There Comes A Prophet by David Litwack Page B

can't I have a few days to enjoy my homecoming before taking off to light knows where?"
    "No, you can't. You promised the vicars you'd return in a week. The farther you get in that time, the better, because once they discover you've misled them, they'll come looking. And if they find you, you'll pray all you get is a teaching."
    She was right; he knew she was right, but he tried to cling to the good feeling.
    "But a few days won't-"
    "Generations of keepers have died to preserve the secret. And you'd sleep late for a few days?"
    "What would you have me do?"
    "Leave tomorrow at first light."
    First light tomorrow . The thought devastated him.
    "But I can't be ready by then."
    She smiled at him. "While you've been daydreaming, I've been planning."
    Nathaniel stayed quiet. When Orah was planning, there was no interrupting.
    "We'll need provisions. Adamsville is just the first stop. We have no idea how far the next town is or how many towns there'll be thereafter. We'll need water skins for dry stretches, food for at least ten days. I have some coins, gifts from my grandfather. And warm clothing, a sharp knife, a hatchet. We can start as soon as we're home. Thomas will help. We'll gather supplies in small bunches, then store them in the Not Tree."
    He considered it. Though it pained him to leave so soon, it was possible. Then another problem occurred to him.
    "What about my father?"
    "I've thought of that too. We'll make up a story."
    "You mean lie?"
    "A necessary story. No one in Little Pond has ever done what you did, go to the vicars and volunteer for a teaching. We'll tell everyone you so impressed the clerics that they decided to send you on a mission. But you don't know how long you'll be gone and were forbidden to say more."
    "And they'll believe this?"
    "We've been to Temple City, but neither of us has been taught. The time's been too short and we don't have the look of a teaching. They'll believe us or else how did we come to be back in Little Pond?"
    Nathaniel nodded. He'd never lied to his father, but it would work. His father would let him go on a mission for the light and not worry-at least for the first week. As he stood there open-mouthed, Orah spun around and resumed her march.
    "Come along," she called back. "We can make Little Pond by noon if we hurry."
    ***
    Nathaniel was halfway down the path, when his father rushed out to embrace him. After they separated, his father held him at arm's length and looked deeply into his eyes.
    "It's you, Nathaniel, my son and unchanged."
    "There've been no teachings, not for myself and not for Orah."
    Astonishment spread across his father's face.
    "But how is this possible? When I got your note, I was sure all was lost, that the Temple would consume the both of you."
    Nathaniel swallowed hard and chose his words carefully.
    "When I arrived in Temple City, I realized I had no plan. It's the biggest place I'd ever seen. The people were all afraid, and there were deacons everywhere."
    "It was a reckless thing to do. I'd have stopped you, if I could."
    "That's why I didn't give you the chance."
    "But how did you free Orah?"
    "I went to the vicars and offered myself in her place. Well, they'd never seen such a thing. They were so impressed they thought I might serve the Temple in better ways than being taught. So they decided to send me on a mission for the light."
    His father's eyes narrowed. He was a loyal child of light but did not trust the vicars. Nathaniel pressed on.
    "I'm to go far away, seeking something of enormous significance to the Temple." That part at least was true. "I'll be gone for a long time, but don't know how long. I can't say more than that. We were forbidden to reveal details."
    The light drained from his father's eyes. "Then I'm to lose you again. And maybe forever."
    Nathaniel never considered the possibility. In seeking the keep, he'd thought only of the adventure and not the risk. For his father's sake, he stifled the thought.
    "Of course not. It may take