Read The Binding for Free Online Page B

Tressa. ‘Why isn’t he here?’
    Hamish said Fin was short for Finlay. ‘Finlay Anderson was Elspeth’s cousin. He moved away when his dad got a job on the mainland last year.’
    â€˜Why did you need a warrior?’ I had to ask, I couldn’t help it. I mean, maybe there was a rival gang on Morna, and you don’t want to get involved in anything like that.
    â€˜We didn’t,’ said Duncan.
    Elspeth looked as if she was going to say something, but changed her mind. No wonder she always seemed so serious. She must be missing her cousin. They all must be missing him, considering how few peoplethere were on the island. I was glad Duncan had named me the Joker, because I wanted to do my very best to cheer them up.
    Milo suddenly put up his hand and cried, ‘I want to tell on someone!’
    â€˜Then we have to make the circle,’ Duncan said, standing up. We all put our fish-boxes back in the middle of the room where they were before, and Hamish moved the table. We sat down and watched as Elspeth brought the box, the pen and papers, and the Judgement, and Hamish brought the big candle.
    Away from the fire, it felt suddenly colder and darker, although we could still hear the wood crackling in the flames.
    Hamish said to Milo, ‘If you want to tell on someone, you have to stand up and say, “I am the eyes and ears of the Lawmaker, and I wish to make a report.’”
    Milo stood up and repeated it carefully.
    â€˜What is your report?’ asked Duncan.
    Seeing his face, Milo wavered, but it was too late to change his mind.
    â€˜Jack asked Mum about the berries—I mean, the fruits of Morna—and Matt said they were blueberries. . .and we had some today for tea!’
    Hamish jumped up, picked up the black cloth of Judgement, and handed it to Duncan. Duncan slowly unfolded it and placed it on his head. He stood up, and gestured to everyone else to stand as well. He told me to stay where I was. Then he took a step back. One by one, they all copied him, until I was standing on my own in the middle. It was a horrible feeling, like I’d stepped off the edge of a cliff, with them looking down at me from the top.
    â€˜Is this true, Joker?’
    I nodded.
    â€˜We judge,’ said Duncan, solemnly, ‘that the Joker is guilty of talking about the secret business of the Binding outside the bothy. But because he did not know, at that time, about the Law of Secrecy, he will not be punished.’
    He took off the black square of Judgement.
    â€˜Now we reward the eyes and ears with gold.’
    Elspeth took a pencil-tin out of the box and passed it to Duncan. It was full of little chocolate bars. He gave one to Milo and we all sat down again. We watched as Hamish blew out the big candle, and Elspeth carefully placed all the objects back inside the box, locked it and handed Duncan the key.
    â€˜Now that we’ve named the new members, we should have a celebration,’ he said. ‘Come back to the beach at the same time tomorrow, and wear warm clothes.’
    Wear warm clothes? Couldn’t we have a fire again? I felt disappointed.
    â€˜Joker, we will ask you for a game,’ Duncan said, standing up. We all stood up. The flickering tea-lights in the fireplace wall and the yellow flames of the fire meant we cast long shadows on the floor. We joined hands and walked slowly, one way and then the other, repeating after Duncan:
    In the winding, round and round
    What we wind can’t be unwound
    What we bind can’t be unbound
    The Binding
    Outside, the sun had gone and the sky was streaked with red. We set off together up the beach. Milo was happy because the seagulls hadn’t taken Nee-na, and now he had a chocolate bar as well.
    Tressa asked Duncan if he had made up all the rituals himself.
    â€˜We call them ceremonies,’ he said. ‘But rituals is better. Is there a difference?’
    Tressa said she thought the things they