22

There were many branching paths leading off the track as we got closer, and Reckter took one to the right. I couldn’t distinguish it from any other, but followed him, single-file. The path grew narrower and was overgrown in parts. We had to step over vines and creeping branches in places. The grass was longer, with only the very middle of the path clear, and I wasn’t sure how much of that was Reckter’s doing.
We suddenly came out of the path into a meadow, clear and neatly groomed. There were low stone walls around the edge, and on one I could see the stooped figure of Erst, head bowed, covered by his hood. He leaned forward on his staff as he sat, motionless. Reckter had stopped and seemed to be waiting for the old man to say something.
“It’s alright. Come, we need to discuss what to do next.” His voice was quiet but firm and as I was unsurprised to learn, in my inner ear. We walked to where he sat and I stooped to lower the lifeless Jackson to the ground. Erst looked at the body without speaking.
“Reckter has told me the essential details, but some of the facts only you can know. Who was this man and how came he to be here in our realm?”
I told him what I knew and what details I could share, but could offer no insight into how he had ended up dead and on the wrong side of the barrier. I suspected he had been the one who pursued me when Therian guided me here, but I didn’t know if the two facts were related. It seemed likely, but there was obviously something missing. There had been days between the two events. What had brought him back to the same place and who else had been there and why?
“It seems likely to me his appearance has much to do with your disappearance. If, as you suspect, he saw you cross the barrier, the person who took his life knows even more about it. If he saw this unfortunate go through it, he will wonder what lies on the other side and your people are nothing if not curious about the unknown. He will make use of that gateway, mark my words.”
I felt a chill at the prospect of that. My arrival seems to have created more problems for these people than it promised to solve. How could I make this right? Should I go back and watch for whomever approached the gateway and render them unable to share that knowledge, as they did to Jackson? Guarding it from this side made no sense, as there were too many of them and the secret would come out as soon one person tried to get through. They were all competitive but there was enough uncertainty about something like this that they would find a way to let others know what they were up to.
Erst put a hand on my shoulder. “This is not your problem to solve. We will find a solution, though we may need your help. We exposed the gateway and this is the risk come to pass.”
He didn’t mention that Therian had been the one to reveal the gateway. We could have easily ridden one and come back when no one was about, but he chose to cross over when someone was within eyesight. I wonder what his role in the remedy would be. His gifts might prove very useful.
Reckter stood to one side, listening and looking at Jackson’s body. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. For my part I was wondering what we were going to do with him. I didn’t know what the customs were or even if these people ended their lives like us. Erst seemed unimaginably old at times, and I had no idea how old Reckter was. They might measure their lives on a different scale than I understood. So much else was different in their approach to things.
“We must do something with the remains. We could inter him here. I suspect no one would claim him and his passing would be marked with a simple ritual if it had occurred, say, in his bed?”
“I couldn’t say for certain, but they are not a sentimental group. Where he was buried would of less importance than if refreshments were provided, and in his case they would be. By ending up here, he has deprived his fellows of a long night and a painful morning after. What do you propose we do? Is there a place where he remains can be laid?”
“We have a place and I will have the arrangements made. It will be done tomorrow at daybreak, in accordance with some of our customs, though they have never encompassed a situation like this.”
We all took one last look at the remains and stepped away. Erst resumed his seat on the bench, I sat on the grass and Reckter stood.
“So what news of Therian? Has he returned to tell what he found?”
“No news yet. He moves quickly when he needs to, and I am certain he is there already. We should hear from him soon. He has many messengers he can use to get news to us.
“What do you make of the chance of someone else attempting to follow that fellow? Do you think his killer would be one to try it? Or would someone else, someone who discovers what’s happened, take the chance?” Erst’s questions cut to the heart of what I was thinking.
“I have to think the person who did this will try to keep this to themselves. Some story of how this fellow disappeared will be concocted, by his killer or someone else. And then anyone who knows or guesses the truth will have an opportunity. We don’t know if there is any indication on the other side that there is something worth investigating. We know he came through without one boot. Is the other lying on the ground, begging someone to wonder where it’s owner is? Especially if it is recognized or identified as belonging to the dead man?” I was sure that as soon as the talk started and the drink flowed, someone would feel emboldened to explore the area.
“It would be informative to hear the talk in the taverns tonight. If this fellow’s disappearance is noted so soon, it will be talked about in every working tomorrow and tomorrow night’s talk will be all theories, conspiracies, and gossip.”
“We will have to assume you are right and plan accordingly.” Erst’s voice was firm and decisive. “We will have to expect someone to come through. These men you speak of are resourceful in their own way and reckless. Their situations are bleak enough to make stepping into the unknown worth the risk.”
I was coming to the conclusion that defending the gateway was the wrong approach. Once it was known, there could be no defense. What was needed was something to draw attention away from the gateway or to make it impossible for anyone to prove its existence. I resolved to think this through. What little I knew about these people was enough to persuade me that letting the people I knew from the other world come here would be disastrous, possibly for both sides. What would be best is for neither world to know about the other, let alone be able to travel between them.
Erst and Reckter looked at one another and then at me, with a quizzical look on their faces.
I couldn’t help laughing at the earnest similarity on their faces. “No, I don’t think there is any way to undo the connection between here and there. But I have my doubts about defense and am more inclined to pursue some kind of misdirection and distraction. I don’t have any ideas yet, so don’t ask. But I know something about what might work in your favor.
“Tell me, what do you know about the things, the gems and metals the people on the other side seek? They would strip the grasses, make sawdust of the trees, dam and pollute the streams, all for something they might have no chance of finding. Do you know if any of the things they seek are to be found here?”
“What are you thinking?” Erst’s question came slowly and his face changed, his brow furrowing, eyes narrowed.