The next afternoon, Sallina and Garibaldi lay floating in the hot springs, their ears under the water listening to the bubbling in the middle of the pool. Their noses and mouths were just above the water so they could breath, and their eyes were half-open so they could see the clear blue sky through the tree-tops above them.
Sallina and Garibaldi were the only people at the pool. When they first arrived, there had been a few sailors, but now they were alone. They had not been alone and outside since they arrived in Godiva. At first, Sallina was concerned that there might be something dangerous in the forest, something that stopped people living on the island. But Garibaldi did not seem worried at all, so she let herself lie in the water and tried not to worry about anything.
She thought about rescuing Chimeg. Why should she worry about that? It would be the night of the Circus Masquerade. Nobody would recognize them in their masks. They would wait until they saw the lights go out in Chimeg's house. Baat would climb into the garden and go to the window of her room. The window looked out onto the wall between Diamara's garden and her neighbor's garden. Baat would tap on Chimeg's window shutter. Chimeg would come out into the garden, climb over the wall with Baat, and all five of them, Garibaldi, Sallina, Baat, Chimeg, and Dan, would escape from the city together. That was the plan.
There did not seem to be much that could go wrong with such a simple plan. But why were Garibaldi, Dan, and she going? They would be standing around in the street while Baat was in the garden. What if someone saw them and wondered what they were doing? How did having more people help? She understood why she was going, of course. She was going because Garibaldi was going. Garibaldi was going because Baat wanted him to go. And Dan was coming, too, because the Captain wanted Dan to keep them all out of trouble.
Sallina wished the Captain would tell Garibaldi not to go. Then Garibaldi would stay behind, and she would stay behind, and only Baat and Dan would go. They would be better off without her and Garibaldi. How could she and Garibaldi help?
There was a cracking noise in the forest. Sallina heard it even with her ears under-water. She pushed her feet down onto the slime-covered rock at the bottom of the pool and stood up. Four men with huge knives stood at the other end of the pool. They had pale skin and wide faces with narrow eyes.
Sallina saw the knives and screamed.
Garibaldi stood up. Sallina pushed her way through the water towards him as fast as she could without turning her back upon the men. The men watched Sallina and smiled. She did not like their smiles. She reached Garibaldi and put one arm around him. Her heart was beating fast. She looked up at Garibaldi's face.
"Those aren't swords," Garibaldi said, "They are machetes, used for cutting branches. My father has one."
The men with machetes turned and walked a back into the forest. They swung their machetes and cut down some bushes. They picked up the cut bushes and threw them aside. Now there was an open space beneath the trees. The open space went down the hill.
"They're sailors from that ship," Garibaldi said, "The junk, the one from Chiin. I don't think they mean to hurt us. This is the path they were cutting through the forest to the hot springs, like Pops and Harry said."
The four men stood to one side. Another man came up the path. He had short white hair, but he did not look old. He wore a plain black robe and walked slowly, with his arms crossed in front of him. His hands were hidden in his sleeves. When he reached the end of the path, he stepped out into the sunlight and stood on the pavement. He faced Sallina and Garibaldi. There was no expression on his face. He was not smiling. He was not frowning. He stood still and stared at them.
Sallina and Garibaldi stared back at him. After a while, Sallina turned her head away and pressed her cheek against Garibaldi's shoulder. But Garibaldi did not turn his head away. He kept staring at the man with white hair. He raised one eyebrow.
There was something else coming up the path now, something big. At first, Garibaldi thought it was a huge animal, but then he saw that it was made of wood, and it was being carried on two long poles by eight men. It was some kind of carriage, but without wheels. It had windows and a door. The men who carried it wore red robes. Their faces were shining with sweat.
Sallina whispered, "That box is a litter. There must be people inside it."
Garibaldi nodded.
The man with white hair turned around. He took one hand out of his robe and pointed to the pavement with a shiny, black rod. The men in red robes carried the litter to the pavement and put it down beside the pool. Their robes shone in the sunlight.
"Those robes are made of silk," Sallina said.
The door of the litter faced the pool. The man with white hair opened the door and stepped back. A small, slender woman wearing an orange robe stepped out. Her face was white. Her hair was long and black, and held in a bun above her head with sticks like knitting needles. Her orange robe was embroidered with green thread. She held her arms crossed and her hands hidden. She walked with little steps, looking down at the pavement, to the side of the pool.
