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order completely ready, but Ganelon and I had persuaded him to close up his shop and accelerate its
production. This involved several additional hours' curse-worthy delay. I had been too keyed-up to sleep
then and was unable to do so now, as I was edging my way through shadows.
I forced back the fatigue and the evening and found some clouds to shade me. We moved along a dry,
deeply rutted, clay road. It was an ugly shade of yellow, and it cracked and crumbled as we went.
Brown grasses hung limply on either side of the way, and the trees were short, twisted things, their barks
thick and shaggy. We passed numerous outcrops of shale.
I had paid Doyle well for his compounds, and had also purchased a handsome bracelet to be delivered
to Dara the following day. My diamonds were at my belt, Grayswandir near to my hand. Star and
Firedrake walked steadily, strongly. I was on my way to having it made.
I wondered whether Benedict had returned home yet. I wondered how long he would remain deceived
as to my whereabouts. I was by no means out of danger from him. He could follow a trail for a great
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distance through Shadow, and I was leaving him a good one. I had little choice in the matter, though. I
needed the wagon, I was stuck with our present speed, and I was in no condition to manage another
hellride. I handled the shifts slowly and carefully, very conscious of my dulled senses and growing
weariness, counting on the gradual accumulation of change and distance to build up a barrier between
Benedict and myself, hoping that it would soon become an impenetrable one.
I found my way from late afternoon back to noontide within the next two miles, but kept it a cloudy
noon, for it was only its light that I desired, not its heat. Then I managed to locate a small breeze. It
increased the probability of rain, but it was worth it. You can't have everything.
I was fighting back drowsiness by then, and the temptation was great to awaken Ganelon and simply
add more miles to our distance by letting him drive while I slept. But I was afraid to try it this early in the
journey. There were still too many things to do.
I wanted more daylight, but I also wanted a better road, and I was sick of that goddamned yellow clay,
and I had to do something about those clouds, and I had to keep in mind where we were headed. . . .
I rubbed my eyes, I took several deep breaths. Things were starting to jump around inside my head, and
the steady clop-clop of the horses' hoofs and the creaking of the wagon were starting to have a soporific
effect. I was already numb to the jolting and the swaying. The reins hung loosely in my hands, and I had
already nodded and let them slip once. Fortunately, the horses seemed to have a good idea as to what
was expected of them.
After a time, we mounted a long, easy slope that led down into mid-morning. By then, the sky was quite
dark, and it took several miles and half a dozen twistings of the road to dissipate the cloud cover
somewhat. A storm could turn our way into a river of mud quite quickly. I winced at the thought, let the
sky alone and concentrated on the road once more.
We came to a dilapidated bridge leading across a dry stream bed. On its other side, the road was
smoother, less yellow. As we proceeded, it grew darker, flatter, harder, and the grass came green beside
it. By then, though, it had begun raining.
I fought with this for a time, determined not to surrender my grass and the dark, easy road. My head
ached, but the shower ended within a quarter of a mile and the sun came out once more. The sun. . . oh
yes, the sun.
We rattled on, finally coming to a dip in the road that kept twisting its way down among brighter trees.
We descended into a cool valley, where we eventually crossed another small bridge, this one with a
narrow band of water drifting along the middle of the bed beneath it. I had wrapped the reins about my
wrist by then, because I kept nodding. As from a great distance, I focused my concentration,
straightening, sorting...
Birds queried the day, tentatively, from within the woods to my right. Glistening droplets of dew clung to
the grass, the leaves. A chill came into the air, and the rays of the morning sun slanted down through the
trees...
But my body was not fooled by the awakening within this shadow, and I was relieved finally to hear
Ganelon stir and curse. If he had not come around before much longer I would have had to awaken him.
Good enough. I tugged gently on the reins and the horses got the idea and halted. I put on the brake, as
we were still on an incline, and located a water bottle.
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"Here!" said Ganelon, as I drank. "Leave a drop for me!" I passed the bottle back to him.
"You are taking over now," I told him. "I have to get some sleep."
He drank for half a minute, then let out an explosive exhalation.
"Right," he said, swinging himself over the edge of the wagon and down. "But bide a moment. Nature
summons."
He stepped off the road, and I crawled back onto the bed of the wagon and stretched out where he had
lain, folding my cloak into a pillow.
Moments later, I heard him climb onto the driver's seat, and there was a jolt as he released the brake. I
heard him cluck his tongue and snap the reins lightly.
"Is it morning?" he called back to me.
"Yes."
"God! I've slept all day and all night!"
I chuckled.
"No. I did a little shadow-shifting," I said. "You only slept six or seven hours."
"I don't understand. But never mind, I believe you. Where are we now?"
"Still heading northeast," I said, "around twenty miles out of the city and maybe a dozen or so from
Benedict's place. We have moved through Shadow, also."
"What am I to do now?"
"Just keep following the road. We need the distance."
"Could Benedict still reach us?"
"I think so. That's why we can't give the horses their rest yet."
"All right. Is there anything special I should be alert for?"
"No."
"When should I raise you?"
"Never."
He was silent then, and as I waited for my consciousness to be consumed, I thought of Dara, of course.
I had been thinking of her on and off all day.
The thing had been quite unpremeditated on my part. I had not even thought of her as a woman until she
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came into my arms and revised my thinking on the subject. A moment later, and my spinal nerves took
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