Kelly's Adventure. Chapter 3

[random_xtras]

She was wakened by a song.
Untangling herself from the earphones, she rolled over and squinted toward the sound.
Caudis knelt next to the fire, working on something she couldn’t see and singing loudly in a strong tenor voice. He noticed her looking at him and grinned.
She blinked and glanced around, noticing the silent lump that was Dano laying on the other side of her, protecting her even in his sleep.
Yawning, she sat up and peered over him toward some bushes, wondering if it was safe to leave the fire. She considered trying to ask Caudis, but decided she didn’t want to talk about that subject with him even if she could understand his answer.
Finally just deciding to risk it, she got up and walked around Dano, heading toward the undergrowth.
“Don’t use the soft, hairy leaves,” he said.
She jumped and looked back at his grin. “I know what poison ivy looks like.”
“Good.” He squeezed his eyes shut and yawned.
Shaking her head, she continued onward and finished her mission, then came back and looked at the little bit of meat spitted over the fire. “What’s that?”
Caudis shrugged and looked at Dano, who was looking thoughtfully toward the west.
Dano scratched his head. “I know what we call it, but there’s nothing in the Book about them.” He leaned over and picked up the skin, stretched inside out on a bent branch. “Do you recognize it?”
“Squirrel.” Kelly looked at the long, fluffy tail. “But different from the ones at home. I didn’t know you could eat squirrels.”
“Squirrel,” said Dano, running the tail between his fingers. “Yes, they’re very good to eat.”
She fished last night’s bread out of her pocket and sniffed it doubtfully. “Isn’t this also very good to eat?”
Dano laughed out loud. “Yes. But that was made with the last of the stored grain. I’ve never met someone yet who could say they liked the insects in old flour.”
Kelly looked at him wryly, but then caught the aroma of the roasting meat and had to admit it smelled delicious.
The crisp little body was soon removed from the spit, dusted lightly with wood ash, and then lain on her still uneaten piece of bread.
“I’m not supposed to eat all this, am I?” She frowned.
“There’s not enough for all of us,” said Dano, “And Caudis and I are used to missing meals.”
“That’s a crock.” Kelly tore the squirrel into three fairly equal pieces, and handed them around, along with a bit of the bread. She knew the old man was laughing at her, but she didn’t care. No one was going to play the manly hero around her. At least not with a straight face.
They bowed their heads while Dano asked God to bless the meal and give them favor in the eyes of the people of Big Rock, then ate hungrily. Softened by the squirrel grease, its flavor masked by that of the hot meat, even the hard bread seemed like a treat to Kelly’s famished stomach.
“All right,” said Dano after breakfast, “It’s time to get ready.”
He stood and took off his leather vest, then pulled off his loose tunic and handed it to Kelly. "We'll turn around,” he said. “It's safer if you stay close."
She accepted the garment and looked at it uncertainly, then glanced at their backs doubtfully, not fully trusting them.
Sure enough, Caudis peeked over his shoulder.
"Hey!" yelled Kelly.
He blushed and faced forward hastily.
Dano gave him a reproving look. “I’m sorry, Kerry.”
She scowled and lay her jacket on the ground, shivering in her sparkly purple peasant blouse with the butterfly on the front. "Make sure he doesn’t do it again.”
He smiled at her reassuringly and turned away, one big hand firmly on Caudis’ head.
Kelly looked back at the tunic, her nose wrinkled. The thought of putting on something that someone else had just taken off seemed strange. Especially since it was still warm, and smelled of stinky leather and Dano’s body.
Steeling herself, she pulled it over her head and wriggled out of her blouse and jeans under its shelter, then looked down at herself and held the gaping neckline together with one hand. "Okay, it’s safe to look, but this is way too big."
Dano frowned at her thoughtfully, then bent to look in a sack. "I have a piece of …tie?" He glanced up questioningly.
"String? Cord? Oh, leather lace.” She took it and absently looped it around her palm. "What do I do with it?"
"Cut holes where you need them and push it through," said Dano, without looking up from the contents of the sack.
The cloth was so loosely woven that Kelly could work the leather cord through with just a little work. She did so carefully, then looked down at herself. “I look like I’m wearing a tent.” And there’s a draft coming up underneath.
She shivered and pulled the tunic closer, her skin crawling at the clamminess of the air. “I, I d, d, don’t kn, kn, kn, know if th, th, this is going t, to work.”
Dano looked at her in concern. "You’d better go on using my coat until we can get one for you." He picked up the skin blanket and draped it over her shoulders, poking a small, sharpened stick through a slit to fasten it in place.
"Thanks.” She tried not to breathe too deeply. “What should I do with my clothes?"
"Will they fit in your bag?"
"What bag?" She frowned.
"Isn't this yours?" He picked up the Shakira backpack and held it out to her.
"I hadn't realized I still had it." She took the pack and held it close for a minute, glad for some token of home. Oh, Mike, are you worried yet? Does anyone know I'm gone? She wondered how long she’d been away from home, time didn't always pass the same in both worlds in the storybooks.
"What's this?" Dano touched the keyring with a curious finger.
"That's Shakira." She shifted it to show him how it worked, then unclipped it and handed it to him.
