The Belly of the Bow Read Online Free PDF Page A

of the bench, while Loredan put down his plane and ran his fingers over the surface of the wood. Then he turned round, and Alexius caught sight of his face—
    —And felt his head jerk sideways, as the shoulder it had been resting on was taken away. He opened his eyes and grunted.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ said a voice beside him, ‘I didn’t mean to startle you.’
    Sitting beside him on the cold stone bench was a woman, the owner of the shoulder he’d been using as a headrest. She studied the embarrassment in Alexius’ eyes for a moment, then smiled.
    ‘I do apologise,’ Alexius said, still groggy with sleep and a headache that presumably had something to do with the angle of his head while he’d been asleep. ‘I didn’t realise—’ ‘That’s all right, really.’ The woman was still smiling. She was probably taller than she looked; but she was plump, with a round face, a little knob of a chin crowning the space where her fat, smooth cheeks met at the bottom. Her hair was grey and looked as if it had gone that colour five or so years earlier than it should have. She wore it in a neat round bun secured with an undecorated whalebone comb; it was pulled in tight, like a prisoner’s arm twisted behind his back. She was wearing a plain grey smock, with a moth-hole skilfully darned on the point of the right shoulder. ‘You know, my grandfather was just the same; he’d fall asleep in the evenings and whoever was next to him on the settle had to stay exactly where they were till he woke up.’ She peered at him and frowned a little. ‘Actually, you do look tired,’ she said. ‘Are you all right?’
    ‘Fine,’ Alexius replied, straightening his back a little.
    ‘You don’t need to go for a wee or anything?’
    ‘No,’ Alexius said firmly, ‘thank you. Excuse me,’ he went on, ‘but you wouldn’t happen to know if the Director’s actually in his office, would you? You see, I’ve been sitting here for hours, and I don’t believe he’s really there.’
    The woman nodded. ‘I was in there a moment ago,’ she said. ‘There’s nobody in there.’
    Alexius sighed. ‘Then do you think it’ll be all right if I go now?’ he said. ‘It must be getting late, and I’ve still got to find somewhere to stay the night. The soldiers who brought me here didn’t tell me much, but I gathered that the Director’s summons didn’t include anything about a place to stay. I don’t know,’ he went on, ‘maybe they’re going to give me a guest room, or throw me in the cells.’
    ‘You’re here to see the Director,’ the woman said. Odd, the way she said it; not a question, not quite a statement. ‘You’re right, it is late. And you look as if you should be in bed.’ She stood up and went across to the door of the office. ‘Would you like something to eat or drink?’ she said.
    Alexius considered for a moment. ‘Yes,’ he said, ‘if it’s no trouble I’d quite like a long drink of water.’
    ‘No trouble,’ the woman said. ‘And something to eat?’
    ‘Maybe later. I suppose it depends how much longer I’ve got to sit here.’
    The woman tilted her shoulders a little. ‘That’s fine,’ she said. ‘In that case, we’d better make a start. Let’s go through into the office. It’s more comfortable in there.’
    Fine clairvoyant you are . ‘You’re the Director?’ Alexius said, stupidly. The woman didn’t reply immediately; she pushed open the door, strode across to a big, solid chair behind a big, solid desk - the roof could fall in, and when they dug it out of the rubble the furniture would be as good as new - flumped down and wriggled a little to get herself comfortable. Alexius followed. There was another chair, also monumentally built but smaller and straighter, on the other side of the desk. It was quite dark, and the woman fiddled briefly with a tinder-box to light a plain pottery lamp.
    ‘That’s better,’ she said, as the light began to spread. Just the one lamp, in a big, spare,