Buna nodded when Misa announced that she too wanted to stay in the camp that afternoon. Misa almost always listened to the lessons, and sometimes enjoyed the little games Ilika devised as part of his teaching process. But she found most of the subjects boring, and the microbiology was no exception. To her, it was enough to avoid eating smelly meat.
Kibi and Neti led the way out of camp, followed by Toli and Buna, and finally Boro and Sata.
Mati and Rini, both naturally quiet and a bit shy, enjoyed the reduced population. Misa might have been more outgoing if she had others her age to relate to, but at this point in her life, she did not.
The four who remained at camp lounged on their bedrolls in the shade.
Mati re-read a chapter in their book while Misa carved at a stick with the small knife. Ilika was doing something with his knowledge processor.
Rini pulled a small cloth bundle out of his pack and handed it to Mati. “I found the gifts you wanted for Kibi and Toli.”
“Thanks. Anyone think the others will have any luck in Cattle Town?”
Misa shook her head.
“No idea,” Rini replied. “I didn’t go partly because I’m afraid one of them is gonna get in trouble, and Ilika will have to go rescue them with his bracelet.”
Ilika chuckled. “You smell that coming too, huh?”
Mati grinned. “My guess is Toli. Neti’s been weird, too.”
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Ilika nodded thoughtfully. “Either way, it’ll be good for them, and help me to know what they’re made of.”
“How close are we to . . . you know . . . the day you decide about your crew?” Mati asked.
“Two, maybe three weeks. We’ll just wander down along the high cliff overlooking the desert, have a couple of birthday parties, and review all our lessons.”
Misa held up her carving to examine it. “I’m the only one who’s for sure staying here, right?”
“That’s right. But you’ve been a good companion, and I’ll give you some money when we part.”
The girl grinned. “Thanks!”
Everyone became quiet. Mati finished a chapter and closed the book. As she lay on her bedroll, her face revealed intense thought. Occasionally she whispered one or two names. “Kibi, Boro . . .” Her fingers showed that she was counting something at the same time. One. Two. Then she whispered more names and counted again. Finally, a huge smile flashed onto her face as she took a deep breath of the sagebrush-scented air.
Toli and Buna dragged themselves back to camp in the late afternoon.
Toli wore a long face. “It was useless.”
“They kept talking about the way their mothers and their grandmothers did it,” Buna related, “and that was good enough for them.”
“One cook chased us out of the kitchen with a broom!” Toli added.
Rini smiled at the thought.
Buna jumped in. “One innkeeper said that if he couldn’t see it, it didn’t exist!”
“I asked him if he could see the air,” Toli continued in an exasperated voice. “Then he got very quiet and started fingering his butcher knife.”
“We got the message,” Buna huffed. “They just don’t CARE, Ilika! There’s no way to teach people who don’t care.”
“I agree,” Ilika said with a half-smile. “I would never want to try to teach someone who didn’t care.”
Buna began to wind down. “I just wish I knew how to make them care.
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People are dying. Children and babies are dying.”
“I understand,” Ilika responded. “But that’s the other side of freedom. It includes the option to not care, and the option to die, or watch your children die.”
“You mean,” Mati said thoughtfully, “that if we forced them to care, that would be sort of like slavery?”
“Yes. I know of countries that have tried that. The government told the people how to eat, how to live, how to raise their children. They passed laws forbidding people to take risks. It doesn’t work. People only learn and grow when faced with challenges they must solve, or the natural consequences will threaten their lives. If people don’t have those challenges, they get lazy.”
“But people are dying!” Buna moaned with frustration.
“Everyone dies,” Ilika said with a shrug.
Buna started to open her mouth again, but closed it without saying anything, and just sat there, dejected.
Toli put his arm around her. “I feel like a total failure too.”
“I think you guys are missing something,” Ilika pointed out. “When you were talking to the cooks, was anyone else listening?”
Toli thought back. “Yeah, a son or daughter, or a kitchen slave, or the innkeeper himself once.”
“I bet some of them will remember your words, and someday make use of them. It’s like planting seeds. Sometimes you don’t get to see them sprout because you have to move on. But they might sprout just the same.”
After he was sure the discussion was over, Rini went for water, and Mati got out ingredients for soup. Judging by Toli’s and Buna’s experiences, she was sure none of those returning from Cattle Town would be in the mood to cook.
Boro and Sata showed up just as the others were sitting down to sliced fruit, bread and butter, and a tasty soup.
