‘You think I’m stupid because I work for a living?’

‘Because you don’t recognise a mourning shirt,’ Pilgrim said and turned his back on Creed before he could think of a reply.

‘That unfortunate fellow quit the territory five years ago,’ Blessed told Pilgrim the next day. ‘Went west, over the mountains to Finfoot territory on the coast. Found work on a boat in one of the fishing towns there. And got into trouble when he hurt a man badly in some stupid drunken fight. They went at each other with gutting knives and Creed cut the other fellow badly. Blinded him in one eye.’

There was a quiet moment as Pilgrim and his uncle contemplated this uncommon act of violence.

Blessed said, ‘Creed claimed he was the one who was attacked, and did no more than defend himself. The Finfoots didn’t believe him, put him to a year’s hard labour. And when he had done his time he came home, begging for forgiveness. The council set him to work as an ordinary labourer, so he could atone for what he did and prove he is willing to improve himself.’

‘I remember him as the kind of person who reckons everything that goes wrong for him is always someone else’s fault,’ Pilgrim said. ‘I doubt that he believes he has anything to answer for.’

‘It certainly doesn’t sound like he has lost any of his temper,’ Blessed said. ‘And he won’t like that you called him out in front of his friends. Probably best to take a long path around him in future.’

‘I don’t plan on looking for trouble, Uncle,’ Pilgrim said. ‘I have some improving of my own to do.’

He found a quiet corner in the commons of the lodge and spent two days working on a summary of what he wanted to do and why it was important, using plain language and cutting out everything that seemed extraneous. At last, when he was satisfied that he had made his case as simply and directly as he could, he showed the draft to his sister.

‘It’s not bad,’ Willow said, after she’d read it through. ‘You make a strong argument about the importance of the work, there’s a sensible explanation of what you want to do and how you expect to achieve it, and your costings are reasonable. There’s just one thing missing – you haven’t explained how the tribe will recoup its outlay.’

‘This isn’t about making money; that’s the purview of charlatans like Intrepid Windrush. What Master Able set out to do, the task I want to take up and complete, is to discover the facts of the matter. It may not turn a profit, but it should win some small fame and honour.’

‘And how will you complete your task if the council decides that it cannot afford to subsidise it?’