第104节

xes of arrow and spear heads, et cetera, et cetera,

and - the biggest prize of all - seven hundred and sixty-eight Mutes

from She-Kargo, M'Waukee and San'Paul clans who had journeyed eastwards

and had ended up as slaves in the Yama-Shita domain.

Their release had been Cadillac's proudest achievement.

The wheel-boat sent up the usual salvoes of green rockets to indicate

its peaceable intentions, but the beach was deserted as the flat nose

ran aground on the sloping shingle. From the wheel house perched on

the roof of the top deck, there was no sign of last year's battle. The

piles of bodies had been burned or picked clean by the death-birds; the

wreckage of the five wheel-boats had been stripped by hordes of human

scavengers and the remaining structures dismantled. Every plank, beam,

pillar and bolt had been prised loose and carried away along with the

cannon and roundshot by teams of sweating Mutes who recognised them as

weapons of war, but did not know how to make them spit sky-fire and

earth-thunder.

Cadillac had acquired that knowledge. He knew that the three

ingredients of black powder could be found in Plainfolk territory, and

that it was possible to grind and mix them by hand. The problem lay in

the extraction process; obtaining worthwhile quantities required a

degree of cooperation and organisation that was beyond the present

capabilities of the Plainfolk.

They regarded themselves as warriors and hunters, not workers. If his

own plans were to bear fruit, and Talisman was to forge them into a

nation, the old ways would have to go, their entire lifestyle would

have to change.

Dramatically ....

When the newly-liberated Mutes had unloaded the collection of goods and

animals, the wheel-boat captain bade Cadillac a polite farewell and

headed for home.

None of his fellow officers had returned from the last expedition, but

he had heard the stories gathered by the out-stations from the stricken

D'Troit and C'Natti clans. He and his crew had no wish to remain a

minute longer than necessary on a lake which could throw up a murderous

wall of water to the height of the surrounding hills.

Cadillac, Clearwater and Roz - all warmly wrapped against the cold

watched the wheel-boat gather speed as it pulled away from the shore.

Around them, the liberated Mutes whooped and yelled, hugged one another

and danced for joy.

Roz and Clearwater - who was carrying Sand-Wolf against her chest

turned to Cadillac and gave him two fat kisses, one on each cheek.

'You're a genius,' said Roz lightly. 'But shouldn't there be someone

here to meet us?"

'It's all under control,' said Cadillac. He interrupted the

celebrations of the nearest group of Mutes and asked them to pass the

word. Buffalo-Soldier was wanted.

Now.

'The warrior from the Clan Shawnessee?" asked Roz.

'That's right. Their turf is just south of here. We can stay there

till the snow melts."

'And then move on to Sioux Falls."

'Yes. For the Plainfolk Council. It'd be crazy for us to go all the

way to Wyoming in this weather then have to come all the way back

again."

Clearwater brushed a fleck of snow from Sand-Wolf's face, re-adjusted

his hood, then surveyed the cheerful throng of Mutes who milled around

them. 'Do you think they'll have room for all of us?"

Having got this far, Cadillac had no intention of letting the freed

Mutes disperse. They, along with the goods and animals he had

acquired, were a vital part of the triumphal entry he planned to make

at the second Plainfolk Council. Despite his youth, he wanted to come

away from that meeting as the leading policy-maker of the She-Kargo

faction.

'We'll make our own room,' he said. 'We've got tents, poles, rolls of

sailcloth, food - ' He broke off as Buffalo-Soldier appeared. Just the

man I need."

They both climbed up onto one of the ox-carts to get a clear view over