She studied him, “You said it’d be a couple of hours before you could tell me why we were leaving Clancy Vail so soon. How about now?”
He shrugged, “I’d still want you to keep it a secret.”
She frowned, “Why?”
He gave her a little grin, “Because otherwise, I can’t tell you.”
“So I’m not supposed to tell anyone?”
A little nod, “Correct.”
She rolled her eyes, “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“I’ll keep your secret.”
“The plague’s broken out in Clancy Vail.”
“What?” Lizeth asked. Then her thoughts caught up with what he’d said. Plague?! Doesn’t that kill everybody?! They’d started walking alongside the caravan. Now she stopped to stare at him, “Plague?!”
Tarc nodded. “It started in the Grissom ghetto, one of the poorest areas of Clancy Vail. The neighborhood’s full of trash and garbage. There’re a lot of rats.” He glanced at her, evidently assessing her understanding, “Plague’s always around in wild animals like squirrels and rabbits. It’s spread by fleas from one animal to another. If it gets in rats, and the rats are around people, when the rats die their fleas often jump to people and infect them.”
Lizeth stepped away from him. “Are you sick? Is that what happened to your hair?!”
He shook his head. “Fleas live in fur and hair. We all shaved our heads to make it less likely we’d get infected.”
“‘We all?’ Who’re you talking about?”
He shrugged, “All the healers at Hyllis Tavern.”
“And you’re not sick?”
He shrugged again, “I’m pretty sure I’m not, but you usually don’t get sick until a few days after you’re exposed.”
“What makes you ‘pretty sure’ you’re not about to get sick then?”
“I was never down near the ghetto or the people that were sick. I also stayed away from the healers that’ve been trying to take care of them.”
Lizeth stared at him, “So you’re making a run for it?”
He tilted his head, “I guess it looks that way.” He sighed and glanced back along the road they’d come down. “We have some medicine that should be effective for plague, so I wouldn’t have been at much risk if I’d stayed.”
“There’s medicine for plague?” Lizeth asked. “Why haven’t I ever heard of it?”
“It’s new. Some chemists in Clancy Vail figured out how to make it.”
Lizeth gave him a doubtful look, “And it works?”
Tarc frowned, “It should.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I can’t say.” He produced a shy grin, “Trade secret, you know?”
“Are you going to claim you know because of one of your witchy powers?”
He shook his head, “No. This is just plain old knowledge. Eva knows an awful lot of healing lore.”
“And where’d she learn all this?”
“From her mom, and grandmother, and their mothers before them.”
“And all this knowledge, it’s passed down perfectly from generation to generation?”
He shrugged, “Almost perfectly. It’s been written down.”
They walked along quietly for a few seconds, then Lizeth turned to look suspiciously up at him, realizing she’d caught him in a contradiction. “If you can cure the plague, why’re we running away from Clancy Vail?”
“There isn’t enough medicine,” he said, looking sad.
“Well, mix up some more!” Lizeth said, feeling as if she were talking to a dimwit.
“It’s not that easy. Making the medicine’s a complex business requiring a lot of ingredients and steps.” He glanced at her, “So, one obvious partial solution is to reduce the number of people who might get the disease. That’s why Eva sent the caravan away. She wanted you gone before any of you got it. That’ll reduce the number of people who might need medicine and keep you from spreading it across the countryside.” He glanced back along the road, “That factored into sending me away too.”
Having suddenly realized the extent of the problem, Lizeth said, “Why aren’t Eva, Daussie, and Hareh coming with us? If you hadn’t been exposed, they hadn’t either.”
“They’re healers first and foremost. They’d already gone down to the Grissom neighborhood to try to save some of the people there. Well, Hareh hadn’t before we left, but I’d imagine he’s down there now.”
Wide-eyed, Lizeth shook her head, “You people’re crazy!”
Tarc sighed, “Yeah.”
“I thought you wanted to be a healer too. Why’re you leaving?”
Tarc looked into the distance ahead. “I’d rather be a healer than a killer,” he said slowly. He glanced at Lizeth and she thought he appreciated being able to talk to someone like her—someone who knew what he could do with a knife or bow. “But, I think I’d rather spend my time trying to figure out how the ancients’ technology worked. I’d rather attempt that than learn medicine from my mom.”
“How’s she feel about that?”
“Disappointed.” He grinned at Lizeth, “And my dad thinks I’m flighty and indecisive. That I’ll never amount to much if I don’t settle down to something.”
She grinned back, “Tell him you’re already a hell of a killer. These other things’re just… hobbies.”
“That’s not what they want to hear! Tarc said, sounding appalled. He sighed, Nor what I want to say.”
Lizeth slapped him on the back, “From what I hear, there’s never been a parent who’s been satisfied with their teenager’s ambition.” Shit! she thought. “Did I just catch the plague, touching you?”
“Nah,” Tarc said giving her a grin. “You didn’t have to touch me to get it. You only had to get close enough for my fleas to jump on you. They can jump almost a half meter.”
Her skin crawling, Lizeth looked down at her arm as if expecting to find several fleas on it. “Really?”
