by Geoff Rodkey
The trader pulled a beat-up tin box from one of his packs and opened it to show the girls what was inside. I looked over Millicent’s shoulder and saw a few dried clumps of a fuzzy, greenish-blue substance that looked like dead tree moss.
Kira scoffed at it, and an argument began to brew between her and Millicent. The trader chimed in, seeming to take Millicent’s side, and an exasperated Kira switched to Rovian to cut him out of the discussion.
“We don’t need it!” Kira insisted.
“If it’s true what he’s saying—”
“It’s not. He just wants our money.”
“But I’ve heard the stories,” said Millicent. “What happened to the Cartager Army back in—”
“It was the Judgment of Ka! No plant can stop that. And our cause is just—it’ll never touch us.”
“That’s what you think.”
“I know it.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Nothing important,” snapped Kira.
“Not to you—you grew up there, you’ll be fine,” said Millicent.
“We all will. Our cause is just—”
“That’s just religious nons—” Millicent saw the flash of anger in Kira’s eyes and stopped herself.
“Wot ye talkin’ about?”
“According to Marko here”—Millicent pointed to the bushy-bearded trader—“there’s a sickness that strikes almost every stranger who enters the Valley of Ka—”
“Not everyone!” insisted Kira. “Only the wicked.”
“That’s not what he says—”
“He just wants our money!”
“What kind of sickness?” I asked.
“A stomach thing. They call it the…what is it in Rovian…?”
“The Judgment of Ka,” said Kira through clenched teeth.
“He didn’t call it that! Called it…I guess it’s the Stranger Clutch. Marko says it kills people dead. And it makes sense, because if you think about the legend of what happened the first time the Cartagers invaded—”
“What killed the first Cartagers was the will of Ka!” Kira interrupted. “It is Ka’s Valley, and Ka’s power protects it from the wicked.”
Millicent snorted. “Then how did the Moku run you off it?”
Kira looked like she might slap Millicent in the face. But the trader turned away just then, along with his tin of whatever it was, and Millicent broke away from Kira to speak to him again in Cartager.
After a short exchange, the trader shrugged and raised his hands as if to say, You two work it out.
“What is it he wants to sell us?” I asked.
“A cure,” said Millicent.
“So he says,” scoffed Kira. “But it’s only a dead plant he scraped from a tree. And he wants thirty shells for it! We only have six left.”
“I can get the price down,” said Millicent. “And if we give up one of the blankets—”
“Then half of us will freeze to death in the mountains.”
“But if our cause is just, won’t Ka keep us warm?” Millicent asked with a sting in her voice.
Kira drew her hand back in anger, and I had to step between the two of them.
“Stop it!” I told them. “Look, we’re not going to need more money where we’re going, right? I mean, there’s nowhere to spend it after this.”
“So?”
“So if we’ve got six shells left…why can’t Millicent spend them on as much of this cure as she can buy with it?”
“It’s a waste of money,” said Kira.
“It won’t be enough,” said Millicent.
“Better than nothing. And we can’t give up the blankets or the food. So what choice have we got?”
We went back and forth for a while, but eventually they both gave in. The trader wrapped a clump of the greenish-blue moss in a scrap of cotton and handed it to Millicent in exchange for the rest of our shells. A few minutes later, we’d left the village and were headed for the foothills.
WHATEVER FRETTING I might have done about the Stranger Clutch, or the Judgment of Ka, or whatever it was called, quickly got overwhelmed by the more immediate worry that we were heading into Moku territory. About half a mile before we started to climb out of the Valley of the Flut, we came upon a magnificent road, paved with wide, flat stones that must have weighed hundreds of pounds each. It snaked up into the hills, through a dense forest, and I was thinking it’d be no trick to get over the mountains on a road like this when Kira told us we had to leave it.
“Wot, and break trail through them trees?” Guts looked at her like she was nuts.
“The Moku hold this road,” said Kira. “If we stay on it, they’ll capture us before we reach the pass.”
“Go round it, then.”
“We can’t. Look—”
Kira sat down on a paving stone by the side of the road and used a stick to sketch a map in the dirt.
She drew a large oval. “That’s the Valley of Ka,” she said. “On the other side of these mountains. And it’s all Moku territory. We’ve got to cross it one way or another.”
At the bottom of the oval, she placed an X. “That’s the Gran,” she said. “The south side of the valley. The pass is here.” She pointed to a spot to the left of the X. “And we’re down here, on the far side of the Gran.” She moved the stick below the X, just outside the circle.
Then she drew four X’s in a row at the top of the oval, farthest from the Gran.
“These are the Cat’s Teeth. The Okalu camp is on the other side of them. That’s where we need to go. The Moku control the whole valley, so the best way to avoid them is to stay on the high ground, along the ridge of the mountains here.” She traced a wide arc along the left half of the oval.
“Don’t the Moku control the mountains, too?” asked Millicent.
“Yes. But their settlements are either in the valley or farther west, across the range. They travel in the mountains and hunt there, but if we move quickly, we can hopefully get through without being seen.
