Willow by Wayland Drew Read Free Book Online Page B

Everyone must know. Besides, the High Aldwin will tell us what to do.”
    Kiaya held the baby close. “I’m afraid, Willow.”
    He nodded, embracing them. “Oh Kiaya, so am I. But we can’t just be afraid. We have to fight back. We have to act ! Right, Mims?”
    “Right, Dada.”
    “Ranon?”
    The boy nodded. “We have to look after her,” he said. “And everyone must know.”
    “Let’s go, then.”
    Kiaya found her shawl, and the little family went up their path toward the village, huddling together.
    “When you come back, Dada,” Mims said. “I’ll have lots of pictures for you.”
    “Don’t be silly.” Willow laughed and laid his hand on the child’s head. “I’m not going anywhere. We’re just taking the baby to the High Aldwin, so he can tell us what to do.”
    “Lots of pictures,” Mims said quietly. “I’ll make one for you every day . . .”
    The commons was a shambles. A few people were hurrying through it, avoiding the corpse of the Death Dog, but most were already inside the meeting hall. This was the largest and oldest building in the village, and for special occasions and debates, everyone gathered in its shelter. By the time the Ufgoods arrived, the High Aldwin’s chair had already been carried inside and the old man was sitting with his eyes half-shut, listening to Burglekutt speak.
    Alone among the councillors, Burglekutt had found time to change into official robes, and he stood in his pointed hat and flared gown, a small pyramid. Bits of what he was saying drifted back to Willow: “. . . sighted . . . hills to the south. Who knows how many more? I say . . . find what they’re hunting for! Give it to them! . . . Nelwyns lost their lives!”
    Many in the crowd murmured agreement.
    A second councillor rose. “The dogs are just a sign. A sign of worse to come. Maybe drought. Maybe plague. Who knows? I agree with Prefect Burglekutt. We must find what they want and give it to them. Furthermore, we should throw whoever’s responsible into the pit!”
    More murmurs of assent. At the back of the crowd, Willow cringed, and Kiaya gripped his arm with both hands.
    The High Aldwin rose then and the crowd fell silent. “Willow Ufgood!”
    Willow gulped and raised his hand. “Here!”
    “Come forward!”
    The crowd shuffled, opening a path, and Willow walked through them, carrying the child. Meegosh moved over and joined Kiaya and the children.
    “Earlier,” the High Aldwin said, “you tried to tell me something. What was it, Willow?”
    Willow bowed his head. “My children, sir . . . My family . . . We found this baby on the river.”
    The crowd murmured again, and the High Aldwin raised a hand and silenced them. When he brought it down it came to rest on the head of the child, who was smiling at him. “This is a Daikini child,” he said softly. “But there’s something . . .” His eyes closed.
    “You hear that?” Burglekutt lunged to his feet. “A Daikini! Here in Nelwyn Valley. That’s what the beasts want! Let’s give it back to them!”
    “But you can’t!” Willow exclaimed. “They’ll kill her!”
    Burglekutt’s small eyes gleamed. “You hear that?” he asked the crowd. “Hear this fellow tell us what to do? We have our own children to protect, that’s what I say! What’s a Daikini child more or less? She’s not one of us!”
    “Life is life!” Meegosh shouted above the grumbling of the crowd. “Life is precious!”
    “Burglekutt, don’t talk nonsense!” Vohnkar spoke clearly, his eyes level. His hand rested on the sword which had spilled the guts of the Death Dog.
    But many were frightened enough to support Burglekutt’s suggestion. A few, nodding grim agreement, shook their fists.
    The High Aldwin had entered a trance. One hand still rested on the head of the child, and the other gently folded back her arm to reveal the Sign inside her elbow. He gaped. His eyes rolled back into his head. For a moment it seemed that he might vanish. In fact, he even