The Skeleton's Knife (The Farwalker Trilogy)

by Joni Sensel

  "What do you call this place?" she asked.

  "Dead Man's Cove."

  Thinking of Elbert, Ariel shivered. But the village couldn't possibly have been named for someone a mere two years dead. "Were ships wrecked on the point?" she asked. "And dead sailors washed up?"

  Dain narrowed his eyes at her. "No. If anyone who doesn't belong here sets foot ashore, he's soon to be dead and adrift in the cove."

  Ariel swallowed hard.

  "And my mama's a one-legged pirate," Dain added, amused by the effect of his words. "Cassalie! Hey, Cassalie!"

  Dain waved toward someone who'd just surged from the sea and was now treading water. The dripping head belonged to a woman. She had stronger, browner features than Dain's but hair of the same empty color, even wet. It ran in a tight plait over one ear like a creamy sea snake. Whisking water from her face with long fingers, the woman blinked at the new arrivals.

  "Strangers!" Dain added. He looked askance at Ariel. "Might need to run a marlinspike through 'em."

  As smooth as an eel, the woman swam toward them. "From over land?"

  "We're afoot, not aboat, aren't we?"

  "Well, it looks like they might have crawled from a hole!"

  Ruefully Ariel glanced down at her clothes. In her worry for Zeke, she'd almost forgotten how mud-caked they were.

  "We're not usually this dirty," she called. "We got caught--"

  "In a mud bath, I see," said the woman. "No matter. We've water aplenty, that's certain."

  When she reached shallows, she stood, and Ariel saw two things at once: Cassalie was long-limbed and lithe, and she wore nothing at all in the water, at least not from the waist up. As she waded nearer, a mesh bag appeared, tied around her waist and bulging with shellfish, along with a stubby knife in one hand.

  Alongside Ariel, Zeke made a small, strangled sound. The rapt look on his face hinted that he never noticed the woman's gathering bag or her knife.

  Scarl cleared his throat. "Zeke." He'd averted his eyes, and with a tiny shake of his head, he nudged Zeke to follow suit. But surprise and a certain intrigue were also stamped on his face.

  Cassalie laughed, a splashing sound that harmonized with the swish of water around her. "Oh, have I shocked you?" she called. "So sorry. None left here cares, and I've grown mindless to it. It's such a waste to get clothes wet. Here." She sank in the water to hide her breasts. "Toss me my wrap, Dain. Keep it dry, now."

  Dain grabbed a bundle from near the water's edge and flipped it over the waves with a slight, singsong whistle. Cassalie caught it.

  "There now," she called. "All furred, as if I hadn't got any shy parts." She'd stood again and waded closer, now wrapped by a spotted skin that had once belonged to a seal. It didn't hide much of her legs, neither of which was a carved wooden peg. Her feet were not finned like a mermaid's, either--Ariel checked as the woman came over the cobblestones toward them.

  "Welcome, I think," Cassalie said. "You don't look cruel enough to be pirates, though you're dirty enough. Or if you are, you'll be disappointed. We have nothing to steal. I'm Cassalie Reaper. Clearly you've met Dain, who doesn't usually bring home such interesting flotsam." She extended one hand in a fist, knuckles toward them.

  Ariel had figured out many unfamiliar greetings, but she wasn't sure what to do with a fist.

  Scarl ventured his own fist, reaching it near but not touching Cassalie's. "Scarl Finder," he said. "Well met."

  With a smile, Cassalie knocked her knuckles on his.

  "And I'm--" Ariel began.

  "Hold off with the nice-ies," Dain said. "The boy's had a lick o' drowning in that mud."

  Cassalie's eyes widened. "Oh! You put the wind in him, then? Is he all right?"

  "Think so," Dain replied. "But best he should lie down and rest, Cass."

  Cassalie hurried to Zeke and swept an arm around him. "Why didn't you say so to start, Dain?"

  "Well, it's not desperate, clearly. He's standing."

  "No thanks to the dawdling." To Zeke she added, "Come this way. We'll get you soothed. What's his name?"

  Zeke answered for himself.

  "Ah!" Cassalie replied. "If you're speaking, you must be half right."

  "Told you," Dain said. "But don't any of you have regular trades? I mean, Finders I know, but Farwalkers marched away into the sea, and what good's it do singing to stones?"

