Dragonmaster Read Free Page A

of town had a small orchard beside it and a boy was up in one of the trees, picking the apples that grew in it. A woman stood below with a basket, calling up instructions. Even from where he was, Norl could see that she was red-faced and exasperated. Perhaps she would welcome a helping hand in exchange for supper and a night’s shelter; his bones still ached from the night he had spent on the forest floor.
    I’ve been spoiled these past three years, he thought ruefully. He made his way over to her.
    “Good morrow, madam,” he said.
    “Good morrow to you,” she replied, not taking her eyes off the boy in the tree.
    “Could you use some extra help in exchange for food and a night’s lodging?” Norl asked.
    Now she did turn to look at him. “That I could,” she said. “Can you climb a tree, young man?”
    “Most certainly,” Norl replied. “When I was a child my mother could not keep me out of them.”
    “Then join that devil’s imp in the top branches,” she said. “You can toss the fruit down to me.”
    At that very moment a shower of the round, hard globes came cascading onto his head. The woman looked back up, her mouth twisting in exasperation.
    “Have a care!” she cried. “Bruised fruit will spoil this winter.” She turned to Norl. “That child is the bane of the village.”
    Rubbing his head, Norl was surprised to see the woman surreptitiously make the sign against evil. He peered up into the branches. A dirty face with bright, oddly-shaped eyes peered back down at him. The child wore a cap upon his head and scraggly curls stuck out from under it. The light filtering down through the leaves gave a curious greenish cast to his hair. Norl turned his attention back to the woman as she spoke again.
    “I am Gudruna,” she said. “I will give you an evening meal and a blanket by my hearth for the night in exchange for a day’s work. The trees are mine and I earn my livelihood from the sale of the fruit. At least that devil’s imp up there costs me nothing for the work, slovenly though it is.”
    Norl smiled at her. “I will work for you with pleasure,” he said. He doffed his cloak and threw his sack down on theground, then grasped the lowest branch and swung himself up. With a skill that depended not a whit on magic, he climbed handily up to where the child sat astride a branch.
    “Who are you?” a defiant voice asked. The voice was high and clear.
    Looking at the child more closely, Norl realized two things: the child was not as young as he had thought, and he was not a boy. This was a young maid gazing back at him with a curious, almost hostile look. Norl saw with a shock that her eyes shone strangely golden in the sunlight. For some reason, he felt a shiver of apprehension. Nevertheless, he gestured to the apple-laden branches.
    “Would you like some help?” he asked. He dismissed his sudden misgivings as unreasonable. The maid could not have seen more than eleven or twelve summers—there was nothing to be afraid of here.
    “No.” The girl’s mouth was set, lips thin. Then she looked down at Gudruna.
    “Get to work or be off with you,” the woman shouted up at her.
    “Here, let me show you how to toss the fruit down more gently. I think Gudruna would appreciate that,” Norl said, but even as he spoke he wondered why he bothered. He could do the job himself; why should he offer to help this disagreeable child?
    The girl looked once more at Gudruna, then shrugged her shoulders. “If you wish,” she muttered.
    Norl raised an eyebrow, then shrugged in his turn and they set to work. They picked until the tree was clean and Gudruna had filled two more baskets, then they moved on to another. By sunset Norl’s muscles were aching with the unaccustomed work, but he was more content than he had been in a long time. This was work that was familiar to him. Work that he could do and do well. He had tried to talk to the girl but she was a suspicious maid and would not answer him. Once she had