01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
crept the rest of the way. The waiting assembly eyed him with curiosity, said nothing, and
crossed with catlike grace.
Maia giggled for the next ten minutes and he seriously considered taking her over his knee.
She stopped abruptly and contrived to keep a straight face. They left the river side and soon
the sound of the rushing water subsided to a dull whisper. They headed deep into the forest,
turning into side paths which plunged through deeper undergrowth. It was much thicker than
that which was around their abandoned city, but it was good to be back in the cool gloom and
sense of peace. Neither of them were inclined to speak, even in thought. They moved as
softly as they could. He learned once again, to avoid noisy collisions with branches and
stones.
The animals came out to greet them. Maia whispering in mind that he should stand quite
still. She talked to shy, deer-like creatures when they emerged from the undergrowth and
allowed her to touch them.
"So - What is it my little ones? Why are you anxious? Is my cousin the wild cat after you?
If I meet him, I'll tell him you've gone away!"
Steve resisted the desire to look around nervously. He sincerely hoped they were not going
to meet her cousin the wild cat. They moved on for a few hundred metres, he was in front and
turning a corner, came face to face with a very large carnivore. It wasn't unlike the Old Earth
tigers he had seen in the history tapes. It looked hungry and not very fussy about its diet.
Steve froze to the spot, quickly considered the many errors in his life and decided that he was
too young to die. Maia pushed past him impatiently. Her thought was scornful.
"Coward! I thought you'd at least try to protect me!"
She turned to the wild cat and purred.
"Hello, cousin."
The great beast moved towards her and Steve was nearly galvanised into a belated, if futile,
gesture of foolhardy bravery. The creature stopped and then rubbed against her legs.
"If you're looking for the Tik, you've already frightened them away, cousin. Why don't you
learn to eat fruit and nuts and leave them in peace?"
The one sided conversation continued interminably. Steve tried to remember a few prayers
- and to whom they should be addressed.
The Lynxe wild cat eventually went on its way. It gave him an interested look as it passed.
Steve relaxed weakly against the bole of a tree. Maia resumed her giggling.
"You're a strange creature, Steve Holt. On the one hand, you possess the power to open the
way out of the old city but on the other, you go weak at the knees when you meet my cousin.
Why should he harm you? Did you intend to harm him?"
"He looked hungry."
She giggled once more.
They continued their nature ramble but somehow, the charm had gone from out of the
excursion. He wondered how far away from the river they were and if they were going to
return the same way. Another encounter with cousin wild cat was a distinct possibility. Maia
maintained a steady pace. The sun was already high and he started to feel hungry. He was
also starting to feel very warm, especially when they crossed a more open part of the
woodland. The sound of water was welcome, he hoped it was a return to the big river,
perhaps further up its course.
It turned out to be one of its tributaries, quite wide and swift flowing. Compared with the
main river, it wasn't intimidating, there was no bridge but it didn't look too deep to wade.
Maia turned to him, her eyebrows in a question mark.
"Do you wish to remove your tunic on this side, or on the other?"
"Pardon?"
Her explanation was as if to a little child.
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