Chapter 12
Abe headed up the stairs to the fourth level and walked all the way to the end of the hall to his room. He realized how little there was in this “personal” space that meant anything to him. He had no books to fill the shelves, nothing that made him feel connected, no mementos except his tattered space clothes that someone had cleaned, and left neatly folded on his chair days ago. He had put them on the bookshelf where he could see them. But today they looked out of place, tawdry even. He shoved them in the wardrobe out of sight.
He noticed though that someone had been here. There was a bouquet of fragrant herbs and flowers in a crockery vase, a pitcher and jug for water that was decorated with tiny bits of pottery shards, and a stack of parchment, with a pot of ink and a handful of pens on the desk. Kirah must have been here. This thought made him smile.
Now that the language lessons were over, he didn’t have anything to do and he knew he would go stir crazy soon. At home, he would have had the television on, watching something. Or there would be the stereo going and he would be on the computer, either searching the interweb for some rabbit trail interest of the day or playing a video game of some kind. He really did miss having music all the time. It was the background of his life. Now that he was feeling well and not working with Barney all day long, he was missing his own routine, all his gadgets and gizmos, his own comfort zone. He paced back and forth and ran his hands through his hair. This is so BORING! He thought. And then immediately chided himself. Good god, he had made a journey to another world for crying out loud. How novel is that? How exotic? He was the first man from Earth to EVER have done such a thing. It felt embarrassing to be so petulant. But that was not enough to shake his ennui.
He could not quite see himself getting excited about wood carving or basket weaving. Maybe it was time to volunteer for work rotation, it only seemed right. Although it seemed like after a few hours here and there in the morning, he would still be on his own for something constructive to do.
Up until this moment, he hadn’t really had time to think overmuch about his situation. He had no idea where in the universe he was, and had no way to communicate with Earth. He was stuck here in this place that was a combination of the middle ages, Shangri-La, and the Twilight Zone.
People walking or riding horses to get around, gathering food like peasants, bookbinding handwritten manuscripts, and keeping chickens on the one hand. And on the other, trees that “grew” sheets of copper, had organic florescent lighting, and people who could read each others minds if they wanted to. It was just such a dichotomy that it was not making sense to him. And he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong with this picture. It was almost as if this TREE was “alive” in a way that frankly gave him the willies.
The way it anticipated the needs of the people living here was uncanny.
How did that work? Or was there some other force behind it all that was more sinister. Making these people so dependent on the Tree that they would be docile, or keeping them localized by limiting their mobility?
G’var Daath sure hadn’t thought much of his high tech equipment and didn’t seem to have much conscience about ripping it off his arm and almost causing him to bleed to death. Was that to be considered a benign force? Sure didn’t seem like it to him. Especially since it effectively had cut him off from any chance of returning to Earth. The whole thing seemed pretty high handed to him.
Then he thought about the ship. It did seem pretty badly damaged, but who knows? Given enough time, perhaps he could get it working. There were solar collectors on board that he might be able to get working. But he figured that the Tree had probably swallowed it up a long time ago. Might have taken it longer than the shelter, but surely by now it would be gone. But you never knew…maybe…
He decided to ask Aeron if he could borrow a horse and maybe someone would come with him and they could retrace his trail to see if there was anything left of the ship.
That night at supper, Abe broached the subject.
“I was wondering if you would mind if I borrowed a horse and a guide to go back to where my ship landed and see if there is anything I can salvage there.”
Aeron looked at him with a solemn face. “It is understandable that you would want to know for sure. When would you like to go?”
“In the morning?” Abe offered, mildly surprised that he did not have to wheedle his way into doing it.
“Fine, let me see, I need to talk to someone I have in mind. We will see if he can spare a few days to go with you. I’ll be back in a few minutes.
He got up and in his amiable style, visited his way across the room and began speaking to someone Abe could barely see. After several minutes the two of them came back together.
“Abraham, this is Terren. He says he would be happy to accompany you.
He is an excellent horseman. Have you ever ridden a horse before?”
Abe was embarrassed …. Such a simple skill here, but he had never been on a horse in his life.
“I am sorry to say, I don’t know a thing about horses, but I am willing to give it a try. I don’t relish the idea of hiking back there on foot.”
“Fine. said Terren, Meet me by the horse pasture after breakfast tomorrow and we will find you a nice gentle animal. I know the very one.”
“Do I need to bring anything?”
“No, I will take care of that. We won’t need much. You’ll see.”
They shook hands.
“See you in the morning.” Abe said.
Before heading up to bed, he took a stroll outside. He could see the two moons rising, one larger than the other. Big orange balls with spider web lines on their surfaces. Not the gray shadows that the Earth’s moon had. They were striking in the dark sky that was still tinged with golden amber on the opposite horizon. The stars were all unfamiliar. Some much brighter than the stars he was used to seeing. There were several that pulsed in rainbow colors the way Sirius sometimes did on a particularly clear night on Earth. Only these were bigger and really put on a show.
