Fire jumping from a stone was such a strange thing that, for a moment, he forgot about the deer and examined the stone. He had never seen this kind of stone before. He hit it with his spearhead again, and little pieces of fire sprang from it again. His curiosity was aroused. He had to know if there really was fire hidden inside the stone. He made a pile of dry grass and struck the stone in such a way that the fire in the stone would land in the dry grass. Sure enough, a tendril of smoke rose from the grass. He blew into the smoke, and a flame burst forth. He was elated, knowing that he just made fire so easily. Then he quickly killed the fire, and gathered up a supply of the stones to carry back to his companions.
I don’t want Lox to know what I’ve found here, but I’ll tell my friends about this the first chance I get, Zen thought. He knew his discovery was important and wanted to keep it a secret for now. So he skinned the deer, wrapped the choice cuts of meat in the skin with the stones, and hurried to meet the girls, who were walking toward him.
The girls seemed excited and were trying to tell him something, but his mind was on the firestones, and he didn’t listen as well as he should have. They all returned to the raft, where he gave the deer meat to Jok to store as he and the girls pushed the raft away from the riverbank.
As they floated down the river, Jok and Lox cooked the meat in a area of the raft they had prepared with green leaves to protect it from burning.
After the two rivers flowed together, even more streams funneled in. The river became so wide that the trees on the banks looked small. Also, the land was getting flatter. Large herds of animals were grazing on the grass; there were even contented-looking lions relaxing under the shade trees.
The bows and arrows made hunting easier, less dangerous, and more enjoyable. Now they had everything they needed. They could catch fish from the river, and game on the banks was easy to obtain. Since no clouds covered the sun, and the heat was becoming intense, they added more animal skins to make a more protective sunshade.
Crocodiles no longer lay on the banks, and the fish in the river were almost as long as the raft. Lox showed Jok and Zen how to make bone hooks to catch some of the smaller ones. Then he showed them how to prepare fish eggs to make a delicious food.
As they floated along, the four friends taught Lox what they knew. In turn, he taught them his language, so that they could talk to his people.
“What do you call your village?” Lela asked.
“Our village, which honors Zor, is called Zoran, and we call ourselves Zorians.”
***
Chapter 13
The Village by the Sea
One morning, after a quiet night, Zen dipped his hand into the river, took a mouthful of water, and quickly spit it out.
“Ugh!” he said and made a face. “This water is salty!”
“Yes,” Lox laughed. “That's because the river water has mixed with sea water. This means we are nearing the end of our voyage. Let's beach the raft now; we can get fresh water from a tributary stream.”
***
The next day, there was water ahead as far as they could see. In the distance was a village. As the raft drew closer, everyone noticed that the dwellings were made from blocks of dried mud; some even had individual dried mud walls surrounding them. Each home had its own private area in which animals lived and plants were growing. Lox called the mud-dwellings houses. Jok, Ador, Zen and Lela had seen houses made of skins, but they had never seen houses like this.
The raft stopped moving and was just floating; they pushed it along with pieces of wood called paddles that Lox had made. The water was so deep they couldn’t get traction against the river bottom, even with their long spears. Although the paddles were slow going, at least the raft was moving toward a walkway that was built out into the water.
Lox told them to tie the raft to the walkway and then step onto it. But long before they reached it, people were gathering. Lox waved to the crowd. They recognized Lox and began jumping up and down excitedly.
As they got nearer, people threw ropes, which Lox tied to the raft.
“Now we can’t escape,” Zen whispered.
Lox noticed his concern and told him not to worry. He leaped onto the walkway and embraced a tiny woman and two nearly full-grown boys, who were overjoyed to see their father.
Zen’s party was reluctant to go ashore, but two men and three women jumped onto the raft and helped them climb onto the walkway, and then they led them along a path into the village.
The villagers were short with black hair, brown skin, and brown eyes. They stared in wonder at Zen and his friends, as they had never seen anyone with hair and eyes in those colors. Ador’s yellow hair and bright blue eyes especially fascinated them.
Lox told Zen that the villagers had the same reaction that he had when he first saw Zen and Jok. The only person they ever heard of who had yellow hair, fair skin, and blue eyes was Zor, the Wise One, who had come to them long ago but they had never seen him. The story was told that he had married one of their women, and that they had two children, a boy and a girl, whose hair and eyes were brown. When these two children became parents, their children's hair was black.
The Zorians' houses were built in straight lines on each side of a hard-packed dirt walkway. Behind each house was a walled area. Zen and his friends had never seen animals like the ones kept behind those walls.
“Each family has its own animals that provide food or wool,” Lox explained. “The wool is used for making clothing, and they either eat the animals or eat what they produce, like eggs and milk.”
“The people are dressed in strange-looking skins,” Lela commented.
“Those are not skins,” Lox explained. “That is clothing made from the wool of the sheep.”
“What are the big animals with the horns?” Ador asked.
“We call them cows. We get milk from cows, and we make cheese from the milk after it is no longer good to drink. We also raise chickens and eat their eggs.”
