The world suddenly rushed back to his senses. He squinted in the light and looked around him. Where was he? Traven glanced around. He was lying on the ground next to a horse with his grandparents bending down over him with worried looks on their faces. Remembrance of what had happened suddenly flashed back into his mind as he unsteadily made his way to his feet. His grandfather helped him up. He blinked several times as he looked around. Everything seemed different, but he could not tell how. He felt a little different inside and things seemed sharper to him than they had before, but that was probably just because he had passed out. What had caused him to pass out anyway?
“Are you okay Traven?” his grandmother asked worriedly. She took his head in her hands and felt his forehead.
“I’m fine. I just blacked out for a second.”
“Are you sure? You look a little pale.”
“I’m fine Mams. I feel great.” Traven turned and pulled himself back up into the saddle. Despite what he had said, he did not feel great. He didn’t really feel sick either. His stomach felt a little queasy, but more than anything, he just felt different. He didn’t know how to explain it, but he definitely felt different. He tried to shrug off the feeling and turned back to see his worried looking grandparents climb up onto the wagon. “I really feel okay. It was probably just all of the anticipation that caused me to faint.” That seemed to calm his grandparents a little, and his grandmother began to give him the advice that she had promised.
“Now Traven you must remember that you are not a little boy anymore. In fact you’ve turned out to be quite a handsome young man. Now your grandfather gave you advice about dealing with men, but I’m going to give you some advice about women . . .” Oh great, thought Traven. As if his fainting spell wasn’t enough. He had never had any luck with girls, and he was planning on staying clear of them as much as was possible. His grandfather had already warned him that women were nothing but trouble. His grandmother continued, “. . . girls are going to play games with you and confuse you, but don’t worry, it’s all natural. Treat them with respect, and they’ll treat you with respect. Above all, always remember to be polite. If you remember all of this, you should have no problems.”
Traven could see his grandfather rolling his eyes behind the back of his grandmother. It made him chuckle a little and helped lighten the mood. With that, his grandparents had nothing more to say but that they loved him. He told them he loved them too and that he was going to miss them. They finally wished each other a final goodbye and good luck. Without anything else to say, Traven began down the road toward Kavar. He could not believe that he was finally leaving. His whole life would be different from now on.
He reached down his shirt and pulled out his gemstone. He always held it for good luck whenever he was about to do something new or important. The stone felt different this time, somehow, warmer. As he looked down he was stunned to see that the stone in his hand was no longer a deep blue but a bright amber. It also definitely gave off a little warmth instead of its usual coolness. Traven had no idea how that was possible. He thought about getting rid of it as he remembered his nightmare, but it wasn’t hot, just warm. He couldn’t throw it away anyway. It had been his father’s, and he quickly put it back under his shirt. He reached down and patted Dapple, trying in vain to calm himself. Everything would be different now.
3
Traven glanced back one last time, but his grandparents were already out of sight. A sinking feeling came over him. It would be a long time before he saw them again. He was already homesick, and he had only been riding for five minutes! He shook the thought from his head and turned back to look in front of him. Finally he had the opportunity to do something he had always dreamed of. He was not going to be depressed about it. He was going to have fun and adventure. He was going to see the world. Traven really was quite lucky. He wasn’t going to dampen the journey by worrying. He was going to enjoy the trip and the schooling he would soon receive. Once he had his education, he would become wealthy and travel all over the world. Everything would work out. He would see his grandparents again soon enough. Finally feeling somewhat excited and hopeful, Traven nudged Dapple into a trot.
He needed to reach the next village before dark. He had only been there once before a few years ago. He remembered it as an extremely small village, not even really a village but a small community, that was full of sheep herders. His grandfather had talked to several shepherds who would be leaving in the morning to take a load of fleece to Kavar. Traven would be able to travel with them until they reached Kavar. It was safer to travel with others and a lot more entertaining. He watched the trees go by as he rode Dapple down the road. After today he would not be riding through the forest any more. It would seem strange not to have trees closing in around him. He supposed it would just add to the newness of everything else that he would be experiencing. The sun continued its slow dive towards the western horizon as Traven rode on in silence, lost in thoughts of exciting and daring adventures.
By the time the sun had begun to set, he was no longer thinking of adventure. The whole lower half of his body was in pain from riding for so long. The inside of his legs were raw along with his backside. He was not sure if he could keep doing this every day for a month. Thank goodness he had these new, thick traveling pants. He didn’t want to think about how his legs would be feeling if he had been wearing his old, threadbare breeches. The forest slowly began to thin and then abruptly disappeared altogether. Traven pulled up Dapple at the edge. It made him nervous to be this much out in the open. He felt strangely exposed. Now he was not only uncomfortable with the feeling in his legs and backside, but he was uncomfortable with his surroundings. In The Wanderings of Gelan, Gelan had never mentioned being tired and sore. He began to think that adventure was not really as much fun as he had imagined it to be. Taking a deep breath, he continued out into the open. Several minutes later the small community of sheep herders finally came into view.
Traven rode slowly down into the small community with the sun already masked by the soaring mountains behind him. At first all that he saw were a bunch of sheep, but then he picked out someone hurrying from the nearest field to greet him. The person turned out to be a boy of about ten carrying a shepherd’s crook. He was dressed in wool and almost blended in completely with the sheep on account of his light, curly hair. He stopped when he reached Traven.
