I tried to hold Lillah's hand but she was too busy being excited. I felt like running back to the fathers and saying, "You've chosen the wrong one. This one is mean and doesn't care for the children."
I felt like saying, "Hey, sister." But Mum had warned me I had to keep the secret, not let anyone else know. Lillah made Mum tell me in person, which was good, because then I didn't have to pretend not to know. But Mum said never to tell anyone or I would put my life in danger.
She always thinks of the worst thing.
We feel tired. We have never walked for so many days before. We sleep out and we have to build a fire to cook our food every day.
Rham took my hand. She's the smartest person I've ever met. Smarter than all the adults put together.
"Can you believe how foolish the teachers are? We are going to have to look after them."
We were close to the next community and the teachers were sitting in the sand rubbing the grains on their legs to make the skin smooth.
"They are crazy. We're all going to die with them looking after us," I told the other students. "Look at them. Don't they realise we're hungry? Well, at least they die smooth."
The children laughed at that. I like it when they think I'm funny. Back home, mostly they didn't notice me. Out here it's different.
Going into a new village for the first time was really strange. It looked like Ombu from the edges; the houses there were the same, and they had a seawalk to take you over the water to fish and to feel the sun if the Tree's shadow filled the island.
But they were strangers. All new faces. They knew each other but not us.
I let the people of Aloes put seaweed on my face. The things I'll do for a laugh. It felt bad when it was on, but my cheeks felt tingly and good when they washed it off.
Many things are different. In Ombu, we wash in a pool of collected sea water, letting the water soak off the dirt. Here, washing yourself hurts. You go out into the water (Lillah had to walk beside me because I still felt worried about being deep in water) and using scratchy seaweed, you scrub and scrub.
The ones I feel really sorry for are the oil-makers. They make oil here from the jasmine flowers, and the oil-makers have to wash themselves so hard their skin bleeds. They hit themselves, too. It seems as if they like the sight of blood here. I don't like it when things hurt me. These people actually scrub till they bleed.
This place stinks so bad of flowers we feel sick.
It was hard to enjoy the feast when they fed us, because the smell is quite strong. It was quite good food and then they made us go to bed, but none of us could sleep because of the noise the teachers made. Drinking fermented tea makes you screech, it seems. The men watched them. The teachers danced around and they looked okay but silly. The teachers and the men started to like each other. In Ombu when that happens no one notices what the children do, so it's our chance to run around and do the things we want to do. I don't do very much. I feel worried about the water, the sand, the rocks, the Tree.
I feel braver with Rham nearby. She is smart but not scared. She has sayings. She says, "If you think
quickly, you can get out of trouble."
Finally, we ran around and played so much were so exhausted and we fell asleep. It was nice to be in a comfortable bed and under shelter.
We awoke to more shouting; the local children. Rham went to have a look. She came running back.
"Thea's boyfriend has Spikes and they're going to treat him." Spikes is the disease you get which turns your insides smooth. I hope my mother doesn't have it, but they will say she has and say I have, too.
We dressed and ran to see. Thea stood by herself crying but none of us wanted to go near her. Some adults you do not want to be alone with. They hurt you. Thea doesn't hurt you but she looks as if she wants to. Rham says she drowned her own sister, but who knows.
We know two children drowned when Thea was supposed to be looking after them. The adults say, "Oh, poor Thea, it must have been terrible," but I know Thea doesn't think it's terrible at all.
The local kids said, "You brought Spikes with you. We didn't have it before." I thought they stared at me; how could they know that my mother was sick? But Lillah said, "This man was infected long before we arrived. We are the ones in danger." The children backed away and I hoped none of their fathers would be angry with Lillah.
We couldn't believe what they did to the man they said had Spikes. The teachers tried to cover our eyes, but hearing his screams was worse. They beat him with sticks until he bled. Borag was sick in the bushes, then she went to her bed. Rham couldn't believe it. Zygo and I watched until the end. I don't know why it didn't make him sick. I know I never want to be beaten like that, though. Zygo fidgeted, jumped around. He seemed almost excited. I pretended I wasn't sick but I hated it.
Our time to leave came and we weren't too sorry.
Partly I wanted to go home because I didn't know what would be next. But I couldn't go back. This was my only chance in all my life to explore. When I get back from school I'll be a village boy, man, old man. I'll marry a teacher who comes through, hopefully one like Melia, and our children will go to school, and on it will go.
Aloes — AILANTHUS — Cedrelas
We call it Nut Fish Place.
I didn't want to walk so far again so soon, but you have to walk with school. That's what you do. We had two extra people with us. One was a lady who was having a baby but she had to have it in Ailanthus. Her name was Corma. Her husband was here, too. I liked him. His name was Hippocast. We all liked having him with us. He was shy, nervous of walking, but I liked hearing his deep voice. He carried us when we were tired.
