Iâd gone very far.â
âIsnât that just like Them !â I said. âWhy arenât you hating Them ? I do.â
He even laughed then. âOh I did,â he said. âI hated Them for aeons, make no mistake. But it wore out. Youâll find that. Things wear out, specially feelings.â He didnât seem sad about it at all. He acted as if it was a relief, not hating Them any more.
Somehow that made me hate Them all the worse. âSee here,â I said, reaching up with the tenth handful or so of water, âisnât there any way I can get you out of this? Canât I find an adamant saw somewhere? Or do the chains unlock anywhere?â
He stopped before he drank and looked at me, really laughing, but trying not to, to spare my feelings. âYouâre very generous,â he said. âBut They donât do things like that. If thereâs any key at all to these chains, itâs over there.â And he nodded over at the anchor before he bent to drink.
âThat anchor?â I said. âWhen itâs rusted away, you mean?â
âThat will be at the ends of the worlds,â he said.
I saw he was trying to tell me kindly not to be a fool. I felt very dejected as I shuffled off for the next handful of water. What could I do ? I wanted to do something, on my own account as well as his. I wanted to break up his chains and tear the worlds apart. Then I wanted to get my hands on a few of Their throats. But I was simply a helpless discard, and only a boy at that.
âOne thing I can do,â I said when I came climbing back, âis to stay and keep you company and bring you water and things.â
âI donât advise that,â he said. â They can control you still, to some extent, and thereâs nothing I can do to help you.â
He had had enough to drink by then. He said I should go. But I sat down defiantly on the wet rock, shivering. Both of us shivered. The fog was blowing round us like the cold breath of giants. I looked up at him. He had his head leaned back again and that look on his face that was like peace but nearer death.
âTell me the rules,â I said. âYou must know every rule there is, if you found out about them.â
At that, his head came up and he looked almost angry. âThere are no rules,â he said. âOnly principles and natural laws. The rules were made by Them. They are caught inside Their own rules now, but thereâs no need for you to be caught too. Stay outside. If youâre lucky, you might catch Them up in Their own rules.â
âBut there is that rule that nobody can interfere with a Homeward Bounder,â I said. I was thinking about the boy and the wagon. It still made me feel bad.
âYes,â he said. âThere is, isnât there?â
Then neither of us said anything much for quite a long while. Thatâs the trouble with misery, or cold. It absorbs you. I still wonder how he could manage to be so human under it. Except, I think, he wasnât human. Eventually, I put my shivering face up and asked if heâd like another drink.
He was looking off into the fog, rather intently, and shook his head slightly. âNot now, thank you. I think itâs time for the vulture to come.â
I donât know why, but I got the point at once. I suppose I had been wondering, deep down, what made that new-looking wound of his. I found I was standing up, looking from the wound to his face and feeling ill. âCanât I beat it off for you?â
âNo,â he said, quite severely. âYou canât do things like that against Them , and you mustnât try. Why donât you go?â
I wanted to say that Iâd stayâstay and hold his hand as it wereâbut I felt weak with horror. I couldnât say a thing.
âItâs all right,â he said. âIt has nothing to do with you. But do go. Itâs nearly here.â
I looked
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