Gene Wolfe - The Land Across

“Indeed yes, the guardian of Mars.” Papa Zenon turned the hand over. “You say this moves. It is a dead thing.”

“It moves,” Naala insisted.

I added, “I’ve been sitting pretty still myself.”

He gave me a nice smile, a happy mouse. “All you ask me to do, my son, I will do it for you. You fulfilled your part of our bargain. I strive to fulfill mine.”

I guess the hand ran across the table while Papa Zenon was looking up, but I did not see it. I did not know what had happened until I felt it climb back into my pocket.

He looked down and then stared at me, but I just shrugged.

When he had gone, Naala asked, “You have it, Grafton?”

“Right. In my side pocket. I didn’t know it was in there until we were sitting down in here, and I wasn’t sure I ought to bring it up.”

“It likes you, I think. Even as I. You must keep it most safe for us.”

I said I would.

“Papa is go. Where and to do what? Do you know?”

I shook my head.

“No more do I. What of us? What should we do? I ask the suggestion.”

I said, “Go back to your apartment so I can shave.”

She laughed. “Another.”

“Not me. I gave you mine. What’s yours?”

“The magic shop, of course. You say Rathaus is hide there.”

“No, I didn’t. I say he might have hidden there for a while, or somebody in that shop might know where he is. I think Martya tried to find out where I was, and somebody there recognized my name because Russ had talked about me. Only Russ wasn’t in there when I broke in. I searched the whole place, and I would have found him.”

“You found signs that someone had been hidden there, perhaps?”

“No. Nothing.”

“They clean up most carefully, I think. Often I have find such signs. Bread crusts, perhaps. A blanket hidden it might be.”

I shook my head.

“That I do not like, but we will go even so. The shawl bring you there. This you say.”

“Right. It was from the other shop. There are two shops on that floor, the magic shop and a dress shop.”

“I wish to see both, and they will be open now.”

So off we went, walking pretty fast and not talking much. I was going over everything Papa Zenon had said. I do not know why I did it, except that I had a hunch he knew more than he was telling. He had kept saying that he was telling us all he knew. (I have not told you about a bunch of stuff that turned out not to matter.) When somebody does that, it is usually because they are not. So what could he be hiding? He had read more prayers from the hand to us. I have not told you about those, either, but I went over them in my mind as we walked along.

The only thing I came up with was pretty small. He told us he had watched the archbishop early that morning, and I figured it was probably when he climbed the tower where the bells were. That was all he had said, but he had looked worried. Maybe it was just because the archbishop was pretty old, or because he had been out of breath when he came down. But I wondered.

We got to the building and I showed Naala the sign I had seen, the one with the spotted cat pushing the lilies to one side.

She said, “This is the dress shop upstairs?”

“Right. Papa Iason read the label on the shawl for me. It said Lily and Civet. That’s what he said, so when I saw this sign I got interested.”

“I, too.” Naala smiled. “More interesting even is what is not here. Did you see it?”

I did not know what she meant.

“We go to another magic shop once, it is Left-Hand Magic Supplies. We stop and go back because the Rathaus woman see the sign as we drive.”

“Right.”

“Where is sign for this magic shop you search?”

There was not one, and I mulled that over as we went upstairs.

I had thought that Naala would start with the dress shop, but I was wrong. She went straight to the magic shop. The door I had broken was gone. It had been taken off the hinges and carried away, but you could still see little pieces of broken glass on the floor. We went right in.

A guy came out of the back fast. I suppose he had heard us. He was younger than I would have expected, a lot younger but stooped, and he looked worried.

“Yes. May I help you, madame?”

Naala laughed. “You may show us things if you wish. This I find most interesting.”

“We are closed,” he told her. “Our door would be locked, but…” He let it trail off.

“But you have none. This I see.”

“Someone broke in last night. New glass must be fitted. Mounted also. Next week we are promised.”

“By then you will have nothing left,” Naala told him. “They come back every night and carry away big boxes until all is gone.”

He shook his head. “Whoever broke in took nothing. We have examined and counted all the most valuable things. Nothing is gone.”

“You have not have much time for this.”

“We are two. It is sufficient.”

“Ah! You open most early.”

The young guy shook his head. “In morning we do not open at all.” He cleared his throat. “We are closed. I must ask you go out.”

“I go most gladly,” Naala told him, “when you have told me what you sell here and display for me your wares.”

“You must tell your son to stop poking them.”

I said, “I’m not poking.”

Naala chuckled. “He is a bad boy. His poor mother he never obeys, but he will come with me when I go. This you will see.”

“Soon, I hope.” The young guy was about beaten, and he knew it. “You climb the stair to buy a dress?”

“I did not say, I know.”

“I do not own this shop,” the young guy told her. “To my father it belongs. He is in the dress shop. Go to him and ask to see as you desire. If he says yes, you will see everything.”

“He buys a dress for your mother, I hope.”

“No. Both shops are his.”

I froze when I heard that. When Naala had said we would come here, I thought it was just because she could not think of anything better to do and wanted to keep busy. Now it seemed like a whole bunch of stuff was falling into place in my mind.

Naala was saying, “Then I will speak with your father also,” when I came over and braced the young guy.

“You’re Ferenc Narkatsos.”

He said he was and held out his hand.

I ignored it. “I was a friend of Yelena’s.” I said that as I swung, and this time I did not go for the face. The heart is right in the middle of the chest, right under the breastbone, and that was where I hit him. Everything I had was behind it, and I followed up with my left so fast it caught the right side of his face before he fell.

Naala had her gun out when I looked around. “Stay down!” was what she told Ferenc. Only she did not have to. He was not getting up anytime soon.

“Much you are too rough, Grafton.” She was pushing me back with her free hand, but not looking at me.

“He killed her,” I told Naala. “He killed Yelena. You want a picture? I’ll draw you one.”

Nobody said anything after that, then Naala laughed. “He turn pale. You think you escape the law, Ferenc? It find you out most quick.”

“I—I…” There were tears rolling down his face.

“You will enjoy hell. This I think. There you will find many like yourself. Do you wish to go and see? If no, you must tell us. Otherwise you try to escape and I shoot. You know about this? It is most easy. I am a senior operator of the JAKA. Here! Look!”

You could tell opening her purse with her left hand and getting out her gold badge was no new trick to Naala. She did it so fast and slick I could not believe it.

“I say, ‘I arrest him. We will take him outside and wave to stop a police car, but he run.’ They will say, ‘Good. A trial cost more than bullets.’”