“That was so wonderful!” Sata announced to the camp. “I’m so glad we went!”
“You mean . . . someone actually listened to you?” Buna asked, her eyes wide with surprise.
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“Not at first,” Boro admitted. “We were wasting our breath with the old butchers themselves.”
“But then we left the market,” Sata continued, “and were wandering around town thinking about what to do next . . .”
“And we started to get the feeling someone was following us,” Boro added.
“I was afraid it might be a soldier,” Sata went on.
“But it was an apprentice from the market who had heard us talking to one of the butchers.”
“And he wanted us to teach him everything we knew about it!”
“So we sat on a wall, ate apples, and talked for hours, and he now knows everything we know about keeping food from spoiling.”
“And he asked who our teacher was, and if he could become a student.”
“But we told him we were almost done with our lessons and our teacher was going back to his country very soon.”
“It was great!” Sata finished. “I’m so glad we did it.”
Toli and Buna summarized their less-spectacular results, and everyone turned their minds to eating. No one had any idea how Kibi and Neti were doing, or when they might return.
As the sun set and Kibi and Neti still did not appear, Boro took on a thoughtful expression, and soon picked helpers to bring in a good supply of firewood.
As the evening deepened toward night, Ilika made sure he had enough money in his pouch to get his missing students out of trouble, but no more.
His remaining students looked up at him as he put on his cloak, and could see the worry on his face.
Ilika put Boro in charge, then departed.
For the next hour, all four who had returned from town shared more details about their efforts. Toli remembered a total of six people who seemed to be listening while the cooks were busy ignoring them. Sata could think of three, in addition to the apprentice, who might have soaked up some of what they were saying.
Suddenly they heard footsteps coming up the ravine, dislodging rocks and
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snapping branches.
Boro peered into the darkness with big, round eyes. He had a four inch knife to protect Mati and the others. He saw Rini get out the other knife, about three inches long.
“Damn!” Neti’s voice could be heard. “When does the moon come up?”
“Not until about midnight,” Kibi’s voice replied.
Boro, Rini, and the others relaxed.
Soon the two girls could see the fire, and walked into camp.
“Where
have
you guys been?” Toli asked.
“Oh . . . in jail,” Neti said calmly. “And they didn’t feed us. What’s cooking?”
Mati poured the soup she had saved and Buna tore bread for them. Neti, for the first time since Miko’s death, was in a talkative mood, so Kibi let her tell the story.
They had been trying to convince a baker that he shouldn’t make meat pies this time of year. They didn’t know until it was too late, but his wife had gone for the soldiers.
Once in the jailhouse, they wove a story about living on a ranch far to the north, and their grandmother had taught them how to keep meat and milk from spoiling.
The soldier promised to send a rider to their ranch the following day.
Since Kibi and Neti knew that wasn’t going to work for them, they started whining about being needed back at the ranch right away.
The soldier finally got the hint and started talking money. But a silver piece didn’t sway him. He was holding out for two or three, and the girls only had one, so they had to use a small gold piece.
Neti ended the story, saying the road wasn’t hard to follow in the dark, as they held hands and the stars gave a little light, but the ravine was terrible.
Ilika looked for Kibi and Neti all over the town.
The market was done for the day, and few people were out and about.
Most of those were in the process of losing whatever they ate for dinner.
Once Ilika gave up looking for his missing students on the streets, he started asking questions whenever he could. No one claimed to have seen
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Kibi or Neti, but a baker’s wife with squinty eyes said they might know something at the guardhouse.
Ilika glanced into the guardhouse, aglow with oil lamps, where a soldier could be seen playing cards while drinking ale and eating bread and cheese.
Ilika didn’t want to walk in carrying money, not until a deal had been struck, so he slipped across the street to a dark alley, crouched down to find some loose stones, and hid his pouch underneath.
After stepping into the guardhouse, he noticed the sketch of himself on the wall just a moment before something large and heavy hit the back of his head.
Everything went black as he started to fall. He never felt himself land on the stone floor.
Deep Learning Notes
Were Mati and Rini introverted, quiet, or shy? The three are different, and easily confused. Introverted means that they most enjoyed the thoughts and feeling inside themselves. A quiet person is usually introverted, but may be just very perceptive, preferring to take in lots of information before making any decision about it. Shyness is the fear of expressing oneself in a social situation. Rini was very introverted and perceptive, but not shy. Mati was less introverted and perceptive, but very shy because of her life of powerlessness. She began fighting her shyness in Book One when she realized Ilika’s group was a safe place. In Book Two, learning to ride Tera, facing the wolf, and leaving the goatherd, all helped her to overcome more of her fear of
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expressing herself.
