The main thing that had struck Ryan on his recovery was that all of their weapons were gone— all of them, including the panga.
“They get all your knives, Jak?” Ryan asked quietly.
The white head shook slowly. “Some,” was the whispered response. “Not all.”
That was something.
“Doc’s Le Mat’s gone, as well,” Krysty said. “And his trusty sword.”
“Why fuck done this to us? All fucking words friendly shit! What’s game?” Jak asked.
A shadow filled the doorway, and the answering voice came from Brother Joshua Wolfe.
“No game. Oh my, not at all a game! We are being careful, young man. I learned from your wonderful and wise Trader that a man who takes a chance that he doesn’t have to take, doesn’t often live long enough to take any further chances. Well, something a lot like that.”
“What’s the danger? If we wanted to cause you trouble, then we could have done that from line one, page one. We had all of the firepower we needed.” Ryan closed his eye at a shaft of pain from his headache. “Like Jak says, all your words were just a load of bullshit.”
“Possible.”
Ryan raised his voice, feeling the red mist of anger swooping over his mind. “Probable!”
The leader of the community wasn’t in the mood to be provoked. He shook his head and smiled. “Patience and forgiveness are great virtues, Brother Ryan.”
“You drugged us and stole our weapons.”
“But of course. Did you believe that it was the fairies and elves of the great trees that had crept in while you slumbered and took your blasters? Goblins and gnomes of the high mountains and the rushiest of glens? No, I rather think not, Brother.”
“Cut the crap.” Ryan got up off the bed, managing to conceal his dizziness. “What about the testing you talked about? That still on?”
Owsley was at Wolfe’s elbow, and he laughed, an unpleasant, abrasive noise, like sandpaper drawn over the edge of a piece of crystal.
“Course it’s on, outlander. That’s just what all of this is about.”
“Drug us and take our weapons? Why not just chill us all?”
Wolfe smiled gently. “That is not the way of Our Lord, the military fundamentalist. We have simply taken precautions. Made sure the testing will go well. And fairly.”
“Fairly?” It was Ryan’s turn to smile cynically. “Not a word I’d link to you, Brother Wolfe.”
“Then you would be wrong, Brother Cawdor. Hopeville is built upon the strong foundation of fairness.”
“Hallelujah, brothers and sisters.” The cry came from the large woman, who clapped her meaty hands together with a noise like distant thunder. Krysty looked across at her, and was surprised at the glance of bitter hatred that she received in return. The woman spit in the dirt to show her contempt.
“We shall all eat at God’s own table,” Wolfe said, lifting his hand to silence the people around him. “A time to remember things past and to look forward to things that are soon to come. Let us go dine.”
JOSIAH STEELE WAS TRYING to explain the purpose of the testing to the six outlanders. Doc was still very unwell, with a scorchingly high temperature, and Mildred had insisted that the old man had to stay warm and snug in his bed, with plenty to drink to fight off the real dangers of dehydration.
“Everyone who comes here has to prove themselves worthy of acceptance to the Children of the Rock. That’s why we all have had to face the testing.”
“What if a woman arrived with half a dozen little children?” Krysty asked.
Steele hesitated. “Guess that the rules can always be bent some.”
“But not for us,” Ryan stated, munching away at a crusty bread roll. “One child doesn’t count.”
“Guess not. Seems there’s too many aces on the line between you and Brother Wolfe.” Steele helped himself from a small iron caldron of thick pork-and-lentil soup. “Too many rivers for you both to cross.”
The food was very good, satisfying to the palate and rich, well flavored, without the oppressive bitterness of the previous evening’s meal. Also, Ryan had watched carefully, taking the precaution of checking that he and the others ate out of the same cooking pots that the members of the Children of the Rock had dined from.