Over and Over

The focus of the scene shifted back to Illumina and Wals. It was beginning to get dark someone asked if they should camp. Illumina shook her head. "No I think we should go among the following in the dark. They are most dangerous acting as group and they will only act as a group if they can all see one thing to act on. I think we should go among them in the dark and allow the word to spread that we have returned and that there are two men not just one."

Felice added with a smile, "And two women, two dogs, two guides, two of practically everything." Illumina looked awkwardly at Nina, the implication that she was the only singular member of the party was hard not to miss. As the dark came over them, they carried on down the road, making their way round the hill coming to the stretch of road that led to the bridge. It was blessedly dark. The smell of death was strong in the air but at least they did not have to look at it. There were still people camped either side of the bridge. Some had fires going. The party passed in and out of the fitful light of the campfires as they went down the road. Some voices cried out a greeting or a warning. Some people came and stood by the edge of the road as they passed, watching them, evidently confused by the sudden appearance of two women, two men, and two dogs.

Illumina was sure some of them recognized her but were unsure of Wals or recognized Wals but were unsure of her. The association between Wals and Illumina on the one hand, and Manueline and Libby on the other evidently confused them, as neither pair was familiar though the individual members seemed so. The people stood in silence with the occasional shouted comment up and down the road but otherwise nothing happened. They passed right through the crowd; they passed over the bridge and through the remains of the carnage beyond it. They traveled on down the road in the dark until they saw the light of a village some way down river below them. The road passed up the bank and for a space ran well above the river. Libby suggested they should stop for the night and see what they could do in the morning to save the village.

They made camp in the dark. Felice, Cosimo and the two guides gathered firewood. Nina and Manueline prepared food. Illumina, Libby and Wals took care of the horses. They were aware, as the evening wore on, of people gathering round them. The first and second stragglers, the old man and the old woman, came and sat at the edge of the light. They announced themselves initially only by their presence. Illumina encouraged the others to go and walk among the following. One or other of them got up periodically and walked out into the dark, greeting people, listening to them. They shrank away from Wals and Libby but obviously looked to Illumina and Manueline for some contact across the gulf that divided them. Both women responded, talking briefly to the people as they passed. Illumina could not understand them, though there were one or two southerners among the crowd who stood out by their dress and something about their appearance.

Later in the evening Illumina and Manueline were walking together when someone in the crowd took up a curious, lively little song. Illumina did not understand the words but recognized the tune and could tell the same words were being sung over and over again with different parts of the crowd singing different parts of the song, turning it into a strange uncoordinated round. Illumina asked Manueline what they were singing. She roughly translated the first few words.

"I know the song, though I have heard it to a different tune. It goes like this:

Old death is come
To sing his song
And make us all be merry.
His kiss is sweet,
His touch is soft
He'll pluck you like a cherry.
You cannot run
Or hide away,
Accept him when he finds you;
For if you flee
He'll seek you out
And for your lifetime bind you.

Illumina sang it in her clear, penetrating soprano. The crowd around them went quiet as she sang. There must have been some southerners within earshot for, as they walked on, they heard an echo of Illumina's voice in the people behind them. Evidently, some of the people knew both the tune and the words and by the time Illumina and Manueline walked back to the camp there were snatches of it to be heard from all around them. Some of the singers were clearly singing in a foreign language changing the words in odd ways but generally staying faithful to the tune. Listening to them, Illumina felt sure the tune must be known in the north as well. Some of the mispronunciations were curiously significant. 'His touch is soft' tended to become 'His torch is hot'; 'You cannot run' became 'You can't have fun'. Oddly, as the evening wore on the singing became more coherent and more accurate. The mistakes fell away and the crowd became more confident of the words and the tune. They began again to sing in rounds, with different sections of the following taking up the song at different times. The singing went on through the night, getting quieter as the night wore on but never dying away altogether. They set a double watch but there was no real need. Daisy came and slept beside Illumina for much of the night, evidently unconcerned by anything around them. The wolf wandered off into the night. Everyone slept. The song provided a backdrop to sleep that seemed to slow down and turn into a lullaby as the night wore on.

