"Get her," yelled the on-fire pirate. "It's 'cause of her the cargo's all burned up."
The other pirate gave up on the ruined trade goods. He glared at Ja'Nil. "You're for it now, girl."
Ja'Nil turned, but there was nowhere to go but into the sea. Never.
She remembered her mother once saying, "Never say never."
No! She would go with the pirates first. How bad could it be? She stood dithering. Jump or surrender?
The burning pirate finally torn off his charred sleeve and examined his blistered arm. "Look at me arm," he screeched. Use your belt on her!"
The un-burned pirate (which is how Ja'Nil thought of him) smiled at her. He had even fewer teeth than the man she had hit over the head. Maybe it was a pirate thing? She couldn't believe she was thinking of teeth at a time like this.
Even as the fire spread to the rest of the Profit, the toothless, un-burned pirate calmly unbuckled his belt and pulled it out from around his thick waist.
Was he really going to beat her? Aside from Aunt M'eer kicking her, Ja'Nil had never been struck in her life and this man was going to beat her. With a belt.
The pirate raised his arm, preparing to swing. Ja'Nil crouched down, her arms raised to protect her face when a rogue wave swung the pirate's ship around and slammed it hard into the Profit.
Ja'Nil, poised to dodge the descending belt, fell back into the side rail. Her toes were still on the deck but she was bent over backwards on the rail. The toothless, burn-free, belt-swinging pirate scrambled to stay on his feet.
Another crash, this one much harder. The Profit shifted and raised slightly on her starboard side; unfortunately for Ja'Nil, she was on the port side. With agonizing slowness, the damaged Profit dumped her into the cold, deadly sea.
She went under. And under. And farther under. Before she could stop herself, she swallowed a mouthful of icy, death dealing seawater. When her stunned mind finally registered where she was and what was happening, she panicked.
Flailing, not knowing up from down, Ja'Nil kicked out, hit out, screaming inside her head, her lungs burning, her eyes straining desperately for any sign that would lead her out of this watery coffin. All around, black water clutched at her. Her nightmare had come true.
Then, like a cork, her head popped out of the water. She looked around wildly. Darkness had now settled on the water. About fifteen lengths away, she could make out the still-burning Profit. She could also see the two pirates peering into the water, searching for her.
Anything was better than dying. She waved frantically and tried to call to them but all she got was a mouthful of deadly seawater.
She started to swim back to the pirates and whatever it was they had in mind for her when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a dark object separate from the sea. Had one of the giant killer sea eels found her? She was going to be ripped to bloody pieces, she was going to…
She swirled around to face this new horror. Not an eel, not a shark. An impossible distance away, land jutted out of the sea. Impossible or not, it was that or the pirates.
At first, she swam frantically until tiredness finally forced her to fall back into a steady, economical pace. Like all Fisherfolk, Ja'Nil had learned to swim almost before she could walk, but she hadn't been in water higher than her knees in almost four years. Still, the skill was coming back to her now. As long as she didn't run into one of the larger and more unfriendly sea creatures, she would probably make it.
She swam doggedly, too tired to lift her head and check the distance. Gradually she began to hear the pounding of waves hitting the beach.
Keep going, just a few more strokes and you'll be safe.
And then, Oh Lord of the Circle, something bumped into her. She practically levitated and hit out at it. She was too close to safety to die now. Flailing at the unseen sea monster, her hand caught on cloth.
Cloth? Then the sea creature moaned. One of the pirates? That was as bad as a sea monster.
"Ja'Nil," said a voice.
"Aunt M'eer?"
"Help me," her aunt groaned.
"You're not dead."
She wasn't alone! All she had to do was get Aunt M'eer safely to land. Then her aunt would take over, which was fine with her.
She put her arm around her aunt and began towing her. Within minutes, the waves caught them and tossed them onto the rocky beach. Then, as if it were having second thoughts, the sea tried to take them back.
Ja'Nil grabbed her aunt under her armpits and pulled her above the tide line. Finally, with her aunt safely beached, Ja'Nil dropped to her knees, head hanging down like a whipped-haired conga, trying to get her breath back. Her throat ached from all the seawater she had swallowed.