He rolled his eyes, “I don’t have fleas!” He pointed at his head, “And I’m shaved, so I’m not likely to get any.”
Lizeth glanced back along the caravan, “Should we be trying to get everyone to shave their heads?”
“Good question. Eva doesn’t think anyone in the caravan’s likely to have been exposed. Anyone in Clancy Vail who was sick probably wouldn’t have felt like going out to the caravan grounds. It also seems unlikely that anyone in the caravan went for a tour of the Grissom ghetto. But, if we’re wrong about that and someone in the caravan does get sick; then, yes I recommend everyone else shave right away.”
Uneasily, Lizeth asked, “If we do get it, what’re our chances?”
He frowned and didn’t answer for a moment. Then, “Not good. Most people die.”
Lizeth pondered for a moment the fact that she frequently risked her life as a caravan guard. That didn’t bother her much. But the idea of a disease killing me? Something I can’t fight? That scares hell out of me!
Trying to distract herself, she said, “When I first met you in Cooperstown, you said something about teaching me things I could do with my… talent. You never got around to it.” She tried to weight that last sentence so it didn’t sound accusatory. “How about now?”
“Oh, yeah…” he spoke slowly, as if thinking. “If we’re going to talk about that, I’m going to have to ask you to keep that discussion completely secret. No telling anyone about it, okay?”
She snorted, “Not hard to promise that. I’d have to be insane to tell anyone about it when I’m witchy too.”
“You remember I asked you one evening where the sun was? You just waved off to the west and said, ‘somewhere over there.’”
She gave him a look, “If it was evening, somewhere to the west would’ve been right.”
Eyeing her intently, he asked, “Is that all you know? That it’s ‘somewhere to the west’? Or, do you know exactly where it is?”
“Well, after you asked me that I realized I do always feel like I
know exactly where it is. But I can’t actually know that…” She turned to stare questioningly at him, “Can I?”
“Most of us,” he started slowly. “Us people with talents, I mean. We have a sense—”
“Wait a minute! How many ‘people with talents’ are there?”
He shrugged, “I don’t know. There may be a lot of them who’re hiding their abilities from me just like they’re hiding them from you. Or, maybe the ones I know are all there is.”
“How many of them do you know?!”
He grinned at her, “More than two. Less than a hundred.”
“I suppose you’re not going to tell me who they are?”
He slowly shook his head, then went back to his previous explanation. “The people I know who have talents… we have a sense that tells us where warm things are. The closer and the hotter they are, the better we can sense them. The sun’s ultra-hot, so we can tell where it is even though it’s incredibly far away. Fires are hot, so we can sense them pretty far away. People and animals are warm so we can sense them, but they have to be closer than fires.”
Lizeth gave him a doubtful look but he didn’t seem to be kidding her. “So, you’re saying that I really do know exactly where the sun is at night?”
He shrugged, “Tonight we can check to see if you point to the same spot I do. If you do, I guess it’s possible we might both be wrong, but as far as I know everyone with talent points exactly the same direction when they’re asked where the sun is at night.”
“What good’s this… ability?”
“Mm,” he shrugged, “at the least you’ll know approximately what time it is, even in the middle of the night.”
“I can tell that by the position of the stars.”
He snorted, “You’ll be able to tell even if it’s cloudy. Or you’re inside a house. I know you don’t stay in houses often, but, just think, you won’t even have to stick your head out from under the wagon you’re sleeping under.”
“Wow,” she said sarcastically, “that’d be so useful.”
“Well then, how about this. I’m warm. Why don’t you close your eyes and see if you can tell where I am, using that same sense you used to feel for the sun?”
Lizeth looked at him suspiciously for a few moments, then turned to look ahead. She closed her eyes. They flashed back open and she turned an intent yet astonished look on Tarc. “You’re a… a kind of a glow.”
Pointing with his chin, he said, “What about the mules?”
This time, when she closed her eyes, she kept them closed for a long period. When they opened, her look was accusing, “This is how you always know I’m coming when I sneak up behind you, isn’t it?”
He gave her a little nod, “How far away can you sense the people and the animals?”
“Back to Johnson’s oxen.”
He glanced back, “About sixty meters. That’s pretty good.”
Her thoughts were spinning. “That’s why none of the guards caught us by surprise, back when you and I were sneaking around the raider’s farm outside Walterston. You knew where they were!”
Tarc only shrugged.
“And…” She closed her eyes again. This time she kept walking. She opened them and gave him a considering look, “I can sense the ground, and the trees, and the wagons. Just not as far away as I can sense the people and animals. You can do the same?”
Tarc nodded.
“That’s how you led us through the forest back to the caravan, right? Without getting trapped in impassable brush?”
He nodded again.
She closed her eyes and kept walking. Without opening them, she asked, “How’s it possible I can do this but never noticed it?!”
He shrugged, “A lot of people don’t seem to notice their talents… unless someone tells them to try doing something with them.”
She opened an eye and peered at him, “‘A lot of people’ sounds like more than you and me, huh?”
He shrugged an acknowledgment.
“Yet,” she said slowly, “you’re right, I can see a few seconds into the future. No one had to tell me I could do that.”
