Part 7 (1/2)

The old Mage smiled. ”You think big, laddie, I'll give you that, but I scarcely think that Strandkind would thank you for it. They're attached to the wall. It's rep- resented safety to them for as long as they can remem- ber. Besides, it's a source of revenue now.”

Jarrod couldn't resist. It was a favorite hobbyhorse and he had ridden it often. ”But the Upper Causeway will divide the old territories from the new,” he said.

'*It will keep the new lands out as effectively as it did the Outlanders. It'll create new divisions.”

”Good thing too,” Greylock said shortly. ”That'll give the new territories a chance to develop a character of their own, not to feel that they're a second-cla.s.s off- shoot.”

39.

”I hadn't thought about it in that way,” Jarrod said.

”Of course you ”hadn't.” Greylock sounded trium- phant. ”But it's true nevertheless. Still, that doesn't solve the question of what we should do. You, Tokamo, give me a thought.”

He's reverting to the days when we were boys and he was teaching us, Jarrod thought. He was also delighted that Tokamo was being asked the question. If the past held true, though, he ought to be thinking of an answer.

Tokamo's tongue peeked briefly out between his lips.

”Well,” he said, ”it ought to affect the whole of Strand and it has to be something that people can see. Ideally, it should have something to do with the Outland and it should be something that could only be achieved by Magic.”

”You've stated the problem admirably, lad,” Grey- lock said, ”but I don't hear an answer.”

Jarrod heard the words faintly. He was flying above Strand again in his memory. Affecting the whole of Strand. Weather and the Upper Causeway. What else?

Then it came to him and it seemed so obvious.

”The Giants' Causeway,” he said.

”I beg your pardon?” from Greylock.

The memory of the dream flickered in the back of Jarrod's mind. He brushed it aside. ”The Giants'

Causeway,” he repeated. ”It's unsightly, it serves no useful purpose and it stretches across most of Strand.”

”What about it?” Greylock enquired.

”If we could get rid of it . . .” Jarrod left the idea hanging. The stone had always been used for building.

This very tower incorporated stone from the Giants'

Causeway. The images of the elusive building in the mountains came back. Should he mention it to Grey- lock? No, not yet.

Greylock sat back and contemplated. ”Where would the rock go?” he asked.

40 ”Out onto the Plain?” Jarrod suggested

”Glib answer as usual, Courtak.” Greylock reverted to his old pedagogical manner. ”That's all very well for the moment, but we'll get colonization at some point.

Can't have good farmland strewn with rocks. People wouldn't thank us for that.”

Jarrod kept his own counsel.

”It's not a bad idea,'' Greylock said into the silence.

”1 think the two of you should go away and work out the details.” He nodded several times and then waved his right hand in farewell and dismissal.