by V. M. Sang
Besides, they wanted to get back before the meat spoiled. Klondor had packed it with preserving herbs and spices, but that did not guarantee it would not spoil if kept out in the heat too long. They ate and drank sparingly, in spite of being encouraged by everyone to indulge themselves.
Halfway through the meal, the chief priest of the village stood up.
'We must thank Holy Jakim for his help in ridding us of this menace. Perhaps it was sent to torment us as some kind of punishment. Perhaps we had not respected the animals that Holy Jakim has sent to us for our food, or perhaps we had not thanked Holy Jakim well enough for his help in the hunt. Whatever the cause, let us now thank him for sending his servants, Pettic and his hound, Cledo, from another world to help us destroy this beast that has so harmed us.
'Holy Jakim, accept our thanks and our offerings to you. We apologise to the White Boar that we had to kill him, and also to his children, the three piglets, that also had to be killed to prevent further dangers in future. We are truly sorry that they could not have the life they should have had. This we regret, but it was necessary for our safety.'
The assembled villagers all responded with 'Sorry, Holy Jakim. Sorry, White Boar. Sorry, piglets,' then resumed their meal.
Chapter 6
The next day Pettic and Klondor left Lake Village and continued to their own. They arrived just as the villagers were leaving the fields to return to their homes. Borrin spotted them and with a roar, ran towards them where he embraced Klondor saying, 'My son, my son, you're alive,' over and over again. Then he turned to Pettic and embraced him.
'Thank you for bringing my son back alive. It's been so long I was sure you'd both been killed. What of your quest? Did you succeed? No, don't tell me yet. You can tell your story before the whole village tomorrow. I'm sure you want nothing more than rest tonight.'
'First, father, I think you should know we've killed the 'phantom' boar. It was as Pettic said—not a phantom at all but what he called an albino. We also tracked down three piglets that he had fathered and looked as if they may have inherited some of his characteristics. We've the meat from him and from the piglets as well as his skin.'
After eating, the friends went to their huts to sleep.
The following morning no one went to the fields. Everyone wanted to hear about the hunt for the phantom boar. Pettic decided Klondor should tell the tale and so the young man stood up before the assembled villagers and regaled them with the tale of the boar hunt. If he exaggerated a bit in places, who could blame him?
He gave Cledo his due honours saying the brave dog nearly lost his life trying to save him. That the wolfhound only received a cut, albeit a long and deep one, he did not mention. Pettic, he told the awed people, saved his life when he tripped over a tree root. He could not praise his friend highly enough. Pettic felt embarrassed at this flattery and bowed his head to hide his blushes.
After the tale was told, people called out questions and the pair answered as truthfully as possible, trying to remember what Klondor had said so as not to contradict his tale. If there were a few discrepancies the people let them pass.
That day the villagers did no work and there was much rejoicing. People drank too much, the chief priest prayed too much, the children made too much noise, Borrin and his wife laughed too much, the village dogs barked too much, and everyone ate too much.
Klondor and Pettic took the boar meat out of the packs and some of the women cooked it in fire pits. Other pieces they hung over the fire to smoke. They treated the three piglets in the same way. There would be meat for quite some time in the village.
A tanner took the boar's skin away to be cured. The pure white skin would be very valuable. Klondor told Pettic that he ought to have the skin as a reward for his part in the killing.
At the end of the day Pettic retired to his hut feeling pleased his part in the hunt had been so well received, but still anxious to get on with getting the emerald, both to help to find Torren and to get him back to his world.
The following morning, Borrin summoned him.
'I can't tell you how grateful my wife and I are that you've killed the boar and brought our son back safely. She was most anxious until you arrived, being certain he had been killed. We're now safe from this menace. Why do you think he started to kill people?'
'Well,' began Pettic, 'I can't be sure, really. It may be, being such a large animal, he could not satisfy his appetite by anything he found in the forest. He couldn't have caught the deer, I don't think, so maybe he found people an easy prey.' Pettic shrugged then continued.
'Boars aren't usually hunters, but they'll take what they can find. Of course, it could be a revenge attack. He may have decided people were a danger to him so he attacked when he saw them rather than skulk in the undergrowth. Pigs are intelligent animals, you know.'
Borrin looked thoughtful and then said, 'Still, he's gone now, so we must talk of your reward. If I had that emerald of which you talk I would readily give it to you, but I have nothing of such value except one thing only. My daughter, Rolinda. If you wish to take her as your wife, I'll gratefully give her to you.'
Pettic looked at the headman in astonishment.
'Your daughter is a truly beautiful girl,' he replied, 'and I am honoured you would think me worthy of her, but I cannot stay here on Terra. I must find this emerald and return to my own world. I couldn't take her with me, as it would not be fair of me to expect her to come away from her family and friends. She'd be going to an entirely different life. One she can't imagine. I'm grateful for your offer, but I'm afraid I can't accept it.'
'I thought you'd say that. You must take the boar skin then. You must have a reward for your help in this.'
Pettic told the headman if he would help him to acquire the emerald, that would be the only reward he needed.