  "Dain!" Cassalie scolded. "Run ahead and put on the kettle. Before I fillet you." Dain obeyed, trotting toward a nearby cottage.

  "Perhaps we should clean up first," Scarl said. "We can't go in like this."

  Cassalie laughed. "You're right! And I'll guess you'll feel a mite too shy to strip. We'll give Zeke a warm bath in a basin, but you two had best dunk. Use the creek-fall so you don't itch from salt. But help me get him to the door first. I'll send Dain back with warm things to wrap up in while your clothes dry."

  "Is Dain your... child?" Scarl asked as he helped Zeke up the uneven slope.

  Cassalie snorted. "A child of mine would have more manners." She sobered. "Suppose it comes to the same, though. Lost her parents at ten. I took her in, you might say."

  "Her." Ariel couldn't help but repeat it.

  Cassalie turned her seawater gaze on Ariel. "Did Dain tell you different?"

  Ariel reddened. "Uh, no, I just--"

  A line in Cassalie's brow smoothed and she waved off Ariel's answer. "No, no, I don't blame you, and that's a long tale. But never mind us. I haven't heard tell of strangers coming in from the land side. Are you lost?"

  "Not a bit. But I'm sorry, we got off wrong with our greetings." Ariel introduced herself.

  "Farwalker? You must be an albatross to get here through the mountains." They reached Cassalie's doorstep. "You don't bring bad luck like an albatross, do you?"

  "No! I hope not, at least." Ariel glanced about for the flies. They hadn't followed this far. Perhaps they'd been confused by the landslides and tunnels. "I mostly bring news and gifts to share with your village." Besides the old man, she'd spied only one pinched face peeping from behind a curtain; the few other houses might have been deserted. Usually their arrivals created more stir. "If there's anyone else here to share with?"

  Scarl had noticed, too. "Surely you and Dain aren't as alone as you seem?"

  "Oh, no." Cassalie chuckled. "Well, depends how you count it, I guess. We've a couple of old 'uns still clinging on, but most won't come out until I reassure them. The rest, just a handful, live out on their boats. They only come in for water or to hide from bad weather." She gestured to a few specks on the horizon.

  Scarl said, "I'd expect they have plenty of warning for storms. With an apprentice like Dain, your Windmaster must be quite skilled."

  Cassalie reached her hand to the latch but did not open the door. "We have none but Dain, though she's only fourteen. The wind snatched her master one day from the point." She dropped her voice. "Don't tell Dain I said so, but the master begrudged her talent and tried to do more than his own skills could manage. The wind either failed him or punished his cheek. Dain thinks the wind took the master aloft, but I've seen his sorry bones under the sea." She swung the door open, adding brightly, "Go drown the mud, then, and we'll get Zeke bathed, too. Dain! Is that kettle a-boil yet? We need to soak Zeke!"

  Although Zeke looked daunted about being left alone in Cassalie's care, Scarl and Ariel dropped their gear and hurried back to the tumbling creek. Its icy water stole their breath. Even more impressed by Cassalie's nude work in the sea, Ariel scrubbed off the mud as fast as she could and hauled herself out.

  "Rather unlike your old home in Canberra Docks," Scarl said, as they wrung out their clothes as best they could while standing in them.

  "I'll say," she replied. "But in some ways, Cassalie's like Fishers I've known. A lot prettier, though."

  "I'd say she's a splash of the wild sea itself," Scarl said. "But I'll be content if she tends Zeke as fast as she talks."

  Cassalie welcomed them back to her house with an armful of
seal fur robes.

  "Already? You're quick, and Dain's slow. But come in." She thrust the skins into their arms as they entered, keeping only the one that barely clad her. "Step behind a sail and change if you like, or wrap up and dry in your clothes, if you'd rather. Wet dribbles can't hurt a thing here."

  A striped sail hung between the entry and the rest of the house to hold warmth that otherwise might've leaked out the door. Cassalie drew it aside for her guests to duck past. Beyond, Dain knelt feeding the fire. Zeke, clean and bundled, lay propped beside it. The stone walls were draped with more tattered sailcloth, which softened the main room and veiled others beyond narrow doorways. The furnishings consisted mostly of short stools and a table. The floor indeed was uneven, but the stools did not slide, and the fire gave the place rustic charm.