His eyes widened as he tipped it back and forth. "Is she your friend?"
"No, she's a famous singer. She was in a movie I went to see with my friend, and she was passing out these backpacks because they look like the one she had in the movie."
"Does she sing well?" He gave it back.
"I don't know. I don’t think I’ve heard any of her music." Kelly looked doubtfully at her jacket and clogs, suspecting she was going to need space in the pack for more than just clothes.
Leaving them on the ground, she finished packing everything else and tied her multi-strand leather belt around her waist. "Okay, I'm ready.”
Dano looked at her thoughtfully, noting her glance at the abandoned shoes. "Are you warm enough?"
"Yeah, I'll be okay." She curled her toes in the cold, damp moss. "There aren't any dangerous bugs around here, are there?"
"What are bugs?" He slipped her shoes into his sack and lifted it to his shoulder.
"Um, little things with lots of legs. Some have wings."
“Bugs,” he repeated. "No. There are some that eat blood, but they usually don’t bite people."
"Good." She frowned at Caudis, lifting her chin. He blushed again and looked away.
“Don’t forget this.” Dano stooped to pick up the mp3 player. “What is it?”
Kelly took it, trying to think how to explain it so he could understand. “It…plays music.”
“Oh. A machine?” he asked, looking at it curiously as he handed it to her.
“Yeah.” She blinked and tucked it away in the folded jeans, then scowled at Caudis again.
He didn’t look up from carefully studying one thong-wrapped boot, but she could see a muscle jump in his jaw.
Dano glanced back and forth between them. "Let's go."


( ( (


Despite the smell, Kelly found herself feeling very grateful for the skin cloak as a cold mist started falling. She huddled down into it as she followed Dano, thinking wistfully of her shoes as her cold-numbed toes found seemingly every rock and root in their path. She wasn't aware of Caudis walking next to her till he spoke.
"I'm sorry," he said with exaggerated slowness.
She glanced at him sideways, seeing the shamed expression in his eyes. "I forgive you."
"I don't do it again." He raised an eyebrow at her hopefully.
"‘I won't do it again’," she corrected.
"I wn't…won't do it again," he repeated carefully. "Yes."
Dano chuckled. "You've decided you do want to learn Book language, after all, Caudis?"
Caudis shrugged and fell silent, frowning.
Kelly listened to the noises coming out of the surrounding forest as she walked. Some were pretty bizarre. “That sounded like an elephant.”
“Is an elephant a big red animal, with a long nose that it uses to pull down trees?” asked Dano, without looking back. “And two long teeth that stick out of its mouth?”
“Yeah, only ours are grey. You mean there are actually elephants here?” Kelly glanced around at the damp-shrouded trees.
“Yes.” He turned and smiled at a thin piping coming from somewhere in a bush covered in big red flowers. “There’s a kerry.”
“Can I see him?” Kelly leaned forward to see if she could catch sight of the little bird.
“Maybe.” Dano pursed his lips and mimicked the tiny thread of song.
There was a burst of scolding, and then a tiny, brilliant dart zipped out of the bush and circled the grey-haired man’s head, searching for the intruder.
Kelly squeezed her eyes shut as the little creature buzzed near her face, then gasped with wonder and froze in place as the kerry impudently perched on her shoulder and started to sing again.
“You can look at him,” said Dano, chuckling. “He won’t be frightened.”
She turned her head slowly, her smile breaking out as she saw the little creature, who could almost have passed for a Ruby-throated except for the pale blue colour of his chest band.
“Wow,” breathed Kelly, eyes wide. “He’s beautiful.”
At the sound of her voice the kerry tilted his head and regarded her with one bright black eye, then hopped over and examined her teeth with great interest.
Kelly closed her mouth and giggled, eliciting another little scolding note from the kerry. He stretched his neck as high as it would go, then suddenly buzzed away up toward the treetops.
Kelly watched him till he disappeared into the mist, then turned and grinned at Dano. “He was so pretty!”
Dano grinned back. “So you like your new name now?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m glad.” He glanced the way the kerry had gone, smiling, then turned and started walking again.
Kelly followed, looking from side to side, till she distracted by a stabbing pain in the bottom of her foot.
Turning it up, she frowned at it, but couldn’t see anything wrong.
“Go.” Caudis poked her in the back.
“Buzz off,” she retorted without thinking, then hopped off-balance a couple of times and put her foot down.
“Huh?” He blinked.
“Never mind.” She sighed and walked on.
He caught up with her. “Buzz off?”
She sighed again, wishing he would go away. “I meant don’t bother me.”
He nodded thoughtfully, then looked ahead at Dano. “I learn Book language.”
“You want to learn Book language?” she asked absently.
“Da, I want to learn Book language.” He glanced behind them watchfully. “Is hard.”
“Is it?” She watched a green magpie fly overhead.
“Da. I not read …d’br…good….”
“Well,” said Dano. “You were always too restless.”
“Da.” Caudis frowned at the older man, then turned earnestly to Kelly. “You help?”
“That’s the one of the oldest pick-up lines in the book.” She rolled her eyes. “Get a life, Caudis.”
