The Captain leaned back on his bench, slapped his thigh and laughed out loud. "Ha! What a girl she is, what a firebrand! Did she really walk out?"
Garibaldi nodded. "She did."
"Oh my, that is too much."
"And she called him a bastard."
"And so she should have! He deserved it, the cunning devil," The Captain wiped his brow with his handkerchief. "And how her pride must have been hurt, the poor girl." He shook his head. "But she'll be the better for it."
Garibaldi had come to the Captain's cabin alone. Sallina was hiding in their bedroom. She refused to speak to anyone, not even Garibaldi.
"I thought I should tell you about it, Captain," Garibaldi said.
"You did the right thing. And you tell a good story, did you know that? I'm surprised. You don't normally have much to say, if you don't mind me saying so, but once you get going..."
"Thank you, Captain."
"And I hope you will forgive me laughing, but it must have been quite a scene, with Sallina shouting at Sukh."
"It was. I thought they were going to kill her."
"Oh, of course not! Good heavens, the very thought." He poured himself another glass of dark, red wine. "It's was just a game for them, you know. But they are very prickly. If you try to haggle with them, they get offended. And if you think they are foolish, they teach you a lesson pretty quickly."
Garibaldi nodded. He looked at the Captain's wine. The Captain pushed a glass across the table. "Help yourself."
Garibaldi poured himself a half-glass of wine. He always enjoyed the Captain's wine. After he had taken a sip, he said, "What should we do?"
The Captain stared at his own wine for a while.
"Let's wait and see what happens. I'm not sure what Sukh will do. Perhaps he will forget about it. Perhaps not."
"Do we have to stay on the ship?"
"I think that would be best, but I won't make you stay."
That evening, Harry returned from the town with a message from Chief Chingis. The Captain sent him to knock on Sallina's door. Garibaldi stood with him in the corridor, but Sallina was still inside.
"Come to the Captain's cabin right away, Miss Sallina," Harry said.
On the other side, Sallina said, "I don't want to."
"It's an order, Miss. If you don't come, I'll have to get you out and drag you there. This is a ship, and we all have to obey the Captain's orders. You can't disobey the Captain on the ship."
After a moment, Sallina opened the door. Her eyes were red and her hair was tangled. She stepped into the corridor without looking at Harry or Garibaldi, and walked towards the Captain's door. Harry and Garibaldi followed her. When Sallina stopped in front of the door, Harry reached past her and knocked upon it.
"Enter!" the Captain said.
Harry opened the door and Sallina stepped inside. Garibaldi and Harry followed her.
The Captain sat at his table, facing them. A letter lay upon the table in front of him. There was no wine glass. Sallina looked down at the letter. The paper was thick and almost yellow. The letters were written in black ink. The strokes of the pen were not graceful and curved. The pen had stopped on the curves and changed direction, leaving more ink in some places than others. Even though the letters looked as if they had been written by a child, there were no spots of ink on the page. It took a long time to learn to use an ink pen without leaving tiny spots of ink all over the paper. Whoever had written the letter had used an ink pen many times, and yet their letters were like those of a child.
"It's in Weilandic," Sallina said. "May I read it?"
Weilandic was the name of the language that Sallina, Garibaldi, and the crew of the Reliant spoke together. It was the language of the great nation of Weiland, and all the smaller nations around it, including Sallina's home.
"Sit down," the Captain said.
Sallina and Garibaldi sat down. Harry remained standing.
The Captain picked up the letter and held it out to Sallina. "Yes, you can read it."
Sallina read the letter aloud, so Garibaldi would know what it said. He could not read it himself.
"To the Captain of the Reliant. Sukh, one of my knights, accuses Sallina, one of your crew, of losing a fair bet and refusing to pay one hundred guineas. By my order, the Reliant will not leave Kublaminsk with any fur until this woman has appeared before me to make her case, be judged, and accept my justice. By order of Chief Chingis of Kublaminsk."
Sallina put the letter down.
"So," she said, "I will go."
The Captain smiled. "You are a brave woman, and an honest one too."
Sallina said nothing.