  "Two more for your tea, Dain." Cassalie turned to Ariel as she began to strip the plait from her hair. It fell in damp waves around her. "Prod her a bit, would you? And I'll put on my land skin so your fellows won't keep blushing each time I move. That's no way to treat guests, is it? Shocking them. Blimey."

  She laughed and ducked out of sight behind a drape. Looking downright disappointed, Zeke turned to peek as her legs disappeared, but Scarl was careful not to watch Cassalie go.

  Still, Ariel could tell from the taut lines of his neck that his disinterest took effort.

  Chapter 10

  Scarl steamed in his clothes near the fire, but Ariel stepped behind a sail to strip off her wet things and snuggle into a robe before sitting beside Zeke at the hearth. Cassalie returned carrying her collection bag and wearing a supple, grey leather dress that nearly brushed the stone floor. Her hair, all loose waves now, shone golden against it.

  "What is that leather?" Ariel asked. She'd also noticed it in the shirt under Dain's rougher jerkin. The dress was pieced of sizable strips, and she hadn't seen so much as a deer track on the ridge.

  Cassalie smoothed her skirt. "Shark, I'm afraid. They're so clever that I hate to reap them, but shellfish and sea slugs won't do for all things. Speaking of which, are you hungry?"

  "You've killed a shark?" Ariel exclaimed. "By yourself?"

  Zeke's jaw dropped, too.

  "It's not so hard when they're sleeping." Cassalie emptied her bag into a basin and began rinsing the shellfish with water from a bucket. "A mite unfair, but not hard. The hard part is raising them to the surface before they're ripped to shreds by their mates. The blood calls them."

  "I don't know sharks," Scarl said. "What are they like?"

  "Like a lion in the water, with fifty more teeth," Zeke told him. "They eat Fishers for snacks when they get bored with seals."

  "Oh, no," Cassalie said. "They bite the wrong thing sometimes, that's all. Mistakes."

  Duly impressed, Scarl said, "I wondered how a Reaper managed on such unstable land."

  Cassalie flashed him a smile. "I climb the cliffs after bird eggs, but I do most of my reaping from the sea. Mussels, crab, the odd flatfish, sea lettuce and such."

  "Isn't it cold to dive naked, though?" Ariel asked.

  "I suppose," Cassalie said. "But wet clothes wouldn't warm me, only slow me and drag. I've got to dive slick and fast to get what we need before my breath gives out. I rub on seal fat when the weather's too chill."

  "How deep do you go?" Zeke asked.

  "Oh, when I'm feeling strong and the sun's bright, ten fathoms."

  "Wow."

  Cassalie giggled. "You make it sound so exotic. I do what I can to feed us, that's all."

  "That's all," Scarl said wryly.

  She flipped a scallop shell at him. Startled, he caught it.

  Cassalie bustled to the fire. "Now you're all making me blush. Stop. Where's that tea?"

  Their tea was steeped over dried kelp. Ariel had to get used to the taste, but the warmth was soothing. They sat around the fire, sipping from cups made of moonsnail shells.

  "Tell me now, if I'm not being rude," Cassalie said, "whatever above the sea or below it brought you to us?"

  Ariel hesitated, unsure how frank she should be about Elbert. She'd been prepared for a rough or violent place--not kindness or people who might mourn him.

  "Two things," she began carefully. "First, I'm a Farwalker, so I travel to faraway places." As she described her usual tasks, Cassalie stopped her.

  "I think I understand, and how lovely," she said. "I can rouse the old'uns and hang the flag in the morning for the Fishers to see. They can sail in to meet you on the incoming tide."

  A knock rattled the door. Dain jumped up to answer, but the door didn't wait. It flew open, and a boat hook shoved the sailcloth drape aside. Next came the old man they'd noticed outside patching mortar. He stopped short to see them all sipping tea.

  "All well, Cass?" His rheumy gaze settled with suspicion on Scarl.

  "Oh, yes, Isaiah! Look--visitors!"

  "I seen 'em," he said. "Strangers. You sure you're all right, then?"

  Cassalie assured him she was. She began introductions, but Isaiah waved off her words and Scarl's greeting.

  "Time for sugar-talk later. I'll let Tilda know you're not being murdered. Pardon t'interruption, Cassalie."

  "Bring Tilda back, if you like," Cassalie told him. "Or you'll get another chance to meet our new friends tomorrow. We'll gather at flood tide."

  Grumbling about sea-snakes and strangers, the old man ducked out.