He blinked, his sandy eyebrows drawing together as he tried to understand what she’d said.
“Not in Book,” he said at last, looking sure of himself. “No ‘pick-up lines’ in Book.”
Kelly snorted, then looked at his confused expression and burst out laughing. “I didn’t mean that Book. It’s just an expression.”
He shook his head and gave her a reproachful look. “N’d’br.”
“What does that mean?” she asked suspiciously.
“Bad,” translated Dano without turning.
“Yes,” said Caudis. “Bad. Not…not….” He stopped and glanced around, clenching a fist in frustration, then turned back to her. “Good…to…do….”
Kelly watched him struggle, her heart softening. “I’m sorry for laughing at you.”
He blinked, frowning again. “Sorry for laughing at you…. ‘Laugh’?” He raised one eyebrow.
“Hee hee, ha ha. Laugh,” she explained.
He tipped his head slightly, considering. “You sorry, for laughing at me.”
“Yes.” She nodded.
He did, too. “ ‘I forgive you. Just don't do it again.’ ”
She couldn’t help it, she laughed again. “I’m sorry, Caudis, but you sounded just like me.”
He watched her with a slightly chagrined grin, the sparkle in his eyes showing that he got the joke, then called to Dano for a full translation.
Kelly listened carefully to what the older man said, picking individual words out of the rapid flow and putting them together experimentally.
She walked, lulled by the low exchange, then realized that there was a difference in the way the two men spoke. Caudis sounded like he was saying one long monotonous word when he opened his mouth, whereas Dano’s speech, though rapid, was more rumbling, his vowels more pronounced, his consonants seeming to come from deep in his chest.
She listened for a few minutes more, then interrupted them.
“Yes, Kerry-bird?” Dano slowed so she could catch up with him.
“I was just noticing that you guys don’t talk the same way,” she said awkwardly.
“No, people from different villages don’t.”
“Oh, you’re from different villages?” She curled her toes as something crawled away from them under the moss, leaving a humped trail.
“Of course,” he said, looking surprised. “Look at us.”
She did, blankly.
“Can’t you see the difference in our faces?” he asked, pointing from himself to Caudis.
“Yeah, so? Everyone looks different, what has that to do with different villages and talking differently?” she asked slowly.
“People look and speak differently in different places.” His bushy eyebrows lifted suddenly. “Do you mean that in your world you can’t tell what village someone is from by his appearance?”
She shook her head. “You can sort of tell what country someone’s from, sometimes, but there’s so much emigration that the only way to tell where someone’s from is to ask them.”
“People go freely between villages, cities, and…countries?” He looked at her in wonder. “Kerry, that hasn’t happened here for so long that even stories of it are hard to find. In this world you live in the place you were born, often in the same house. All the people in one village are family in some way, so they all look the same. No one goes to another village unless something has destroyed his own; and even if he does, he might not be accepted, because he’s different from everyone else.”
“But if everyone’s related, who do they marry?” asked Kelly, frowning.
He shrugged. “The strongest woman that they can afford.”
“Euwww! You mean, like, cousins? That’s disgusting!” she wrinkled her nose. “And what do you mean, ‘that they can afford’? Do women get sold here?”
“The husband gives the young woman’s father a bride-price for her,” said Dano. “Don’t they do the same in your world?”
“No!” said Kelly indignantly. “Only primitive people that still do the tribal thing pay bride-prices. Everywhere else the girl and guy go out for a while, and if they love each other they get married.”
Dano stared at her, then faced forward. “More differences. Your world sounds so strange.”
Kelly looked up at him, feeling troubled as she pictured the two of them, in their cave-man clothes, trying to make their way through a mall back on Earth.
The image bothered her more than she thought it would. She’d only known them for about two days, but already these two tall strangers had become friends, ones she felt responsible for.
She reached up and put her hand on his arm. “Hey, you’ll do all right. I mean, God wouldn't bring you someplace where you couldn’t make it.”
He looked down and covered her hand with his own. “You’re right, Kerry-bird, He wouldn't. We need to remember that.” He turned to Caudis.
The younger man nodded, looking thoughtful. “Da, need to remember.”
Dano smiled at him and winked at Kelly.
She grinned back, then remembered what they’d been talking about. “So, are either of you from this village we’re going to?”
“No.” Dano shook his head, then glanced to the side, his club lifting slightly. “Caudis looks like the people who live there, but you and I are going to stand out.”
Kelly realized that she’d been walking along with her hand on his arm, like she used to do with her grandpa when she was younger, and took it away. “We look that different?” She looked back at Caudis, who made a face at her.
“Our eyes are different…what do you call that?” Dano looked at her enquiringly.
“The colour? It’s brown.” She examined Caudis’. “His are greyish green.”
“My eyes are green,” said Caudis carefully.
“Yeah, they are.” She turned back to Dano. “And my hair’s brown, too.”
“As was mine, once.” Dano ran his hand through his silver curls. “And our faces are…,” he gestured.
“Not so thin?” asked Kelly, running her knuckles along her slightly square jaw and then pushing on the nose that everyone at home insisted on calling cute.
“Yes. You could be my daughter, nearly.”
Kelly glanced up at him, thinking of what her dad would say to that. “Sister.”
