The next morning, Sallina and Garibaldi went ashore with Harry. Sallina carried Eliza's saddle bag over her shoulder. All her gold was in the bag. Garibaldi carried a handful of gold coins in his pocket, and his axe in one hand. Sallina thought he should leave his axe behind, but Garibaldi brought it anyway.
The Captain came with them in the rowboat. He was on his way to see the chief again. Six sailors rowed them towards the beach.
"They don't speak our language here," the Captain said.
"They don't?" Sallina said. She knew that there were countries far from home where people spoke strange languages, but she did not know that Kublaminsk was one of them.
Garibaldi was wondering why the Captain was not shouting, "Stroke!" like he did the afternoon before. He already knew that the people of Kublaminsk spoke another language. That morning, as the sun came up, he had stood on the deck of the ship and watched the Kublaminsk fishermen sail out of the harbor in their little boats. He had heard them shouting to one another across the water in their strange language. But Sallina was still asleep, and Garibaldi had forgotten to tell her about it.
"What will we do?" Sallina said, "I need to buy things. How will I ask for them?"
"Smile a lot, that's my recommendation," the Captain said, "Use signs. Learn their words for hello, goodbye, please, and thank you."
"What are they?"
"Hello is 'bitsha', goodbye is 'alash', thank you is 'humplada', and please is 'fanak'."
The sailors rowed hard when they came near the shore. The rowboat slid up the sand of the beach. The Captain stepped out of the end of the boat and onto the sand. Garibaldi and Sallina did the same.
"Thank you," Sallina said to the sailors who had rowed the boat.
"Your welcome, Miss," they said.
The Captain, Sallina and Garibaldi walked up the beach.
"Would you do me a favor, both of you?" the Captain said.
"What's that?" Sallina said.
"Stay inside the stockade. You'll be safe in the town. They have laws here about how to treat strangers, but outside their customs are strange and dangerous."
"Okay," Garibaldi said. Sallina nodded.
They were at the end of a street made of pebbles. Two children stood looking at the three of them. Their mother stood in the door of their little house, her arms on her hips.
"I'll say goodbye to you here," the Captain said, "I'm going up the hill to see the chief. You wanted to buy some sandals, is that right?"
"Yes," Sallina said.
"Walk along the beach to that red-painted building, and take that street. There is a shoe-maker there. Harry had his boots repaired there once."
"Thank you," Garibaldi said.
Sallina was nervous. She had imagined that the Captain was going to walk around with them through the streets of this strange town, with its dark-skinned men and staring children. But now it seemed that she and Garibaldi would be alone.
"Wave to the ship when you want to go back, and someone will come and get you. More of the boys will be going ashore soon." The Captain smiled at her. "Goodbye, then." He turned and walked up the cobbled street. As he passed the two children, he ruffled their hair. Their mother laughed.
Garibaldi and Sallina walked along the beach. They soon came to the red building, and found a wide street. The street was made out of pebbles stuck together with cement, and it ran up the hill from the sea. Garibaldi and Sallina walked up it slowly. There were people sitting outside their shops and houses. They looked up as Garibaldi and Sallina went by. Some of them smiled, but others just stared. Sallina and Garibaldi stared back at them. Now that they were closer, they saw that the people had eyes that were different from their own and those of the sailors. Their eyes were thinner, with shorter eyelashes. Their skin was brown, not from the sun, but because that was its natural color. Their hair was black, brown, and even red.
"Bitsha," Sallina said to a man in the street who stopped to look at them.
"Bitsha," the man said. He smiled. He was missing one of his front teeth. Sallina wondered if someone knocked his tooth out in a battle. Why had nobody given him a new tooth? When one of her mother's front teeth had fallen out, their dentist had made her a new tooth out of ivory. The ivory came from the tusk of a creature that lived in the icy seas of the north. Her mother was proud of her ivory tooth. It was straight and white. Perhaps these people did not have any ivory, so they could not make new teeth. Or perhaps they had nobody in the town who knew how to make the teeth. Surely not. This town was even closer to the icy seas of the north than her own home, and they must have someone who knew how to make teeth. The man must be waiting for his new tooth to be made.
Sallina and Garibaldi kept walking.
"I think there was a battle recently," Sallina said.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because that man had a missing tooth. The battle must have been recent, or else he would have his new tooth already."
