Riddley Walker (27 page)

Time back is in them Punch figgers. Dead hans and gone carvit them heads and colourt them and follering some idear they dint jus happen randem. Its a lot of work to carve a head that wel you have to have it in you to begin with then you have to take the neak of it thru all the diffrent episodes of the work from the rough cut to the finel smooving and the pryming and the painting of it.

I knowit wel them figgers never ben made up jus only for that 1 littl show what Goodparleyd showt me. It aint in the natur of a show to be the same every time it aint like a story what you pas down trying not to change nothing which even then the changes wil creap in. No a figger show its got its oan chemistery and fizzics. What it is its all ways trying to fynd out what it is jus now this same and very minim going thru its chaynjis. Which Ive wrote that in the old spel becaws its them same and very Chaynjis what the Littl Shyning Man tol Eusa of.

Punch says to me, "_What am I?_" Says it to me in his oan voyce which now I can speak that voyce the same as Goodparley done. In the figger bag I foun a littl thing its 2 littl curvit peaces of iron with a thin peace of clof rapt roun and in be twean so its like when you hol a blade of grass be twean your thums to shril with it. The iron holding the clof the way your thums wud the grass. This littl thing you put it in your mouf and when its parper wet you can do Punchs voyce with it. Orfing tol me its what they call a swazzl.

And Pooty. I know she aint jus only a plain sow. Ive wrote down early on in this writing that song Lorna Elswint sung me on the nite of my naming day. That Moon Pig song. Iwl give odds Pootys mixt up with that Moon Sow. You look at that sow face of hers and you know you aint looking at some naminal ben fattit for meating youre looking at some 1 ben offert to. And that pig babby that pig chyld. Meat chyld. Theres other figgers Goodparley never showit in that show he done for me. Theres some great grean naminal with long joars and ever so many teef. Theres a black man and other figgers as wel Iwl never know ther story.

Them in the 1 bag and of coarse in the other bag the other lot and the Little Shyning Man with them. Which hes qwite a peace of work that Littl Shyning Man. The way hes made hes all wood hes got a woal varnisht wood body with parper arms and legs and riggit with wires so he comes in 2 or slyds back in to 1. Hes the only figger there is with a cock and balls. Like it says in the _Eusa Story_ when he comes in 2 his cock and balls theyre on his lef side his head and neck theyre on his right. Hes hung from a pully you work him with your feet with 2 wires. When hes in 2 and you slyd him to gether the 2 �s of him come to gether with a clack. I wunner if Goodparley ever thot of a bang when he heard that.

Theres figgers in that bag you never seen in a show. You get to wunnering if you gone down deap a nuff in that bag if you mytnt get right the way down to Bad Time and fynd out all what realy happent. Theres Eusas 2 boys in there I never seen them befor. Cant say for cern its them but I lissen it is. 1 has red eyes 1 has yeller. Them 2 pairs of eyes wide open all them years in the dark inside that bag. Dogs. Folleree and Folleroo with ther toofy joars opening and closing they want to talk like men.

1 figger tho. 1 figger hes the same and very 1 in boath bags of figgers. Mr Clevver. Which hes Mr On The Levvil and hes callit Drop John as wel. There he is the name changes but he dont. In all that 2ness there he comes up hes the 1. Hes your lad for clevver work or Drop Johning which ever myt be neadit there he is the boath of him plus the goast of him. Same red face and littl black beard and the same horns growing out of his head. Same red cloes even. All them diffrent figgers in the 2 bags only he aint diffrent hes the same. You begin to wunner myt he be the 1 Big 1 of it? Or the 1 Littl 1 of it. Ormay be there aint no such thing as a Big 1 or a Littl 1 its jus only all 1 and you see what diffrent things you see in the chaynjing lites of the diffrent times of the girt dants of the every thing. Sum tyms bytin sum tyms bit.

If youre a show man then what ever happens is took in to your figgers and your fit up its took in to your show. If you dont know whats happent sooner youwl hear of it later youwl hear your figgers tel of it 1 way or a nother. That boar kicking on the end of my spear hewl be in my shows I dont know how but hewl be there. That crow what callit, "Fall! Fall! Fall!" and my smasht father that greyling morning at Widders Dump and that old leader with his yeller eyes and woar down teef. Gransers head glimmering in the twean lite and Goodparley sitting qwyet in amongst the black and nekkit aulders loppt off pink and red in the hart of his wud with the stoan in his head and the twean lite holding its breaf and lissening. In amongst it all the thot of may be I wer the aulder kincher. May be the idear of it ben waiting all them years for me to come a long and be it.