Another woman stepped out of the litter. Her robe was green with orange thread. She walked to the edge of the pool in just the same way as the first woman. She held her eyes down, bowed her head, and took little steps with her hands hidden in her sleeves. She stood beside the first woman and looked down into the water.
An old man stepped out of the litter. His hair was short and black, but his face was wrinkled. He wore a black robe embroidered with gold thread. The robe shone in the sun. He stood beside the man with white hair. The plain robe of the man with white hair did not shine in the sun.
Sallina wondered if the old man dyed his hair, or if people from Chiin did not go gray when they grew old. She wondered if the man with white hair was one of those people whose hair and skin were white all their lives.
The old man looked at Sallina and Garibaldi. He frowned slightly. Judging by the lines on his face, he had spent most of his life frowning like that, so Sallina figured that his frowning did not mean anything unusual.
The old man said something to the man with white hair. The man with white hair made signs with his black rod to the men with red robes. Four of them walked twenty paces one way around the pool, and the other four walked twenty paces the other way.
Sallina said, "I think he wants us to stay on this side of the men with red robes."
Garibaldi looked from one group of men with red robes to the other. "Yes, I think you're right."
The old man took off his robe. From the shape of his body, Sallina guessed that he didn't get much exercise. He was not as fat as the Captain, but he had a round tummy. The Captain's legs and arms were strong and thick, but the old man's legs and arms were weak and thin.
The man with white hair helped the old man into the pool. The old man sat on the bench in the water. The two women stood on the pavement behind him. He spoke to them. He did not look at them when he spoke to them, but he turned his head towards them a little.
The two women took off their robes. They were young and fair-skinned. Sallina guessed that they did not get much exercise either. They were not fat, but there was not much muscle on their arms or legs. They put their toes in the water and giggled. They put their feet in slowly, stood on the bench for a while, and sat down together. They giggled even more loudly when they put their bottoms in the water. Once they were seated, they started talking to one another quietly. Sallina was sure they were not talking in Weilandic or Latin. They must be talking the language of Chiin.
Garibaldi was watching the women. Sallina wondered if he thought they were pretty. She let herself sink down into the water until only her head was showing. Garibaldi looked at her and sank down into the water beside her. He brought his lips close to her ears and whispered, "I don't think any of the others are going to get to go in the water."
Sallina looked past the litter to the forest. The men with machetes were sitting under the trees in the shade. They talked among themselves and drank from leather skins. One of them chewed on something that looked like a dried fish.
"Really?" she said, "But they all climbed up here, why wouldn't they get in the pool?"
"I don't know," Garibaldi said, "But I have a feeling that they won't."
The old man put his hands on his knees and closed his eyes. Sallina remembered the Captain sitting in the same way. The two women moved off the bench and into the deeper water. They kept their heads and their hair above the surface. The skin on their faces was so very white that Sallina decided they must both be wearing white makeup, just like Diamara in Prudence. Why would beautiful young women wear makeup? It did not make any sense to Sallina. All they were doing was covering up how beautiful they were. Makeup was for old women who wanted to look like young women. One of the women raised her arms above her head and pushed her hair needles farther into her hair. There was no hair in her armpits. Did the women of Chiin have no hair in their armpits?
Garibaldi wished he had his axe with him. He had not been carrying it around recently because the sailors made fun of him when he carried it. But he would feel better if he had his axe. Or maybe he should get a machete and carry that around instead. Machetes were good for chopping wood, and they were also good as weapons.
While the old man sat in the water and the two women explored the pool, the man with white hair stood absolutely still on the pavement in the sunlight, just behind the old man's head. The eight men with red robes were not so still. They moved from one foot to the other and spoke every now and then. One group was standing in the sun. The other group was standing in the shade. The men in the sun were sweating. The men in the shade were swatting mosquitoes that landed on their faces.
Maybe the old man and the two women were having the first turn swimming in the pool, and the rest would go in later. But that did not make much sense, because the pool was large enough for everyone.
"Maybe they are scared of us," Sallina said, "and they are keeping guard while we are here. If we go, they will all get in."
Garibaldi shook his head. "No, I don't think the old guy cares that the others don't get to come in. I don't think he even thinks about them."
