The pull got stronger at the river’s edge and I resigned myself to wading. I could go home, trade out jeans, but these were as good or as bad as any other. I walked past a guy sitting hunched into himself and realized why this damn thing seemed to be moving. It had been.
He curled in on himself like he’d been hurt and I took the time to watch him, all while keeping an eye on everything around me. The Big Bloody doesn’t bring tourists, or at least they don’t leave that way, but this guy was so mundane he gave me the willies, hair undyed and shaggy long, white tennis shoes and grey jacket and jeans without enough holes and no adornment. He looked like he stepped out of the past, someone else’s past, someone in Nebraska maybe.
And he was as out of place in Bordertown as a peacock in a salt mine.
“Hey,” he said, and I was so thrown it took me more than a second to realize he was talking to me.
“You’re new in town.”
He narrowed his eyes, “Yeah, I’ve heard that four times now. I’m just passing through.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely new in town.” He frowned at me and I continued. “Passing through to where? Either you came from Outside and are trying to cross the wall in which case, um, no, or you came from the wall, in which case, um no. Not that it’s any of my business anyway, I just…I’m Orient.”
“Sam.”
“Um, yeah, I mean, I’m the Finder.” He blinked at me and gave me a half smile and it had been so long since someone didn’t know who I was by reputation that I couldn’t figure out how to explain it. “I find things.”
“Looks like you found me.”
“Yeah, well I’m not looking for you. I’m looking for God’s Amulet.” I glanced down to hide my own reaction to saying the words. I’d rolled my eyes when I heard them, myself. I don’t have to know what something looks like, I don’t even have to know what it is. I just have to be asked to find it, and thereyougo. Stupid name or not. But when the shiny badges deign to come down hill long enough to ask me to find something, well, there’s a reason I didn’t want to take the time to change pants, okay? I wanted this thing found and done with. And here it was, probably picked up on the road by this guy.
“No,” he said, quiet like. I looked up and realized that the guy may be so normal he made my teeth hurt, but he was a hell of a lot bigger than me, and the look in his eyes wasn’t friendly. In fact, he crackled, and I took a step backward. He stiffened and it looked like he was biting his tongue or something.
“You have it?”
“I’m not giving it up.”
“Okay.” At that he deflated, losing the extra crackle in his eyes. I was good with that. “I’m not gonna take it from you. I just have to find it. Do you mind?” He leaned back, like I was going to grab at him, then tugged a thin leather thong up and out of his shirt. The thing hanging from it was ugly, some little horned blob of brass, but the twist behind my navel went away. “Thanks,” I said, since that cost me nothing.
“So now what?”
I shrugged. “They just said find. I go back, tell them it’s on a tall guy from In the World who was tempting fate and the riverrats by sitting on the bank, and I’m done.”
He nodded and said, “And I’m just passing through.”
Fear not the wind of wasting; Its howling is not for you. It's only the echo now, within The hearts of those just passing through...
Oh, this was lovely. All restraint and weariness, and never-quite-lowered defenses, even when both clearly want to reach out and at very least to understand better what's going on.
It's been a while since I read the books, and I've conflated some of their worldbuilding with something I'm doing on my own, so I had to go in and unpick all those threads before I could post.
Funny, isn't it, how we soak up all these influences and they meld at the edges, like watercolors, so it's hard to pull them back apart again.
He curled in on himself like he’d been hurt and I took the time to watch him, all while keeping an eye on everything around me. The Big Bloody doesn’t bring tourists, or at least they don’t leave that way, but this guy was so mundane he gave me the willies, hair undyed and shaggy long, white tennis shoes and grey jacket and jeans without enough holes and no adornment. He looked like he stepped out of the past, someone else’s past, someone in Nebraska maybe.
And he was as out of place in Bordertown as a peacock in a salt mine.
“Hey,” he said, and I was so thrown it took me more than a second to realize he was talking to me.
“You’re new in town.”
He narrowed his eyes, “Yeah, I’ve heard that four times now. I’m just passing through.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely new in town.” He frowned at me and I continued. “Passing through to where? Either you came from Outside and are trying to cross the wall in which case, um, no, or you came from the wall, in which case, um no. Not that it’s any of my business anyway, I just…I’m Orient.”
“Sam.”
“Um, yeah, I mean, I’m the Finder.” He blinked at me and gave me a half smile and it had been so long since someone didn’t know who I was by reputation that I couldn’t figure out how to explain it. “I find things.”
“Looks like you found me.”
“Yeah, well I’m not looking for you. I’m looking for God’s Amulet.” I glanced down to hide my own reaction to saying the words. I’d rolled my eyes when I heard them, myself. I don’t have to know what something looks like, I don’t even have to know what it is. I just have to be asked to find it, and thereyougo. Stupid name or not. But when the shiny badges deign to come down hill long enough to ask me to find something, well, there’s a reason I didn’t want to take the time to change pants, okay? I wanted this thing found and done with. And here it was, probably picked up on the road by this guy.
“No,” he said, quiet like. I looked up and realized that the guy may be so normal he made my teeth hurt, but he was a hell of a lot bigger than me, and the look in his eyes wasn’t friendly. In fact, he crackled, and I took a step backward. He stiffened and it looked like he was biting his tongue or something.
“You have it?”
“I’m not giving it up.”
“Okay.” At that he deflated, losing the extra crackle in his eyes. I was good with that. “I’m not gonna take it from you. I just have to find it. Do you mind?” He leaned back, like I was going to grab at him, then tugged a thin leather thong up and out of his shirt. The thing hanging from it was ugly, some little horned blob of brass, but the twist behind my navel went away. “Thanks,” I said, since that cost me nothing.
“So now what?”
I shrugged. “They just said find. I go back, tell them it’s on a tall guy from In the World who was tempting fate and the riverrats by sitting on the bank, and I’m done.”
He nodded and said, “And I’m just passing through.”
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Its howling is not for you.
It's only the echo now, within
The hearts of those just passing through...
Oh, this was lovely. All restraint and weariness, and never-quite-lowered defenses, even when both clearly want to reach out and at very least to understand better what's going on.
Nicely done!
Reply
It's been a while since I read the books, and I've conflated some of their worldbuilding with something I'm doing on my own, so I had to go in and unpick all those threads before I could post.
Funny, isn't it, how we soak up all these influences and they meld at the edges, like watercolors, so it's hard to pull them back apart again.
Reply
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