Refugees

  Chapter 24

  Rocks - Moshoi

  By the time I left Rhabdom, he had given me other words of wisdom, much food and drink, his yakama, and one last warm hug during which he repeatedly patted me on the back. Then he gave me one of his large grins, which crinkled the wrinkles about his eyes. He led us to a secret door out the back of his cave. I walked the yakama around to the front and started on my journey down the hill. When I looked back, I was surprised to see Rhabdom outside his cave entrance. I believe I will forever see him waving from high above the cliff outside the mouth of his cave.

  He called to me one last time, “Never stop rejoicing in the Lord!”

  Rhabdom was always so positive and jolly when not speaking mysterious and foreboding phrases like: “Beware the Gates of Hell.”

  I held the end of a rope that was wrapped around Star’s neck. She was loaded with supplies but did not seem to mind as she carefully picked her way among the rocks on the mountain side. I stopped for a moment, went to one of the bags hanging on her side, and felt the blankets inside to be sure the special jug was there. I don’t know where I thought it could have gone. It just made me feel better to check one last time.

  I was not afraid of the hydois this time, because they were not likely to come near me as long as I was with Star. Any hydois that had ever been sprayed by a frightened yakama knew better than to approach the beast that could spray accurately as far away as the length of three men. The smell was worse than rotten eggs. I knew that a yakama could only spray three or four times before its supply would run out for about ten days, but thankfully the hydois did not know that, so they would avoid us.

  I believe we did see one hydois. We approached him from behind as he searched between the rocks with his head down. When he lifted his head and saw Star, he jumped straight into the air and then turned and scrambled away. Stones and rocks dropped down the side of the mountain from where his hooves hurriedly touched down. What a change from my journey the day before!

  Tuka spotted me from far off and came running up the mountain toward me.

  “Where did you get that yakama?” he asked excitedly.

  “Rhabdom gave her to me. Her name is Star,” I answered as Tuka reached me and took the reins.

  “Wow, what a generous gift!”

  “Yes, Rhabdom was more than generous. He gave me enough supplies for many days. We will not need to approach the neighbors or use our own family’s stored food.”

  “That is wonderful news,” Tuka said, as he began to pet Star on the neck. “Did you meet any hydois on your way?”

  “I had a close call, but I was able to fight them off.”

  “I hope I can learn to be as quick with a sword as you.”

  “I’m afraid you will get a lot of practice if I bring you with me to Tzoladia.”

  Tuka laughed good-naturedly. “I will have the best of teachers in you.”

  I realized that something about Tuka reminded me a little bit of Rhabdom, but I did not tell him so. It certainly had nothing to do with the way they looked. Rhabdom was a white haired, thin, and wrinkled little man with a defenseless back. Tuka, while still very young, was built sturdily like all the Armored, with bulging muscles, a scaled back, and brown eyes. Still, something about his happy go lucky personality reminded me for a moment of the wise man. I thought again how good it would be to bring him with me but then reluctantly turned to the most difficult matter at hand. We would have to wake our father.

  “Anything new while I was gone?” I asked.

  “No, all is quiet and everyone sleeps."

  “I am not looking forward to waking Father.”

  “If we explain it well, he may understand.”

  I was not as hopeful as Tuka about our father’s response. Before waking him, I decided to show Tuka the jug that Rhabdom had entrusted to me. I unwrapped it from the blankets and put it into Tuka’s hands.

  He turned it over and over in his hands, studying it with trained eyes.

  “I’m surprised it is so valuable,” I said. “It doesn’t even look attractive to me.”

  Tuka seemed very excited. “I don’t think this is meant to be decorative. I think these are symbols. Did Rhabdom tell you what it meant?”

  I felt ridiculous to tell Tuka that I did not think to ask Rhabdom what they meant. I knew that Rhabdom used red ochre to paint many symbols onto his pottery. He had taught me to speak, read, and write Tzoladian, but he also used other symbols that I did not understand. I wondered now if Rhabdom had carved the symbols into this jug.

  “He only told me it was very valuable, and that I should give it to a boy with feet like a duck named Amanki when I arrive in Tzoladia.” These words seemed ridiculous now that I said them.

  Tuka smiled at my statement.

  “I know, it sounds ridiculous. That’s why we will never be able to explain this to father.” I said.

  But Tuka responded in his usual, positive manner: “I think it just makes our adventure more mysterious and exciting! Imagine all the wonders in this world that we have never seen. Moshoi, think of all the different creatures in the mountains: hydois, chamois, yakamas...They would seem strange to us if we had not grown up around them. We know there are people like Rhabdom with no scales on their backs. So why couldn’t there be people with feet like ducks? Why would we assume that people would be any less varied than antelopes or birds?”

