Page 30 of Circle of Days
Outside, Joia paused a moment. The chill night air was like a drink of water from a cold stream. There was no moon, but the stars shone in the black sky and showed her the peaked silhouettes of silent neighboring houses.
She might not be the only early riser, she thought anxiously. She did not want to be seen and recognized. Anyone coming across her would ask, in a friendly way, what she was doing up so early; and the person would casually tell her mother, then the truth would come out.
She looked carefully all around but saw no one.
She walked away across the dewy grass. When she was fiftypaces or so from her house, she sat on the ground and put on her shoes. They were made of cow hide, like her tunic, and had drawstrings that could be pulled tight.
She saw no one as she made her way to Vee’s house and sat on the ground nearby to wait. She wondered whether Vee and Roni would appear. Vee’s mother, Kae, might have guessed that something was up. Joia liked Kae, but she was not a rule breaker and she would not allow her daughter to be one. If she found out what the girls were planning to do today, she would put a stop to it without hesitation.
More likely, Vee might just get scared and stay in bed. Joia herself was having second thoughts, so Vee must be, too, and the same went for Roni.
Joia wondered what to do if neither of them showed up. It would be dismal to return to the house and go back to sleep, like a hunter coming home with nothing in the basket. If necessary she would go on her own to the Monument, she decided, and alone she would spy on the priestesses and learn their secrets.
She shivered. It would continue cold until the Sun God came to smile on the earth.
A ghostly figure materialized beside her, and after a startled moment she recognized Roni. Neither of them spoke. Roni sat down beside Joia, and Joia squeezed her arm by way of greeting, feeling a thrill of excitement. The adventure was on.
A few moments later Vee stepped silently out of her house. Joia and Roni got to their feet, and the three girls set off.
They soon left the village behind and took the well-worn track that led in a straight southwesterly line from Riverbend to theMonument. When they were safely distant from the houses, they all laughed with relief, then linked arms to walk side by side.
Dawn came up behind them, its faint glow spreading across the sky. The Great Plain became more clearly visible. Joia felt a shudder of fear as they passed a burial mound. Her ancestors were in there. What would they think if they knew what she was doing?
She looked away. As far as the eye could see, sheep and cattle bowed their heads to graze. The herds were guarded day and night, and a few herders saw the girls and gave friendly waves.
Joia was dismayed. She had not thought of the danger that they would be seen by herders. But she could not make out their faces in the faint light, and she hoped that meant they could not see hers. “Don’t act guilty,” she said, and waved back cheerily. Vee and Roni did the same.
Everyone worked with the herds, but about half the population also did special tasks, like tanning leather, which was Ani’s skill. The main job of a herder was to make sure the beasts did not wander where they should not go—to the woods or swamps, or into houses. Herders had bows and arrows to use against thieves, but theft was rare. From time to time they would move part of the herd to fresh pasture. Older and more experienced people might intervene when a cow was having difficulty calving, or when one was injured or sick. Much of the time the work was not demanding.
People in the community worked for ten days and rested for two, making a twelve-day week, but herders staggered their rest days so that the beasts were never left untended.
The three girls came within sight of the high earth bank that surrounded the Monument. The path they were on led straightto the gap in the bank where there was a ceremonial entrance, so they veered away to approach indirectly, hoping they would not be seen.
Outside the circle and a little way to the north was the priestesses’ village, a handful of houses and two larger buildings. Some priestesses lived in communal dormitories, and a few couples made their homes in regular houses. Joia could see no activity there, but all the same she led the group on a wide detour that brought them to the Monument from the south. She felt her heart beating hard as they bellied up the grassy bank and peeked over the edge.
Joia had seen other timber and stone circles—there were several on the Great Plain—and they all had a random look, as if no one had planned how many stones or posts there would be, or how they would relate to one another. Now it struck her forcefully that there was nothing random about this circle. Someone had wanted it exactly like this. The design had a purpose, but what? The mystery intrigued and annoyed her.
The priestesses began to emerge from their houses. Joia tensed and lowered her head, pressing her chin into the earth, so that her mouth and nose were below the ridge, and only her eyes and forehead were above it. Her hair was dark. She felt sure she could not be seen at a distance.
Vee and Roni copied her.
The priestesses were naked. As they came through the entrance, they began to sing, dancing to the beat of a drum. They paused, waiting, then a woman with white hair appeared. That would be Soo, the High Priestess, Joia guessed.
Suddenly there was a whoop of triumph from right behind Joia. Shocked, she rolled over, wriggling down the slope, and was amazed to see her brother, Han, throw himself down beside her. “Caught you!” he said, and laughed.
Vee and Roni quickly slithered down from the ridge. Joia pulled Han’s leg ungently to bring him down out of sight. “You idiot!” she hissed. She was furious. She could have killed him. “You followed us here!” she said in an outraged whisper. “Now you’ve probably given us away!” She was tempted to hit him but that would make him yell again.
He looked pleased with himself. “I knew you were doing something bad—you sneaked away in the dark.”
Roni said: “We’d better leave.”
Joia hated the idea, but she thought Roni might be right.
However, the singing had not stopped.
Joia crawled back up the slope and peeped over the ridge again. She was afraid she would see a group of priestesses running toward her, intent on grabbing hold of the spies who had defiled their holy Rite, and she was ready to run, with the others, away from the Monument as fast as they could. But the priestesses were still dancing, none of them looking toward the place where she lay. She studied the scene. They were concentrating on their ritual. “I don’t think anyone heard my stupid little brother,” she said.
“Are you sure?” said Roni.
