The Pinecone Apothecary

by S J Amit

  “Let’s pull it.” He grabbed the stick with one hand and began turning the boat with his other. I held the parallel side panel and we dragged the boat together into the water until it started floating. Kelemance leaped inside, reached out and helped me in. I steadied myself for a moment and sat on the middle of the bench. He rowed to the center of the river and the slow current moved us forward.

  We sailed through the Valley of Abandoned Issues. The sun became stronger. I took off the thick shirt. The river became narrower and the current grew faster. Rocks and tall gray cliffs multiplied on both sides, hiding the sun occasionally. The long and narrow strip of sky flickered swiftly between the two high-up riverbanks. “We’re approaching the big estuary,” Kelemance prepared by leaning his body forward. “A little bit before reaching the clear waterfalls we’ll have to get off the boat. We’ll climb the mountains from there.” He kept looking ahead. The boat turned sharply from side to side and smacked against the water. The water’s noise got louder, foaming white currents appeared from between the cliffs, the rocks and the crevices. I put the hooded shirt back on and held the bench tightly. Kelemance put the stick behind him along the boat, stuck it between the bench’s beam and the right side panel and moved the backpack aside. He sat on his knees and grabbed the bow with both hands. With every intense rattle of the boat, the stick knocked on the right side panel.

  “Come down to the deck,” he glanced back quickly and pointed to the center of the boat. I supported myself with both hands and quickly lowered myself forward, sat on the deck and leaned back. Water sprayed into the boat from different directions. “Hold on tight, and make sure the stick doesn’t fly away,” Kelemance called and raised himself from kneeling. He lifted his left leg without letting go of the bow and placed his foot on the deck. I pressed the stick under my armpit and he stretched his right leg back and shoved the backpack towards me.

  The distance between the riverbanks grew smaller, and the cliffs were already really close to us. The current weakened a bit. The water’s movement calmed down, the boat rattled less. But from afar, the sound of water grew louder.

  Kelemance straightened up a bit more. He quickly released his hands, crossed them and grabbed the bow again in an X shape. The back of the boat leaned to the left and turned with the current. Kelemance leaped over the bow onto the cliff on the right without letting go of the boat, and landed on a flat rock. He pulled the boat to him with all his force, his face twisting with effort. He grinded his teeth and panted, and dragged it onto the rock until he situated it near a passage in the rock, right above the water.

  “This is the Exit Cave,” he sat back and released his hands. The boat didn’t move, despite the water slightly hitting it. He shook out his fingers and caught his breath. “The cave lies between the long incline to the peaks of the Mountains of Freedom, and the steep descent into the big estuary,” he got up and reached out his hand. “Once the current of the river that runs through the Valley of Abandoned Issues gets stronger between the cliffs, it becomes impossible to halt the boat’s sailing,” he helped me get next to him and balance myself, “except for this narrow strip where the current calms down, a little bit before the river’s eruption through the tight passage.” He pulled the stick out of the boat, leaned down and sank it into the water in the cave. “We need to know how to recognize the passageway,” he shifted it from side to side with both hands until he pulled it out. “From here, we can prevent the danger of the boat crashing from a fall into the clear waterfalls.”

  We slowly lowered the boat off the rock and got half of it into the cave. “Get into the boat, I’m holding it.” He bent down and balanced it on the water. “Watch your head,” he pushed it a bit more forward until it floated motionless in the cave. I carefully put one leg after another into the boat. “Lean back on the bow,” he gave me the stick with one hand, I grabbed it and slowly turned inside the cave, and bent down until I had my back to the darkness of the cave’s interior. I cautiously leaned back until I sat down completely.

  Near the passage, the light from outside lit up the walls and the low ceiling of the cave, and the river flowed outside of it. Kelemance carefully got in too, sat close to the bench on the deck facing me, and slowly rowed. The light dimmed down the further away we got from the passage, until the cave became completely dark. The rustle of the stick going in and out of the water filled the silence, and a dim sound of water gushing echoed from outside. Light droplets occasionally dripped from the ceiling and landed on the water.