Zen remarked, “Jok, this village has practical knowledge that our people need,” then asked Lox, “How did you learn to do all these things?”
“Mostly from Zor, the Wise One, who came to us from your village long ago,” Lox replied. “Why didn't your villagers learn from Zor?”
“Because our priests ran Zor off. In contrast, your people listened to him and became happy and prosperous. Our people tried to kill him because our priests told us to, and our village became oppressed and unhappy,” Zen explained.
“Perhaps that is why he told us never to worship fire and never to make sacrifices to the gods,” Lox said. “We revered him as a messenger from God, while your God banished him. I think your God is a false God.”
“That is what Zor tried to tell us,” Jok agreed.
Lox’s wife was looking at him with pleading eyes, so Lox turned to his new friends and said, “My friends will take you to a house of your own so that you can rest and refresh yourselves. Tonight we will hold a feast in your honor. Now, I want to spend some time with my wife and sons. It’s been a long time since we have been together. ” Lox’s wife clung to his left hand, while his younger son was holding unto his right hand. The older son was leading the way. Their faces showed how happy they were to see him.
Now that is a happy family, Zen thought. That is what I want for my family.
Two young women stepped forward, took Lela and Ador by the hands and led them to a house. Zen and Jok followed. When they got inside, they noticed wood chairs, and two extra rooms extending from the main room had wooden beds with soft padding made of straw covered with a soft, smooth material.
“These are wonderful beds,” Ador said, touching the padding. She couldn’t help but bounce on it a little.
Lela just looked at her and smiled, and then they lay down on the beds and were soon fast asleep.
But Zen and Jok couldn’t sleep; there was too much to see, so they went outside to look around. They walked to the edge of the village, where plants were growing in st
raight rows in flat sections of earth. Some people were tending the plants, while others were gathering fruit or gathering the seeds of plants.
“This is so strange,” Jok marveled. “I don’t know what to make of it.”
The people working in the fields looked up, smiled, and waved as Zen and Jok walked by. They waved back and walked on.
“Jok, don’t you wish our priests had not banished Zor, and we had learned from him how to do these useful tasks? This is a happy village.”
“We were not allowed to learn except what our priests thought we needed to know. For example, we had to worship the Fire God. If we learned other skills, they were afraid we would defy them. Zen, we must learn everything we can here and share this knowledge with our people. We can have a happy village also.”
“There is so much to learn. We will each concentrate on certain areas. That way we can learn more quickly. Let’s go tell the girls what we've decided.”
When they got back to the house, they found a man and a woman talking to Lela and Ador. The man was telling them that the feast would begin when the sun touched the earth.
“Why start so early?” Zen asked.
“It is the most sacred time of day, because that is when Father Sun and Mother Earth join to make new life,” the man explained. “That is how men and women are supposed to live also. Rest now, and we’ll come back for you later.”
The Zorians had brought clean garments for the girls, who looked beautiful in theirs.
Lela told Zen and Jok, “The Zorians placed small containers of water to drink from in the bedrooms; the large containers are for us to bathe in. There's fresh fruit on the shelf in the main room, in case you’re hungry.”
Zen and Jok marveled at the containers and wanted to know what they were made of—something light, yet very strong, shiny as the sun and polished very brightly.
After the men had bathed and dressed in their new garments, Zen called the girls over and said, “There is so much to learn, it's almost overwhelming. So if we each concentrate on a couple of areas, we’ll learn faster, and then we can teach the others what we've learned. Lela, maybe you could learn to weave wool into garments and blankets. Ador, perhaps you could learn to grow plants and turn them into food. Jok, you could learn how to make mud blocks into houses. I will learn how to raise animals for food.”
“Why don’t we just stay here,” Lela asked, “and make our home in this village?”
“We could do that,” Zen answered. “If that is what you want, then that is what we’ll do. But I think we’d be happier if we started our own village. I want to find a way around the Valley of Mist so we can rescue our parents. We’ll also bring anyone who wants to come back with us. That way, we’ll have our families and friends with us. We, too, can create a happy village.”
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Ador agreed. “I so much want Mother and Father to know that we made it through the valley.”
“I also believe it would be better to start our own village,” Jok added. “If we stay here, we’ll never see our families again, and in time, we’ll lose the right to make our own decisions. The Zorians live by their own set of rules. I say, let’s start our own place.”
“I think I know how we can get horses we can ride,” Lela interjected.
“You do?” Zen and Jok asked in surprise.
Ador remembered the colt, smiled, nodded her head, and said, “If we had horses, we could travel faster, and it would be easier to bring our families here. Don’t forget, we still have to deal with the priests, and their penalty for trying to escape is death by burning. Bows and arrows will help, but we’ll need more than that to overcome the priests.”
“It’s going to take a lot of planning,” Jok said, “and we’ll need the Lalocks to help us. They’re going to be afraid to help us because they would bring extra trouble down on themselves. I think we can do this, but it’s not going to be easy. After all, we had to escape through the Valley of Mist once, and I definitely hope we won’t have to do that again.”