"I will send Harry back in the morning with a message saying that you will appear tomorrow at noon. I'll come with you, and Garibaldi too."
"Will we need protection?" Sallina said.
"Protection?"
"In case their justice is not so just."
The Captain smiled. "We have no protection adequate to shield us against even one man like Sukh, I am afraid."
"We have Dan," Harry said.
"Well, okay," the Captain said. "We'll bring Dan. But in the end, even with Dan, we are at their mercy, unless we weigh anchor and leave without any fur, and that I cannot do. We are hard-pressed at the moment. We lost a mast, which we must replace, and masts are expensive, and we have not yet sold our silk."
Sallina stared at the table.
"Why Dan?" Garibaldi said.
Nobody answered him.
"The worst that can happen," the Captain said, "is that you have to pay what you owe. It would be a setback for you, but not the end of your hopes."
Sallina nodded.
"That's all," the Captain said.
Garibaldi and Sallina stood up and went back to their cabin. Garibaldi lay down on his bed. He was tired.
Sallina stood staring at the cabin wall with her arms crossed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the things I said. I lost my head. I hope you can forgive me."
Garibaldi smiled. "I forgive you."
She looked down at him. "You do?"
"Of course I do. I was confused and frightened myself."
"I did not mean to insult you."
"Don't worry about it. Next time we will know better."
Sallina sat on his bed beside him. "You really forgive me?"
"Yes."
She put her head in her hands. "I feel like such an idiot."
Garibaldi sat up and put his arm around her. "You're not an idiot."
Sallina put her head on his shoulder. Garibaldi breathed in the smell of her hair.
They sat like that for a while. Sallina lifted her head and looked into Garibaldi's eyes. "I love you, you know."
Garibaldi smiled. "And I love you."
The next day, with the sun at its highest point in the sky, Sallina, Garibaldi, the Captain, and Dan walked up the main street of Kublaminsk. Sallina carried Eliza's saddle-bag over her shoulder. Garibaldi carried his axe. When they passed the shoe-maker's shop. Sallina stopped. The shoe-maker came out and showed her the sandals he was working on. A woman was standing in the doorway behind him. She said something to him and the shoe-maker looked at Sallina.
Dan said, "The woman says he should ask you for all the money now, since you might not keep your word to pay the rest tomorrow."
The Captain laughed quietly. Sallina frowned. After a moment, she reached into the saddle bag and took out a wallet she had sewn that morning out of some scraps of sail cloth. The wallet held her copper pieces. When the shoe-maker saw the copper pieces in the wallet, he stretched out his hand. Sallina put twenty coins into his palm one after the other. She put the wallet back in the saddle-bag, and continued walking up the street.
"Humplada," the shoe-maker said. Sallina did not answer or look back.
Garibaldi, Dan, and the Captain walked behind Sallina. The street went straight up to the top of the low hill in the middle of the city. On top of the hill was the chief's Great Hall.
"When did you learn to speak Kublaminsk?" Garibaldi said to Dan.
"Ah, now that's a story," Dan said, and smiled. Garibaldi saw his gold tooth shining between his lips. He waited for Dan to tell the story, but Dan didn't say anything.
"He speaks quite a few languages," the Captain said, "Don't you Dan?"
"Aye, Captain, that I do."
"And they call the language Kubla," the Captain said, "Not Kublaminsk."
"Oh," Garibaldi said.
They continued walking up the street in silence. Garibaldi wondered why Dan did not want to tell the story of how he learned Kubla. Perhaps it was an embarrassing story. Garibaldi began to wonder if his own story was an embarrassing one. Would he ever want to tell his friends how Sukh had tricked Sallina and him? Of course he would. It was a great story. His father would laugh and laugh, just like the Captain.
They went up the main street towards the Great Hall. They passed Sukh's place of work. Sallina was glad when she saw the gate was closed. She did not want to see Sukh any sooner than she had to, which would be in the Great Hall. Earlier that morning, she had imagined Sukh coming out of the gate and walking with her up the hill, making fun of her for losing the bet, with her having to keep her eyes straight ahead, trying not to shout at him again.
