Savage Games of Lord Zarak (3 page)

Wash said, “Mm! Mm! I think the hush puppies are better than the fish!”

“Why do they call them hush puppies, Reb?” Abbey asked curiously.

“Back home, we always had a bunch of dogs crowding around when we were trying to eat. My pap would toss one of these to them when they got too pesky and say, ‘Hush, puppy!'”

“That sounds like just another one of your tall tales, Reb.” Josh laughed at him. He liked Reb Jackson very much. “Tell us another one of your hunting lies.”

But Reb was out of the mood. He had eaten enough for two boys his size, but still there was a frown on his face. Finally he said, “I wish that Roland Winters would get lost in the woods and never come back!”

“That would be a sad thing, Reb.”

Everyone jumped to his feet, for there in the open door stood Goél!

Goél entered with a slight smile on his face. He was wearing the same light gray robe that he always wore. The hood that sometimes shaded his face was pushed back. His hair was light brown and had a slight curl to it, and his features were tanned. Sometimes his eyes seemed gray, and at other times there was a blue tinge to them. And just now his eyes seemed happy. “I'm glad to see you all. Sit down, and I'll join you.”

“Have some of this fish—and some of Reb's hush puppies.”

“I believe I will, Sarah.” Goél began to eat hungrily, and he listened as each one spoke.

When all had finished eating, Reb glanced around and said quietly, “Got something to talk to you about, sire.”

“And what is that, my son?”

“It's about this guy Roland Winters. He's impossible. Where'd you dredge him up?”

“That's a strange expression—‘dredge him up.' As a matter of fact, Reb, his father is one of my best servants.”

“Well, his son didn't get any of that,” Jake said sourly. “If I ever went on a two-week canoe trip with him, I think one of us would shoot the other.”

Goél looked at Jake but said nothing.

Jake's face turned red, and he muttered, “Well, it was just a thought.”

“So you're all agreed that Roland is ‘impossible'?”

“He's very difficult, sire,” Josh said. “No doubt about it. But I'm sure you knew that when you sent him to us.”

“I did indeed.” Goél leaned forward and put his hands together. He had strong hands, although the fingers were slender. He did not speak for a time but kept looking thoughtfully around the circle. “I understand your problem. He is a difficult young man. But as I indicated, his father is one of the best men that I've ever known. He asked me as a very special favor to see if I could do something to help his son.”

“Well, he's a bully and a bragger,” Reb complained. “I hope you're not intending to send him with us, Goél. Because I flat out won't go. Not with
him.
”

Shocked silence fell over the table. None of the Seven Sleepers had ever downright refused to obey a command of Goél. But Reb's lips tightened, and he sat up straighter. He could be stubborn, Josh knew. For a time Reb's eyes met those of Goél, but then he could not hold Goél's steady gaze, and he bowed his head.

“I will never force anyone to serve me, Reb,” Goél said quietly. “If you cannot serve me out of love, it is best that you go and find someone else to serve.”

Reb looked up. The words seemed to startle him. And perhaps he saw something in Goél's face that hurt
him, for he stammered, “Well . . . well, I didn't mean that I wouldn't do it. I meant that . . . that I don't
want
to do it.”

“All of us have to do things we don't want to do, Reb.”

“Even you, Goél?”

“Yes. Even me, Reb. But I ask this of you as a favor, and it will not be a command.”

At this moment the door opened, and Roland stepped inside. He looked surprised to find Goél there, and some of his self-confident manner left him. “Well, Goél . . .” he said rather haltingly, “I'm . . . I'm glad to see you.”

“I'm truly glad to see you, Roland. Have you eaten?”

“No. Not very hungry.”

“You'd better try some of these hush puppies. Reb makes the best hush puppies that I've ever tasted, and the fish is delicious.”

Roland, however, turned sulky. He shook his head. “Don't care for any.”

Goél studied the tall boy for a long moment. Then he looked around the table and said, “I've come to send you on a new mission, my friends. As usual, there is some danger involved, but you have never failed me, and I cannot tell you how proud I am of all of you.”

“Can you tell us anything about this mission, sire?” Josh asked.

“Also as usual, I am sending you into a situation where the Dark Lord has gained power. This time he has gained power in very high places. My heart grieves for the people involved, and I'm sure yours will as well.”

After talking about the new assignment for some time, Goél took a deep breath and stood to his feet.
“Roland, I have asked you to join with my servants the Seven Sleepers. They are some of the most faithful of all my servants. Now, I must tell you that if you go with them, you will be under the authority of Josh. I have appointed him the leader, and if you cannot obey him, then tell me so at once.”

A flush spread over Roland Winters's face, and he glared at Josh.

Josh thought,
He thinks he ought to be the leader. I doubt that he'll go under my authority.

But for whatever reason, Roland finally nodded. “As you say, Goél.”

“Good. Now, we will talk of other things. Later on, I will give you a map. I think you will find that travel to the land where I am sending you this time will be much easier than some journeys in the past.”

“I wish we had a coach to ride in. Pulled by six white horses,” Abbey said dreamily.

“You will have something better than that, my daughter,” Goél promised with a smile.

 

Roland ate no supper, and he left almost at once.

When he was gone and Sarah had opportunity, she slipped up close to Goél. “Sire,” she said, “I don't understand why you want that boy to go with us. He truly
is
impossible!”

“Beyond hope?” Goél suggested.

“Well . . . I don't like to think anyone's beyond hope, sire, but . . .”

