The Book of Athyra Read Online Free PDF Page A

and he died suddenly, and, at the same time or shortly thereafter, the horse was startled, throwing the already dead body into the back, where it would fall just as you see it, and with enough force to break the skin over the skull, and perhaps the skull as well. If that were the case, what would you expect to see?”
    Savn was actually beginning to enjoy this—to see it as a puzzle, rather than as the body of someone he had once known. He said, “A depression in the skull, and a matching one on the cart beneath his head.”
    “He would have had to hit very hard indeed to make a depression in the wood. But, yes, there should be one on the back of his head. And what else?”
    “What else?”
    “Yes. Think. Picture the scene as it may have happened.”
    Savn felt his eyes widen. “Oh!” He looked at the horse. “Yes,” he said. “He has run hard.”
    “Excellent!” said the Master, smiling for the first time. “Now we can use our knowledge of Reins. What did he do?”
    “Well, he used to be a driver, but since he left town I don’t know.”
    “That is sufficient. Would Reins ever have driven a horse into a sweat?”
    “Oh, no! Not unless he was desperate.”
    “Correct. So either he was in some great trouble, or he was not driving the horse. You will note that this fits well with our theory that death came to him suddenly and also frightened the horse. Now, there is not enough evidence to conclude that we are correct, but it is worthwhile to make our version a tentative assumption while we look for more information.”
    “I understand, Master.”
    “I see that you do. Excellent. Now touch the body.”
    “Touch it?”
    “Yes.”
    “Master . . .”
    “Do it!”
    Savn swallowed, reached out and laid his hand lightly on the arm nearest him, then drew back. Master Wag snorted. “Touch the skin.”
    He touched Reins’s hand with his forefinger, then pulled away as if burned. “It’s cold!” he said.
    “Yes, bodies cool when dead. It would have been remarkable if it were not cold.”
    “But then—”
    “Touch it again.”
    Savn did so. It was easier the second time. He said, “It is very hard.”
    “Yes. This condition lasts several hours, then gradually fades away. In this heat we may say that he has been dead at least four or five hours, yet not more than half a day, unless he died from the Cold Fever, which would leave him in such a condition for much longer. If that had been the cause of death, however, his features would exhibit signs of the discomfort he felt before his death. Now, let us move him.”
    “Move him? How?”
    “Let’s see his back.”
    “All right.” Savn found that bile rose in his throat as he took a grip on the body and turned it over.
    “As we suspected,” said the Master. “There is the small bloodstain on the wood, and no depression, and you see the blood on the back of his head.”
    “Yes, Master.”
    “The next step is to bring him back home, where we may examine him thoroughly. We must look for marks and abrasions on his body; we must test for sorcery, we must look at the contents of his stomach, his bowels, his kidneys, and his bladder; and test for diseases and poisons; and—” He stopped, looking at Savn closely, then smiled. “Never mind,” he said. “I see that your Maener and Paener are still waiting for you. This will be sufficient for a lesson; we will give you some time to become used to the idea before it comes up again.”
    “Thank you, Master.”
    “Go on, go on. Tomorrow I will tell you what I learned. Or, rather, how I learned it. You will hear everything there is to hear tonight, no doubt, when you return to Tem’s house, because the gossips will be fullof the news. Oh, and clean your hands carefully and fully with dirt, and then water, for you have touched death, and death calls to his own.”
    This last remark was enough to bring back all the revulsion that Savn had first felt when laying hands on the corpse. He went down in the road