‘There’s something down there which is new.’ Moss commented. ‘It’s like a series of small stone mounds, what do you suppose they are?’
‘I don’t know, never seen anything like them before. They must have been made by someone or something, as stones don’t pile up like that on their own. We’re too far away to see any detail, so let’s go and have a look at them.’
They climbed down and set off in the direction of the mysterious stone piles, never guessing what they would eventually find.
It took them a lot longer to reach the stones than they thought, and before that the river had swung around and under the hillside they were going down, so they were able to replenish their much depleted water stocks, and for a moment the stone piles were forgotten.
With all the water containers full and having drunk well and washed most of the dust off their bodies, the pair were startled to hear a voice calling.
Looking back up the way they had come, they were more than surprised to see a lone figure running down the hill towards them.
As the distant figure drew a little nearer, Moss exclaimed, ‘It’s a female, at least I think so, and she looks a little different to us anyway.’
‘Where came you from?’ she asked, when she had got her breath back, ‘you not of us.’
Moss responded to her query with his most beguiling smile,
‘No, we come from a land far away, well over the other side of the great plain of sand and small stones, where there is a great forest, and we lived in it.’
‘But them is bad lands, no one can cross them and live,’ she said with a look of disbelief on her pretty face.
‘But we are very strong, and we can.’ Kel had drawn himself up to maximum height and expanded his chest to its fullest, not realizing that nature was taking a subtle hand in the proceedings.
‘And what is a forest?’ she asked, looking puzzled.
‘It’s a great collection of trees, like that one over there, but much bigger and many many more of them, all in a group. They are so tall that they almost reach right up to the Greater Sun.’ Moss pointed to the brilliant white blaze above.
‘That not be, they would fall over. Anyway, where would you place your hutt if you lived in trees?’
‘We don’t have hutts that I know of... what is a hutt?’ it was Moss’s turn to look puzzled.
She smiled sweetly at them, ‘It is the place you live in, where you keep things, where the family lives, look, I show you,’ and with that she walked off in the direction of the bend in the river, the two travellers in hot pursuit.
‘Nice looking female.’ Moss commented, as they tried to keep up with the fleet footed stranger, ‘Better looking than most of ours.’
‘Must say, I agree with you there.’ added Kel, grinning.
As they panted around the bend, trying to keep up with their agile guide, several dark grey stone huts came into view, now looking much larger than they had before, and very solidly constructed.
Their guide ran into the largest of the huts, and quickly came out accompanied by four other people, one of whom was a much older female and the tallest of the group.
‘You welcome to us.’ the older female said, smiling down at the two. ‘You come a long long way to see us. Come to my hutt, and take food.’
They all trooped into the stone building, and the pair was surprised to see things to sit upon and a big flat board on legs in the middle of the room.
‘Please to sit down,’ the older female said, pushing the three legged crude wooden seats closer to the table, ‘I get you food.’
She produced several flat wooden boards laden with fruits, most of which the pair hadn’t seen before, and were hoping they wouldn’t have to eat.
‘Are all of these good to eat?’ asked Kel, not wishing to place himself at risk eating something he knew little about.
‘All are good food. You do not have like these?’ the older female asked.
‘Not these.’ said Kel, pointing out the ones he didn’t recognize.
‘All are good, you eat this.’ and she handed him one of the ugliest pods he had ever seen. Taking a cautious bite from one end, he was pleasantly surprised at the sweet flavour and smooth texture, and the rest of the pod soon followed the first bite.
After they had eaten their fill, the old female smiled, saying,
‘You tell about you selves, where you come from, how you get here, and why you want to get here.’
Moss and Kel took it in turns to tell the story in full detail from the day their Story Teller had suggested that they go on their journey, right up to the moment the young female came running up to them.
The listeners seemed surprised at the description of the forest life the two had led, and the length of the journey they had undertaken for seemingly little reason other than to just do it.
By now several other females had joined the party, and despite the size of the hut, it was getting crowded and a feeling of excitement was in the air.
While the older female was addressing the newly increased crowd, Moss slowly leaned forward, quietly saying to Kel,
‘I don’t like this, there’s something going on which we are not aware of. They seem to know about it, but we don’t, so watch out and be ready to make a run for it.’
‘Now we tell you some of our life.’ the older female had a commanding tone to her voice, and every one paid attention at once.
‘We not have Story Teller like you, but I do the same kind of thing. I remember the old tales from long ago, and I tell them to us people. One time I tell them to the one who will be in my place when I go to the sky,
