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Now and then a lone citizen, untouched by trade, would go to the platform and try to speak. They spoke of the history of Village, how each of them there had fled poverty and cruelty and been welcomed at this new place that had taken them in.
The blind man spoke eloquently of the day he had been brought here half dead and been tended for months by the people of Village until, though he was still without sight, it had become his true home. Matty had been wondering whether he, too, would go up and speak. He wanted to, for surely Village had also become his true home, and saved him, but he felt a little shy. Then he heard the blind man begin to speak on his behalf:
"My boy came here six years ago as a child. Many of you remember the Matty he was then. He fought and swore and stole. "
Matty liked the sound of the phrase "my boy," which he had never heard the blind man use before. But he was embarrassed to see people turn and look at him.
"Village changed him and made him what he is now," the blind man said. "He will receive his true name soon. "
For a moment Matty hoped that Leader, who was still standing on the platform, would hold up his hand to call for silence, would call Matty, place his hand on Mattys forehead, then announce the true name. It happened that way, sometimes.
Messenger. Matty held his breath, hoping for that.
But instead he heard another voice, not Leaders.
"I remember what he was like! If we close the border, we wont have to do that anymore! We wont have to deal with thieves and braggarts and people who have lice in their hair, the way Matty did then, when he came!"
Matty turned to look. It was a woman. He was stunned, as if someone had slapped him. It was his own neighbor, the very woman who had made clothes for him when he came. He remembered standing there in his rags while she measured him and then put on her thimble to stitch the clothing for him. She had a soft voice then, and talked gently to him while she sewed.
Now she had a sewing machine, a very fancy one, and bolts of fabric with which she created fine clothing. Now the blind man stitched the simple things that he and Matty needed.
So she, too, had traded, and was turning not only on him, but on all new ones.
Her voice incited others, and now large numbers of people were calling out, "Close Village! Close the border!"
Matty had never seen Leader look so sad.
***
When it was over, and the vote to close Village had been finalized, Matty trudged home beside the blind man. At first they were silent. There was nothing to be said. Their world had changed now.
After a bit Matty tried to talk, to be cheerful, to make the best of things.
"I suppose hell send me out now to all the other villages and communities with the message. Ill be doing a lot of traveling. Im glad it isnt winter yet. Its hard in snow. "
"He came in snow," the blind man said. "He knows what its like. "
Matty wondered for a moment what he was talking about. Who? Oh yes, he thought. The little sled.
"Leader knows better than anyone about things," Matty remarked. "And hes still younger than many. "
"He sees beyond," Seer said.
"What?"
"He has a special gift. Some people do. Leader sees beyond. "
Matty was startled. He had noticed the quality of Leaders pale blue eyes, how they seemed to have a kind of vision most people didnt have. But he had not heard it described that way before.
It made him think of what he had only recently come to know about himself.
"So some people, like Leader, have a special gift?"
"Its true," Seer replied.
"Is it always the same? Is it always—what did you say?—seeing beyond?"
They were nearing the curve in the path where it branched off and led to their homeplace. Matty watched in awe, as he always did, how the blind man felt the coming curve and knew even in his darkness where to turn.
"No. Its different for different people. "
"Do you have it? Is that how you know where to walk?"
The blind man laughed. "No. Ive learned that. Ive been without eyes for many years. At first I stumbled and bumped into things. People had to help me all the time. Of course in the old days in Village, people were quick to help and guide. "
His voice became bitter. "Who knows what will happen now?"
They had arrived at the house and could hear Frolic scratching at the door and woofing in excitement at the sound of their approach.
Matty didnt want the conversation to end here. He wanted to tell the blind man about himself, about his secret.
"So you dont have a special gift, like Leader, but other people do?"
"My daughter does. She told me of it that night, the night you took me to her. "
"Kira? She has a special gift?"
"Yes, your old friend Kira. The one who taught you manners. "
Matty ignored that. "She must be all grown up now. I saw her last time I was there, but its been almost two years. But, Seer, what do you mean. . . "
The blind man stopped unexpectedly on the steps leading to the door. "Matty!" he said with sudden urgency.
"What?"
"Ive just realized. The border will be closing in three weeks. "
"Yes. "
Seer sat down on the steps. He put his head in his hands. Sometimes he did that when he was thinking. Matty sat beside him and waited. He could hear Frolic inside, throwing himself against the door in frustration.
Finally the blind man spoke. "I want you to go to your old village, Matty. Leader will be sending you anyway, with the message.