Goél put a hand on her shoulder. “There is hope for Roland just as there is hope for you, my daughter. But there is much in him that will have to be purged away. That is the way improvement comes. Everything is burned away except the gold itself.” His grip tight
ened on her shoulder, and he smiled as she looked up at him, not fully understanding. “I remember that you had to go through some fires yourself in order to learn. Do you recall?”

“Yes, sire. I remember. It was hard.”

“But you have been sweetened by those hard times.” His face grew serious, and he said, “Try to be a friend to Roland, Sarah. He needs a friend desperately.”

“He doesn't
seem
to need any. He doesn't act like he wants any!”

“But his heart is hungry. No one as arrogant and proud as Roland Winters can be truly happy. So I'm depending on you—and the rest of the Sleepers—to help him.” He added thoughtfully, “This will be a double mission. One is to help the people of the land where I will send you, and the other is to help bring Roland Winters out of what he has become so that he will be a good and a faithful servant of mine.”

Sarah sighed. “That'll take a miracle, Goél.”

“Well,” he said, patting her shoulder, “there is precedence for that. Now, do your best, and I will expect to see this ‘miracle.'”

 

w
e're just going to have to be patient with him.” The Sleepers were gathered about the table for a final breakfast. Goél had disappeared sometime during the night. Roland Winters had eaten his breakfast quickly, then left the house without saying more than a half dozen words.

Sarah looked around at the dissatisfaction on the faces of her friends. “I know he's difficult,” she said, “but Goél doesn't do things accidentally. He's sending Roland with us because he has a purpose.”

“His purpose seems to be to keep me as mad as a wet hornet,” Reb muttered. “Every time that guy Roland says something, mad just goes all over me. I just can't help it.”

Wash suddenly reached out and struck Reb lightly on the arm. “You remember when we first came to Nuworld?”

“Sure, I remember.”

“You remember how much you didn't like
me?
”

Reb looked uncomfortable. “Well, that was different.”

“No, it wasn't,” Wash said. “You just plain didn't like me.”

“It is too different! You're a nice guy, Wash. I just had to find out about it. But there's nothing nice about Roland Winters.”

Josh got into the conversation then. “We're going to have a pretty hard time on this assignment, I think. We always do, but it's going to be even harder if we
don't get along. You remember how we've had arguments among ourselves and how tough it was.”

“That's right,” Jake said. “I guess if I learned to get along with you, Abbey”—here the redhead winked at her and grinned broadly—“I can get along with Roland Winters.”

Abbey sniffed. “Doesn't look like he wants to get along with
us.
He won't have anything to do with any of us.”

Sarah was uncomfortable with all this. She did not want to repeat her conversation with Goél concerning Roland, but she felt she had to say something to change their thinking.

“You know,” she said slowly, “I remember a boy back in the sixth grade. Jimmy. He was the torment of my life—and not just me, either. Everybody else! He was sort of like a Roland shrunk up.” Sarah grinned and then sobered again. “I couldn't stand him.”

“So what did he do to remind you of our friend Roland?”

“He was always showing off and always bullying kids that were smaller than he was. I thought he was just awful. And I said awful things about him. We all did, but then one day I found out something about his problem. Our teacher took me over to one side and told me things about him that I hadn't known.”

“What was that?” Abbey asked.

“She said his father had been killed in the war, and his mother had a terrible disease, and that Jimmy had to do most of the work around the house. I never knew that before.” Thoughtfully, Sarah looked out through the window. “When I found that out, I started being nice to him no matter what he said or did to me. And you know what? It worked. He did better. He was real
ly unhappy on the inside, but he didn't want anybody to know about it.”

“And you think Roland's like that?” Wash demanded. “Big and tough like he is?”

“I think he may be trying to cover up some things. A wise person told me one time that nobody who's proud and a bully can really be happy.”

They sat talking about Roland Winters and his problem—whatever it was—for some time. Finally Josh heaved a big sigh. “I know he'll be hard to get along with, but I'm determined to do the best I can to be a friend to him. He may not want my friendship, but at least I can make the offer.” He added, “And now we'd better start getting our gear pulled together.”

 

Goél had told the Sleepers to travel light, so all of them put only what was necessary in their knapsacks. Primarily they carried weapons—bows, arrows, swords, knives—but they also had learned they needed to take along some cooking equipment and weatherproof ponchos.

Goél found them completing preparations. He said, “It is time for you to leave.” He glanced at Roland, who had rejoined the group, but did not speak to him directly.

“The enemy on this mission, you must remember, will not primarily be an army,” he told them.

“That's good news.” Jake sighed with relief. “I'd hate to think we were taking on a whole army.”

But Goél's face was very serious. “The greatest enemy this time is pride.” After a moment he went on quietly, “You've already learned the dangers that can come from wild beasts and from the swords or the arrows of your enemies in human form. You have prac
ticed hard to deal with this kind of weapon. But there is something just as deadly—in another way—as an arrow in the heart, and that is pride in the heart.”

“But I thought it wasn't bad to be proud. I mean, I'm proud to be serving you, Goél,” Josh spoke up.

“You're right, my son. Some things we should be proud of. Pride in our country, pride in doing a thing well for the right reason—these are good things. But when one is proud of self and one's accomplishments and one's position, that pride can eat away at a man or a woman—or a boy or girl—until there's nothing noble left. Pride is perhaps the worst crime that a person can commit against himself.”

Goél talked at great length about pride. As he finished he said, “I am sending you to a land where pride in the heart of the ruler has almost destroyed that which is good. But it is not too late. He can still be rescued. As I said, you will not overcome wholly by arms but largely through the weapons that touch the heart.”