What did Mati realize after talking about the upcoming crew selection, and then counting something with her fingers?
Toli and Buna heard two of the sayings often used to avoid change and justify the status quo: “If it was good enough for my mother, it’s good enough for me!” and “If I can’t see it, it doesn’t exist!” Can you think of a situation in which one or both of these sayings expresses wisdom? Can you think of a situation in which one or both of these sayings will get you killed?
Ilika seems to be of the opinion that it doesn’t work for a society to outlaw risk and tell its people how to live. What do you think of this idea?
Judging by the situation on Earth in 2010, societies seem to move toward outlawing risk when they gain a high standard of living. If our standard of living continues to rise, do you think this tendency will continue? If our standard of living falls, what do you think will happen to our attitude about personal risk?
Have you ever been in the situation of only being able to “plant seeds” toward something that needed to happen, but not able to see if they sprouted? How did that feel?
In the success story that Boro and Sata told, it is important to note that the person ASKED to be taught. Trying to teach people who have not chosen to learn is always frustrating, and usually futile. That’s why compulsory public education has such poor results.
What would Boro and Rini have accomplished with their four inch and three inch knives if the people coming toward the camp had been dangerous?
The story that Kibi and Neti told the guards, to be successful, would have to follow the rules of theatrical improvisation: whatever anyone says, from that
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moment on, is considered to be absolutely true, and all statements and actions after that must be consistent with it. For example, once Kibi said their farm was far to the north, Neti couldn’t change that to south without the guards realizing it was all a story.
How might Ilika have approached the guardhouse differently if he had known, or guessed, that a sketch of himself, as a wanted criminal, had been posted?
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Chapter 14: Ilika’s Big Mistake
Back at the camp, no one could sleep.
They agreed that Ilika must have arrived at the town before Kibi and Neti left, otherwise they would have met him on the road. They tried to guess how long he would search the town. Opinions varied from one hour to three hours. With another half hour for the walk back, they decided he would return by midnight, an hour after at the latest.
But still they could not sleep.
They knew they had, among them if not individually, all the knowledge Ilika had taught them. But that wasn’t enough. They wanted their teacher back. They wanted to review all their studies with him, and ask him a thousand more questions. They knew, without a shadow of doubt, they had many more things to learn from him.
Some of them realized they had all his money here at the camp, except for two small gold pieces. But they didn’t just want his money. They wanted him to tell them they had completed their educations and earned the three great gold pieces.
Kibi lay on her bedroll gazing at the fire where Boro, Rini, and Mati still huddled quietly. She was very aware that all her hopes and dreams were tied up with Ilika right now. She could easily let go of the gold, and even the ship.
She would not willingly let go of Ilika. If the world took him from her, through death or some other fate she could not overcome, she would deal with
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it. She would set her feet on the road out of this kingdom.
Suddenly she chuckled out loud, realizing they were camped near that very road. Just a few miles to the east, where the road descended into the desert, the kingdom ended, the kingdom where she had been a slave half her life.
Mati glanced over when Kibi chuckled, but decided it was a private thought that her friend did not wish to share.
But before Kibi admitted defeat, she wanted to see if Boro would have any luck finding their teacher. If he didn’t, Kibi would take the tube of great gold pieces she carried, plus the one in her pouch, and go alone to see what she could do. She knew in her heart that she would risk slavery — even her life —
before she would give up Ilika without clear evidence that he was beyond her reach forever.
She realized that she loved him.
At about midnight, they could stand it no longer. Everyone was up, ready to take Cattle Town apart, stone by stone if necessary.
But their determination was tempered by the fact that Mati, Kibi, and Neti could not go because of warrants for their arrest, or events earlier that day. Of those who could go, Boro was clearly the leader, and he wanted to go carefully and quietly.
“I want Rini with me. I want Toli near us, watching our backs from where I put him, which will probably be across the street from the guardhouse. I want Sata with him in case we need a runner with a message. And I want Buna in that grove of trees at the edge of town with food and water. Misa too, as another runner. And those of you who have to stay here, be ready to receive us, tired, hungry, and possibly injured. Ilika has always been there for us. Now we’re going to be there for him, and we all have parts to play.”
Boro took Toli aside, and they agreed on some bird calls that Toli could make.