Her arms trembled so violently that, finally, she just lowered her entire body down onto the sand. Faintly, as though far away, she heard her aunt moan, then the unmistakable sound of vomiting.
She should get up and help her. Ja'Nil tiredly raised her head. Aunt M'eer was only an arm's length away, but right this minute, Ja'Nil couldn't have traveled that distance if her life depended on it.
There were more moans, then finally, silence.
A fair wind was blowing in from the sea, washing over their wet bodies, Ja'Nil, mostly asleep, shivered, but was unable to pull herself back to consciousness.
CHAPTER 4
First Sun was glaring down on her when Ja'Nil finally dragged herself back to wakefulness. Several rocks the size of her fist dug into her back. Even without moving she could feel aching muscles and sharp pains.
As she lay quietly, afraid to move and make things worse, she became aware that someone was staring at her. Oh, Lord, not one of the pirates. Cautiously, she opened one eye and found herself eye to beady eye with a large pink seagull. It was standing on her chest, inches from her face.
"Get off," she croaked.
He was not intimidated. Groaning, she shoved herself into a sitting position, knocking him off his perch. With an angry squawk, the bird hopped away from her, but did not fly off. It gave a little all-over shake, neatly resettled its pink feathers, and turned its attention to the other motionless bundle.
Ja'Nil had sat up too quickly. Her head ached. Her hair was stiff from the sea water, and when she tried to moisten her lips, she tasted sand. Ugh! But she was finally awake enough to look around. They had washed up on a deserted beach. All she saw were sand hills, a few scrub plants and burning sands. The glare hurt her eyes.
Just two feet away, her aunt was curled up in a small ball. This was the woman who had terrified Ja'Nil for years, and she was so tiny!
Her aunt moaned, startling the seagull into spreading its wings and taking off.
Ja'Nil staggered to her feet. Every part of her body ached. Though only fourteen years old, she felt like ninety.
"Aunt M'eer, are you awake?"
A moan was her only answer. Ja'Nil put her hand on her aunt's arm, then jerked it back. Aunt M'eer was burning up.
"Aunt M'eer, are you all right?" What a dumb question. Of course, she wasn't all right; she was desperately sick.
Ja'Nil looked around. Plenty of water, but nothing to drink. Well at least she could cool her aunt down. Taking off her brown homespun tunic, wearing only a thin cotton undershirt and leggings, Ja'Nil walked down to the water's edge and swished the tunic in the shallow water. Partially wringing it out, used the wet cloth to wipe her aunt's feverish face, and try to get the sand off her.
The lance no longer protruded from her aunt's shoulder but the wound still seeped blood. Ja'Nil tore a strip of cloth from her wet tunic and fashioned a makeshift bandage. All the while Aunt M'eer moaned at the pain Ja'Nil's clumsiness was causing her.
"Water," said her aunt.
"I don't have anything to drink, Aunt M'eer."
"Water," insisted the barely conscious woman.
Oh, God of the Circle, what if her aunt died? How would she get home? She didn't even know in what direction home was. And what would she do with her aunt's body? You couldn
't just leave a body where it died, could you? She shot a quick look at her aunt. She was so still, so quiet. Was she already dead? An equal measure of panic and shame filled her chest, rising to her throat, choking her.
All of a sudden the little hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Very slowly, Ja'Nil turned around.
About two dozen ship lengths away stood a tall, heavyset man. He was standing next to a horse-drawn wagon. The horse was huge. Back at home, all the horses were puny. Aside from its size, it looked like a regular horse with the usual black and brown stripes and a black mane and tail.
More amazing than the horse was the man. Even at this distance, she could tell he was a Cloud Person.
As soon as he realized she saw him, he started towards her. He stood at least two measures taller than she was. His hair was pure white and worn in two thick plaits, which contrasted with his pale green skin.
The Cloud man wore a slouchy black hat and dusty black trousers that were tucked into short boots. His shirt was a dirty white color with billowy sleeves rolled back from his wrists, showing thick sunburned forearms. As he got closer Ja'Nil saw his nose was sunburned and peeling, she could sympathize with that. The tips of her pointed ears frequently burned, especially when she didn't wear a hat.
He looked stronger than any two of the pirates put together. Ja'Nil just hoped he was friendlier.
