Part 22 (1/2)

'I bet that's King Mabon and Mr Holy!' cried Dido joyfully. 'Shall us go down and see?'

'We had better exercise considerable caution,' said the captain. 'Firstly, if they are coming from Lyonesse, they are taking a singular route; one would have a.s.sumed they would go through the Pa.s.s of Nimue and be approaching from the other direction '

'Ay, that's true.'

(In fact, as they subsequently discovered, King Mabon's troop had made use of a secret smugglers' route through the silver-mines, revealed to them by Bran.) 'Secondly, if we take them by surprise, they may open fire, believing us to be Aurocs.'

Fortunately this misadventure did not occur; when, by the captain's skilful direction of his Floater, he and Dido were hovering almost directly above the marching column, she was able to recognise the eagle-standards of the Wandesborough Frontier Patrol, and she hailed them shrilly from overhead: 'Hey, s.e.xtus Lucius Trevelyan! Have you got Mr Holystone with you? I mean King Artaius? And the folk from the Thrush?'

Some natural surprise was caused by a voice apparently addressing them from heaven, and the more superst.i.tious soldiers in Captain Trevelyan's troop fell flat on their stomachs, but Captain Hughes was now low enough to recognise the familiar face of Lieutenant Windward, riding with Mr Multiple in the rear of the advance-guard, and so he brought his Floater to the ground, exclaiming briskly, There you are, then, Windward! I'm devilish glad to see you again, sir! I have with me Miss Twite, whom, I am pleased to say, I have been able to extricate from captivity -'

The whole procession came to a halt amid cries of joyful recognition and congratulation.

'Miss Twite! Dido! Thank G.o.d you are safe. Who would have thought of encountering you here! Bless my soul, missie, we thought you was at Kingdom Come!' (That was Noah Gusset.) 'Gadzooks, Miss Twite, I am delighted to find you at liberty and Captain Hughes too!' (That was Lieutenant Windward.) Mr Multiple fairly hugged Dido in his joy and relief.

'I'm real sorry about the diamonds,' she whispered to him.

'Oh, never mind it! The princess got back safe to her father here she comes now, in fact '

King Mabon, riding in the rear, had sent forward to learn the cause of the stoppage, and, being informed what it was, now hurried forward with his daughter and Mr Holystone. They were all mounted on Patagonian ponies, but Dido observed that Hapiypacha (whose devotion to the princess had apparently remained unimpaired despite being ridden by her across country) kept close at the heels of her pony, causing the latter no little uneasiness, and snarling if anyone chanced to come what he considered unsuitably near to his mistress.

King Mabon hopped off his pony and came to give Dido an unaffected hug. So did his daughter.

'Oh, I was so wretched about you!' said Elen. 'All the way over the mountains I was thinking I should never never have let you persuade me -'

'Anything you want, child, in the kingdom of Lyonesse, it's yours, indeed to goodness -' said King Mabon.

'Oh, it weren't nothing,' said Dido gruffly. 'Arter all, what else was there to do?'

Mr Holystone was standing quietly behind Elen. A whole ring of torches now surrounded the group, and in the flickering light Dido saw that he was very grandly dressed indeed, in a red tunic, gold-bordered toga, sparkling diadem, and sandals with gold buckles. Calib-urn hung at his side in a silver-studded scabbard. But he looked, surprisingly, much more like the old Mr Holystone, and his voice, when he spoke, confirmed this.

'I am very happy to see you alive, Miss Twite. Pray, Ma'am, from which tradesman do you obtain your Tay?'

'Oh, Mr Holy! You remembered me! Oh, that beats c.o.c.kfighting!' Dido cried out joyfully. She was so happy that her spirits could hardly rise higher when Artaius, too, gave her a welcoming embrace and kiss on the cheek. Her delight was so profound that she thought, Now I don't care what happens.

'Well, well, well, Holyst I mean, sir, King Artaius,' Captain Hughes was saying, somewhat awkwardly. 'This is a bit of a change, hey? Ahem!'

'I shall always remember, Captain, the kind treatment I received as your steward,' Mr Holystone said.

'When did your memory come back, Mr Holy?' cried Dido. 'When did it all come together?'

'Quite suddenly about twelve hours ago. It was as if a shutter clicked open in my mind I remembered the Thrush, and how you used to cut curls of coconut for me -'

'Some influence that had been blocking his mind was suddenly removed,' said Bran, appearing with his usual unexpectedness.

'Yes,.you old schoolmaster!' said Holystone, clapping him cheerfully on the back, 'but what influence?'

'That we shall no doubt discover when we reach Bath.'

As dawn was approaching, King Mabon now suggested that they should halt and take breakfast where they were, in order to arrive at Bath tolerably rested and refreshed, since n.o.body had any idea what kind of reception might be waiting for them there. Accordingly fires were lit, wine was mulled, yams thrust into the embers to roast, and sausages toasted on sticks. Dido, who was ravenous after her day's solitary confinement and starvation in the city of Sul, could hardly bear to wait for the food to be ready.

'Was he very angry the old Guardian? When he found I was gone?' inquired Elen, coming to sit by Dido on a folded toga.

'That he was! Poor old Whiskers.'

'When you are gone

I'll cry all day

My tears will wash

My feet away '

sang Bran, coming to lower himself on the ground beside the girls.

'Mister Bran why do you think Mr Holy got his memory back?' Dido asked.

'I expect we shall discover that one of the people attempting to prevent his return suddenly lost the power to do so.'

'Why should that happen?'

Bran shrugged.

'In several ways. We shall see soon enough, no doubt.'

When they resumed the march, Bran rode alongside the two girls. Dido would have liked a long conversation with Mr Holystone there was so much she wanted to ask him! but she could quite see that he had a lot of important affairs to discuss with King Mabon and Captain Hughes; bits of their conversation came floating back: 'Dissident elements in Hy Brasil abolish practice of head-shrinking joint action to exterminate the Aurocs improved conditions in the silvermines '