Burying the Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page B

flashed whitely in the darkness;
astounding against his matt, black skin. His laughter was deep and
genuine. He accepted our offer of wine, begged by Tamaris from the
sleepy fohndahk matron, whom she’d had to call from her bed. He had
a name, of course, this first soulscaper brought for our
inspection, but I cannot recall it now. He was a mature man, lean
from hard travelling.
    ‘I’m told
there is work for me here,’ he said, looking at me. I raised a hand
without replying and gestured towards my brother. Let him do it. At
that moment, I wanted no part of this business.
    Beth smiled.
‘There might be. But it is a tricky matter. I am loath to discuss
it here.’
    The soulscaper’s smile
seemed to freeze on his face, but I’m sure no one else noticed,
perhaps because I was the only one looking for it.
    ‘Sounds
sinister!’ he said, and put down his glass of wine. He did not
touch it again. ‘Where, then, would you like to discuss this tricky
matter?’
    Beth extended
his hands. ‘Please, bear with me. Perhaps we could take a walk
together.’
    The soulscaper
eyed our gathering: tall, muscular Ramiz, with his gypsy looks,
minx-eyed Tamaris in her witch’s gown of red and wreathed in ebony
hair, and Beth and myself - how did he see us? Forbidding, aloof?
Or just conniving rich children from the far opulence of
Bochanegra? Then he smiled, and I swallowed reflexively, gulping
the cold air. In that smile, I saw the certainty that he could take
us on - all of us - if necessary.
    ‘A cool night
for a walk,’ he said, standing up, ‘but perhaps bracing.’ He
indicated for Beth to lead the way.
    Tamaris and
Ramiz paused to let me precede them - however informal our
relationship could be at times, they were aware of their place -
but I gestured for them to overtake me. I followed last, numbed
with cold and dread.
    We walked
along a lane overshadowed by spreading trees. Tamaris murmured
softly to Ramiz, looking back over her shoulder occasionally,
perhaps to check I was still with them. Beth was talking rapidly, I
could see his hands moving, but could not hear his voice, and the
soulscaper strolled with slow dignity beside him, paying attention
but apparently adding no comments, asking no questions. We climbed
a stile into a tree-bordered field, far enough from Lumeza for any
sounds we might make to be unheard by anyone else.
    ‘Gimel?’ Beth
directed a challenging look at me, perhaps wondering whether I
would shrink from this summons. I approached the soulscaper,
dragging my skirts through the dew-damp grass. Tamaris and Ramiz
lolled against the fence behind us; they were not to be included in
this part of the proceedings but - as our dependent humans often
are - were eager to spectate.
    ‘He will
examine your soulscape,’ Beth said.
    ‘Mine?’ What
had Beth told him?
    ‘Only if you
want me to,’ said the man gently. I dared not look at him, sure my
eyes would betray everything.
    I nodded.
‘Very well. Will it... take long?’
    The soulscaper
had squatted down in the grass and was rummaging through the bag
he’d been carrying. ‘No, I must ignite the fume. Perhaps your
companions can move back. There is no breeze, I know, but the smoke
can travel...’
    Beth smiled at
me tightly and sauntered back to the fence. For a few moments, the
soulscaper prepared his materials in silence. Then, as he applied
tinder to a charcoal he said, ‘Are you sure you feel comfortable
with this?’
    I stared at
the grass. ‘Yes. It’s quite alright.’
    ‘You don’t
have to feel ashamed,’ he continued, blowing on the flame. ‘Your
illness is not your fault.’
    I remained
silent.
    ‘We could have
done this at the fohndahk, you know. No one would have thought
anything of it. I’ve treated people there before.’
    Beth must have
told him I was sick, and an invented skittish temperament was the
excuse to get us to this isolated spot. Why couldn’t he see we were
deceiving him? I should tell him now; raise my eyes, look at