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.Soon, all ten were standing beside Luiz, and she pushed foward through the crowd.Luiz recognized her at once."Menina Khan—""Luiz, who is the youngest of these?"Before he could answer she had picked out the girl for herself: Lea, who was no more than about fourteen.She went over to her."Lea, go back to your mother.I will go instead."Unsurprised and uncomplaining, the girl walked mutely away.Luiz stared at Elizabeth for a moment, then shrugged.They did not have long to wait, In a few minutes three men appeared, each riding a horse and each leading another.All six horses were laden with packages, and without ceremony the three riders dismounted and unloaded the materials they had brought.Luiz watched keenly.Elizabeth heard one of the men say to him: "We'll be back in two days with the rest.Do you want the work done on the church?"No.we do not need that.""As you wish.Do you want to change any of the terms of the barter?""No.We are satisfied.""Good." The man turned and faced the rest of the people who were watching the transaction.He spoke to them as he had spoken to Luiz, in their own language, but with a heavy accent."We have tried to be men of good will and good word.Some of you may not be in favour of the terms we have proposed, but we ask your understanding.The women you have loaned to us will be cared for and will not be treated badly in any way.Their health and happiness is in our interests as much as yours.We shall see that they return to you as soon as possible.Thank you."The ceremony, for what it was, was over.The men offered the horses to the women to ride.Two of the girls climbed on to one horse, and five more took a horse each.Elizabeth and the two others elected to walk, and soon the small party left the village, walking the horses up the dried-up river bed to the wide scrubland beyond.6Throughout the journey Elizabeth maintained the same silence as the other girls.As far as possible she was trying to remain anonymous.The three men spoke to each other in English, assuming that none of the girls would be able to understand them.At first, Elizabeth was listening intently, hoping to learn something of interest, but to her disappointment discovered that most of what the men said was concerned with complaints about the heat, the lack of shade, and how long the journey would take.Their concern for the women seemed genuine enough, and they made repeated enquiries about their condition.Speaking occasionally to the other girls in their own language, Elizabeth discovered their preoccupations were much the same: they were hot, thirsty, tired, anxious that the journey be completed.Every hour or so they took a brief rest, and took it in turns to ride on the horses.None of the men rode for any of the way, and in time Elizabeth began to sympathize with their complaints.If their destination was, as Helward had said, twentyfive miles away, it was a long walk on a hot day.Later in the day, perhaps inhibitions had become relaxed by tiredness, or the general lack of reaction from any of their companions had re-affirmed their lack of understanding of the language, but the men somehow turned the topic of conversation to less immediate concerns.It started with grumbles about the unrelenting heat, but shifted to another topic almost at once."Do you think all this is still necessary?""The barters?""Yes.I mean, it's caused trouble in the past.""There's no other way.""It's too damned hot.""What would you do instead?""I don't know.Not my decision.If I had my way I wouldn't be out here now.""It still makes sense to me.The last lot haven't moved out yet, and there's no sign of them doing so.Maybe we won't have to barter any more.""We will.""You sound as if you don't approve.""Frankly, I don't.Sometimes I think the whole system's crazy.""You've been listening to the Terminators.""Maybe I have.If you listen to them they make a bit of sense.Not completely, but they're not as bad as the Navigators make out.""You're out of your mind.""O.K.Who wouldn't be in this heat?""You'd better not repeat that in the city.""Why not? Enough people are saying it already.""Not guildsmen.You've been down past.You know what's what.""I'm just being realistic.You've got to listen to people's opinions.There are more people in the city who want to stop than there are guildsmen.That's all.""Shut up, Norris," said the man who had so far not spoken, the one who had addressed the crowd.They continued on their way [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]