Maia

"But Lespa's thrashin' and crowin' had thrown them into such a state that in fact it was a good half-minute before they'd got themselves into marchin' order and come up to the altar, where she was still lyin' on the floor. And by this time she was feelin' a little calmer, and so contented with herself and the world that she felt equal to anythin'.

" 'What is it, dear?' asked the first old lady. 'Have you been taken ill? Where do you feel the pain?'

" 'I'm so sorry, saiyett,' gasped Lespa, hurriedly pulling the altar-cloth together round her shoulders. 'It's the cramp! I've been taken with the cramp!'

" 'Oh, you poor thing! Give me your hands, dear, and I'll pull you up.'

"But they couldn' pull her up, and this was hardly sur-prisin', for Baltis was holdin' on to her legs and tryin' to put her clothes straight at the same time.

" 'I'll run and get the smith, or else that nice young Baltis who works for him,' said the second old girl. 'You stay here with her, dear, and I'll be back directly.' And off she ran.

"When she'd gone, Lespa said to the other one, 'Dear saiyett, would you be so very kind as to bring me a drink of water? I'm sure that would make me feel much better.'

" 'Yes, yes, of course dear,' says she, and hurried away to the stream outside. And when she came back with the water, there was sweet Lespa sittin' quietly on the steps in front of the altar, a little dishevelled but otherwise none the worse.

" 'Oh, it seems to have passed off, saiyett, thank goodness,' says she. 'I wonder, would you be so good as just to give me your arm into the fresh air for a few minutes? I'm sure I'll be quite all right then.'

"And while they were takin' a turn, young Baltis slipped out and got back to the forge unmissed, for the smith hadn' yet returned from his trip to the farm.

"As for Lespa, she was right as rain in no time, wouldn' you just know, and mended the altar cloth in half an hour. And that evenin', when she'd shorn her hair for the sacrifice, she went singin' about the kitchen and made a huge game pie to take to the feast the next day.

"Everyone swore it was a pie in a thousand, but then Lespa was so pretty that they'd have said as much if it had been made of pebbles topped off with a sheet of lead. And when the feast was finished and before the dancin' began, she told her parents to stay where they were and slipped back home again, like the good girl she was, to see to her old granny, who was too rheumaticky to do more than sit at the door and listen to the music.

" 'Well, dearest child,' quavered the old granny, 'did you make your sacrifice to Shakkarn?'

" 'Yes, that I did,' says she. "The finest sacrifice that ever a girl made to Shakkarn.'

" 'And did they like your pie?'

" 'Indeed they did, granny. And now I'm such a fine pastry-cook, believe me, I'll never be without a good rol-lin'-pin as long as I live.' "

"Now then, you girls," said Vartou, appearing in the doorway. "Off to bed with you, and if anyone disturbs me in the night without some very good reason, she'll just wish she hadn't, that's all. You, Chia, make sure the fire's out, too."

"Come on, banzi," said Occula, putting her arm round Maia as the woman shut and locked the heavy door behind her, "these beds are narrower than a bloody drain, but you can go back to your own later."

Maia hesitated. "Here? With all of them-" "Nothin' wrong with sharin' a bed," said the black girl. "And from all I can see, we're not the only ones. 'Sides, you doan' know where you might be tomorrow night, do you?"

17: LALLOC

After returning to her own bed Maia slept soundly and, waking an hour or two after dawn, found the fire already lit and three or four of the girls cooking breakfast. Occula, however, was still asleep and, when Maia brought her breakfast to her bed and woke her, showed no particular inclination to be up and stirring.

"I doan' think there's any particular hurry for us, banzi," she said, lying back and letting Maia feed her with new bread dipped in honey. "They'll send for us all right, but it woan' be for a while."

"How d'you know?" asked Maia.

"Oh, I just know. Try goin' in the bath-house and tell me what happens."

Maia, puzzled, followed her advice, and was immediately stopped in the cloister by Vartou, who sent her back with orders to wash up the breakfast plates and sweep the floor. About an hour later she called Maia and Occula and told them to bathe.