Russell Hoban - Riddley Walker

The black leader wer looking the same way I wer. I movit my head and han a littl like you wud out foraging and giving some 1 the syn to move up closer. That dogd all ready be come so much like regler crowd I jus done it without thinking. No soonerd I give the syn nor off he gone like we ben foraging to gether our woal lives. Big and hevvy as he wer he dint make no soun he jus slyd like a shadder getting longer til he come to the shelter then he easit to the doar way and lookit in. He lookit back tords Lissener and me with his ears up and waving his tail then he startit on beyont and looking back agen showing all clear as plain as any 1 cud.

Lissener and me follert on then and the 2 nexter dogs with us. I lookit in to the shelter with a arrer on the string. 3 pairs of up and down sleapers 2 benches a tabel with 3 candls lit and a fire place with the fire going. Pots and gear but no weapons in site. I had to smyl at the candls I knowit them Fork Stoan hevvys wer afeart of coming back in to that big place in the dark. I wudve took a doss bag only I dint want to leave no foller.

Follering the black leader we gone down some steps in to a tunnel and you cud hear the sea stronger. We come out in to the open nite and the littl girzel on our faces agen the sea wer beating loud on the stoans it wer by water right a nuff. Where we come out then it wer some where a long the snug I think it wer jus inshoar of the lite house stump.

Lissener and me wer boath on the lissen and boath waiting for some thing we dint know what. Working our way a long the shoar then tords Do It Over we seen a fire and figgers black agenst it. 1st look I got I cudnt be cern how many it wer but I gest it wer all 6 Fork Stoan hevvys parbly changing the look out.

Looking beyont the fire and the figgers looking in to the dark a long the shoar then looking out to the sea dark and Lissener hispert to me, “The littl come big took by the far come close.”

I fealt like putting my 2 hans roun his froat and sqweazing hard. I hist back at him, “Why in the worl did you have to say that? Whatre you trying to put on me?”

He hispert, “Trubba not I wernt saying it to you I dint even know I said it out loud it wer jus some thing come in to my head.”

We workit up on to the top of the clif behynt the hevvys til we wer over where they wer. They had ther fire about ½ way down on some kynd of stanning. Looking over the edge I cud see the woal 6 of them. We kep back out of the fire lite then and we lissent a littl.

Mosly they wernt talking they wer passing a flask roun. Which what they did say mos of it got los in the soun of the sea beating on the stoans. We did hear a littl of it tho. 1 of them said, “…Goodparleys boy and ben throwt over. He cud wel be…”

A nother 1 said, “…do any how?”

The 1st 1 said, “His dad ben 1 Stoan Phist bint he. Iwl give odds there ben knowing… Iwl give odds that littl witey bloakwl go…”

Lissener pult me back he hist, “Come on theres some thing else here les get to it befor some 1 else does.”

I hist, “What is it?”

He hist, “I dont know til we get to it.” He wunt even hol back 1 minim so off we gone a long the clifs tords Do It Over.

We come to where the clifsve fel in to the sea time back way back its broakin groun there all a jumbl we use to go there our crowd of kids when I ben littl. That place stil had its old name from way way back it wer callit The Warnings. Coming on to it I thot: Here!

The sea wer sill chopping and beating on the stoans but there come a nother soun it wer that holler bonking soun of a boat knocking on stoan. Looking hard I cud make out the shape of it black agenst the foam. Lissener said, “There!”

Stanning on The Warnings looking at that boat out of the dark! Never ben befor. Never be agen.

O that water wer col. I pult the boat on to the stoans it wer ½ ful of water and hevvy. Sail dragging in the water the marsed bustit itd come down on the bloak what ben sailing the boat he wer stil unner it dead with his head smasht in. Musve happent in the storm parbly he ben blowt Souf of Fork Stoan then with the tide terning he ben driffing back the other way a long the shoar tords Do It Over.

That dead bloak wer from other side dark as it wer I cud tel by his boots. What ben he doing out there any how? Cawt in the storm parbly and nitefel on the water. Ben he stearing for that fire on the clifs when the marse come down on his head?

Nothing in the boat only oars and a bayling skoop. Hooker roap and hook. Bow and arrers and spears. The bloak had a knife on him he had some roady and some drowndit bread in 1 pockit. In a nother pockit he had flint and striker and makings and a candl stub. About a cut ¼ of hash and some rizlas. Plus a bag of littl stoans all wet and crummly. Not hard at all you cud break them with your thum nail. There wernt nothing else on the bloak nor nothing else in the boat I got my self good and wet looking every where I even lookit inside the drobber case. It wer only a littl open boat there wernt that many hidey places.

Lissener took that littl bag of littl crummly stoans in his hans he said, “This is what I ben lissening. Hol it in your hans and you can feal it in them stoans and scrabbling to get out you can hear it hispering to its self and clacking like a skelter of crabs.”

I said, “What is it?”

He said, “I tol you I dont know nothing only when we gether but I know theres Power in it. And where theres Power theres foller. We bes not ful this circel on no farther we bes get in to Cambry qwicks we can with this here bag of stoans Im going to gether deap Im going to work that Power.”

I had that bag in my han I begun to feal like it wer liting up the dark like a torch and bleaping follerme all over Inland. Suddn I wantit the nite to get darker I wantit dark a nuff to smuvver it qwyet. I thot a littl on our suching waytion and I done what I cud to dark it down a littl. We roalt mos of the water out of the boat so I cud row it then we put the bloak and every thing else back in it only kep out what ben in his pockits and the bow and arrers for Lissener plus I cut off a good lenth of sail roap it wer boun to be neadful some time. Then I got in and pult out to where it wer deap a nuff even at low water. I tyd the hooker roap short roun the dead bloaks leg then over the side I droppt the hooker and him boath. Thinking wylst I done it: That Powers working me all ready nor I dont even know what it is.

Pult back tords shoar and when I come to where some big rocks wer sticking out in to the water I clum out on to them and ternt the boat over and lef it floating up side down and driffing how it wud.

Then we vackt our wayt out of there and roading for Cambry.

Heading for senter then. I never ben to Cambry befor but I knowit wer a bit farther from Fork Stoan to there nor it wer from Bernt Arse to Fork Stoan. I reckont we had dark a nuff to las our road out if we kep on steady.

Out thru the Norf part of Fork Stoan outers we gone and Norfing on the A260 track by the Frogs Legs. Going thru the outers the 2 nexter dogs forkt off to the lef and by the time we come to Stickit Flats they wer back and the others with them we had the woal pack with us agen. I kep wunnering how long wewd have them I knowit they ben long pas ther markings and far off ther groun.

Peopl talk about the Cambry Pul theywl say any part of Inland you myt be in youwl feal that pul to Cambry in the senter. May be its jus in the air or may be where the Power Ring ben theres stil Power in the groun. You tern your self that way and it comes on so strong you cud beam your self in with your eyes closd. Or with no eyes thats how Lissener gone. He dint go slow and easy like a blyn man on strange groun which that wer about the only kynd of groun there wer for him he hadnt never ben no where in his woal life only 1 hoal to a nother from Cambry roun the circel 9wys to Fork Stoan. No he dint go slow nor easy. He stayd with that black dog some times with a han on his neck some times not he leggit so fas I cudnt hardly keap up with him. Hewd stummel and fall in to hoals hewd go arse over head down suddn drops it dint matter nothing to him. It wer like he had a winch inside him with a roap going right the way to Cambry and him winching his self in. All ways lissening and out of him there come a farring voyce with no soun going a head in to the dark.