  Light flickered behind me. I turned my head back. We were approaching another passage to my right, the light came from there. Kelemance pressed the stick against the side of the passage as we sailed by it, turned and pushed the back of the boat towards the lit corridor until it rubbed against the bottom of the cave. He got out of the boat bending down, protected his head as he turned with his back to the passage, and pulled the boat back until it had steadied completely. He let go of it and kept walking backwards bent down until he got out of the cave and straightened up. I could only see his legs and stomach. He leaned down into the cave. “You can get off,” he reached out to me, bent lower down and pulled me. I carefully got off the boat, walked to the passage bent down, and straightened up in the open air. He pulled the boat out and I helped him fix it between two large rocks. He picked up a big stone from the moist ground, shoved it under the bow with his foot and made sure the boat didn’t move.

  We stood under the lit sky, water spraying on my face and on the green leaves around us. I couldn’t see the river, but the racket of the water was clearly heard.

  “Are you ready for the climb?” he pointed at the slope.

  “Have we got a lot to walk?”

  “Bring your backpack.” He chuckled, took the two pairs of shoes and socks out of the boat and sat on one of the rocks. I sat next to him. Kelemance finished putting them on before me, got up and looked at the slope, “We’d better reach the peak before it gets dark.”

  “I’m ready,” I stomped on the ground. The shoes were very comfortable, sturdy, and precisely my size.

  “Your backpack, Julian.”

  I nodded to him and sighed with half a smile when I realized I’d be the one doing the carrying. I flung the backpack onto my back and pulled the sleeves that had gotten stuck under its straps.

  “I’ll swap with you later on,” he turned and we started walking.

  The further up we climbed, the more rocks appeared on the sides of the path, gray, white and brown. Dark stones peered from under green plants and lone flowers - purple, orange, white, blue. Big trees stood on both sides of the slope.

  We had already walked quite a lot. Kelemance silently walked ahead of me in a steady pace. I didn’t say a word either. The incline got longer and felt like it was never-ending, I was running out of air. Couldn’t see even a hint of the place we had come out of.

  “Come on, Julian,” he turned to me, “the uphill won’t be as steep later on.”

  I leaned my body forward and continued climbing. Little stones rolled down with every step and I used my hands to keep from sliding. My knees hurt. My back too. I had to breathe for a moment. I had no idea how long we had been climbing. The path twisted, and after a long while of climbing it would straighten for a few feet, then twist again. Kelemance, who was further ahead than me, stopped and walked back to me, probably having noticed I wasn’t keeping up with his pace.

  “Drink a bit,” he took the water jug out of the backpack and handed it to me.

  “Maybe we can have a short rest?” I drank and coughed.

  “Drink a bit more, but slowly.” After I was done he took a long sip too. “If we stop here it’ll be difficult for you to continue,” he put the jug back into my bag, “the slope is still steep on this side of the mountain.”

  A burst of wind penetrated between the backpack and my back, slightly evaporating the ton of sweat that had gotten absorbed in the thi
ck shirt, and cooled me down. I stretched my arms and legs, walked behind him and tried to maintain a fixed distance between us. There were fewer rocks and trees the further up we climbed, and the path opened onto a wide open space under the blue sky. Slowly, the slope became less steep and the walk became easier.

  Lone bushes stuck out through the open space, and the sun shone over the horizon in all directions. With each step forward the visibility became clearer. A sequence of white clouds in the sky touched distant peaks on all sides. The green trees on the mountain ridge in the distance to my right looked like a green carpet. On the horizon to my left there were successions of brown and gray mountains. And still, the incline continued. A few thick eaten-up tree trunks laid on the ground, and the earth was browner, more moist, more and more level. A large lake appeared before us, surrounded by rocky hills and green peaks. Ducks were swimming and flying around. The air was cooler by the lake and the little stones alongside it were smooth and wet.

  “Can we rest here?” I stopped.

