The Bitterbynde Trilogy (140 page)

‘We eat cauliflower,' said Caitri. ‘At least, others do.' She wrinkled her nose.

‘And Sugared violets, and rose petals,' added Tahquil, biting a fruit.

Caitri looked up at the high canopy, dim and grey, sparsely raining leaves.

‘I see no such flowers or fruits as these within reach. I fancy they all sprout in the higher regions. I wonder how the Tree-Dwellers get them down.'

‘I cannot imagine,' said Tahquil. ‘But I do imagine that the urisk asked those Tree-Dwellers to aid us by dropping one of their ladders. After all, it
was
his voice calling us and not some pixie counterfeit luring us into Khazathdaur to meet our doom.'

‘Yes, the little fellow proved trustworthy,' said Viviana, ‘I'll grant that. The trows unintentionally aided us also. If they had not stolen my chatelette we would have been still sitting beside the soak when that thing called Wryneck came upon us. He might have cut us off from the forest and the Tree-Dwellers' assistance.'

They fell silent at the mention of this horror.

In the jade twilight the forest world was all perpendiculars tapering down to vanishing points in darkness far below; a vertiginous perspective. On the ground, peril waited. Overhead swayed slender boughs and twigs too fragile to bear the weight of anything heavier than a possum. To either side stretched reeling chasms of air so vast that merely to look into their depths was to feel oneself falling.

It seemed there was nowhere to go.

Tahquil examined the apparatus of ropes and pulleys tied to hooks nailed into the trunk.

‘These ropes are made of the fibres growing from the bases of the fruits and blossoms—strong, tough, coarse cordage, twisted together. Ropes would be useful in our situation. Perhaps we could manufacture some …'

‘We shall have no use for ropes or anything else if we remain perched up here forever,' said Viviana. ‘I wish those Tree-Dwellers would return to help us.'

‘The urisk said they have highroads of their own up here,' said Caitri, tracing the outward-leading cables with a forefinger. ‘I believe this is the beginning of one, and another leads out from one of the platforms below.'

Tahquil unhooked a thick rope tied in a massive knot near its free end.

‘The Tree-Dwellers' gear is cleverly designed,' she said, inspecting it. ‘Simple and effective. This is what I know as a flying fox. Pryderi used to have one rigged. It led from the balcony of his house to the bottom of the hill. He would let me ride it when I was a child—I liked to pretend I was flying. If my father had known he'd have had an apoplexy.' She pulled hard on the rope to test it. ‘It is secured firmly. And see, by this mechanism this knotted ride rope can be pulled back to its starting position when the rider has disembarked at the other end.'

‘Yes, but where
is
the other end?' pondered Caitri.

The cables swayed almost imperceptibly, pale lines passing into an indifferent gloom beyond which a jungle of tree pillars could be dimly glimpsed.

‘There is only one way to find out.' Tahquil gave the ride rope one last tug.

‘I shall go first,' she said. ‘If all's well, I'll send back something tied to the ride rope as a token—a bunch of these dried stytchelthyme sprigs, since it appears I am adorned with so many of them. This retrieval cord will follow me. It must be allowed to unroll freely as I go, and it must be coiled neatly when the ride rope is brought back, or the whole operation may fail. Should the retrieval cord snag and the flying fox be halted abruptly in midflight, the passenger would be flung off. There is no safety cord to hitch us on.'

‘You are not going to jump off this ledge on that contraption!' Viviana cried. ‘What if you fall? 'Tis a long way down—I cannot even glance over the edge without feeling swoony.'

‘Take heart, Via,' said Tahquil bracingly. ‘There's nothing else for it.'

‘'Tis always the same saw,' desponded Viviana. ‘
There is no choice.
Are we naught but flotsam on this quest, to be tossed about at the whim of contingencies not subject to our command? Methinks the only choice I have made so far was to accompany you, my lady, and yet even that was not a choice, for I could not in all conscience do otherwise.'