  Cassalie covered a laugh. "Please forgive his poor welcome!"

  Scarl shook his head. "He's looking out for you, that's all. It wouldn't be the first time we were taken for thieves."

  "Or worse," Ariel said.

  "Then you nearly belong here, since it's a smuggler's cove," Cassalie replied. "But we can talk of that later. I'd like to hear more about the Vault you spoke of, if you won't mind repeating it tomorrow. I could listen while I fry scallops for you. Would that be a fair trade?"

  "Scallops, mmm." Dain licked her lips. Ariel smiled, too.

  While Cassalie shucked scallops with her stubby knife, Ariel told her about the treasure she'd unveiled in the abbey. She mentioned that Allcrafts she'd led there had begun to build forgotten devices, and Scarl showed the timepiece that didn't yet work. Cassalie and Dain admired it anyway.

  "Like a metal sand dollar," Cass said. "But it must work a little, because it reminds me that I'm using up all of your time, and you said two things brought you here. What's the second? I must be keeping you from it."

  Ariel glanced at Scarl, no longer sure she should say. He offered no help.

  "There's a shark's tooth," she said. "In a knife tied onto my walking stick."

  "I noticed the stick, not the knife or the tooth," Cassalie said. "May I see it?"

  "I'll get it." Dain ran to the entry to fetch it. "Ugh!"

  Ariel frowned. "Do you recognize it?"

  Dain pushed through the drape, holding the staff at arm's length. "It's bloody."

  "What?" Ariel had rinsed it with her clothes in the creek. "It must just be mud that I missed."

  "Don't reckon." Dain held up her hand to show a damp red streak too bright to be mud. With a cry, Cassalie jumped up.

  Ariel said, "It cut you! I thought the wrappings--"

  "Nah." Dain wiped her hand on her clothes and displayed unbroken skin.

  "It must be yours," Scarl told Ariel. "It probably nicked you during the mudslide. You didn't feel it?"

  "No, I..." Ariel searched herself for a wound and found only old scars. Besides, when she took the staff from Dain, the bindings around Elbert's blade were snugger than ever, since the leather was shrinking as it dried. Yet more blood oozed from between them.

  "Creepy. But it figures, knowing where that knife came from," Zeke muttered.

  "Where might that be, a nightmare?" Cassalie's nose wrinkled. "Chumbuckets, Ariel. Does your trade make you bear such an unpleasant thing?"

  "It's not mine!" Ariel said. The last blood drawn by that blade had been hers, though. Perhaps some had dried at the handle to be wetted a
nd drip out when she rinsed it. That seemed unlikely, but eerier explanations made her breath too hard to catch.

  More blood dribbled onto the floor.

  Cassalie grabbed a sea sponge and scrubbed at the puddle. "Please take that out of my house."

  "I'm sorry." Ariel stumbled outside with the staff.

  She'd planned to cast the knife into the waves, but not yet. Ariel wanted to find the right spot to drown it forever--somewhere Elbert had known, or somewhere he'd stood. She had work to do before she'd know where.

  So she scurried to the creek and plunged the knife into the flow, cramming the end of the staff between rocks. Fresh water spilled over the blade. The runoff turned pink before it finally cleared. She could leave the staff wedged there and get rid of the knife later. Ariel hoped the wood wouldn't become too waterlogged. Since Nace had smoothed it for her, she liked to think she could touch his hand through the grip.

  It struck her that if clasping her staff could bring her closer to Nace, touching the knife pulled her nearer to Elbert.

  A stench of rot swirled around her. Ariel's gorge rose. She jumped back, leaving the staff sticking out at an angle. Now she smelled only saltwater and kelp.

  Yet her stomach still trembled. She hadn't imagined the stink. Elbert's blade had some power here that it hadn't before, or an evil flushed out by the fresh, running water.

  Ariel backed away, leaving the knife for later, when she'd have help from her friends. By then, there shouldn't be any more blood.

  Chapter 11

  By the time Ariel returned to the house, Scarl had taken the sponge from Cassalie and was wiping up the last of the drips.

  "I'll take that out to clean, too," Ariel told him.

  "Never mind. We've a whole sea of sponges. Here--" Cassalie plucked it from Scarl and flung it into the fire. The flames squealed and leapt in a putrid green blaze.

  "Whew! Do sponges always burn like that?" Zeke asked.