Before collapsing into their sleeping niches that night, Dem and Tir divided up the remaining tasks. Dem could read far more words and symbols, so he would show the Map to their new traveling companions. Tir was in charge of supplies, which meant as many dried mushrooms as she could beg, borrow, or steal, and bags to carry them.
Tol, the quiet eleven-year-old cleaner that Dem considered a friend, gazed at the Map but only frowned. Dem pointed out various symbols and explained their meanings, but it didn’t help. Finally, almost by accident, Dem discovered that when he described the tunnels and caverns in words, Tol began to glow with understanding.
“. . . then comes a long, winding tunnel with pretty cave formations and pools of water, before the next crawl-hole takes us to a small lava tube . . .”
The only problem was, Dem had never actually seen any of the places he was describing, except the very first cave near the mushroom tunnels that contained a hidden crawl-hole. Even as he spoke, he worried that he was weaving a story that wouldn’t turn out to be true. His words accurately depicted the shapes and lengths of the tunnels, and included all the information in the symbols, but still he worried.
Dem was about to admit his worry when Tol said, in a clear voice, “I can’t remember all that, but I trust you to lead us!”
Dem took a deep breath, clasped hands with his friend, and said no more.
NEBADOR Book Ten:Stories from Sonmatia 25
Tir met Dem for lunch, and she frowned deeply when he shared that Dil, one of his strongest and most reliable friends, wanted to ask mouthy Ril to come with them.
“That
is
so dangerous, Dem. She cannot keep her mouth shut, at any time, at any place, about anything.”
Dem, not knowing much about Ril until that moment, breathed slowly for a moment, then nodded. “I’ll make him promise to not even tell her about it until tomorrow morning, just before all of us don’t show up for work.”
“Can he handle that?”
“I think so. He really wants to go.”
Tir nodded, and finished chewing her lunch mushrooms, but was still frowning as she returned to work.
By late that afternoon, Tir discovered that Dil had not waited until the following morning, and Ril already knew about it. Tir was suddenly so clumsy at her work, she only got four planting trays out of a spoon of mushrooms spores. The supervisor looked at her sternly.
But eventually Tir noticed that somehow Ril managed to hide, just barely, what she was so excited about, except that it had something to do with Dil and mating. Everyone on the planet, all two hundred and ninety-five of them, already knew that much.
By quitting time that evening, Tir had to swallow her worry. Ril had managed to keep the details to herself, and the large, mouthy girl whispered to Tir that she knew the location of about twenty pounds of dried mushrooms.
Tir’s eyes lit up. She had only been able to scrape up about ten pounds, plus one rusty can of something from the surface — “Spinach” the faded label said, whatever that was.
Tir smiled at Ril, for probably the first time ever.
By that evening, Dem was very glad he had invited Tik.
The tall, silent boy peered at the Map intently, mostly agreed with Dem’s analysis of the route through the tunnels and caverns, but also spotted some faint markings that made him frown. They talked about the possible
NEBADOR Book Ten:Stories from Sonmatia 26
meanings, Dem with words, and Tik with facial expressions, nods, shakes of his head, and an occasional word or two.
Somewhat to Dem’s surprise, Tik didn’t know any girls he wanted to include in the journey. The silent twelve-year-old became distant after that, with a half-smile on his face, as if remembering sweet times of the past. He soon waved good-night and wandered home.
When Dem arrived at the sleeping cave he shared with his sister, he was surprised to find it completely quiet — so quiet he was almost startled that four girls were inside, working. Ril was even one of them.
“Shhh!” Tir warned as soon as her brother appeared in the entrance.
“We’re practicing. We know there will be dangers, and we plan to slip by them, as silent as cave mice. If we can get these dried mushrooms packed without the Thug Patrol hearing, then Ril will be in charge of food, Jin will carry the Angel Pictures, and Fim will bring extra glow-stones.”
Dem looked around the little cave. Ril grinned happily from Tir’s sleeping niche while tying a bag of mushrooms closed. Slender, wiry Jin, barely eight, looked at him with a straight face from the floor. Plump little Fim smiled from Dem’s niche where she was filling another mushroom bag.
Dem smiled and sat down on the floor to help.