He wondered if he could ever learn to be content in this place.
“Basket weaving. God what a life…” He said aloud.
Chapter 13
In the morning he jumped out of bed. It felt wonderful to have a plan for the day.
Terren was waiting for him by the archway when he came into the dinning hall.
“Good morning, he said in a hearty voice. Are you ready for our journey?”
“You bet. It feels good to have a purpose. I have been in limbo these last few days and I’m looking forward to it. But I must admit I am a little nervous about riding a horse.”
“Don’t give it a thought. You’ll do fine. Our horses are very special and gentle creatures. You don’t need to worry.”
“Well, that’s good news, Abe answered. Horses on Earth are very unpredictable, that’s what I’ve heard anyway.”
“Well, Abraham, you’re not on Earth anymore!”
“Kansas either.” Abe said ruefully.
“What is Kansas now?” Terren wanted to know.
“Never mind, said Abe, it’s a long story.”
* * * *
Out in the horse pasture, the air was fresh and the morning fine. The sky was its usual golden amber, with puffs of white clouds floating here and there. Abe was starting to get used to the sky. It reminded him of the way the sky looked in the winter on a still afternoon when a storm was coming. High thin clouds that usually produced a halo around the sun. Sometimes it turned the sky a pale bronze color. He decided he rather liked it. But at the same time found it hard to shake the feeling that bad weather was on its way.
He followed Terren out into the midst of the horses that were grazing on the lush green grasses. Soon a small knot of them wandered over to see what was going on. They had no inclination to run away. Terren reached up and patted the neck of one very dark brown horse that had a white stripe down its face. In the meantime, Abe was fully occupied as he stood nervously in the center of a knot of horses milling around him. They were smelling his hair, and nosing his hands. He found himself wishing he were somewhere else.
Terren placed his fingers calmly on the brown horse’s forehead…..
‘Greetings B’rofi, we go on a journey today. This man will be your rider. He is not from our world and even though he is full grown, he cannot merge with you. You must think of him as a child in this. He knows very little of horses, so may be timid. But he is our honored guest so it is your privilege to bear him.’
“I will gladly bear the man-child Terren. Where do we journey?”
“Into the plateau to look for what the man has lost.”
“I am ready!”
B’rofi tossed his head and snorted, which startled Abe into looking their way again.
“Is it mad?”
“Oh no, he is only eager to be on the trail. This will be your horse. His name is, B’rofi. He is a good and steady mount who will give you no trouble.”
Abe came over leaving the other horses staring at him solemnly. He reached out his hand and the dark brown beast took a step closer. He was quite large, and to Abe’s mind looked pretty formidable. But the horse reached his nose down and smelled Abe’s hand and then nibbled on his clothes and finally rested his chin on Abe’s shoulder and blew into his ear with clover scented breath. Abe reached up gingerly and stroked the side of the horse’s nose. He was warm and sleek and Abe looked into the deep pool of B’rofi’s eye and thought he saw something there.
“I think he likes you! Said Terren.
He put a halter like thing over the horse’s head. There was no need for a bit. It was made from heavy red linen corded and embroidered with yellow. The reigns were soft braided cloth also.
Terren chose another horse, this one even larger. A good thing too, as Terren was a pretty big guy. It was a reddish horse with a lighter almost blonde mane and tail.
“Let’s go up and get the saddles.” Terren said and handed the reins of Abe’s horse to him. The horses followed quietly but alert and you could tell excited to be going somewhere.
Terren put a soft blanket and then a many layered cloth saddle on each of the horses. They reminded Abe of thick quilts. The stirrups were carved from wood. Behind each saddle Terren tied bedrolls that had a change of clothes folded up in them. He showed Abe how to mount his horse and with some bit of struggle he got up and gathered up the reins.
Terren walked his horse over to Abe’s and told him, “If you want to go to the right or left, just lay the reins on his neck like this, always gently as they don’t need to be convinced, only “informed” he smiled. When you want to stop, pull gently back like this…he held Abe’s hands and showed the proper pressure. And when you want your horse to go forward squeeze your knees together and lean forward. And a gallop, I usually whistle while I am doing that and they get the message. Abe looked alarmed at the word gallop. Don’t worry, we won’t do that for a while.” Terren smiled.
“Oh good, said Abe, I just want to get used to this.”
“So are we ready?”
“Yep, let’s go.”
They rode out through the horse pasture away from the Tree and skirted the overhang of the branches. The horses were walking out pretty good and Abe found himself enjoying getting his “horse legs” under him. It wasn’t as hard as he thought. And in fact he liked being up high and covering so much ground with so little effort.
As they passed along the edge of the vegetable fields, people looked up and waved and wished them a good journey.