‘Speaking from experience,' said Tahquil, ‘I would say that perhaps I have only ever made one true choice in my life and that everything else I have ever wrought has been a result of causes beyond my choosing. I searched for the stolen children for seven years but how could I not seek them? I entered the Fair Realm but how could I resist the chance to save them? I chose to leave the Fair Realm at the last moment but even then, if I examine my heart, I know I
had
to leave and in truth it was no choice. Perhaps you are right.'

‘True choices,' said Caitri sagely, ‘are made all the time—the small decisions. If we have no say in where the road takes us, at least we can decide how to place our feet and what to look at along the way.'

‘The Duke of Ercildoune used to argue that we choose our own destinies—' began Viviana.

‘This conversation is becoming too allegorical for me,' Tahquil broke in, changing the subject. ‘When I reach the other end, I shall tug on this thick cable, the slide cable, three times. That will be the signal for you to start hauling. Fare thee well.'

Seizing the rope with both hands she swung forward. As she left the platform she tucked her feet up on top of the knot, wrapping herself around the thick ride rope. Over her head the pulley squealed, running along the main slide cable down into darkness and the unknown.

She rolled down the cable's incline at exhilarating speed, her hair and taltry and cloak streaming out like banners. To either side the forest flashed by as though she flew along the middle of a columned canyon.

The cable stretched a long way, as far—it seemed—as Summer's end.

At last the flying fox's terminal rushed at her with alarming rapidity out of the gloaming—another platform on another tree. Just before the end station, the pulley reached its lowest point and turned uphill, slowing the headlong rush of the ride rope and its rider dangling underneath. Tahquil's boots clipped the shelf's edge. She yelped in pain, let go with one hand and was dragged unceremoniously onto the ledge by the ride rope before she remembered to release her grip. The pulley having reached the apogee of its swing, it lost the last remains of momentum and succumbed to gravity's seduction. It reversed direction and slowly began to slide back down. Righting herself, Tahquil seized the rope just before it swung off the edge and out of reach. It would have pulled her over the edge with it, except she flung her weight backwards, hauled hard and quickly hooked it over a peg jutting from the trunk.

She found herself on the second highest platform of a tree which appeared identical to all the other trees in Khazathdaur. From the ledge directly below, the cables of a flying fox ran back towards the first tree. From the platform immediately above, a profusion of funicular cordage radiated in three other directions. This tree was an aerial crossroads.

Tying the sprig of dried thyme to the pulley she tugged three times on the slide cable, sending a quiver along its length. This cable was so thick and long that the quiver dissipated before reaching the end of the visible section. Vigorous repetition of the exercise was eventually answered by a sudden tension of the retrieval cord. Unhooking the pulley she hurled it forth and watched it disappear behind curtains of shadow. It occurred to her that she ought to have checked the upper platform for danger before sending for her friends. Now there was no time for it.

Presently, the slide cable tautened and began to hum. Out of the half-light hurtled Caitri. Like a fruit on a vine she was tightly clenched in around herself, eyes shut.

‘Open your eyes!'

The pulley slowed on its final short ascent. Caitri's boots touched the stage. She released the rope too soon—borne forward by momentum she toppled over the further edge. Tahquil grabbed two handfuls of clothing and pulled her back with all the force she could rally and they both sat down hard, the ride rope pendulating about their ears.

‘Horns of the Ant!' expostulated Caitri, white with shock.

They sent for Viviana who arrived with speed, propelled by proportionally greater inertia. Swinging her legs down, she alighted gracefully, as though well practised.

‘That was easier than I had expected.'

Her companions blinked at her.

‘Where to from here?' Viviana asked. Oblivious of their astonishment at her natural prowess, she surveyed the forest. ‘From the platform above us, the highways lead in three different directions.'

‘North. We must ever go north,' said Tahquil. ‘But as to which direction is which, I have no notion. I lost my bearings during the confusion of the flight from that lop-headed creature, and now the sun cannot push its beams through these leaves to show us its path.'

High up, a sweet, soft rain began falling in a long sigh, a gift of clear water to swell buds, soothe parched leaves and rinse the long green hair of the forest. No drops yet penetrated the canopy.

When the shower had passed, the companions climbed the spindly ladder to the higher platform.

