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she got the map out of the special pocket in the pack and removed the protective oilskin。
touchstone took one end as she unrolled it; and weighted his two corners with stones; while sabriel secured hers with the telescope case。
“i think we’re about here;” she said; tracing her finger from abhorsen’s house; following the paperwing’s flight from there to a point a little north of the ratterlin river delta。
“no;” said touchstone; sounding decisive for the first time; his finger stabbing the map an inch to the north of sabriel’s own。 “this is holehallow; here。 it’s only ten leagues from the coast and at the same latitude as mount anarson。”
“good!” exclaimed sabriel; smiling; her anger slipping from her。 “you do remember。 now; what’s the best route to belisaere; and how long will it take?”
“i don’t know the current conditions; mi 。 。 。
sabriel;” touchstone replied。 his voice grew softer; more subdued。 “from what mogget says; the kingdom is in a state of anarchy。 towns and villages may no longer exist。 there will be bandits; the dead; free magic unbound; fell creatures 。 。 。”
“ignoring all that;” sabriel asked; “which way did you normally go?”
“from nestowe; the fishing village here;”
touchstone said; pointing at the coast to the east of holehallow。 “we’d ride north along the shoreway; changing horses at post houses。 four days to callibe; a rest day there。 then the interior road up through oncet pass; six days all told to aunden。 a rest day in aunden; then four days to orchyre。 from there; it would be a day’s ferry passage; or two days’ riding; to the westgate of belisaere。”
“even without the rest days; that’d be eighteen days’ riding; at least six weeks’ walking。 that’s too long。 is there any other way?”
“a ship; or boat; from nestowe;” interrupted mogget; stalking up behind sabriel; to place his paw firmly on the map。 “if we can find one and if either of you can sail it。”
chapter xv
:
the stair was to the north of the middle ship of the four。 concealed by both magic and artifice; it seemed to be little more than a particularly wet patch of the damp limestone that formed the sinkhole wall; but you could walk right through it; for it was really an open door with steps winding up behind。
they decided to take these steps the next morning; after another day of rest。 sabriel was eager to move on; for she felt that her father’s peril could only be increasing; but she was realistic enough to assess her own need for recovery time。 touchstone; too; probably needed a rest; she thought。 she’d tried to coax more information out of him while they’d searched for the steps; but he was clearly reluctant to even open his mouth; and when he did; sabriel found his humble apologies ever more irritating。 after the door was found she gave up altogether; and sat in the grass near the spring; reading her father’s books on charter magic。 the book of the dead stayed wrapped in oilskin。 even then; she felt its presence; brooding in her pack 。 。 。
touchstone stayed at the opposite end of the ship; near the bow; performing a series of fencing exercises with his twin swords; and some stretches and minor acrobatics。 mogget watched him from the undergrowth; green eyes glittering; as if intent on a mouse。
lunch was a culinary and conversational failure。
dried beef strips; garnished with watercress from the fringes of the spring; and monosyllabic responses from touchstone。 he even went back to “milady;” despite sabriel’s repeated requests to use her name。 mogget didn’t help by calling her abhorsen。 after lunch; everyone went back to their respective activities。 sabriel to her book; touchstone to his exercises and mogget to his watching。
dinner was not something anyone had looked forward to。 sabriel tried talking to mogget; but he seemed to be infected with touchstone’s reticence; though not with his servility。 as soon as they’d eaten; everyone left the raked…together coals of the campfire—touchstone to the west; mogget north and sabriel east—and went to sleep on as fortable a stretch of ground as could be discovered。
sabriel woke once in the night。 without getting up; she saw that the fire had been rekindled and touchstone sat beside it; staring into the flames; his eyes reflecting the capering; gold…red light。 his face looked drawn; almost ill。
“are you all right?” sabriel asked quietly; propping herself up on one elbow。
touchstone started; rocked back on his heels; and almost fell over。 for once; he didn’t sound like a sulky servant。
“not really。 i remember what i would not; and forget what i should not。 forgive me。”
sabriel didn’t answer。 he had spoken the last two words to the fire; not to her。
“please; go back to sleep; milady;” touchstone continued; slipping back to his servile role。 “i will wake you in the morning。”
sabriel opened her mouth to say something scathing about the arrogance of pretended humility; then shut it; and subsided back under her blanket。 just concentrate on rescuing father; she told herself。 that is the one important thing。
rescue abhorsen。 don’t worry about touchstone’s problems; or mogget’s curious nature。
rescue abhorsen。 rescue abhorsen。 rescue abhors 。 。 。 rescue 。 。 。
“wake up!” mogget said; right in her ear。 she rolled over; ignoring him; but he leapt across her head and repeated it in her other ear。 “wake up!”
“i’m awake;” grumbled sabriel。 she sat up with the blanket wrapped around her; feeling the pre…dawn chill on her face and hands。 it was still extremely dark; save for the uneven light of the fire and the faintest brushings of dawn light above the sinkhole。 touchstone was already making the porridge。 he’d also washed; and shaved—using a dagger from the look of the nicks and cuts on his chin and neck。
“good morning;” he said。 “this will be ready in five minutes; milady。”
sabriel groaned at that word again。 feeling like a shambling; blanket…shrouded excuse for a human being; she picked up her shirt and trousers and staggered off to find a suitable bush en route to the spring。
the icy water of the spring pleted the waking up process withou