“We’d heard that there was fighting to the north of here at Peldane.”
“Those are just ordinary troops, and what they’re fightin’ is an ordinary war with swords an’ axes an’ burnin’ pitch ‘n all. The demons, they all went across the river lookin’ fer fresh ground to tear up an* fresh people to eat. They do it, y’ know—demons, I mean. They eat folks—alive, most the time.”
“I’m afraid we still have to go over there,” Durnik told him.
“I hope yer a good swimmer then. Yer gonna have no luck at all findin’ a boat. Ever’body from here jumped on lythin’ as would float an’ headed downriver t’ward Ganlar. Guess they figgered them wild elephants down there a whole lot preferable to demons.”
“I think you’re getting a bite,” Durnik said politely, pointing at the floating stick on the stumpy man’s line. The stick was submerging and popping back to the surface again.
The fisherman jerked his pole straight up into the air and then swore. “Missed ‘im,” he said.
“You can’t catch them all,” Durnik said philosophically.
“You can sure try, though.” The fellow laughed, pulling in his line and rebaiting his hook with a dripping gobbet of fish roe he took from an earthenware bowl at his side.
“I’d try under the dock, myself,” Durnik advised. “Trout always seem to like shade.”
“That’s the good thing about usin’ fish roe fer bait,” the fisherman said sagely. “They kin smell it, an’ they’ll go fer it even if they gotta climb a fence to get there.” He cast his line out again and absently wiped his hand on the front of his tunic.
“How is it that you stayed behind?” Durnik asked. “I mean, if there’s so much trouble around here, why didn’t you go to Gandahar with the other people who left here?”
“I never lost nothin’ in Gandahar. Them folks is all crazy down there. They spend all their time chasin’ elephants. I mean, what y’ gonna do with a elephant once y’ catch ‘im? An’ the fish down there aren’t worth the bait. Besides, this is the first time I’ve had this dock all to myself in the last five years. Most of the time I can’t even get my line in the water, there’s so many out here.”
“Well,” Durnik said, rising to his feet a little regretfully, “I suppose we’d better push on. We’re going to have to find a boat somewhere.”
“I’d sure advise stayin’ away from the Darshiva side, friend,” the fisherman said seriously. “You’d be better off t’ cut yerself a pole an’ sit right here with me until all the trouble blows over.”
“I certainly wish I could,” Durnik sighed. “Good luck, friend.”
“Just bein’ here with my line in the water is the best luck in the world.” The fellow shrugged, turning his eyes back to the floating stick on his line. “If you go over to the Darshiva side, try not t’ get et by demons.”
“I’ll make a special point of it,” Durnik promised. As Garion and his friend walked back along the rickety dock to where their horses were tethered, Durnik smiled. “They talk differently in this part of the world, don’t they?”
“Yes,” Ganon agreed, remembering the gabby old man and his pig in the wayside tavern above the plains of Voresebo.
“I sort of like it, though,” Durnik admitted. “It’s kind free and relaxed and easy, somehow.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily try to imitate it, though, if I were you,” Garion advised. “Aunt Pol might wash your mouth with soap if you did.”
“Oh,” Durnik smiled, “I don’t think she’d really do that, Garion.”
Garion shrugged. “She’s your wife—and it’s your mouth.”
Belgarath was waiting for them atop the grassy hill rising the village on the riverbank. “Well?” he asked.
“The fish are biting,” Durnik told him seriously.
Belgarath stared at him for a moment, then rolled his eyes heavenward and groaned. “I meant in Darshiva,” he said between clenched teeth.
“I couldn’t really say for sure about that, Belgarath, but they’re biting on this side, it only stands to reason that they’d be biting over there, too, doesn’t it?” Durnik’s face was very sincere, and his tone was earnest. Belgarath turned and stamped away, muttering to himself.
When they rejoined the others, Garion briefly repeated the information he and Durnik had gleaned from the solitary man at the end of the dock.
“That puts a whole new complexion on things, doesn’t it,” Silk said. “Now what?”
“If you don’t mind a suggestion, Ancient One,” Sadi said to Belgarath. “I think we might be wise to follow the people of the villagers Belgarion mentioned and go on river to Gandahar and find a boat there. It might take little longer, but we’ll avoid the demons.”
Toth shook his head. The huge mute’s usually impassive face had a worried frown on it. He made a quick series of those obscure gestures to Durnik.
“He says we don’t have time,” the smith translated.
“Is there some kind of special time when we have to get to Kell?” Silk asked.
Tom gestured again, his big hands moving rapidly.
“He says that Kell has been sealed off from the rest of Dalasia,” Durnik told them. “Cyradis has made arrangements for us to get through, but once she leaves, the other seers will seal it off again.”
“Leaves?” Belgarath said with some surprise. “Where’s she going?”
Durnik looked inquiringly at Toth, and the mute gestured some more.
“Oh,” Durnik said, “I see.” He turned back to Belgarath. “She needs to go to the place of the meeting soon. She has to be there when it happens so that she can make the choice.”
“Couldn’t she just travel with us?” Velvet asked.
Toth shook his head again, and his gestures became more emphatic.
“I’m not sure I got all that,” Durnik confessed. “Tell me if I make any mistakes.” He turned once more. “He says that something’s supposed to happen before we get to Kell, but if it doesn’t, she’ll have to travel alone.”
“Did he say what this something is going to be?” Polgara asked her husband.
“The way I understand it, he doesn’t know, Pol.”
“Does he know where it’s going to happen?” Belgarath asked intently.
Toth spread his hands.
“That young lady’s really beginning to irritate me.” The old man looked at Beldin. “What do you think?”
“I don’t see that we have much choice, Belgarath. If this event’s supposed to happen in Darshiva and we avoid the place, it might not happen at all, and the whole business could hinge on that.”
“All right,” Belgarath said. “We go to Darshiva then. We’ve dodged demons before. The main thing right now is to get across the river before Zakath gets here.”
“We’re going to need a boat,” Durnik said.
“I’ll go see if I can find one,” Beldin said, crouching and spreading his arms.
“You don’t have to be too selective,” Belgarath said. “Anything that floats should do it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Beldin replied and soared away.
PART THREE – DARSHIM
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
It was not really a boat. In point of fact, it was a river barge, and its long, trailing rope gave evidence that it had broken its moorings somewhere upriver and had drifted downstream with the current. It would serve, however. The only real drawback Garion could see was the fact that it was lying in about eight feet of water with its starboard bow staved in.
“What do you think, Belgarath?” Beldin asked.
“A boat that’s already been sunk once doesn’t inspire much confidence,” the old man said.
“How would you like to try swimming? There’s not even a raft for ten miles in either direction.”
Durnik stood squinting down into the cloudy water of the river. “It might be all right,” he said.
“Durnik,” Silk objected, “it’s got a big hole in the front of it.”
“I can fix that—provided it hasn’t been down there long enough to start rotting.” He pulled off his rust-colored tunic and his boots. “Well,” he said, “there’s one way to find out.” He waded out into the river, sank beneath the surface, and swam down to the wreck. He went hand over hand down one side, stopping every few feet to dig at the wood with his knife. After what seemed an eternity, he came up for air.
“Well?” Belgarath called to him.
“That side seems all right,” Durnik replied. “Let me check the other.” He dove down again through the greenish water and went up along the other side. He came up briefly, then went back down to look over the interior of the barge. Then he inspected the gaping hole in the bow. He was breathing hard when he came back up. “It’s sound,” he reported as he came dripping out of the river, “and whatever it ran into didn’t damage anything major. I think I can fix it well enough to get us across the river. We’ll have to unload it first, though.”