"Oh," Garibaldi said. He had already seen two women with missing teeth. Did the women fight in battles too? He looked around and tightened his grip on his axe.
They stopped outside a house with a man sitting on a stool making a shoe. When Sallina and Garibaldi came near, the shoe-maker looked up and smiled at them.
"Bitsha," he said.
"Bitsha," Sallina said. She pointed at her sandals. He looked down at them. He kneeled on the ground to look at her feet. Garibaldi moved closer to Sallina. He did not like the shoe-maker being so close to Sallina's feet.
The shoe-maker stood up and spoke to Sallina in his own language.
Sallina shook her head, "I don't understand. I need a new pair."
She pointed at him and at her sandals. The shoe-maker pointed to her sandals and at himself. He nodded his head. Sallina frowned at him. She did not understand what he meant.
"He wants you to take your sandals off," Garibaldi said.
"He does?"
Sallina pointed to a pair of shoes on the ground behind the shoe-maker. The shoe-maker laughed and shook his head. He held his hands far apart and pointed at her feet, and held his hands close together.
"He means that those shoes are too big for you," Garibaldi said.
Sallina frowned at Garibaldi. "I know that!"
Garibaldi had been rather pleased with himself for understanding what the shoe-maker was trying to say. Now he felt foolish. Of course Sallina understood what the shoe-maker was trying to say, how could he think that he understood something that she did not?
Behind them a man's voice spoke in Sallina and Garibaldi's own language.
"Can I help you?"
They turned around. A man stood in front of them. He was not quite as tall as Garibaldi, but he was just as broad. He was smiling. His teeth were bright and white, and none of them were missing. Above his mouth was a bushy brown mustache. Sallina guessed the man was about forty years old. He wore a brown cloth shirt and a dark green skirt that came down to his knees. On his feet were heavy brown boots. Strapped to his back was a double-bladed axe, and upon his head was a copper helmet with a spike on top.
"Good morning," Sallina said.
"Good morning," he said. His voice was deep. "Perhaps I can tell Siban what you want."
Sallina assumed that Siban was the shoe-maker. "Thank you, that would be most kind."
Garibaldi looked at the man's axe. This was not a woodcutter's axe. It was a battle-axe. Its shaft was made of metal, not wood. It had two blades: one at each end of the axe-head. The metal of the axe-head was gray, and it seem to sparkled a little in the sunlight. Garibaldi could see no sign of rust, but it was clear that the axe-head was old. Its blades had been had been chipped, blunted, and sharpened many times. Garibaldi had never seen metal that sparkled, and even the best steel began to rust after it had been used for a few years.
Sallina looked at the man's face. He was a handsome man. She wondered how and where he had learned to speak their language. He smiled at her, and she smiled back at him.
"And what shall I tell Siban?" he said.
"Oh," Sallina said, and turned to face the shoe-maker once again, "I would like some new sandals."
The handsome man spoke to Siban and listened to what Siban said in reply. He said to Sallina, "Siban will make you a new pair of sandals. He will have them ready by tomorrow morning, and the price is forty copper pieces."
"Good," Sallina said the handsome man. She said "Humplada," to the shoe-maker. The shoe-maker smiled and nodded. He said something to the handsome man.
"He asks that you give him twenty copper pieces now, and another twenty when he gives you the shoes."
"I don't have any copper pieces," Sallina said, "I have only gold pieces."
"Really?" the handsome man said. He looked at Sallina and at Garibaldi. "Well then, I will give Siban twenty copper pieces, and you can come with me to my place of work. I will exchange one of your gold pieces for copper pieces. You can pay me back then. Do you agree?"
Garibaldi thought it would be better to give the shoe-maker a gold piece. A gold piece was one hundred copper pieces, and they had a lot of gold pieces. Why make a deal with a man who walked up to them on the street? Who was this man? Why did he smile so much at Sallina? Garibaldi wanted to say something to Sallina, but he did not want the man with the axe to hear what he was going to say.
"I agree," Sallina said, "It is most kind of you."
The handsome man took some coins out of his pocket, selected four of them, and gave them to the shoe-maker. The coins were not made of copper, nor were they gold. They looked like silver.
"Good," the man said, "Now, walk with me, it is not far."
He started walking up the street. Sallina walked with him. After a moment, Garibaldi caught up with them and walked beside Sallina.
