Gene Wolfe - The Land Across

Martya was next. She went down on her knees to beg for a pardon for Kleon, which surprised the hell out of me. The Leader called Baldy over and they talked, the Leader wanting to know what was going on and Baldy telling him he did not know. I would have gone over, too, if I had not known they would get to me in a minute or two, which they did. I explained to the Leader and told them Naala had already promised to fix it. He smiled and told her she had his authority to do it.

Then it was Baldy’s turn. He got a medal, too. He saluted the Leader, and the Leader returned his salute. Later I found out that was a big deal.

I thought I was finished, and the gift was something somebody would deliver later. That turned out to be wrong. (And I had them turned around anyway.) I was called up, the general opened his box, and the Leader got out a gold medal. Somebody behind me gasped, but I do not know who that was. When the Leader hung it on me I stepped back and saluted the way Baldy had.

The Leader returned my salute and raised his voice enough for everybody to hear. “You do not understand why he should receive this.” That was what he said, only I knew that Naala knew. Then he said, “It is a confidential matter.”

I had sense enough to nod, but then I started to go back to where I had been standing before he had motioned for me to come forward again.

“This is yours.” The Leader (maybe I ought to call him the third border guard here) reached into his suit coat and pulled out a dark blue booklet. He handed it to me, and for a minute or two I could not believe it. Generally I do not stammer much, but I stammered then.

It was my passport.

Russ and Rosalee came around in a couple of days to ask what flight I was on. When I told them I had not booked, they wanted me to go to Germany with them. Russ had gotten his car back, a big blue Mercedes. I had to explain in all the different ways I could come up with that there were things I had to take care of before I could leave. Then Russ wanted me to tell him, and when I would not, Rosalee said I had a girl on the string. As it turned out, that was a little truer than I thought at the time.

After I found a watch that satisfied me and paid for it, I did not have a whole lot of money left. I went down to the docks and looked around, and when I found a guy who had a neat little boat I was able to talk him into taking me to Puraustays at the far end of the lake. We went to the market then and he bought enough food for four days and four bottles of wine. I helped him carry it back to his boat and felt guilty as all hell, because he had spent just about all the money I had given him on food for the two of us. Only I knew I was going to need what I had. Need that much and more, most likely.

Our sail on the lake was a lot nicer than the one I took as a prisoner of the Legion of the Light. I was not tied up, I had a bunk to sleep in, and the food was better. The big thing, though, was that this was pretty much your average summer sailing. The weather was warm and friendly. That first time we had gotten hit by a couple of storms. Wind gusts of sixty or seventy miles an hour are no joke when you are out on the water.

We got to Puraustays in good shape and I paid the guy who had brought me what I had promised, with a little extra for not bitching about how much I ate and just being nice in general. He usually took out fishermen, so much for a morning, so much for an afternoon. His boat only slept two, but he said he had as many as six onboard sometimes.

I went to the Willows first, figuring I knew the place well enough to get in without a key, which was right. I stashed my sports jacket there, with the hand still in the pocket. I stashed my gun there, too, and my badge, not just leaving them but hiding them.

Then I walked to Kleon’s.

When I knocked on the door I remembered how the boss border guard had knocked with the barrel of his pistol. That’s when I decided for sure that I would not write the travel book yet. That I would write this book you are holding instead, and get started just as soon as I got back to the States.

Martya opened the door. I was not sure she would be back, even though I had waited a few days so she would have a head start. But there she was, and she opened the door wide so I could come in. She motioned to me, and we went back into the kitchen. “You are hungry. I will make you something.”

I said, “Sure,” and sat down. “How did you know I was hungry?”

“Always you are hungry. Something else, too.” She made a gesture I know my editor will not let me describe. “We cannot. It is late and Kleon will be home soon.”

That gave me the opening I had wanted. I said, “I wouldn’t do it anyway, Martya. You’re Kleon’s wife.”

“You no longer think me beautiful!” She looked ready to spit. “I feed you, yes! But poison!” She got out a couple of big sausages, threw them into a dirty pan, and put them on the stove.

I did not say anything.

“This you see?” It was a big black thing shaped like a mug that I knew darned well was her pepper shaker. “It is poison!” She shook pepper over our sausages.

I said, “You’re beautiful and I could go for you in a big way. But it would be wrong and I knew it would be wrong when you got down on your knees and begged the Leader to save Kleon. What we did before—”

“You would not sit with me! You humiliate me before all the rest! I pat the seat beside me, over and over I pat, but you will not sit!”

“With Naala right there watching? She’d have cut my throat.” I decided not to say anything about Martya’s begging Naala to help Kleon in the car going up.

“You are strong.” She came over and felt the muscle in my arm.

“Not as strong as Kleon.”

“Stronger!” She sat on my lap. “Is harmless, you see? He come home soon. When I hear door open I jump up.” She gave me a big kiss and went off to apply more lipstick.

Cut to the chase. Kleon came home and you can imagine how he felt about me being there. I told him I did not want a fight, which was probably a mistake. I tried to explain why I had come back, and he swung at me.

He did not even try to hide it, just took a short step toward me and swung a roundhouse right. I ducked a little and rolled a little, and moved in.

I will not even try to give you the whole thing. I do not remember it well enough for that, just to start with. My guess is it lasted less than two minutes, although I do not really know. He landed a couple of punches while I worked over his belly and chest. Pretty soon he went down and I stepped back to give him a chance to stand up. He did and he wanted more, which I had not really expected. That was one tough little man.

I put him down again with one to the side of the neck, and he stayed down while I explained that I was not going to touch Martya and it was over between us. He was still down when I left, only Martya was trying to help him up.

Volitain would have been next if I had the hand, but I had to go back to the Willows and get it. My face was a little beat up and my lip was bleeding. Sure, everybody I passed stared at me, but before I get into that I ought to say that nobody who is not wearing gloves should head-punch the way Kleon had. If you cannot land a solid one, it does not do much good. And if you can, you will bust up the bones in your hands. Kids do that and get away with it because they are not strong enough to do any real damage to themselves. Grown men learn pretty soon to punch the soft parts.

Anyhow I was getting stared at, so when I got to the Willows, I decided to wait until sundown before I went to Volitain’s. There would be a better chance of catching him at home then, or that’s what I thought, and I was not going to have to worry so much about a cop seeing me. It was getting to be late afternoon by then, so that is what I did. Just to pass the time I got the hand out and to make sure I still had it and it was all right, and when I saw it was fine I tried to explain to the young witch I had seen one time what I had planned.