Zen was still thinking about what Lela had said. “How can you get horses?”
“Well, while you were killing the deer,” Ador answered, “Lela and I found a colt whose mother had broken her leg. The baby horse couldn’t feed, but he let us pet him.”
“Now that I have seen how these Zorians raise animals,” Lela added, “I’m sure we can raise horses if we start with babies.”
“That might work,” Jok remarked.
“It’s certainly worth a try,” Zen said. “Now I have something to show you.”
All eyes were on Zen.
“I’ve been waiting until we could be alone to show you this. I found a firestone. It’s amazing, and it will help us get what we need to start our new village. I think the Zorians will be willing to trade whatever they have for what we have. Everyone will be better off.”
Zen removed one of the firestones from the skin pouch. Everyone stared at it in bewilderment, as they had never seen rocks like that before. Then Zen brought out dry moss and placed it on the dirt floor, grasped another stone, and struck the firestone on top of the dry moss. A spark landed in the moss, and almost instantly, a tiny flame blossomed. Jok and the girls gasped! Did Zen just make a fire? They were so astonished; they didn’t know what to say. Zen couldn’t help but be pleased with their reaction.
Zen quickly extinguished the flame and rubbed out any evidence that he had started a fire.
At last, Jok spoke. “We know that a stone won’t burn, yet we saw you knock fire from one. How did you do that? This is even more amazing than some of the things we’ve seen here in this village!”
Jok and the girls walked over to touch the spot where they had seen the flame.
“I found this firestone when we stopped at the place where the two rivers run together. I had to use both hands to kill the deer with my bow and arrow, and I accidentally dropped my spear on the rock. I noticed the sparks flying and thought it was my imagination, so I hit the rock with my spear again.”
“Do you have any more of these firestones?” Lela asked.
“Yes, I picked up several and placed them in the skin of the deer. Stones like these were lying all about. Some of them are larger than this one and could be broken into smaller pieces to make more firestones. We could distribute them among the Zorians, and they could make a fire anytime they wanted.”
Jok tapped Zor on the arm. “I was wondering why you skinned that deer before you returned to the raft. That was just an invitation to have a hungry lion take the meat away from you. I thought something must be wrong; you’re not usually that careless.” He picked up a firestone and examined it. “What are you going to do with these stones?”
“After the feast tonight, I’m going to show them to the Zorians, but I’m not going to tell them where I got them.”
Four men came to their door just as he finished speaking. “We're here to escort you to the feast,” the spokesman said.
Two men walked in front, and two walked behind Zen and Jok. The two in front carried lighted torches, and the two in back carried poles with tops decorated with brightly colored feathers.
“They are treating us like royalty,” Jok whispered.
***
Many people were already at the meeting place when they got there. They were dressed in colorful garments and sat in a semicircle facing a raised area under a large tree. In the middle of the raised area sat an old man with a cape over his shoulders and an elaborate covering on his head.
“He must be the village headman,” Zen said.
Lox and his wife were seated at the headman’s right. Zen and Jok were escorted to a spot beside Lox. Lela and Ador were escorted to sit beside Lox’s wife. Everyone was laughing and smiling.
“Gar, these are the people who saved my life,” Lox said, and introduced them.
“Welcome,” Gar said. “We are grateful that you have brought Lox back home.” Then he raised both hands over his head, paused for only an instant, and then cl
apped his hands.
From an area of subdued light, two men began beating drums. Drinks were served in small cups made of the same material as the containers in the house. These containers were small enough to be held in one hand. No one drank until the leader stood and raised his drink high; then he spoke a welcome to their guests. The people all held their drinks high in a salute and began to drink.
Lox told them that they should drink also.
The liquid was sweet, tart, and left a tingling sensation.
After they finished their drinks, two girls came and refilled their containers immediately.
“Drink slowly,” Lox cautioned. “The drink has an intoxicating affect.”
Other people brought food from behind the trees on the other side of the semicircle. Zen and his party had never seen or eaten most of the types of food before.
After the second drink, everyone began eating. They were served roasted meats, various fruits and plants, both cooked and raw. The meal was seasoned with salt and was very tasty.
When the meal was over, the drums began again, this time with a rhythmic beat. Four beautiful girls proceeded to the center of the semicircle and began dancing between the seated people and those on the elevated area. The girls were smaller than Lela and Ador; their dancing was erotic, and it seemed that the purpose was to entice men. It was very effective. Neither Jok nor Zen could take their eyes off the dancing girls. Ador and Lela were not smiling as they watched their husbands with disapproving looks.
As the girls finished their dance, a group of young men jumped into the center and the rhythm intensified. The dancers jumped and tumbled to the beat of the drums and began a highly energized dance. Ador and Lela enjoyed this part of the entertainment much better, smiling and clapping their hands in time with the beat.
Beyond the Valley of Mist Page 7