"Elephant Crossing," Li Sung murmured. "That was mentioned in the contract."
She nodded. "The track has to be completed over that crossing in eight weeks."
"Ah, yes, the penalties. We forfeit a high fee if we don't meet the deadline, don't we?"
"Fifty percent."
He gave a low whistle.
"That doesn't matter. We are going to make it. We'll take the opportunity tomorrow evening to look over the area." She stopped at her chamber. "Sleep well, Li Sung."
"I will." His tone was abstracted as he moved down the corridor toward his own chamber.
Chapter 13
Ruel got off his mule and started to undo the strap on the backpack. "The sun won't set for another hour. I'll set up camp while you and Li Sung look around."
"There doesn't seem to be much to see." Jane looked around the clearing—an area a good half-mile in diameter denuded of vegetation except for a few thorn trees that lay dead and rotting on the ground. "Why do they call it Elephant Crossing?"
"According to Dilam, the elephants usually stay on the east side of the island but occasionally one or two, sometimes even the entire herd, make a trek to the west and take this route."
"Then why did you cut your road directly through the crossing area?"
"It saved me about a half-mile of clearing." He shrugged. "I've never seen any elephants in all the time I've been running pack trains from the mountain. If I ever did run across a herd, you can bet I'd back away and let them go first."
She frowned. "I can't lay track here if there's a chance of it being damaged by a herd of elephants. I'll have to angle away from the crossing."
Ruel smiled. "It will take more time."
He had known she wouldn't risk building across the clearing, she thought in frustration. "Then I'll cut time somewhere else."
"Why do they go?" Li Sung asked suddenly.
They both turned to look at him.
"The elephants," he said. "You said they only occasionally trek to the west. Why do they go?"
"I have no idea. Dilam says the Cinnidans leave the elephants alone and the herds leave them alone."
"If they're interested enough to know they go west, why don't they know why?"
"Why are you so curious about them?"
"No reason." Li Sung slowly and painfully dismounted and began unsaddling the mule. "It is good to be off this creature. I thought riding a horse was painful until I mounted this beast."
"I would have given you a horse, but a mule is more surefooted on that narrow canyon trail."
"We'll have to send a crew to widen the trail," Jane said.
"It would make no difference. All animals are painful to this limb of mine." Li Sung moved stiffly across the clearing. "I will look over the terrain and see if I can determine another route that will prove adequate."
Ruel looked after him. "He's a brave man. A far more worthy specimen than your Patrick." He shot her a mocking smile. "I'm surprised you didn't bring your father along too."
"He would have been in the way."
"He's always in the way now, isn't he? Yet you still take care of him. Why?"
She unsaddled her mule and dropped the saddle on the ground. "I can't do anything else. When you take care of someone, you become accustomed . . . they belong to you."
"The caretaker."
"What?"
"Nothing, it's just something Kartauk said about you. It's a dangerous weakness."
She recalled Kartauk had once warned her of much the same thing, but only after he had used that 'weakness' to his advantage. "I have no time for this." She started across the clearing. "I'm going after Li Sung."
"Why didn't you tell him to wait for you?"
"He needed the time alone. The trip was hard on him and he doesn't like anyone to see him in pain."
"Not even you?"
"I would feel the same way." She looked at him. "And so would you."
She moved quickly after Li Sung.
Night had fallen when they arrived back at camp, led by the aroma of frying bacon and the beacon of a blazing campfire. Ruel was crouched before the fire, a frying pan in his hand. He glanced up as he ladled the bacon onto three tin plates already heaped with beans and biscuits. "Well, have you charted a new course?"
"There's a possible route to the north." Li Sung took one of the plates and sat down. "But the light faded before we could explore very thoroughly."
"It doesn't matter. There will be plenty of time for that later." Jane sat down and began to eat. "You can take a team back here while I supervise the start on the track down the mountain."
"You don't foresee any lengthy delays?" Ruel asked.
She met his gaze. "None that we can't overcome."
He smiled. "Sometimes delays occur over which we have no control. We'll have to see, won't—"
"What was that?" Li Sung lifted his head, his expression intent. "I heard something."
Jane heard it too this time, faint and far away.
"It's only an elephant trumpeting," Ruel said. "You hear them sometimes."
"I thought they would sound fierce," Jane said. "He sounds . . . sad, lost."
Li Sung gazed at her sternly. "He is neither sad nor lost and there is no need for you to rescue him."
Ruel smiled. "There's no danger of that. He's not nearby."
"Near enough," Li Sung said dryly. "I would prefer to neither see nor hear them."
"Li Sung has a dislike for elephants," Jane explained to Ruel.
"She is kindly trying to disguise my real feelings. I do not dislike them. I fear them." Li Sung paused. "And I envy them."
"Envy? Why?" Ruel asked.
"Power. They possess more strength than any creature on earth. It is always the lot of those who have little power to envy those who do. I have always been considered inferior because of my race and crippled body." He glanced at Ruel. "I also envy you, Ruel. You have power now."
"Power can always be taken away if not guarded well."
"But you know what it feels like to possess it. That is something I will never know."
"Yes, you will." Jane blinked rapidly to hide the tears she must not let fall. "You'll see, Li Sung. Once we have our own railroad, you'll be respected and—"
"It's not the same. It is a power you will have given me, not one I've won myself." He set his plate on the ground. "I believe I'll go to sleep now. You may clean up, Ruel."
Ruel grimaced. "So much for my lauded power. May I point out I've done all the work so far?"
"It is the responsibility of those who hold power to care for those weaker than themselves." Li Sung settled into his bedroll and turned his back on them. "It is only fair, after all."
Ruel turned to look at her, and she could see the reflection of the flames in his eyes. She stiffened as tension gripped her. As long as Li Sung was there, Ruel maintained a civilized facade. But now Li Sung was going to sleep, leaving her to face Ruel alone.
"I agree with Li Sung." She quickly set her own plate down, settled into her bedroll beside Li Sung, and shut her eyes.
She heard Ruel swear softly and then chuckle. "I believe there's something wrong with both your reasoning, but I'll not argue."