  “We don’t have much further to go,” Kelemance washed his face in the lake. “We’ll freshen up a little bit, but we’d better keep going while the sun’s still shining,” he pointed at the shadow that appeared over one of the hills around us. I also washed my face in the freezing lake water, and we continued walking on the lane that stretched through the hills. We advanced onto an incline that got steep again. Fog grew more dense with every uphill step, and the climb became more dangerous. I could hardly see anything on either side of the path.

  “Hold the stick,” Kelemance flung it back towards me. I grabbed its edge, and Kelemance pulled me up the slope as it got steeper. My steps had already gotten very heavy. Every raising of my leg was difficult. I almost tripped, Kelemance continued climbing, “A bit more, Julian, a bit more effort and we’ll rest,” he panted loudly.

  My heart was racing. My knees were shaking. My feet were burning. My back ached. We climbed and the incline was endless. One hand weakened, lost its grip. I shook my head and held back on tightly. Kelemance was dragging me and I was trying not to think about the exhaustion. A bit more, he said. A bit more. The fog slowly dispersed. The open spaces cleared but the sky was already less lit. The walk became easier and after a few moments Kelemance stopped in the middle of a tiny plateau in front of a tall cliff.

  “Are we there yet?” I stood next to him, looking at the huge rocks at the bottom of the cliff and at the little water creeks between them.

  “We’ve got a little bit left,” he pointed up.

  The cliff was almost vertical to the ground. “We’re not going to climb that, right?”

  He took three or four steps towards a large rock near us, put the stick down on the ground next to it, and passed his hands over the rock, “Let’s rest for a few moments.” He helped me take the backpack off my back and sat down. “We’ll eat a bit and drink and then continue.”

  “There’s no way I’m climbing that, Kelemance,” I sat next to him and felt my feet hurting even more.

  “Look up, Julian,” He pointed to the top of the cliff, “those are the peaks of the Mountains of Freedom, you can see them from here.” He opened the little bags that he had gotten out of the backpack and laid them between us. “The moment before the end of the climb, that’s where the steepest incline is.” He took a handful out of each bag and made a mixture of cereal, almonds, grains and seeds, and little cubes of dried fruit. “Any other path will only lead you almost to the peaks. It’s close, but it’s not enough. Only when you stand on the top of the mountain, will you be able to see the possibilities that are beyond the Mountains of Freedom.”

  “How can I climb that?!”

  “Anywhere I pass over, you will too, I’ll be at your side until you reach the top of the mountain.”

  The rocks seemed unpassable to me each time I looked at them. I tried to understand where exactly we’d be climbing from. The cliff looked dangerous. We continued eating and rested a bit without talking too much, until Kelemance returned the jug and the little bags into the backpack, stood up and flipped it onto his back, stretched its straps tightly and walked towards the nearby rock. He touched the rock from above, then swung himself back and leaped up, hung on and climbed up until he was standing on it. “Come, Julian, climb up, and we’ll continue step by step from here.” He moved aside a bit and pointed at the spot that he wanted me to jump to.

  I stared at him for a few moments, then got up and came closer to him. His shoes were approximately at the height of my chest. I slid my palms over the surface of the rock. Smooth, but there were a few indentations and bumps around. I took a deep breath, stepped back a bit and exhaled. Another deep slow inhale and then I sped up and leaped onto the rock. I supported myself with my hands, almost slipped, but Kelemance grabbed me and helped me pull myself up, until I balanced myself and stood up straight.

  “You see that it’s possible,” he laughed. “Are you alright?”

  “Yes.” The effort and the adrenaline woke me up.

  He jumped onto a higher-up rock and turned to me. “Here,” he pointed at the spot that he wanted me to land on.

