The Space Between Read Online Free Page B

too, if you're
going to help."
    "I'm sure. Perhaps you might have thought of
some quieter work?" Meledrin thought it strange, chatting with a
dwarf while the sun was still struggling to lift its weight above
the horizon, but what else was she to do?
    The ugly little man shrugged. "This is what
needed doing. Winter's coming and if we can't dry meat properly we
might have problems."
    "Undoubtedly." The residents of Grovely had
eaten mainly fruit and vegetables in recent years. The men trekked
to the human markets and traded highly sought after elfish craft
products for whatever else they required. The smoking shed had not
been used for a long time.
    But the dwarf nodded as if pleased she could
see the sense of it. "Keeble's the name. Pleased to meet you. I
asked to be reassigned to your work gang. You don't have a center
punch, do you? These nails just don't look right."
    She examined the nails, considering what
might be the correct aesthetic for such things — Palsamon would
know — before shaking her head. "My name is Meledrin." She wondered
what else she might say. Manners dictated that she talked to him,
but she really wanted to be somewhere else. She could smell the
sweat on him. And Keeble was obviously having problems she could
not comprehend.
    Others finally started to arrive, all with
arrows nocked and ready.
    "What is happening?" Takande asked as she
came to a halt beside Meledrin. Her long blonde hair was loose and
she wore only a sleeping robe that failed to cover her knees, but
her bow was ready.
    "They breed dwarves to look like trees out
here, do they? Or is it just the dwives?"
    Meledrin gestured vaguely. "Takande, Keeble
is repairing the smoking shed."
    "So I see. He is a dwarf, is he not?"
    "Yes."
    Takande nodded as if that explained
everything. Meledrin decided that quite possibly it did.
    "Why is he repairing the smoking shed?"
someone asked. It was a young man, and he was not looking at the
dwarf, but rather at Takande's legs.
    "It is what dwarves do," Delfrana explained,
moving towards the front of the group. "Go and get dressed,
Takande. That is not decent." She poked the younger elf with the
stick as she continued forward. Without the support she wavered
dangerously and a Warder rushed forward to steady her. "Lacking
work and community, dwarves go batty: it is a documented fact. From
what this individual did out in the forest, I would say he is well
on the way."
    "What did he do?"
    "Started things that he failed to
complete."
    The dwarf rose to his feet, his face set. It
appeared he would say something, but his eyes glazed over and he
turned instead to examine his handiwork. "Done," he said
eventually, with a small, teeth-clenching smile. "No smoke will get
out of there." He turned back for another look. Whatever had been
troubling him a moment before was forgotten. "If we had some mud,
we could do some daub to really make sure."
    "No. That will not be necessary."
    "Well, I guess I'll get started on one of
the other buildings then. I saw some loose shutters earlier.
Hanging terrible, they were."
    "No. That will not be necessary either."
    "Oh."
    Delfrana hobbled forward to get a better
look at the dwarf with her bad eyes. The old woman wrinkled her
nose in concentration. Or maybe she had noticed his stench as well
and was unable to hide her disgust. Meledrin felt several women
tense, ready to leap to the High Warder's protection.
    "What crime did you commit?"
    "What? None." Keeble fiddled with some of
the wheels on his mechanical hand, winding the two pronged forks
closer together then further apart.
    "Oh, do not take me for a fool, boy. You are
a Wanderer, are you not? No other dwarf would leave the mountains
of his own accord. What did you do?"
    The dwarf hesitated. He examined the nails
in his hand.
    "What?"
    "I failed the Singing Test. But I'm not a
Wanderer. They gave me a choice. Change gangs or leave."
    "Oh, I see." Delfrana grunted, relenting
slightly. "Why did you try if you were unable to do