THE DELVING--5
Corn has ears;
Stalks have heard
Something that they
Do not like;
Will not take.
Brace roots extended,
On tiptoe first;
But then, blades thrust out
All at once
Doom advances!
--from Ballad of the Wild Corn, by Tam Lin
Chapter 5: Wild Corn
Arkh waited patiently on the dock at Firefly Landing. When the appointed hour of midnight arrived, the fireflies in the lanterns extinguished their tails and went out. Darkness descended, relieved only by the twinkling of billions of stars.
At length the blue bird-man heard a noise under the dock. Steeling himself for flight if necessary, Arkh watched cautiously. A sodden head appeared level with the planks of the dock, and the dripping body followed. It was Tam Lin. Arkh approached him with an offering which he thought would bring a smile to the minstrel's face--his right hand reached out with the minstrel's hat. But such was not to be. The man in soggy green had nothing to say, and he waved away the offer of his headgear.
"It does not look good. You do not have the Fair Hen with you. Nor Ithamar."
Tam Lin's silence continued. Arkh could tell by the look on the minstrel's face that things were bad, indeed.
Perhaps an hour passed. Arkh had known Tam Lin long enough to understand that conversation was useless. Tam Lin was brooding, but never this long before. At last the silence was broken.
"I have failed. I have sent the twins to their death."
"I know that you tried very hard."
"'Try' is not enough. That monster has her, and Ithamar, too, now. The place is crawling with Nequam, and they all have bows."
"Perhaps it is time to go and see Ralsoth again."
"Ralsoth told me to wait until the World-people arrived. He said that Annalyn would lead the quest. But I thought I could do a better job. I don't want to face him again. He was right, and I have sealed my doom. We must flee into the West and never be seen again. I cannot even face Annalyn now, much less Ralsoth."
Arkh did not know what to do, but he realized that they must not be seen on the dock when the sun rose. After another long interval, he gently took the minstrel's arm and urged him to rise and follow.
"I have found us a safe place by a cornfield," he said. "We both need rest."
Tam Lin said nothing, but he rose and followed the bird-man along the path that continued past Firefly Landing. After perhaps two miles, it turned left across a narrow stone bridge over the river and through wide fields. Soon cornstalks appeared on either side of them. Arkh parted the leaves to the left and guided the grieving minstrel through the field to a little grassy hollow carved out of a steep hillside. Here at last the minstrel flopped to the ground and attempted to sleep. Arkh dug a blanket from his own pack and spread it over Tam Lin, hoping he would not catch cold in his saturated condition. He placed the minstrel's hat, which he had retrieved, at Tam Lin's feet, along with his bow, arrows, and mandolin. Sitting down and leaning against a nearby tree, he resolved to keep watch until the minstrel awoke. But Tam Lin could not sleep. He tossed and turned on the turf, staring alternately at the dark sky and at the bird-man. Before long the firmament began to turn from black to gray, and from gray to a delicate shade of pink. Apparently this calmed the would-be rescuer, for he at last closed his eyes and began to snore. Lulled by the peaceful surroundings, Arkh, too, dozed off.
The sun rose and the day became hot. Insects hummed over the cornfield, and crows descended to take their share of the ears. Tam Lin snored loudly. Apparently annoyed by the sound, the stalks of corn stood up on tiptoe with their brace roots. They spotted Tam Lin sleeping in the hollow, and began to whisper among themselves: "Bride-slayer; bride-slayer; bride-slayer." The stalks began to walk on their roots, and the blades were shining and sharp in the sun. They advanced toward him, swishing the blades in great green arcs.
Tam Lin, suddenly alarmed, awoke, and stared at the corn plants in the stark terror of dreams. He grabbed his bow and nocked an arrow. He shot at the corn, but the advance continued. He realized that he did not have enough arrows to shoot every stalk, even if there were time. The first row of plants reached him, and a leafy blade sliced his cheek; red blood ran down and began to drip.
"Arkh! Wake up! We must run! The corn! The corn! They are coming!"
The bird-man's eyes flew open. Without pausing for a second thought, Arkh joined in the flight up the mountainside. When the corn plants reached the trees, they halted their advance, but Tam Lin and Arkh kept going until they had reached the peak of the ridge. Panting with physical exhaustion and lack of sleep, they sat on a rock where they had a view of a lazy loop of the Green River. Firefly Landing was not in sight.
"Do you understand what we just saw?"
Arkh shook his head.
"Neither do I. If even the plants are against us, what are we to do?"
The bird-man had no answer, but he looked intently at the minstrel.
Tam Lin's face wore the pallor of death. He had answered Ralsoth's call and risked everything to aid the Quest to save the Stag, but had lost his sweetheart. Acting rashly, and without proper support, he had now lost her again, after seeing her, hearing her sweet voice... he still had to fight the urge to go back into the hidden entrance under the dock, to shake his fist at Scratch and brave the misguided arrows of the Nequam, but he knew better. And then he remembered, too, that he had probably led Ithamar Memnon to his demise.
His voice was very quiet, and he spoke slowly. "What should we do?"
"Did you not tell me that you were to meet at Annalyn's Tree?"
"Yes, but I'll never make it in time now. That meeting is supposed to take place tomorrow. The helpers from Placebetween should have arrived by now--it was a man and a woman, Ralsoth said. Annalyn's tree is near the Lornings' old cavern, not far from Twilintarn. I was going to proudly march in with Ithuriel and Ithamar."
" You don't know what happened to Ithuriel and Ithamar. Do you want to continue to fight against Scratch and Flimb, or do you want to give up? You know that I am still ready to help you."
Tam Lin turned to face the dark-blue bird-man. "You have risked much to help me already. Scratch now knows you and will be your enemy for life."
"He was my enemy already anyway. Any decent person who knows about him should be his enemy."
Tam Lin sighed. "What I would like you to do would take you away from Scratch, at least for the time being. Would you be willing to fly to Annalyn's Tree and tell her and the others what has happened? They at least need to know."
Arkh was willing. He smiled at the minstrel. "Yes, I will! If you wish, you know that you are welcome to use my cave for a place of rest--you are still not dry."
Glancing down at his clothing, Tam Lin knew that the bird-man was right. "Yes, I think that I will--for a day only. No--I should wait until you return, to bring me their instructions."
"This seems right. So be it. I will fly for the rest of this day, and spend the night where I may. I should arrive at the Tree by noon tomorrow."
"Farewell, then." The minstrel seemed to have had a burden lifted somehow.
Arkh spread his wings and vaulted into the air from their perch on the rock. Tam Lin watched him soaring away into the sky until he became too small to see any longer.
Realizing that he had left his mandolin and pack by the edge of the cornfield, the minstrel reluctantly turned his steps downward to retrieve his belongings before heading to Arkh's cave. He hoped that the corn plants had gone back to sleep.
CHAPTER 6
MILEPOSTERS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
MILEPOSTERS
The Allegheny Trail Alliance Web site has maps
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