Water Tank. Never been that way myself, but I’m told it’s there. I’ll get there one day, before I die. Other places to go first. Bortrekking ain’t so much a living as a pastime. I guess I’m like a tramp or a hobo, wandering the world. There’s no great purpose in it. It’s just somethin’ to do. I could be readin’ books – read most of them I wanted to – but I can do that anyway, while I’m roamin’ here, there and everywhere.’
Jordy leaned his back against one of the great pillars.
‘My sister likes books – my step-sister. Chloe. She carries a list of her top favourites in her pocket always.’
‘Used to do that. Till I read all my favourites and started on those I’d never heard of.’
‘I’ve got a step-brother too: Alexander.’
‘Magnificent name,’ said the bortrekker. ‘Alexander the Great. Warrior king, conqueror of empires, horseman, traveller, undoer of difficult knots – he was a bortrekker, you know – reached the mighty river Indus.’
‘Well, Alex’s ancestors came from India, but he’s no Alexander the Great. He’s a bit into himself. Likes engines and inventions and things. I’m more into sport myself.’
‘Is that so?’
‘Yes. I tried to join in with a game the Atticans were playing with T-squares, but they chased me away when I got a goal.’
The bortrekker shook his head.
‘You want to stay away from them locals. They’re not like us humans. May look a bit like us, but they’re from here and we’re not. You must’ve noticed I stayed hidden in the dark when I played my violin. That’s ’cause they think we’re spectres. How would you like ghouls roamin’ over your cricket pitch, eh? Not much. That’s the way they feel, I guess. They leave me gifts when I get Arthur and Harold dancin’ for ’em, but they don’t know it’s me. I don’t know who they think it is – maybe some god? – but so long as I don’t show myself I can get away with it.’
‘Arthur and Harold?’
‘My rats.’
The bortrekker pointed to the two creatures who were washing themselves with their paws. One of them now wandered off and found the crook of a rafter in which to curl up and go to sleep. The other kept looking at Jordy with a rather disconcerting stare. Jordy supposed Arthur and Harold were not used to seeing their musician talking with another human.
Jordy said, ‘And you call it a violin, not a fiddle?’
‘Same difference. I’m told a fiddle is a violin played with the base tucked into the elbow joint, and a violin is a fiddle played with the base tucked under the chin.’
Jordy laughed. ‘That’s a bit like how you can tell a crow and a rook apart.’
‘What’s the answer?’
‘A rook is a crow if it’s on its own and a crow is a rook if it’s in a flock.’
The bortrekker laughed. ‘God, I haven’t laughed in a long time. That feels good. You’re all right, boy. Teachin’ me to laugh again. Tell you what I’m goin’ to do for you in return. I’m goin’ to teach you to navigate this world. It ain’t easy, but I’ll teach you the basics. You’re not tired, are you?’
‘I’m wide awake,’ said Jordy. ‘I can sleep tomorrow.’
‘Good. All right then, this is how it’s done. Short trek navigation. This is the easy bit. If you want to go in a straight line, ’stead of getting drawn into the middle of the attic, you need to look ahead for two sunshafts, comin’ down from skylights. Line up two more or less one behind the other. Don’t matter if they’re a bit out, the line don’t have to be dead straight. So, then you start off from a particular point and head towards the first sunshaft, still keeping the one behind it in view, keeping them lined up, like the sights on a gun. When you reach that first one, take another sighting on the second and a third sunshaft, and do the same again. Simple. All you got to remember is you have to do the sightings at the same time every day – noon if possible – so the shafts are always striking the deck at the same angle. You see what I mean?’
‘I think so,’ replied Jordy, wondering how this helped someone get from one particular geographical spot to another. ‘I’ve done orienteering and that makes sense insofar as going in a straight line. It won’t help me find, say, the Great Water Tank, though, will