Soon they met up with the matted root road. The horse’s hooves made dull thudding sounds on it. The surface was perfect for them. Firm, yet resilient. As they wound around the side of the cliff, whenever the road turned back, they could see the Tree from a different perspective, Abe was again astonished at its height and breadth. There was nothing to compare it to on Earth, nothing at all.
It took them about an hour to get to the crest of mountain range.
“Here is where I came crashing out of the bushes I think.” Abe told Terren.
They dismounted and climbed up onto some rock outcroppings and Abe tried to remember how far he had been away from road when he had started up the foothills. It would be much better for the horses to continue down the slopes on the road. “I came from that direction, Abe pointed to their right, I just don’t know by how much I missed the road.”
“Well, let us do this, Terren said, we will follow the road until near the plateau and then we will search along the edge until we come upon your trail.”
“Sounds good to me.” Said Abe.
He saw that the road actually went off in the opposite direction, but it just didn’t make sense to go cross country at this point.
They went back to where the horses were busily biting off the succulent leaves that the red deer had been eating when Abe first saw her. They were making a good meal too. Let’s give them a few more minutes to quench their thirst. There will be a stream farther down, but after that we will be dependent on the Journey Bread.
Terren gathered a few handfuls of leaves too and made a snack of them. Abe followed suit. If he had only known the safety of the plants from the beginning, his original trek would have been a lot easier.
They remounted and headed down the road. On this side of the mountain there were fewer birds and they saw no wildlife to speak of. Except for a small squirrel like creature with orange fur and very large eyes. He would only get glimpses of them before they darted into underground burrows. “What are those animals called?” Abe asked Terren.
“Those are Rews. They live in the foothills here, but don’t go out onto the plateau. Their favorite shrub is this dark brown one here.” He brushed one as they passed and pulled off a few leaves. “Taste this.”
“Abe didn’t give it a thought, because up to now all the leaves had been very edible. He popped four or five of the leaves in his mouth and started munching away. “Uh, ack, these taste like pine needles!” Abe choked out.
“Oh, they are edible and won’t hurt you, and you should remember them when you are traveling, but to the Rews they are a delicacy!” laughed Terren.
“To each his own.” said Abe, looking for another kind of shrub to gather leaves from. “How about this one?” He pulled up his horse in front of a bush with red bark and pale frosty green leaves.
“Ah, that is Ting. I think you will like that one much more.” Said Terren.
Abe pulled a leaf off the bush and bit into in cautiously, now skeptical of Terren’s sincerity. It was a refreshing tart flavor, almost like a green apple, and very juicy. “Now this is more like it.” He gathered a big handful. While he was busy with this B’rofi had been nosing out some leaves of his own and crunching away on them too.
“Boy, this is an amazing place, you know that? Abe said, I am trying to think of a plant on my planet that would be palatable to a horse and a man like this one. The fruits yes, but the plant itself? It is very rare.”
Yes, the tree provides many things in many forms.” Terren said.
“This is part of the Tree?” Abe asked surprised.
“Yes, all the plant matter is a part of the G’var Daath. It adapts itself to the needs of the animals or humans that are seeking to live in an area.”
“How is that possible?’ Abe wanted to know.
Terren busied himself with untwisting a rein. Aeron had asked him not to discuss too much about the Tree to Abe just yet…. “The Tree works in mysterious ways.” He nodded sagely.
And that was all Abe could get out of him.
This only served to make Abe more suspicious and wondered more and more where the catch was. There must be a catch.
They continued on down through the foothills until they came to a small stream. Here the horses drank deep and so did the men. It was no great shakes of a creek. It looked like it emerged from a seep many yards above the road and then just as quietly disappeared below them in a swampy area before ever reaching the plateau.
By the time they reached the flats, the sun was already down on this side of the mountain, though the whole plateau was still in the light.
“We will spend the night here, as we have a bit more choice of things to eat here in the foothills. Out in the scrub, there is only the Journey Bread, life sustaining, but monotonous.”
“Unsaddle the horses and let them roam.” He showed Abe how to undo the special folded girth knot and they laid the saddles and blankets over a bush. They removed the halters and the horses moved off to the flat area in front of them and had a good roll in the sandy soil. They got up and moseyed off and started grazing on the scattered clump grass and the shorter shrubs that grew on the edge of the flats.
Terren rolled out his bedroll and took up a piece of cloth and said, “Let’s gather something to eat now before it gets dark.”
They spent 15 minutes going from shrub to shrub collecting leaves and in one case, some small fruits. Abe tasted as he went and gathered more of his favorites and ended up with what would have amounted to a bowl full of assorted plant parts.
They came back and laid out their food and started to eat. But not before Terren recited the prayer that the elder usually said in the dinning hall. “Anay.” Said Abe, out of respect to Terren, but with no understanding of what it meant to himself. Religious ideas were foreign to him. He didn’t grow up with them, and had not been much exposed in his adulthood either. So it seemed like mumbo jumbo to him. But he didn’t have any problem respecting other people’s traditions.