‘See!' said Caitri. ‘Flowers bedeck the anchor point of the central cable, and its carrier rope is here, too. The carriers are missing from the other two flying foxes.'

‘A clear directive. 'Tis obvious,' said Tahquil grimly. ‘No matter which way is north, the Tree-Dwellers have indicated the path they wish us to follow. Let us hope they are as benevolent as the urisk has told.'

‘But we could use the retrieval cords to haul back the other ride ropes,' suggested Caitri sensibly.

‘I have no wish to offend these forest denizens. We move within their domain—never forget it. Over us they have the power of life and death. We must bend to their will for now, yet remain wary.'

They negotiated the second flying fox in the same manner as the first. It brought them to a similar tree in similar surroundings.

‘This sameness proves irksome,' said Viviana. ‘I feel as though we go nowhere, or in circles.'

‘'Tis impossible that we should be going in circles,' declared Caitri. ‘Take note—we have travelled in a straight line, so far.'

As if to mock these words the next garlanded flying fox veered off on a diagonal, bringing them this time to a platform within view of other enshelfed autarkens which were strung together by rigging. As they went deeper into Khazathdaur repeating these flying performances, they became more adept at takeoffs and landings. Also, the number of rigged trees multiplied.

‘'Tis a veritable spider's web,' marvelled Viviana.

Having traversed about a dozen spans, each measuring a good forty yards, they stopped to rest on the subsequent platform. Their arms and legs ached with the unaccustomed strain of clinging tightly to the ride ropes, urged by the knowledge that no safety cord was attached. Nothing could rescue them from a certain fall, should their grip loosen.

In the gloom far off to the right, a geometry of long triangles could be discerned indistinctly. It appeared to be an interweaving of lines strung between the tree pylons at great height. Once or twice it seemed to the travellers, peering into the dimness, that small figures moved along these lines.

After reaching the next tree they looked across to discover that the distant webs had become more complex, and traffic on them had increased. Instead of a flying fox, suspension bridges led off from this platform. They were made of wooden slats tied across a pair of parallel cables, with a single handrail of rope. The entrances of two were barred with slender cords. Through the handrails of the third, nosegays of leaves had been stuck.

‘Upon my word,' exclaimed Viviana, ‘this is more like it! I never thought I would joy in walking upon such a rickety affair, but after dangling from those fox ropes, this appears to be safety.'

‘Mayhap 'twill lead us to the Tree-Dwellers' city,' said Caitri, glancing to the right. ‘I'd as lief behold it, and them.'

To run the gamut of the suspension bridge was no mean feat, as it turned out. The whole creaking contrivance wriggled and shook like an angry watch-worm the instant the travellers set foot on it. Under the differing rhythms of their footsteps it bucked out of synchronisation and was as like as not to suddenly smack up jarringly at their boots as they put them down, or to drop away under their steps so that they stumbled. Haltingly they made their way, careful not to glance down. Between the slats a great nothingness opened to the forest floor, far below and dark-mantled. One single fortunate shaft of sunlight momentarily struck down like a gold pin through the bridge as they crossed, and the leaves continued to shower down all around, and the forest breathed uncountable sighs.

Now they could see, over to the right, what might have been a tree city. Amongst the long bridges and flying foxes and catwalks, the elevated walkways and flyovers, the autarkens supported wider, more solid platforms. Some of these were walled. Small dwellings perched there, built close against and around the tree boles. Small oblong windows and doors showed black against the grey of the structures, and a rumour came to the ears of the companions, almost below the reaches of hearing—voices on the static airs, and perhaps the sound of singing.

‘We are being led away from the tree city,' sorrowed Caitri. ‘Why should they fear us?'

‘Or scorn us,' said Viviana, ‘or be sending us astray.'

‘Why should they provide us with victuals only to lead us to ruin?' Tahquil asked.

‘Perhaps they wanted to fatten us up for their larders,' responded Viviana gloomily.

‘Methinks,' said Caitri, ‘'tis neither scorn nor fear, but a desire for privacy tempered with goodwill. They wish to speed our passage, that we might not stumble into their midst and trouble the patterns of their lives.'