Buna emptied her rucksack and repacked it with food that could be eaten without cooking. Misa went to the stream for water.
Boots were laced tightly. Except Boro, no one took coin pouches. Cloaks were tied and hoods pulled up. Boro and Rini took the knives, which they knew were useless against soldiers with swords, but they refused to leave any
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possible asset behind.
“Ilika picked us because we’re smart,” Boro said when everyone was ready and standing around the fire. “We’ll have to be smart to get our teacher back.
I can’t tell you what to do, because I don’t know what we’re up against. Each of you may have to make your own decisions, and there may not be time for runners and discussions. Be smart. Let’s go!”
The team of rescuers groped their way down to the road, then had an easy walk as the moon rose behind them. They passed along the road silently, as no one could think of any questions for which anyone else might have answers.
When they arrived at the edge of town, Buna and Misa silently slipped into the grove of small trees. They got comfortable in a sandy area where they could look toward the town, now well-lit by the rising moon.
Boro led the rest along a winding route through the town so they approached the guardhouse from a tiny alley across the street. He looked at Toli and Sata, and they understood.
The door to the guardhouse was open and lamps flickered within. Having come this far, Boro couldn’t think of anything else to do but go in.
“Hello,” he said as he filled the doorway with his muscular body. Rini waited behind.
Only one soldier, of no apparent rank, sat with his feet up on a box. A mug of something sat on the barrel beside him, along with tattered playing cards.
Papers, quill pens, and a lamp were neatly arranged on the only sturdy table, currently unattended. A few mismatched swords and one crossbow dangled from pegs on the walls.
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Boro’s eyes were drawn to the two heavy wooden doors on the back wall of the room. He had the feeling they didn’t lead to the outside.
“What do you want?” the soldier asked, bringing his feet down.
“I’m looking for a friend. Taller than me, thinner, light hair, wearing a blue tunic . . .”
“What’s he mean to you?”
Boro swallowed. “He owes me money. Heard he was in town, but can’t find him.”
The soldier seemed to relax a little.
Just then Boro heard Toli’s bird call that meant another soldier was coming. Boro stepped in and to the side, and Rini did the same.
The second soldier entered and took in the situation. “What’s up?”
“Fellow says our prisoner owes him money.”
The second soldier sat down on a crate and started oiling his sword with a rag. “How much?”
Rini’s eyes sparkled with an idea. “Three . . . gold . . . pieces,” he said slowly in the most serious voice he could muster.
Both soldiers whistled.
“I
saw one of those today,” the second soldier said.
“Where?” the first inquired with interest, forgetting Boro and Rini for the moment.
“Captain got it for letting a couple of rich girls go.”
“You guys ever had gold?” Boro asked, stoking the fires of greed that appeared to be their best hope of freeing Ilika.
“Huh! In this puking town? We just dream about gold. Captain gets any that fools let fall.”
“What’s gonna happen to your prisoner, the one who owes us money?”
Boro asked.
“Well . . . he’s not in very good shape . . .”
Rini could feel Boro tense up.
“He’s wanted at the capital, if he lives long enough to get there.”
“How about if we say he died tonight,” Boro suggested, “and you gave his body to a couple of friends to bury.”
“But we’d miss out on the reward we’ll get tomorrow when the captain gets
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here!” the second soldier complained.
“How much reward you gonna get?” Rini asked.
“Probably a silver each.”
“Wanna change that silver into gold?” Boro prodded.
Suddenly he had their undivided attention.
“That way we can still get what he owes us,” Rini explained, “but now he’ll owe us five!”
“Are you fellows saying you’d lay down gold pieces — one for each of us —
right here and now, if we give him to you?” the first soldier asked with big eyes of amazement.
“IF he’s alive,” Rini asserted firmly.
“Come see for yourself!” the second soldier said and walked toward one of the doors on the back wall.
Boro tapped Rini on the shoulder, and the small lad followed the soldier.
Rini held his breath when the cell door opened. Ilika lay on the hard dirt floor, not moving, a large swollen bruise on his head, one side of his face covered with blood. The cell reeked of vomit and other odors.
Rini’s mind raced. He had to know if Ilika was alive. He remembered lessons from months before, and felt for a pulse under Ilika’s jaw.
“He’s alive,” Rini called out.
Boro turned his head and whistled. A few seconds later Toli filled the doorway, almost scraping his head on the timber above.
Boro opened his pouch, then held up the two yellow coins. “Do we have a deal?”