Wel of coarse there wer the matter of letshow. We dint know if that care making Mincery wer going to let us run luce with our fit up and our 2 bags of figgers. We pult datter and we pirntowt we wer roading Goodparleys show which he ben give letshow by Orfing in that littl time when Orfing ben Goodparley. So there wer letshow on that fit up which that wer good a nuff for us. If them guvner men thot diffrent wewd parbly fynd out soon a nuff.

So we got our selfs ready and off we gone with our fit up and our figgers and our dog crowd. It wer in boath our mynds to do our 1st show at Weaping Form which that ben Bad Mercy Fents time back it ben Goodparleys hoam fents when he ben littl. Its about the same farness from Cambry as How Fents only its Wes of Cambry and its wel Wes of the Sour its on the A25 1 2 or 3 faggers Norf of Moal Arse. Its on the track to Fathers Ham which roun there its hard line Eusa country moren some other places are. Some say Mr Clevver use to live in Fathers Ham befor he come to Cambry.

Any how here we come out of Cambry on a grey day with a littl girzel and roading Wes for Weaping on the old iron track. Dogs strung out in parper roading form the nation they all ways had a cuppl in the poynt plus 2 on each wing them dogs are real hevvys. I askit Erny if he dint think we bes proach up to that gate without no dogs and say we forkt off from a trade crowd or some thing. He wernt having none of that he said, "This here aint Goodshow & Slymouf its Walker & Orfing. We myswel begin how we are and go on the same."

Coming in to Weaping we blowit the horn from a littl way off we dint blow "Eusa show" becaws it wernt no Eusa show. We blowit a diffrent call which we meant it to say "New show". When we come up to the fents the dogs layd back out of bow shot but there they wer you cud see wed roadit in with them. Come to the gate I fealt like I wer seeing it mor with my stummick nor my eyes you know how it is some times when you come to a thing. You ben coming littl by littl from far to close and littl by littl you seen it growing from littl to big in your eyes then all on a suddn there it is in front of you and this is now and you feal it in your stummick. There we wer and this wer now I lookit up and I said, "Trubba not its a new show." Tryd to make it soun like "Eusa show" but you cant realy.

The bloak on the gate he took a long look without saying nothing then his head dispeart. In a littl his head come back and some others with it. 1 of them hyern the others and some grey in his beard so I said it agen to him, "Trubba not tsnew show." Like that.

He come back at me with a girt deap voyce he said, "When Eusa come back to Cambry he wer blyn and bloody he stood outside the gate and the dogs licking his soars. Them on the gate they larft at him they said, 'Why dont you say "Trubba not" if you want in?' Wel we know Eusa cudnt say 'Trubba not' cud he. Becaws wel he knowit he had Trubba roaling off him like sweat in the summer he had Trubba ponging off him you cud smel it from a good farness even up wind of him he dint try no goodshow he jus said strait out, 'I cant say that.' Now here comes you I know you aint Eusa nor you aint blyn nor bloody yet here I see you roading with dogs and roading with him what ben shadder mincer and Pry Mincer and now hes no mincer. Which youve said 'Trubba not' and may be you beleave you aint brung no Trubba with you only I aint too cern of that my self. What about that no mincer can he talk ord they cut his tung out when they throwit him a way after he brung down Abel Goodparley?"

Orfing said, "I can talk Rightway." Which that wer the name of the Big Man we wer talking to. Rightway Flinter.

Rightway Flinter said, "Wel then if you can talk praps youwl be good a nuff and tel me if you can say 'Trubba not'. You what brung down the bigger man and better you what ternt the crookit luce and now youve got your new boy and your dog crowd. This here partner of yours hes said 'Trubba not' hes greasd my surents now I dont have to worry about nothing no mor. Now whatre you going to say be you going to Trubba not me as wel?"

Erny said, "No Rightway I cant say 'Trubba not'. Parbly weare Trubba right a nuff."

Flinter said, "There you be Erny out of your oan mouf youve said it and I think Iwl yes with that. Poor old blyn Goodparley and a old chard coal berner gone bang the 1st in Inland since time back way back. 1 minim they wer men and the nex they wer peaces of meat nor it wernt done by knife nor spear nor arrer nor sling stoan it wer clevverness done it and the 1 Big 1. That old chard coal berners head took off strait up like a sky lark only parbly not singing. Up it gone and down it come thwock on a poal and ripe for telling. Goodparley sitting there dead with a stoan pounder in his skul. You myt say after all them years of looking for that 1 Big 1 it finely come in to his mynd. Twean lite it wer when it happent. Dark of the moon when the dark come down and the Black Pack yoop yarooing all roun. 1st big bang since Bad Time and who ternt it luce who put that 1 Big 1 on the road to this place and every other place?" He wer looking strait at me.