Dano nodded, then blinked. “You are my sister. All believers are members of the same family.”
“But that makes Caudis my brother, too.” She wrinkled her nose and pretended to look disgusted with the thought.
“Buzz off,” said Caudis solemnly.
Kelly laughed.
“But your favorite brother is waiting for you at home,” said Dano softly.
“Yeah.” She sobered and walked for awhile in silence.
Then she looked up again. “You don’t think our looking different will cause any trouble at the village?”
“No. the people of Big Rock are friendly to outsiders. They’ve even let them live with them.” He pushed aside a low-hanging curtain of moss with his club and pointed. “There it is.”
Kelly looked at the wooden stockade surrounded by fields of corn and other crops and blinked. “That’s the whole village?”
Dano nodded as he tucked his club into the piece of thick cord he wore as a belt. “Yes. That’s all of it.”
“I see why you were surprised when I told you how many people lived in a village at home,” she said, shaking her head. “Is this one of the bigger ones?”
“Yes. Big Rock is the most prosperous village that I know. There may be richer ones near the grassy lands, but it’s been many years since I went that way.”
Kelly shook her head again and fell behind him as he walked between rows of bushes and then tall corn. She could see men up on raised platforms at the four corners of the cultivated area, but they weren’t challenged till they reached the open place in front of the log gate.
Then two men stepped in front of them, lowering long staffs with what looked like ax heads on the ends to bar their way.
She looked at the long blond braids that lay on their shoulders and thought of the Saxon warriors in one movie she’d seen. These men looked like that, except for the distinct slant to their grey eyes.
She glanced at Caudis, comparing. His eyes weren't quite the same shape, but other than that, and the long hair and beards of the Big Rock men, he did look a lot like them.
Caudis caught her glance and crossed his eyes, then faced seriously forward as Dano continued to speak with the guards.
Kelly turned too, biting her lip to keep from laughing.
The guards nodded and lowered their staffs, stepping back. Kelly was aware of their eyes following her as she trailed Dano inside.
The first thing she became aware of was the mud. She sank into it past her ankles the minute she stepped off the wooden deck in front of the gate.
The next thing she noticed was the smell. Rank vapors rose from piles of garbage behind the huts that huddled in the center of the enclosure, away from the walls, a strong odor of stale urine hung in the air, and the mud around her feet stank of unnamable substances. The sickly sweet tang of marijuana came from a small group of men standing in front of the largest hut.
Kelly tried holding her breath, then realized that it wouldn't work. She prayed that her nose would go dead fast.
Dano, oblivious to the cacophony of odors, lead the way to a raised island of grass in the middle of the village and gestured that Kelly and Caudis should sit down and rest. Kelly sat and put her smelly feet as far away from her as possible, then tried to smile at three young children who had followed them from the gate and now stood staring.
Caudis bent to look at one of her feet, frowning. “Kerry, you blood.”
“What?” She bent her knee to look and saw a big piece of skin hanging loose and caked with mud.
“Oh, euww!” She gagged at the thought of what she must have gotten into it.
“What is it?” Dano turned to look at her as the children ran away.
“She blood.” Caudis pointed.
Dano dropped to one knee, his face sharp with concern. “Let me see.”
He examined the injury carefully, then called out to a woman with a pot on her head. The woman came over to look, then lowered her pot and poured freezing water over it, washing away the mud and blood.
Kelly gave a little shriek as the icy water seemed to stab into every joint in her foot, then stuck her hand in her mouth so she couldn’t say anything else.
The woman gave her a quick smile of sympathy, then lifted her pot back to her head and went back to the well.
“How bad is it?” Kelly tried to see.
“You took the skin off of it,” said Dano soberly. “I have some salve that might help it heal, but I don’t know what sort of sickness you may have gotten in it.”
Kelly put her hand over her mouth and shut her eyes as the pain finally hit, making her queasy. She wondered when she’d done it.
“T’n.” The woman was back, holding out a skin bottle. “Dmid’nsr. Rprid’br.”
Dano took the bottle and smelled the contents, then coughed, his eyes starting to water.
“What is it?” asked Kelly.
“Strong drink.” He wiped his eyes. “She's right. It will kill anything bad. But it will hurt.”
“Alcohol.” Kelly winced. “Go ahead. I can take it.”
Dano looked at her and grimaced. “Caudis, give her your hand. This is too painful for me to stand.”
Caudis held out his hand and Kelly looked at it doubtfully, but then she looked at the big red strip on the bottom of her foot and grabbed it with both of hers.
“Are you ready?” asked Dano.
“Ready.” She squeezed her eyes shut.
Fire burned over the bottom of her foot. Kelly gritted her teeth and pressed her fingertips into Caudis’ palm.
“There.” A cool breeze washed over the wound, making her toes curl.
She opened her eyes and looked at Caudis, who looked back soberly, then glanced down at his hand.
Kelly looked too, and saw fingernail marks. “Oh. I’m sorry.”
“I’m okay.” He said, examining the injured member.
“T’n.” The woman offered him the bottle.
“D’nk.” He poured it over the gouges, hissing through his teeth at the sting.