Sallina looked at Garibaldi and at the old man. She moved back to the bench on the far side of the pool from the old man. Garibaldi followed her.
"Do you think they are all slaves," Sallina said, "and the old man is their master?"
"I don't think the man with short white hair is a slave," Garibaldi said. "I think he's a soldier. But the others might be."
Sallina watched the men in red robes. "Let's wait here for a while and see what happens."
They waited. The old man sat in the pool with his eyes closed. The young women touched bubbles in the middle of the pool, and giggled. The shadows of the trees moved slowly across the pavement and onto the pool. Sallina looked down at her hands. They were white and wrinkly from sitting in the hot water.
"Let's go."
Garibaldi nodded. He stood up and stepped out of the pool. Sallina started to follow him, but she noticed that all the men in red robes were looking at her. She stayed sitting on the bench. Why were they looking at her? Behind her, Garibaldi was wrapping a towel around his waist. Sallina looked over her shoulder.
"Will you please bring me my towel?"
Garibaldi brought her her towel. She climbed quickly out of the pool and wrapped it around her chest.
"Lets go down the steps a ways before we get dressed."
To get to the stairs, they had to pass behind four of the men in red robes. The men did not turn around, but two of them looked over their shoulders. They smiled and nodded their heads. Sallina smiled back.
Garibaldi smiled too. "Hi," he said.
Sallina hurried in her bare feet up the steps to the top of the ridge and started down the other side. After a hundred steps, she stopped and put her clothes down. She unwrapped her towel and started drying herself. "Was the old man some kind of prince or something?"
Garibaldi put his shirt on. "I think he was, or maybe he was the captain of the junk, and that's how they act around their captains in Chiin. I wouldn't like to be one of their crew, that's for sure."
Sallina rubbed her hair with her towel. She thought she could understand how the boat from Chiin could leave behind one of its sailors. Their captain did not care about his sailors. She pulled up her trousers and tied them at her waist. Garibaldi was already dressed. He stood and watched her. She put her shirt on. When she was finished with her buttons, she looked up and saw him smiling at her. She put her arms around him and kissed him.
They were still kissing when they heard their own captain's voice on the stairs below them.
"Ahoy lovebirds!"
The stopped kissing and looked down the stairs. There was the Captain, coming up slowly, leaning on his walking stick. With him were Dan and Sharpy. Sharpy had a cutlass on his belt. The Captain had his rapier, and on his back was a bow and a quiver of arrows. Dan had a knife in a sheath on his belt.
The three men climbed to Sallina and Garibaldi. The Captain was, of course, breathing deeply. The air seemed cool to Garibaldi and Sallina, but it was a hot afternoon. All three of the men's shirts were wet with sweat.
The Captain sat down on the step above Sallina. He took out a leather water flask and drank from it.
Sallina pointed to the bow on his back. "Are you going hunting?"
The Captain shook his head. "No. We're going to meet the Captain of the boat from Chiin." He looked up. "Is he at the springs yet?"
"Yes he is. And two women and a bunch of men with red robes who carried them up in a litter, and some men with large knives."
"Machetes," Garibaldi said, "They cleared a path under the trees from the shore with machetes."
"Why would they do that, Captain?" Sharpy said.
"They think we're barbarians," the Captain said. He took another drink of water. "They think their manners are better than ours, and that their thinking is better. They think we're stupid, in fact, and ignorant, like children."
"But why did they make their own path?" Sharpy said.
The Captain looked up at him. "I'm coming to that." He took a deep breath. "So, they think they are better than us, but we don't agree, and our sailors tend to tease them. Our women might tease their men, for example, for sailing on a boat with no women. So their captain doesn't want to share the stairs with us. I'm sure if we had not been here when he arrived, he would have used the stairs, but as it is: we're here. Also, he doesn't care about how much work his sailors have to do, so he asks them to make a path through the forest and carry him and his wives up there."
"He's an old man," Sallina said, "The women were young. I thought they were his daughters."
The Captain smiled. "I doubt it. The Chiin believe that men are smarter than women, so there's not much point in having an older woman as a wife. You might as well have a young one who's pretty and will give you strong children."
Sallina frowned. "Yuck. You mean those young women actually have to sleep with the old guy?"
The Captain nodded. "I expect so." He wiped his brow. "Well, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe they are his daughters. I'll ask him." He stood up. "Now, we're late, because I'm so slow. We have to go. See you back at the boat."