Garibaldi had told Sallina how the Captain had laughed and called her a firebrand for shouting at Sukh. She did not want people to laugh at her. On the other hand, what did the Captain know? He was a just a fat, middle-aged man who thought he was smarter than she was. What did she have to be ashamed of? When people are angry, they shout.
"Slow down, young lady," the Captain said, "I can't keep up with you. Try to remember that I am a fat old man, and you are a lithe young woman."
Sallina stopped and turned around. She waited for the three men to catch up with her. The Captain was sweating and breathing deeply through his mouth. He was wearing his best red shirt and his green satin waistcoat. Otis had worked hard to clean and press both of them that morning.
Sallina took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Captain."
Here he was, coming to help her argue her case before the chief, and she was just a stow-away on his ship. She had done nothing for him but make trouble, but he still smiled at her every time he saw her.
"I really am sorry," Sallina said.
"All right, my dear, don't overdo it. Now come along, let's keep moving. If I stop, I won't be able to start again."
There was no fence around the Great Hall. It stood on top of the hill, looking large and old. Four wooden steps led up to the hall's large door. The door stood open. Beside the door were two tall men in armor. They rested their huge battle-axes on the ground in front of them, with the blades up. They leaned upon the blades with their folded arms. They looked as if they could stand there for a long time without moving. Their shiny, copper helmets had iron knobs on either side.
Sukh walked around the side of the hall with Syrenen and his son. (In case you don't remember: Syrenen was Sukh's father, but we don't yet know the name of his son.) His son carried the wood beam with the metal rod inside. Sukh had his battle-axe strapped to his back.
"Good day to you, Sallina," Sukh said, "And Captain, it is good to see you."
"And you sir," the Captain said, "I have been meaning to come and look at your furs. Perhaps after we take care of this business, I can pay a visit to your warehouse."
"I would be honored," Sukh said.
Sallina looked at the ground at the bottom of the steps. She thought she should say hello to Sukh, but somehow she found herself unable to do so. How was it that the Captain knew Sukh already? Had he been part of the trick? Surely not. The Captain knew Sukh because the Captain came here to buy fur. He knew all the fur traders.
Garibaldi nodded at Sukh's son. The boy smiled and nodded in return.
Dan walked up to Syrenen. "Bitsha, Syrenen."
"Bitsha, Dan," Syrenen said.
They stared at one another. Syrenen smiled and said something in Kubla. Dan rubbed his unshaved chin and laughed.
Sukh frowned at Dan.
The Captain said, "Dan is here to act as translator."
After a moment, Sukh nodded. "What is his job on the ship?"
Dan dipped his head towards Sukh. "I'm ship's surgeon, if it pleases you sir."
Sukh's eyes closed until they were narrow slits. He stared at Dan. Dan smiled at him.
"A worthy job," Sukh said. He turned to the Captain. "Shall we go in?"
"Yes," the Captain said, "Let's go in."
At the top of the steps, Sukh took off his battle-axe and laid it against the wall. He pointed to Garibaldi's axe. "You must do the same. We cannot go into trial with weapons."
Garibaldi rested his axe next to Sukh's. He looked more closely at Sukh's double-bladed axe-head. In the shadow of the Great Hall, the metal was dull silver. He wanted to touch it, but he did not. Perhaps Sukh had polished the blade and Garibaldi would leave a finger-print if he touched it. He looked at his own blade. He had sharpened it by hand on the ship, but he could still see the dent made by the metal rod in the beam.
When Garibaldi stood up, Sukh was smiling at him. Garibaldi smiled back. His heart beat faster than usual. He wanted so much to ask Sukh about the blade that he stopped himself from asking. It would be better to wait until he understood why he wanted to ask questions about the axe before he went ahead and asked them.
One by one, they stepped through the door and into the shadowy interior of the Great Hall. There was a large, empty stone fireplace in the middle of the floor. Around the fireplace the floor was made of wooden planks covered with straw. Even through the straw Garibaldi could tell that some of the planks were hundreds of years old, and some were new. All had been cut with axes, not saws.
