Moby Jack & Other Tall Tales Read Online Free PDF Page A

inn, on the far side of the river. Accommodation for those not directly connected with guarding the Tower was on the north bank, while the Tower itself stood on the south bank. It was another safety measure, to protect the High Priest. All river traffic ceased at sundown, and anyone found on the south bank, after dusk, was immediately put to death.
    ‘When we were out in the desert,’ she told him, ‘I often wondered... well, why didn’t you bring the statuettes by river, on a barge? Why risk that terrible journey over the wasteland?’
    Niccolò had left the carving of the facial features until last, and this he had completed within the last five hours of close work. He held the statuette up to the light coming through the dusty window, inspecting it. The piece, as always, was pristine, immaculate. It would fit, patterns matching exactly, into its place in the holy ring of angels. It was the sibling of the other 332 figurines—with one exception.
    Instead of da Vinci’s youthful countenance, it had the face of a monkey. Worse still, a monkey whose features resembled those of the High Priest. A cruel caricature.
    He wrapped the statuette in a piece of cloth, before she could inspect his final work, and answered her question.
    ‘The river is crowded, full of his agents and spies. I know how fanatical they are. I knew I could convince him , once I was here, but they would never have allowed me to reach this far. Besides, one is only permitted to carry agricultural goods by river craft, unless one bears the authority of the High Priest. I had no such authority. They would have killed me simply on suspicion, before I reached the Tower.
    ‘The river is a deadly place, as you know. Then there are the pirates...I stood far more chance of being murdered on the water, than I did of dying of hunger or thirst out on the sands.’
    ‘That’s true, and it’s also true that you could cross the desert relatively undetected, until you came within sight of the Tower, of course. Yet...you
    took me along with you, knowing the risk. I might have been one of his spies.’
    He stared at her.
    ‘Yes, you might. I think you were—and still are. It is fascinating, and horrifying to me, that people like you are prepared to go through torture for the sake of discovering his enemies. It’s a enigma I don’t think I shall ever solve... but I am glad for my father’s sake that he has his devoted servants.’
    ‘You wrong me,’ she said, looking into his eyes.
    ‘No,’ replied Niccolò, ‘I don’t think so. You are still besotted with the mystique of the man, and you think that if you can uncover some plot against him, he will reinstate you, and you’ll return to his favour. You have been blinded, Romola, but I shall restore your sight.’
    Niccolò dispatched the statuette to da Vinci by courier. Then he asked Romola to walk down to the river with him, so that they might cross, and gain audience with the High Priest, once that man had had time to gaze upon the final figurine.
    On their way down to the river, Niccolò said to her, ‘You have been asked to guard me, haven’t you?’
    She stared at him, then nodded.
    ‘Yes. That’s why they let me out of prison.’
    ‘I thought so. Da Vinci would never let me run around loose, of that I was sure. So it had to be you.’
    They reached the jetties, and waited for a boat to come which would carry them across.
    A short while afterwards a barge came down the river with a giant man at the tiller. He had a gentle face, a good face, and he was wearing a knitted waistcoat that looked new. When his boat reached the jetty he clambered ashore. The Holy Guardians swarmed over his craft, inspecting every spar, every beam, before allowing the dockers to unload his cargo. The only goods permitted to be carried by river barge were food and drink, and if you were found with any other freight you were executed on the spot, no excuses accepted. The big man nodded to the two people who watched him