Kelly watched as the woman pulled the flap of loose skin back over the raw spot, then held it in place with a strip of cloth, wrapping the foot quickly and skillfully. “T’n.”
“D’nk.” Dano said, then asked her something.
The woman shrugged and made a ‘don’t worry about it’ gesture.
Kelly ran her fingers over the bandage as the two of them talked, thinking that she recognized what the cloth was made of from the time the girls at school had gone into a store that sold hemp clothing. She pondered the fact that the same weed seemed to grow wherever people did, then looked up as a man came over and greeted Dano, who stood to speak with him while the woman took her skin bottle and hurried away.
Caudis listened for a minute, then moved closer to Kelly, a slight frown on his face.
“What’s he saying?” She leaned over to whisper.
Caudis glanced at her incredulously, then leaned toward the other men.
“Saying, ‘my name is Garrow…greet you….’” He frowned in intense concentration. “‘Woman you…you…belong to you?’ Dano saying, ‘No. Not belong.’ Garrow saying, ‘You child?’.”
Dano glanced down at her thoughtfully at this point, then nodded.
“Hey, no I’m not,” whispered Kelly. “Why did he lie?”
Caudis sighed hugely and began to work over what she’d said, then brightened as the village man walked away through the mud and Dano sat again. “Why did you lie?” he asked the older man.
Dano looked at him in surprise. “What do you mean?”
“You saying Kerry you child. Kerry saying you lie. Why did you lie?”
Dano shook his head. “I didn’t say Kerry was my child, I said she was my sister. That’s not a lie.”
“Why didn’t you just tell him that I’m traveling with you guys?” she asked. “That’s the truth.”
Dano gave her a shocked look. “But women don’t associate with men who aren't related to them.”
Kelly raised her eyebrows. “You guys are talking to me.”
“You’re related to us,” he said puzzledly.
Kelly rolled her eyes, then thought of something. “But that woman who wrapped my foot talked to you.”
“Yes, she did. It was….” He stopped and scratched his head, not sure of the words he needed.
“An emergency?” asked Kelly.
“Is that when someone’s in trouble and needs help badly?”
“Yeah.”
Dano nodded. “Yes, that was an emergency. When Garrow saw what was happening he came to speak with me so that she didn’t have to.”
“Whatever.” Kelly shook her head, nose wrinkled. “Here he comes again.”
Dano looked up as the man returned, followed by a young girl who looked like a smaller mirror image of him.
Garrow started to talk, gesturing from the girl to Kelly while Dano stared at him in surprise, then shook his head firmly.
Garrow spoke more persuasively, telling the girl to open her mouth and proudly showing Dano her teeth, then pushing up the sleeve of her shapeless dress to show him her arm.
Dano shook his head again. Garrow sighed and looked at Kelly regretfully, then slapped Dano on the arm and grinned at him. Motioning to the girl, he turned and walked away.
“What was that?” asked Kelly.
Dano gave her a chagrined look, blushing slightly. “He wanted to trade his daughter for you, so that he and I would both have a good strong wife. A man from…” he stopped and made a rainbow shape with his hands.
“Bend,” said Kelly.
“Yes, Bend River village came after the last harvest and traded daughters with one of the men here, so Garrow thought that’s what we’d come for.”
“Trade daughters?” Kelly looked at him. “That’s wrong.”
“It’s strange to me, too, Kerry-bird,” said Dano, raising both eyebrows.
“We trade, get food?” asked Caudis.
Dano laughed. “Are you hungry already?”
“Da.”
“So am I,” admitted Kelly, though she hated to think of eating anything that came from a place that smelled like Big Rock did.
“Let’s look at what we have to trade.” Dano started pulling things out of his bag. Caudis did the same.
Kelly looked at the bits and pieces they lay on the grass and shook her head. Two small obsidian knives, with handles made by wrapping coarse string around the unsharpened ends, a lump of sandstone, a crudely-made metal hatchet, the squirrel skin, and some breadcrumbs were the sum total of the loot. “Let me see what I have.”
“Don’t let anyone see your clothes, or the picture, or the little music machine,” Dano reminded her.
“I know. Hey, how do you know the word ‘machine’, anyway? I don’t remember seeing it in the New Testament.” She paused in the midst of rooting through her knapsack one-handed to look at him.
“My teacher taught it to me,” said Dano, “He knew a few other strange words, too. But I don’t know where he learned them, no one’s spoken Book language in centuries.” He looked thoughtfully at the hatchet, then picked it up and ran his thumb along the edge.
“Maybe he had another book, other than the Bible,” said Kelly, pulling her purse to the top of the knapsack and opening it surreptitiously.
“I don’t think so, he would have shown it to me.”
“For sure? Maybe it was a special treasure, or something. Sometimes people have stuff that they like to keep to themselves.” She dumped the purse into the knapsack and sorted through the contents. Most of it looked too high-tech, even the barrettes. Besides, the women and girls she’d seen so far all had their hair hacked off short. They wouldn’t need anything to hold it out of their faces.
Something nicked her finger and she winced and pulled out the mirror that used to be in her compact. “Do you think this would bother them?”
Dano leaned over to look. “No, I've seen bits of this before. Farmers sometimes find it in the ground when they're digging wells.”