Erny said, "It bint the 1 Big 1 it ben the 1 Littl 1. Which youre looking at Riddley Walker but it bint him ternt it luce it wer a farring seakert tryer from other side and looking to goatch the wayt he wer looking to bargam a seakert gready mint for the Nos. of the mixter. Which 1ce his boat gratit on the shingel that 1 Littl 1 wer luce in Inland it wer on the road to blow up some 1 and you cud be sure some 1 wer roading fas to be there when it come."

Flinter said, "It dint have to be Abel Goodparley did it?"

Erny said, "Rightway Iwl tel you what I think Iwl tel you what I pirntow from my unnermos datter. If it hadnt ben the 1 Littl 1 kilt Abel Goodparley it wudve ben some thing else becaws it wer his time and come. That man wer pulling he wer fetching he wer sucking in his Luck he wer wynding in the end of his life like a kid wynding in a kite."

Flinter looking at Erny hard and he said, "Wel youwd say that wunt you. You what brung him down." He wer pulling his beard you cud hear his thots grynding in his head like mil stoans.

Erny said, "Wel Rightway whats it going to be? Be you going to put on your wig and hold the bailey and pour the ounts of judgd men or you going to let wester day go down and ter morrer come up?"

Flinter said, "O ter morrerwl come up Erny. Ter morrer all ways comes up the thing is to be 1 of them as comes up with it."

Us stanning there in front of that gate nor it cudnt get no bigger realy only it kep like biggering in my eyes. Them dark heads and the grey sky behynt them. There come up then 2 mor heads it wer Granser and Goodparley. They ben smoakit like roady ther faces wer dark. Tree faces stoan faces. Wood faces.

I have to stop here for a littl.

18

All them heads looking at us the live 1s on the peopl and the dead 1s on the poals. Rightway Flinter said, "You know these heads ben telling."

Erny and me we dint say nothing. I tryd to lissen that black leader I tryd to put my mynd where he cud lissen me. I dont know what I thot he cud do only come in to bow shot and get his self kilt. He lissent me tho. He begun to yoop yaroo and all them other dogs the same. The woal pack yoop yarooing.

The hevvys on the gate uppit bow at us with arrer on string. Rightway Flinter said, "You know these heads ben telling."

I thot: Whyd we come here? Id knowit some kynd of thing like this myt happen. Whynt we stay hoalt up? Whynt we go somers far a way? Becaws you cant stay hoalt up. Becaws there aint no far a way. Becaws where you happen is where you happen.

Rightway Flinter said, "You know these heads ben telling. And you know _what_ they ben telling. They ben telling of Eusa how he gone that circel of the towns after Bad Time. Him what done the clevver work for Bad Time."

Erny said, "You know Rightway we aint Eusa. Youwl go a head and youwl do what youre progammit to do only dont tel your self weare Eusa becaws we aint."

Flinter said, "Wel Erny you myt terpit your way but Iwl terpit my way and parbly my waywl be the Rightway wunt you say."

Erny kep shut then he dint say nothing.

Flinter said, "Theres all ways some kynd of clevverness waiting somers near or far its all ways waiting to happen its all ways waiting for some 1 to pul it some 1 to fetch it some 1 to bring it down on the res of us. And them what fetches it who ever they myt be theyre Eusa. If its 1 or if its many dont make no odds. Its Eusa. Which time back way back every place as seen Eusa helt the bailey dint they. Every 1 as seen him pourt the ounts of judgd men dint they. Howd Eusa come back to Cambry he come back blyn and bloody he come back cut off he wernt a man no mor he wer what wer lef. You see what it wer hed had his chylding when he ben littl hed had his manning when he ben big. And whatd he do with his manning? He done clevverness and fetching the same. So he had to pay for it dint he. All them what dyd when the wite shadders come they payd dint they. All them what ther seed gone crookit when the groun gone sour they payd dint they. You see what it is Erny youve got to pay for 1 thing befor you go on to the nex. You and your yung partner here youre Eusa which of coarse youve got your chaynjis to go thru youve got things youwd like to do nex only befor you get to them youwl have to pay for the las things what you done."

I had all of Goodparleys figgers in the fit up only Punch which he wer in my pockit. Not the old blackent 1 it wer Goodparleys Punch I had. Which I had the swazzl in my pockit as wel and when wed come up to Weaping gate Id put it in my mouf and wetting it I thot Mr Punch myt have some thing to say.