Slathbog's Gold - Forman Mark L. Страница 59

Alex looked and saw a woman standing on the far side of the wall. He wondered who she might be and why she was waiting for Tayo. At first he thought he should ask Tayo who the woman was, but then quickly changed his mind.

“Wait here,” commanded Alex.

He turned away from Tayo and walked slowly down the hill to the wall. He felt slightly nervous, remembering the last time he had been this close to the wall. But this time, he felt like he knew what he was doing. This time, he had a different reason for being here.

As Alex approached the wall he could see the woman more clearly. She was tall, with long dark hair that hung loosely around her face. She was pretty, and although she was smiling at Alex, there were tears in her eyes.

“Do you wait for Tayo?” Alex asked the woman when he reached the wall.

“I do,” she answered in a voice that sounded far away.

“Why do you not call to him? Or show some sign?”

“It is not his time,” she said, her eyes leaving Alex and returning to Tayo.

“Then why do you not send him back?”

“Because I long to speak with him again,” she replied in a desperate, longing voice.

“I will speak to him for you—if you will allow me to.”

The woman slowly looked away from Tayo once more, her eyes resting on Alex. Her smile faded and she looked lost and confused.

“You would . . . you would do that for me?” she asked in disbelief.

“For you, and for my friend Tayo, who has waited here for many days.”

The woman smiled, as if Alex had given her more than she had ever dared to hope for. Tears of joy ran down her face as her eyes returned to Tayo.

“Will you tell him that his time is not yet, but that Elsa waits for him,” she said. “Tell him I do not blame him for what happened, or for him not being there when I crossed the wall. Please tell him that he should seek life and happiness while he remains beyond the wall.”

“I will tell him for you, Elsa,” said Alex, bowing to the woman.

“Bless you, friend of Tayo,” replied Elsa, smiling and bowing to Alex.

Without saying anything more, Elsa turned away, walking back into the shadowlands. She vanished from sight before Alex could even look away.

Alex turned away from the wall. He could feel the call of the shadowlands behind him, pulling at him as he walked away, but he did not look back. He slowly climbed up the hill to where Tayo waited. When he reached his friend, he took Tayo’s hand in his own.

“Elsa sends word,” Alex said softly.

Tayo turned to look at Alex for the first time. Tears poured down his rugged face as Alex gave him Elsa’s message.

“I . . . I was away when she died,” said Tayo. “She had been sick, but she was getting better. She said I should go on the adventure, and I foolishly went.”

“There was no way for you to know she would die,” said Alex.

“What kind of man would leave his sick wife to go on an adventure?” asked Tayo.

“You are not to blame for what happened to Elsa.”

“Perhaps not, but I should have been there for her,” Tayo said. “I should have stayed home until I was sure she was well. If I’d been there she might have lived. She might still be in the world of light.”

“Let go,” Alex whispered. “Let go of your anger and doubts. It is the past, and hating the choice you made will not change what happened.”

“I should have stayed,” Tayo murmured.

“Come,” said Alex, taking Tayo by the arm. “You have been here too long, and your friends are worried about you.”

Tayo allowed Alex to turn him away from the shadowlands and lead him down the far side of the hill. Neither of them spoke as they walked, and Alex did not look at Tayo.

The gray lands slowly faded around them and Alex could see the glimmering light of the torches growing brighter.

“Alex?” he heard Bregnest say his name softly, nervous and worried.

Alex opened his eyes and looked into the faces of his friends.

They had gathered around Tayo and himself. Each of them looked worried, even afraid, and Alex understood why.

“Tayo,” Alex called softly. “Tayo, can you hear me?”

“Yes,” answered Tayo in a quiet and tired voice.

“Would you like something to eat?” Alex asked.

“Yes, I am hungry,” Tayo answered weakly, opening his eyes to look around. “I feel as if I haven’t eaten in days.”

“That’s because you haven’t,” said Skeld with a laugh as tears of happiness filled his eyes. “We thought you were going to leave us, now that the dragon is dead and his hoard is ours.”

“What?” Tayo blinked several times. “The dragon is dead?”

Alex leaned close and spoke a few words into Tayo’s ear. Then, leaning back and looking into Tayo’s eyes, he simply said, “Remember.”

For a moment, Tayo looked puzzled, but as the memories flooded back, he burst into tears. The others quickly busied themselves around the chamber, not wanting to embarrass Tayo by seeing his outburst of emotion. As Alex turned to move away, Tayo caught his arm.

“I am forever in your debt,” he said through his tears. “I can never repay your kindness.”

“Your happiness will be payment enough,” replied Alex with a smile, and walked over to see what Thrang was cooking.

* * *

Over the next several days, Tayo’s spirits and health improved greatly. He would laugh and joke with the rest of the company at mealtimes, and would often outdo even Skeld with his joking ways.

“I do not doubt your power, master wizard,” Skeld said to Alex one night. “But are you sure you’ve brought back the right man?”

They all laughed loudly at Skeld’s question, and Alex realized his own sad feelings had melted away with Tayo’s recovery.

Their days were filled with the toil of sorting and dividing treasure, and enjoying the happiness of completing their quest. They had already moved a large amount of the treasure into the first hall above the great hall to be sorted, but there were still mountains of treasure left.

“Let’s all just pick a spot and start filling our bags,” said Skeld one night after a long day of sorting. “It will be winter again before we get through all of this.”

“I never thought I’d hear Skeld say he was tired of counting treasure,” said Tayo, slapping the back of Skeld’s head as he walked behind him.

“Now I amsure you brought back the wrong man,” said Skeld, looking at Alex and laughing hysterically.

Weeks passed and finally they were able to start dividing the treasure into individual piles for each of them. Alex noticed that his pile seemed to be growing quickly and one night at dinner, he asked Bregnest about it.

“Well,” Bregnest began in his businesslike tone, “three shares for being a wizard, two for being a warrior, and one for killing the dragon, of course.”

“But I did not sign on as a wizard or a warrior,” Alex said loudly, but with a smile. “I signed on—as you know very well—as a first-time adventurer.”

“Yes,” Bregnest agreed. “However, I have modified the Bargain to take certain events into consideration. This is my right, as your leader. You would not break the agreement, would you?”

“It is your right,” said Alex, his smile fading. “However, I ask that you not change the agreement. I have gained much more than treasure on this adventure, and feel that I have already been very well paid.”

Bregnest looked stern for a moment, but then he smiled and laughed out loud.

“Very well, as you seem so determined to give your treasure away. Hear what I say concerning the division of this trea-sure.” Bregnest spoke loudly so the entire company could hear him. “That portion of the treasure which has already been divided will remain as it is. From now on we will return to the original agreement, by which young Master Taylor will receive two shares out of twenty.”

Alex smiled, but Bregnest went on.

“Also, I will use my right as leader to insist that anything which cannot be divided equally go into our young friend’s share. Further, I will insist that all rewards from the six remaining lost bags he carries will be his alone. I will insist on this, in spite of his desire to share his treasure with the rest of us. How say you all?”