“So, do you think anyone will want to trade for it?” She frowned thoughtfully at her reflection.
“The only way we can find out is to try.” He took it, then stood and walked over to the men in front of the big hut, holding the mirror up so that it caught the sun.
One took it and examined it carefully, then turned excitedly to Dano and began to haggle.
“What’d he say?” Kelly asked Caudis.
He rubbed his forehead and gave her a reproachful look.
“Hey, you wanted to learn Book language,” she reminded him.
“Yeah.” He sighed. “He say, big mirror, most big he see. He want, so afford wife. Dano say trade food.”
“Did he say yes?”
“Say yes.” Caudis’ forehead creased as he listened to the bargaining, then he glanced at Kelly and bent to adjust the thongs that tied his boots on.
Kelly waited, then frowned at him. “Aren't you going to translate any more?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
He looked her in the eye and answered in his native tongue, slowing it down and pronouncing each word with emphasis.
“Caudis, I’m no meaner than you are, and my mother is not a lousy housekeeper. Her house doesn’t smell at all. Not like you,” retorted Kelly, folding her arms across her chest.
Caudis lost his smug expression and gasped, then sputtered a reply.
“Yes, I understood you, you crumb. And you do too stink.”
He looked at her doubtfully, then asked a question.
“When you talk slow and look at me I can make out what you’re saying,” she answered, still scowling at him. “And I don’t think it was very nice to insult my mother. Would you like it if I told you yours wore army boots?”
Caudis gasped again, his eyes wide in shock. “Kerry! That bad! I’m sorry I saying you mother bad keeper. Not say my mother….” he trailed off, unable to repeat her words.
Kelly glanced sideways, surprised by his reaction. “It was really that bad?”
Caudis nodded gravely, still looking horrified. “Very bad.”
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t know. At home it’s just a joke.” She put her hand over her mouth.
Caudis grimaced in sympathy at her confusion. “I tran…slate for you. I’m sorry.”
“T…thanks.” She buried her flaming face in her arms, feeling horribly embarrassed as she wondered about the connotations of what she’d said. God, please help me to be careful about what I say. I don’t want to be saying something dirty or rude without even knowing about it. Mortified tears leaked through the cloth of Dano’s tunic.
“What’s happening here?” His voice broke through her confusion.
“Kerry say bad,” Caudis replied. “She not know.” He then switched languages and explained quickly. Kelly didn’t get any more than her name and that Caudis admitted he’d been bad too.
Dano asked the younger man a question. Then Kelly heard him sit next to her and hunched her shoulders defensively. She didn’t want any sympathy right now; she just wanted to cry herself out so she could look people in the eye again.
But no hand touched her. Dano didn’t offer any kind words. He just sat there beside her and waited till she was ready to come out.
Come on, snap out of it, Kelly scolded herself like a teacher had done once when she’d accidentally torn his autographed book. You take things too hard. Everyone else forgives you, even God. Now you do it.
After awhile she felt better and peeked over the edge of her arms at Caudis, who grinned at her and then blew up his cheeks.
She laughed despite herself. “You nut.”
“Nut?” He turned to Dano for explanation.
“I meant you were being silly,” she clarified quickly, feeling her face flush again. “You know; goofy, foolish….”
He nodded cheerfully. “I was. You laugh.”
She shook her head at him, then turned questioningly to Dano.
“Are you okay?” he asked, eyes twinkling.
“Yeah.” She looked down at her knees.
“Everyone makes mistakes in speech.”
She gave him a doubtful look. “Yeah, right. I can’t see you dropping a bomb like that.”
He laughed, the sound coming from deep inside of him. “Kerry-bird, you don’t know!” He tried to say more, but was prevented by more laughter.
Kelly watched him for a few minutes, her mouth turning up at the corners as she wondered what the joke was, then glanced at Caudis as he snorted and nodded. “What? What’s so funny?”
Dano tried to answer, but only ended up laughing some more.
“What is so funny?” she demanded. “What did you say?”
“Which time?” he gasped, wiping tears out of his eyes.
Kelly’s eyebrows shot up. “The funny one.”
He made a huge effort and got himself under control. “When I was about you and Caudis’ age I was in a village over in the broken country. Their overseer was also the priest to their idol. He was a very….” He drew himself up straight and made a serious expression.
“Dignified,” said Kelly, starting to guess where this could be going.
“Thank you. He was a very dignified man, and everyone gave him great honor.” Dano started to chuckle again and Kelly tapped on his knee with her palm to try and get him back to the story.
“I was staying in his house, because he said that I was a fellow priest, and he was carefully teaching me the language of the village. One day I wanted to thank him so I said, ‘Ganna dag zondo.’” Dano squeezed his eyes shut and laughed to himself. “The overseer gazed at me for a short time, his face very surprised, then he shook his head sadly and said that I could be saying the truth, but he hoped no one else discovered it.”
“What did you say? What does that mean?” asked Kelly, grinning in anticipation.
Dano snorted. “I had said that he was giving birth to an egg….”
“Laying an egg,” said Kelly.
“Yes. I had said that he was laying an egg, instead of saying that he was very helpful.”