“But we can’t use the road, or any trails,” Kira insisted. “And if we do run into Moku, we’ve got to make sure they don’t tell others.”
In case we didn’t understand what she meant by that, she opened her pack and started handing out weapons.
Kira kept her sling. Millicent got one of the knives. I took the other one. Guts complained about being left out, but he had his hook, and if he carried a weapon, he wouldn’t have a hand free to steady himself if he tripped on something.
And there was a lot to trip on in those woods. The vegetation wasn’t so thick that we had to hack through it like we did on the edge of the swamp, but the hills were steep, and the trees that covered them were gnarled and ancient, with root systems so tangled you had to keep your eyes on the ground if you didn’t want to go sprawling.
When night fell, we quickly figured out the knotty ground wasn’t much good for sleeping. What it was good for, though, was breeding small armies of bugs that made themselves at home all over us, and tried to sneak under our clothes, and were all the more creepy for the fact that we couldn’t see them because we didn’t dare build a fire.
Nobody slept much, and by the time we got under way the next morning, it no longer mattered that we couldn’t speak for fear of the Moku hearing us, because we were all too grumpy to talk.
Our second day in the hills was worse all around until mid-afternoon, when we finally reached the top of the pass. The Flut who’d told us to take this route had given us good advice—we were on the upper edge of a saddle between the Gran and the mountain range that ringed the Valley of Ka to the west, and both sides sported endless craggy stretches of almost vertical rock that walled off the valley from the south and west, and looked to be impassable everywhere except the saddle we were in.
The valley itself couldn’t have been more different from the one we’d just left. It was less one big valley than a series of little ones that snaked in and out of a jumble of hills, most of them carpeted in a
thick green canopy that looked more jungle than forest.
Kira pointed to the middle of the valley, at a flat-topped hill that was taller than most of its neighbors. In the middle of its crown, I could make out a gray triangle poking up over the treetops. The fact that we could see it from such a distance made me realize it must be enormous up close.
“That’s Mata Kalun,” she said. “The Temple of the Sunset. I grew up at its feet. Now Moku live there.”
No one said anything. A moment later, Kira turned toward the ridge that led to the mountain range on the west side of the valley. She led us along the ridge just below the tree line, where we couldn’t be seen as easily. At that elevation, there was an eerie quiet in the woods, and every snapped twig seemed to echo off the mountains above and ahead of us.
We crossed the first ridge and then quickly dropped a few hundred feet in elevation. Down lower, the forest sounds were more comforting, but it was also a lot buggier, and I had bites on both arms and my neck by the time we started up the side of the next ridge.
We were halfway across the second ridge when the sun set. Kira said her evening prayer silently, mouthing the words, and we ate without talking. The moon was getting skinny, and under the trees the night turned so black I could barely see my hand in front of my face. It was cold, too—we huddled together for warmth under the blankets, and I was glad we’d listened to Kira and bought them.
We started moving again as soon as it was light enough to see. As we started down the far side of the ridge into another hollow, we heard running water. Everyone picked up their pace—we hadn’t crossed water since we’d left the last Flut village, and our skins were getting thin.
At the bottom of the hollow, we found a fast-moving stream. Millicent and I drained the rest of our skins into our mouths while Kira and Guts drank directly from the stream. Then we refilled the skins and started moving again.
About an hour later, the trouble started.
Guts had been lagging in the back of the group, and Millicent and I were taking the lead when we heard a Ssst! behind us. We turned to see Kira about fifty feet back, motioning to us. Guts was nowhere in sight.
I hurried back to her, and as I got close, I saw Guts on his knees behind a nearby tree. He looked like he was going to be sick.
And then he was, with a retch so loud I wanted to poke him with my foot to be quiet. He puked three more times, one after the other, his whole body convulsing each time.
He lifted his arm to wipe his mouth on his sleeve. Then he stood up, holding the tree for support, and turned to face us.
He was pale as a ghost. The morning air was still cool, but beads of sweat glistened on his forehead. Kira reached out to help him, but he shook it off and stepped past us to take the lead.
He started off at a good clip, I guess to prove that he was okay. But he wasn’t. About twenty strides up the hill, he went to his knees again.
When we reached him, he was curled up on his side, face twisted in pain. Kira and Millicent knelt down on either side, trying to comfort him.
I was watching Guts clutch helplessly at his stomach when the realization hit me.
That’s why they call it the Clutch.
BROUGHT LOW
Guts didn’t want to stay down. Even though the girls pleaded with him to lie still and rest, he got up three more times and tried to keep going. But he couldn’t make it more than a few steps without doubling over again, and eventually he gave up.
He lay on his side and retched a few more times, but there was nothing left in his stomach. Then he asked for water. Millicent held up the skin she was carrying so he could drink from it.
Half a minute later, he threw it up.
“Sorry,” he said to no one in particular.
“It’s okay. Just let us know what we can do for you,” Millicent said.
“Jus’ need a minute,” he said through gritted teeth. Beads of sweat were rising on his forehead.
“Think you might need more than that.”
“Couple, then.”
I nudged Millicent. “What about the trader’s cure?” I whispered.
