Beginning at the End (Moon Child Trilogy: Book One)

by Sandra Lang

The sound of twigs breaking force my eyes open. I turn my head in the direction of the noise. Barely able to see through the tall grass, I strain to see. The sky has darkened above me. Dying sunlight barely gives me any help distinguishing what made the sound from the shadows.

  “Is someone there?” I call out, cautiously sitting up.

  There is no answer, only silence.

  I still my body and listen for any other noises. Nothing breaks and nothing moves. Only the familiar sounds of the forest find their way to my ears.

  I return home soon after to find my mother, Aunt Ruki, Granny, and Tala waiting.

  “Where have you been?” Mother asks.

  “I went to the Glade to meditate. Is there something wrong?”

  She shakes her head and picks up an extra bowl. “Are you hungry?” she asks, ladling soup into the bowl.

  I nod and take the offered bowl. She would have made me eat the food regardless of my answer. I sit down next to Tala on my sleeping platform and eat.

  “Should you not be at home?” I ask.

  “Mother is staying with Sarali and Sirak while my father is away. I really have no desire to help out. That baby cries a lot and Liral… well, you know how energetic he is.”

  The five of us laugh. I look around and realize that there is someone missing from our family. “Where is Reven?”

  Ruki sighs. “He has gone off with some of the boys from Tall Grass.”

  “Have you not told that boy to stay away from them?” Granny asks. Tall Grass is known for the grass and kelp baskets they weave, but more so for the rowdiness of their sons.

  “Reven thinks there is more adventure to be had diving for kelp than there is here. Those boys think themselves invincible and I do not want my son thinking he can shirk his duty to his House.”

  “You should be more firm with him, Ruki. A young man must learn to respect his mother because he will be around women all his life. If he begins disrespecting you, he will end up angering the Matrons.”

  “Pilar and I thought working with Yakon would help straighten him out.”

  “That clearly is not working, Ruki.”

  Ruki sighs heavily and hangs her head. “I know.”

  “He will get things figured out,” my mother says with a shrug. Despite the dismissal, I can tell she is unsettled.

  The second son of any man may choose to learn the ways of his father or the ways of another. Because my parents had no sons to carry on the tradition of our trade, Reven is supposed to fulfill that duty. The only other sons who could learn from my father would be my second son or Sarali’s. Fifteen summers he would have to wait for her second son. More for mine.

  After we finish eating and talking, the night has settled around us. The women leave to their own huts with only my mother and myself remaining in ours. She settles onto her bed and I onto mine. We do not speak, but both of us are still thinking about my father and about the trouble Reven could cause for us. The silence is heavy until I hear the soft, comforting sounds of her steady breathing.

  That night ande very night after, I dream of wolves.