Kelly frowned. “That’s it? What’s so….” Then she pictured the old man’s face when he heard Dano’s words and snorted herself. “Ohh, boy. Good thing he had a sense of humor.”
Dano nodded. “Yes. He never mentioned it again until the day I was leaving, then he took me aside at the village gate and handed me an egg, telling me to remember him as a friend.”
“He didn’t.” Kelly’s mouth fell open.
“He did. And laughed, too.”
“Oh boy.” She shook her head. “What a nut.”
Garrow’s daughter came out of her hut with three bowls in her hands, then, and carried them carefully across the mud. “T’n, t’s’tceya?” she said as she knelt in front of Kelly, her face bright and friendly.
“Oh!” Kelly scrambled up. “Sure, I’ll help.”
The girl smiled at her as she took one of the bowls and handed it to Dano. “Ya n’pr Tan. T’n t’n’re?”
Kelly took the next bowl and paused as she gave it to Caudis. “Uhh…ya n’pr Kerry.”
“Kerry?” Tan’s thin face creased in delight as she gave the last bowl to Kelly. She pursed her lips and whistled softly. “Kerry?”
Kelly nodded, grinning. “Da. Bzzz.” She made her hand fly upward.
Tan laughed and knelt on the grass next to her, watching her curiously.
“Ir t brt?” She glanced sideways at Dano.
“Da. He’s my brother.” Kelly tipped the bowl and looked squeamishly at the greasy stew, then pulled a piece of green vegetable out of the broth and chewed it tentatively, suppressing the urge to spit it out.
Tan tilted her head to the side and watched Dano thoughtfully for a few minutes, then glanced toward her hut. Turning back to Kelly, she said something that ended in, “D’brdng.”
“Uhh, d’brdng,” repeated Kelly, hoping it was the right thing.
It seemed to be, because Tan got to her feet and walked away, pausing to make a gesture with her hand before she went inside.
Kelly watched her go, then looked down at her stew grimly. “This stuff is bad, Dano.”
He paused in the act of licking his bowl to blink at her. “Is there a bug in it?”
“No. It just tastes kind of rancid.”
“What does rancid mean?” he asked patiently.
“Can’t you smell it?”
He shook his head.
“Never mind,” sighed Kelly, fishing out a piece of tough, stringy, meat and forcing herself to eat it, even though it tasted just as bad as it smelled.
Another man came over as she ate, a tall guy with a lot of teeth missing. He talked to Dano for a few minutes, pointing to Kelly’s belt.
Dano replied, then turned to her. “This is the overseer of the village. His name is Fraser. He just asked me if that belt you’re wearing helped you have healthy babies. When I explained that it was only an ornament he asked me what we would take in trade for it.”
Kelly had seen the sudden gleam of greed in the man’s eyes, and his glance toward a stooped, grey-haired woman who was pounding something in a hollowed log. “Why does he want it?”
“People here usually don’t have time to make anything except what they need to live.” Dano explained. “It shows that a woman is a very hard worker if she can make or trade for something with no purpose other than beauty.”
“And her being a hard worker makes her husband look good,” finished Kelly in disgust. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to trade it.”
“It’s your decision, Kerry-bird,” said Dano, then turned and spoke again to the village headman, who scowled in disappointment and walked toward the biggest hut.
“If they don’t have time to make things for looks, why are they all wearing necklaces?” Kelly spit out a piece of gristle.
“Those are supposed to keep them healthy.” He turned toward another man who had come over to sit beside them and chat for awhile.
“Caudis, what is this?” Kelly held up a chunk of meat.
He looked up from his bowl. “Horse.”
She froze. “Horse? You mean hrhrhr, clip-clop, clip-clop, horse?”
He nodded.
“Oh, yuck.” She set her bowl on the grass, hoping she didn’t throw up and insult someone.
“You not hungry?” Caudis pointed to it.
“No.”
“D’nk.” He picked it up and ate hungrily.
Kelly turned away so she didn’t have to watch. “Hey, Dano, is that stew all we got for the mirror?”
“No. Garrow’s daughter is baking us some bread, too.”
“Is it made with horse?”
“Maybe,” he said. “Horses are one of the most common kinds of tamed animals.”
“And you eat them,” said Kelly flatly.
“Isn’t that what they’re for?” He frowned in confusion.
“At home we ride on their backs,” she said, remembering the old grey Arabian she’d had lessons on one summer. “We don’t eat them. I see a dog over there,” she pointed. “Do they eat them too?”
Dano looked at the dog, which looked something like a medium-sized, black-and-tan, rough-coated beagle. “Sometimes, but they don’t taste very good. Dogs are mostly for frightening wild animals.”
Kelly sighed and put her head in her hands, then remembered something else. “Aren't we going to trade for some clothes for me?”
“We’re going to get some leather for your feet, and a coat for you,” said Dano.
“What about other clothes? I can’t just go on wearing your shirt.”
He blinked. “We can’t get cloth.”
“Why not?” She frowned at him.
“We don’t have enough things to trade with. Cloth takes a long time to make.”
Kelly looked toward the headman’s wife, who was still pounding in the hollow log, then down at her belt. “Do you think Fraser will trade cloth for this?”