The headman then began to talk of ways the sword could be stolen. At this point, Klondor came out of the hut. On hearing this, he remonstrated with his father.
'You can't do this,' he said. 'If anyone found out we had anything to do with the theft it would mean war between our villages.'
'There've been wars before, son, and there'll be wars again. Don't tell me you're afraid of war. I had you down for a warrior, not a milksop.'
'Oh, father, I'm not afraid of war. It's just that I don't want a war with the Lake Village. There's this girl there…'
His father interrupted him. 'I should have guessed there was a girl involved. What is it you want?'
'I came out to ask your permission to court her. She's the headman's daughter and I met her at the feast they threw for us when we stopped there on our way back from killing the boar.'
Klondor smiled and said, 'Father, she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Her hair is a wonderful blue-black and shines in the sunshine like, like…Oh, I can't think of anything that shines so beautifully. Her eyes are like pieces of jet and her skin is soft as a baby's. She speaks gently, like the soft showers of the springtime and when she smiles, all my troubles disappear.'
Pettic looked at his friend in amazement, and Borrin said, 'She seems to have turned you into a poet, lad. Still, if you've set your heart on courting her, then you have my permission. You must go to the Lake Village, of course and get her mother's permission too.' He turned to Pettic. 'He'll need someone to speak for him to her mother. Will you go and do this task? It will give you a chance to try to seek out this gem you want so badly.'
Pettic looked at Klondor and back at the young man's father. 'I have two questions,' he said. 'Firstly, why does Klondor need to speak to her mother and not her father, and secondly, I have no idea what the form is. What should I say?
'A young man must speak to his father and a young woman her mother. If the young man is asking permission to begin a courtship, then he asks the girl's mother, and if a young girl is asking to begin a courtship with a young man, then she must ask his father. As to what you must say, Klondor will no doubt tell you plenty of things in his favour as you will
have to 'sell' him to the girl's mother. He'll also tell you the correct forms to use.'
Pettic readily agreed both to help his friend and to try to find the sword with the gem. The pair made their way to Pettic's hut for Klondor to brief him about what he was to say. They agreed they should not rush back to Lake Village. It did not do to seem too eager, but for the next few days, Klondor was in a state of nerves.
'What if someone else offers for her?' he asked on the third day. 'She's so beautiful I'm sure there must be someone else who wants her. Someone from the Forest Village, maybe. Perhaps he's there now asking permission to court her. What if she prefers him to me? Maybe there's a young man in her village who's already asked to court her. Maybe the man from the Forest Village has already asked.'
He went on like this for some time, convincing himself she had already got a suitor, until Pettic got thoroughly tired of it and told him, laughingly, if he did not stop worrying about something that may never happen he would withdraw from being his sponsor. This stopped Klondor in his tracks and he said no more. But by his expression he had not stopped worrying.
Eventually the day came when they were to go to visit. They set off early in the morning. Klondor's mother gave them both strict instructions to make sure they arrived at the Lake Village in the same state they left their own; that is, with pristine white robes and hair neatly combed.
'I don't want my future daughter-in-law to think we are a dirty, scruffy tribe,' she told them.
Klondor laughed. 'If she thinks that then she won't become your daughter-in-law, now, will she. She'll dismiss me and take on one of the other suitors from the Forest Village or from her own village.'
Pettic punched his friend. 'Those suitors are all in your imagination. You've no evidence they exist at all.'
With that, the pair, along with Cledo, set off towards the lake.
It was an hour before nightfall when they finally arrived at Lake Village. They stood outside the palisade and called out to ask admittance. Soon someone came running out.
'Come in,' he said. 'We are pleased to see you. The headman will also be pleased to welcome the Phantom Boar Killers.'
He ran back through the gate to tell everyone of their arrival. Soon they were surrounded by villagers and could hardly make their way through the press. Eventually they reached the headman's hut and stood to one side waiting. The headman was hearing both sides of a dispute between the villagers and had to pronounce his verdict before he could talk to the two.
When the dispute had been resolved to the satisfaction of all, the headman turned to Pettic and Klondor.
'We're delighted to see you both here again so soon,' he boomed. Everything about this man was large. 'You'll eat with my family this evening. I'm sure you're here for a reason, but we'll leave business until daylight tomorrow. Much better to do business in the daylight, I find.'
Poor Klondor had another night to wait. He again sat next to the headman's elder daughter. This time he discovered she was called Beline. He whispered to her that he thought it a pretty name and she giggled. Her mother glanced at her severely though and she stopped.
Klondor barely slept a wink that night. Neither did Pettic. Klondor asked him almost every half hour if he thought Beline liked him. On receiving the reply that he, Pettic, was sure she did, he went on to ask, 'But does she like me enough? Does she like me in that way?'
Pettic sighed and resigned himself to a sleepless night.
Early the next morning, after they had broken the night's fast, the pair went to wait before the steps of the headman's hut. It seemed an age to Klondor, but eventually the headman came out.
'Now, what is it you two want. I think it's a boon because of the way you're dressed, in your best white robes. Speak up then,' he added after both young men looked nervously at each other.
Klondor knelt down on the ground and Pettic began his speech.
