Chapter 28
Rocks - Moshoi
I rushed after my enraged father to try to stop him. As my father heaved another bundle over his shoulder, the frightened yakama turned so its hindquarters were facing him. I stopped dead in my tracks before I could think what to do. The yakama lifted its tail and shot a spray from both sides of its rump which landed squarely in my father’s face.
“YEOW!” He screamed, covering his eyes with his hands and dropping to the ground.
I recoiled as the powerful smell filled my nostrils. The yakama began to run away, even with her heavy bundles. I ran after her. She was now loaded heavier on one side than the other, which made it awkward for her to run, so she did not go far. Once near, I approached her slowly, speaking to her gently, “It’s okay, Star. Stay,” as I grabbed her reins.
“My eyes! I can’t see!” my father cried out. I looked for Tuka, but he had disappeared. My father was bent over, retching and vomiting up the bread he had eaten.
Tuka emerged from our home carrying a water jug. He rushed to our father’s side. “Cup your hands.”
My father cupped his hands and Tuka poured the water into them. My father lifted the water to his eyes. They repeated the process. I saw my father looking at Tuka, but he called out again: “My eyes! I can’t see!”
“Rinse them again,” Tuka urged.
My father lifted the water to his eyes once again. “Bless you, my son,” he said as he rinsed his eyes for the third time. “May the gods give you the dew of heaven, the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.”
I winced with hurt at the words he spoke to Tuka. Only minutes before I had asked for his blessing and instead he had cursed me. Now here he was blessing Tuka. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue,” Rhabdom had taught me. My father used words carelessly and once he used them, he could not take them back. I did not even know if he knew he was speaking to Tuka instead of me. But it didn’t matter. He had cursed me and blessed Tuka.
I walked Star over to a rail and tied her there, searching with my eyes for the sack with the jug. I did not see it. Dejected but duty bound, I hurried into the house for a jar of vinegar to help combat the smell. I brought it to Tuka and my father. My father was naked, having stripped off his loin cloth and thrown it aside.
“Here is vinegar. Let me pour it over you,” I said.
His mind was focused on his eyes. He kept closing and opening them. I poured the vinegar across my father’s armor laden back. In his helpless state, his anger dissipated, but I knew it would soon return with a vengeance.
Finally, he blinked his eyes. I knew he could see once again, because he said in a stern tone, “Moshoi, where is our yakama?”
“Our yakama is safe deep within our cave,” I answered. “That was not our yakama, which is why she sprayed you. She did not know you and you frightened her.”
“Then whose yakama is it?” he asked, bewildered.
I could barely stand the smell still emanating from him. I felt nauseous in the heat. I backed away. Tuka had silently backed off and was waiting to be told what to do.
“Whose yakama is it?” he repeated to me, his rage building once again.
“It is mine. It was a gift.”
“A gift?” he screamed. “Who would give you a yakama? Is it a wedding present? Are you getting married?”
“No, it was a gift from Rhabdom,” I said, from what I hoped was a fairly safe distance.
“I should have known,” my father said with contempt. “Go.”
“It was a generous gift for our journey,” I tried to tell him.
“Go. Get out of my sight. I can see you, but I do not wish to see you,” he muttered as he flung his arm dismissively. He stopped and seemed to consider, then looked up toward Tuka who was waiting quietly. “Tuka bring me some clothes from the house. Your brother will bring you both down into a pit of folly.”
Tuka quickly ran to the house to follow our father’s instructions. I walked over to Star, a feeling of dread following me. I carefully looked through the packs still on her back. The pack with the precious jug was not there. I had not even started on my journey to save us all and I had already failed. My father was right: I had dug a pit of folly and fallen into it. I hung my head in shame, feeling unworthy of a quest for treasure, let alone one to save the world.
Tuka returned with Father’s clothing and Father whispered a few words to him before striding off to the house. I watched him as he entered the arch of our home without looking back. I was jarred by the sound of the scraping of rocks as I saw the rounded stone closing off the entrance. My father was sealing us out of our home with the great stone.
Tuka walked toward me. “Are you ready to get started?” Tuka asked, to my surprise.
I looked around at the bags still scattered on the ground. “What did he say to you?”
“Nothing that we have not heard before,” Tuka answered.
We both stood in silence for a moment.
“He will watch over mother and the rest of the family,” Tuka said.
“Yes, of course he will.”
“And while the others sleep, he will think, and he will be sorry for today.”
“Not sorry enough to admit it.”
“You never know,” Tuka mused hopefully.
Tuka always seemed to look on the bright side of things. But I was quite sure he was mistaken about this. I didn’t say so, but instead moved on to address the problem that loomed over us.
“He must have broken the jug,” I said, stooping to lift the bag closest to me.
“No, it is safe,” Tuka replied.
I looked at him with irritation. Things did not always work out, and Tuka needed to face facts.
“It was not among the packs still on Star, and it cannot have survived being dashed upon the rocks,” I said.
“It is safe,” Tuka repeated. “When you went to awaken father, I removed it from the yakama and hid it behind a rock up there,” Tuka explained, pointing up the hill. “I knew he would be angry and I wasn’t taking any chances since you said it was so important.”
An avalanche of stress slid off me. “Bless you Tuka!” I exclaimed, but not without a touch of bitterness, as my own words echoed in my mind and I realized that was the second time today that Tuka had been blessed.
We gathered up our supplies, including the safely stored jug, and we started down the rocky slope leading Star behind us. Our journey to Tzoladia had begun.