The Amber Seeker by Mandy Haggith

Author:Mandy Haggith [Mandy Haggith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781912235308
Publisher: Saraband
Published: 2019-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE GREATMOTHER

A NEW LAND

Ussa was reluctant to give up her pursuit of Manigan and Rian, but I suppose she had to acknowledge that she had been out-sailed and they could be anywhere. Toma insisted that the wind was perfect for a crossing of the North Sea, and argued that there were excellent prospects for exchanging tin for amber on the eastern seaboard. Her greed for trade prevailed and we set off for the amber lands.

We had a brisk westerly wind and the boat flew across the North Sea to the amber coast where we followed other boats into a trading port. Here, Ussa was unknown but a few enquiries and some of my gold soon gained us a pilot, and I found myself back in the ascendancy with her, an equal partner on a new frontier. I was surprised she did not know this place, but I suppose everyone’s sphere of influence must have an edge. It was a novelty to discover there were places where her reputation did not precede her, and she must approach people, as I did everywhere, as a stranger, with a foreign face and voice and no friends to recommend her.

The pilot’s name was a long mouthful that none of us could pronounce properly, but he answered to Miki. He was small and very intense with light hair and dark eyes. Always speaking quickly, with clipped, sharp phrases, he gave a sense of urgency to every utterance. Next to the thoughtful ease of Toma he was manic, and clearly baffled by his inability to rouse our boat crew to the kind of frenzy he took as normal.

His face lit up when I showed him the big piece of amber I carried with me. He took it in both hands and breathed on it, then rolled it around in his clutches so lovingly that I thought I might never get it back. His delight at our quest for amber was clear and he assured us that one of the best places for finding it was his home territory.

As we got close he became more and more excited, telling us repeatedly how near we were. He must not have been home for some time. I didn’t see what there was to be so excited about. There were no grand vistas like in the Northern Isles or on the Albion coast I’d travelled, no snowy peaks in the distance, nor volcano plumes like Thule, just a green, lumpy land with atrocious weather: dull, grey and wet, and plenty of wind to keep us moving. In retrospect, I wonder if his zeal was due to the expectation of a reward for delivering us up to the people there.

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