On the other side of the fireplace was a large wooden chair, and in it sat a man so broad and muscular that Garibaldi wondered if he was some sort of giant. Having said that, the man was not particularly tall. But his arms were thick, and his calves, where they stuck out from beneath his skirt, were wide and lean. Upon his head was an iron helmet with two cow-horns sticking out of it. Against the side of his chair there rested a long sword. On his face was a thick mustache.
This man was, of course, Chief Chingis. He was the man who had killed Kuyuk, the last chief. He had probably killed Kuyuk with that very same sword that rested against his chair. Garibaldi wondered how frightened Kuyuk must have been when he fought with Chingis, and how brave he must have been to go ahead and fight him, even though he knew he was probably going to die.
The chief watched them as they came forward. He did not smile, nor did he frown. He said nothing. A woman standing next to the fireplace spoke to them in Kubla. Sukh answered her, and he and his father sat down on the bench to the left side of the fire place. Sukh's son stood with the wooden beam in his hands. He put the beam on the bench and sat down next to it.
"We sit over there," Dan said. He pointed to another bench on the right side of the fireplace.
The Captain walked to the bench and sat down. Sallina, Dan, and Garibaldi sat down as well. Garibaldi sat at the end. He looked at the woman standing beside the chief. She had long, red hair. Her eyes were green beneath her short eyelashes. She smiled. Garibaldi thought she was beautiful. She must be the chief's wife. It made sense that the chief would have a beautiful wife. He guessed that she was about forty, while the chief was a little younger, perhaps only thirty-five.
The woman spoke again. Sukh answered. Dan said to Sallina, "She asks that you promise to tell the truth, and to tell all of the truth, while you are in this hall."
"I promise," Sallina said.
"You can say, 'Hayla'. That means yes."
"Hayla," Sallina said to the woman.
The woman spoke again. Dan said, "Sukh will now state his case."
Sukh stood up spoke to the chief. As he spoke, Dan repeated what he said in Weilandic for Sallina, Garibaldi, and the Captain.
Sukh pointed to Garibaldi. "Yesterday I met this man." He pointed to Sallina. "And this woman. I met them outside Siban's shop. The woman gave her name as Sallina, and she gave the name of the young man as Garibaldi. She said she wanted to buy sandals. But she had no copper pieces to pay Siban an advance, so I offered to pay Siban an advance instead, and then change one of her gold pieces for copper at my warehouse."
Sukh stopped talking. The chief caressed his mustache with one hand and watched Sallina. Sallina smiled at the chief for a few seconds, and then looked at the floor. The chief stared at Garibaldi. Now that the chief was looking straight at him, Garibaldi thought it would be fine for him to look straight back, so he did. He looked at the chief's mustache, and saw that most of it was combed out straight, but the tips were braided. Did the chief braid his own mustache? The hand touching the mustache was was missing its little finger. Instead of a little finger, there was just a stump. The chief's finger-nails were clean and shiny, as if someone had polished them. Did he look after his own nails? Was it proper for a man to worry about how his nails looked? Did his wife do it for him, and he let her do it because he loved her?
There were deep creases around the chief's eyes, as if he had spent much of his time outside, squinting into the bright winter sun, with the cold wind blowing on his face. On one cheek Garibaldi saw a long scar that ran from his eye to his mouth. Was it a battle scar? It must be.
The chief's mouth did not twitch or frown. It was relaxed, like his wife's mouth. The chief nodded at Sukh.
"They came to my warehouse," Sukh said, "My father and I changed one gold piece for copper pieces."
"What was the weight of the gold piece?" the red-haired woman asked.
Syrenen stood up. "Ten grams, which is the proper weight of one guinea." He sat down again.
"And what was the weight of copper you gave them?"
Syrenen stood up again. "Ninety-five Kublaminsk pieces." He sat down again.
"You may continue," the red-haired woman said, "at the chief's leisure."
The chief nodded.
"The young woman, Sallina, expressed an interest in buying fur," Sukh said, "I offered to show her my stock. This I did, but we could not agree a price. The young man, Garibaldi, is a woodcutter, and I allowed him to sharpen his axe on my grinding wheel. He chopped some wood with my son."
