The Path to the Sun

Chapter Three

Chapter 3 

Kiran paced the floor of their home until finally the door opened and Aldwyn stepped in.

Kiran threw his hands in the air. “What happened in the Temple?”

Aldwyn went straight to the washbasin and splashed water on his face.

“What’s going on?”

“Your chores?”

“They’re done.”

“The chickens fed? Water hauled?”

“Yes, now tell me.”

Aldwyn spun around. “Don’t you take that tone with me, young man.”

Kiran dropped his gaze to the floor. “Yes, sir.”

Aldwyn wiped his face with a towel. He hauled a rucksack from the corner and dumped the contents on the plank table. “You have preparations to make. Look over what I’ve packed for you.”

Kiran plopped down on the bench and sifted through the pile. There was a waterskin, several small pouches of salt, a fork and spoon, a wooden cup, a tinderbox and a leather pouch stuffed with dry tinder, a length of rope, a short knife, a darning needle, a chunk of soap. “Do I need all this?”

“Is there anything there that you can go without?”

“How would I know?” He turned the tinderbox over in his hands, then set it down and picked up a pouch of salt. “I can’t imagine why I’d need so much salt.”

“The salt is for trade. It is valuable. Make sure to keep it in the water-proof box.” Aldwyn put a kettle of water on the hearth. “We take it for granted here, but it is scarce elsewhere. Many generations ago, outsiders would come from far away lands to trade for our salt. That’s how our village was settled. That’s how we came to have a lot of the things we cannot make ourselves—knives, pans, forks. There are places in the world where metal is dug from the ground, turned in fire, and forged into shape.”

Kiran examined the fork as though for the first time. He had never questioned where these things came from or how they were made. Why had he never asked? All of a sudden, he felt hopelessly ignorant. He dropped the fork and fiddled with the torn strap on the old rucksack.

“You’ll have to find food and water along the way,” Aldwyn said as he took two mugs from the cupboard. “You certainly can’t carry enough for a trek this long.”

“How long is it, Aldwyn?”

“Well, now… The dwelling place is on the far side of Wiros.”

“Do you mean the other side? Of the world?” He shifted to the edge of the bench. “How will we know how to get there?”

Aldwyn smiled. “You will know.”

Kiran sat back. Aldwyn rummaged around the kitchen, opening and closing cupboard doors. “Where is that bag of tarweed?”

“But no one has ever been there, right?”

Reaching into the back of a lower cupboard, Aldwyn found what he was looking for. “Ah. There it is.” He brought the bag to his nose and smiled as he inhaled the aroma of the dried tarweed. He chose several nice leaves and placed them in the mugs, then dropped the bag in the pile on the table. “The Great Father will watch over you and guide you on your way.”

“But why would He? I mean, isn’t He angry with us right now? Isn’t that why he sent the drought? We’re going all that way to tell Him we’re sorry. Why would He guide us there to do that?”