  Tuka returned his attention to the jug and turned it in his hands slowly. “I believe the imprints on this jug were made by someone rolling a stone cylinder around it. See how they repeat?”

  “I hadn’t really looked at it that carefully,” I admitted. “But yes, now that you point it out, I see that.”

  Of course Tuka would be able to figure this out since he created such cylinders out of stone using a bow drill. Cylinder seals were in great demand since they were widely used by Tzoladian officials and merchants. Other men in our tribe carved blank cylinder stones to trade with merchants, who transported them to the post at Mazorka where they traded with other merchants from all over the Tzoladian Empire. But Tuka was artistic and engraved the ones he made with pictures of animals, myths, and stories. He had to draw them in reverse, which took special talent.

  “I would like to see the seal that was used to make this imprint. Did Rhabdom give that to you as well?"

  “No,” I answered simply. “Just the jug.”

  “The duck people must be able to read these symbols.” Tuka began to carefully wrap the jug back in the blankets and gently placed it in the bag. I returned it to Star’s pack. Tuka produced a small bag of his own. “Here is my bag of personal items. I tried to only pack what I will absolutely need. ” Then he sort of mumbled, “I suppose there is not enough space for me to bring my bow drill.”

  “Actually that would be a very useful item to help us start a fire. See if you can find a place for it on Star.”

  Tuka brightened. “I’ll run and get it now.” Then he added, “I just wish we had time before we left, then I would make a stone imprint of those symbols so that we did not have to worry so much about the jar breaking.”

  “I think we should try to leave as soon as possible, which unfortunately means that I can no longer delay waking Father. How do you think that I should approach this? We both know how angry he is going to be,” I said.

  “Tell him that we are taking up an amazing adventure through unknown lands to the capital of the empire!”

  “That sounds wonderful to us Tuka, but father will not like it. It sounds like a boondoggle. He is only interested in practical things.”

  “But Moshoi, when he was young, he went on many adventures and fought in many battles. When he gets together with his friends, they always talk about the battles they fought when they were young. And remember, he is still a fierce warrior.”

  “The only battles he fights anymore are skirmishes when there is a border dispute with a neighboring tribe, not for adventure. But I have not forgotten how fierce he is, si
nce that is exactly the problem!” I said.

  I would have liked to have awakened another relative to be the watcher. Unfortunately it would be dishonorable for us to leave without telling our father.

  “I say we just get it over with. Once you awaken him, after he blows off his steam, he will have to let us go, since there will not be enough food for the three of us to stay awake through the summer drought,” Tuka said.

  I knew that Tuka was right. Still, although I wasn’t afraid of much, I was afraid of my own father.

  As we walked toward the door, Tuka hesitated. “Maybe I’m wrong to ask to go with you. Maybe it will be safer for you if you go alone.”

  “No,” I answered. “I have made up my mind. I want to bring you with me. Besides, it will be more difficult for me to defend myself without you.”

  Tuka could scarcely hide his delight. “I will stand by you, like a rock, to the end of the world, you will see!”

  Tuka’s words reminded me of what Rhabdom had said: “A brother stands by his brother.”

  “For now, just stand by Star outside," I instructed him. “There is no use for us both to get smacked around. It will just make him angrier to see you too.”

  I ducked under the archway into our cave and then strode over toward the entrance to the sleeping room where a huge round stone blocked the door. We had put it back in place before I had left to visit Rhabdom. Now, Tuka and I grabbed hold of the stone and rolled it away from the door.

  “Stay out of the way,” I reminded Tuka.

  After obtaining a bottle of yakama essence from my family’s supply, I walked across the yakama wool rug to where my father was curled in a ball, with his armored back showing. First I opened the bottle, passed it near his head, and quickly put on the top. Next, I placed my hands on his shoulders, leaned over with my mouth to his ear, started to shake him, and repeated, “Wake up, Father. Wake up.”

  It took a while, but I was persistent, and at last he partially unfolded, opened his eyes, and looked at me. “Is it time already?” he asked groggily.

  The tricky part was that I did not want him to wake the others.

  “Shhh, the others still sleep.”

  I also did not want him to think it was an emergency. If he jumped up too quickly from hibernation, it could cause his heart to stop.

  “I need you.” That was all I could think of to say.

  Luckily he was still too half asleep to react. He went through the process of slowly unwrapping his body, stretching his arms and legs. In a few minutes he was able to sit up. I handed him water and he drank deeply. My father was a giant of a man. He was not only tall, but he had large bones and muscles as hard as rocks. His olive scales were graying and the lines about his eyes and forehead showed his age, but he did not look old, because he was still a massive tower of strength. Like him, I was tall and strong with olive colored scales, yet I was too young to have put on the bulk.