The chief held up his hand with the palm facing Sukh, and Sukh stopped talking. The chief looked at Sukh's son, whose name Garibaldi still did not know. The son shifted on his bench, and folded and unfolded his arms, but he stared back at the chief without looking away. The chief smiled. He nodded at Sukh.
"I made three bets with my father over which of the two young men could chop the thicker beam. I lost the bets, and offered him a fourth bet, which he refused."
When Dan finished repeating what Sukh had said, the Captain held up his hand to the red-haired woman. She nodded and said something in Kubla to Sukh. Sukh sat down.
The Captain leaned towards Sallina. "Is his story correct so far?"
"Yes," she said.
The Captain nodded to the red-haired woman.
Sukh stood up. "Sallina accepted my bet, the same bet I offered my father. The bet was this: I bet her one hundred guineas that Garibaldi could not cut through a particular beam with one stroke." He reached over his son's knees and picked up the beam from the bench. "This is the beam."
The red-haired woman took the beam from Sukh and gave it to the chief. He turned it over in his hands. He looked into the deep cut Garibaldi had made with his axe. The chief put his finger in the crack and licked it. He frowned and gave the beam back to the red-haired woman. She walked around the fireplace and gave it to Garibaldi. Garibaldi gave it to the Captain.
"Is that the beam?" the red-haired woman said.
"Hayla," Garibaldi said.
The chief nodded at Sukh.
"The young man, Garibaldi, tried to cut through the beam, but failed. After that, Sallina examined the beam, called me a cheat, and refused to honor the bet. She walked away. The young man, Garibaldi, went with her."
Sukh sat down.
"We have heard the accusation," the red-haired woman said, "We will now hear the defense."
"It's your turn to stand up and speak," Dan said to Sallina.
Sallina stood up. She looked at the red-haired woman, because it seemed to Sallina that the red-haired woman was the one who was really in charge. "What Sukh says is true."
Dan repeated what she said in Kubla.
"I did not pay the bet because Sukh knew that it was impossible to cut the beam with an axe, and yet he did not tell me so. The bet I made was a test of Garibaldi's skill. But no matter how skilled he was, he could not have cut that beam. Sukh knew this, and deceived me so that he could win my money. He claims to be an honorable man. Where is the honor in what he did?"
Sallina sat down. The Captain patted her knee with one hand. "Well said, girl."
Sukh stood up. He smiled at Sallina. "I did not claim to be an honorable man."
When Dan had repeated Sukh's words to her in her own language, Sallina tried to think of when it was that Sukh had claimed to be honorable. She could not think of when it was.
Sukh remained standing. "Sallina is mistaken when she says the beam cannot be cut by an axe. I will cut it myself if you wish this to be proved to you."
The chief shook his head slowly.
Sallina stood up. "As you have seen for yourself, Chief Chingis, the beam has an iron rod inside it. I think that Sukh is boasting."
The chief spoke quietly to the red-haired woman. She looked at Sallina. "Sukh will demonstrate the truth to you outside. The chief will wait here."
Everyone but the chief stood up and walked outside. The Captain gave the beam to Garibaldi, and he carried it out into the sunlight behind Sukh. Sukh picked up his axe as he left the hall, and carried it down the steps.
There was no chopping block. The red-haired woman stood at the top of the steps. She shouted at two men standing nearby. They ran around the side of the hall and came back with a large block of wood. Garibaldi put the beam on the block.
"Where would you have me cut it?" Sukh said.
Garibaldi pointed to a knot of wood on the top side of the beam. That would be the most difficult spot to cut through. Sallina stood nearby. She was confused. Why was Sukh doing this? But Garibaldi was not confused. He had a feeling that Sukh knew exactly what he was doing.
They stood back to let Sukh swing. He swung his axe in a full circle and brought it down on the beam.
Ching!
The axe cut right through, and buried itself in the chopping block beneath. The two halves of the beam fell to the ground. The sun shone of the newly-cut metal inside.
She clenched her teeth. She stared at the chopping block. She did not know what to say. How could you cut through metal with an axe?
Sukh pulled his axe out of the block and smiled at Garibaldi. "The trick is to have the right axe."
