The Tower of Il Serrohe (54 page)

Don got up shakily. “I’m right behind you.”

Nersite nudged Don’s neck. “This is the way I came in. Go the other way,” he said. “Where the light’s coming from.”

The three walked out upright into the stabbing brightness of day. They stood on the narrow ledge.

seventy four

Don studied the top of the mesa a few feet above. “I don’t know, Nersite. You say I can climb that steep slope? I don’t want to roll down two hundred feet of cliff,” he said, peering toward the ground below the ledge where they stood.

“
Trust me, you
can
do it.”

Don sighed. “OK. Then what? The last time you tried to destroy the Tower was a failure. We need tools beyond Soreye rope to bring it down. The Soreyes have cleverly structured it with more stability than even I would have guessed.”

Nersite and Netheraire looked blank. “Sorry, no idea,” Nersite mumbled.

“
OK, I need to think. In any case, we’re going to need more help.” Don heard again the muted cries and commotion a couple of hundred yards away, around the corner of the peninsula-shaped cliff. The clanspeople didn’t sound like they were doing too well against what was undoubtedly a carefully prepared Soreye barrage. But it didn’t sound like they were retreating, either.

Nersite spoke softly. “Who do you want to help?”

“
We’ll need the predators among you. Strength, speed, and a bad attitude—those are the qualities we need. But they must be small enough to fit through the tunnel. Dammit! We sure could use some Taurimin and Ursimin, but they can’t get here, and even if they could, they’d fall off the ledge.”

Netheraire spoke more assertively. “So that would be the Loopohmin, Linksmin, and more Nohmin.”

“
No offense, but the Nohmin aren’t exactly predators.”

Netheraire bristled. “Yes, but we have a real bad attitude about the Soreyes. After all, it was
us
who tried to bring the Tower down the last time.”

“
Good point. Your size and agility will be useful. Sorry, I’m just making this up as we go along.”

“
It’s OK,” Netheraire said. “You had a bad experience back there. I will go back the way Nersite came and bring anyone willing and able to fit through the tunnel.”

She darted off, kicking gravel down the steep slope of the ledge.

Don and Nersite looked to each other for inspiration. Finding none, they mutely entered into the male period of bonding that precedes battle or a stupid rush into death.

After a while, Don broke the silence. “That was some impressive little chant back there melting the rock…uh, hard dirt. Too bad it wasn’t as effective with those adobes up on the Tower. I mean Niddle-ai had a good idea, just…”

“
There were only three of us. With more Nohmin doing the chant, we make more of a difference.”

“
From your story, I would guess that even the whole clan of Nohmin couldn’t do enough to bring down the Tower, what with the tens of thousands of adobes and that Soreye Time thing blocking some of your chant.” Don thought again. “What about the other clanspeople? Do they have a ‘glassing’ chant?”

“
No. You went around asking about that.”

“
Hmmm. You’re right, I had forgotten about that little tour, but they all did have some kind of chant. Though none effective enough against the Soreyes or that damned Tower. Shit! This is supposed to be
my
delusion! Why in the hell isn’t there something
magical
that’ll solve this?”

“
I guess this is how your life is.”

“
Yeah, asshole, it’s just ‘The Way It Is.’”

“
Sorry.”

“
Not your fault, it’s just… wait a minute,” Don thought as he stared off into the distance. “Come to think of it, some of those clans had some pretty good features; strongest one was the Barbamin distraction thing, but even that... What if…”

Nersite waited patiently. Don said nothing more. “‘What if’… what?” Nersite said, like a dialogue coach trying to cue a forgetful actor.

“
What if thousands of drops could wash away some sand, but  hundreds of thousands could make a small arroyo, and millions—”

“
I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Don was frustrated. “There’s no point in explaining it because you can’t understand; however, everyone has to be involved.”

Nersite struggled to comprehend. “As long as
you
know
what you’re doing
.
”

“
Well, maybe when I explain, some of the others might know…”

“
Are you saying they’re smarter than Nohmin?”

“
Not necessarily. Let’s see when they get here.” Don looked toward the tunnel. “And when the hell will that be? Dammit, it’s been long enough for Netheraire to—”

Without ceremony, Netheraire emerged from the tunnel followed by fifteen Nohmin.

“
Is this it?” Don asked.

Netheraire greeted Nersite with their ritual of yipping and excitedly touching hands and noses before turning to Don. “There’s more. Some aren’t comfortable traveling close together.”

As she said that, the two Loopohmin Don knew crawled out on their bellies, looking as dusty and frazzled as a couple of wolves would after squeezing through a small tunnel.

The Nohmin maneuvered themselves behind Don and the Loopohmin kept their distance. Hearing sounds from the tunnel, they scurried to the side of the ledge and propped their back feet against sage bushes so they wouldn’t roll down the slope. From the tunnel came the two Linksmin Don had also met back at the edge of the Ursimin village many days earlier.

The two bobcats eyed the wolves, and though they spoke to Don, they kept their eyes on them. “We are here to help, but we want to be done with this so we can go back to our dens. We are not comfortable among the other clans.”

“
I understand,” Don said. “Win or lose, this won’t take long.”

The cats became skittish and hunted for an escape path as the next clansman emerged from the tunnel. Don became equally disconcerted as the long, fat Crotalmin, Sliktooth, slithered out of the dark hole.

“
SSSSliktooth, here to ssserve the clansss,” he said in a more sibilant voice than Nightwing could emulate.

