第92节

s to the four turf marker poles which indicated the area

allotted to the clan elders. Mr Snow threw off his ceremonial finery

and sat down on his sleeping furs.

'What's in the box?" asked Mack-Truck as they sat down facing him.

'Nothing." He opened the lid to show them the bare, black-painted

interior.

Rolling-Stone looked puzzled. 'I don't get it. Why come all this way

to give you an empty box?"

Mr Snow let out a long-suffering sigh. 'Don't you understand anything

about magic? Haven't I explained to you, over and over again, what

summoners can and cannot do?"

Rolling-Stone shrugged his thin, bony shoulders. 'I don't know. Maybe

you did. I forgot. It happens."

Placing the box in his lap, Mr Snow closed his eyes and slowly rubbed

his palms over the intricate gold images that adorned the top and

sides. When he spoke, his voice had a distant, echoing quality. 'It's

not what is in the box that is important but what is on the box." He

opened his eyes and raised the box, turning it around so they could see

the pictures for themselves. 'Without understanding what he was doing,

the craftmaster who fashioned these images has told us many things.

When you examine them in the light of day you will see they are

pictures of the Iron Masters' world. They show the land that lies

beyond the Fire-Pits of Beth-Lem, between the Buffalo Hills and the

Great Sea, the paths that lead to where Cadillac is to be found - and

this one shows the great hut by the falling water where Clearwater is

held against her will."

His two companions looked impressed. 'Why did she not speak of

this?"

asked Rolling-Stone.

'She could not. Hidden behind each side of the open door where we

could not see them were two more red-stripes with drawn bows, their

arrows pointing straight at her heart."

The chief clan elder frowned, adding more lines to his deeply wrinkled

face. 'But what has she to fear? Does she not possess the Second Ring

of Power? Could she not have willed the arrows to turn aside? If she

and Cadillac are prisoners why does she not call upon the earth-forces

to free them?"

Mr Snow caressed the golden images on the box. 'She dare not.

Cadillac stays of his own free will. He no longer cares whether

Clearwater goes or stays. She remains because she is pledged to do so

but she is not free. She is held in the hut of a great warrior chief

who desires to make her his body-slave. She does not use her power

because Talisman has forbidden it. No Iron Master is to die at the

hands of the Plainfolk. This is why the cloud warrior was sent back to

us. It is he who has been chosen by Talisman to bring Cadillac and

Clearwater out of the eastern lands. Many dead-faces will die, their

great huts and many of their works will be burst asunder but their

anger and their desire for revenge will fall not on us but upon the

sand-burrowers."

'Neat,' said Mack-Truck. 'I like it. What now?"

'We find the cloud warrior and show him the box. This middle picture

on the top shows what looks like a tree but it is much more. The

branches and the trunk are rivers. The other lines show the run of

hills and valleys as seen from the sky. He understands better than I

what these marks mean. Once they are in his mind, they will guide his

feet along the right path."

Mack-Truck accepted this with a nod. 'Are you going to tell him

Clearwater is here - on Yama-Shita's boat?"

'No. It will only complicate matters. Let him find that out for

himself."

CHAPTER NINETEEN