The three men started climbing the stairs. Sallina and Garibaldi looked at one another. The three men went around a bend in the stairs, but they could still hear their footsteps. A strange bird called out in the trees nearby.
Garibaldi said, "I wish I had had my axe back there when we were at the pool."
"You should carry it around with you," Sallina said, "Don't pay any attention to people teasing you. I like it when you carry your axe, so who cares what they say?"
Garibaldi nodded. She was right: if Sallina wanted him to carry his axe, then why should he be ashamed to carry it? She was the one who he wanted to please.
"Why were Sharpy and the Captain carrying all those weapons?" Sallina said.
Garibaldi looked up the stairs. "I don't know. Why was Dan the only one without a weapon? Let's follow them. I want to see what happens."
"Okay," Sallina said.
They picked up their towels and walked up the stairs. When they reached the highest point, they sat down and looked through the trees at the pool below. The Captain was walking out onto the pavement. The old man was sitting in the pool. He nodded at the captain. The Captain stopped about ten paces away. Sharpy walked up and stood on the Captain's left.
Dan walked across the pavement and stood on the Captain's right. Suddenly, the man with white hair ran forward and crouched beside the old man, so that he was between the old man and Dan. He held his black rod in one hand, and something shiny in the other.
"What was that for?" Sallina said.
Garibaldi stared at the shiny thing. He decided that it was a long knife. "I think the man with white hair is frightened of Dan."
The man with white hair spoke out loud. Four men in red robes moved up behind the Sharpy. Sharpy turned and looked at them with his hand upon the hilt of his cutlass. The other four men in red robes rushed forwards and stood close by. The old man sat in the water. The two women were near the center of the pool. They held on to one another and made quiet squealing noises like frightened piglets. One of them stumbled in the water and got her hair wet. The four men with machetes stood up and watched, but they did not seem particularly interested in what was going on.
The old man looked at the Captain, at Dan, and at Sharpy. After a moment, he stood up and stepped out of the water, showing is round tummy and his skinny legs. One of the men in red picked up the old man's black silk robe. The old man held his arms out to his sides. The man in red put the black robe on the old man and tied the sash around his waist.
Sallina shook her head. "He can't even put on his own robe."
The old man walked forward. The man with white hair rose to his feet and followed him. The old man stood in front of the Captain. His voice was too quiet to for Sallina to hear, sitting fifty paces away, but she guessed that the old man was speaking Latin.
The old man and the Captain looked at Dan. Dan crossed his arms. The Captain spoke to him. He nodded, walked to the edge of the pavement, and sat down on a large rock.
One of the men in red robes reached inside the litter, and took out two stools. He set one stool on the pavement behind the old man and gave the other one to Sharpy. Sharpy put it down behind the Captain.
The old man and the Captain sat down on the stools. The man with white hair stood beside the old man. Sharpy stood beside the Captain.
The Captain and the old man began to talk. After ten minutes, Sallina said, "Okay, I'm getting bitten by mosquitoes, and I don't think anything exciting is going to happen here."
Garibaldi stood up. Sallina did the same. She brushed the dirt off her trousers. They started walking down the steps. Sallina reached out and touched Garibaldi's hand. He held her hand in his, and they walked down the stairs like that: holding hands.
After a while, Sallina said, "That man with the short white hair knew Dan. He thought Dan was going to hurt the old man."
Garibaldi nodded. That seemed about right to him.
"The Captain hasn't told us much about Dan," Sallina said, "And Dan doesn't answer questions." She looked at Garibaldi. "Why is that?"
Garibaldi thought for a moment. "I don't know."
Sallina watched the cracked old steps in front of her. "There's only one explanation that I can think of. Dan has something to hide. And everyone is so scared of him, for some reason, that they won't tell us what his secret is. Not even the women from the Endeavor will say much about Dan when I ask them."
"Did you ask Jacqueline?" Garibaldi said.
Sallina looked at him. "Jacqueline? No I didn't. Why?"
"Well," Garibaldi said, "She often says things the other sailors won't say, even though they want to. Jasper invited us to eat supper on the beach with him and Jacqueline tonight. So we could do that, and ask her questions."
Sallina raised Garibaldi's hand to her lips and kissed it.
"Good thinking, woodcutter."