When no one could eat another morsel and even the Harper was reduced to small sips of wine, the guests settled into smaller groups: Jaxom, Piemur, Men oily and Sharra in one, the seamen in the largest, and the dragonriders and craftsmen in the third.
"I wonder what they're plotting for us to do now," Piemur said in a sour mutter after staring at the in- tense expressions of the third group.
Menolly laughed. "More of the same, I expect. Robinton's been going over those charts and reports of yours on shipboard until I thought he'd wear the ink out from looking." She pulled her knees up under her chin, a shy smile lighting her eyes. "Sebell's com- ing tomorrow with N'ton and Master Oldive." She went on quickly, before anyone could comment: "As I understand it, Sebell, N'ton and F'lar are overseeing Toric's people and that herd of holders' sons coming from the North. They'll chart the western part... the dividing line is that black rock river of yours, Piemur!"
Piemur groaned, writhing dramatically on the sand. "That place! May I never see it again!" He lifted one fist skyward to emphasize his determination. "Took me days to find a break in the cliffs on the other shore that we could climb out of. At that I had to ride Stu- pid off the cliffs into the water and swim him across. The fishes nearly made us their lunch."
"And the rest of us," Menolly continued, "with F'nor and the Harper, will explore this side."
"Inland, I hope?" Piemur asked sharply.
She nodded. "I understand," and she glanced over her shoulder at the Weyrleaders and Craftmasters, "that Idarolan may sail the coast..."
"More power to him. I've walked far enough!"
"Oh, hush, Piemur. No one forced you to..."
"Oh?"
"Enough, Piemur," Jaxom said, impatiently. "So we're to go inland?" Menolly nodded.
As one they looked over their shoulders toward the mountain, invisible though it was from their recum- bent position.
Jaxom grinned at Menolly. "And Master Oldive'U be here tomorrow so I'll be able to go between again!"
"Lot of good that'll do you," Piemur said with a snort. "You still have to fly the route straight first."
"That doesn't put me out one little bit."
A fire-lizard squabble in the trees startled all of them and diverted Piemur from what Jaxom was cer- tain was a renewal of his usual sour theme. Two gold streaks could be seen against the darker green of the foliage.
"Beauty and Farii to settle the matter!" Menolly cried, then looked around, curiously. "There're just our fire-lizards here now, Jaxom. Has all the activity frightened the Southern ones away?"
"I doubt it. They come and go. I suspect some of them are in the trees, fussing because they don't dare come near Ruth."
"Did you ever find out more about their men?"
Jaxom was chagrined to say that he hadn't even tried. "There's been too much else happening."
"I'd have thought you'd have given it one go." Menolly sounded irritated.
"What? And deprive you of the pleasure?" Jaxom affected surprised hurt. "I wouldn't dream of it..." He stopped abruptly, remembering those very pecul- iar dreams, as if he'd been seeing something out of hundreds of eyes. He also recalled what Brekke had said, the first day Ruth had flown Thread: "It was difficult to see the same scene through three pairs of eyes." Had he in fact been seeing, in his dreams, a scene from many fire-lizard eyes?
"What's wrong, Jaxom?"
"Maybe I did dream of it, after all," he said, with a hesitant laugh. "Look, Menolly, if you dream tonight, remember it, huh?"
"Dream?" Sharra asked, curious. "What kind of dreams?"
"Have you been having some?" Jaxom turned toward her. Sharra had assumed her usual intricate fold of leg, a posture which evidently fascinated and con- founded Menolly.
"Certainly. Only... like you, I don't remember them, except that I couldn't seem to see clearly. As if my dream eye gets unfocused."
"That's a nice concept," Menolly said. "A dream eye unfocused."
Piemur groaned and flailed at the sand with his fists. "Here comes another song!"
"Oh, do be quiet!" Menolly regarded him with im- patience. "All that lone traveling has changed you, Piemur, and I for one don't like the change."
"No one says you have to," Piemur snapped at her and, with a fluid motion, was on his feet and striding into the forest, angrily batting the underbrush out of his way.
"How long has he been so touchy?" Menolly asked Jaxom and Sharra.
"Since he arrived here," Jaxom said, shrugging to indicate that they hadn't been able to change him.
"Remember, he's been very worried about Master Robinton," Sharra said slowly.
"We've all been worried about Master Robinton," Menolly said, "but that's no reason to change one's temperament!"
There was an awkward silence. Sharra unfolded her legs and rose abruptly.
"I wonder if anyone remembered to feed Stupid this evening!" She walked off, not quite in the same direc- tion as Piemur.
Menolly looked after her for a long moment. Her eyes were dark with concern as she turned back to Jaxom and then a wicked gleam changed them to their normal sea-blue.
"While they're out of earshot, Jaxom," she glanced about to be sure no one had come up behind her, "I'd better mention that it's been pretty well established now that no one at Southern Weyr returned Ramoth's egg."
"Oh? Really?"
"Oh! Really!"
She rose then, cup in hand, and strode across to the wineskin hanging from a tree branch.
Was she warning him? Not that it made any differ- ence. His adventure had served a purpose at the time. Now that the Southern Weyr was being integrated into the others, there was less need than ever to admit his part in the affair.
