Neti was up early, climbing onto the big boulders, leaping from one to the next after carefully judging the distance and looking for sandy places. On the last accessible boulder, which did indeed have a coating of crumbly gravel, she sat and thought about the event that had just changed the course of her life.
After a while she heard others getting up, saw them going down the trail for water, and decided she had spent enough time on the boulders.
Next she visited the place where Miko had landed and died. Most of the smaller rocks had been moved for the burial, but a few large ones still showed dried blood. Tears were close.
From there she went to Miko’s grave, and the tears came, but soon the aroma of simmering porridge brought her back to the present. After one more shaking breath, she blinked to clear her eyes and joined her friends picking berries.
As they prepared to depart, Neti had to swallow hard before nodding her approval for Misa to inherit Miko’s bedroll cover and rucksack. Most of the weight he had been carrying was moved to other packs. Even when they were ready to depart, with packs on their backs or reins in hand, none of the ten travelers had an easy time leaving the place where one of their friends remained. Most of them spoke farewell wishes one last time, and several couldn’t hold back tears even as they turned and set boots to the trail.
The downhill journey was again taken slowly and carefully because of
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Tera. The donkey was the only member of the group who didn’t feel the need to look back while the boulders were still in sight.
The sun glowed brightly in a clear sky, little breeze stirred the air, and the temperature climbed rapidly as the travelers descended toward the hills and prairies below. No one felt the slightest temptation to leap from boulder to boulder when the opportunity presented itself.
About a third of the way down the twisting, rocky canyon, Ilika’s bracelet chimed the warning sound they had not heard in weeks. Donkey and rider got behind some prickly bushes in a ravine uphill from the trail, and the rest found little hiding places where they could. As the horses walked slowly uphill, the hot and tired soldiers paid little attention to anything around them.
Farther down the trail, the group paused for berries. A trio of porters, burdened with heavy packs, came trudging up the hill. Quick greetings were exchanged, but the men did not stop, intent on getting to the first mountain pass before the full heat of afternoon.
As the trail descended below four thousand feet, long-needled pines and broad-leafed oaks gave welcome shade. Dry twigs snapped underfoot and unseen insects made constant clicking sounds. Soon a stream came leaping down from the mountains. Following it around a bend for privacy, the group quickly had their boots off, and all their clothes and hair sopping wet. Mati had never seen Tera drink so much water.
As the long, hot afternoon reluctantly gave way to evening, the steep mountain trail finally came to an end. Before them lay barren hills where trees and green grass only grew in low, protected places. Elsewhere, sagebrush ruled. The trail wound through the hills, usually following the cooler gullies, but sometimes cresting a hilltop out of necessity.
A clump of bushes well off the trail hosted the nine walkers and one rider that night. Around a small fire, the promised geology lesson was finally given.
As they learned about huge chunks of land that slowly moved and smashed into each other, they began to understand why these hills and mountains seemed so twisted and strange. Most of the students found it hard to believe that the twisting and smashing was going on right now, even as they watched.
Neti just laid her head on Kibi’s lap during the lesson, and closed her eyes.
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The travelers spent most of a day putting one foot in front of the other, going up and down the dry hills as the hot sun burned in a clear sky.
An old shepherd with a small flock of scrawny sheep waved them over to share lunch. His aging dog could still bark a little, but only chased strays in his dreams. The man had no horse or donkey, just a small handcart. He shared what he had in his bag of grits, but the students provided most of the food, and Neti gave him a great silver piece when they parted. The smile on his nearly-toothless face brought a little warmth to her heart.
As the sun dipped below the mountains in the late afternoon, they came out of the dry hills and onto the flat prairie where the trail joined the north-south road. A family with a girl and a boy, both not much younger than Sata, came trudging in the opposite direction. At first they seemed afraid of the large group, but Ilika and the others unshouldered their packs at the crossroads and sat down to rest. Seeing no weapons, the man put away his knife and approached to share news. Half an hour later, after hearing of the fighting over mining rights and the cost of food in the mountains, they went off to make camp and reconsider their options.
Feeling renewed energy from the evening shade and rapidly cooling air, the group pressed on southward, and Ilika was soon discussing the purchase of dinner and supplies with the matron of a ranch house. Cattle bellowed in the background, neck bells clanging as they grazed.
After a filling meal of stewed beef, potatoes, and new dark ale, the group unrolled their bedrolls in the yard. It was time to consider their own options.
Ilika unfolded the map for the first time since discovering it was useless for navigating the mountain paths. Everyone gathered around to ponder their location and their destination.
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“The matron thinks we could get to Cattle Town in one day,” Boro commented. “That means we’ll probably take two, with lessons and stuff.”
Mati pointed to some rivers on the map. “Looks like water will be a little easier to find as we go south.”
“Has anyone been to this town?” Ilika asked.
All the students shook their heads, except Neti who was snuggled close beside Buna with her eyes closed.
Misa timidly raised her hand. “I have. It’s dusty, with cows and flies everywhere. It was years ago. I don’t remember much.”
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“Did you stay at an inn?” Sata asked.
“Um . . . I think so.”
“How does it compare to Lumber Town?” Rini asked. “Before the fire, I mean.”