"Hell no doubt send you to several places. But, Matty, I want you to go to your old village first. Leader will understand. "
"But I dont. "
"My daughter. She said some day she would come here to live, when the time was right. You know her, Matty. You know she had things to accomplish there first. "
"Yes. And she has, Seer. I could tell when I was last there. Things have changed. People take good care of their children now. And. . . "
He hesitated, unable to speak for a moment, because the memory of his own abuse had returned. Then he added simply, "Kira made things change. Things are better now. "
"There are only three weeks left, Matty. After the border closes it will be too late. She wont be allowed to come. You must bring her here before that happens.
"If you dont, Matty, I will never see her again. "
"It always seems strange to me when you say see. "
The blind man smiled. "I see in my heart, Matty. "
Matty nodded. "I know you do. Ill bring her to you. Ill leave here tomorrow. "
Together they rose. Evening was coming. Matty opened the door and Frolic leaped into his arms.
11
"Tuck it inside your shirt, Matty, so it wont get rumpled. You have a long journey ahead. "
Matty took the packet of folded messages in the thick envelope, and placed it where Leader indicated, inside his shirt next to his chest. He didnt say so to Leader, but he thought that later, when he gathered his traveling things, he would probably find a different place for the envelope. He would put it with his food supplies and blanket. It was true that here, inside his shirt, was the safest and cleanest place. But he had planned to carry Frolic there, against his chest.
There was not time, in three weeks, to make journeys to all the other places and communities. Some of them were many days away, and a few places could be reached only by riverboat. Matty was not qualified to go by river; the man called Boater was always the one who took messages and trading goods by that route.
But it had been decided that the message would be posted on every path throughout Forest, so that any new ones coming would see it and turn back. Matty was the only one who knew all the paths, who was not afraid to enter Forest and travel in that dangerous place. He would post the messages there. And he would go on to his own old place as well. There had been ongoing communicati
on between that place and Village for years; now they must be told of the new ruling.
Leader was standing now at the window, as he so often did, looking down at Village and the people below. Matty waited. He was in a hurry to be off, to begin his long journey, but he had a feeling there was something that Leader wanted to tell him, something still unsaid.
Finally Leader turned to Matty, standing beside him. "Hes told you that I see beyond, hasnt he?"
"Yes. He says you have a special gift. His daughter does, too. "
"His daughter. That would be the girl called Kira, the one who helped you leave your old place. He never talks about her. "
"It makes him too sad. But he thinks about her all the time. "
"And you say she has a gift, too?"
"Yes. But hers is different. Each gift is different, Seer said. "
Do you know about mine? Matty thought. But he did not need to ask.
As if he had read Mattys mind, Leader told him, "I know of yours. "
Matty shuddered. The gift still frightened him so. "I kept it secret," he said apologetically. "I havent even told Seer. I didnt want to be secretive. But Im still trying to understand it. I try to put it out of my mind. I try to forget that its there inside me. But then it just appears. I can feel it coming. I dont know how to stop it. "
"Dont try. If it comes without your summoning it, it is because of need. Because someone needs your gift. "
"A frog? It was a frog first!"
"It was to show you. It always starts with a small thing. For me? The very first time I saw beyond? It was an apple. "
Despite the solemnity of the conversation, Matty chuckled. A frog and an apple. And a puppy, he realized.
"Wait for the true need, Matty. Dont spend the gift. "
"But how will I know?"
Leader smiled. He rubbed Mattys shoulder affectionately. "Youll know," he said.
Matty looked around for Frolic and saw that he was curled in the corner, asleep. "I should go. I havent packed my things yet. And I want to stop by and tell Jean Im going, so she wont wonder where I am.
Leader kept him there within the comfortable curve of his arm. "Matty, wait," he said. "I want to. . . " Then he gazed through the window again. Matty stood there, wondering what he was to wait for. Then he felt something. The weight of the young mans arm took on a quality of something beyond human flesh. It came alive with power. Matty felt it from the arm, but he knew, as well, that it was pervading all of Leaders being. He understood that it was Leaders gift at work.
Finally, after what seemed an unendurable few moments, Leader lifted his arm away from Matty. He exhaled. His body sagged slightly. Matty helped him to a chair and he sat there, exhausted, breathing hard.
"Forest is thickening," Leader said when he could speak.
Matty didnt know what he meant. It sounded ominous. But when he looked through the window, to the row of underbrush and pines that was the border of Forest, it looked no different to him.
"I dont understand it exactly," Leader said. "But I can see a thickening to Forest, like a. . . " He hesitated.
"I was going to say like a clotting of blood. Things turning sluggish and sick. "
Matty looked through the window again. "The trees are just the same, Leader. Theres a storm coming, though. You can hear the wind. And look. The sky is turning dark. Maybe thats what you saw. "