We took it in turns to be tired.
We stopped at the market. I've never seen anything like it before. There was a man running it and he hardly had to see people at all, only when they came to the market. He had his room all to himself and he ate what he wanted to eat. He didn't have to worry about anyone else.
The market was so good. I really liked it. It made me want to stay there and help. It made me think I wanted to be a market holder.
The teachers were happy to spend time at the market, touching things they hadn't seen before. We ate a lot of fruit.
I could feel a cool breeze and wondered where it was coming from. The rest of the market was so hot, we didn't even want to cross the sand to get into the water.
Thea tried to make us swim out with her but none of us will do that. We told the local children not to, either. She plays bad games in the water. Grabs your ankles and pulls you under for too long. Only lets go if someone else tells her to.
We never go swimming with Thea. Well, I never go swimming anyway. Not yet. I like to paddle. I like the feel of the water up to my ankles. I have even walked in until it reaches my thighs. But I will swim one day. Before too long.
Before we get back to Ombu.
I walked along the Trunk, the cool breeze sometimes disappearing, then it would come back. It smelled a bit like the leaves which are not cleared away in the alcoves of the Tree.
Then I found where the breeze was coming from; a dark, deep ghost cave. I stared into it. I could smell inside the Tree. No one else can smell it, only me. It smells cool, and like some kind of food cooking. Wood at night time. I like it. It freaks them out though; they're so scared of ghosts.
I actually do not believe that ghosts will harm us. I think they are the same as us, only ghosts.
When I put my head in, the cave was like my eyes were shut, it was so dark. But I could feel air on my eyeballs. I would have stayed like that but the others found me and pulled me back.
"You can't go in there!" Borag said. She looked like she was about to cry.
Zygo sneered. "He's blood different. That's why he looks in. He was swapped as a child. He is really a ghost."
"Quiet, Zygo," Melia said. "You don't call anyone a ghost."
Everyone is scared of the ghost caves but I like them because they are so enclosed. You can feel the walls so you
know where the ending is. Inside might be a person you once knew or loved. How can that be bad?
They always stop me from stepping inside, though. As if I'll disappear forever. I'd like to know what's inside. It might be better than outside.
It was peaceful and nice around the market. Lillah thought so too. But the others were bored and wanted to move on. Always moving. I wish we could stay still, just for a little while.
Borag wanted to get moving because she'd heard they were good cooks in Ailanthus and she wanted to watch them. She gets bored with the food the teachers cook. "You don't care about us," she told the teachers. "You only do what you want to do, not what we want to do."
"Do you think that's true?" Melia said. "Really?" She chased Borag along the sand and tickled her till she squealed.
Then we moved along. I guess we had to.
We reached Ailanthus fifteen mornings later. We'd camped out the night before we got there, thinking we had a long way to go, then realised how close we were. Luckily they are early risers in Ailanthus, so we were greeted kindly.
They do this good thing with fish at Ailanthus. Catch a fish and keep it in a pool of fresh water until it puffs out all the salty water.
Rham couldn't get enough of watching that fish. She talked about it, watched it. I kept her company for a while, but got bored. Every time I came back she'd smile. It's nice when someone is happy to see you.
She came running to find me and Borag when it happened.
"You should have seen it! I don't know why it waited so long, or why that breath was the one, but the salt came out in a soft cloud. It was beautiful. It seems a shame to eat the fish."
"They're going to cook it now?" Borag said, jumping up. "I want to watch."
These girls get so excited.
Thea screwed up her face. "I can't stand the smell of food cooking," she said. She walked along up the beach. She won't cook, ever, because she says the smell makes her sick. She will be lucky to find a community who lets her get away without cooking.
I really didn't like the fish. It was covered with nuts. What is it with nuts? How can anyone eat those things? They taste like hard bark. They stick in your throat and make you cough to vomiting. I really don't like them.
Corma, the pregnant one, and her husband Hippocast were nervous. He told me that they felt like outsiders, that they couldn't remember all the rules.
They do have all sorts of odd rules here. Difficult ones to remember. The people who live here seem to understand them. Like they didn't want to show us their smoothstones even though we are told in Ombu this is how to form a friendship. These people say it is bad luck to show your stone. A lot of what they say is about bad luck or good luck. They say that's for all the babies who come to them to be born, that babies need a lot of good luck to stay alive. If I had to worry about bad luck all the time, I would hate it. These are some of the rules:
Seeds of the Tree are always counted when they fall and can be read by the right person.
Sleep with leaves under pillow.
Don't let flying spider webs touch you. Close your eyes if a spider crosses your path.
