sun, at night a million reflections of the stars glimmered around me, and I knew the meaning of paradise.
On the fifth night after Tarkahn had spotted Mount Artekka, we reached the Glass Mountains. The night was clear and the moons reflected endlessly off the surfaces of the mountains. We continued to walk at night, to try to get through while it was a little cooler. I felt amazed that any outsiders had successfully made this trip, but then I remembered that many had died on the way to the hotlands, and many others had traveled with entourages—servants and numerous dogs per person. Most had traveled from another direction.
When we couldn’t go any farther we slept for a few hours and rose before sunrise to continue. It took several days to get through the mountains, and the only reason we made it was because without our knowing it our will had grown stronger during our long trek. Tarkahn was the first through, and from my place in the middle of the pack I could hear him talking, “There’s the village we’ve all heard so much about, it doesn’t look like much to me, I don’t know what the fuss is about, our village was bigger than that, but on the other hand I don’t know that I was ever as glad to see our village as I am to see this one; that is, I felt a deeper love for our village, but I can’t really say I felt excited every time I saw it; but in any case I do feel disappointed...”
I, too, felt disappointed looking down the sweeping valley and seeing a village so far away it looked like a dollhouse, and an empty one, too, since no people walked the paths through town. I’d thought we were closer and that the village was larger. But when I first saw a person leaving a building my heart beat in my ears and I felt dizzy. I could see then that it was not a dollhouse spread before me but a real village, one where I might soon live, and one where I might soon hear news of my family. Mountains ringed the village, and two miraculous lakes shimmered. So far as I knew, this area was the most unlevel in Bakshami. I’d never seen lakes in a valley before. The effect inspired me and filled me with love for this village. Of course it wasn’t paradise by any means. Dust and sand swirled over the houses just as it did over all Bakshami, and the dwellings were modest even by the standards of my people.
We kept walking, and as night began to fall we saw people come out to light lanterns in front of their houses, and more and more people began to walk outside, going from one building to another. We watched as crowds began to fill the paths. Someone said that those were not houses at all below, but saloons.
“What’s a saloon?” said Jobei.
“It’s a place where you’ll never go,” said an uncle sternly. But it turned out the uncle was mistaken, for a few days later, hungry, out of water, we walked thirty strong, with forty dogs, into the first door we came to. Though the sun blazed, when we passed through the door the inside was as dark as my house used to be at night when lit by candles. The saloon’s builders had added just a few windows, and heavy drapes of a type of fabric I’d never seen hung across what windows there were. Surprised by the drop in temperature and nervous to have arrived, I felt a slight but unusual chill. Only a few people sat at tables scattered about the large room. Hardly any of them looked Bakshami to me.
“Can I help you?” said a man’s soft voice from the bar.
“More villagers running from the Formans,” said a voice with disgust. “How many more are there to be? A man like me can take only so much.” The speaker was neither male nor female as far as I could see, and perhaps wasn’t even human. “What are you staring at?” he snapped at me.
I stepped back and tripped over Artie, causing laughter throughout the room.
“Hayseeds!” the speaker exclaimed.
I’d never before heard the word he used but felt sure of its intent.
“That
On the fifth night after Tarkahn had spotted Mount Artekka, we reached the Glass Mountains. The night was clear and the moons reflected endlessly off the surfaces of the mountains. We continued to walk at night, to try to get through while it was a little cooler. I felt amazed that any outsiders had successfully made this trip, but then I remembered that many had died on the way to the hotlands, and many others had traveled with entourages—servants and numerous dogs per person. Most had traveled from another direction.
When we couldn’t go any farther we slept for a few hours and rose before sunrise to continue. It took several days to get through the mountains, and the only reason we made it was because without our knowing it our will had grown stronger during our long trek. Tarkahn was the first through, and from my place in the middle of the pack I could hear him talking, “There’s the village we’ve all heard so much about, it doesn’t look like much to me, I don’t know what the fuss is about, our village was bigger than that, but on the other hand I don’t know that I was ever as glad to see our village as I am to see this one; that is, I felt a deeper love for our village, but I can’t really say I felt excited every time I saw it; but in any case I do feel disappointed...”
I, too, felt disappointed looking down the sweeping valley and seeing a village so far away it looked like a dollhouse, and an empty one, too, since no people walked the paths through town. I’d thought we were closer and that the village was larger. But when I first saw a person leaving a building my heart beat in my ears and I felt dizzy. I could see then that it was not a dollhouse spread before me but a real village, one where I might soon live, and one where I might soon hear news of my family. Mountains ringed the village, and two miraculous lakes shimmered. So far as I knew, this area was the most unlevel in Bakshami. I’d never seen lakes in a valley before. The effect inspired me and filled me with love for this village. Of course it wasn’t paradise by any means. Dust and sand swirled over the houses just as it did over all Bakshami, and the dwellings were modest even by the standards of my people.
We kept walking, and as night began to fall we saw people come out to light lanterns in front of their houses, and more and more people began to walk outside, going from one building to another. We watched as crowds began to fill the paths. Someone said that those were not houses at all below, but saloons.
“What’s a saloon?” said Jobei.
“It’s a place where you’ll never go,” said an uncle sternly. But it turned out the uncle was mistaken, for a few days later, hungry, out of water, we walked thirty strong, with forty dogs, into the first door we came to. Though the sun blazed, when we passed through the door the inside was as dark as my house used to be at night when lit by candles. The saloon’s builders had added just a few windows, and heavy drapes of a type of fabric I’d never seen hung across what windows there were. Surprised by the drop in temperature and nervous to have arrived, I felt a slight but unusual chill. Only a few people sat at tables scattered about the large room. Hardly any of them looked Bakshami to me.
“Can I help you?” said a man’s soft voice from the bar.
“More villagers running from the Formans,” said a voice with disgust. “How many more are there to be? A man like me can take only so much.” The speaker was neither male nor female as far as I could see, and perhaps wasn’t even human. “What are you staring at?” he snapped at me.
I stepped back and tripped over Artie, causing laughter throughout the room.
“Hayseeds!” the speaker exclaimed.
I’d never before heard the word he used but felt sure of its intent.
“That
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