Sure enough, Banichi reported a confirming signal from Tano, and in due time the youngsters crested the hilltop, marching right along as if they owned the countryside. Their jaunty step slowed a bit as they faced the unexpected bus.
Good. They were thinking self-defensively. But they were a little obvious, in mid-road, and stopping like that, as if they didn’tbelong here.
Bren got up, walked forward in the bus, slightly downhill; Jago got up ahead of him and went down the steps first, stepping down to the outside. Bren took hold of the rail and himself descended the tall steps, jumping down to Jago’s steadying hand. Banichi meanwhile took over the driver’s seat, just a precaution, always, in case of a quick getaway.
No need of that, however. Bren walked along the pebbled dirt as far as the tail of the bus, Jago staying with him. He waited there so their three visitors now could plainly see who was waiting for them—and add up for themselves the fact that their coming had been announcedc they could well guess by whom, and they could judge for themselves that now they might be in a spot of trouble. They might indeed have been in for a U-turn back to the train station or, more likely, a fast trip to the local airportc if Cajeiri’s father had been in a bad mood.
Two more walkers appeared on the hill behind the three youngsters—adult, in Assassins’ black. That was Tano and Algini, proceeding at a sedate pace, following the road from the train station.
Bren hadn’t wanted to make a scene of the meeting, or widely advertise their young visitors. They simply waited for the youngsters to show up—there was one road in the district that led to Najida from the train station, and this was, indeed, it, the single way any visitor to Najida or to Najidami Bay had to come.
So Bren waited for them, arms folded as they started walking again, deciding not to wait for Tano and Algini, and in due time the youngsters arrived at the bus. They all three bowed politely, and he bowed—Jago did not, in the icy chill of her professional manner—and then he looked Cajeiri straight in the eye.
“Young gentleman?” he said grimly.
An apprehensive look. “My father surely called you, nandi.”
“He did, young lord. Surely you don’t think the Guild in his service couldn’t trace a railroad train.”
Deep breath. The young miscreant had had a long train ride in which to put together a story. One was interested to hear what it would be.
“Great-grandmother is going away to Malguri. Great-uncle is in your apartment by now.”
“ Hisapartment, young lord. This seems a natural enough situation.”
“So it is, but it was rude of him all the same, and we support you, nandi!”
God, the boy was going to be a politician, no question about it. “And by coming to me in this fashion to say so, you risked your life, the lives and reputations of your associates, and bring me into disrepute as abetting this mischief, not to mention the instability to the aishidi’tat should some enemy find you and call your father seeking an exchange of favors.”
“My father cannot possibly blame you, nandi! One will strongly protest any such injustice! And we were very discreet. No enemy would expect us on a freight train. They would be watching the red car.”
“Your father called this morning,” he said dryly, in the face of this cheeky assurance. “He did notblame me, nor my influence, and gave you five days here, young gentleman—”
“ Ha!” Cajeiri cried, turning to his unwilling accomplices, beaming with delight. “Five days! Thank you, nandi!”
“The young gentleman should thank his father on his returnc”
“We shall, oh, we shall, nand’ paidhi!”
“ Notin words, but by renewed application to lessons! Is this agreed? Is this solemnly agreed, young lord? One cannot countenance supporting this notion otherwise!”
He caught Cajeiri with his mouth open. It shut, and Cajeiri looked at him and evidently saw, indeed, that there were two ways to go from here, only one of which would offer him the whole hospitality of the estate. Evidently he saw this choice before him, since his expression evolved into due caution, and he bowed in sober acceptance.
“One agrees, nand’ paidhi.”
“And will one remember, when one returns and the lessons are particularly boring?”
“One will remember, nand’ paidhi.”
“Then you are very welcome, young lord. We have asked, and been granted, two extra days of your companyc fortunate seven, in all.”
“Oh, excellent, most excellent, nandi! You are the best, the cleverest—”
“We seem to have promised you a day or two on the boat, among other things.”
“You see, nadiin-ji?” Cajeiri addressed Antaro and Jegari, who had looked throughout as if they wanted to sink into the damp earth of the roadway. And by now Tano and Algini had arrived, so that the young lord’s security-in-training had to have it stamped very clearly in their minds that they had been observed by Guild as they got off the train, and they had been observed all the while taking the road toward Najida, walking down the plain middle of it as they had been. They had had time to reflect that had Tano and Algini not been the paidhi’s own security, they might have been very, very sorry, and completely unable to defend their young lord. It was very, very likely that his bodyguard would impress that observation on the two in a private conversation yet to come.
The two certainly bowed, bowed deeply and respectfully when those two joined the party.
“Let us go,” Bren said, and led them back to the front of the bus.
Everyone piled onto the bus. Jago, resuming her seat, drove, and they made a bumpy descent toward the shore road, a brisk clip which delighted the youngsters. Cajeiri asked questions all the way: whether there might be wi’itikin in the sea cliffs— there were not: the flying creatures were more common in the East, and would not prosper where a gliding dive ended in the water. And were there fish in the bay? There were, abundantly so. And was that to the left Lord Geigi’s land, or his?
“It is mine, young lord, and you may even see the adjacent estate during your stay—one is, as a neighbor and associate of Lord Geigi, obliged to pay a visit there in a few days. You hardly had a chance to meet Lord Geigi on the station, but it may be useful, in coming years, for his nephew to have met you.”
“Is he my age?”
“One regrets, no, much older. But still a useful association, to you and to him.” The visit of the heir to the aishidi’tat would make a deep impression, even on a dim-witted newly-made lord, besides enhancing the nephew’s reputation locally. It would give Cajeiri a sense of the man—for good or for ill.
“But, nandi, you promised we could go fishing.”
“And that we shall, young lord. We shall spend this night at the estate, and tomorrow early we shall go on the boat, spend all day fishing and spend the night at sea, weather permitting. That is the plan. How will you like that?”
“Very much, nandi!” He turned to his young cohorts. “See? We shall have our fishing trip!”
He had the young rascal’s thorough cooperation now, he was surec a little carrot, when the boy had, perhaps, had too much stick over the last few months.
The boy’s presence would give his household a focus, too, other than Barb’s latest misdeeds.
And Cajeiri, having lived two years among the ship-humans, was far easier in the face of human habits, far harder to shock. One only hoped he didn’t learn anything new.
It was an excellent plan, over all, an excellent solution: they all wanted something to do—to keep him and Barb from unpleasant conversation. They could be doing something besides sipping tea and staring at each other. There would be bait to have ready, lines and poles and fishing-chairs to set up, all manner of things that would keep them busyc there would be the work to talk about. And Cajeiri’s questions to answer. Cajeiri’s endless questions.