Leaving the night markets was harder than arriving had been, as the back tunnel was now full of people. They were streaming out of the Great Hall, talking excitedly.
‘He’s magnificent. He comes from the old world.’
‘He’s one of the ancient breed. A noble hound. He’s probably the last one left.’
We had to push our way through the crowd to get outside, and once we were there we couldn’t see for the people. I climbed some rocks near the entrance to get a view.
Shadow was sitting on the track and he was surrounded. His head was low and he was glancing uneasily from side to side. He had a hunched look, as if he was trying to make himself small so he wouldn’t be noticed. When he saw Siltboy making his way through the crowd, he stood up and welcomed him. People screamed and leapt back, and the great booming sound of Shadow’s bark echoed through the tunnel. The sight of the huge dog towering above was too much for one man, who fainted and had to be carried off.
‘Keep away!’ someone shouted. ‘Don’t crowd the hound!’
Siltboy pushed his way to the front and Shadow wagged his tail, sweeping the people behind him off their feet.
Some boys climbed up on the rocks beside me. ‘He’s a Great Hound,’ one of them said. ‘He’s like the dogs we saw in the Undercavern, remember?’
‘How could I forget!’ another boy answered. ‘That storytelling was incredible. I was so scared I had to keep reminding myself it wasn’t real.’
A man who had put himself in charge of the crowd began giving directions. ‘Place your gifts at his feet. Keep your heads low, and don’t touch him.’
People edged forward, cautiously putting packages in front of Shadow, who sniffed the parcels then tossed each one into the air and gulped it down without opening the wrapping. When he had devoured all the offerings, he shook his great head. His ears flapped, and a few long hairs fell to the ground, where they were immediately picked up by people who dashed forward then disappeared back into the crowd.
Somewhere in the throng I heard the voice of the woman who sold sayings. ‘Our hands are empty but our hearts are full!’
‘His presence is a gift,’ someone else said.
‘Amazing! The world is full of wonders!’
I knew that voice. I couldn’t ever forget it.
A tall man stood at the front of the crowd, staring up at Shadow. His hair was long and fair, and he’d spoken in the western tongue. It was the stranger. And next to him was . . .
‘Marlie!’ My heart leapt in me.
She turned in surprise. ‘Peat?’
I was on the ground in an instant, pushing and shoving my way towards my sister.
‘Wait your turn,’ people grumbled.
‘Marlie!’ I yelled, and I heard her yelling back, ‘Peat, is that you?’
I squeezed through a solid wall of people until I was next to her.
‘Peat, it’s you! It’s really you!’
I hugged Marlie so tight that I must have squeezed the breath out of her, because when she tried to speak, the words were small and crushed.
‘Oh, Peat. I was so worried about you.’
‘And I was worried about you!’ I looked up and her tears splashed onto my face. ‘Did Alban Bane take you, Marlie? How did you get away?’
She stepped back and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.
‘It’s a long story,’ she said. ‘Peat, I didn’t expect to see you ever again.’
She cupped my face in her hands, and now I was crying, too. ‘I went to the marshes,’ I sobbed. ‘I got caught in the snare of a marsh auntie. Oh, Marlie, it’s so good to see you. I can hardly believe it. What are you doing here?’
‘You remember the traveller, Peat? He came back. He wanted to help.’
I looked over Marlie’s shoulder. The stranger was right there, standing behind her. His hair was longer now, and his eyes were as clear as ever.
‘You did help!’ I cried. He gave a quiet smile and looked as if he was about to say something when Siltboy pushed in front of us.
‘Peat, what ails you?’ he cried. ‘Why do you keen? Where is the trouble?’
The stranger raised his eyebrows and stepped back.
‘No trouble,’ was all I could manage to say.
Siltboy turned to the stranger. ‘Untie your tongue,’ he demanded. ‘State yourself!’
‘I’m Longreach,’ the stranger said softly.
‘Friend or foe?’ Siltboy demanded.
‘Friend!’ the stranger replied, and he laughed his high, windy laugh. He held out his hand and Siltboy took it. ‘What a grip!’ he exclaimed. ‘What’s your name?’
‘Siltboy.’
‘I have travelled the wide world, but I have never met anyone like you before.’
Siltboy nodded. ‘I is rare,’ he said. ‘And so is my hound.’
‘The Great Hound is yours?’
‘He is mine, and I am his.’
‘Wonders never cease,’ breathed Longreach. ‘Tell me, my curious young man, how did you come by that thread around your neck?’
Siltboy pointed to me. ‘A gift from my friend.’
Longreach scratched his head. ‘I gave that thread to a marsh auntie who saved my life.’
‘You gave the thread to Eadie, and she gave it to me,’ I told him.
‘You know Eadie?’
‘I was her apprentice.’
Longreach turned to Marlie. ‘Eadie is a healer who can work a marvel,’ he said. ‘She cured me when I was at death’s door. I am so grateful to her. Sometimes the world is smaller than you think!’
Marlie was looking from one face to the next as if it was all too much for her to take in. She hugged me again. ‘Wim will be so relieved to see you,’ she cried.
‘Wim is here?’
‘Yes. She’s minding the cows on the slopes beyond Outer Hub, at a place called the Plains.’
So the fortune teller hadn’t been talking about Eadie – she’d been talking about Wim! And the cattle were here as well!
‘We’re herders now,’ Marlie said. ‘We’re taking the cows to the high pastures in the mountains beyond Hub – and now that we’ve found you, we can all go together!’