Dano grinned. “Perhaps.” He turned back to the village man and spoke to him briefly.
The man looked at the belt with interest, then got up and walked toward the headman’s hut.
Kelly untied it and ran her fingers over the knotted pattern, wondering what it would have been worth if it had been made of cord instead of leather, then sighed and handed it to Dano.
Fraser soon came slogging through the mud, followed by his wife, who held a large bundle of cloth in her arms. Taking the bundle from her, he spread out the coarse grey cloth as though it were finest silk, then looked up at them hopefully.
Dano rubbed it between his fingers and nodded, then spoke at length.
Fraser frowned and looked at his wife questioningly, asking a short question.
She considered, then gave approval.
Grinning, Fraser turned back to the taller man and indicated his agreement to the deal. Bundling the cloth up again, he handed it back to his wife and the two of them walked into their hut.
Dano turned and looked down at Kelly with a smile. “You’re going to have new clothes, all the things that other women have. He’s also giving us three pouches of preserved food. Not horse,” he added in answer to her look.
She reached out and fingered the belt. “You’d think this was made of diamonds,” she said soberly.
“What are diamonds?” Dano sat and pulled a grass blade out of its sheath.
“Really rare and expensive rocks. They’re one of the most popular kinds of jewelry where I come from.”
He glanced at Caudis, who was polishing out her bowl, then looked up. “And you could buy a lot of clothing with one?”
“A nice one, yeah.” She poked her finger into the grass and frowned at a little bug that hurried away from the disturbance.
Dano didn’t say anything else, but he looked very thoughtful as he gazed out across the village.
Kelly chased the bug till it went out of her reach, then took the bowl away from Caudis and stacked it neatly with the other two. Drawing her knees up under her chin, she wrapped herself snugly in the cloak and pulled it over her head.
A hand touched her shoulder, waking her, and she looked up into Tan’s open face.
“Hi.” She sat up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes.
Tan smiled and held out a wooden bowl full of the hard, flat bread. “T’n.” She rattled off a happy description of how she’d made the bread special for them, then looked wistfully at Dano and raised one eyebrow at Kelly as though saying oh well.
“D’nk.” Kelly opened her knapsack and put about a third of the bread into it, then reached for Caudis’ bag.
He pulled it away playfully and she scowled and made a grab for it, then turned and started putting the rest of the bread into Dano’s bag.
“I’m sorry!” said Caudis. “Please give me bread.”
Kelly pretended that she didn’t hear him and went on putting the bread into the bag.
Tan looked back and forth between them, her brow furrowing in concern. “I’m sorry. Prease give me bread,” she repeated softly.
Kelly glanced sideways at her, feeling bad. Taking the bag from Caudis, she put his share of the food into it. “Sorry, Caudis.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “Please say ‘thank you’ to Tan.”
Kelly grimaced and shook her head, but turned to the village girl. “Caudis says d’nk.”
“Pr’shu,” replied Tan, her eyes lowered, then gave Kelly a smile and picked up her bowl. “D’brdng.”
“D’brdng.” Kelly watched her go, then looked up at the sky, closing her eyes against the kiss of the mist. “Will it take awhile for Fraser’s wife to get everything made?”
“Her daughters are helping.” Dano examined a piece of bread, smiling. “Look at this.”
Kelly looked at the dark spots in the piece, then grinned. “Berries?”
“Small fruits.” He put the bread back in the bag. “Your clothes should be ready before dark. You’ll be able to sleep in your own coat tonight.”
“Cool.” She pulled a fold of his under her butt so it wouldn't soak up so much water from the ground. “So we’ll be sleeping here?”
He nodded, looking around.
“I was going to offer you my Bible, but then I remembered that I can’t take it out here,” said Kelly in chagrin. “Do you have your own?”
Dano nodded and pulled a small, rumpled thing that looked more like a magazine than a Bible out of his bag. “Would you like to read with me?”
“Sure.” She scooted closer and looked over his arm. “Won’t the mist hurt it?”
“No, the leather and ink are safe in the water.” He opened it gently. “What would you like to read?”
“I don’t know. How about Luke?” She watched Caudis as he also moved nearer, his eyes on the book.
“The Good Story as told by Ruke?” Dano paged through the coverless manuscript carefully. “Here we are. Can you make out the letters?”
Kelly frowned at the cramped writing, trying to figure out the odd squared script, then nodded. “Yes. Can we read out loud so it’s easier for Caudis?”
“Softly,” said Dano approvingly. “Who will read first?”
“I will.” She leaned over his arm and started. “Many have attempted to write about what had taken place among us. They received their information from those who had been eyewitnesses and servants of God’s word from the beginning, and they passed it on to us. I, too, have followed everything closely from the beginning. So I thought it would be a good idea to write an orderly account for Your Excellency, Theophilus. In this way you will know that what you’ve been told is true.”
She read on softly, marveling as she read that even centuries of illiteracy and primitive living hadn’t managed to erase the Word of life. Dano and Caudis leaned close, listening intently.
After awhile Dano began to read. Wearied by the constant chill and lulled by the baritone rumble of his voice, Kelly once more found herself fading into sleep.