  “The others are still sleeping,” I said, hoping he would try to stay quiet until we got out of the room.

  I helped him to his feet. It took several tries, but he finally rose and walked slowly toward the door. I led him out into the open air, where he closed his eyes to ward off the light. He placed his hand on one of the stone pillars and leaned against it. I handed him some raisins and waited as he swallowed them down.

  I was glad to see that Tuka was staying in the background, where he could watch and perhaps hear, but where Father would not be likely to notice him.

  “What is going on?” my father finally asked.

  “I have awakened you to ask you to take over the watch,” I said, getting right to the point.

  He thought for a moment and then said “Why? What has happened to Tuka? Wasn’t Tuka the one who took the watch this year?”

  “Tuka was the watcher. He is fine, but he woke me.”

  Just as I feared, I could see my father eyes narrow, and his jaw tighten. His face began to grow red, and he started to tighten his gargantuan hands into fists.

  “If he is fine, why would the little fool awaken you?” he said, his deep voice booming. This is where I did not have a clue how to present my case. My father did not approve of Rhabdom. He thought that he filled my mind with useless information and even worse, dangerous dreams. I would have to play to my father’s manliness, along the lines that Tuka had directed me.

  “It is time that Tuka and I became men.” I started.

  “A man does not desert his watch!” He stepped toward me, and I half expected to be knocked to the ground.

  “By the time you were Tuka’s age you had won the battle of the Tartanga Pass against barbarous invaders from the south,” I said.

  “That battle preserved freedom for all the Armored,” he said, standing tall and straight.

  “We want to be sure we never lose that freedom.”

  “Has war been declared? Are we under attack?” he asked, and I could tell that he was ready to take up his arms to do his duty once again.

  “No. But I plan to travel to Tzoladia.”

  “To rescue a few maidens? Maybe slay a few dragons? I knew I should never have let you visit that Rhabdom and learn to read, even if he is a skilled potter.”

  I wanted to say that this had nothing to do with Rhabdom or anything I had read. But of course, he was right and it had everything to do with Rhabdom’s teachings. I couldn’t think of an answer and was too slow with my response.

  “I will find that little weasel of a man and break every bone in his body!” he boomed. I was quite sure he meant it, but for now I happened to be the person directly in front of him, so my bones were the ones in immediate danger.

  “I awoke you to ask your permission. I want to bring honor to our family.”

  “You would do honor to this family by following the orders I have already given! You should be sleeping. Where is Tuka?” He began to look around. I did not want him to bring Tuka into this just yet, or notice the yakama.

  I quickly handed him a loaf of fruit bread and hoped his hunger would be stronger than his anger, at least for the moment. He grabbed the loaf and started to fling it over the side of the balcony, but stopped himself, pulled off a piece, and began to eat hungrily, crumbs falling all over the rock walkway. This bought me some time to think, but it’s hard to think in front of a volcano that is about to erupt.

  “I will travel to Tzoladia, learn the secret to the lost city, and bring back gold and gemstones beyond your wildest dreams,” I suddenly announced and stood as straight, tall, and noble looking as I could muster. Every man in Hattom knew the tale of the lost city, even if they had not been instructed in the prophecies by Rhabdom like me.

  He just looked at me as he devoured the bread, then he started laughing. This was so unexpected that it was almost more frightening than his anger.

  “You and what army?” he asked. “I do not intend to lose my son on some useless quest based on an old man’s tales.”

  “I have no army,” I admitted. “It's just me and Tuka.”

  If he had started to calm down, this really set him off. “Tuka? You would bring your brother into this?” Having finished the bread, he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and then used it to smack me across the side of my head, sending me sprawling to the ground. I curled, rolled onto my back, and broke the fall with my scales. Then I quickly scrambled to my feet to face him. I did not dare to strike back, but I was not ready to simply remain curled in defense. My cheek throbbed. I decided to face him like the man I wanted to be.

  “Father, we are all packed and ready to go. We are going no matter what, but I had hoped to receive your blessing.”

  “Blessing? Did somebody sneeze?” he snarled sarcastically.

  That is when he noticed Tuka standing by the heavily packed yakama and erupted. “Curse you, Moshoi! Go, seek your fortune! Take Tuka with you! But you will not take our yakama!” With that, father charged toward the packed yakama.

  I started running after him, yelling “But that’s
not our yakama! It belongs to…”

  He was upon Tuka and the yakama. He grabbed Tuka with both hands and tossed him into the air. Then he began grabbing sacks off the yakama and throwing them to the ground.

  “No!” I yelled in desperation.