Valegirl and highlander stared at the old man in astonishment. Cogline cackled shrilly, then kicked at the sleeping Whisper and brought the cat’s whiskered face up with a jerk. «Me and this worthless animal — we’re going to help all we can! Can’t be having tears like those! Can’t be having guests wandering all over the place with no one to show them the way!»
«Grandfather…» the girl started to interrupt, but the old man brushed her aside.
«Haven’t had a run at those Spider Gnomes for some time now, have we? Good idea to let them know that we’re still here in case they think we moved out. Up on Toffer Ridge, they’ll be — no, not this time of year. No, they’ll be down off the ridge to the moor with the season’s change at hand. That’s their ground; that’s where they’d take a sword like that if they pulled it from the river. Whisper will track it for us. Then we’ll turn east, skirt the moor, and cross to the Ravenshorn. Day or two, maybe, all told.»
He wheeled back again. «But not you, Kimber. Can’t have you out and about in that country. Walkers and all are too dangerous. You stay here and keep the home.»
Kimber gave him a hopeless look. «He still thinks of me as a child. I am the one who should worry for him.»
«Ha! You don’t have to worry for me!» Cogline Snapped.
Kimber smiled indulgently, her pixie face calm. «Of course I have to worry for you. I love you.» She turned to Brin. «Brin, you have to understand something. Grandfather never leaves the valley anymore without me. He requires the use of my eyes and my memory from time to time. Grandfather, don’t be angry with what I say, but you know that sometimes you are forgetful. Besides, Whisper will not always do what you tell him. He will disappear on you when you least want him to, if you try to go alone.»
Cogline frowned. «Stupid cat does that, all right.» He glanced down at Whisper, who blinked back at him sleepily. «Waste of my time trying to teach him differently. Very well, I suppose we’ll all have to go. But you keep out of harm’s way, girl. Leave that part to me.»
Brin and Rone exchanged hurried glances.
Kimber turned to them. «It is settled then. We can leave at dawn.»
The Valegirl and the highlander stared at each other in disbelief. What was happening? As if it were the most natural thing in the world, it had just been decided that a girl barely more than Brin’s age, a half–crazed old man, and a sometimes disappearing cat would retrieve for them the missing Sword of Leah from some creatures they had labeled as Spider Gnomes and then afterward guide them into the mountains of the Ravenshorn and Graymark! Gnomes and walkers and other dangerous beings would be all about — beings whose power had destroyed the Druid Allanon — and the old man and the girl were acting as if none of that really made any difference at all.
«Kimber, no,” Brin said finally, not knowing what else to say. «You can’t go with us.»
«She’s right,” Rone agreed. «You can’t even begin to understand what we’ll be up against.»
Kimber Boh look at each of them in turn. «I understand better than you think. I told you before — this land is my home. And grandfather’s. We know its dangers and we understand them.»
«You don’t understand the walkers!» Rone exploded. «What can the two of you do against the walkers?»
Kimber held her ground. «I don’t know. Much the same as you, I’d guess. Avoid them.»
«And what, if you can’t avoid them?» Rone pressed. «What then?»
Cogline snatched a leather bag belted at his waist and held it forth. «Give them a taste of my magic, outlander! Give them a taste of a fire they know nothing about at all!»
The highlander frowned doubtfully and looked at Brin for help. «This is crazy!» he snapped.
«Do not be so quick to dismiss my grandfather’s magic,” Kimber advised, with a reassuring nod to the old man. «He has lived in this wilderness all of his life and survived a great many dangers. He can do things you might not expect of him. He will be of great help to you. As will Whisper and I as well.»
Brin shook her head. «I think this is a very bad idea, Kimber.»
The girl nodded her understanding. «You will change your mind, Brin. In any case, you really don’t have a choice. You need Whisper to track. You need grandfather to guide you. And you need me to help them do that.»
Brin started to object once more, then stopped. What was she thinking? They had come to Hearthstone in the first place because they needed someone to guide them through Darklin Reach. There was only one man who could do that, and that man was Cogline. Without Cogline, they might wander the wilderness country of the Anar for weeks — weeks that they did not have. Now that they had found him and he was offering them the help they so desperately needed, here she was trying to refuse it!
She hesitated. Perhaps she had good reason for doing so. Kimber appeared to her as a girl whose heart was greater than her strength. But the fact remained that Cogline was unlikely to go anywhere without her. Did Brin, then, have the right to put her concern for Kimber above the dictates of the trust which she had been given by Allanon?
She did not think so.
«I believe the matter is decided,” Kimber said softly.
Brin looked at Rone one final time. The highlander shook his head in helpless resignation.
Brin turned back and smiled wearily. «I guess it is,” she agreed and hoped against reason that it had been decided correctly.
Chapter Thirty–Five
They departed Hearthstone at dawn of the following day and journeyed northeast through the forestland toward the dark rise of Toffer Ridge. Travel was slow, as it had been during their trek north to the Grimpond. The whole of the wilderness beyond the valley between the Ravenshorn and the Rabb was a treacherous maze of craggy ravines and drops that could cripple the unwary. With packs strapped tightly across their backs and weapons secured about their waists, Brin, Rone, Kimber Boh, and Cogline wound their way cautiously ahead on a warm, sweetsmelling autumn day filled with sound and color. Only occasionally visible, the shadowy form of Whisper kept pace in the trees about them. The members of the little company felt rested and alert, much more so than they should have, since their discussion of the previous night had not ended until early morning. They knew that lack of sleep would catch up with them eventually, but for now, at least, they were filled with the tension and excitement of their quest, and all traces of weariness were easily brushed aside.
Not so easily dismissed, however, were Brin’s feelings of uncertainty about taking along Kimber and Cogline. The decision had been made, the pledge given, and the journey begun — yet still the uncertainty that had troubled her from the first would not subside. Some doubts and fears would have been there in any case, she supposed, fostered by her knowledge of the dangers that lay ahead and by the haunting prophecies of the Grimpond. But such doubts and fears would have been for her and for Rone — Rone, whose determination to stand with her in this was so strong that she had finally accepted that he would never be persuaded to leave her. The doubts and fears would not have been, as they were now, for the old man and the girl. All of their reassurances notwithstanding, the Valegirl still thought neither strong enough to survive the power of the dark magic. How could she see it otherwise? It made no difference that they had lived all these years within the wilderness of the Anar, for the dangers they would face now were not dangers made of this world and time. What magics or lore could they hope to employ that would turn aside the Mord Wraiths when the walkers were next encountered?
It frightened Brin to think of the power of the Mord Wraiths being turned against the girl and the old man. It frightened her more than anything that she could imagine might happen to her. How could she live with the knowledge that she had permitted them to come on this journey, if it were to end in their deaths?