"Your friend does not say much," the handsome man said.
Sallina laughed, and looked at Garibaldi. "No, but he is strong and brave."
The handsome man laughed and Garibaldi frowned. He had a feeling that Sallina was making fun of him. The handsome man looked across Sallina at Garibaldi.
"Yes," he said, "He is brave and strong. But he is jealous at the moment."
Sallina looked at Garibaldi. "Are you?"
Garibaldi raised one eyebrow, but did not say anything. Sallina did not say anything either. Was Garibaldi jealous of the handsome man? She did not want Garibaldi to be jealous. She put her arm in his, and walked closer to him.
"My name is Sukh," the man said.
"I am pleased to meet you Sukh," Sallina said, "I am Sallina, and this is Garibaldi."
"Hello," Garibaldi said.
"Hello," Sukh said, "I like your name."
"Thank you," Garibaldi said, "My parents chose it for me."
"Did they?" Sukh said. He walked a few steps, smiling to himself. Garibaldi felt uncomfortable. Of course it was a stupid thing to say, that his parents gave him his name. Who else would give him his name?
Sukh looked again at Garibaldi. "You carry a woodcutter's axe. Are you a woodcutter?"
"Yes," Garibaldi said, "I am."
Garibaldi felt more comfortable now that Sukh knew that he was a woodcutter.
"And what do you do at your place of work, Mr. Sukh?" Sallina said.
"We have several interests," Sukh said.
Garibaldi wondered what Sukh meant by "interests". He waited for Sukh to say more, but he did not. Was he trying to hide something?
Sallina said, "Can you give me an example of one of those interests?".
Sukh smiled. "We have some furs we hope to sell to the merchant ships."
"Do you?" Sallina said, "I was thinking of buying some furs myself, to sell at a profit."
Sukh laughed.
"Why are you laughing?" Sallina said, "I have enough money. I have more money than you think."
"Oh, I'm sure you do, Mrs. Sallina," Sukh said, "I was not laughing at you for wanting to buy furs, I was laughing at you for saying that you wanted to sell them at a profit. It seemed to me a strange thing to say, and I thought you were joking."
"I'm not joking," Sallina said, "I do mean to sell them at a profit."
Sallina was frowning. Garibaldi did not like to see Sallina upset, but he was glad she was upset with Sukh and not him.
"I'm not Mrs. Sallina," Sallina said, "It's just Sallina."
Sukh stopped walking. He looked down at Sallina. She frowned at him, but he smiled down at her.
"I am Sukh, not Mr. Sukh."
"Oh," She said.
"I did not mean to offend you, young lady," he said, "I thought you were making a joke. I do not understand your language well enough, I think."
Sallina and Sukh stood looking at one another. Sallina was the first to turn her head away.
"Shall we continue?" Sukh said, "We are nearly there."
Sukh's place of work was a space enclosed by a fence made of wood planks. The fence was as tall as Garibaldi. Sallina and Garibaldi followed Sukh through a gate. The space inside was about fifty steps wide and fifty steps deep. There were several single-story buildings around the edges. In the center of the space enclosed by the fence was a pile of old wood planks and beams. A boy of perhaps fourteen years was sharpening an axe on a grinding wheel. He pushed on a pedal near the ground with one foot. The pedal turned the wheel. He held the blade of the axe with both hands against the grinding wheel's rough stone surface. Sparks flew from the metal blade and bounced off the boy's leather trousers.
Sukh nodded at the boy. "My son," he said.
He pointed to the largest building inside the fence. "That is where we keep our furs." He pointed to the building next to them. "And this is our office. Please come in, I will give you your copper pieces."
Sukh's office building was made of wood, like all the other buildings they had passed. The building looked old, but it had been well looked-after. The walls were made of half-logs. The half-logs had been cut with an axe. Their edges were not perfectly straight, and the gaps between them were filled with straw and clay. Some of the clay was new, some of it old and crumbling, but it still filled the gaps.
"Are you coming?" Sallina said to Garibaldi. She was standing in the office doorway. Sukh had already gone inside.
Garibaldi followed her through the door. It took him a moment to be able to see inside. The office had no windows. There was an opening in the roof, and a shaft of sunlight shone through this opening and onto the floor, but the rest of the room was in shadow. Garibaldi was about to close the door behind him.