“Are you Traven?”
“Yes I am. And who might you be?”
“I’m Johnny. My dad told me to watch for you. He said to send you to our house so you can get rested up and be fresh for the remainder of the journey to Kavar. I wish I could travel with you men to Kavar. When I’m a man, I’m going to take the load of wool to the city.”
“Oh, don’t be too excited about traveling, you might be disappointed when the time actually comes.” Traven gingerly patted his rump for effect with a grimace. The boy started laughing, and Traven asked which house was the boy’s. Still laughing, Johnny pointed toward a modest, brick house a little farther up the road. After thanking him, Traven slowly rode toward it. He grimaced with every step that Dapple took toward the house. After what seemed an eternity, he was able to lower himself from Dapple and unsteadily walk towards the front door. It swung open before he even had a chance to knock.
“You must be Traven. Come in, come in. Supper is just about ready.”
Traven followed the bubbly woman into the house being careful not to let his legs rub against each other. His nose was greeted with the smell of lamb chops, potatoes, and fresh bread. His stomach rumbled, embarrassing him. He had not even realized until now just how hungry he was. His mouth began to water as he glanced around the room. On one side there was a fire glowing in the hearth. On the rug in front of the fireplace sat two little boys rolling a ball back and forth. They glanced up at him when he came in but quickly returned to their game. On the other side of the room was a fairly large table surrounded by chairs. It was already set for the meal with a steaming loaf of bread in its center.
“Oh, I’m Mrs. Crand. I forgot to mention it. Oh well, I’m always forgetting things. You can go wash up while I finish setting the table. I’m sure Joyce would love to show you where.”
“Mother!”
For the first time, Traven noticed that someone had come in the front door behind him. As he turned, he saw a pretty girl probably about a year younger than he. She had light curly hair like her brother and her face seemed slightly flushed. She seemed embarrassed about something, but he had no idea what. He followed her as she led him to the back of the house where there was a water pump. He thanked her and began to wash the dust from his hands and face. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed her still standing there staring at him. It made him slightly nervous, but he continued on as if he hadn’t noticed.
When he finished, she was still there and offered him a rag. He dried off his hands and then his face. As he lowered the rag from his face, he was met with the image of Joyce still eagerly gazing at him with a smile on her face. It was then that he actually noticed her. She was not just a girl with curly hair but a young, attractive woman with big green eyes and rosy cheeks. She looked rather striking in the dim evening light, and she was staring straight at him. He accidently dropped the rag and hurried to pick it back up. When he straightened himself, she giggled and started back to the house without a word.
“I see you’ve met my daughter.”
Traven jumped. He had been so preoccupied he had not noticed the man that had come to stand next to him by the water pump.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He bent over and promptly washed up also. Traven needed to pay more attention to what was going on around him. “My name’s Hank. My brother and I will be leaving with you tomorrow to take a load of wool to Kavar. And if you don’t mind, I’m a little hungry so let’s go in and get some food.”
He didn’t need any more encouragement and hurried to follow Hank into the house. By the time Traven and Hank walked through the door, everyone was already sitting around the table waiting for them. Hank sat down at the head of the table and motioned for Traven to sit down and join them. The only chair that was left was one directly across from Joyce. Traven plopped down in the chair forgetting how sore he was and stifled a groan. He hoped no one had noticed. He instantly forgot about it as Mrs. Crand plopped a large potato and lamb chop on his plate. Joyce handed him a thick slice of bread from across the table with a smile on her face. He immediately began devouring the food from his plate. He had already downed half of it before he realized that some of the others had not even been dished up yet. He slowed down realizing how rude he was being.
The meal was quite interesting. The food was absolutely delicious. It reminded him of his grandmother’s cooking. Traven tried to listen to Mr. and Mrs. Crand talk about shearing sheep between bites, but the two little boys were so loud playing with their food that he could barely follow the conversation. On top of that, every time he looked up he would notice Joyce staring at him before she dropped her eyes. It was very chaotic, but all of the noise and excitement were welcomed after the monotony and silence of the ride from Oak Tree. After a while he worked up the courage to ask for a second helping, and Mrs. Crand gladly dished him up another serving saying that it was wonderful having someone over who appreciated her cooking. Mr. Crand just rolled his eyes making Traven feel almost at home.
When the meal was over, Mr. Hank Crand led Traven over to a chair in front of the fireplace where they could sit and talk. After they left the table, Mrs. Crand and Joyce cleared it off and went into the kitchen. The two little boys ran off into the dark to take their older brother his dinner while he was taking his shift watching the sheep. Traven had been surprised that he had not joined them for dinner but had learned that each of the older boys in the community took one night to watch over the flocks. Wolves were known to wander out of the forest and try to snatch a sheep or two. Since the boys had started keeping watch at night, they hadn’t lost so much as a single lamb to the wolves. Traven grimaced again as he settled into the hard wooden chair in front of the fire.
“I couldn’t help but notice that your backside is a little raw. I guess you haven’t ridden very much?”
“Why do you say that?” Traven asked somewhat embarrassed. “Is it really that obvious?”