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“Thonolan is my brother, Darvo …”
“And I’”
“That’s not true You must kno rief, he’s not reasonable I fear for hio alone, and if I don’t look after hio farther east”
“Will you come back?”
Jondalar paused “I don’t know I can’t pro we’ll travel” He proffered the shirt, “That’s why I want to give you this, so you’ll have so to remember the ‘Zelandonii man’ Darvo, listen to me You will always be the first son of my hearth”
The boy looked at the beaded tunic; then tears welled and threatened to break “I’m not the son of your hearth!” he cried, then turned and ran fro
Jondalar wanted to run after hi platform and walked slowly out
Carlono frowned at the lowering clouds “I think the weather will hold,” he said, “but if she really starts gusting, pull over to the shore, though you won’t find ate The Mother will split into channels when you reach the plain on the other side of the gate Re north before you reach the sea, and then east Soon after the turn, she is joined by a large river on the left, her lastof the delta—the outlet to the sea—but you still have a long way to go The delta is huge, and dangerous; ain, usually into four, but sometimes more, main channels and many small ones Keep to the left channel, the northern one There’s a Mamutoi Camp on the north bank, close to the mouth”
The experienced river one over it before He had even drawn a uide them to the end of the Great Mother River But he believed repetition would reinforce their memory, especially if they had touide, but they insisted; or rather, Thonolan did, and Jondalar wouldn’t let hiained so boats
They were standing on the wooden dock with their gear loaded in a small boat, but their departure lacked the usual excite only because he could not stay, and Jondalar wouldout in the opposite direction
The spark had gone out of Thonolan His forenerallyte to increased recklessness and careless disregard The first real argument between the two brothers had not coht Thonolan had accused his brother of wet-nursing hiht to his own life without being followed around When Thonolan heard of Serenio’s possible pregnancy, he was furious that Jondalar would consider leaving a woman who probably carried the child of his spirit, to follow a brother to some unknown destination He insisted that Jondalar stay and provide for her as any decent man would
In spite of Serenio’s refusal to ht It had been drilled into him since birth that a man’s responsibility, his sole purpose, was to provide support for mothers and children, particularly a woman who had been blessed with a child that in soht have absorbed his spirit But Thonolan would not stay, and Jondalar, afraid his brother would do so him The tension between them was still oppressive
Jondalar didn’t quite kno to say good-bye to Serenio; he was almost afraid to look at her But she had a sh her eyes seemed a little swollen and red, she allowed no emotion to show in them He searched for Darvo and was disappointed that the boy was not a those who had come down to the dock Nearly everyone else was there Thonolan was already in the small boat when Jondalar climbed in and settled himself in the rear seat He took up his oar and, while Carlono untied the rope, he looked up one last tie The shirt he earing would take a few years for him to fill out, but the pattern was distinctly Zelandonii Jondalar smiled, then waved with his oar Darvo waved back as the tall blond Zelandonii man dipped the double-ended paddle into the river
The two brothers pulled into midstream and looked back at the dockful of people—friends As they headed downstreaain, or anyone he knew The Journey that had begun as an adventure had lost its edge of exciteainst his will, farther away fro east? And what could there possibly be for him in that direction?
The great river gorge was foreboding under the gray overcast sky Naked rock reared out of the water fro bulwarks on both sides On the left bank, a series of raed relief all the way to the distant glaciered peaks; on the right, weathered and eroded, the rounded ht was daunting froe boulders and pinnacles broke the surface, parting the current into curls of white water
They were a part of the medium in which they traveled, propelled by it like the debris floating on its skin and the silt within its silent depths They did not control their speed or direction; they only steered a course around obstructions Where the river stretched out more than a mile in width, and swells lifted and dipped the sether, they could feel the change in energy as the floas resisted; the current was stronger when the saates
They had traveled h, perhaps twenty-five miles, when the threatened rain broke forth in a furious squall, whipping up waves they feared would swamp the little wooden boat But there was no shore, only the steep wet rock
“I can steer if you bail, Thonolan,” Jondalar said They hadn’t talked much, but some of the tension between them had dissipated as they paddled in harmony to keep the craft on course
Thonolan shipped his oar and, with a square wooden scooplike i as fast as I can bail,” he called over his shoulder
“I don’t think this will last long If you can keep up with it, I think we’ll h the choppy water
The heavy weather lifted, and, though clouds still e without further incident
Like the relaxation that coht belt, the swollen muddy river spread out when she reached the plains Channels twined around islands ofand reed; nesting grounds for cranes and herons, transitory geese and ducks, and innumerable other birds
They carassy prairie of the left bank The foot of the alpine peaks was pulling back froht bank held the Great Mother River to her eastward course
Jondalar and Thonolan settled into a traveling routine so quickly that it seemed they had not stopped for those years while they were living with the Sharaht-hearted sense of adventure, seeking whatever lay around the bend for the simple joy of discovery Instead, Thonolan’s drive to keepwas tainted with desperation
Jondalar had atte back, but it led to a bitter arguain They spoke e necessary infore Thonolan’s grief, and that soain Until then, he was d
etermined to stay with him
The two brothers traveled out than they could have walked along the edge Riding on the current, they sped along with ease As Carlono had predicted, the river turned north when it reached a barrier of ancient mountain stureat river flowed Though ground doith their hoary age, they intervened between the river and the inland sea she strove to reach
Undeterred, she sought another way Her northward strategy worked, but not until, when she ht a contribution of water and silt to the overburdened Mother With her way finally clear, she could not hold herself to one path Though she had ain into many channels in a fan-shaped delta
The delta was a morass of quicksand, salt marsh, and insecure little islands So enough for small trees to send down tenuous roots, only to be washed away at the vicissitude of seasonal flood or eroding seepage Four h to the sea, but their courses were inconstant For no apparent reason, the water would suddenly switch fro up brush and leaving a sinkhole of soft wet sand
The Great Mother River—eighteen hundred es of water—had nearly reached her destination But the delta with its hundreds of square erous section of the entire river
By following the deepest of the left channels, the river had not been hard to navigate The current had taken the s northward turn, and even the final large tributary had only pushed them to midstream But the brothers didn’t anticipate that she would break into channels so soon Before they realized it, they were swept into a middle channel
Jondalar had gained considerable skill in handling the se one, but they were far fro as capable as the expert boatout around, retreat back upstream, and reenter the proper channel They would have done better to reverse the direction they were rowing—the shape of the stern was not so different from the shape of the prow—but they didn’t think of it
They were crosswise against the current, Jondalar shouting instructions to Thonolan to get the front end turned around, and Thonolan beco with an extensive root syste down the river, the sprawling roots raking along everything in their path The two men saw it—too late