Thud! (Discworld 34)

"Sir Reynold, was anything going to happen to the painting in the next couple of weeks?" he said.

"Oh, yes, said the curator. "Hwe would have installed it in its new room.

"Anything special about that?"

"I did tell your sergeant, commander," said the curator a little reproachfully. "It is circular. Rascal always intended it to be seen in the round, as it were. So that the viewer could be there."

And I"m nearly there, too, Vimes thought.

"I think the cube told the dwarfs something about Koom Valley," he said, in a faraway voice, because he felt as though he was already in the valley. "It told them that the place where it was found was important. Even Rascal thought it was important. They needed a map, and Rascal painted one, even if he didn"t know it. Fred?"

"Yessir?"

"The dwarfs weren"t bothered about damaging the bottom of the

painting because it doesn"t contain anything important. It"s just people. People move around."

"But, with respect, commander, so do all those boulders," said Sir Reynold.

"They don"t matter. No matter how much the valley has changed, this picture will work," said Vimes. The glow of understanding lit his brain.

"But even the rivers move over the years, and any amount of rocks have rolled down from the mountains," said Sir Reynold. "I"m told the area looks nothing like that now."

"Even so," said Vimes, in the same dreamy voice, "this map will work for thousands of years. It doesn"t mark a rock or a hollow or a cave, it just marks a spot. I can pinpoint it. That is, if I had a pin.

"I have one!" said Sir Reynold triumphantly, reaching to his lapel. "I spotted one in the street yesterday, and of course hwe all know the old saying: "See a pin and pick it up, and all day long-""

"Yes, thank you," said Vimes, taking it. He walked to the end of the table, picked up one end of the painting, and dragged it back down the length of the table, the heavy paper flapping after him.

He pinned the two ends together, held up the circle he had made, and lowered it over his head.

"The truth is in the mountains," he said. "For years you"ve been looking at a line of mountains. It"s really a circle of mountains."

"But I knew that!" said Sir Reynold.

"In a way, sir, but you probably didn"t understand it until now, yes? Rascal was standing somewhere important."

"Well, yes. But it was a cave, commander. He specifically mentions a cave. That"s why people have searched along the valleah walls. The painting"s set right in the middle, near the river."

"Then there"s something we still don"t know!" said Vimes, annoyed that a big moment had so quickly become a small one. "I"ll find out what it is when I get there!"

There. He"d said it. But he"d known that he was going to go, known for ... how long? It seemed like for ever, but had it seemed like for ever yesterday? This afternoon? He could see the place in his mind"s eye. Vimes at Koom Valley! He could practically taste the air! He could hear the roaring of the river, which ran as cold as ice!

"Sam-" Sybil began.

"No, this has got to be sorted out," Vimes said quickly. "I don"t care about the stupid secret! Those deep-downers murdered our dwarfs, remember? They think the painting is a map they can use, and that"s why they"re going there. I"ve got to go after them."

"Look, Sam, if-" Sybil tried.

"We can"t afford a war between the trolls and the dwarfs, dear. That business the other night was just a dumb gang fight. A real war in Ankh-Morpork would wreck the place! And somehow it"s all tied up with this!"

"I agree! I want to come too!" Sybil screamed.

"Besides, I"ll be perfectly safe if- What?" Vimes gaped at his wife while his mental gears ripped into reverse. "No, it"s too dangerous!"

"Sam Vimes, I"ve dreamed of visiting Koom Valley all my life, so don"t dare think for one moment you"re gallivanting off to see it and leaving me at home!"

"I don"t gallivant! I"ve never gallivanted. I don"t know how to vant! I don"t even have a galli! But there"s going to be a war there soon!"