When he was a ship's length away, Ja'Nil raised her hand, half as a stop signal, half as a greeting.
The man immediately stopped where he was. That was a good sign, wasn't it?
"Hello," said Ja'Nil.
The man nodded to her. They stayed that way, just staring at each other. His eyes were narrowed against the morning sun, but Ja'Nil could see they were pitch-black. Clouders were supposed to have long necks, but this man's was simply thick. Finally, he said, "You're an Earther."
Ja'Nil nodded. "Yes."
"I ain't never seen a girl Earther before," said the man.
"Ah-huh. Do you have any water?"
"Yeah, back in my wagon. Ya want some?"
"My aunt," said Ja'Nil, turning and pointing to where her maybe-dead aunt lay.
"I din' even see her," said the man. He went over to her aunt, knelt down next to her and put his large hand on Aunt M'eer's bare arm, "She's hotter'n a cheap slot."
"Slot?" asked Ja'Nil. To her surprise, the man's face turned bright green. Just then, Aunt M'eer gave a pitiful moan-sob. "She needs water," said Ja'Nil.
"She needs more than that." He put his arms under Aunt M'eer's motionless body and stood up with her. "Come on," he said, and started off with Aunt M'eer curled up in his arms. Ja'Nil trotted alongside.
When they reached the wagon, the giant horse turned his head, stared at the three humans, sighed deeply, and turned away again. The Clouder man carefully lowered Aunt M'eer into the back of the wagon.
"Do you know where to find a healer?"
"Inn keeper'd knowed."
"How far is the inn?" Ja'Nil looked around her. Aside from the rough looking road, she could see nothing manmade for miles around.
"I'll take youse."
"Thank you." Ja'Nil beamed at him. He blushed again. He was holding a large stone bottle to Aunt M'eer's lips. A little water slopped out onto her face.
Ja'Nil licked her dry lips.
The water on her face seemed to revive Aunt M'eer. She opened her mouth to drink and tried to speak at the same time. The combination sent her into a coughing fit while the precious fluid poured down her chin and neck. The man thumped her on her back with his huge hands.
"Maybe I should try," suggested Ja'Nil.
"Yeah. Go ahead." He let go of Aunt M'eer to step out of the way. Aunt M'eer's head immediately dropped back onto the wooden wagon with a thump.
Ja'Nil winced in sympathy. She managed to get a few mouthfuls of water down her aunt's throat before her aunt turned her head away with a fretful whimper. There was no cover over the wagon, so her aunt had to endure the sun's full glare.
"Is it all right if I have a drink?" Ja'Nil asked.
"Yeah, sure."
Nothing had ever tasted so good. Ja'Nil held the water in her mouth and swished it around so the dried membranes in her mouth could bathe themselves in the life-giving fluid. She let it trickle down her parched throat. Finally, reluctantly, she handed the bottle back to the man.
He watched her very intently. His hands were shaking. When he saw she was looking at him he turned away.
"My name's Ja'Nil," she said. He just nodded, "What's your name?"
He kept his head down. His hands were shaking so much he was having trouble putting the stopper back in the bottle. Finally, he mumbled something.
"What?"
"T'eem," he said. "My name is T'eem."
"That's a nice name."
Was it possible for him to blush any greener?
"Comes on," he mumbled and started around to the front of the wagon. Ja'Nil checked to make sure her aunt was firmly in the wagon. She took her damp tunic and spread it over her aunt's face to shield her from the burning sun. Then she climbed onto the wagon seat next to T'eem.
***
Despite the fact that she had never traveled farther than the neighboring village, and had never seen a real Inn, Ja'Nil was not impressed when they finally reached it.
"The No Where Inn?" she asked T'eem after reading the name on a large, faded, and cracked sign.
T'eem shrugged. "Innkeeper says you call it the No Where, then when they asks where you bin, ya just says, 'No wheres.'"
The Inn was a two-story structure with dormer windows poking out of the ratty looking roof. The building itself, aside from its peaked roof, was square and ugly, as if someone had taken an old box, set it down alongside a bumpy trail, cut out windows and doors and just walked away. It was made of dun-colored crumbly bricks. Big cracks ran up the walls and the whole thing listed to one side.
