Part 7 (1/2)

”You can go and look for it when you're better,” she said. ”Or you could get a new one.”

He closed his eyes again, mostly so he wouldn't have to look at her.

When he woke up, she'd gone, and Furio was there, with his uncle sitting next to him. ”h.e.l.lo,” Furio said. ”How are you?”

”I've got to go back,” he said.

The uncle (name? He knew it, but couldn't call it to mind) frowned at him. ”Don't mention it,” he said. ”You're welcome.”

”I left something behind,” Gignomai said. ”I need...”

Furio and his uncle glanced at each other. ”Teucer did say something about a sword,” Uncle said. ”But I a.s.sumed you were off your head and talking rubbish.”

”The sword.” Gignomai nodded. ”It's worth twelve thousand thalers.”

Uncle's eyes swelled until Gignomai was afraid they'd burst. But Furio said, ”Well, your brother'll have found it by now. They'll notice it's gone, won't they?”

”I hope not,” Gignomai said. ”I want to sell it.”

Furio was about to say something, but Uncle grabbed his hand and crushed it. He was clearly a strong man, though not in the same cla.s.s as Luso or Stheno. ”Sell it?” he said.

”That's right. It's my start in life, you could say.”

”What makes you think it's worth that kind of money?” Uncle asked. He'd carefully lowered and straightened out his voice, but he'd tightened his grip on Furio's hand.

”Your brother told me,” Gignomai said. ”He saw it.”

”He offered you that much for it?”

”I wasn't selling,” Gignomai replied. ”Not then.”

”Uncle,” Furio said, but Uncle wasn't listening to him.

”But you are now?”

”They won't let him have it,” Furio said loudly. ”It's not yours to sell, is it? That's what you told me.”

Gignomai shrugged. ”I've left,” he said, ”and I'm not going back. That's why I need it.”

There was a long, deep silence. Then Uncle said, ”Where exactly...?”

Gignomai explained what had happened. When he'd finished, Furio was staring at him, but Uncle was leaning towards him with a starving look on his face. ”You think there's a chance it could still be there?”

”It's a big wood,” Gignomai said. ”And they wouldn't know about the way down. I'm guessing it's some flaw in the chalk, and water's been trickling down there for G.o.d knows how long, and it ate away the hole I fell down. So they'd have no particular reason to look in that place, and you'd have to search hard to find it.”

”Dogs,” Furio put in. ”You said Luso set the dogs on you. Won't they have led him there?”

Gignomai shook his head. ”There was the boar, remember? It killed one of the dogs at least. Luso's probably a.s.sumed that what led the dogs there was the boar. That's what they were bred to hunt for.”

”So it could still-”

”Or it might not be,” Furio said firmly. ”And in any case, you're in no fit state.” He hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, ”I'll go.”

Gignomai shook his head. ”You'll never find it,” he said.

Uncle nodded vigorously. ”You could draw him a map or something.”

Gignomai laughed. ”I'll have a h.e.l.l of a job finding the place again, and I know those woods better than anybody except Luso. Furio wouldn't have a hope. Also,” he added, because Uncle should have, and hadn't, ”can you imagine what my family would do to him if they caught him wandering about up there? Particularly if he did manage to find the b.l.o.o.d.y thing.”

The door opened, and a man Gignomai only knew by sight came in. ”Salio Gullermo's downstairs,” he said. ”Needs to talk to you about a hundred yards of twenty-gauge wire.”

Uncle swore, then stood up. ”I'll get rid of him,” he said, and hurried out. For a while, neither of them spoke. Then Gignomai said, ”Who's that obnoxious girl?”

”What?”

”That girl,” Gignomai said. ”Hovering over me earlier like a buzzard. Or was I imagining things?”

”That was my cousin Teucer,” Furio replied. ”You didn't like her.”

”No.”

Furio shrugged. ”What the h.e.l.l are you doing here, Gig?”

”I told you.” Gignomai lay back and shut his eyes. ”I've had it with my family. Father's decided I'm going to train to be a lawyer, leading to a career in politics. So I left.”

”What do you mean, left?”

”Left. I have taken my leave and do not intend to return. Ever.”

”But you can't-” Furio started to say, then paused. ”Well, yes, you can, I guess,” he said. ”Won't they come after you? Say we kidnapped you or something?”

”I considered that,” Gignomai said, ”but I don't think it's likely. Father will decide that by doing what I've done I've proved myself unworthy of my name. Round about now, I imagine, I'll never have existed.” A small scowl crossed his face and he added, ”There are precedents. It's how our family deals with things.”

”Your brothers...”

Gignomai shook his head. ”Stheno has other things on his mind,” he said. ”Luso does what Father tells him, broadly speaking.”

”What about your mother?”

”What about her?”

Furio seemed lost for words for a while. Then he said, ”You can do that, can you? Just get up and walk away from everything like that.”

”Yes. I hope so.”

”Fair enough.” Furio sat still and quiet for a while, then said, ”What are you planning on doing?”

Gignomai opened his eyes. ”Now that,” he said, ”is a good question. A lot depends on whether I can get that f.u.c.king sword.”