“I’d give it to him if I thought he could keep it down. We’ve just got the one clump. If he heaves it up, where’s that leave us?”
“How’s he going to stop throwing up if he doesn’t take it in the first place?”
“Give it a bit. See if he can keep some water down.”
I looked over at Kira to get her opinion. She was kneeling a few feet away from us, her face pointed in the direction of the rising sun. The firebird pendant was pressed between her hands, and she was whispering a prayer to it with her eyes closed.
Watching Kira, Millicent pursed her lips but didn’t say anything.
“How long does it last?” I asked Millicent.
“How would I know?”
“What did the trader say?”
“He didn’t. Just that…” She lowered her voice even further so Guts couldn’t hear. “It kills people.”
“Everyone?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. Most of them, it sounded like.”
“What causes it?”
“Something in the valley.”
“We’re barely in the valley. We’re above it. And the rest of us aren’t sick.”
“Kira wouldn’t get it. She’s from here. It only gets the strangers.”
“So why don’t you and I have it?”
Millicent shook her head again. “I don’t know.”
“How soon would it…you know—?”
“I don’t know, Egg!”
“A day,” I heard Kira say over my shoulder. Her prayer finished, she came back to sit next to Guts. “Two at most. It goes quickly.”
“How do you know?” Millicent asked.
“I saw it. When I was young. If it’s the Judgment, he will get a fever. The pain will get worse…It helps if he can hold water down.”
Guts was on his side with his eyes squeezed shut in a grimace. Kira moved closer to him. She placed the firebird pendant against his side with one hand and put her other hand gently on his head.
His body tensed at her touch, and his hand jerked up to shove her away. But when he realized it was Kira, he relaxed and let her stroke his forehead.
“It’s not any ‘judgment,’” Millicent said in an irritated voice. “It’s just a sickness.”
Kira glared at her.
“What does it matter?” I asked.
“A sickness has a cure.” Millicent dug into the pocket of her tunic and produced the little cotton packet. As she unwrapped it, Kira looked away, shaking her head and turning her attention back to Guts.
The clump of dried moss looked pitifully small in Millicent’s hand. “So give it to him,” I said.
Millicent sighed. “Let’s wait a bit. See if he can keep water down.”
HE COULDN’T. AFTER a couple hours of watching Guts take in mouthfuls of water, only to retch them up again, nothing had changed except his temperature. His whole body was hot to the touch, he was drenched in sweat, and even wrapped in both blankets, he couldn’t stop shivering.
He was going downhill fast, and his answers to our questions were starting to get loopy and confused. Kira prayed over him nonstop, but it didn’t seem to be doing any good.
Finally, Millicent and I decided to chance the cure. She knelt beside Guts with the dried moss in her hand.
“Guts, I have medicine—”
“— —!”
Millicent looked at Kira for help. Kira frowned, but she bent her head and spoke softly into Guts’s ear.
“Listen to her,” she said. “Just try it.”
Guts stared up at Kira. The only color on his face came from the heavy dark circles under his eyes.
“Awright,” he croaked.
Millicent showed him the clump of moss. “You have to chew this. As long as you can. Then swallow it. And whatever you do, don’t throw it up. It’s all we’ve got. Okay?”
Guts’s head moved in what
looked like a nod. He opened his mouth just wide enough for Millicent to place the moss inside. Then he closed his teeth over it.
We watched him chew, his jaw slowly rising and falling.
Then his lower cheeks bulged as his jaw clamped down hard. A second later, his whole upper body jerked in a retch.
“Don’throwitupdon’throwitup!” Millicent begged him.
He fought it as hard as I’d ever seen him fight anything, through one convulsion after another as his body tried to reject the cure. It must have hurt like a demon, but he kept his jaw clamped down and his lips pressed white, and eventually his body began to settle down.
His jaw started to move again. A minute later, he stopped chewing.
“Are you going to try and swallow it now?”
His eyes were still shut.
“Just did.”
She exhaled with relief. Then, just as quickly, she looked worried again.
“Don’t throw it up!”
“Shut up.”
There were a few more convulsions after that. But he managed to keep it down. For the next couple of hours, nothing about his condition seemed to change.
Then his face gradually started to relax.
“Not hurtin’ so much,” he said.
Ten minutes after that, he said, “Think it’s better.”
Pretty soon, the shivering had stopped, and his skin wasn’t nearly as hot. He asked for water, and for the first time since he’d eaten the moss, we decided to risk giving him some.
He drank a hefty amount, and this time he kept it down. Then he drifted off to sleep.
Millicent looked at Kira with a smirk. “Must have been the prayers.”
Kira scowled a little, but she was too relieved to really get angry.
WHILE GUTS SLEPT, we gathered brush for camouflage. The blankets we’d bought were checkered in bright blue and red, and to any Moku traveling through the forest, they would have stuck out like a signal fire.
As we gathered the brush and arranged it in a thin layer over Guts and the blankets, I couldn’t stop thinking about how thirsty I was. It was late afternoon, and the rest of us hadn’t allowed ourselves any water since Guts had taken ill, reckoning we were at least an hour’s round trip from the stream we’d passed.