T'eem stopped the wagon in front of the Inn. Almost immediately, the front door was flung open and a bustling fat woman charged out, already talking as fast as a macking gumpo.
"What ya doing at the front door, T'eem? Ya not to use the front door. Go around to the loading dock, likes usual."
There was minuscule break in her full-blast monologue as she spotted Ja'Nil. "What ya gots there,T'eem? She here to work? Looks too skinny to be much use. We don't takes in anyone what applies," she told Ja'Nil."Ya got to have references."
T'eem snorted.
"Ya say something T'eem?"
The big Cloud man hung his head and mumbled," No ma'am."
The woman, who was a Cloud Person like T'eem, glared at him then shifted her gaze back to Ja'Nil.
"Well speak up, girl. Where'd ya work before?"
"I'm not here for a job," said Ja'Nil. "I need a healer."
The woman reacted as if Ja'Nil had attacked her.
"Ya sick! I ain't hiring no sick person. What's a matter with ya T'eem? Bringing me someone what's dying?"
"It ain't her what needs a healer," mumbled T'eem.
"She's not dying," said Ja'Nil, jumping down from the seat and going around to the back of the wagon. "And she's not really sick. She has a wound which is why she has a fever."
"A fever!" the woman screeched.
Apparently drawn by the woman's screeching, a short, very fat man came waddling around the corner. He was an Earther like her, Ja'Nil saw with relief. Perhaps he knew her village.
"What in the Seven Hells is a going on here?"
"It's T'eem," said the woman. "Look what he's brought to our doorway. Sickness, it is. Sickness."
Ja'Nil looked at the woman in amazement. She was carrying on as if a caravan of plague carriers was demanding entrance instead of one injured woman.
The man turned sharp eyes on Ja'Nil. "She don't look sick to me. His voice was high and scratchy, as if he needed to clear his throat. It made Ja'Nil clear her own throat.
"What's ya up to now, T'eem?""Ahh," said T'eem. His hands were trembling so badly the reins a
ctually shook, making the horse shift nervously, and show a lot of white around his eyes.
The innkeeper grinned at T'eem's nervousness. Ja'Nil, who was beginning to worry about her obsession with teeth, noticed that unlike the pirates, the innkeeper had all his teeth, but they were brown and stubby looking.
"Ya brung me a present, T'eem?" asked the man. His fat tan face was none too clean and he had a lot of nose hair.
T'eem shook his head, but seemed unable to utter a word.
The cloud woman slapped the Earther man on his head. "Behave yourself, ya old fool.
She's too skinny to be any use and she brung sickness."
"I'm not sick," Ja'Nil broke in. "It's my aunt who's injured and needs a healer. Is there one here?"
"Where'd ya pick'em up, T'eem?"
The big man was blushing so much that Ja'Nil was afraid he would melt. He refused to meet anyone's eyes, just kept his head down staring at his boots.
"There were pirates," she finally said to the innkeeper. "My aunt was wounded. She needs help." Ja'Nil pointed to the back of the wagon.
The man waddled around to the back of the cart. He threw back the tunic Ja'Nil had used to shield her aunt from the sun and peered down suspiciously at the barely conscious woman. He drew back sharply. "She's a-fevering," he said.
"Yes, I know," said Ja'Nil. "Her wound needs—"
The innkeeper shut her off. "Ya brought fever to my inn," he yelled at poor T'eem. "Get them out of here." T'eem just stared dumbly at the innkeeper. "Go on, get, I said."
Ja'Nil put a hand on T'eem's arm to stop him from leaving. "It's not catching."
"How would you know? You a healer?"
"It's from the wound, that's all. Otherwise, she's perfectly healthy."
"She is?" The innkeeper inched closer and peered down at Aunt M'eer's huddled figure.
"Absolutely."
"You got any monies?" he asked.
"Monies?"
"I don't abide beggars."
"I'm not a beggar!" Did Aunt M'eer have any monies on her?
"Lemme see it."
"Ah. My aunt has the - our monies."
The fat innkeeper, moving very fast for such a ponderous person, started searching through the sick woman's poor, bedraggled form. Aunt M'eer moaned and waved a weak hand in a pathetic attempt to keep the man away from her.