Garibaldi laughed. "May I see it?"
"Certainly."
Sukh handed him the battle-axe. Garibaldi felt the weight of it. It was heavy like iron. There was a mark on the edge where it had cut through the rod, but only a slight mark. He slid his finger across the metal. It was smooth and slippery. He put his nose to the surface, but it had no smell. He scraped his thumb-nail sideways across the blade's edge. The blade was sharp, but no sharper than his own axe.
He gave the axe back to Sukh.
"Where can I get an axe made of metal like that?"
Sukh smiled. "My son thinks this one was made by dwarves in a mountain." He planted the battle-axe's metal shaft on the ground and leaned upon the top of the head. "It has been in my family for at least four generations. It is a battle-axe, made to cut metal armor. It is not much better than your axe at cutting wood."
Garibaldi would have asked more questions, but the red-haired woman spoke in a loud voice from the top of the stairs. "Is the accused satisfied?"
Dan translated for Sallina.
Sallina did not say anything. She was still trying not to cry. She nodded. The Captain put his arm around her.
"It's all right," he said, "It's all right."
Dan spoke to the red-haired woman.
"Okay," Dan said, "She wants us back inside."
They walked up the steps, entered the hall, and sat down at their benches again.
The red-haired woman spoke to the chief. "The accused is satisfied that the beam can be cut with an axe."
The chief nodded, and spoke quietly to the red-haired woman.
"The accused may speak further," she said to Sallina.
"Do you have anything to say?" the Captain said to Sallina.
Sallina was looking down at the floor of the hall. She was trying to make herself angry, so that she would not cry. She did not want to give up yet. Just because Sukh could cut the beam with his axe did not mean that Garibaldi could do the same. Sukh's axe must have magical powers.
Sallina stood up. "Yes, I will speak."
The chief smiled at her.
"I see now that Sukh can cut through metal with his axe," Sallina said, "But as he said himself outside, you need the right kind of axe, and he knew well that Garibaldi's axe could not cut through metal."
Sallina waited while Dan translated for her.
"Furthermore," she said, "Sukh is a trader, and he knows well that when you say you will sell someone a particular thing for a certain price, you must provide that particular thing in order to be paid. In this case, I agreed to pay him one hundred gold pieces if Garibaldi failed to cut a wooden beam. At the same time, Sukh agreed to pay me one hundred gold pieces if Garibaldi succeeded in cutting a wooden beam."
Sallina waited again for Dan. She stood up straight, with her chin high, and stared the chief straight in the eye. The chief looked back at her. He was still smiling, and he nodded his head when Dan was finished.
"The bet we made is in fact two purchases agreed at one time," Sallina said, "Only one purchase will take place, but each purchase must be understood by both parties. In this case, Sukh cheated me, because he tried to sell me Garibaldi failing to cut through a metal rod, when I said I would pay for Garibaldi failing to cut through a wooden beam."
Sallina looked across the fireplace at Sukh. He was smiling at her. Why was he smiling? Perhaps he did not understand how her argument was working against him. She turned back to the chief and continued. "Garibaldi failed to cut through a metal beam, not a wooden beam. I did not see him fail to cut through a wooden beam, and because I did not see him fail to cut through a wooden beam, I do not owe Sukh anything."
Sallina sat down.
The Captain patted her firmly on the back.
"You are a marvel," he said.
"Thank you, Captain."
She looked across Dan at Garibaldi, but Garibaldi was not looking at her. Garibaldi was looking at the chief. The chief was looking at his own hands. He appeared to be thinking. He closed his eyes and took long, slow breath. He looked at the red-haired woman. She looked back at him. She raised an eyebrow and put her hands on her hips.
The chief cleared his throat. He sat up straight and said something to Sallina. He was no longer smiling. His voice was deep and firm. Dan translated the chief's words in a whisper close to Sallina's ear. The Captain and Garibaldi leaned close so they could hear Dan speak.
"He's asking you a question," Dan said, "And here's the question. He asks you what you would have done if Garibaldi had cut through the metal rod in the beam."