“Yeah,” he said uncertainly, “I’m not sure why that is. But, maybe when your life depends on it… No, that can’t be right.”
“Why not?”
“I know people who’ve been in danger without figuring out how to use their talent.” He looked at Lizeth, “Besides, you didn’t even know you were using a talent to win your fights.”
“Am I the only one who’s been using their talent without knowing they were?”
“The only one I know…” he broke off. “Wait, a minute. A lot of people feel like they’ve always known where the sun was when it’s first pointed out to them.”
“Yeah,” she said with a frown, “when you first asked me about it I felt like I knew where it was, and always had—even though intellectually I was so certain I couldn’t know that I just waved off to the west.”
They walked in silence for a while, then she said, “What else are you going to teach me about my talent?”
“No one should be able to sneak up on you if you keep your ghirit out.”
“Ghirit?”
“That’s what we call our ability to sense things around us. Don’t just assume no one can sneak up on you though. You have to push it out around you when you think you might be in danger.”
She held up a hand for a pause, then nodded sharply. “You’re right. If I don’t have it pushed out, I don’t notice things.”
“If you keep stretching to sense things farther and farther away, you’ll probably get greater range.”
She widened her eyes, “Holy crap! More than sixty meters?”
He nodded.
She narrowed them, “Wait, how far can you sense?”
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes a little, “Farther.”
“A lot farther?”
He gave a small shrug and a nod.
“Am I going to be able to sense hundreds of meters someday?”
He caught his lip between his teeth. When he released it, he said, “If you work at it, you should be able to sense much farther. It’s different from person to person, but most people about double the range they have when they start.”
“Double my range isn’t as far as you can sense, is it?”
He lifted a shoulder in a semi shrug but gave a tiny shake of his head.
“What else should I be able to do?”
“Before you, I’d never even heard about someone who could see into the future. Other than winning fights because you know what the other guy’s about to do, I don’t know what good your talent is. You could probably win at some gambling games.”
“Wait! You’ve just been talking about what I do with my ghirit. What do you mean you don’t know what good my talent is?”
“Oh,” Tarc said, sounding surprised. “The ability to sense things with your ghirit, we call that the ‘basic’ talent. Everyone with any talent seems to be able to do that, at least to some extent… Um, can you sense your heart inside your chest?”
“What?!”
“Um, most of us can sense inside things… And on the other side of things. Can you sense the lead mule of the wagon behind us? Visually, it’s hidden behind this wagon.”
Lizeth blinked, then closed her eyes for a moment. “I can! Does that mean I can tell if there’s someone on the other side of a door?”
Tarc nodded.
“That’s awesome!” She got a squeamish look on her face, “And you’re saying I should be able to sense my heart even though it’s inside me?”
Tarc nodded, “It’s really helpful to healers.”
She closed her eyes for a moment still walking. A shudder came over her and she opened them again. “That’s… just gross.” She focused on him, “So, if this ghirit’s really helpful to healers, I’ll bet all you Hyllis healers have at least that talent, huh?”
Tarc only said, “Don’t forget you promised to keep our secrets.”
> “I remember.” They walked in silence for a moment, then she said, “So, you’re saying I have this ‘basic’ talent for sensing things you’ve given me advice on. And then I have this ability to see the future—”
“Precognition,” Tarc interrupted.
“What?”
“Precognition. It means ‘knowing the future.’”
“Okay, precognition. And you don’t know what it’s good for other than winning fights?”
“Right, I’ve never known anyone else who had it. If it’s like the other talents though, you should be able to get better at it if you work at it.” Tarc reached out and swung a slap at the back of her head.
“Hey!” Lizeth said, easily dodging his hand. “What the hell?”
Tarc was already stepping back, his hands up. “I was just testing your precog. I wanted to know whether it warned you about things in the future even if you weren’t worried about them. It looks like it does.”
Lizeth glared at him. “I can warn you that…” She stopped and frowned in puzzlement, “What’re you saying it does?”
“It warns you that something’s about to happen even if you aren’t watching for it. You know that when you’re in a fight, it tells you what the other guy’s about to do. But, it seems like it’d warn you even if someone’s sneaking up to try to stab you in the back.”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
“Well, your ghirit doesn’t tell you someone’s sneaking up behind you unless you have it out looking for them. I’d say that having a few seconds precog warning, whether or not you’re worried, that’s pretty awesome.”
“Oh… Yeah, I’ve had that happen before. I’ve always just thought I was really fast. Wait, I’ve heard other people talk about how they got a little tingle of warning before something happens.”
Tarc looked at her consideringly, “Maybe they were precogs too? Were they particularly quick?”
Lizeth frowned as she thought back, then she shook her head, “I don’t think so. One was a salesclerk telling me how she knew there was about to be an earthquake.”
“Maybe… maybe she was a precog but there wasn’t anything she could do about the earthquake. If she’d never had any reason to get in a fight and never practiced to try to see farther into the future… she just might not have seen any evidence she had precognition…” Tarc turned to look at her, “Practicing to see further into the future’s something I really think you ought to do. All the other talents I know of, they get stronger if you exercise them.”
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