The Knight

Immediately both Aelf began backing away. Instead of sloping up, the riverbank was sloping down, and they went down that slope into a mist. “Have no fear brown woman called, “I will teach him all about you.”

“About Gylf,” the owner of the male voice said, “it happens all the time. After a storm someone finds such whelps.”

“As we did,” the brown woman added.

“But they are his.”

“We are to take care of them until he whistles.”

“Which we have ....”

They were gone and little Ossar with them, and the riverbank sloped up normally again.

I was looking at the dog, I suppose because there was nothing else left to look at. “Those were Bodachan, weren’t they? Earth Aelf?”

He seemed to nod, and I grinned at him. “Well, I’m an earthman. See how brpwn my arms are? It shouldn’t be too much of a change for you.”

He nodded again, this time unmistakably, and I said, “You’re a real smart dog, aren’t you?”

He nodded and smiled.

“Were you really the Valfather’s? I think that’s what they said.” He nodded the same way he had before.

“I see. Somebody’s trained you to nod when you hear a question. Is there any question that wouldn’t make you nod?”

As I expected, he nodded to that too. He also looked inquiringly at the lamb I had skinned, and then back at me, cocking his head.

“You’re right, I ought to cook that. I’ll give you some meat, and all the bones, okay?”

Of course he nodded.

In a few minutes more I had a whole leg-of-lamb roasting on a pointed stick. It was not until I smelled it that I found out how hungry I was. My mouth watered, and it seemed to me I had never smelled anything as good as it was going to be.

The dog came closer, lying down next to me. I said, “Gylf? Is that your name?”

He nodded as if he had understood every word.

“You’re a hunting dog, or that’s what it sounded like. What do you hunt?”

He nuzzled me as if to say you.

“What? Me? Really?”

He nodded.

“You’re putting me on!”

Eyeing the sizzling meat, he licked his lips. His tongue was Day-Glo pink in the firelight, and about as wide as my hand.

“I’ll give you some, but we’ll both have to wait before we eat any. It’ll be very hot.” I took it from the fire while I was talking to him; you can cook meat more if it needs it, but if you cook it too much, you cannot cook it less. When it was clear of the fire, I petted the big dog that had become mine so fast. His flat brown coat was soft, and thicker than it looked. “You’ll be nice to sleep with on cold nights,” I told him.

He nodded and licked my knee. Big as it was and rough as it was, his tongue was warm and friendly.

“When we’re through eating, we’ll go to Glennidam. I want to find Seaxneat and kill him, if I can. Besides, Toug may be back home by now. I hope so. We’ll see about that. If you stay with me, you’re my dog ’til the Valfather comes for you. If you don’t you’re not, but I wish you luck just the same.”

I touched the meat, and licked my fingers, then waved it around on its stick to cool it. “Are you as hungry as I am?”

He nodded, and I noticed he was drooling quite a bit.

“You know, I’ve been wondering what killed that wolf. That was dumb of me, with the answer lying right next to me. It was you. You don’t have to nod, Gylf. I know it was.”

He nodded anyway.

“Then you left the lamb for me, instead of eating it yourself. Maybe the brown girl had something to do with it, but it was nice of you anyhow.” I tore the lower part of the lamb’s leg from the upper and gave it to him.

He held it down with his forepaws, the way dogs do, and tore it with teeth that would have surprised me in a lion’s mouth. Seeing them, I wondered why the wolf had not dropped the lamb and run. “Well, how is it?” I asked him.

And he grunted, “Good!”

Chapter 12. Old Man Toug

Glennidam looked just about the same. There was a kid in the street who tried to beat—when he saw Gylf and me, but Gylf headed him off and I caught him. “Is your name Ve?”

He looked scared and shook his head. He was quite a bit younger than I used to be, if you know what I mean.

“You know him, though.”

He nodded, although I could see he did not want to.

“Don’t gape at me. You’ve seen strangers before.”

“Not nobody big as you.”

“My name’s Sir Able,” I told him, “and you and me will get along much better of you use it. Say, yes, Sir Able.”

“Yes, Sir Able.”

“Thanks. I want you to find Ve for me. Tell him I’ll be at Toug’s house, and I’ve got to talk to him.”

Gylf sniffed the kid’s face, and he shook like Jell-O.

“Tell him I’m no enemy. I’m not going to hurt him, and neither is my dog here.” I let him go. “Now go find him and tell him what I told you.”

“I, um—uh ...” the kid said, then he managed to add something more that might have been, “Sir Able.”

“Out with it, if it’s important. If it isn’t, find Ve and tell him.”

The kid touched his chest with a grimy finger and bobbed his head.

“You are Ve.”

“Y-y-y ...”

I made him come with me, saying I wanted to talk to him and Ulfa together.