Kiteman of Karanga by Alfred Reynolds Read Free Book Online Page B

exactly where he had left it. Soon they were back in the village, and he was setting up in front of Athgar and an audience of amazed shepherds. The morning sunlight blazed on the bright orange and yellow Asti pattern dyed into the wings smooth surface.
    Athgar walked around the kitewing, examining it admiringly. "I no longer doubt your story. But for reasons of my own, I want to see you fly."
    Surprised, Karl looked up and Athgar caught his eye. The older man's strong gaze held him and seemed to tell him many things. To Karl there was some memory of Bron in Athgars look.
    "Karangan," the village leader continued, "I want your promise that you will not use this opportunity to escape."
    For a moment Karl hesitated, but then he nodded his assent. Athgar stepped back, and Karl got into the harness of his kitewing. He walked over to the edge of the steep meadow that fell away from the village. The heated valley air was rising up the slope from far below, and he knew that there would be an abundance of thermals. With a few running steps Karl launched himself and glided down across the meadow, hardly a foot above the grass. Then, pulling up sharply to miss the stone wall at the bottom, he soared out into the mountain air.
    Free! He was free! He would not be tied up or ordered about any longer. It would be a simple matter to circle back to the ridge and pick up his hunting kit, which was still hidden in the bushes. Then he would push far, far to the west until he had left this land of shepherds and lizard riders behind.
    As he found a thermal and began riding it higher and higher, Karl remembered his promise to Athgar not to escape. But he had been a captive, he reminded himself, and a promise made under those circumstances wasn't a real promise. Athgar might decide to take his wing and turn him over to the Hrithdon anyway in order to save fifty sheep from the village tax. But as Karl remembered the look that Athgar had given him, he realized that perhaps he was being put to a test, that if he broke his word and flew away, he might not fare so well. And something in Athgar's gaze had reminded Karl of Bron. Like Bron, Athgar was giving Karl a chance to prove himself. Karl decided to return. He did not know what Athgar was going to do, but he was willing to take a chance and find out.
    Reaching the top of the thermal, Karl rolled off into a steep spiral, which he then straightened out into a dive. A few hundred feet below, the villagers watched him intently. Picking up speed, Karl pulled his wing up into a loop. As he came out of it, pointing at the ground again, he could see the astonished expressions below. He dove straight at the crowd and swooped over their heads. Then he pulled up and around and floated back slowly to land a few feet from where he had taken off.
    To Karl's surprise the noisy shepherds were quiet as he got out of his wing, and their leader's stern expression seemed to have softened.
    "Kiteman, you have spoken truthfully to us, and now we must deal fairly with you. For a wanderer in need to kill a lamb is not a great offense. Yet, for reasons you will learn of, we are a poor people, and the loss of the lamb must be made up to its owner." Athgar turned to the grandfather. "Gardo, how long would you want the Karangan to work for you to repay the loss of the lamb?"
    "Three months," said the grandfather. "From now until the end of summer."
    "Grandfather! That's much too long," Rika protested.
    "No it isn't," her grandfather answered. "That was a prize lamb."
    Karl watched Rika suck in her breath, her eyes widening with exasperation. He guessed that she didn't want to call her grandfather a liar publicly.
    "Three months does seem severe, Gardo," said Athgar. "However, Eftian law gives you the right to decide. Is that your final decision?"
    The old man nodded. "Till the end of summer," he said stubbornly.
    Athgar waited silently for a few minutes, as if giving Gardo time to reconsider. Finally he turned to Karl. "Karangan,