Sallina had been looking at the floor while Dan whispered in her ear, but as soon as he finished, she looked up sharply at the chief. The chief looked back at her, fingering one of the braids of his mustache, and leaning forward to see her better.
Sallina knew perfectly well the answer to the chief's question. She would have laughed at Sukh and said, "Nice try, now you owe me a hundred gold pieces," and as she looked into the chief's face, she realized that he knew perfectly well the answer to his own question, and that her choice was either to lie to him, or tell him the truth.
If she lied to him, he would know she was lying, but he would not be able to prove it. Or would he? If she told him the truth, she had a strong feeling that she would lose the case, and be forced to pay Sukh one hundred gold pieces.
Everyone watched Sallina. It took Garibaldi a few moments to understand what was going on, but when he did, he was concerned. What would Sallina do? He wanted to lean over Dan's knees and say, "I'll give you one hundred of my gold pieces, just tell him the truth."
But he didn't.
Sallina stood up. Sukh was not smiling. He seemed serious and concerned. Why was he concerned now? He should be smiling at the cleverness of his chief's question. How could she expect to get a fair trial here, when Sukh was a friend of the chief?
"Chief Chingis," Sallina said, "if Garibaldi had chopped through the beam, I would have told Sukh that he owed me one hundred gold pieces, and that he should think twice before he tries to cheat a young woman out of her money again."
Sukh laughed out loud and clapped his hands. The chief turned and smiled at the red-haired woman. He leaned toward Sallina. "A bet has only two outcomes," he said, "You win or you lose. If you don't win, you lose. If you don't lose, you win. It is not two purchases. We have only this to decide: which of you wins when your companion fails to cut through the beam. Is it you who wins, or Sukh? I judge that it is Sukh, and not you."
When Dan finished repeating the chief's words, Sallina nodded and sat down. She was glad it was over. She stood up again, stepped around Dan, and sat next to Garibaldi. When she felt his strong arm around her shoulders, she looked up at the chief.
The chief smiled at her. "At the same time," he said, "You have argued well, and spoken honestly, and for that," he turned to Sukh, "I give Sukh the opportunity to show clemency."
Sukh stood up, "Chief, I must agree with you. The young woman has spoken well, and honestly. I will offer her clemency in this way: I will release her from the bet we made if she buys from me the pelts that she examined, the exact same ones, for the price I named yesterday, this being three guineas a pelt for sixty pelts."
The chief turned to Sallina. "Do you accept?"
Sallina looked at the floor. Sukh's offer sounded like a good one. But was it really? She had to pay him one hundred gold pieces, no matter what. He was saying that if she gave him a hundred and eighty gold pieces, which was eighty gold pieces extra, he would give her sixty mink pelts. In a way, she was paying only eighty gold pieces for sixty pelts. Surely the pelts were worth more than eighty gold pieces. She could sell them for more than eighty gold pieces, and make a profit.
She looked up at Sukh. Why had he made this offer? Did he do it out of a sense of honor? If so, why did he try to cheat her in the first place? Sukh was not smiling now. He looked at her with a straight face. But he did not seem angry.
She looked at the floor again, and shook her head. She did not understand these people. She pushed some straw on the floor with the tip of her worn-out sandal. Was this just another trick? She could give Sukh one hundred gold pieces now, and never have to deal with him again. Or she could give him one hundred and eighty gold pieces, and she would have to check the pelts, and carry them away, and make sure they were safe on the ship, and during all that time, Sukh might try to cheat her again, and they would come back here to the Great Hall, and make their case to the chief, and the chief would decide that she had to pay Sukh all the money he wanted, but that Sukh should offer her clemency of some sort, and the same thing would happen again and again, until she had no money left at all.
She closed her eyes. How could the Captain make a living like this? How did he know when someone was trying to cheat him? How did he know who to trust? It was clear that he did trust people, because he trusted Garibaldi and her.
I am tired of being afraid, she said to herself. If I refuse to buy the pelts, I will do so because I am afraid that Sukh is smarter than me. I would rather be brave, and lose all my money, than save some of it and be a coward.
Sallina stood up.
"I will buy the furs," she said.