ said Clair. ‘There’s a will in her like I’ve never known. It’s not likely she’ll walk again but do what you can.’ Clair left them alone.
‘Ferralee!’ said Gritty. ‘Is it right what we heard? You and Gertie and Yehvo broke the dam?’
‘We broke the dam,’ said Ferralee.
‘And Gertie,’ said Gritty, ‘Is Gertie alright? She ain’t all smashed is she or...?’
‘The last I saw of her she was scribbling numbers or something like that,’ said Ferralee.