Manueline and Illumina took the last watch. They sat together, side by side, on the slope that lead down to the river below, watching the light slowly coming to the eastern horizon. As the light came into the sky it blinded them for a time, turning the ground between them and the river black, darker and harder to see than it had been while they sat in depths of the night. There came a point where the figures of the people between them and the river began to emerge. Here and there, a face stood out, someone's eyes or some significant combination of gesture and dawning light gave sudden form to a whole person.

The water was brightest for a time as it caught and gave back the light of the eastern sky. Looking at it, Illumina found herself blinded again. She took Manueline's hand and closed her eyes. She opened them again, looking at the people. She leaned over and kissed Manueline on the cheek. "Come we should go and talk to them."

Illumina saw the first and second straggler a little way off and called them over. The second straggler, the woman, came first. It was Manueline who spoke, asking, "What is your name?" The woman was a little startled at the question and looked nonplussed for a moment as though she did not know her own name. Manueline smiled at her. "My name is 'Manueline' and this is 'Illumina'. What is your name?"

The woman blinked as though the light of the rising sun reflected off their faces was too bright for her, then she recovered herself and said, "My name is Silis. I came from Bywater, the village just north of the forest." Manueline asked about her, she spoke as Illumina, Manueline and the first straggler looked on. She told them of her life; she was a widow living in the village, making her living by growing and selling vegetables in the village market. She had children who helped her occasionally, they lived elsewhere. When Manueline asked why she came with the following she shrugged her shoulders. "It seemed too dangerous to stay in the village. Some neighbors said they were getting out and said I should go with them, so I did."

Manueline asked the first straggler his name. It was Tormond. When they asked where he came from he simply said, "From the north. I lived in many places. I was in Bywater when the following came through. I joined them. It seemed the natural thing to do." Manueline was not satisfied. She insisted he tell them where he was born, who his parents where and something about his life and the people he had known. This all took some time and the sun was well up by the time he finished.

Manueline smiled at Silis and Tormond, "Come, join us for breakfast. Then we must go among the following and each tell our own stories and listen to the stories others have to tell. The stories must be told and must be heard, things cannot go on as they are."

They went back to the camp. The others were up and about. Nina had some porridge over the fire; there was hot water for tea. Manueline and Illumina thought nothing of it but clearly, Silis and Tormond were desperate for food and found the hot drink a comfort that went beyond the simple physical needs of the body. Looking at them, Illumina was faced with two people in rags who could not last much longer, any shock or illness would kill them. Libby watching them saw it as well. He was the first to ask, "What are we going to do?" He looked around the circle seeing that they all knew what would happen to Silis and Tormond if they did not get help soon and, by implication, what would happen to most of the people in the following as well. Wals sat next to Illumina, Manueline sat next to Libby, Cosimo and Felice stood side by side. They had eaten and stood holding hot mugs of tea. Nina stood by the fire a closed, hard look on her face, not saying anything.

Wals looked over at Libby, "Food is the immediate problem. It is what drives them on; it is hunger that ravages the villages. What can we do to feed all these thousands of people? Do we even know how many there are?"

Illumina answered, "There is one possibility. The North and South Lords keep a reserve of grain supposedly sufficient for a year. It is meant to take the people through a bad year and we have had a series of good years. I am sure the reserve will be good and more than enough to feed these people. Perhaps we can persuade them to feed the following for a year and give them land on which to grow food for next year."

Wals shook his head, "You said the North Lord is dead, killed by the very people we hope to feed with his grain. It doesn't seem like a practical plan to me."

"That may be exactly the point," said Libby, "The North Lord is dead. Norton will be in chaos at the moment and is only two days away."

"Are you saying we walk there and storm the place?"

"No, not at all; I doubt the following could storm it. It is a walled stronghold set against the river. It is not as big as the King's City but it is big enough to defend itself against this crowd. In fact, I wonder why the North Lord took such a chance and met them in the open as he did."

"I have met him; he is like my father so far as his people are concerned. There are many villages on the river between here and Norton. I expect he was afraid the following would destroy them all; so he gathered what men he could and met them at the bridge thinking he could stop them there. He meant us no favors in pursuing us when we came into the Lowlands, but you have to give him this much, he and his people understand the obligation they have to the people they rule. By the same token, if we can convince them that the following will become their own, it may be enough to persuade them to help."

To follow this thread in the story go to: As They Went By

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