Rham and I invented a game where we had to memorise all the rules and act them out in a funny way. None of the other children could play it. They couldn't remember things well enough. Not like we could. Most of the teachers were bad at it, but Agara was the champion. I don't think a thought ever leaves her head.
Corma and her husband were sad to see us getting ready to leave. I didn't care about her, but I really liked him. He was a good person to walk with.
She looked so fat I didn't know how she could walk. She complained a lot.
I told Hippocast to come and play games with us and he was happy to get away from her.
"It will be different when the baby comes," he said. "She is just too fat and she feels uncomfortable. She is my lovely girl when she doesn't feel that way."
He is such a good man to be so patient. I will never be patient like that.
Rham wanted to see the baby being born but it was time for us to go.
Hippocast waved us off and I waved to him till he was no bigger than a seed.
Here's an odd thing: I lost my hat that Aracuauri gave me, and it took me ages to realise it was gone. My head felt lighter and hotter, but for some reason I didn't think this meant I had no hat on. When I noticed, I wanted to dig a hole in the sand and bury myself. I could see too far, too wide, I wanted my hat. I didn't care if the school waited for me; I would walk alone.
But Lillah; dear sister. She had it in her bag and there it was. She notices everything. No one could love me as much as she does. There will never be a wife who can match her.
Ailanthus — CEDRELAS — Rhado
We call it Happy Place.
I am eleven years old.
I felt my legs growing much stronger on the walk to Cedrelas. They say that the school gives you strength for life. I like that. It makes each step worthwhile. Zygo kept asking, "How long, how long, how long," until we were tired of it.
Lillah and Thea went back to Ailanthus, which I didn't think we were supposed to do. But Corma was having her baby and people were scared she was going to die, and she wanted Lillah with her. She must have felt lonely even with Hippocrast. Sometimes women want other women around them even if there is a man there.
Thea went too. We were glad to see her go. But I didn't want Lillah gone. What if she didn't come back? What if a giant bird took her as she was walking?
We walked on and in a few days they caught up
with us. We'd been walking slowly, and that was easy for us.
Lillah said that Corma and her baby had both died.
The teachers tried to be sad about Corma and her baby, but I could tell they didn't really care. I didn't care; she had been bad-tempered, that one. She didn't help me to like her. Hippocast though; it had been good to have a man on the walk for a while. Men do not see the future, they only see exactly the moment they live in and that can be relaxing. I felt bad for him not having his baby. And he would miss Corma. But he can find another wife.
The people of Cedrelas seemed very odd at first. Too happy, or something. There was no ceremony and they said we were Spikes-bringers but they were joking. Still, I reached up and felt my shoulder blades. Some nights I felt like they were growing out of my body, out of proportion.
Lillah said my bones are supposed to grow but she couldn't feel the bits which stick out the wrong way.
It was fun, this community. At night they like to watch funny plays. On the third night Rham and I teamed up with one of the local children and we made a small show. The adults made crude and rough jokes so we thought we'd try.
You never know with adults which way they're going to turn. I called Rham a moss-muncher in the show and she responded by moss-munching, telling as many lies as she could make up in a row. Zygo did a good job, acting as if he believed everything; that's what was so funny. I gave him all the laughs.
The adults didn't like us to say that lying was funny, but they couldn't help laughing. It must be hard being an adult and trying to do the right thing all the time.
Our teacher Agara told us she will stay here. She's our first teacher to stay in a new community, so we are proud and happy. Nothing more boring than a wedding, though, so the other children and I stole some fruit wine to help us through all the talking there would be.
It was Zygo's idea, and Zygo who snuck into the storehouse to bring some out.
It tasted awful, like fruit on the ground when you're too hungry or lazy to keep searching.
After a few sips you didn't notice the taste. Your mouth was numb and your head dizzy. It felt so horrible. Zygo kept drinking more and more then he tried to be funny. That didn't work. You can't suddenly become funny. Not if you don't know how. I helped him out by asking him questions he could answer in a funny way. He's funny when I tell him what to say.
The children here laugh a lot. You forget you don't know someone when you laugh to
gether.
The teachers let us play late tonight. Sometimes
they forget us, if we are very quiet and leave them alone, and we can play in the moonlight until we are really tired, not until they think we are.
The children living here made us play Stickman. We had never heard of it, but they told us the Tree grew from a stick thrust in the belly of a giant, and that I should be the giant.
They danced around me as I lay there. It was not very exciting for me, but I liked looking at the stars.
One of the children, a boy smaller than me, but much, much stronger, took up a stick. It looked as sharp as a fisherman's spear, and I didn't like that. I tried to sit up but they held me down. I tried to yell for Lillah because it hurt.
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