Page 183 of Circle of Days

Dee turned and walked away, and Joia watched her until she turned around a bend and was out of sight.

The people at Farmplace were agog to know how Joia’s mission had ended. Several young farmer men had joined the volunteers, and their parents, their wives, and their children were waiting to hear news.

The first to return were the Young Dogs, but their report was indecisive. They said they had so damaged the track that the sled could not possibly have reached the Monument. No one was sure whether to believe this.

Then Shen arrived. As he walked through the settlement to Troon’s house, people followed him until there was a small crowd. Pia was among them, with Yana and Olin. Troon and Katch came out of the house to meet Shen.

“She did it,” Shen said. “She got the stone to the Monument, and it’s standing there for all to see. And, my gods, it really is the biggest stone in the world.”

Troon cursed. “Where is that fool Narod?” he said, looking around.

Narod was in the crowd, and could not hide himself because of his height.

Troon said: “You told me you had stopped them!”

Narod protested: “We destroyed the track!”

Troon looked at Shen, who said: “They destroyed part of the track. The volunteers repaired it. That made them a day late, but no one cared.”

Narod said indignantly: “We wanted to smash up their sled. That would have ruined everything. But the sled was guarded all the time. We waited until halfway through the last day, then realized we were never going to get the chance, so we messed up the track.”

“Stam would never have been satisfied with a bit of petty vandalism,” Troon said. “You’re pathetic. Get out of my sight.”

Narod disappeared.

Shen said: “She wants to do it again next midsummer. She says she’ll bring nine stones then.”

Pia felt a glow of satisfaction. What a woman Joia was!

“This is intolerable,” Troon said. “One giant stone will be a huge attraction, but nine will be the wonder of the world. People will come to see it from…” He waved a vague hand in the air. “…from over the water. The herders will be dominant again. We farmers will be regarded like the woodlanders, people of no account. Hardly anyone came to our midsummer feast this year—no one will come next year!” He paused for breath. “That woman… she wants to be the ruler—the Big Man of the Great Plain.”

Pia murmured to Duff: “The Big Woman.”

“Well, we’re going to stop her,” Troon went on. He was breathinghard, as if he had been running. “We have a year to prepare,” he said. “Next time I won’t send a handful of boy thugs.” He looked as if he was going to announce a plan, but stopped himself. “We’ll have to think of something else.”

Ani had a little pile of leather offcuts and decided to make them into a bag. Using a flint knife, she sliced the offcuts into thin strips, each the width of a baby’s finger. Then she stood a wide log on end and draped some of the strips over it. Next she had to weave the remaining strips into those on the log. She had just begun the process when she felt someone watching her. She looked up to see the frog-like eyes of Scagga glaring at her. He had a dead swan slung over his shoulder and was holding it by the neck.

Irritated, she said: “Go and gawk at someone else, why don’t you?”

He ignored that. He said: “I doubt we’ll be hearing any more about nine stones.”

She wanted him to go away, but on second thought she decided she had better find out what he was getting at, so she played along. “Why do you think that, Scagga?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

He was probably saving his argument for the elders, but he looked as if he was bursting to reveal it. Ani said: “Oh, you’re just making this up.”

“No, I’m not. And you could work it out if you had enough sense.”

“I’m sure I could.”

He could hold it no longer. “She took five days to bring one stone to the Monument.”

“Everyone knows that, Scagga, and no one cares that she was a day late. What she did was heroic.”

“But it took five days,” he insisted. “And now she wants to bring nine stones. That will take nine lots of five days. All those people will be away from their work half the summer!”

Ani had not looked at it that way. She could not figure out nine times five—she would have to ask Joia—but it sounded like an awfully long time for the fittest of the herders to be away from their beasts. She felt quite sure the elders would balk at that—which was worrying.