his shoulders around his ears. “I don’t mind my
own ’less I’m real bad. Don’t much mind you guys either. Except Kessa’s on her
monthly.”
Vandis told him, “I did
not need to know that.” He struck north and east, toward Tikka’s house.
“I can’t help it!” she
protested.
“I can’t help smelling
it. It’s just what we are.”
“The whole world stinks
to you, doesn’t it?” Vandis said.
Dingus pulled his
shoulders up again, then let them fall. “Basically. I don’t pay attention most of
the time is all, ’cause I’d never get anything done.”
“Well, keep your guard
up. Petty theft’s an institution here. The pickpockets will mark you two
quicker than sneezing.” Vandis looked the two of them up and down. “Staring
around at everything won’t help you.”
“I never saw anything
like this place,” Kessa said defensively. “I never even knew a place like this
existed.”
Vandis grinned. “You’re
not wrong to stare. There’s nowhere else like Windish. Just be careful.” As
they walked, he told Kessa and Dingus what he knew about the city: main
streets, points of interest, temples. He told them about the rocky beaches and
the tide pools choked with anemones and shellfish. He showed them nurse logs
that babied trees, and trees so old the nurse logs had rotted out from beneath
them, leaving arcane root formations behind. He showed them a few of the mosses
that carpeted the forest floor, the sphagnum mosses that dripped from the
boughs. “More types of fungi grow in a square mile of Windish than in the whole
of Dixon Forest,” he told them. “Look at those.” He pointed out a tree with a
white shelf fungus growing like steps up the trunk.
“Bet they don’t eat
pickled herring here,” Dingus said. “Can we try the food soon?” As if on cue,
his stomach let out a ferocious growl, and Vandis laughed.
“Tikka’s going to want to
feed us. It’d be rude to disappoint her. Don’t worry, though—good cooks in her
house.”
“Who’s Tikka?”
Kessa scoffed. “Weren’t
you paying any attention?”
“Hell no, I wasn’t. You
saw me. Just tell me who Tikka is.”
“She’s the lady who’s
going to let us camp on her land,” she explained. “She used to be a Knight but
she’s retired now.”
“Was that so hard?”
“Would it have been so
hard to listen when Vandis told us?”
“I—” Dingus began, but
Vandis cut him off.
“Quit bickering. We’re
almost there.”
Tikka lived about four
miles inland, away from the obscenely huge, tightly packed houses of the North
Coast, in a quiet neighborhood with plenty of space. She had two acres to
spread out on, and a good-sized place: privy on the ground, kitchen and
smokehouse in one cedar, and a tidy four-level house in another, larger tree,
connected by a rope-and-board bridge. A forest of small metal chimneys ran out
of the mossy roofs to funnel smoke above the canopy and minimize damage to the
trees. “Hello, up there!” he shouted when they came under the branches of the
bigger tree. “It’s Vandis plus two!”
Nothing happened. He drew
breath to shout again, but Dingus said, “They’re coming.”
Sure enough, a trapdoor
swung open from the bottom level of the house, and a rope ladder unrolled
swiftly down to them, bouncing at the end of its descent. Vandis didn’t waste a
moment. He climbed the swaying ladder and pulled himself through the trapdoor
into warmth, light, and the fluting chirrups of greeting accented by native
Ishian. If Windish made him uncomfortable, well, he’d never felt uncomfortable here .
Tikka herself was white
with age from the top of her crest to the tips of her toes, but her black eyes
shone and snapped. She went mostly unadorned except for a gold ring around her
tail and a colorful tunic, which tonight was bright red embroidered in a black
geometric pattern around cuffs and hem. “Vandis!” she cried when he pulled his
legs from the hole in the floor, stretching out her
own ’less I’m real bad. Don’t much mind you guys either. Except Kessa’s on her
monthly.”
Vandis told him, “I did
not need to know that.” He struck north and east, toward Tikka’s house.
“I can’t help it!” she
protested.
“I can’t help smelling
it. It’s just what we are.”
“The whole world stinks
to you, doesn’t it?” Vandis said.
Dingus pulled his
shoulders up again, then let them fall. “Basically. I don’t pay attention most of
the time is all, ’cause I’d never get anything done.”
“Well, keep your guard
up. Petty theft’s an institution here. The pickpockets will mark you two
quicker than sneezing.” Vandis looked the two of them up and down. “Staring
around at everything won’t help you.”
“I never saw anything
like this place,” Kessa said defensively. “I never even knew a place like this
existed.”
Vandis grinned. “You’re
not wrong to stare. There’s nowhere else like Windish. Just be careful.” As
they walked, he told Kessa and Dingus what he knew about the city: main
streets, points of interest, temples. He told them about the rocky beaches and
the tide pools choked with anemones and shellfish. He showed them nurse logs
that babied trees, and trees so old the nurse logs had rotted out from beneath
them, leaving arcane root formations behind. He showed them a few of the mosses
that carpeted the forest floor, the sphagnum mosses that dripped from the
boughs. “More types of fungi grow in a square mile of Windish than in the whole
of Dixon Forest,” he told them. “Look at those.” He pointed out a tree with a
white shelf fungus growing like steps up the trunk.
“Bet they don’t eat
pickled herring here,” Dingus said. “Can we try the food soon?” As if on cue,
his stomach let out a ferocious growl, and Vandis laughed.
“Tikka’s going to want to
feed us. It’d be rude to disappoint her. Don’t worry, though—good cooks in her
house.”
“Who’s Tikka?”
Kessa scoffed. “Weren’t
you paying any attention?”
“Hell no, I wasn’t. You
saw me. Just tell me who Tikka is.”
“She’s the lady who’s
going to let us camp on her land,” she explained. “She used to be a Knight but
she’s retired now.”
“Was that so hard?”
“Would it have been so
hard to listen when Vandis told us?”
“I—” Dingus began, but
Vandis cut him off.
“Quit bickering. We’re
almost there.”
Tikka lived about four
miles inland, away from the obscenely huge, tightly packed houses of the North
Coast, in a quiet neighborhood with plenty of space. She had two acres to
spread out on, and a good-sized place: privy on the ground, kitchen and
smokehouse in one cedar, and a tidy four-level house in another, larger tree,
connected by a rope-and-board bridge. A forest of small metal chimneys ran out
of the mossy roofs to funnel smoke above the canopy and minimize damage to the
trees. “Hello, up there!” he shouted when they came under the branches of the
bigger tree. “It’s Vandis plus two!”
Nothing happened. He drew
breath to shout again, but Dingus said, “They’re coming.”
Sure enough, a trapdoor
swung open from the bottom level of the house, and a rope ladder unrolled
swiftly down to them, bouncing at the end of its descent. Vandis didn’t waste a
moment. He climbed the swaying ladder and pulled himself through the trapdoor
into warmth, light, and the fluting chirrups of greeting accented by native
Ishian. If Windish made him uncomfortable, well, he’d never felt uncomfortable here .
Tikka herself was white
with age from the top of her crest to the tips of her toes, but her black eyes
shone and snapped. She went mostly unadorned except for a gold ring around her
tail and a colorful tunic, which tonight was bright red embroidered in a black
geometric pattern around cuffs and hem. “Vandis!” she cried when he pulled his
legs from the hole in the floor, stretching out her
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