"Leave it open, if you will, young man, and let some light in." The voice that spoke was that of an old man. Garibaldi looked into the shadows nearby, and there he saw a man with white hair sitting in a chair at a desk. He had a long, thin mustache hanging down from the edges of his mouth.
Sukh was standing in front of the desk with Sallina. "This is my father, Syrenen. Father, meet Garibaldi, a woodcutter."
Syrenen looked up at Garibaldi. "A woodcutter?"
Garibaldi nodded.
"Perhaps this young man can teach your son how to swing an axe," Syrenen said to Sukh.
Sukh looked at his father and frowned. "Father, this young woman needs to trade a gold piece for coppers."
"Very well," Syrenen said. He opened a chest at his feet and took out a bag of coins. He poured some on the desk. "Let's see your gold, young woman."
Sallina took Eliza's saddle bag from her shoulder. Everyone in the room could hear the heavy crunch of gold pieces as the bag came to rest upon the flat surface of the desk. She reached into the bag and took out one piece of gold. Syrenen looked at the bag, and at the gold piece Sallina gave him. He picked up a small flat piece of black stone and rubbed the gold piece against it. The gold left shiny marks on the stone. Syrenen pulled a weighing balance across the desk and put the gold piece on one arm of the balance. The balance arm sank down from the weight of the coin. Syrenen put small pieces of metal on the other side of the balance one after the other until the gold rose slowly.
"I'll give you a ninety-five of our copper pieces for it," Syrenen said.
"Thank you," Sallina said.
Syrenen counted out the copper pieces and slid them across the desk to Sallina. Sallina at first did not know what to do with the pieces. Should she mix the copper pieces with the gold? How would she be able to pick out copper pieces once they were mixed with all her gold pieces. But where else could she put them? She did not have a pocket large enough to hold them all.
"You owe me twenty of those," Sukh said.
"Oh yes," Sallina said. She counted twenty pieces and handed them to him. She put the rest of them in one of the bags. She would worry about them later, when they were back on the ship.
"You said you were here to buy fur," Sukh said.
Sallina nodded.
"I am sorry I offended you earlier," he said. "To make reparation to you, I will be glad to show you the fur we have here, in our warehouse."
"Yes, I would like that."
Sukh walked out of the office and into the bright sunlight. Garibaldi followed him. Sallina remained inside.
"Thank you Syrenen," she said to the old man.
The old man smiled. "You are welcome. Don't take advantage of my son. He never makes a good bargain with a woman."
Sallina did not know what to say to this, so she stepped out through the doorway. Sukh was waiting for her. Garibaldi was watching Sukh's son placing a wooden beam on a chopping block. When Sallina came out, Sukh began to walk towards the large building where he kept his furs.
"We have some of the finest mink fur we have had in years. Our wolf fur is inferior this year, but we are willing to sell it for less. We also have two seal furs from the extreme north, and these are beautiful to see, even if you do not wish to buy them."
"I look forward to seeing them," Sallina said.
They passed by the boy, who looked up and watched them walk by. He stared at Sallina and at Garibaldi. The boy was broad like his father, and growing strong from hard work. His hair was long and brown. He tied it behind his head with a leather thong. Sukh did not pay any attention to his son. Garibaldi looked back at the office, and saw that Syrenen had stepped out into the sunlight. He stood straight, his white hair shining, and his arms on his hips.
It was dark inside the larger building as well. There were no windows, and no hole in the ceiling either. "Help me carry this table out," Sukh said. He and Garibaldi carried a large wooden table out into the light. The table was covered with dozens of small black pelts (a pelt is the skin of an animal with the fur still on it).
"This is the mink," Sukh said.
Sallina picked up one of the pelts. It was shiny and thick. She slid her hand across the fur, and pushed her fingers into it. She held it to her cheek. It was soft and smooth. She held it in front of her and looked at it. She did not want to put it down. She looked at the pile, and wondered how many pelts it would take to make a mink coat. Her uncle had once made a mink coat for the Duke's daughter. He had sold the coat to the Duke for one hundred gold pieces.
Sallina put the pelt down and picked up another one. It was just as soft.
"We have never had such good mink," Sukh said, "How do you like it?"
"It's beautiful."
Sukh smiled.
