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.A conservative type, he stuck with the trade in general goods that he'd inherited.This involved taking cargoes of spices, salt, spirits, and housewares up the canal to inland parts like Shesh and the Trov Valley, then returning to the great city with tea, yeast, dried herbs, and country textiles."We need him, honorable master," said Riro, hands twisting a length of rope."I know," Gev said with a shrug."I know, Delp is strong, but."Useless was a word Gevuv avoided, since he had paid fifteen pieces for Delp at the slave market.Huppy had always complained about it, but Huppy was dead, crushed by a lock gate when he slid off the side of the boat at the wrong moment.Huppy was one of those unfortunates who couldn't stay away from the spirits of alcohol.Riro didn't miss Huppy.The new fellow, with the unusual name of Thru, was indeed useful.Very good with his hands, he was, and had soon repaired all the boat's ropes and lines.Also he sewed up some rents in the canvas covers that went over the open ends when it rained.Gevuv was pleased, for it was the month of Ribrack and soon there'd be ice on the canal.So Gevuv forbore to ask any difficult questions.This Thru must be a runaway slave, perhaps running to avoid castration.Gevuv would take care of all these matters at a more appropriate time.Thru also improved the diet of the Euchre owner when he turned his hand to catching fish in the canal.Big bream and carp began to appear regularly on the dinner table, and Gevuv loved that.It saved more silver and was a break from oats and beans.Thru even took over the cooking, which was a vast improvement on Delp's efforts.In just a week of moving through the crowded valleys, Thru became a favorite of Gevuv, who even indulged the new slave in a few coins to buy some warmer clothes, a thick homespun shirt, and an oilskin coat and hat.Together with Riro, Thru worked the horse, a stout, uncomplaining animal called Deji (barley bread).Deji was not difficult at all.Nor were the other tasks of managing the boat.The only hard work was maneuvering through tunnels and locks.But in the smallest, oldest tunnels there was often no tow path, and they had to work the boat through by pushing with their feet on the ceiling of the tunnel above.Delp was good at this, of course, though he was hopeless at everything else.Riro sometimes joked that Deji was smarter than Delp.Certainly Delp could not be trusted to lead Deji, who would always find a way to slow down and eventually come to a halt if Delp was leading him.Thru slept in Huppy's old bunk and used the communal razor and strop to keep his face and neck free of fur.Indeed he increased the area he shaved and made sure to do this when he wasn't being observed.Taking over as cook also put Thru at the center of things.He began to copy the hard regional accent he heard from Riro and did his best to learn things without seeming to ask too many questions.He understood that, at least for now, he was cut off from his companions, essentially alone in an alien land.Fortunately, Delp and Gevuv were incurious, to say the least.Riro though, missed very little.This became apparent one day, after a meal of Thru's roast fish with corn bread and sour vegetables.Thru had discovered that cornmeal behaved very much like bushpod meal and could be used in all the same ways.Riro was helping clean up after the meal while Delp went ashore to buy the master a pitcher of ale from a nearby tavern.They'd washed everything and were drying the pans before hanging them back over the little stove.Suddenly Riro turned to him."So, tell me, were you cursed by a witch or something? Is that why you're covered in hair? Or are you a werewolf?"Thru almost dropped the ladle he was drying.So much for thinking that he'd fooled young Riro."No," he said.There was no point in denying it."I wasn't cursed.What is a werewolf?""Oh, you don't know? They are terrible things: men who turn into wolves and eat their neighbors.Everyone is afraid of them."Thru had never heard of such a thing, but he kept his disbelief to himself."No, I am not a werewolf.""Then, where did you grow the fur?""I've just always had it." Thru struggled to explain.How could he tell the youngster that all mots and brilbies were covered in fur? And how could he tell him that the bare skin of humans was a little disgusting to a mot?Riro's face showed that he was trying to absorb this odd information."I have never heard of that before.Are you sure you're not a werewolf? They are said to be covered in fur.But they are also said to have red eyes, offensive breath, and long claws.""Indeed."Clearly, Thru did not fit the bill exactly."Still, your accent is strange, and you say little of where you come from.You're not a Shashti, that's for sure [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]