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.Professor Torgeson wasin charge and it was clear that neither Wash nor Mr.Jinnswould back them up.I poked Lan and nodded at the dishes,and the two of us collected them and took them down to thecreek to wash up.We stayed a mite longer than was strictlynecessary for dish washing, so that by the time we hauledeverything back to camp, the argument was over and donewith.And the next morning, barely after dawn, Lan andProfessor Torgeson and I rode out with Wash, just as theprofessor had said in the first place. CHAPTER25TRAVELING WITH WASH WHEN HE WAS IN A HURRY WAS A LOT different from the waywe d traveled the previous summer.We didn t take a packanimal, and we alternated trotting and walking so as to go asfast as possible without foundering the horses.When Lanasked about speed-traveling spells, Wash said that he d onlyever used one once, west of the Mammoth, and he d only doit again if someone was likely to die if they didn t getsomewhere on time.Mostly, if there was a real emergencybut nobody dying, he d gallop and walk, then trade his tiredhorse for a fresh one at the next settlement.We couldn t dothat because settlements only had to provide mounts forcircuit magicians, and anyway this wasn t an emergency yet.Wash s estimate for time was dead-on.We got to the BigBear Lake settlement near sunset of our second day traveling,mainly because it was high summer and the sun rose earlyand set late, and we rode pretty nearly every minute it wasup.The settlement folks were surprised to see us; they d onlyexpected Wash.They found room for all of us, though, in thenewcomers longhouse.That was a big, plain building threetimes as long as it was wide, meant for new settlers to stay inuntil they got their own houses built.Most settlements builtone first thing, and then after they earned out their allotmentsthey turned it into a general store or town hall.ProfessorTorgeson said the settlers got the idea from the Scandians andVinlanders, who d been building longhouses since medieval times.It was too late in the day to do much in the way of talking,especially with three of the four of us well and truly tuckeredout from the fast ride.Wash was the only one who didn tseem bothered by it.The rest of us turned in as soon as wecould and slept as late as they let us, which wasn t much laterthan we d been getting up at the camp.Right after breakfast, Wash collected the rest of us andtook us to see Mr.Macleod.He was a sturdy gentleman withshort graying hair, dressed in an old blue work shirt and brightred suspenders.He lived and worked from a log house rightinside the palisade gates.He d divided the inside in half witha burlap curtain; the front part was where he met with peopleand did official business, and with five of us there it waspretty cramped.Practically before he had a chance to sayanything, the professor asked whether we could talk to thetrapper who d first come in with the news, and she was a miteput out to learn he d moved on long ago. Trappers have itchy feet, ma am, Mr.Macleod said. About the only time you see them in one place for morethan a week or two at a time is at the annual St.Jacquesassembly or if they ve been snowed in.Old Greasy Pierrecame through back in late March; there s no way he d still behere now. Just like the summer men, Professor Torgeson said,nodding. I d hoped for better, but I can t say I m surprised. Summer men? Mr.Macleod said. Vinlanders who cross to the mainland to hunt everysummer, the professor replied. We lose a few every yearwho insist on staying just a few more days and get caught byan early winter storm.Once that happens, they rarely make itback before the ice dragons come down from the north. Mr.Macleod nodded. Same thing, really.Pierre took itparticularly hard on account of these last few years being sogood.He got accustomed to taking enough animals to get hissummer supplies without so much work, so when things wentback to normal, he was right put out. The last few years have been good ones? For trappers, Wash agreed. All up the Red River anddown to the Middle Plains Territory.Maybe farther. Likely it was all the animals forced out by the grubs, Mr.Macleod said. Leastwise, that s what everyone says. Forced out by the grubs? Lan said. But they just ateplants! And when the rabbits and deer and bison and giantbeavers and rainbow squirrels have no plants to eat, theyleave, and the saber cats and foxes and jewel minks and direwolves follow, Mr.Macleod said. Why would this year have been a bad one, then? Iasked. The grub-killed land is coming back, but it s not thesame, and it won t be for a long time.There might be enoughfor the rabbits and ground squirrels to eat, but for sure not thegiant beavers and deer. Who knows? Mr.Macleod said. All I can say is thatevery trapper who came in from the Far West this year had ascanty catch. Now, there s an odd thing, Wash said, rubbing his beard. I hadn t rightly thought on it before, but most all thetrappers who work south of the Grand Bow River brought inas many furs as they could carry.There were a lot more newcritters among them, too. More new animals? Professor Torgeson said. There are a lot of things in the Far West that we don thave names for, Wash said. Every so often, the boys bring in something strange, Mr.Macleod agreed. There s a fox with a gray patch on itsforehead that they re partial to, when they can catch one, anda thing that looks a bit like a fat squirrel that s had its tailbobbed.Come to think on it, there s been more of those fursthese past few years than there used to be.But then, the boyshave been working farther west. Have they? Wash said in a thoughtful tone. The waythe trappers I talked to were complaining, I got the notionthey haven t ever gone much past their usual runs. How far west would that be? Professor Torgeson asked. Most of the trappers on the North Plains work betweenhere and & well, draw a north-south line through WinteringIsland on the Grand Bow, and that s about as far west asthey ve ever gone, Mr.Macleod said. I don t know aboutthe Gauls and Acadians.They call themselves coureurs debois, and they re right out of their heads, if you ask me, thechances they take. They aren t accustomed to having a safe place nearby, the professor pointed out [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Professor Torgeson wasin charge and it was clear that neither Wash nor Mr.Jinnswould back them up.I poked Lan and nodded at the dishes,and the two of us collected them and took them down to thecreek to wash up.We stayed a mite longer than was strictlynecessary for dish washing, so that by the time we hauledeverything back to camp, the argument was over and donewith.And the next morning, barely after dawn, Lan andProfessor Torgeson and I rode out with Wash, just as theprofessor had said in the first place. CHAPTER25TRAVELING WITH WASH WHEN HE WAS IN A HURRY WAS A LOT different from the waywe d traveled the previous summer.We didn t take a packanimal, and we alternated trotting and walking so as to go asfast as possible without foundering the horses.When Lanasked about speed-traveling spells, Wash said that he d onlyever used one once, west of the Mammoth, and he d only doit again if someone was likely to die if they didn t getsomewhere on time.Mostly, if there was a real emergencybut nobody dying, he d gallop and walk, then trade his tiredhorse for a fresh one at the next settlement.We couldn t dothat because settlements only had to provide mounts forcircuit magicians, and anyway this wasn t an emergency yet.Wash s estimate for time was dead-on.We got to the BigBear Lake settlement near sunset of our second day traveling,mainly because it was high summer and the sun rose earlyand set late, and we rode pretty nearly every minute it wasup.The settlement folks were surprised to see us; they d onlyexpected Wash.They found room for all of us, though, in thenewcomers longhouse.That was a big, plain building threetimes as long as it was wide, meant for new settlers to stay inuntil they got their own houses built.Most settlements builtone first thing, and then after they earned out their allotmentsthey turned it into a general store or town hall.ProfessorTorgeson said the settlers got the idea from the Scandians andVinlanders, who d been building longhouses since medieval times.It was too late in the day to do much in the way of talking,especially with three of the four of us well and truly tuckeredout from the fast ride.Wash was the only one who didn tseem bothered by it.The rest of us turned in as soon as wecould and slept as late as they let us, which wasn t much laterthan we d been getting up at the camp.Right after breakfast, Wash collected the rest of us andtook us to see Mr.Macleod.He was a sturdy gentleman withshort graying hair, dressed in an old blue work shirt and brightred suspenders.He lived and worked from a log house rightinside the palisade gates.He d divided the inside in half witha burlap curtain; the front part was where he met with peopleand did official business, and with five of us there it waspretty cramped.Practically before he had a chance to sayanything, the professor asked whether we could talk to thetrapper who d first come in with the news, and she was a miteput out to learn he d moved on long ago. Trappers have itchy feet, ma am, Mr.Macleod said. About the only time you see them in one place for morethan a week or two at a time is at the annual St.Jacquesassembly or if they ve been snowed in.Old Greasy Pierrecame through back in late March; there s no way he d still behere now. Just like the summer men, Professor Torgeson said,nodding. I d hoped for better, but I can t say I m surprised. Summer men? Mr.Macleod said. Vinlanders who cross to the mainland to hunt everysummer, the professor replied. We lose a few every yearwho insist on staying just a few more days and get caught byan early winter storm.Once that happens, they rarely make itback before the ice dragons come down from the north. Mr.Macleod nodded. Same thing, really.Pierre took itparticularly hard on account of these last few years being sogood.He got accustomed to taking enough animals to get hissummer supplies without so much work, so when things wentback to normal, he was right put out. The last few years have been good ones? For trappers, Wash agreed. All up the Red River anddown to the Middle Plains Territory.Maybe farther. Likely it was all the animals forced out by the grubs, Mr.Macleod said. Leastwise, that s what everyone says. Forced out by the grubs? Lan said. But they just ateplants! And when the rabbits and deer and bison and giantbeavers and rainbow squirrels have no plants to eat, theyleave, and the saber cats and foxes and jewel minks and direwolves follow, Mr.Macleod said. Why would this year have been a bad one, then? Iasked. The grub-killed land is coming back, but it s not thesame, and it won t be for a long time.There might be enoughfor the rabbits and ground squirrels to eat, but for sure not thegiant beavers and deer. Who knows? Mr.Macleod said. All I can say is thatevery trapper who came in from the Far West this year had ascanty catch. Now, there s an odd thing, Wash said, rubbing his beard. I hadn t rightly thought on it before, but most all thetrappers who work south of the Grand Bow River brought inas many furs as they could carry.There were a lot more newcritters among them, too. More new animals? Professor Torgeson said. There are a lot of things in the Far West that we don thave names for, Wash said. Every so often, the boys bring in something strange, Mr.Macleod agreed. There s a fox with a gray patch on itsforehead that they re partial to, when they can catch one, anda thing that looks a bit like a fat squirrel that s had its tailbobbed.Come to think on it, there s been more of those fursthese past few years than there used to be.But then, the boyshave been working farther west. Have they? Wash said in a thoughtful tone. The waythe trappers I talked to were complaining, I got the notionthey haven t ever gone much past their usual runs. How far west would that be? Professor Torgeson asked. Most of the trappers on the North Plains work betweenhere and & well, draw a north-south line through WinteringIsland on the Grand Bow, and that s about as far west asthey ve ever gone, Mr.Macleod said. I don t know aboutthe Gauls and Acadians.They call themselves coureurs debois, and they re right out of their heads, if you ask me, thechances they take. They aren t accustomed to having a safe place nearby, the professor pointed out [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]