‘Stay away!’ yelled the man in charge to some boys who’d gone too close.
Shadow yawned, displaying the roof of his mouth, purple and ridged. There were cries of alarm and the crowd drew back. Shadow licked his chops and lay down, resting his head on his paws.
‘Marlie, what happened to you? How did you get away from Alban?’
‘It was hard.’ Marlie let go of me. She seemed to be searching for the words. When Longreach took her hand, she smiled through her tears. ‘But I’m now safe, and you are, too.’
The thought went through my head that I wasn’t actually safe, and that I wouldn’t be until I had delivered the flower to Eadie.
‘So much has happened, Peat,’ Marlie told me. ‘There was sickness in Skerrick. Many people died.’
‘I went back for you girls,’ Longreach said. ‘I wanted to ask you if you would come with me. When I returned to your country, I found that things had changed. Alban Bane had sickened and died. The settlement was in ruins, almost abandoned. There weren’t many people left.’
‘It was the catching disease. Those who had worked with the cattle were safe, so I was all right. And Wim was as well.’ Marlie shook her head. ‘You’ve changed, Peat. You’re taller.’
‘You look different, too. You’re not thin anymore.’
Marlie’s long hair was tied up in plaits and she looked grown-up. She was wearing a dress made of cloth that changed colour in the light – some of it was green and some was blue. She had a bag over her shoulder like the one I had carried the night I left the Overhang, the stranger’s bag. And she was wearing soft leather boots.
‘You’ve still got the cow charm!’ she cried.
‘Your most precious thing. If it wasn’t for this charm, I might not be here.’ I slipped off the cow charm and put it over Marlie’s head. ‘Thank you, Marlie. I always hoped I could give it back.’
Just then, someone in the crowd behind us cried out, and we were jostled forward. ‘Ouch! It bit me!’
‘Ah! Me, too!’
‘Well, will you look at that!’ Longreach exclaimed as the sleek padded into the open space before Shadow. ‘This truly is a day full of wonders. I have heard of such creatures, but I’ve never seen one. I believe it’s a firetail swamp rat.’
The sleek had a large biscuit in his mouth, and his ears were flat against his head. How he had managed to get through the mob without being trampled I didn’t know, but I had seen him in worse moods. He sat down and crunched the biscuit, then he stood upright on his hind legs and scanned the crowd, his sharp gaze moving from face to face until it landed on mine. He gave a hiss and sprang through the air, landing on my chest. Marlie jumped back.
‘Don’t be frightened,’ I said. ‘He’s a friend, although sometimes you wouldn’t know it. He’s also our guide, and he’s impatient to get away.’
‘Away? Away where?’
‘Marlie. I have to go.’
‘Go? We’ve only just found each other.’
I took the flower out of Siltboy’s bag. The leaves were drying, and some of the petals were crushed and broken. The stem was squashed in three places.
‘It’s hard to explain, Marlie. But I have to deliver this flower.’
‘To the marsh auntie?’ Longreach asked.
‘Yes. How did you know?’
‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘It’s just that I last saw a flower like that in Eadie’s hut.’
‘I don’t understand . . .’ Marlie began.
‘I’ve got a long story, too,’ I said. ‘I’ll tell you as soon as I get back. Will you wait for me? Can I meet you on the Plains?’
Marlie reached into her bag and handed me a cheese. ‘I was bringing this for the Great Hound, but I’ll give it to you instead,’ she said sadly. ‘Oh, Peat, do you really have to go?’
Siltboy took Marlie’s hand.
‘Sister of Peat,’ he said. ‘We is not true free. If we was free, Peat would go the cow way with her kith and kin.’ He looked down and kicked the dirt at his feet. ‘And I would stay here in the Wheel-of-the-World. I could work with that man-of-metal and wield the hammer better than them weed boys.’
Shadow sighed and lifted his head. ‘Stand, Shadow!’ Siltboy said. The Great Hound rose to his feet and there were cries of awe from the crowd.
I hugged Marlie goodbye, although it hurt my heart to do so. ‘I’ll see you soon,’ I told her. Then I hugged Longreach as well, because he felt like my family.
When I began walking towards Shadow, whispers ran through the crowd.
‘It’s her. It’s the story waif!’
‘We’re in for another telling.’
‘Quick, let’s get to the Undercavern. Let’s get good seats.’
A few people began hurrying back through the tunnel entrance. Others sat down, as if they expected me to begin a story immediately. For some reason, Shadow raised his hackles. He sniffed the air and whined. The sleek, too, was uneasy. He ran to Shadow and scrambled up his leg and onto his neck, where he stood with his back arched and his tail flared.
‘It’s all right, Sleek,’ I said. ‘I’m not going to tell any stories.’
I turned to the crowd. ‘There’ll be no telling,’ I said. ‘Not here and not in the Undercavern. We are leaving.’
As I spoke, something in the air changed and a sharp salt breeze blew around my ears. Shadow growled and lowered his head, and Siltboy quickly climbed up his neck, pulling me after him. The breeze grew stronger, and somewhere far away I thought I heard howling. The crowd heard it, too. People turned from us and looked towards the tunnel, because that’s where the sound was coming from.
‘It’s just the wind,’ someone said. ‘A squall coming up from the gorge. It happens at this time of the year.’
Then Longreach was beside us, stretching up and handing me the cow charm.
‘Keep the charm, Peat. Your journey isn’t over yet,’ he said quietly.