Page 41 of Circle of Days
“Exactly,” said Yana.
There was a murmur from the crowd. Pia knew why. Birch tar caught fire easily.
Yana said: “Someone brought birch tar here in pots in the middle of the night. They threw the tar on the crops and set fire to them. And you know who they were, don’t you, Troon?”
“Of course. It was the herders.”
“And you know why they did it.”
Pia was mystified. Why would the herders want to do that?
Her mother answered her unspoken question. “They did it because we plowed up the Break.” She raised her voice in anger. “I warned you!” She pointed a finger at his chest. “You have brought this down on our heads. It’s the herders’ revenge.”
Troon said: “I’ll show them revenge.”
Wun’s team came to the end of the seam of flint they had been mining for the past year or so. It was worked out in every direction. Before leaving, Wun and his miners performed an important ceremony. They had violated the ground, digging a big hole and taking away the flints, and now they needed to placate the Earth God.
They began by shoveling back all the chalk they had removed, together with broken antlers and other rubbish, meat bones and wood ash and worn-out shoes. Then they spread earth over the lot, so that the grass could grow again in the spring, and the plain would not be disfigured.
When it was all done, they stood together, holding hands, and solemnly sang a prayer they all knew that thanked the spirit of the pit for what it had given them.
The balance was restored.
Wun and his miners would now move on and dig another pit.
Seft decided to go back to Riverbend. He was thrilled and terrified: thrilled at the prospect of seeing Neen again, terrified that she might no longer love him.
Tem asked to go with him, just to see Riverbend—he had never traveled away from the mining country. Wun kindly gave permission. “Come back and work for me anytime you like,” he said to Seft.
Seft and Tem set off early in the morning on the day after the pit ceremony. During the long walk across the Great Plain, Seft reflected on how much he had achieved since Cog beat him up outside the Monument. He had escaped from his family. He had invented a way of joining pieces of wood without straps. Hehad fought off an attempt to kidnap him, and he had given Olf a wound he would never forget. He had established himself as a useful member of a working team. In Tem he had found a friend, something he had never had before. And he had made his living.
He was ready to face Neen again.
As he and Tem walked they talked amicably, and he ended up telling Tem the whole story of himself and Neen. Tem was fascinated. He had not yet had a love affair. Embarrassingly, he treated Seft as an expert on everything to do with women. When Seft said he was no such thing, Tem thought he was being modest.
Seft liked Tem’s quick mind and cheerful disposition. He found himself regretting that their ways would soon part.
They reached Riverbend in the late afternoon. Summer was coming to an end and the air was cool. As they made their way through the village, Seft was seized by fear. What if he got to the house to find Enwood ensconced there, with a proprietorial arm around Neen? Then all his great achievements would turn to ashes.
Before they got there, they were spotted by eight-year-old Han. “It’s Seft—he’s back!” he yelled delightedly to no one in particular, then he raced away toward his house, repeating the cry. It was a good sign, but Han was not Neen.
By the time Seft and Tem got there, Neen was standing outside the house waiting for him.
One look at her told Seft he need not have worried. A lovely smile spread over her face, the same smile that had gladdened his heart on the day before the Midsummer Rite, when he had found her scraping a hide; a smile that seemed to occupy her whole face from forehead to chin. All his fears had been unfounded.
He stared at her, drinking her in, and slowly walked up to her. She threw her arms around him and kissed him. It was all worth it, he thought, everything; worth it for this. The hug went on for a long time, but neither of them wanted to quit, until at last he heard Ani’s voice saying: “You’d better stop soon so that you can talk to us.”
Seft let Neen go and turned to Ani. “May the Sun God smile on you.”
“And on you, Seft. How wonderful to have you back here with us!” Her welcome was warm but he sensed that she was distracted. She went on: “Perhaps you should introduce your companion.”
“This is Tem, my friend. We’ve been working together at his uncle’s pit.” Then he had to tell the whole story of how he had left Cog and his family and taken refuge with Wun. They all sat on the grass in a ring as he did so, and Neen held his hand, which thrilled him, because it told the world they were a couple.
When he had finished his tale, Ani said: “How marvelous! And dinner will be ready soon.”
Seft said to Neen: “Could we go to that timber circle, just to talk quietly for a while?”
“Of course,” she said, and got to her feet.