The soldiers looked at each other. “Sure!” they both said at once.
Boro handed the coins to Toli, then went to collect Ilika.
While Boro gathered Ilika into his arms, Rini watched for any double-cross.
The soldiers, with swords handy, also watched for a double-cross, but relaxed when Boro, half-way to the door, told Toli to set the gold pieces on the table.
Boro stepped through the door sideways with their motionless teacher in his arms. Toli came out next.
As the two soldiers picked up and admired the first gold pieces they had
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ever owned, Rini bowed slightly, turned, and slipped out the door.
Sata met them in the dark alleyway. “Oh, poor Ilika!”
“I think I can carry him to the trees. I want you three behind me, spread out in the shadows, watching to see if those soldiers change their minds. If they do, or anyone else follows me, I want to know about it fast.”
Boro didn’t wait around any longer. Just holding their teacher in his arms was taking every bit of his strength, so he headed off down the alley at a brisk but silent pace.
Even though his arms screamed at him, he forced himself to take a round-about path that would make it nearly impossible for anyone to tell which direction he was going.
Boro’s arms were burning and shaking by the time he got to the edge of town, but he took one more detour, going north around a cattle pen as if heading for the stable. Then he slipped into the woods from the back side.
Finally he heard Buna’s voice. With no strength left, he collapsed, his own body cushioning Ilika’s fall.
While Boro lay breathing deeply, Buna did her best to get Ilika into a comfortable position. By the mottled moonlight, she could see the blood and the huge bruise.
“He was . . . alive . . . at the . . . guardhouse,” Boro gasped out. “Check his
. . . pulse.”
“He’s still alive,” Buna announced with relief.
“Misa . . . go get . . . Mati and Tera . . . and blankets . . . and rope.”
The young girl dashed off, hoping she could find the ravine that would lead her to the camp.
Kibi’s patience was sorely tested when she discovered she and Neti were the only ones who couldn’t do anything to help Ilika. But she knew it wasn’t right to leave Neti alone, and if they both went, animals would get their food unless they packed up everything and took it with them, and that would take too long. The others would probably have Ilika back by then.
So she busied herself with the soup Mati had started as she watched donkey, rider, and guide disappear down the ravine. As she stirred the soup,
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she consoled herself with the knowledge that Ilika was alive, free, and on his way home.
Boro was soon on his feet, but his arms wouldn’t quit shaking and burning.
He had to ask Buna to pull back his hood.
Sata, Toli, and Rini crept into the grove one at a time, declaring that all was well and the soldiers appeared completely happy with their new-found wealth.
Even though Boro couldn’t do anything himself, he began supervising the construction of a stretcher that Tera could drag behind her. Rini and Sata went out, and returned about a quarter hour later with long poles. Rope was harder to find, but a few short pieces were discovered unattended.
Since Toli was good with knots, he volunteered to do the tying. Rini found a fallen branch to use as a cross-bar near the bottom of the stretcher. Sata went out again for more rope, but had little luck.
Finally Mati and Misa arrived, so Toli had plenty of rope to finish the stretcher while Rini tied the upper ends of the poles to Tera’s stirrups. Mati stayed mounted to keep Tera right where they needed her.
Buna, with Sata’s help, wrapped Ilika in blankets, but reported no improvement in his condition.
As Boro’s arms were still useless, getting Ilika into the stretcher took serious thought. Toli and Sata worked together, and Rini and Buna moved his legs. The task required another quarter hour, and they constantly feared they would do him more harm.
When they finally left the trees and took to the road, the night was windless and quiet, and the stretcher made a loud scraping noise on the hard, rocky ground. Toli quickly picked up the bottom ends of the poles, and they proceeded to navigate the first hill east of Cattle Town in silence, save for the faint sound of donkey’s hooves.
Deep Learning Notes
Part of the plan of Cattle Town is shown, the part where the rescue took place.
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The rescue of Ilika began long before anyone did anything. First they had to get clear in their minds how they felt about him. If he had been a master of slaves, or a cruel teacher, what might the group have done?
What qualities did Ilika have that made his students choose to rescue him?
In less critical group tasks, students often take roles that they most need to practice. When the stakes are high, that luxury is not practical. What roles did Boro assign, and in each case, why?
What personal weaknesses did Toli overcome during the rescue?
How old were you when you could have handled the task given to 7-year-old Misa?
If you were in Kibi’s shoes, would you have stayed in camp?
