Previous Section : A Deal on the Shingle Beach

Departure With a Yellow Stone

It was clear now that they wouldn't show up this year. For three weeks already the Stars of Spring were clearly visible above the eastern horizon before the morning dawn wiped out the constellations of the night. Areus couldn't remember they ever had been this late before.

Every year at the very onset of spring the Keftians had sent their small scout ship navigating in close distance along the coast of the Myrtoan sea. A few of the villagers were on the watch for this ship to signal it down. Then they negotiated the essentials of the deal: how much they had to give, what they wanted in return. Two weeks later the large merchant vessel followed and the deal took place on the shingle beach.

This year, something was wrong. The sheperds were ready to take the herds to the higher pastures of early summer. More wool than ever was sitting in large bags, waiting to be shipped. And it was Areus', the son of the eldest, duty to make it happen. The next day the gathering of the men of Mittentown in the central place soon came to a decision: "You must journey to the Keftian Palace of Pillars three days in the south. Make them come back."

He kissed his wife Mela farewell and left the village, wearing a club, a dagger, sufficient water, victuals, a blanket for the night, as well as - on a rope in his hand - the finest lamb of the herd, after it was hugged goodbye with kisses and tears by his daughter Klysina.

Hours before he had left though, he had entered his hut, and, with nobody watching, had taken a small yellow stone from a hidden vault below his bed. Since the gods send me on this journey, maybe there is more in store than reviving the trade: "You could be my key".

Next Section : The World Outside the Valley