Read Online Destiny's Road by Larry Niven - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Larry Niven
Tags: SF, Speculative Fiction
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the storm washed away some houses two years ago," Loria said. "Elsewise it's the House of Healing."
There was nothing like a bed. The Bloocher clan slept on the wide expanse of floor, covered in their own clothes.
In a moment when Brenda was surely asleep, Curdis spoke in the dark. "I had to turn down an offer from Loria."
Offer? Ah. "What did you say?"
"I said I'm married and Brenda's too young, but Timmy's not."
Jemmy's ears burned in the dark.
The sun hadn't risen over the mountains yet. The morning was cold. The water was colder for the first moments; then Jemmy's body stopped noticing. He and Tarzana fought their boards through the waves and paddled out to where others were sitting six in a row.
They waited, talking little. Sound carried very well over the water.
Jemmy asked, "Don't you get sharks around here?"
The pause lasted long enough that Jemmy thought nobody had heard him. Then one boy said, "I don't think they like the taste of the river. Sometimes one comes around. We get a lot of sharks when a caravan stops and three hundred chugs get their attention."
"Wave," Tarzana said.
The idea was to be moving as fast as the wave when it arrived. Paddle without falling off. When the board catches the wave, stand up. Jemmy had tried standing up yesterday. Today he didn't. Kneeling on a board as a wave hurled it toward the beach was tough enough.
Curdis asked the Twerdahl folk for work, and work was found. He and Brenda and Jemmy (make that Tim, start thinking Tim) knew how to garden, knew how to pull Destiny weeds.
"If we leave about now," Curdis said in midafternoon, "we'll get to the guarded bridge about sunset."
"I think they like us here," Brenda said doubtfully. "Uh-huh. I don't guess Margery's worried about us yet, but, Brenda, I told the merchants we'd be coming back today."
Jemmy held up a hand. Hold it. "Sunset?"
"They saw Thonny around noon. Let's let them see you around sunset."
At noon and sunset, two views of "Tim Hann" could look quite different. Curdis continued, "Sunset, not dawn. They'd never believe we marched in the dark."
"Did the merchants tell you about Twerdahi Town?"
"Not a word," Curdis said in some irritation.
"Nothing about people living down the Road? Big surprise?"
"Big joke."
"So," said Jemmy, "we found a surprise and stayed an extra day. That's what they'll expect. Give them another day to forget what Tim Hann looks like."
Curdis grinned. "I like it here too. I didn't have the nerve to try those boards, Tim. How is it?"
Jemmy shook his head. "It's like, I can't tell a Twerdahl how to ride
a bicycle. I can't tell you what surfing is like. Want us to show you? Brenda?"
"Yeah."
Brenda showed an aptitude for surfing. Curdis gave up early. He didn't like falling off in front of strange males.
The Bednacourt girls returned to the House of Healing with them that night. When the Bloocher clan curled into their blankets, the girls didn't leave.
Voices in the dark, men and women talking together. That was Loria:
"You're good people. You have things to teach us. Some of what comes off the Road are parasites."
"We all do farm work," Curdis said. "We learn to look for what needs doing."
Glind: "We don't let anyone stay a minute if he's alone. Any man alone must be running from something."
"A woman?" Curdis.
"A woman alone might be running from, well, a man." Tarzana's voice.
Loria: "The only women we've ever seen on the Road were merchants. But there was a man called himself Haines-" And he was a murderer who hid in the swamp. He stole from the truck gardens when he could, until Destiny food and no speckles turned him into a skeletal zombie, and then they flushed him out.
"Sounds like Mattoo Haine," Curdis said. "He killed his wife and oldest son when I was little."
Nobody wanted to tell Twerdahls that if criminals could get past where the Road straightened, Spiral Town let them go. There was a silence Jemmy savored. Then he spoke into the dark. "It must have started
There was nothing like a bed. The Bloocher clan slept on the wide expanse of floor, covered in their own clothes.
In a moment when Brenda was surely asleep, Curdis spoke in the dark. "I had to turn down an offer from Loria."
Offer? Ah. "What did you say?"
"I said I'm married and Brenda's too young, but Timmy's not."
Jemmy's ears burned in the dark.
The sun hadn't risen over the mountains yet. The morning was cold. The water was colder for the first moments; then Jemmy's body stopped noticing. He and Tarzana fought their boards through the waves and paddled out to where others were sitting six in a row.
They waited, talking little. Sound carried very well over the water.
Jemmy asked, "Don't you get sharks around here?"
The pause lasted long enough that Jemmy thought nobody had heard him. Then one boy said, "I don't think they like the taste of the river. Sometimes one comes around. We get a lot of sharks when a caravan stops and three hundred chugs get their attention."
"Wave," Tarzana said.
The idea was to be moving as fast as the wave when it arrived. Paddle without falling off. When the board catches the wave, stand up. Jemmy had tried standing up yesterday. Today he didn't. Kneeling on a board as a wave hurled it toward the beach was tough enough.
Curdis asked the Twerdahl folk for work, and work was found. He and Brenda and Jemmy (make that Tim, start thinking Tim) knew how to garden, knew how to pull Destiny weeds.
"If we leave about now," Curdis said in midafternoon, "we'll get to the guarded bridge about sunset."
"I think they like us here," Brenda said doubtfully. "Uh-huh. I don't guess Margery's worried about us yet, but, Brenda, I told the merchants we'd be coming back today."
Jemmy held up a hand. Hold it. "Sunset?"
"They saw Thonny around noon. Let's let them see you around sunset."
At noon and sunset, two views of "Tim Hann" could look quite different. Curdis continued, "Sunset, not dawn. They'd never believe we marched in the dark."
"Did the merchants tell you about Twerdahi Town?"
"Not a word," Curdis said in some irritation.
"Nothing about people living down the Road? Big surprise?"
"Big joke."
"So," said Jemmy, "we found a surprise and stayed an extra day. That's what they'll expect. Give them another day to forget what Tim Hann looks like."
Curdis grinned. "I like it here too. I didn't have the nerve to try those boards, Tim. How is it?"
Jemmy shook his head. "It's like, I can't tell a Twerdahl how to ride
a bicycle. I can't tell you what surfing is like. Want us to show you? Brenda?"
"Yeah."
Brenda showed an aptitude for surfing. Curdis gave up early. He didn't like falling off in front of strange males.
The Bednacourt girls returned to the House of Healing with them that night. When the Bloocher clan curled into their blankets, the girls didn't leave.
Voices in the dark, men and women talking together. That was Loria:
"You're good people. You have things to teach us. Some of what comes off the Road are parasites."
"We all do farm work," Curdis said. "We learn to look for what needs doing."
Glind: "We don't let anyone stay a minute if he's alone. Any man alone must be running from something."
"A woman?" Curdis.
"A woman alone might be running from, well, a man." Tarzana's voice.
Loria: "The only women we've ever seen on the Road were merchants. But there was a man called himself Haines-" And he was a murderer who hid in the swamp. He stole from the truck gardens when he could, until Destiny food and no speckles turned him into a skeletal zombie, and then they flushed him out.
"Sounds like Mattoo Haine," Curdis said. "He killed his wife and oldest son when I was little."
Nobody wanted to tell Twerdahls that if criminals could get past where the Road straightened, Spiral Town let them go. There was a silence Jemmy savored. Then he spoke into the dark. "It must have started
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