The Sorcerer's House by Gene Wolfe Read Free Book Online Page B

show she understood.
    "What I wanted to say was that I was careful each time to jump the mushrooms. I don't know why, but I was."
    "Riverman?"
    "Did I see him, you mean? No. It's just a legend, I'm sure."
    Winkle looked dubious, but said no more. We were in the house collecting what I may humorously call my fishing gear when I heard footsteps from the floor above.
    My first thought was that it was absurdly unfair. I had only just begun my training program. I was tired and more than a little winded. And here he was again.
    My second was that I might kill him. The stick I had cut for a fishing pole is about five feet long and, though crooked, quite strong. (Before adopting it for angling, I had attempted to break it over my knee.) I grasped it then and hurried upstairs even while I knit a plan to dispose of the body.
    Seeing him, I did not pause to demand his surrender, but assaulted him straight out, swinging my stick for all I was worth. My third blow knocked him to the floor, and he screamed.
    It stopped me cold, George. I cannot explain why. Or rather, I
can
, but there were so many reasons I despair of explaining them all. Perhaps the primary reason was that I realized, when I heard his scream, that I was victorious. It is only rarely that I have I been victorious in life's battles, George, as you know.
    "Give up?" I was so winded that it was all I could do to get the words out.
    "Yes!"
    "Very well." I stepped back, gasping for breath.
    He sat up. "Who are you?"
    "It seems to me," I said, "that it's I who should be asking you. Answer, and provide some identification, or you will regret it."
    "I'm Emlyn." He was rubbing his bruises.
    "That can't be all."
    "The Good."
    "All right, Emlyn Theegood, prove it." Even as I said that, it occurred to me that he was too young to have a driver's license. Was there some sort of identification that might be expected of a boy?
    "How can I prove it?" There was despair in his eyes, George. I have seen it too often in my own to mistake it in another's.
    "Is there someone who'll vouch for you?"
    He shook his head.
    "What about your father?"
    "If we can find him."
    "I suppose he's at work. What about your mother?"
    His eyes filled with tears, and I did a very foolish thing, George. You need not trouble to tell me you would not have done it. I know it.
    I went to him and laid my hand upon his shoulder.
    Like lightning, he snatched my stick and punched me in the stomach. I bent double, and took three hard blows from my own stick upon my head and shoulders.
    I fell, and he stood over me with my stick raised. "Now you know how it feels."
    Rubbing my head, I sat up. "It wasn't as bad as your kicks last night."
    His eyes grew very wide when I said that, but I ignored it.
    "You've won," I told him. "Doubtless you would like the apparatus you dropped returned to you. You may have it, and need not believe me when I say I would cheerfully have returned it without a fight."
    "The triannulus? Yes, I want it back. My longlight, too."
    Would you have looked wise at that, George? I confess I did not; I felt a fool, and no doubt looked like one. "Is
triannulus
what you call that apparatus? What in the world is a longlight?"
    "I had one when you surprised me. You must have seen it. I--I dropped it and ran. I thought you were Ieuan, and you'd have a sword or a knife."
    "Ieuan?"
    Emlyn nodded. "He's my brother."
    You may imagine, George, how I felt when I heard that. I coughed and stammered a bit. At last I said, "Is your face bruised?"
    "I don't think so. It doesn't hurt."
    "Would you, as a favor to me--I realize that I am in no position to give you orders--stand nearer the window?"
    He nodded slowly and did as I asked.
    "I am a twin," I told him. "My brother's name is George. You need not ask his appearance, because you're seeing me."
    Emlyn laughed. "I saw you took a thumping. That was Ieuan?"
    "I believe so. He beat me, as you see, but I did not go down without a fight. I hit him hard, more than once. He