Don wanted to run up the cliffside to test Nersite’s confidence in his climbing ability, but he stood his ground. He felt his face turning white even though he already had a natural white band over the bridge of his nose and pale edging around his eyes.

“
Good. You’re… welcome. Please understand we want to keep some distance between you and the rest of us.”

A broad, fanged smile broke out all across Sliktooth’s face. “I underssstand very well. But be assssured, I ate some daysss ago and am quite full right now.” He turned his face to his midsection, directing attention to a big lump in his body.

“
Oh, that’s good to hear,” Nersite said, from behind Don. At this point, no one was interested enough to inquire what or
who
made the lump in Sliktooth’s body. It was good enough that present company had not been on the menu.

“
So,” Don said, trying to lower the pitch of his voice, “I guess this is everyone?”

A shadow moved from the tunnel into the sunlight. Don cringed as he recognized the Barbamin. Feeling foolish, he spoke to the ground where the ants swarmed in frantic circles.

“
Thank you for coming. You can bite the Soreyes’ feet… or something.”

Though he could barely see the one ant who seemed to be looking up at him, he heard her voice and recognized her scent. “We are here to make the Valle safe for all the clans. We have a great hill to protect,” Gert stated proudly.

Don nodded. “OK, so
now
that’s everyone?”

“
Not quite,” Netheraire said, moving near Don and rapidly darting her eyes from Loopohmin to Linksmin to Sliktooth. “I worked hard to persuade one more to join us. She was stubborn, but she wanted to see you, Don, so…”

Raquela sprang from the tunnel, dirt flying as she landed on all fours and simultaneously shook sand and dusty clods from her gorgeous coat. Still rumpled, she swiftly regained her dignity and looked Don in the eye.

“
I have always disliked holes and tunnels, even those dens of our Loopohmin and Linksmin brothers and sisters.
That
tunnel was barely larger than a Nohmin hole, but I wanted to see you before anything happens. I am afraid we will die or end up in slave cages by nightfall.”

Don’s heart had jumped into his throat at the sight of her. She was lovely beyond measure and even he, the English instructor, had no words to express his feelings.

“
Raquela… it’s good to see you. The way I acted at the encampment… I was just so shocked… but you… I…”

Her tone softened. “It’s OK. I should have realized you, like Teresa at first, had not seen us and the Valle Abajo as we actually are. In my family there are more stories of Teresa. She visited my ancestors many times and became accustomed to the way things are here. You have not had that long time among us, and you never knew her.”

Don sighed, feeling better. Why had he been such a jerk? Of course, this is the one person he truly loved and who seemed so right to, and for, him. “I’m glad you’re here. I have an idea—I tried to explain to Nersite—”

“
And I didn’t understand it,” Nersite added. “But it’s like a bunch of drops of water…”

“
What?” Raquela asked.

Don smiled. “He got that much right. Let me explain.”

Don turned to face the group of Nohmin behind him. “I need to get past you, so Raquela and I can talk.” They scattered, some climbing the slope, others sliding to its downside, while Nersite and Netheraire slipped between Don and Raquela’s feet. It was awkward, but effective.

The two moved to the end of the ledge as it petered out, leaving the cliff completely vertical, veering in a northerly direction before the entire mesa sloped to the plains a few miles away.

They nuzzled each other’s faces, Don tickling Raquela’s ears by puffing little bursts of air from his nostrils.

“
Quit, silly, that tickles!” she said, not discouraging him at all.

He looked into the deep pools of her eyes. “I wish we… had time to mate again. But that’ll have to be another time.”

She bowed her head, bashful. “Me, too. But there will be a time.”

Don nodded. “I now understand that here, it’s a different world. I am like a Soreye back in the Rio Grande Valley—”

Raquela looked shocked.

“
I mean, we’re all like Soreyes back there in many ways. Of course, there are animals… or rather, clanspeople, too, but I didn’t realize who or what they were and that it was, or is, that different. Well,
I’m different
. Back there, I don’t know what I am. Here, I am truly myself. I couldn’t see that until during the last day or so.”

“
I don’t understand your world, the world of you and Teresa. But I know who and what you are
here
. Maybe someday, I can learn how to go through the Portal. I never could before, but maybe together…”

“
Yes, together,” Don said quietly. “I want to understand. You say you don’t understand some things, but neither do I. But with time…”

At that, he draped his head over her neck and brought it around to push his nose gently against the side of her face and ears. He wanted to kiss her neck, her face, her lips, and hold her tightly. But that wasn’t possible here, in the Valle Abajo.

It would have been nice to hunker on the ground side by side and press their bodies together while nuzzling. There was neither space, privacy, nor the time for that. Instead they had to deal with the Tower.

“
I have an idea…” he began, and explained the whole thing to her.

When he was done, she nodded almost imperceptibly and softly grunted. “It could work. I would have never thought of it, but Teresa could have. You are truly her son.”

“
Well, we’re not that closely related, but close enough. So how do we focus…?”

“
There’s only one way,” she said with certainty.

Soon, they returned to the wary group at the other end of the narrow ledge.

Raquela spoke. “There is only one way for Don’s plan to work, and he needs all of you to get him on the mesa, into the Tower, and up to the top.

“
However, I must go back through the tunnel…” swallowing hard, grunting mightily before continuing, “… to prepare other clanspeople to do their part. I don’t think any of you could explain what he needs, so it must be me.”