A moment of sadness crossed Misa’s face. “Bigger. More shops and stuff.”
Ilika suddenly turned and grinned at Kibi. “Maybe it’s a good place for a birthday party!”
Everyone clapped and cheered.
“And for Toli, too!” Kibi asserted, looking at Ilika.
Toli blushed as the clapping continued.
Ilika glanced at Mati and Boro, whose birthdays could also be celebrated because they had no idea when they were born. After a moment of thought, he nodded his approval of Kibi’s decision.
Two long, hot days passed slowly as the group journeyed southward.
Storm clouds visited the mountains to the west, but whatever moisture and shade they held was completely spent in the higher elevations. Only a few little wisps of cloud escaped to journey over the high desert.
The rivers on the map might have been refreshing in the springtime. Now nearly dry, the remaining water was greenish-brown with algae and mud.
Cattle and sheep jostled for a drink, sometimes kicking or butting each other.
With Cattle Town nowhere in sight, the travelers went upstream and made camp behind some thorny bushes. Boro dug a shallow well near the muddy stream and dipped out almost-clear water. Ilika reviewed earlier lessons on microbiology, and after boiling the water for several minutes, they made soup.
After dinner, Toli invited Buna to snuggle by the campfire. She accepted, but anyone who looked their way could see she was tense and uncomfortable.
It wasn’t long before she hopped up to help Misa prepare a place for their bedrolls.
The riverbeds were even drier and more trampled by cattle as they continued south and approached the town. From a high point on the road, they could see rain clouds getting through from the west and watering the grasslands on the southern horizon. Ilika gazed in that direction with a look
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of longing as he fingered his bracelet.
Twice that day, the bracelet warned them of approaching horsemen. The first was just a team of cow herders, but later a group of soldiers rode hard into the north, and the determined looks on their faces put all the students on edge for the rest of the day.
Early afternoon finally brought the weary travelers to the bluff overlooking Cattle Town. Constant sounds of mooing filled the air, even from a distance, and the heavy odor of cattle dung shriveled their noses.
They left the road and found a hidden ravine to survey their destination.
The town sprawled below them, stone buildings with thatched roofs spread out on a low plateau. No wall surrounded the town, but many stone fences held cattle. Clouds of dust lingered everywhere, and very few trees blocked the fierce heat of the sun.
Ilika looked over his group. “Let’s start with a pair of scouts. I think . . .
Toli and Sata. You guys know what we need to know.”
Toli was especially touched by the assignment. It was the first time he had been in charge of anything. Every time he was with Ilika or Kibi or Boro, it was clear who would make any hard decisions, and it wasn’t him. With Sata younger, he felt like a leader for a change.
Kibi was glad Sata was going along in case any problems arose that required quick thinking. She just hoped Toli would listen.
Deep Learning Notes
As Neti visited the boulders, the rocks where Miko died, and his grave, in what two directions was she being pulled? Which direction won?
The fact that they were in the wilderness limited the grieving time available.
What would happen if they tried to stay much longer?
On the western (ocean) side of the mountains, short-needled conifers, such as fir and spruce, were probably most common, but on the eastern side where
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the group is now, this changes rapidly to trees that can tolerate the dry climate, such as long-needled pines and oaks. They are in a narrow transition zone between the alpine mountains and the sagebrush-covered high desert.
Streams tumble down from the mountains above, but they provide water only right along their courses. The rest of the land is very dry.
After getting out of the mountains, Ilika’s map of the kingdom was again useful, this time showing the eastern half.
Any natural process that happens on a scale outside of “everyday” human experience is very hard for most people to understand, even believe. “I’ll believe it if I can see it,” expresses this value well. Most geological changes, such as tectonic plate movements, happen too slowly for people to see. Light and other energy move too quickly, and so are not experienced as moving, even if perceived. Bacteria, viruses, and other “germs” are too small to see, without instruments, so are hard to remember to guard against. Galaxies move and change, sometimes even collide, but are so huge that we are barely able to know about them.
In a poor culture, the only possible ways of “retiring” in old age are by using personal savings, or by living with younger family members. The old shepherd appeared to have neither. He would continue to earn what he could from his little flock of sheep for as long as he could, but with his dog also very old, it would probably not be much longer before his sheep got lost or were picked off by wolves, one by one. At that time, the man and his dog would probably wander to some favorite place to pass their remaining days eating whatever wild foods they could find. The great silver piece Neti gave him might make that transition a little easier.
Ilika and his students, by sharing news with the family heading into the mountains, may have saved them from the fate of Kali’s family. Frontier
“opportunities” usually occur in harsh environments, with rough living situations, and often include fierce competition for resources.
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The map of the eastern half of the kingdom, just like the map of the western half in Book Two, does not include any of the lines or notes Ilika added. Can you find the group’s current location?
Why would Kibi assert, and Ilika accept, that they celebrate Toli’s birthday party, when Mati and Boro were also possibilities (because none of the three knew when their birthdays were)? Hint: it is late summer, and Kibi knows the group will be splitting up soon.
By the muddy stream, the group used a two-stage water treatment process.
Boro knew that if he dug a hole near the stream, the earth would filter out most of the mud. Ilika then sterilized the water by boiling.
