Spectral Visitor

It took Cullul several days to assemble the necessary provisions for their journey. His task was made doubly difficult because of the need for secrecy. Gamma insisted he tell no one about their plans. "They would try to stop us if they knew," she said. "That must not happen."

"What do you think they will do when they find us missing?"

She cackled at this. "I do not imagine they will know what to do. Who would think we would be foolish enough to make for the Western Desert?"

"Are we foolish?"

"Do you think we are?"

"I don’t know."

"Neither, do I."

Cullul’s list was not large. They would need food a cask of drinking water and furs for warmth at night. The most important item on his list was a wagon and team.

His father owned two wagons. He used the largest to take crops to market in Na-Fee. It was a cumbersome and needed a team of six piks. (The common draft animal on Aloja.) The second wagon was smaller. The boy thought it would better suit their needs. It only required a team of two piks, and it had a hide covering to protect them from the sun.

His main concern was explaining to his father why he wanted to use the wagon; but he need not have worried for Gamma supplied the excuse. She explained to his father that she wanted him to help her move some personal possessions from storage in Na-Fee and ship them by river to a relative in Am.

On the morning they were to leave Cullul’s father spoke with him. "I suppose you will be spending several days in Na-Fee," he said.

"With your permission, father," he said.

His father sighed. "I guess it will be all right. Make sure you take care of the team, and don’t stay up all night talking to Gamma. She needs her rest and so do you. You’ll have plenty of chores to do when you get back."

Cullul nodded. He hugged his father. The show of affection surprised the older man. He looked down at his son and smiled. "Run along, son," he said. "Give my love to Gamma."

"I will."

The boy turned to look at his father as he crested a low rise in the road to Gamma’s. His father stood on the steps of their cottage looking down the road after him. He waved one last time before opening the door and disappearing inside. As he did some inner sense spoke to the boy. A tear trickled down his cheek for somehow he felt he had said good-bye to his father for the last time.

They left before the rising sun heated the thin atmosphere. At this time of day, the temperature was pleasurable as the last of the night chill mixed with the warmth of the rising sun. The temperature would soar later in the day, when the sun reached its zenith and burned through the meager atmosphere. When the sun set radiational cooling would dissipate the heat into the thin atmosphere and the temperature would plunge.

The sun baked caravan trail was hot and dusty. Gamma dozed lightly in her chair beneath the protective hide covering. Her clothes, a small trunk, sleeping furs and the chair were the only personal possession she had taken from her cottage. She left everything else behind. "I will not need possessions where I go," she told Cullul. "I will need only faith."

Cullul shed his clothes as the sun rose. He stripped down to a threadbare loincloth, which barely covered his genitals and a floppy green felt hat. It was not unusual for him to be dressed so. Nakedness amongst both sexes was something taken for granted on Aloja. Most Alojans shed their clothes during the intense heat of the day.

That night they made camp beside a small nearly dry stream. After he tended to the six-legged dun colored piks, Cullul built a fire of torcha wood, dried piks dung, and huk grass against the night chill. They ate their meager evening meal. Exhausted they rolled themselves into their furs and lay down next to the fire to sleep.

During the night the boy was awakened by a cry. He opened his eyes to see Gamma sitting beside the fire wrapped in her aged Baroda fur. Tears glistened on her wrinkled cheeks. "What is it Gamma?" he asked. "Are you ill?"

For a long time she remained motionless. Her sightless eyes seemed to stare out over the fire toward the woods. Finally she spoke. Her voice was soft, but filled with a strange quality akin to wonder and awe. "He came to me...He came to me, Throad."

Cullul looked toward the woods. He saw nothing. He asked, "Who are you talking about Gamma?"

Her voice was a monotone. "My husband," she answered. "I saw him."

The boy looked puzzled. "You saw him, Gamma?"

"Yes," she sighed. "I actually saw him. I saw his face and heard his voice. It is the first time I have ever seen anything and he was just as I pictured him in my mind. The colors were different—oh they were beautiful! In one hundred and twenty-seven suns the only color I have ever known was black. I had no idea what these darkened eyes missed."

Cullul looked around hesitantly. Outside of the circle of light thrown by the campfire he could only see darkness. "You were dreaming Gamma," he said.

"Yes, I know I was. He came to me in my dream. He stood right there, just on the edge of the light thrown by the fire, and called my name softly. He was dressed in the wondrous white Baroda fur King Valtar gave him many suns ago. He wore a helmet that sparkled in the light of the fire. His eyes glowed in the flame."

Cullul looked apprehensively into darkness. A chill that had nothing to do with the cold swept over him. "There is nothing out there Gamma," he said.

"I know Throad. There is nothing there now. He is gone. But he told me, he would be back. He will guide us. He will lead us on our quest."

The boy added more fuel to the fire. His eyes strained to penetrate the darkness around them. "You were dreaming, Gamma."

"Was I?"

"You had to be. You can’t see Gamma," he answered in a small voice.

"I know Throad. But I did see." A smile spread over the old woman’s wrinkled vestige. "I did see. I do not understand it either; but I did. I heard his voice. He spoke to me."

"What did he say?"