Menolly wandered over to collect her gitar from the table and then seated herself at the bench, strumming softly to herself. A new song, about dream eyes, Jaxom wondered. Then he looked off in the direction Sharra had gone. Had he any legitimate reason for fol- lowing her? He sighed. He liked Piemur, despite his acid tongue. He'd been glad to see the young Harper, grateful for his company and assistance. He just wished that Piemur had taken a day longer, even half a day longer, to reach the Cove. Since his arrival, Jaxom had had no time at all alone with Sharra. Was she avoiding him? Or was it just the circumstances of the building and getting Cove Hold ready for Master Robinton? He must figure out some way to separate Sharra from the others! Or else visit Coranal
Chapter XIX
Morning at the Cove Hold, Star-gasing in Late Evening, Next Morning, Discovery at the Mountain, 15.10.15-15.10.16
BY THE TIME Jaxom and Piemur had reluctantly struggled from their furs the next morning, Sharra told them that the Harper had risen at the first light of day, taken a bracing swim, made himself a breakfast and been long in his study, muttering over the charts and making copious notes. He now wished to have a few words with Jaxom and Piemur, if they didn't mind.
Master Robinton acknowledged their entry with a sympathetic grin for their deliberate and slow move- ments, the aftereffects of a very convivial evening. He then began asking for explanations of their latest ad- ditions to the main chart. When he had satisfied him- self on that point, he asked how they had arrived at their conclusions. When they'd told him, he leaned back from the desk, fiddling with his drawing stick with such an unreadable expression on his face that Jaxom began to worry about what the Harper might be plan- ning.
"Have either of you happened to notice the trio of stars we have been calling—erroneously, I might add —the Dawn Sisters?"
Jaxom and Piemur exchanged glances.
"Do you have a far-viewer with you, sir?" Jaxom asked.
The Harper nodded. "Master Idarolan has one aboard his ship. I construe that question to mean that you've noticed that they also appear at dusk?"
"And whenever there's enough moonlight..."
Piemur added.
"And always in the same place!"
"I see you did profit by your classes," the Harper said, beaming at both of the
m. "Now, I've asked Mas- ter Fandarel if we could prevail on Master Wansor to visit here for a few days. Why, might I ask, are you two grinning as if you'd eaten all the bubbly pies at a gather?"
Piemur's grin deepened at this reference to his ap- prentice pastime.
"I don't think anyone on Pern would refuse to come here, given the whisper of an invitation," he said.
"Does Master Wansor have his new far-viewer fin- ished?" Jaxom asked.
"I certainly hope that he does..."
"Master Robinton..." Brekke stood in the door- way, a curious expression on her face.
"Brekke," the Harper held up a warning hand, "if you have come to tell me that I have to rest, or drink a potion of your making, I beg you, don't! I have far too much to do."
"All I have is a message which Kimi has just brought from Sebell," she said, handing him the small tube.
"Oh!"
"As to your resting, I've only to watch Zair to know when that's necessary!" Her glance, as she turned to leave the study, fell on Jaxom and Piemur. There was no doubt in Jaxom's mind that he and Piemur were under tacit orders not to overstrain the Harper's strength.
Master Robinton raised his eyebrows in surprise as he read the message "Oh, dear. Toric was invaded by a shipload of holders' sons last evening. Sebell feels he should wait till they've settled into temporary quar- ters." He chuckled and, when he saw the expressions of Jaxom and Piemur, then added, "I infer that all did not progress as smoothly as the holder boys could wish!"
Piemur snorted, with the contempt born of his Turns' exploring and his knowledge of Toric and his Hold's accommodations.
"Once you can go between, Jaxom," Robinton con- tinued, "our investigation can proceed more rapidly. I've in mind to set you and the girls out as teams."
"Harper and Holder?" Jaxom asked, seizing the op- portunity he'd been waiting for.
"Harper and holder? Oh, yes, of course. Piemur, you and Menolly have worked well together, I know. So Sharra can go with Jaxom. Now..." Oblivious to the sharp look Piemur gave Jaxom, the man went on. "One sees things from the air in a perspective not al- ways possible at ground level. The reverse, of course, applies. So any exploration should involve both meth- ods. Jaxom, Piemur knows what I'm looking for..."
"Sir?"
"Traces of the original habitation of this continent. I can't for the life of me imagine why our long-dead ancestors left this fruitful and beautiful continent for the colder, duller North, but I assume that they had good reasons. The oldest of our Records states: When man came to Pern, he established a good Hold in the South. We used to think," the Harper smiled apolo- getically for that error, "that Fort Hold was meant, since it is south in the Northern Continent. But that particular document goes on to state ambiguously: but found it necessary to move north to shield. That never made any sense, but so many of the old Records have deteriorated past deciphering, much less coherence.
"Well, then Toric discovered an iron mine, worked in the open fashion. And N'ton and I sighted unnatural formations set in a mountainside which, when we had finally reached the spot on foot, were clearly mine shafts.
"If the ancients had been long enough in the Southern Continent to discover ore and mine it, there must be other traces of their habitation somewhere here in the South."
