David Coe - The Sorcerer's Plague

Pyav pressed his fingertips together. "Has she ever been gone for this long before?"

"When she was a younger woman," Marivasse said. "She used to go on journeys with Sylpa. They'd go to the shores of the Ofirean Sea, even as far as the Qosantian Lowlands. It wasn't unusual for them to be gone for an entire season."

"What about since Sylpa died?"

"She never went as far after that. But still, she'd go to trade with the Fal'Borna or the people of Aelea."

"And yet," Besh said, "even that's more than she's done over the past ten years."

Marivasse turned to face him. "True. But isn't it possible that in her last years, she seeks to return to some of the places she visited in her youth? The only times I knew her to be happy were those she shared with Sylpa. Couldn't it be that she's gone back to the sea or even to Qosantia?"

"The question isn't so much where she's gone," Tashya said, sounding impatient once more. "Will she return? That's what I want to know. And if she's gone that far, I'd have to say that I doubt it. I think it's also possible that we could learn more about her intentions by searching her hut. Perhaps if we knew what she took with her, we'd have a better sense of when and if she plans to return."

Pyav nodded slowly. "That seems a fair point."

Even the notion of a simple search of her home made Besh uncomfortable, but if Pyav supported the idea, the rest would as well. There seemed little point in arguing against it.

"So who would do this?" he asked instead.

"You," Tashya said, without hesitation.

"Me?"

She smiled. "Given your scruples with regard to this whole matter, there's no one I'd trust more."

The eldest nodded and grinned. "I'm inclined to agree."

"So am I," Marivasse said.

In the end, the choice was unanimous, but only because they wouldn't let Besh vote. He had no desire to get anywhere near Old Lici's house. Not only did he disapprove of what they were having him do, he still wanted nothing to do with the woman, even after all these years, even though she was probably a hundred leagues away, or dead. Especially because she might be dead.

Besh rubbed a hand over his face, wishing he were digging in his garden, or smoking his pipe on that old stump, or fishing along the banks of the wash. "How soon do you want me to do this?"

"Those people outside want us to do something," Tashya said. "Anything. We shouldn't make them wait long."

"Tomorrow," Pyav told him. "I'll come with you if you'd like. I have a couple of jobs to finish at the forge, but I should be ready before the morning's out. Come by and we'll walk over together."

Besh smiled. "Thank you, Eldest. That would make this… easier." The blacksmith stood, and the rest did as well. "I thank all of you for coming on such short notice," he said. "Besh and I will let you know what we find."

They made their way out of the sanctuary, but stopped at the top of the stairs. The crowd was still there, expectant looks on their faces. "What about it then, Eldest?" asked a fair-haired man in front. Besh thought he recognized him as the father of one of Mihas's friends. "Besh and I will search Lici's house in the morning."

"Search it?" the man said with a frown. "Why?"

"To see if she left behind anything that might tell us where she's gone or when she intends to return."

"What about her gold?"

"We don't know that there is any gold."

Others started to protest, but Pyav raised both hands, quieting them. "Please, my friends. This is a beginning. We don't know for certain that there is any gold, and we certainly can't simply assume that, if there is, it's ours to do with as we please. She may be on her way back here as we speak. Doesn't she deserve to find her home just as she left it?"

"She's an old witch!" someone else called out. "We'd be better off without her!"

The eldest narrowed his eyes slightly. "All right, let me put it this way. If she does return, which of you wants to explain to her that we took all her possessions for our own?"

That silenced them. Besh struggled to keep the smirk from his lips. Pyav nodded. "That's what I thought. As I told the other elders a moment ago, we'll let you know what we find."

With that, the blacksmith started down the stairs. The crowd parted to make way for him, and Besh and the others followed in his wake. "That was well done, my friend," Besh said under his breath.

The eldest nodded, but he looked troubled. "It put them in their places for this evening, but that won't last long. Let's hope that tomorrow's search turns up something definitive one way or another."

The eldest walked off toward his home, and after a moment the rest of the elders did the same, leaving the villagers whispering among themselves. Besh tried to take some satisfaction in the way the eldest had silenced the crowd, but Pyav's words to him still echoed ominously in his mind.

It was nearly dark when he reached the house, and as he wearily climbed the old wooden stairway, the smell of roasted fowl reached him, reminding Besh that he was famished.

They'd started without him, which was just as it should be; he'd told Elica that the children shouldn't go hungry because of all the foolishness surrounding Old Lici. The younger ones had been giggling about something as he climbed the stairs, but as soon as they saw him in the doorway, they fell silent. Actually all of them did. They just stared at him, as if they thought he might have brought Lici with him.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Besh said, taking his place at the table beside Mihas.

Sirj nodded. "It's all right."

No doubt they were bursting with questions for him, but no one said anything as he helped himself to some meat, greens, and bread.

Finally, Cam, the youngest, looked at his grandfather with wide eyes, and asked, "Did you find her?"

Besh couldn't keep from laughing. "Find her? You mean Lici?"

The boy nodded, but by now the others were laughing as well, and his face began to redden.

"No, Cam," Besh said. "We didn't expect to find her. We don't know where she's gone. We were trying to decide what to do with her house and her belongings."

"And what did you decide?" Elica asked.

The younger ones were laughing still, but Elica and Sirj were watching him closely, as was Mihas.

"Pyav and I will search her house in the morning, just to see if we can find something that will tell us why she left."

"Can I come, Grandfather?" Mihas asked.

He shook his head. "No, Mihas. This is no game, nor is it a hunt for hidden treasure. The eldest and I will be the only ones to enter Lici's home."

The boy looked disappointed, but he nodded and said nothing more.

"And her belongings?" Elica asked.

"Are still hers. Until we know for certain that she's not coming back, nothing will be done with her things."

"Good," Sirj muttered.

"Good?" Besh repeated, turning his way.

The man's face colored, just as his son's had a few moments before. Besh wondered if he'd meant to say it aloud.

Sirj took a breath. "Yes, good. I think all this talk about Old Lici's gold has gone on for too long already. You'd think the rest of them were starving, the way they look toward her little hut. It's all nonsense, if you ask me."

"But, Papa," Mihas said. "If she has half as much as they say she does-"

"It's none of our business how much she has. And even if she has more than the five Sovereigns of the Southlands put together, none of us has any claim to a single coin." He looked at Besh. "Forgive me for saying so, but if it comes to it, and the elders have to do something with her home, whatever gold there is should be used for something the whole village needs. A new well, maybe, or repairs to the lane north of the marketplace."

Besh wasn't certain what to say. None of the elders had thought of this, and yet he knew that Sirj had hit upon the perfect solution to their problem. It occurred to him that he had thought the man an idiot for so long that he'd never stopped to consider the possibility that there was a reason Elica had fallen in love with him.