Episode 18

Midwinter

When Tortoise woke it was snowing.

He stood at the window with a blanket around himself watching the flakes tumble down. He’d never seen snow before. There was something miraculous about it: as if silence was falling out of the sky.

Looking down the hill, he could see the snow-covered rooftops of the black houses were almost flat, sloping steeply only at the edges. Here and there thick tussocks poked through the snow, and he realised the roofs were covered in grass. Many had a small circle of flat rocks at the centre. Strangest of all were the trees: nearly every rooftop had a bare white tree in one of the corners, with a short thick trunk and stubby main branches ending in a spray of finer ones. They looked like gnarled old hands.

Tortoise stood watching the snow fall for a long while.

Mole, Song, and Miguel were still sleeping. He left quietly and crossed the narrow landing to the quiet room, pushing aside the soft curtain. Inside, a crystal lamp glowed warmly on a small stand, dimly illuminating the dark green carpet of the windowless room. Next to it, on a larger stand, was what could only be the sunlamp, elaborate and copper.

Ibrahim was sitting cross-legged on a cushion in the middle of the room. At the front was the single tapestry, a stylised black-and-white image of the Gate of Terror.

Tortoise took a cushion from the back of the room and sat to one side.

He closed his eyes and began meditating.

When Tortoise and Ibrahim came downstairs they found Penguin and Mole eating breakfast at the low table. A bell rang in the entrance room and Hildebur came sailing out of the kitchen with a small backpack.

“That’s Aki, so I’m off. I’ll be back early afternoon. There’s another spare key on the hook if you need it. Enjoy the snow!”

“Where’s she gone?” Ibrahim asked after she’d left, sitting down and helping himself to the porridge.

“Her family shrine,” Penguin said. “She said it’s a tradition at Midwinter. Did you know there’s a huge lake at the top? The view must be amazing! I’m gonna hike it tomorrow if you’re keen?”

“I’m good thanks. Where are Penny and Dee?”

“They went out early. There’s a big market nearby but apparently it closes after lunch. Me and Song and Mole are gonna head off in a little while but there’s only one key left and we weren’t sure what you guys were doing.”

Ibrahim passed Tortoise the pickles. “I think Miguel and I are just going to hang out today,” he said casually. “So you have the key.”

“Wanna come with us?” Penguin asked Tortoise.

“Um, maybe,” he said. “Actually, I think I’m just going to go for a walk. Maybe I’ll see you there later. You haven’t seen Gecko yet, have you?”

“No,” she replied. “Dee thinks he might be staying with a friend, but she’s not sure. Anyway, you know Gecko. He’ll show up eventually.”

“Did you see the snow?” Mole asked.

Tortoise got back to Hildebur’s place late in the afternoon to find everyone making reindeer dumplings.

A long trestle table had been set up next to the kitchen, and most of the gang was gathered around it rolling out little blobs of pastry and stuffing them with mince. Flour was everywhere.

“Tortoise! Where have you been?” Penny brushed off her hands and came over. “We’ve got a vegetarian mix for you as well, so don’t worry.”

“Ah! I was wondering how you were going,” Hildebur said, joining them. “How was your walk?”

“Good, thank you,” Tortoise replied. “It was a nice day.”

“Yes, a beautiful day! Snow and then sunshine. While I’ve got you both, let me introduce my friend Aki.”

Aki was standing to one side. She was a tall woman with a still face and expressive eyebrows dressed in a well-cut trench coat. Her horns were small but stylish.

“Sevestral,” Aki said, nodding to them.

“Savastrol,” Penny said. “Lovely to meet you.”

Aki smiled.

“Sevestral,” Tortoise said. He’d said it a few times today, but it still didn’t sound quite right.

“Sorry, Hildebur, do you have a minute?” Penny asked. “I’d like to discuss something with you in private.”

“Of course.” Hildebur touched Tortoise and Aki lightly on the arms. “I’ll leave you two to chat.”

Tortoise stood there wondering what to say.

“I’m an introvert,” Aki said. “I don’t talk much.”

“That’s alright,” he said. “So am I. I mean, me too.”

They contemplated that for a moment.

“Why do people wear horns at Midwinter?” he asked. He’d noticed them on his walk.

“Theodorus was a goat.”

“Oh,” Tortoise said. “Right.”

They watched the dumpling makers. Miguel was laughing at something Dee had said. Ibrahim replied in mock outrage. Song and Mole were making a lot of the dumplings, chatting happily. Where was Penguin? He suddenly remembered something Hildebur had said.

“Hildebur said you’re an earthworker.”

“Yes.”

“You must know a lot.”

“No, not really. But more than when I started.”

“When did you start?”

