Chapter 17
The Wanderer’s Way
Standing above Andrew on the fallen spire, Kaya looked to the east. The sun was just visible through a gap in the mountains, and the colors of the desert sunrise had faded. She knew it was a little after six o’clock in the morning and today she would have no shelter from the elements. With her cloak lost in a place best not visited even if she had the time, all she had was her waterskin and the pack on her back.
Jumping the small gap between the spire and the mountain, she jogged up the path, talking to herself; the way she always did when she was alone.
“I saw the Signs, I’ve made my choice and even if it’s wrong, it’s still my choice. I know I could explain all this to Grandmother, and she would understand. I would tell her just like I told Andrew.
I’ve seen six of the seven Signs, and I know I’ll see the seventh before the end of this day. This has to be it! It can’t be anything else. It has to be time. Andrew didn’t think I was crazy, I don’t think I’m crazy, and if I am crazy, then I guess none of this will matter anyway because I’m crazy.”
“I am CRAZY!!” she yelled, then laughed at herself and picked up her pace.
She knew today was a race against time, and her determination and resilience would be tested. She had already done the math in her head a dozen times, and she still wasn’t sure she could make it.
“You’ll make it. You have to. You will!” she thought, forming her conviction. She talked her way through her calculations again to see if she had missed anything.
“The long way is for the Travelers and it takes almost eighteen hours when you walk it, plus it’s uphill. The Wanderer’s Way takes a little less, maybe seventeen hours. It’s all downhill, but that little path was never meant for speed. I’ve got fifteen hours until the moon sets. I can do this!”
She came jogging up to the Cups with sweat beading on her forehead. She stopped to refill her waterskin, then crossed the rope bridge and immediately turned left. Running into the distance, with only her training to guide her, Kaya found what she was looking for.
The only advantage to taking the Wanderer’s Way was speed, but the price for this was a steep, slippery, difficult journey. One that should be walked with caution not raced down at break-neck speed.
It was going to be a long day and she had no idea what would be waiting for her at the bottom, but it didn’t matter. By the time the crescent moon had disappeared from the night sky, everything would be different, even if nothing changed.
Almost immediately, the path narrowed and she had to slow down. Within twenty feet, it squeezed into a tiny ledge, and she had to shuffle sideways, facing the cliff.
She tried not to get frustrated. “Take your time,” she told herself. “You can’t save him if you’re dead or if you’re too injured to make it to the bottom. You’ll make up the time.”
Her mind was sharp today. Even after no sleep and having smashed her head and practically falling to her death. She was ready for this. She knew this path, she knew its turns, and she knew where to slow down and where she could speed up. She focused on nothing else. All she could do was hope Andrew kept his promise. She smiled, thinking about promises. She thought about how every woman in her family and every woman in the village had been out in this horrible wasteland of a desert looking for what she just saw.
“Today is the day,” she whispered. “I’m doing it, Grandmother. I’m following my heart. After all, a promise is a promise, and they must be kept.”
She only rested briefly the entire day and yet she seemed to be falling behind schedule. The sun had already moved beyond the mountaintops and was quickly making its way to the horizon. Kaya knew she still had time, but it was running out faster than she had hoped.
She had kept well hydrated all day, stopping to fill her waterskin in the Cups whenever she was running low, and she had eaten what she could throughout the day. She had done everything as well as it could be done and now, as twilight settled across the landscape, she climbed the last of the rocky outcrops and emerged into the open desert. The wall was still miles away, and she had less than two hours to get there.
“I can do this,” she said aloud. Struggling to find her pace in the sand, she balled her fists and yelled to the sky, “I can do this!”
As the air cooled across the desert, the silver seam of a just visible waxing moon made its entrance onto the night sky.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said between breaths. “We’ve all been waiting for you.”
A smile crossed her lips as she whispered to the stars, “That makes seven.”