"Good...You ask the question. I will answer. He asked who you were. `Who is the boy?’ he asked. I told him you were his great grandson, the child of his grandson Viltor, by our son Paxium. He nodded and asked, `What is the boy’s name?’ I told him your name was Cullul, but everybody called you by your nickname Throad. He said, `Throad? That is a strange nickname for a boy with his destiny.’"

The boy looked at her skeptically. "What did he mean Gamma?"

She cackled softly. "You will know. When it is time; you will know."

The boy stared abjectly into the fire. Sometimes he wished Gamma did not speak in riddles. What was it he would know? Why was she always so mysterious with him? This was not the first time she spoke of his destiny. What was his destiny? Was she playing a game with him or was there something to her words? Was she a true cabasha able to see into the future; or a clever old lady, who spent her time playing word games with her great grandson?

He felt he knew Gamma better than anyone did, yet many times he felt he did not know her at all.

"Did he say anything else?"

"He said he would lead us. He said he would watch over us to the end of our journey and that we would be helped by another. He also said, `When your journey ends the boy will know his destiny from my hand.’"

Cullul was perplexed. "How?"

"I do not know. You will find out when we reach the end of our journey. You will know when the time is right. You must learn patience."

Patience was the one thing Cullul lacked as their journey continued. Gamma’s reference to his future prayed on his mind with maddening regularity as they crossed the Na-Fee River Valley and made their way to the river.

He had never traveled more than a day’s journey from his village in his life. Every aspect of the journey excited him, but nothing impressed him more than his first sight of the Na-Fee River.

It came without warning one hazy afternoon as they bumped along the same dusty road they had followed since leaving home. The road ahead shimmered in the afternoon sun. He and Gamma dozed as the piks lumbered along.

Since the beginning of their journey the scenery remained basically the same, the dusty road, an occasional stand of wala trees, and the ever present huk grass set to gentle rolling hills. Suddenly, as they crested a rise, the panorama changed dramatically. The river spread out before them like a shimmering blue-green serpent. The road they traveled fell away down a steep incline to a large village that spanned both banks of the river and was joined by a huge stone bridge. The village’s houses were sparkling white with red tiled roofs. They were set in orderly rows. Their glass windows reflected the sun like chips of fire. Cultivated land stretched along both banks for as far as the eye could see. The river itself was alive with brightly colored barges, either being poled up stream, or riding the current down. Here and there were boats, mostly pleasure craft, with gaily-colored lateen sails rigged to catch the light breeze. Docks and warehouses littered both banks, and sweating men loaded and unloaded cargoes from barges.

The river was not the only thoroughfare through the village. Two roads converged on it. One, on the opposite bank, trailed away north and south. The other road was the one they traveled. It went east and west. Both were bustling with activity for they were major caravan routes.

The east-west road, their road, crossed the bridge. Wagons were stopped on the bridge to pay a toll to a short fat man in flowing red robes. He occupied a booth in the center of the span. When each wagon paid the toll he would open a wooden gate and let them pass.

Gamma woke and sniffed the air. "We have reached the river; at the town called Middle Crossing?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, trying, but not succeeding in keeping the excitement out of his voice.

"Tell me what you see," said the old woman.

He told her, his words coming in a nimble blast as his eager eyes surveyed the scene. "Everything is so wonderful," he said at length.

"What is wonderful?"

"Everything! The river is so big and exciting. I’ve never seen so many people."

She cackled at his exuberance. "But you knew the river was here; did you not, Throad?"

"Yes, but seeing it is different than knowing. I could only imagine it before. But now I can see it with my own eyes."

"Yes," she agreed. "There are many things you must see, so drink in as much as you can with your eyes. You must learn quickly."

He searched her face trying to fathom her words. "Why Gamma? What is different about me?" he asked.

"You will soon know," she answered gravely. "Until then let it be enough to know that life is short and to enjoy it one must have knowledge."

"But you said I must learn quickly."

Gamma sighed. She wiped her wrinkled brow with a small square of cloth. "All men must learn quickly or remain boys."

"I’m not yet a man."

"At fourteen suns you are still a boy, but you will soon have to use all your wisdom. You will soon be a man and you above all must be wise."

He demanded in exasperation, "But why?"

She smiled. "You will know soon, that I promise you. Until then you must have patience Throad."

East of the river the land was fertile. The rolling hills were dotted with vineyards, wineries and small prosperous villages. Many of the villages boasted inns where weary travelers could spend the night in comfort. Gamma and Cullul no longer spent their nights sleeping on the cold ground. Instead they sought out warm rooms with soft mattresses and warm furs. Gamma paid for their lodging out of a small chest. She never allowed Cullul to see its contents. She always opened it when he was out of the room or when his attention was centered on driving the team. Each night she had him carry the chest to her room and hide it under her sleeping platform. "Thieves are common along the road," she explained. She caressed the chest lovingly. "It is important we guard what is in here well."

The contents of the chest intrigued the boy, but it never entered his mind to open it, though it was unlocked and he had many chances. To do so would be to break trust with Gamma and this he would not dream of doing. Nonetheless the box was often on his mind. He knew it contained money, for she paid for their lodging from it; but it was not large enough to hold many copkis, besides Gamma was never frugal. Throughout her long life she had given most of her possessions to her children, grand children, and great grand children. He knew there must be more than money inside.

What could it be?’

So many things were a mystery to him.

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Next Chapter: Chapter 3