Luck of the Wheels. Megan Lindholm

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       TWO

      ‘The boy looks ordinary enough.’

      Vandien leaned out of the cuddy door and let his gaze follow Ki’s. He had just finished storing their provisions in the cupboards and drawers inside the caravan. The two georns had been enough to take on generous supplies, and at Trelira’s urging, they had done so. Vandien was more than a little disgruntled about it. Ki didn’t usually spend advance money until she had decided to take on the job. So much for meeting the boy first. Well, whatever problems came with him, Ki had bought them in advance.

      ‘Fourteen?’ he observed skeptically.

      ‘Looks more like sixteen to me. But you never can tell; some boys grow fast,’ Ki replied.

      Gotheris walked beside his father, and nearly matched him in height. That put him half a head taller than Ki and the equal of Vandien. His brown hair clung to his head as smoothly as a cap and was cut to one length on the sides and back. In front it touched his eyebrows in a straight line. His eyes were light, though at this distance Vandien could not tell what color they were. His face was long and narrow, with the unfinished look of a boy who is sure of all the answers while still discovering the questions. His young body was lanky, as if growing bones were outracing the meat and muscle that should cloak them. His cream-colored shirt was lavishly embroidered in red and yellow, in gay contrast to the rough brown robe Brin wore. Goat wore loose brown trousers that fluttered around the tops of his sandaled feet. The boy strode empty-handed, but Brin had a large basket buckled to his back and a woven bag in his arms. Vandien frowned at the boy’s laziness, then decided it was none of his business.

      ‘Well, here we are, all ready to go!’ Brin greeted them. His words rang falsely hearty in Vandien’s ears.

      Ki made some noncommital reply, studying the boy. The boy’s eyes were very large, and slightly protruding. So that was what the father had meant by Jore eyes. Up close, they were so pale a green they verged on yellow, and the pupils were not those of a Human. A little crossbreeding, then, somewhere back in the family line. The rest of him seemed Human enough. He had a sweet little pink bow of a mouth, but when he smiled he showed teeth long and narrow and yellow as a goat’s. Goat looked brightly from Ki to Vandien as Brin set his burdens down by the wagon and wiped his sweaty face with a stained kerchief.

      ‘This is my son, Gotheris. Gotheris, make your respect to the teamster and his wife. Vandien and Ki.’

      ‘The teamster and her partner. Ki and Vandien.’ Vandien corrected him mellowly.

      ‘I see. Beg pardon,’ Brin flushed, but Ki ignored the stumble. Gotheris giggled, in a high pitch more like a girlchild’s laugh than that of a youth on the verge of manhood.

      ‘Well, at least I’ll know from the start who I must-hark to!’ the boy burst out, grinning delightedly from Ki to Vandien. ‘Is this the wagon?’

      ‘You’ll have to hark to whichever of us speaks,’ Ki said firmly, but the boy had turned from the group and was climbing into the caravan.

      ‘Please excuse him,’ Brin said hastily, trying to speak smoothly. ‘He’s so excited to finally be on his way, and full of curiosity about you and your caravan. I’m afraid his manners flee before his impulses sometimes. You may find him a bit uncouth, I fear. We have lived an isolated and rural life for so long that Gotheris has none of the graces or sophistication you would find in a city-bred boy. It is unfortunate that boys of that age usually believe themselves the very soul of wit and judgement. With just the two of us, he has grown up speaking his mind rather bluntly to adults, and often gives his opinions before he is asked. But aren’t all boys his age like that? He is a bit coarsely mannered, I’m afraid, but the training and СКАЧАТЬ