the big stones had been laid low, and I climbed over them feeling like I ought to have had a sword and worn a knight-shirt of chain mail.
I thought I was going to see a courtyard, but there was none. Instead I saw empty rooms that had been open to the wind and weather for five or six hundred years. I got into one of the biggest and from it went into a bunch of others, each one darker than the last. In there, pretty well lost in the dark, a stair with high narrow steps went up to the next floor.
I went up and found another stair, one you could see only as a darker area on an uneven floor that was already plenty dark. This one went down, hundreds of worn, broken steps that got slippery with water if you went down far enough. That was enough for me.
“Martya was right,” I said out loud. “She’d hate this place.” Echoes were the only answer I got.
I had thought there was nobody on the island but me, but when I left I found a man in black sitting on one of the tumbled stones as if he were waiting for me. I spoke to him in German until I saw he did not understand it. He got up. I am tall, but he was a quite a bit taller than I am, NBA tall. When he talked it was in a language that was not like Martya’s, one I could not even recognize. Pretty soon he saw I did not understand, and so we talked with signs.
He came here to think, or it seemed to me that was what he said. Maybe he meant he was mourning. His black clothes would have been just right for a funeral. He knew the ruined castle well. He had been in every part of it and would show me around, although a lot was dangerous. (He pretended he was falling.)
The shadows had gotten long, and I was anxious to get away. I tried to say that I had to go, that somebody was waiting for me, but that I hoped to come back later to take pictures.
He said he would rather I not take his, and I promised I would not. I would only photograph the castle. That was what we said by signs, or at least I think it was.
The boat was still tied up where I had left it, which to tell you the truth did not surprise me a whole lot. I thanked Martya for not sailing away.
She sat up. “I could not find the knife. I looked and looked but you have take him with you. It was a bad place you went?”
“An old place,” I said, “and I doubt that it had running water.”
“When it rain.” She giggled. “What you think of me? I am red a lot?”
“You are, and if I were you, I’d go into the cabin and put on your clothes.”
“We go back? Go home?” She smiled.
“Yes, I think we’d better. We have six fish, but they won’t live long with a string through their gills.”
“First we go in here, where you tire me.”
I shook my head. “We’d have to lie on the floor. Try me tomorrow morning.”
“You mean!” She stuck her lip out.
“It’s all this German,” I said. “It has that effect on Americans. Now get ready to get mad, because I want to sail around the island before we go.”
“What is use of this? We must go into wind. Such a boat cannot do this.”
“We’ll never sail straight into it,” I told her. “Stay down off that roof and you’ll see. If I can buy a decent camera here without breaking the bank, I want to take pictures of Vlad’s castle. One I’ll certainly want will be a picture of the whole island taken from a boat, with the castle showing as plainly as I can get it through those damn trees.”
We made our circuit, during which I found two good angles from which to shoot the castle, and sailed away.
There is a lot more I could tell here, but it is pretty ordinary so I am going to skip it. After that I lived at Kleon’s for a couple of weeks. He did not like that or me. Martya did, maybe too much. Eight or ten times we waited until he was asleep and went out to the clubs to dance and drink and listen to lousy rock. There are only three clubs in Puraustays, and I never did decide which one was the worst. They were all cheap. They all watered the
I thought I was going to see a courtyard, but there was none. Instead I saw empty rooms that had been open to the wind and weather for five or six hundred years. I got into one of the biggest and from it went into a bunch of others, each one darker than the last. In there, pretty well lost in the dark, a stair with high narrow steps went up to the next floor.
I went up and found another stair, one you could see only as a darker area on an uneven floor that was already plenty dark. This one went down, hundreds of worn, broken steps that got slippery with water if you went down far enough. That was enough for me.
“Martya was right,” I said out loud. “She’d hate this place.” Echoes were the only answer I got.
I had thought there was nobody on the island but me, but when I left I found a man in black sitting on one of the tumbled stones as if he were waiting for me. I spoke to him in German until I saw he did not understand it. He got up. I am tall, but he was a quite a bit taller than I am, NBA tall. When he talked it was in a language that was not like Martya’s, one I could not even recognize. Pretty soon he saw I did not understand, and so we talked with signs.
He came here to think, or it seemed to me that was what he said. Maybe he meant he was mourning. His black clothes would have been just right for a funeral. He knew the ruined castle well. He had been in every part of it and would show me around, although a lot was dangerous. (He pretended he was falling.)
The shadows had gotten long, and I was anxious to get away. I tried to say that I had to go, that somebody was waiting for me, but that I hoped to come back later to take pictures.
He said he would rather I not take his, and I promised I would not. I would only photograph the castle. That was what we said by signs, or at least I think it was.
The boat was still tied up where I had left it, which to tell you the truth did not surprise me a whole lot. I thanked Martya for not sailing away.
She sat up. “I could not find the knife. I looked and looked but you have take him with you. It was a bad place you went?”
“An old place,” I said, “and I doubt that it had running water.”
“When it rain.” She giggled. “What you think of me? I am red a lot?”
“You are, and if I were you, I’d go into the cabin and put on your clothes.”
“We go back? Go home?” She smiled.
“Yes, I think we’d better. We have six fish, but they won’t live long with a string through their gills.”
“First we go in here, where you tire me.”
I shook my head. “We’d have to lie on the floor. Try me tomorrow morning.”
“You mean!” She stuck her lip out.
“It’s all this German,” I said. “It has that effect on Americans. Now get ready to get mad, because I want to sail around the island before we go.”
“What is use of this? We must go into wind. Such a boat cannot do this.”
“We’ll never sail straight into it,” I told her. “Stay down off that roof and you’ll see. If I can buy a decent camera here without breaking the bank, I want to take pictures of Vlad’s castle. One I’ll certainly want will be a picture of the whole island taken from a boat, with the castle showing as plainly as I can get it through those damn trees.”
We made our circuit, during which I found two good angles from which to shoot the castle, and sailed away.
There is a lot more I could tell here, but it is pretty ordinary so I am going to skip it. After that I lived at Kleon’s for a couple of weeks. He did not like that or me. Martya did, maybe too much. Eight or ten times we waited until he was asleep and went out to the clubs to dance and drink and listen to lousy rock. There are only three clubs in Puraustays, and I never did decide which one was the worst. They were all cheap. They all watered the
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