Page 75 of Circle of Days
“Are you the High Priestess?”
They all laughed.
“I’m not the High Priestess, no. My name is Sary.”
“I’m Bez and this is my brother, Fell. Can you take us to the High Priestess? It’s very urgent.”
“The High Priestess is old and very ill. I’m afraid she won’t be able to talk to you.”
This was a setback. Fell spoke to Bez in the woodlander language. “What did she say? I didn’t understand.”
“The High Priestess is too ill to talk to us.”
“Then we must talk to someone else.”
Bez turned back to the woman called Sary. “Is there someone else? We need to know about the migration of the deer.”
The women talked among themselves, and Bez understood one of them to say: “Ello knows everything.”
The others seemed to agree, and the one who had become their spokesperson said: “The Second High Priestess might help you. Her name is Ello.”
“Can you take us to her?”
“Of course.”
Bez was relieved.
Sary led them to one of the small houses. She looked inside and said: “Two woodlanders called Bez and Fell are here, asking to speak to you.”
Bez could not hear the reply, and worried that it might have been negative. He poked his head inside. He saw a very old woman lying down, and a middle-aged woman beside her. The youngerof the two must be Ello, he guessed. She got up, and he stepped back.
Ello came out. Bez saw right away that she did not have a kind face. He said: “May the Sun God smile on you.”
She ignored that. “What do you want?”
“We’re from the place you call West Wood. Our tribe is starving because of the drought and—”
Ello interrupted him. “It’s the same for everyone. You’re wasting your time here. We can’t give you food.”
Bez was offended that she assumed he was a beggar. He stood straight and looked her in the eye. “We’re not here to ask for food. We will be able to feed ourselves when the deer migrate, which should be soon. But we can’t tell exactly when. You priestesses know all the days of the year, I’ve been told. Is that true? Can you tell when the deer will start on their journey to the Northwest Hills?”
The woman’s face hardened. “We’re not here to serve you.” The way she said it was disdainful. “The herders feed us, and we give them information, but you people give us nothing. I’m not obliged to help you. I’ve got enough to do.” She turned her back.
Bez abandoned his pride. “Please,” he said. “We’re starving and all we’re asking for is information.”
Ello went inside and blocked the doorway with a hurdle.
Sary looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry,” she said, and she walked away.
Bez was distraught. They had come all this way just to meet with a flat refusal. He dreaded the thought of going home and reporting failure.
Fell said: “What shall we do now?”
“I don’t know.” It must be nice to be the younger brother, Bez thought. In a crisis you ask what you should do and wait for the answer. “I suppose we’d better go to Riverbend.”
“They won’t feed us—we know that.”
Bez scratched his head. “They might trade, though.”