Garibaldi picked up one of the furs and felt it with his hands. It was soft. He put the fur down and looked at the boy chopping wood. The boy was strong, but his swing was too close to his body, and he was trying to swing the axe too quickly. Garibaldi looked at the blade of his own axe. It needed to be sharpened.
"May I use your grinding wheel?" he said to Sukh.
Sukh looked at Garibaldi and at the wheel. "Yes, you may, if you chop a few pieces of wood for me."
"Certainly I will."
"Please use it, then."
"Thank you."
Garibaldi left Sallina and Sukh at the table and walked to the grinding wheel. Soon Sallina could hear the wheel going round and scraping against Garibaldi's axe.
Sallina decided it would take around twenty pelts to make a fur coat worth one hundred gold pieces, so if she bought the pelts for two gold pieces each, and payed a tailor ten gold pieces to make the coat, she would be left with fifty gold pieces more than she started.
"Are you interested in buying any of them, young lady," Sukh said, "or are you just here to look at them?"
"I'm interested," Sallina said.
There were sixty pelts on the table. That would be enough to make three fur coats. If she paid one hundred and twenty gold pieces for all of them, she could make a profit of one hundred and fifty gold pieces when she sold them. (You can check these numbers yourself if you like, but I recommend that you trust me and just keep reading, because if I'm wrong, I don't want you to find out.) She and Garibaldi would need only fifty gold pieces more to be able to go back home, give one thousand one hundred gold pieces to the Duke, and pay a fine of one hundred gold pieces as well, if he asked them to. Surely that would be enough to satisfy him? Of course. Of course, that would leave them with no gold of their own. It would be nice if they could be left with some gold for themselves, when everything was done.
"I'll give you two gold pieces each for all sixty pelts on this table," she said.
Sukh shook his head. "I am sorry. The price is three gold pieces each. Perhaps if they were not quite so good, I could let you have them for two each, but these are worth three."
Sallina looked at the pelts. Behind her, she heard the sharp crack of an axe cutting a piece of wood. If she paid three gold pieces, she would make a little profit, but not much.
"I'll give you two and a half, they're not worth three."
Sukh's mouth smiled beneath his mustache, but his eyes did not smile. He looked a Sallina.
"Young lady," Sukh said. He spoke slowly and quietly. "My price is three. And, furthermore, you offend me when you say they are not worth the price I'm asking. I would not tell you the price is three and then give them to you for two and a half. That would be dishonest of me."
Sallina laughed.
"You laugh, young lady?" Sukh said.
"I will not pay you three gold pieces for each pelt."
Sukh frowned at her. "Have you ever bought fur before, young lady?"
Sallina looked up at him. For some reason it was beginning to annoy her that he kept calling her a young lady. Perhaps that was why he could not make a good bargain with a woman.
"No, I have not."
"You act as if you have bought furs before."
"As I said, I have not."
"I think you might be one of those people who pretend to be doing something for the first time, but in fact you are doing it for the tenth time," Sukh said. "If you think you can get me to sell you these pelts at too low a price by smiling your pretty smile, and pretending to be stupid, you are mistaken."
"I beg your pardon?" Sallina said, "I'm not pretending to be stupid."
Sukh put his thumbs through his belt, and frowned at her. He said nothing.
"Okay, sir," Sallina said, "I'm sorry to waste your time. Thank you for changing my gold for copper. I will talk to the Captain on the Reliant, and see if I should offer you more for the pelts. For now, my friend and I will say goodbye."
That was about as polite as Sallina could be to Sukh. She was surprised and upset that he would accuse her of trying to trick him. She walked towards Garibaldi. He was chopping wooden beams. Sukh's son put the beams on the chopping block, and Garibaldi cut them in two with a single stroke. Syrenen stood beside them, smiling and fingering his long, white mustache.
"Look, I told you this young man would teach your boy a thing or two," he said.
Sukh walked beside Sallina. "What?" he said.
He turned to his son and spoke to him in his own language. The boy picked up his axe. Sukh picked up a beam and put it on the chopping block. Sukh turned to Syrenen. "Now, father," he said, and he spoke in Sallina and Garibaldi's language. "I bet you ten gold pieces that my boy can cut this same beam in one stroke, just like this woodcutter has been doing."
For those of you who do not know what a bet is, I will explain. Sukh was saying that if his son cut the beam in one stroke, Syrenen should give Sukh ten gold pieces. If, on the other hand, his son failed to cut through the beam in one stroke, Sukh would have to give Syrenen ten gold pieces.
