Tarashana by Rachel Neumeier (little red riding hood ebook TXT) 📕

Lalani shifted a step closer to him and put her arm around his shoulders, leaning against him in the manner of a sister who knows her brother is afraid or upset or worried. He returned her gesture without noticeable uncertainty. They had become friends. I had not realized, but I should not have been surprised. Such strange events as we had faced will draw people together quickly. Also, Lalani knew very well how to put a young man at ease.

I hoped very much we would all survive. But I did not truly expect events would happen in that way. It came to me now that if we died here, Lalani might fall into the shadow tide, or she might be trapped here in this part of the land of the shades, unable to go to the place meant for her people. Geras and Suyet might be caught in the same way; Aras as well.

Perhaps borders might run through the land of the shades, as through the land of the living, and so the dead might pass from one place to another. I had no idea. No tales described anything of the kind. Perhaps some or all of us might soon discover whether that might be so.

Iro finished with the blankets and put his knife away. He nodded to Tano, who stepped to the edge of the ridge we had been following. He tested the ice with the toe of one boot as Iro crouched to tie the end of the cloth around his ankle.

“Not his chest?” Lalani asked. “Are you sure?”

“That would take too much of the length.” Iro straightened and set a hand on Tano’s shoulder, looking into his face. “If you fall, let yourself fall. Use your hands to catch yourself against the stone. Do not try to climb up again yourself. Let us pull you up.”

“Yes,” Tano said.

“If you wish to check my knots, I will not be offended.” Iro included me in that statement with a glance.

“I have no doubt your knots will hold,” Tano said.

“Nor do I,” I agreed.

“Men,” muttered Lalani, not with as much force this time, but rolling her eyes. She stooped to check the knots, looking at the way Iro had tied them, tugging hard at the strips of cloth. Then she took Tano’s hand and let him help her back to her feet. “Pretend this is all level ground,” she told him. “Assume it is all like that. Walk with confidence that you will not fall.”

Then she stepped back, and Tano turned and set one foot on the ice. He took a breath and walked forward. At once his body canted forward at a completely unreasonable slant. He did not fall, despite the obvious impossibility of that position. When he turned to look back at us, his eyes were wide with amazement.

“So,” said Iro. He called to Tano, “Come back. We will untie the cloth, lest it hamper you as you walk.” To me, he said, his tone ironic, “That is a bridge.”

“Exactly as you said,” I agreed courteously.

Lalani ignored us. She said instead, “Those cloth strips might be good to have. Suppose the Saa’arii tide does come upon us. You see this bridge will take us very close to the edge of that tide. It may cross the bridge before we have gone that far, so that we have no choice but to go into it or return the way we came. If it happens that way, shouldn’t we tie ourselves together?” Now that she was less angry with us, she was speaking in something closer to the deferential manner expected of young Lau women. She gave Tano her hand to steady him as he stepped from the ice back onto stone, but went on speaking to me and to Iro in the same way. “Before, when the black tide came over us, we all found ourselves alone. That might keep us from losing one another. Would that not be better?”

Iro began to answer, but stopped himself, glancing at me.

“If we need to fight, being tied together would hamper us too much,” I told Lalani. “But you are right that we should stay together if we can.” I turned to Iro. “We might loop cloth around a wrist, loosely, so that we could pull free in a heartbeat. Do you think that would hamper us too much?”

Iro considered the matter. “Becoming separated might not matter much. We all know which direction we should go. We cannot become lost. But,” he added, after barely any pause, “I think this is a useful idea. I agree we should do it if the edge of the shadow tide comes within half a bowshot. If we must go into that place—” he stopped, and began again more carefully, “Perhaps, if we must go into that place, a warrior with a sword should go first.”

“Yes, that would certainly be best,” I said, keeping my tone level, as though I did not mind the idea. “You will take the place in front, Iro. Then Tano. Then Lalani. I will take the place at the rear.” I looked at Lalani. “I have had occasion to notice that Lau do not know how to walk on ice without slipping, even when the ice is level and flat. Tano will be in front of you. Watch how he moves. You will see that he bends his knees a little to lower his balance. He will keep his back straight rather than bending forward. He will keep his head up and his gaze ahead, not down. He will be relaxed, not tense. Walk in that way, as though you do not expect to fall.”

“Yes, but Ryo, I don’t—”

I went on, deepening my voice a little to make her listen. “This will be dangerous, but not as dangerous as it seems. You and I will tie ourselves