The Power and the Glory

Book 4 Chapter VII: The Unquiet Dead

Warning: contains zombie-related body horror.

Welcome to the storm, I am thunder
Welcome to my table, bring your hunger
-- The Amazing Devil, The Horror and the Wild

While the sun was still in the sky there was enough warmth left in the air that Kitri didn't mind lying on the boat. But when it set the temperature dropped rapidly. Within half an hour Kitri was shivering.

It had never occurred to her to bring her coat before her hasty departure. She'd left her house wearing only a light shirt and pair of trousers. Neither were remotely suited to staying outside all night without shelter. Likewise her shoes were meant for walking around the town's well-kept streets, not for trekking over long and sometimes rough roads. Her feet were sore and she was sure there were blisters forming.

To distract herself from the cold and pain she began to hum an old lullaby her mother had used to sing to her. All she remembered of its words were the lines "The birds have gone to bed and the stars dance with the mijomdor[1]." She repeated those lines over and over almost without realising it and without understanding what she was saying. She wrapped her arms around herself and pulled her knees up to her chest to stay as warm as possible.

In the distance she gradually became aware of a sound. It was grass rustling in the wind. But there was no wind. And it was feet thudding against the road. But no one would go for a walk without a torch, and she didn't see any light. It dawned on her that singing, even quietly and incoherently, had been a very bad idea.

She fell silent and listened. The sound drew nearer. It came in short bursts interrupted by long silences.

Overhead the moon rose. It was only the jarvanmiëlótur[2] and it gave little light. Rather than making anything clear it threw the landscape into patches of incomprehensible darkness and light. But the light played tricks on the eyes and turned bushes into trees, hills into flat land, and revealed nothing.

Kitri turned so she was lying facing the bank she'd left. Most of it was deep in shadow. A few faint beams of light shone on the small hill that rose from the bank. The blades of grass growing on it looked as sharp as knives against the shadows beyond.

What I wouldn't give for a nice hot cup of tea, she thought morosely.

It had been hours since she ate anything. In fact, had she eaten at all today? She couldn't remember. She'd had so many more important things to worry about that she didn't think she'd even thought of food. And now she was both hungry and thirsty.

Carefully she inched closer to the side of the boat, taking care not to make any noise that might draw the attention of anything lurking in the darkness. When her hand reached the boat's edge she reached down and dipped her fingers in the water. Then she brought them to her mouth. She repeated this until she'd managed to drink a few drops of water, enough to temporarily stop her feeling so dreadfully thirsty. It would have been so much faster and more convenient if she'd been able to sit up and scoop up handfuls of water, but she didn't want to make any noise if she could help it.

She inched back to her original position in the middle of the boat. Sleep was still far away and the biting cold made her shiver. Kitri silently recited all of the fairy-tales she remembered her mother telling her. When she couldn't remember any more she moved on to a list of the earliest cases she'd heard. That case about the murder in the bakery had been a very confusing one. Everyone who knew the victim had hated him and eight different people had both the motive and the opportunity to kill him. In the end no one had been found guilty and the case was still unsolved. And then there was the case of a dispute over fences that led to both parties building ridiculously high fences and writing insults on them. And her first case of all had been--