Sukh was offering a bet to his father. It remained for his father to accept the bet. A bet is something that both people have to agree to do. It is not enough if one person says "I bet you". The other person has to say "Okay, I accept the bet".
"I have told you before," Syrenen said, "you should not bet. You are a bad better. You cannot control yourself."
"Do you accept the bet or not? Are you going to insult my son, your grandson, and then tell me that you will not make a bet on it?"
Syrenen scowled and snorted. Sallina was surprised. Sallina thought Syrenen looked like a wild animal. But then he smiled. "Very well, I accept the bet."
Sukh nodded at his son. The boy raised his axe high above his head. Garibaldi wanted to explain to the boy that it was better to start with the axe on the ground and swing it in a full circle, but before he could do so, Sukh's son swung the axe. The blade cut into the beam, but did not split it in two.
"Ach!" Sukh said. He shouted at his son and pointed at him. Garibaldi did not understand what Sukh said, but it sounded unkind. Garibaldi felt sorry for the boy.
The boy said something to his father, pulled the axe out of the beam and stood looking at the ground, smiling.
"That beam must be extra-strong," Sukh said.
"Really?" Syrenen said, and he laughed. "I bet you ten gold pieces that the woodcutter can chop it in one stroke."
"I accept," Sukh said.
Garibaldi looked at them. "You want me to cut it?"
"Yes," Syrenen said.
Garibaldi stepped up to the chopping block and looked at the beam. Should he swing? Nobody had asked him if he would take part in this bet.
"You said you would chop wood for me," Sukh said, "Now chop."
"Chop hard," Syrenen said.
Garibaldi swung his axe and split the beam into two pieces. The pieces fell off the chopping block and onto the ground.
"Ha!" Syrenen said.
"That was not fair," Sukh said. He was still speaking in Sallina and Garibaldi's language. "My boy split the wood for him and weakened it with his own stroke."
"Are you saying you won't pay me?" Syrenen said.
"No, but we should bet again, this time for forty pieces, and the woodcutter should go first."
"You are a fool, Sukh."
"Will you bet or not?"
Syrenen stroked his chin. "I accept the bet."
Sukh went to the pile of uncut beams and pulled one out. It was thick, but when Garibaldi saw it, he knew for sure that he could cut it. Nevertheless, he said nothing, because he did not like the way Sukh had shouted at his son earlier. His own father would never shout at him like that. If his father were to shout at him like that, Garibaldi would be miserable. He looked at the boy. The boy did not seem to be upset. In fact, he looked as if he was trying not to smile. Perhaps he was used to being treated like this. Perhaps the poor boy was crazy.
Sukh pointed to the beam on the chopping block. "Chop," he said.
Garibaldi swung his axe and chopped the beam into two pieces. So strong was his stroke that his axe was stuck deep into the chopping block underneath, and Garibaldi had to put his foot on the block to pull it out.
Sukh frowned. He was red in the face, and his mouth was twitching around the edges.
"Well, my son," Syrenen said to Sukh, "You have lost sixty gold pieces. What now? Another bet?"
Sukh went and took another beam out of the pile. It was short, but long enough to cut. It had several nails sticking out of it. Sukh put it on the block. "I bet you one hundred gold pieces that the hero cannot chop this piece in two. It is made of oak, and it comes from the beam of our dead chief's house. Spells of strength lie upon it, and is cannot be broken."
Garibaldi had already chopped several beams from this chief's house, and he did not doubt that he could cut this one just as easily. But he said nothing. If this man Sukh lost another hundred gold pieces, it would teach him a lesson.
Sallina was wondering why Sukh would be so cruel to his son, and angry with his father, and rude to Garibaldi, all at the same time. Was it because she had made him angry? Why would a man such as he place bets on wood-cutting, and such foolish bets as well? How could he think that his son, a boy of fourteen years, could chop wood better than Garibaldi, a man of eighteen years, and a woodcutter by trade?
"No, my son," Syrenen said, "This has gone far enough. I will not take your bet."
"Ha!" Sukh said, "So even the hero cannot cut through this beam, and if that's so, why do you think he has something to teach my son? If he can't cut through this beam, what makes him so great?"
