第27节

nd San'Louis would

have fielded, collectively, some fifty-two thousand delegates giving

the She-Kargo faction the numerical edge. But with the closing of the

Bei-Sita trading post, the D'Troit faction had been swollen by another

92 delegations from the clans whose turf lay to the east of Lake

Michigan. The total number of C'Natti and San'Louis delegations had

also increased for the same reason.

Added together, this should have produced a grand total of some

seventy-six thousand warriors- large enough to confer a comfortable

margin of superiority. But each clan had sent an above average number

of delegates.

Reinforced by the unexpectedly large numbers of'journey-men', the

D'Troit, C'Natti and San'Louis had fielded a staggering one hundred and

sixty-three thousand warriors - giving them an advantage of almost

three to one. With that number of people milling about the camp site,

it was hardly surprising that the She-Kargo faction thought the odds

were even greater.

Since they had no independent means of checking out the state of play

at the Bei-Sita trading-post, the She-Kargo were obliged to accept the

explanation they were offered. It seemed plausible enough but it did

not justify the inflated numbers of journey-men which the D'Troit and

C'Natti had brought with them to trade for goods and weapons. Some

surreptitious head-counting by the same intrepid intermediaries

established that some D'Troit clans known to be only half the size of

the M'Calls were proposing to exchange over one hundred men and women

whereas the M'Calls themselves had never sent more than fifty down the

river in any one year.

The situation was unique and potentially explosive. A hastily convened

meeting of elders from the She-Kargo delegations could only envisage

two possible explanations: one - by offering so many 'guest-workers',

the D'Troit and C'Natti hoped to elbow their rivals aside and grab the

lion's share of whatever the Iron Masters had come to trade or, two the

army of journeymen with their yellow headbands were not destined to

sail away across the Great River but were here for some other

purpose.

Either way it spelt trouble.

The M'Call delegation, some seven hundred miles from their settlement,

were too far away to send for reinforcements but some of the other

She-Kargo and M'Waukee delegations whose homes were within a day's run

promptly despatched messengers to summon reinforcements.

All this was done in great secrecy. Mr Snow and the other wordsmiths

had decided that there was to be no provocation and no outward show of

suspicion. The explanation furnished by the D'Troit wordsmiths had to

be taken at face value. By their own sacred tradition, wordsmiths even

from opposing bloodlines - never lied to one another. If they had not

betrayed their oath, then the Iron Masters must have closed down

Bei-Sita. The question everyone in the She-Kargo camp was asking was

why?

A hint as to what the answer might be came with the arrival of

Carnegie-Hall, wordsmith of the Clan Kojak from the bloodline of the

M'Waukee. Entering the bull-rin where the other wordsmiths habitually

gathered to exchange news and gossip, he sought out Mr Snow and under

cover of the formal greetings exchanged on such occasions, passed over

a whispered request for a meeting when darkness fell.

Several hours later when a thousand camp-fires pierced the darkness

like orange blossoms scattered on black velvet, Carnegie-Hall,

accompanied by five Kojak warriors, was led by a M'Call guide into the

small wood west of the camp-site where Mr Snow and his own bodyguard

stood waiting.

The two wordsmiths sat down on talking mats, their faces lit by the

solitary flame of a fire-stone which lay between them. Its glow which

sharp eyes could have seen from the camp-site was masked by the cloak

Mr Snow had thrown over a nearby bush and the dense undergrowth

beyond.

As a person, Mr Snow would not have given Carnegie-Hall the time of

day, but as a fellow wordsmith he had to be treated with the courtesy

traditionally accorded to all practitioners of the ancient art.

'What say you, brother? Do you bring me good tidings or bad?"

'I bring news of great happenings. It is for you to judge whether they