“When I was fourteen. There was a ceremony. But really when I was four.”

“When you were four?”

“My mother was a jindra, and her mother, and my father’s father. He and one of my aunts are my teachers now.”

Tortoise was quiet. He still didn’t quite fathom what a jindra was, but didn’t want to pester her. He wondered if the others would think he was lazy for not making any dumplings.

“What do you call jindra in your land?” Aki asked.

“Um, I don’t know,” Tortoise said.

“You don’t know?” Aki seemed surprised.

“No. I think maybe we have one or two people like that, but I’ve never met them. I live alone. Well, lived alone.”

“You seem like an earthworker to me,” Aki said.

“Really?” It was Tortoise’s turn to be surprised.

Hildebur emerged from the kitchen. “Alright, everyone! It’s time.” There was a burst of activity as everyone quickly finished up what they were doing and fetched their boots and jackets.

They all trooped up to the top of the stairs, put on their boots, then climbed the ladder out onto the snow-covered roof. A fire was going in a small fire-pit at the centre of the stone circle, and a silvered green sash had been wrapped in a spiral around the trunk of the tree.

Darkness had fallen, and the gaslit streets shone in the night like rivulets of gold pouring down between the building blocks of the city, the ships huddled in the port below before the enormous blackness of the bay. A few tiny lights dotted the darkness just outside the port. The city rose vertiginous around them into the sky.

Hildebur set down the tray of small cups and a stoppered flask on one of the stones and put another couple of dung cakes on the fire. “Come close, take a seat,” she said to everyone. She waved and called out to the family on the neighbouring roof, who cheerfully called back in Vårosi. Spring will be. Tortoise knew that bit. Hildebur asked a question, and the other family laughed and agreed.

Hildebur poured out the sweetwater and passed out the cups to everyone, asking them to wait for a moment. Once everyone had a cup, she thanked everyone by name for visiting her home at Midwinter. She gave thanks to Theodorus and recited a list of ancestors, half-sung. When she was done, she walked over to the tree and carefully poured her cup out before them, murmuring a few words.

She came back to the fire and refilled her cup before raising it to everyone with a smile. “Spring will be. Gustal!” she said.

“Gustal!” everyone said, raising their cups.

Everyone looked thoughtful while they sipped the sweetwater.

The fireworks started, and they got up to watch. It was amazing. Huge flowers of light burst above the bay, and smaller flashes echoed from the rooftops. The city glittered.

Afterwards they felt hungry and went downstairs for dumplings.

Hildebur paused at the door. “I might just go in and check they have a table for all of us. I won’t be long.”

By the time she emerged from the restaurant, nearly ten minutes had passed. “They’re completely booked out. Sorry everyone, that’s my fault. Let’s go to the Fish Ladder. It’s a little further down the hill but it’s a lot more relaxed. We probably should’ve just gone straight there.”

As promised, the Fish Ladder wasn’t far away. The entrance was down a narrow lane. Outside, it looked as unprepossessing as most of the buildings. Inside, it was hot and noisy, but the mood and light were festive and they were soon all crowded round a table drinking mulled cider and trying earthworm-on-a-stick with varying degrees of delight. Tortoise preferred the nuts.

Penguin and Penny were sitting on either side of him joking loudly with each other, so when Penguin got up for more drinks Tortoise took the opportunity to slide along to Song, who was sitting quietly with Mole.

“How are you?” Tortoise asked.

“Good,” Song said.

Tortoise wondered what to say.

“How are you?” Song asked.

“Pretty good,” Tortoise replied.

“What did you see on your walk today?”

“Everyone has really nice clothes.”

“I noticed that too. I like their scarves: I bought one. And there was so much food! Did you go to the market?”

“No. It looked too crowded. But I went to a shrine and they were giving away free sandwiches. Did you catch an elevator?”

“Yes, that was great! Someone told me they use yaks.”

“What’s a yak?”

“Sort of like a furry cow, I think. I’ve never seen one.”

They sipped their cider.

Penguin returned from the bar with fried squirrel and beer. “Guess what I found?” she beamed. She plonked down the beers and slapped a large handful of skewered squirrels onto an empty plate.

“They’re a type of ground squirrel called a stutta,” she continued enthusiastically, squeezing into her seat. “Apparently it’s a great honour to have them living in the roof but it’s also really annoying. Did you know they breed thousands of them in underground squirrel farms? Piotr’s gonna give me a tour of his cousin’s farm the day after tomorrow if you wanna come along?”

“Who’s Piotr?” Penny asked.

“A guy I met at the bar just now.”

“Sure! Maybe.”

The fiddlers began another song.

Next episode: Hidden Fire