The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читать лучшие читаемые книги TXT) 📗

Hannah dropped the scalpel on to the tray and clapped a cotton pad over the eye socket. The smell of the pus that dripped from the ceiling was rank and fetid. Meren collapsed under the weight of the men above him. Quickly Hannah removed the pad from his eye and slid the open jaws of a pair of bronze forceps into the incision. Taita heard the points

scrape on something buried in the wound. Hannah closed the jaws until she had a firm grip on it, then drew back gently and firmly. With another gush of watery green pus the foreign object popped out. She held it up with the forceps and examined it closely. 'I do not know what it is, do you?' She looked at Taita, who held out his cupped hand. She dropped the thing into it.

He stood up and crossed the room to examine it by the light from the open doorway. It was heavy for its size, a sliver the size of a pine kernel.

Between his finger and thumb he rubbed away the blood and pus that coated it. 'A splinter of the Red Stones!' he exclaimed.

'You recognize it?' Hannah asked.

'A piece of stone. I cannot understand how I overlooked it. I found all the other fragments.'

'Don't blame yourself, Magus. It was deeply buried. Without the infection to guide us, we might not have found it either.' Hannah and Gibba were cleaning the socket and stuffing wadding into it. Meren had lapsed into unconsciousness. The burly attendants relaxed their hold on him.

'He will rest more easily now,' Hannah said, 'but it will be some days before the wound has drained and we can replace the eye. Until then he must rest quietly.'

Although he had never seen it done, Taita had heard that the surgeons of the Indies could replace a missing eye with an artificial one made of marble or glass, skilfully painted to resemble the original. Although not a perfect substitute, it was less unsightly than a glaring empty socket.

He thanked the surgeons and their assistants as they left. Other attendants cleaned the pus from the ceiling and marble floor, then replaced the soiled bedding. At last another middle-aged woman came to watch over Meren until he recovered consciousness, and Taita left him in her care to escape from the sickroom for a while. He walked across the lawns to the beach and found a stone bench on which to rest.

He felt tired and depressed by the long, difficult journey up the mountain, and the strain of watching the operation. He took the sliver of red stone from the pouch on his belt, and studied it again. It appeared commonplace but he was aware that this was deceptive. The tiny red crystals sparkled and seemed to emit a warm glow that repelled him. He stood up, walked to the water's edge and drew back his arm to toss the fragment into the lake. But before he could do so there was a weighty disturbance in the depths as though a monster lurked there. He jumped back in alarm. At the same moment a cold wind fanned the back of his

neck. He shivered and glanced round, but saw nothing alarming. The gust had passed as swiftly as it had come, and the still air was soft and warm once more.I He looked back at the water as a ring of ripples spread across the surface. Then he remembered the crocodiles they had seen earlier. He looked at the fragment of red stone in his hand. It seemed innocuous, but he had felt the cold wind and he was uneasy. He dropped the stone into his pouch and started back across the lawn.

In the middle he paused again. With all the other distractions, this was the first opportunity he had had to study the front of the sanatorium.

The block that contained Meren's room was at one end of the main complex. He could see five other larger blocks. Each was separated from its neighbours by a terrace over which a pergola supported vines with bunches of grapes. In this crater everything seemed fecund and fruitful.

He felt certain that the buildings contained many extraordinary scientific marvels that had been discovered and developed here over the centuries.

He would take the first opportunity to explore them thoroughly.

Suddenly he was distracted by feminine voices. When he looked back he saw the three dark-skinned girls they had encountered earlier, returning along the beach. They were fully clothed and wore crowns of wild flowers in their hair. They still seemed full of high spirits. He wondered if during their picnic in the forest they had imbibed a little too deeply of the good wine of Jarri. They ignored him and went on down the beach until they were opposite the last block of buildings. Then they turned across the lawns and disappeared inside. Their unrestrained behaviour intrigued him. He wanted to speak to them: they might help him understand what was happening in this strange little world.

However, the sun was already disappearing and the clouds were gathering. A light drizzle began to fall. It was cold on his upturned face.

If he was to speak to the women, he must hurry. He set off after them.

Half-way across the lawns his steps slowed, and his interest in them wavered. They are of no consequence, he thought. I should rather be with Meren. He stopped and looked up at the sky. The sun had gone behind the crater wall. It was almost dark. The thought of speaking to the women, which had seemed imperative only a short time before, slipped from his mind as though it had been erased. He turned away from the building and hurried to Meren's sickroom. Meren sat up when Taita entered and smiled wanly.

'How do you feel?' Taita asked.

'Perhaps you were right, Magus. These people seem to have helped

me. There is little pain, and I am feeling stronger. Tell me what they did to me.'

Taita opened his pouch and showed him the stone fragment. 'They removed that from inside your head. It had mortified and was the cause of your troubles.'

Meren reached out to take the stone, then jerked his hand back.

'So small, but so evil. That foul thing has taken my eye. I want nothing to do with it. In the name of Horus, throw it away, far away.' But Taita slipped it back into his pouch.

A servant brought them their evening meal. The food was delicious, and they ate with appetite and enjoyment. They ended the meal JL JLwith a bowl of some hot beverage, which helped them to sleep soundly. Early the next morning, Hannah and Gibba returned. When they lifted the dressing from Meren's eye they were pleased to see that the swelling and inflammation had subsided.

'We will be able to proceed in three day's time,' Hannah told them.

'By then the wound will have settled but it will still be sufficiently open to accept the seeding.'

'Seeding?' Taita asked. 'Learned sister, I do not understand the procedure you are describing. I thought you were planning to replace the missing eye with one made of glass or stone. What are the seeds you speak of now?'

'I may not discuss the details with you, Brother Magus. Only adepts of the Guild of the Cloud Gardens are privy to this special knowledge.'

'It is natural that I am disappointed not to learn more, for I am impressed with the skills you have demonstrated. This new discovery sounds even more exciting. I look forward at least to observing the end results of your new procedure.'

Hannah frowned slightly as she replied, 'It is not correct to describe this as a new procedure, Brother Magus. It has required the dedicated labours of five generations of surgeons here at the Cloud Gardens to bring it so far. Even now it is not yet perfected, but each day brings us closer to our goal. However, I am certain that it will not be long before you may join our Guild and take part with us in this work. I am certain also that your contribution will be unique and invaluable. Of course, if there is anything else you wish to know that is not forbidden to those outside the Inner Circle, I will be happy to discuss it with you.'

'Indeed, there is something that I would like to ask.' The thought of the girls he had first seen by the pool in the forest, then again as they returned along the beach to the sanatorium in the rain, had been lutking in the back of his mind. This seemed a good opportunity to learn more about them. But before the question reached his lips it started to fade.