The Scorpion God: Three Short Novels by William Golding Read Free Book Online Page B

dirt, there was a still look of calculation on the Liar’s face.
    “Oh yes. Get me out of here and——”
    “Then we’re going? Really going?”
    “We’re going. Now listen——”
    “Kek.”
    “Why does he make that noise?”
    “He’s dying,” said the Liar. “Taking a long time.”
    “How did he break his stick?”
    “I tried to climb out of the pit with it, but it broke. I was standing on his shoulders and he fell down.”
    “I think he’s thirsty.”
    “Of course he is,” said the Liar impatiently. “That’s why he’s dying.”
    “Why didn’t he have any water?”
    “Because I needed it,” shouted the Liar. “Have you any more silly questions? We’re wasting time!”
    “All the same——”
    “Listen. Did anyone see you come here?”
    “No.”
    “Could you bribe people?”
    “The Head Man would find out. He knows everything.”
    “You’re too small to carry a ladder. But you could bring a rope. You could tie it round a rock and let the end down——”
    The Prince jumped to his feet and clapped his hands.
    “Oh yes, yes!”
    “That sister of yours— she wouldn’t have a rope—of all the ignorant, thick-headed, maddening, beautiful—Could you find a rope?”
    The Prince would have danced in his happiness and excitement, had he not been so near the edge of the pit.
    “I’ll find one,” he cried. “I’ll look!”
    “And another thing. You’ve more jewels than you’re wearing.”
    “Of course.”
    “Bring them.”
    “Yes, yes!”
    “A rope. Jewels. After dark. You swear?”
    “I swear! Dear Liar!”
    “Go on, then. It’s my—it’s our only chance.”
    The Prince turned away from the pit and was a few yards down the rock, before he remembered and crouched sideways under cover. But the guard was not lounging by the postern gate. There was nobody in sight at all; and the gate was shut. He decided to pick his way towards the shade of the palms and the flooded fields, then wade through the few inches of water round the side of the Great House to the main gate. But at the edge of the fields he found two naked boys playing with a reed skiff. He told them to take him to the main gate and they did so at once, not speaking, in awe of his bracelets and necklace, his sandals, his Holy Tail and pleated skirt. So he walked through the forecourt and went straight to his rooms; he woke his nurses out of their siesta, and because he was so nearly a god, they found it easy to obey him in his new determination. Jewels he must have, many jewels; and when they dared to ask why, he looked at them and they went. Finally he had the jewels heaped before him; and it was a strangely pleasant task to hang them on himself, till he clattered and tinkled as he moved.
    The rope was another matter. The Great House seemed short on available rope. There were ropes at the wells by the kitchens but they were too long and too hard to get at. There were rope falls and guys to each of the masts that stood, their pennants hanging limp before the main gate. The Prince became a little vague and sat tinkling in a corner to consider what he should do. In the end he saw one thing clearly. He could not find a rope. Those servants he asked, bowed, sidled off and did not come back. He heaved a deep sigh, and began to tremble. If you really needed a rope, there was only one man to ask for it—the man who knew everything. Slowly, and tinkling, he got to his feet.
    *
    The terrace was raised, and the balcony fronted on the swollen river. An awning was spread over it, and the fabric hung dead in the motionless air. Pretty Flower was in the shade of the awning. She sat, staring at the water. She was changed, and reduced. Her long hair had been cut across the forehead and right round lower down so that it did not quite reach her shoulders. Though her head was bound with a fillet of gold from which rose a cobra’s head in gold and topaz, she was thinner in figure and face, and the only make-up she wore was the heavy