Part 37 (1/2)

”And Nastrus would b&this one closest to us,” Grey- gor said. He smiled apologetically. ”It's difficult to tell.

They all look alike to me.”

Nastrus, reading the statement in Jarrod's mind,

200 snorted. 'They're nothing alike. Only two of them come from the same dam and one of them is white and the other cream. Quite different.'

'Make allowance for the fact that they're humans,' Jar- rod said.

Nastrus harrumphed and trotted back to his brood and Jarrod turned his attention back to the other two.

”So, what do you think of my site?” he asked.

They looked around, taking note of their surround- ings for the first time. What they saw was a broad and uneven hemisphere of gra.s.s, dotted with yellow flowers.

The cliff loomed tall at the back and tapered down as it approached the edge of the plateau. The area en- closed was about half a mile deep and three quarters of a mile wide.

”Plenty of room for a castle,” Greygor said.

”Doesn't seem to be a water supply,” from Yarrow,

”No need for a curtain wall and, besides, it would block off that extraordinary view.” Greygor.

”Machicolations wouldn't be a bad idea if we could anchor them, but how are they going to feed people?

You can't lug everything up from the plain.” That last from Yarrow.

Jarrod's head was going back and forth from one to the other. It's like talking with the unicorns, he thought, everything comes at once. He held up a finger. ”That's my next surprise,” he said. ”There's a cave at the bot- tom of that cliff.” He pointed toward the back wall.

”You can't see it now because the unicorns are in the way. It opens into a big cavern and there's a pa.s.sage out of there that gives onto a fairly substantial valley that runs east-west. The main mountain rises directly from the other side. There's a big lake-that could be stocked with fish someday-and there's enough land for fields and grazing. We can have a look later, but now I'd rather like to get something to eat.” He pointed 201.

again. ”The supplies are over there, up against that low part of the cliff.”

It took a sennight to get organized. The outlines of the central building and its two forward-slanting wings were drawn in the earth, slabs of stone were selected and moved by the unicorns from the plain to the pla- teau. Procedures were discussed, first between the hu- mans, then between Jarrod and Nastrus and lastly between Nastrus and the other unicorns. Finally the day to start the actual building came.

Jarrod breakfasted on an infusion of simples that he had brought with him. They would ease the strain of the constant lifting he would do. They made him feel confident and clearheaded- The rows of stone across the front of the plateau were made up of blocks of roughly equal size. Once the blocks were lifted, each unicorn knew exactly where to deposit them, or at least that was the theory. Now they would see how well it worked in practice.

Jarrod took up his position behind the first block of stone. The younger unicorns were ranged behind him, their father off to one side. Greygor and Yarrow stood in the doorway of the lean-to that served as their sleep- ing place. The architect kept unrolling his plans, peering at them and letting them roll up again. The Magician closed his eyes and girded his concentration. The potion made it easy. He opened his eyes and the first block lifted into the air. It flew to its appointed place and settled gently between the lines. The second rose and, almost immediately, settled beside the first. Jarrod moved on down the line and, as he did so, the first unicorn peeled off, trotted behind his kin and Joined the far end of the line. They kept it up for four hours, long enough for the first course to be laid, with gaps for the doorways and circular protrusions for the tow-

202 t JOHN LEE

ers at each comer and either side of what would be the central door. The only thing the unicorns had trouble with were the footings for the towers, and that was soon corrected.

As soon as the unicorns went off to graze, the two builders hurried to inspect the work. Jarrod walked slowly back to the hut and drank a dipper of water. He wasn't tired, but he was hungry and thirsty and he wanted to sit down for a while. The two men came back to where he sat.

”Very neatly done,” Yarrow commented. ”The blocks are snugly b.u.t.ted.”

”It looked very strange,” Greygor added, ”all those great big chunks of stone floating around, but I must say that they're all right between the lines.” He turned to his companion. ”How long, d'you reckon, Moresby, it would take you to get an outline of this size laid?”

”With a good crew, and everything going right, about four days. Mind you, that'd include the mortar.”

”And you did it in four hours, Jarrod. Quite remark- able.”

”Let's remember, Chatham, that I had some very effective help,” Jarrod said with a smile-