Nation

princess,” she said carefully, “but you’re coming with me all the same. Keep close.”
    “And have you lead us into a trap?”
    “It’s near sunset. Do you want to be up here in the dark?” She held out a hand and added, “And the rain, too.” A squall had blown in, and the first drops began to fall. “The people here can see in the dark,” she went on. “And they can move as silently as the wind. Their knives are so sharp that they can cut a man’s—”
    “Why’s it happening like this?” Polegrave demanded of Foxlip. “I thought you were smart! You said we’d get the best pickings. You told me—”
    “And now I’m telling you to shut up.” Foxlip turned to Daphne. “All right, my lady, I’m not falling for that malarkey. We’ll take you off this rock at first light. Might even get you as far as dear old dad. But there’d better be gold at the end of it, or else. No tricks, right?”
    “Yeah, we got four loaded pistols, missie,” said Polegrave, waving one at her, “and they’ll stop anything, you hear?”
    “They won’t stop the fifth man, Mr. Polegrave.”
    She rejoiced in the change in his expression as she turned to Foxlip. “Tricks? From me? No. I want to get home. I don’t know any tricks.”
    “Swear on your mother’s life,” said Foxlip.
    “What?”
    “You always were a stuck-up kid on the Judy . Swear it, like I said. Then I might even believe yer.”
    Does he know about my mother? Daphne wondered, calm thoughts floating in a sea of fury. I think poor Captain Roberts did, and I told Cookie, but not even Cookie would gossip about that sort of thing to the likes of Foxlip. But no one is entitled to ask for an oath like that!
    Foxlip growled. Daphne had been silent too long for his liking.
    “Cat got your tongue?” he said.
    “No. But it is an important swear. I had to think about it. I promise I won’t try to run away, I won’t tell you any lies, and I won’t try to deceive you. Is that what you want?”
    “And you swear that on your mother’s life?” Foxlip insisted.
    “Yes, I do.”
    “That’s very handsome of you,” said Foxlip. “Don’t you think so, Mr. Polegrave?”
    But Polegrave was watching the dripping forest on either side of the path. “There’s things in there,” he moaned. “There’s stuff creepin’ about!”
    “Lions and tigers and elephants, I shouldn’t wonder,” said Foxlip cheerfully. He raised his voice. “But there’s a hair trigger on this pistol, so if I even think I hear a sound out of place, missie will be put to considerable embarrassment. One footfall and she’s ready for the boneyard!”
     
    As soon as Daphne and the two trousermen had rounded a bend in the track and were out of sight, Mau stepped forward.
    “We could rush them. The rain’s on our side,” Pilu whispered.
    “You heard the big one. I can’t risk her being killed. She saved my life. Twice.”
    “I thought you saved her life.”
    “Yes, but the first time I saved her life, I saved mine, too. Do you understand? If she hadn’t been here, I’d have held the biggest rock I could find and gone into the dark current. One person is nothing. Two people are a nation.”
    Pilu’s forehead wrinkled in puzzlement. “What are three people?”
    “A bigger nation. Let’s catch up to them…carefully.”
    And she saved me from Locaha a second time, he thought as they set off again, silent as ghosts in the rain. He’d woken up, his mind full of silver fishes, and the old woman had told him. He’d been running to the white city under the sea, and then Daphne had been there, pulling him up faster than Locaha could swim. Even the old woman had been impressed.
    The ghost girl had a plan, and she couldn’t tell him what it was. All they could do, with their sticks and spears, was follow her—
    No, they didn’t have to follow her. He knew where she was going. He stared at her, pale in the dusk, as she led the men down the sloping path to the Place.
     
    Who would be in here now? Daphne wondered. She’d seen Mrs. Gurgle up at the cave, because everyone who could walk had been up there. There were some sick people in the far huts, though. She would have to be careful.
    She lit some dry grass from the fire outside the hut and cautiously transferred the flame to one of the Judy ’s lamps. She did it very carefully, thinking about each movement, because she did not want to think about what she would be doing next. She had to keep herself in two parts. Even