The Hammer Part 3

Then Gignomai smiled, and Furio relaxed. Of all the components in the complex equation, the one he had least doubts about was Gig's smile-guaranteed to dazzle, stun and turn knees to water. He was delighted to see he'd been right about that. "h.e.l.lo," he heard his friend say, and for the first time in days he felt the relief of not being in charge any more. Nature, he felt sure, could take its course from now on, and everything would be fine.

He froze. Gig was smiling at Tissa, not Bonoa.

Well, Furio thought, he wasn't to know. My fault, I should've said, "My girlfriend, Comitissa," or something like that. But Tissa stood up and moved just a little towards him, and mercifully Gig took the point and turned his smile on Bonoa instead. Gratefully, Furio reached out, looped his arm round Tissa's neck and hauled her towards him like cargo.

He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Let's get out of here."

She frowned at him, her face so close to his it was nearly out of focus. "Subtle," she said.

"Now."

He couldn't help glancing back on his way to the door. He needn't have worried; he was certain that Gig hadn't noticed he was leaving. Furio smiled. Gig was radiating charm so fiercely that he fully expected Bonoa's face to be sunburnt next time he saw her. "He's good at it," he muttered to himself, and towed Tissa out of the room.

He led her through the store onto the porch. He sat on the step and she folded neatly onto his lap. "Well?" she said.

"So far so good," he replied.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "All right," she said. "Explain."

"Explain what?"

Her oh for pity's sake look. "Why's it so vitally important for the future of the human race for your friend to get off with a girl?"

Furio tried to look blank. "Oh come on," he said. "Just think what it must be like for him."

She did her arch frown. "Did he ask you to fix him up?"

"G.o.d, no."

"Are you sure he likes girls?"

He let that one pa.s.s. "He's my friend," he said. That ought to explain everything, surely.

"You do realise Bonoa's seeing Escalo. From the mill."

"Ah." Furio grinned at her. "Not any more. She dumped him."

Her eyes widened just a little. "What? When?"

"When I told her I'd seen Escalo with Prasia."

He watched her doing the arithmetic. "That's not..."

"Maybe I exaggerated," Furio said, a little smugly. "A little bit. Actually, Prasia came to collect the flour, and I think they said h.e.l.lo to each other. But it got the job done."

She was staring at him. "You deliberately...?"

"It can't have been serious, or she wouldn't have dumped him just like that." He could see no need to be defensive. "Anyway, it was all for the greater good. She'll thank me for it, you'll see."

The look on her face wasn't part of her usual repertoire, which he'd taken pains to learn. "You deliberately split up Bonoa and Escalo," she said, "just so you could..." she took her time choosing the right word, "just so you could feed feed her to your friend. Don't you think that's a bit much, even for you?" her to your friend. Don't you think that's a bit much, even for you?"

"No." He waited, but the frozen look was still there. "You want to go in there and ask? I doubt she'll be complaining. Well?"

She held the expression a moment longer, then shrugged it away. "He's nice-looking."

Furio grinned.

"All right, very nice-looking. And charming and attractive and..." She paused. "Feel free to stop me any time. You know, when you start feeling jealous."

Furio laughed, and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You should have heard her before you arrived," he said. " 'Will he like me? Do I look nice?' She was practically dribbling."

"I'm hungry," she said. "Let's break into the biscuits."

Between them, they ate about two quarters' worth, then carefully tapped the lid back onto the box. Hard luck on whoever ended up buying it, but Uncle would get the blame. "You only stay with me because of the biscuits," he said. "Yes," she replied, and they began to kiss.

After an interval, mostly concerned with the intransigence of b.u.t.tons, Tissa said, "I wonder how they're getting on."

"You want to go and look though the keyhole?"

"Maybe they're playing chess."

"There's a chess set in there," Furio conceded. "Dad ordered six, about ten years ago. Whalebone and lacewood. Sold five, got stuck with the last one. I doubt it, though."

"Me too."

"Does Bonoa play chess?"

"She beats me."

"That's not saying anything."

She pulled away a little. "So who bought five quality chess sets?"

He grinned. "n.o.body round here. He sold them to freighter captains, you know, a present from the colony. Of course they're made back Home, but whoever got given them wouldn't know that. We sell a lot of stuff to the freighter crews, but Uncle-"

He broke off. The door had swung open, and Bonoa marched past without a word. She looked furious.