"In hot weather and rainy forest, nothing survives very long," Jaxom said. "D'ram built a shelter here a scant twenty-five Turns back and not much remains of it. And what F'lessan and I stumbled on in Benden Weyr had been sealed up, protected from weather."
"Nothing," Piemur said emphatically, "could dent, scratch or mar the pit supports we found in that mine. And not even the best stoneman can carve through solid rock like cheese. Yet the ancients did."
"We have found some traces. There must be more."
Jaxom had never heard the Harper so adamant, but he couldn't suppress a sigh as he glanced at the size of the map before him.
"I know, Jaxom, the scope is daunting, but what a triumph when we find the place. Or places!" Master Robinton's eyes shone with anticipation. "Now," he went on briskly, "once Jaxom is pronounced fit enough to fly between, we will progress southward, using that symmetrical mountain as our guide. Any objections?" The man barely waited for an answer. "Piemur will start out on the ground with Stupid. Menolly can ac- company him, if she wishes, or can wait for Jaxom to take her and Sharra on Ruth to the secondary camp. While the girls survey the immediate vicinity, which I understand has not been done, you, Jaxom, can fly ahead with Ruth to set up another camp to which you can fly between the next day. And so on.
"I think you must have been drilled at Fort Weyr," the Harper said, looking at Jaxom, "to be able to observe and distinguish ground formations from the air? However, I want to impress on you both that though this is a joint effort, Piemur is far more experi- enced, Jaxom, and you will please bear this in mind when problems occur. And send me your reports for this..." he tapped the chart, "every evening! Off with you both, now, and organize your equipment and supplies. And your partners!"
Though explaining the situation to Menolly and Sharra and organizing their supplies and equipment took very little time, the explorers did not leave Cove Hold that day.
Master Oldive arrived on Lioth with N'ton and was lavishly welcomed by the Harper, more sedately by Brekke and Sharra, and with some reservations by Jaxom. Robinton immediately insisted on showing the Healer the beautiful new hold before, as Robinton expressed it, Oldive had to see his old carcass.
"He's not fooling Master Oldive," Sharra said, her rich voice for Jaxom's ear alone as they watched the Harper striding vigorously about the holding, Master Oldive murmuring appropriate comments. "Not one fingertip is he fooling the Healer."
"That's a relief," Jaxom said. "Otherwise the Harper'11 be coming with us."
"Not between, he won't."
"No, he'd ride Stupid."
Sharra laughed, but her amusement ended as they both watched the Healer firmly steer the Harper into his sleeping quarters and quietly close the door.
"No," Sharra said, shaking her head slowly, "Master Robinton wasn't fooling Master Oldive!"
Jaxom was very glad he didn't have to try to fool the Master Healer when it came his turn to be exam- ined. The ordeal for him was brief—a few questions, Master Oldive's inspection of his eyes, tapping on his chest, listening to his heart and the pleased smile on the Healer's mobile face gave Jaxom the favorable ver- dict.
"Master Robinton will be all right, too, won't he, Master Oldive?" Jaxom couldn't resist asking.
When the Harper had emerged from his room, he had been too quiet, rather thoughtful, and the bounce had gone out of his step. Menolly had poured him a cup of wine which he had accepted with a Wistful smile and a deep sigh.
"Of course. Master Robinton will be all right," Mas- ter Oldive said. "He's much improved. But," the Healer held up one long forefinger, "he must learn to pace himself, conserve his energy and ration his strength or he will bring on another attack. You young people can assist, with your strong legs and stouter hearts, without seeming to curtail his activities."
"Indeed we will. In fact, we do!"
"Good. Continue and he will soon be completely recovered. If he keeps in mind the lesson he learned from this seizure." Master Oldive glanced through the open window, mopping his forehead a little. "This beautiful place was a grand idea." He favored Jaxom with a sly smile. "The heat makes the Harper drowsy midday and forces him to rest. The prospects on all sides delight the eyes, and the scent of the air pleases the nose. How I envy you this spot, Lord Jaxom."
The beauties of Cove Hold had evidently worked their charm on the Masterharper as well, for he had recovered his good spirits even before the arrival of Master Fandarel and Master Wansor from Telgar. Robinton's delight was doubled when Fandarel and Wansor proudly exhibited the new distance-viewer that had occupied the Starsmith's time for the past half- Turn. The instrument, a tube as long as Fandarel's arm, and thick enough so that he needed two hands to sur- round i
t, was carefully encased in leather, with a curi- ous eye-piece set, not on its end where Jaxom thought it ought to be, but on its side.
Master Robinton commented on that variation as well, and Wansor muttered something about reflective and refracting, ocular and objective and that this was the arrangement he thought best for the purposes of viewing distant objects. Whereas the instrument found in Benden Weyr made small things larger, the princi- ples employed here were somewhat similar.
"That is neither here nor there but we are very pleased to use the new far-viewer in Cove Hold," Wansor went on, mopping his brow for he'd been so busy explaining his new device that he'd not bothered to remove his wherhide flying clothes.
Anne McCaffrey - Pern06 White Dragon Page 36