Sallina thought to herself, one hundred gold pieces is a lot of money, and how much better to make one hundred gold pieces with one stroke of Garibaldi's axe, than by buying and selling mink pelts? Syrenen would not accept the bet because he knew that his son was going to lose even more money. But why should Sallina feel sorry for Sukh? Was is her fault that he was a fool? He would have to learn his lesson sooner or later, so why not make it Sallina who taught him the lesson, instead of someone else? And she would make a hundred gold pieces, assuming that Garibaldi could cut through the beam, that is.
Sallina walked over to the chopping block and stood beside Garibaldi. She whispered in his ear.
"Can you cut it?"
Garibaldi nodded.
"Are you sure?"
Garibaldi nodded again. He was sure.
Sallina looked at Sukh. "Sir."
"Yes, young lady."
"I will accept your bet."
Sukh was silent, and then he laughed. "All right. But let us shake hands upon it, because you are a stranger, and I'm not sure I trust you to pay when your friend fails to cut that beam."
Sallina walked over to him and shook his hand. "I will pay you one hundred gold pieces if Garibaldi fails to cut that beam in one stroke."
"And I will pay you one hundred if he does."
They turned and faced Garibaldi.
"Chop," Sukh said.
Garibaldi swung his axe. It began at the ground, and rose up in an arc behind his back, over his head, and came down upon the beam with tremendous speed and force.
Clang!
The axe stopped half way through the beam.
Sallina gasped. Garibaldi's eyes were wide with surprise. He pulled his axe out of the beam. There was a dent in the center of the blade. He looked at it in disbelief. He kneeled down and looked at the beam more closely. The sun shone down into the deep cut he had made, and hidden in the center of the beam, he saw metal. That was what stopped his axe. There was a metal rod in the center of the beam.
He looked at Sukh. Sukh was smiling at him. Garibaldi looked at the boy and Syrenen. They were smiling too. None of them said anything. The three of them had tricked Sallina and him. They had tricked Sallina and him, and they had won. He felt like a fool. He looked around him. What else was going to happen? Was there another trick coming? He felt sick. He wanted to sit down, but he did not. He stepped towards Sallina, took her hand and pulled her gently away from Sukh.
Sallina said, "What happened? What did we do?"
He whispered into her ear, "The beam has a metal rod in it."
"What?" She pulled away from him and faced Sukh.
"You cheat!"
Sukh smiled at her. "Cheat? How did I cheat? We made a simple bet, and you lost."
"You knew that beam had a metal rod in it, and you tricked us into betting with you so you could take a hundred gold pieces away from someone who trusted you!"
"You did not trust me. If you trusted me, you would not have doubted my price for the pelts."
Sallina clenched her fists and stomped her foot on the ground. "You bastard!" she said. "How dare you!"
Sukh laughed.
"I'm not giving you a damned penny! You're a cheat!" She turned and walked quickly towards the gate with Eliza's saddle bag slung over her shoulder, bouncing upon on her back.
Garibaldi was frightened. He ran to catch up with her, grabbed her arm and tried to stop her. She pulled her arm out of his hand. "Let go of me! What do you think you are doing? Are you in on this trick as well?"
"Of course not," Garibaldi said, "How could you think such a thing."
"You told me you could cut the beam, didn't you?"
"Yes."
"You told me twice didn't you?"
Sallina was shouting at him, and there were tears in her eyes. Garibaldi did not know what to say. He looked over his shoulder. Although he did not like Sallina being angry at him, he was more worried about Sukh attacking them with his battle-axe.
"Didn't you tell me twice?" she said.
"Yes."
"And you are a woodcutter, aren't you? That's the one thing you can do, isn't it, cut wood?"
"Yes, well..." Garibaldi was not sure he had given the right answer.
"So you should have known about the iron in the wood shouldn't you? You should have picked up the beam and felt how heavy it was."
She turned her back upon him, and started walking again. Garibaldi followed her, but looked over his shoulder. He felt certain that Sukh would stop them from leaving, or that someone else would run and shut the gate before they could get out. He prepared himself to cut the gate down quickly. But the boy, Sukh, and Syrenen did not move, and the gate remained open.
Sallina walked through the gate and into the street. She started running down the hill. Garibaldi followed her. What would the Captain say about this? He was going to be very angry, of that Garibaldi was certain. The Captain was going to be very angry indeed.