"Oh," Tissa said.

Furio swore and jumped up, but Tissa grabbed his arm. "Stay there," she said, and went after Bonoa. Furio stayed where he was, not knowing which way to go. Then he saw Gignomai, standing in the doorway, peering nervously out.

"Gig," he said. "What the h.e.l.l?"

"Sh." Gignomai beckoned him over. "Other way out?"

"Only if you climb through the back-room window."

"Thanks," Gignomai said, hesitated, added, "Not your fault," and vanished. By the time Furio had pulled himself together enough to follow, he found the window open and the back room empty. He closed his eyes, sat down on a crate and let his head flop forward onto his chest.

"Your friend." Tissa's voice. He opened his eyes.

"What?"

"Your friend," she repeated, "is strange strange."

He turned to look at her. She sat down beside him. "What happened?" he asked.

"Good question."

Bad answer. "Well?"

Tissa sat up straight, folded her hands in her lap. He'd always thought of it as her historian mode. "Well," she said, "according to Bonoa they were getting along just fine. You know, first date talking. She told him about her family, he told her about his..."

(That, Furio thought, I'm inclined to doubt.) "And then," Tissa went on, "he asked if she played chess, and she said yes, so they set up the chessboard and played three games."

"Who won?" Furio couldn't help asking.

"He did," she replied, "and that's what I mean by strange, because obviously a boy lets a girl win at least one game on a first date, even if he's a Grand Master. Anyway," she went on, "she said she didn't want to play any more, and he looked a bit sad and said, so what do you want to do instead, and she kissed him."

Furio waited. Then he said, "Well?"

"He went berserk," Tissa said. "He jumped up, said what do you think you're doing, or something like that, so she got up and walked out." She paused, shrugged and said, "That's it." She looked at him and scowled. "Like I said. Strange."

Furio closed his eyes again. He really wanted Tissa to go away, but when he opened them again she was still there. "Yes," he said.

"Yes what?"

"Yes he's strange," Furio said. "All right?"

She sighed. "I told you," she said.

"What?"

"Doesn't like girls."

Furio ma.s.saged his eyebrows with his thumb and forefinger, but it didn't help. "Looks that way," he said, "but I don't think so."

"Really?"

"I don't know."

She wriggled uncomfortably next to him. "What other explanation could there be?"

"Don't know."

"I suppose," she said slowly, "he could have a girl up there on the mountain."

"No," Furio said. "He'd have told me. Besides, there aren't any. That was the point."

"Then it's got to be-you know." She sounded as though she was proving some mathematical calculation. "You want to watch yourself," she added.

"Tissa..."

"I'm just saying." She leaned away so as not to be in contact with him. "Think about it," she said. "He sneaks down off the mountain, breaking rules, getting past the guards, swims rivers just to come here and see you. And he gives you presents."

"He lends me books," Furio corrected her.

"Same thing," Tissa replied. "Well? Has he ever talked to you about...?"

"What?"

"Stuff boys talk about," Tissa said irritably. "You know."

For crying out loud, he thought. "It's not that," he said firmly, and he knew he was right. "Look."

"What?"

He hesitated. After all, it was just a guess on his part. "Don't tell this to anyone, right?"

She shrugged. That would have to do.

"I think something happened," Furio said. "About six years ago. Don't ask me what, because I don't know. But he stopped breaking out for a long time, and when he came back he was different."

Tissa raised her eyebrows. "What sort of thing?"

"Not a clue," Furio said blankly. "But whatever it was, he isn't saying and I can't ask."

"Something that's made him allergic to being kissed by girls?"

"I just told you, I don't know." He stood up, suddenly anxious to be somewhere else. "Do me a favour," he said.

Tissa let out a long, deliberate sigh. "What?"

"Tell Bonoa to keep her face shut."

Tissa laughed. It sounded more like a cough. "I wouldn't worry about that," she said. "Hardly the sort of thing she'll go boasting about."

"Just talk to her," Furio said. "Please?"

"If you like," Tissa replied. Furio realised how much he liked Tissa. In fact, he was suddenly aware that he'd made a decision about her, without realising he'd done it. "I get all the rotten jobs," she added, and he laughed.

"Well?" he said.

"What?"

"What did you think of him?"

A moment of stunned silence. Then she said, "Apart from being strange, you mean?"