'Sir,' he began, 'my friend kneels before you in supplication. He knows he is not worthy, but he wished to ask one thing and one thing only. That thing is that he be allowed to pay court to your eldest daughter, the beautiful Beline.'
Here the headman stopped him. 'My wife is the one you should be putting this request to, not me. I'll go and get her.'
He entered the hut and shortly came out with his wife, as tiny a woman as her husband was large, but with a fierce, independent look in her eye. She spoke to Pettic.
'I understand you have a petition to present to me,' she said, turning to look at both young men in turn.
'Yes, madam,' Pettic told her. 'My friend wishes to court your most beautiful daughter, Beline. He has admired her since meeting her when we stayed here after killing the boar. He has hardly slept for thinking of her. He has hardly eaten for fear that she would have committed to another. He has bored all his friends near to death with his tales of her beauty. In truth, he had turned from warrior into poet.
'I can vouch for my friend in every way. He is brave and loyal. I would not wish to have another beside me in a fight. He fought bravely against the boar and put his life at risk when he thought I might lose mine. He is honest and true.
'In the time I have known him he has not told an untruth. He is kind and generous, always putting others before himself. His health is excellent and he is strong as an ox. He will father strong babies, and plenty of them. All in all, he is as close to a perfect specimen of manhood you could with to meet.'
'I am glad he's so perfect,' replied the little woman with a twinkle in her eye. 'It's rare to meet someone quite without flaws. What does Beline think of this?' She turned to Klondor as she asked this.
He looked up at her and said, 'Beline? I…I don't know. I haven't asked her. I thought I should speak to you first.'
'Most unusual,' replied the girl's mother. 'Usually the young folk have done some courting before arriving at this stage. Some have done quite a lot, in fact. So much that a wedding is inevitable. I think we should ask Beline what she thinks of all this.'
Klondor sighed. This was not going at all how he had imagined it. Was Beline going to accept his suit or was she going to reject him because he had not spoken about it to her before speaking to her parents?
Just then Beline herself came out of the hut, and Klondor could see the shadows of the smaller children lurking in the dimness.
The headman spoke to his daughter.
'Beline, my sweet,' he said. 'Here we have a young man asking permission to court you, but he says he's said nothing to you. What do you think of that?'
Beline smiled at Klondor and then replied to her father, without taking her eyes from Klondor's.
'Father,' she said, 'I think that here we have a young man who's anxious to do the right thing. That is good, I think. So many young men don't obey the customs and rules of our society and seek to court young women secretly without asking their parents.' She then turned to her father and grinned. 'Besides, he's such a handsome young man.'
Her mother then turned to Pettic and some of the formality returned.
'You have spoken eloquently, Pettic, in praise of your friend. I cannot believe he is as perfect as you suggest,' Klondor looked down at the ground and sighed. Here it comes. She's going to reject my suit.'
The headman's wife continued. 'However, my daughter has a good point in that he has done the correct thing and come to us first. My daughter also seems to look favourably on the young man and so I say that if he wishes, he can court her.'
The sigh that escaped Klondor could be heard all over the village square until the clapping started. Klondor stood up and went over to Beline and kissed her on the cheek. The couple then held hands and stood in front of the assembled village to receive the cheers.
This was not usual for just permission granted for a courtship, but so high was Klondor in their estimation they were delighted he was courting one of their own girls. Here was a real life hero who was going to be associated, if only by marriage, to them.
Klondor and Pettic stayed in Lake Village for a wee
k so the young people could get to know each other. After all, they had only met very briefly over a meal. Klondor spent every waking moment with Beline. This gave Pettic a good chance to wander around searching for a likely place for the sword to be stored.
The first place he approached was the armoury hut but his earring did not get appreciably warmer. In fact, he thought it was a little cooler than it had been when he was in the centre of the village. He went back there and stood looking round.
It was difficult for him because he was no less a hero to these people than Klondor, and with his light skin, hair and eyes he seemed exotic. A group of people always surrounded him when they were not actually working and the girls would hardly leave him alone.
At first he enjoyed this attention, but as the week wore on he became more frustrated. He smiled at the people and answered their questions as politely as he could. They wanted to know all about his home world and how he had come here.
'Do people speak the same language in your world as we do here?' asked one young man.
'No,' replied Pettic. 'I can understand you, and you me only by magic.'
There was an indrawing of breath when he said this and lots of questions. He gave the same demonstration he had given in Hill Village, removing his amulet and talking. They were amazed there was a world with magic.
Pettic did not tell them of his true reason for coming to this world, or that he needed the emerald to return. They asked him how long he intended to stay on Terra, and he made vague sounds. When asked how he was going to get back, he simply said 'The same way I came—with magic.' That was true enough. It was by magic. Just not any magic he had with him at the moment.
Soon he was able to leave the gathering and continue his search. It reminded him of a game he had played as a child where someone hid an object and he had to find it, getting clues such as 'You're getting warmer, no colder. You're freezing or you're so hot you're nearly on fire.' He smiled to himself at the memory and thought that this time the hot and cold analogy was true. He continued his search.