Maia by Richard Adams Page B

it?-as of course he must, somehow. One question after another rose in her mind. One thing was certain, however. She, Maia, could not simply say no and thereupon forget the matter and go out with the buckets to the lake-her usual chore at this time of day. Here, clearly, was a wonderful opportunity; yet a disturbing one too-to step into the unknown. No doubt the men themselves would be better able than Morca to answer her questions.
    At this moment a happy thought came to her. Of course, she need agree to nothing now; she could merely find out from the men as much as possible, ask them to give her a few days to think it over, and get Tharrin's advice when he came home!
    Walking over to the tub by the fire, she stepped into the warm water and then, raising her arms, pulled both smock and shift over her head and tossed them aside.
    "I'll just give you a hand, dear," said Morca. "There's
    a nice little keech of tallow here and I'll mix some ashes into it for you."
    Maia, naked, stooped for the pannikin and poured warm water pleasurably over her shoulders.
    "Where's Kelsi and Nala, then?" she asked. "Isn't it just about time for dinner?"
    "Ah, I dare say they won't be long now," answered Morca comfortably. "Just turn round, dear, and I'll soap your back down. My, you
are
getting a fine big girl, aren't you? Turn a few heads in Thettit, I wouldn't wonder."
    She certainly seemed to have recovered her good humor, adding hot water from the cauldron, soaping each of Maia's feet, as she lifted them, with a handful of tallow and wood-ash, and making her turn this way and that until at length she stepped out to towel herself dry, back and front, in the mid-day sunshine pouring through the open door. When she was ready Morca, having washed her own hands, helped her into the silk shift and the amazing dress.
    It felt strange; heavy and enveloping. Maia's sensation was of being altogether encumbered and swathed in the thick, smooth material falling from shoulders to ankles. Awkwardly, and filled now with a certain sense of self-doubt, she tried a turn across the room and stumbled as the skirt swung against her knees like a half-full sack-or so it felt. Looking down, she saw the blue and green flowers curving outward over her bosom, while their stems seemed gathered again at her waist by the corded girdle binding them together. "Oh, that's clever!" she thought. "That's pretty! Who'd ever 'a thought of that, now?" Clearly, there was more in this clothes business than she had ever imagined.
    "It feels sort of heavy, mum," she said. "I dunno as I'm going to be able to manage this-not without they show me."
    "Oh, they'll show you, no danger," replied Morca. "There now, drat! We've got no salt, look! What's left's all damped out! Slip the dress off, Maia dear, and just run up to old Drigga and borrow a handful, will you?"
    Maia stared. "Damp? At this time of year?"
    Morca shrugged. "I must have left it too near the steam or something, I suppose. Never mind. Won't take you more than a minute or two, will it?"
    "That's a job for Nala, more like," said Maia. "Running errands."
    "Well, she's not here, is she?" retorted Morca. "Sooner you're gone, sooner you'll be back again, won't you? Come on, now, I'll just help you out of the dress."
    When Maia returned a quarter of an hour later with half a cupful of old Drigga's salt, the visitors had evidently returned from the lake. While still some little distance up the lane she could hear their voices raised in conversation with Morca, but as she came in at the door they stopped talking and turned to look at her.
    They were certainly not at all what she was expecting. In her mind's eye she had unconsciously formed a picture of tall, dignified men-she was not sure how old they would be-but certainly well-dressed and -groomed; exotic, perhaps-dark-skinned, with pointed beards and gold rings in their ears, like the merchants in tales and ballads. Looking at these men, however, her first thought was that they