  I got close to the edge of the rock and he leaned down and reached out his hand. I held onto his fingers with difficulty, until I felt steady and let go a bit. I raised my arms to the sides and tried to keep my balance. “Move over a bit,” I raised my gaze from my legs to his direction. He laughed again and moved back a bit. I moved back for momentum and jumped up towards him. He halted me by grabbing my shoulders, helped me find my balance on the rock and then let go of me. Leaped to the next rock and reached out to me again. “No, give me a minute.” I looked to the sides, took a long breath in and jumped. He made sure again that I was balanced and then continued. With every rock I jumped on, I was less afraid of jumping onto the next one. Kelemance was by my side. Slowly, patiently, carefully and with persistence, we climbed up the short and steep distance to the final rock, which was relatively wide compared to the other rocks, and was right against the upright cliff. We stood side by side. There was a bit more distance left to get to the peak, but there were no more rocks to climb. Kelemance took off the backpack and put it right next to me. He touched a few of the bumps and cracks on the cliff, stretched up and stood on the tips of his toes until he managed to touch another bump that was higher up. “I’ll be directly above you, remember where my feet tread.”

  “What do you mean?” I looked at his feet. He shoved his left foot into a crack in the cliff and climbed up. “Wait a minute,” I stood sternly beneath him, “Kelemance!” I raised my hands towards him.

  He didn’t listen to me and kept climbing. Bump after bump. Crack after crack. He didn’t look down. Determined to get there. A self-assured savage. He neared the edge of the cliff, released his right hand, stretched up and raised it to the peak. Sand and little stones rolled down. He took his left leg out of a crack and placed it on a higher-up bump. Made sure it was fixed, breathed heavily and looked up. I readied myself and my heart was pounding with force. He released his right leg and lifted himself. Half of his body was already above the peak. He thrusted himself up and rolled onto the top of the mountain. I leaned forward and breathed with relief. No way was he really thinking that I’d climb that.

  “Julian, throw me the backpack,” he called to me after a few moments and shook out his hands and clothes. “Are you ready?” he smiled to me.

  “Ready for what?” I threw the backpack to him and he caught it and disappeared from sight. “Ready for what?” I called.

  He didn’t answer. I leaned with my back against the cliff. My mouth was dry. Shame I didn’t drink a bit before. How can we climb back down all these rocks. A sound of loud tapping came from above. “Everything alright?” I shouted. He didn’t answer. How was I meant to climb that?! Come on, I thought. I leaned back on the cliff again.

  “Julian.” Kelemance reappeared up above. He held the rope with both hands and lower
ed a big loop down to me. “It’s strong enough. I reinforced the rod into the ground using one of the stones here. Slip the loop over you to go around your lower back and lean backwards when the rope stretches.”

  “What?! You’re not serious, right?” I grabbed the rope and looked at the knots he’d made.

  “It’s a short distance, you’ll manage the climb,” he gently shook the rope, “I’ll hold you up. You’ve trusted me up to this point, trust me now too. After the entire journey you’ve made to the Mountains of Freedom, you’ve got one last effort left before you can stand on the peaks.”

  I looked down at the slope we had come from, and then back at Kelemance.

  “Julian, I am your Challenge Bearer,” he didn’t take his eyes off me, “but I can’t climb for you.”

  I tightened my lips, lowered my gaze and stared at the cliff that was half a step away from me. I hardly believed that I had climbed up to here. And now what, I thought. Damn it, what am I doing. I slipped the rope over my head and down to my waist and stood with my legs slightly spread. Kelemance slowly pulled the rope and the loop tightened, he grabbed the rope firmly and stepped back. I also grabbed the rope with both hands, placed my foot on the first crack, and he disappeared. I slowly raised up, held on tight and lifted my other foot towards another crack. Kelemance made straining noises and pulled some more. I put my left foot on a higher-up bump and looked down. I was already hanging in mid-air. If I were to fall off a rock I’d roll all the way down and die. My legs trembled and I tried to stabilize. “Kelemance I’m falling!”

  “Straighten both legs horizontally to the cliff and slowly lean backwards!” he shouted and pulled, “I’ve got you!”

  I looked up, it was really close. I lifted my right foot and continued climbing step by step, slowly and cautiously. A little bit more, and then I stepped on the edge of the cliff and Kelemance pulled the rope with force, I quickly straightened upright and leaped onto the peak. He flew backwards and halted by the rod that was stuck in the ground.