A New Life (4)
Chester found a tree growing straight up from a slope near the cliff face and settled himself astride it to rest.
While he sat there recovering, he looked upward and saw Blue Sound climbing the mountain as easily as if he were walking on flat ground, one hand gripping the pack that held Ant, the other hand and both legs free for the ascent.
When he lowered his gaze again, he saw Monia struggling and grunting her way up the cliff. At first she had tried to climb bare-handed, but Chester had decided that was far too dangerous. As he advanced he had tied ropes at every stretch where a climber might reasonably rest and let them hang down so she could pull herself up more safely.
Right now Monia was clinging to one of those ropes Chester had lowered, hauling herself upward with painful effort.
Chester took out another length of rope, secured it to the tree he was sitting on, let it drop, and checked that the knot would hold.
Then he rested a little longer and surveyed the surroundings.
On the cliff face right beside him an insect was crawling about. Water seeped from a narrow crack; the creature seemed to be after a drink.
A single flower bloomed nearby, but the fierce wind that scoured this height had battered it so thoroughly that it could not open properly; it looked torn and broken.
When Chester turned his eyes outward, the vast panorama of the island spread before him. In one part of what he took to be the Upper Tier, an orange, striped, monster-like creature leapt high into the air, spread membranes like a flying squirrel, glided for a moment, then dropped again.
Elsewhere, trees were toppling one after another for reasons he could not guess.
In another direction lay the lake he had once sought out to treat his wounds; a huge animal stood at its edge, gulping the water in great draughts.
When he widened his view still farther he could make out the tree that held the house he and Monia shared. That tree, the largest and strongest that grew on the island’s lower levels, still dominated the landscape even from here.
The long bamboo aqueduct that stretched out from it was visible too; several birds perched along its length, preening their feathers.
Monia, climbing hard, at last reached the resting place Chester had found for her. It was a fairly wide crack in the rock. She wedged herself into it the way Chester had done and rested.
While she recovered she gathered the rope, untied it, and dropped it so they could retrieve it later. By now a whole heap of ropes dropped in the same fashion must have been piling up far below.
Monia could have collected them and carried them up herself, but simply lifting her own body was already hard enough; the ropes were far too heavy for her. Chester had told her to leave them.
No one else was likely to touch them, and a fall from this height would not ruin good rope, so there was no real problem.
Monia wiped the sweat streaming down her face and looked up. Blue Sound, of course, was perfectly fine. Even Chester, who kept complaining that his stamina was failing, looked completely unbothered.
Once the sweat stopped pouring and her breathing steadied, Monia began climbing the cliff again.
They climbed with everything they had, yet the cliff itself was simply too high. Night overtook them before they had even reached the halfway point.
The three of them gathered at the mouth of a cave Chester had discovered and settled in for the night. They built a small fire from nearby grass and twigs, then piled more grass into a sleeping place that kept them clear of the stream running through the center of the cave.
Next Chester filled a cup from the cave stream, took out the carefully dried, finely chopped, and thoroughly roasted dandelion roots he had prepared, dropped them into the cup, and set it over the fire.
“Want some too?”
“C-can I drink it? I’m curious. J-just give me one.”
There were three cups—enough for Blue Sound as well. The iron cups were light enough that they floated instead of sinking, and the sea had washed plenty of them onto the beach; they had collected a whole stack. Carrying a few spares was no trouble.
“Chester, did you see that? Over on that side something huge like a bear was moving.”
“I missed that one. I saw something like a giant tiger, though…”
Once they started climbing, they could watch the Upper Tier with far more leisure than when they had actually been walking around inside it. Chester and Monia passed the time telling each other about the strange things they had spotted.
Now and then they asked Blue Sound questions, or listened to news of Black Wind and the other People of the Summit.
From what they heard, Black Wind’s tireless hunting through the winter had earned him recognition, and he would soon take the adult-warrior trial earlier than expected.
While they talked the dandelion coffee finished steeping. The three of them carefully wrapped the scalding cups in thick cloth and sipped, blowing across the surface.
Chester held Monia against his chest and gazed up at the star-filled night sky, listening to the soft wind and the murmur of running water while he savored the coffee. Monia connected the stars into pictures, enjoying Chester’s warmth and the fire’s glow as she drank.
Ah… today was hard.
While Monia thought that over another mouthful of coffee, Blue Sound carefully sniffed the brew and tasted it with care.
“…!”
At first he closed his eyes and sipped cautiously, but he must have decided he liked it; soon he was gulping it down.
“This water good!”
The cups were small, so the dandelion coffee never lasted long. Chester, seeing Blue Sound smack his lips in disappointment, brewed a little more for him.
Tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.
What was that sound? Something hard was striking thin metal. Chester carefully opened his eyes.
He felt Monia held firmly in his arms, tightened his hold a little more, and rolled his eyes toward the source of the noise.
“….”
It was a bird with sleek black feathers and long white ornamental plumes. Its bright yellow beak stood out, and its large eyes looked like finely made glass beads.
The bird was pecking at the bottom of the cup they had used for coffee the night before, eating the leftover bits of dandelion root.
Chester shifted his gaze again, wondering where Ant had been while a bird came this close. He found the pup held fast in Blue Sound’s grip, whining softly.
Well now.
Understanding why Ant had not been able to wake him, Chester moved his hand.
The moment he stirred, the bird flapped its big wings and tried to escape, but Chester’s hand was already moving to the place the bird intended to go.
Faint lines of light still wavered in eyes that had only just opened from deep sleep and had not fully returned to function.
His firm grip closed on the bird. When he squeezed hard, the bird’s neck twisted and crushed with a sickening sound.
“Pretty big one.”
Chester set the limp bird down and yawned.
He stretched as best he could in the narrow cave, then drew his knife and began dressing the bird.
By the time he finished, Monia had opened her eyes. Blue Sound remained tightly curled up, still trying to sleep. Blue Sound went to bed late and rose late.
Waiting for him would waste most of the morning, so the two of them left the sleeping guide alone and prepared their own breakfast.
Chester stripped the meat from the bones, set it in the pan, and began to cook. Meat alone would not do, so he added the kkae-gamja they had brought, along with dried dandelion stems, petals, and leaves, then poured in water.
He seasoned it with salt, pepper, and chili powder and stir-fried everything until the liquid was gone, then shared the finished dish with Monia.
“Is it all right to leave Ant like that?”
“I wonder.”
Ant was still held in Blue Sound’s hand, but instead of thrashing the way it had earlier, it now lay quietly and ate the bird’s entrails Chester had placed on Blue Sound’s body.
“Ah, this is good. The bird’s got a lot of fat. The fat completely kills the bitter taste of the dandelion.”
“Does it?”
“You should cook like this more often. It’s always just that mixed stew.”
“I can make a big batch at once, and once it’s made it lasts the whole day. That’s convenient.”
“No it isn’t! At least let us enjoy a little variety when we eat.”
After they finished the meal and cleaned up, they began preparing to climb again. That was when Blue Sound finally woke.
He stepped outside the cave, caught a few birds, swallowed them whole for his breakfast, and was ready to move at once.
Monia looked up at the sheer height of the mountain, steeled herself with the thought of seeing Black Wind’s soon-to-be-born child, and started climbing once more.
She was beginning to feel that scaling this mountain was becoming more familiar than walking on level ground.