CHAPTER 9
“Raef, Raef,” said Malta, “get up, son.”
Raef stirred slowly and sat up.
“Uhn…,” muttered Raef as he rubbed his eyes and stretched, “I don’t have lessons for three suns; the instructor went with Father to Pine Creek.”
“I know, Raef, but Irah and I were asked to go over to Moss Rock for a sun or two to help the healers. There’s been a sickness of some sort and there are too many sick for the Intercessor in Moss Rock to care for.”
Raef flopped back on his bed, “I don’t want to go to Moss Rock! I want to stay here with my friends!”
“You are staying here, Raef, that’s what I was about to say.”
Raef sat up, suddenly very awake, “I’m staying here all by myself!”
“No, dear, you will be staying with Rocecé’s family while we’re gone.”
“Rocecé? But Rocecé’s family are not Intercessors! His father is a smith, and they live way over on the other side of the village.”
The thought of staying in a home in the Labor and Merchant sector was somehow frightening to Raef.
“It’s only for a few suns, Raef, and you know their family. We see them at ceremony and they have visited us at our home before. It’s not like you don’t know him.”
“But, Mother, Rocecé is an apprentice, with sixteen seasons, not a youngling like me. He has to work all sun long. I would have nothing to do the whole time!”
“Raef, it has already been arranged. Don’t worry, you’ll have fun. It will be something new.”
His mother stood and went to the pot hanging over the central fire. Raef sighed and got off his bed to change. He was disappointed he couldn’t see Domik for a while, but he began to think that perhaps it would not be so bad. Rocecé greeted Raef frequently at ceremony. His father knew Raef’s father well, and they visited together often. Rocecé worked with his father at a smithery, something Raef knew nothing about. But it sounded interesting. If Raef was lucky he would be allowed to tag along to watch Rocecé work.
After first meal his mother wrapped his night robe in a blanket and tied it with twine for Raef to take with him.
“Don’t forget your spoon,” said his mother, “I imagine they do not have an extra for you.”
Raef took his spoon from the table and tucked in his tie strap next to his knife. Raef walked down the road with his mother and sister to the square where the road north to Pine Creek and Moss Rock began. Raef waved goodbye and continued on. He passed through the square, lined with tent-like booths where vendors and Merchants were selling food, clothing, shoes and anything else one could imagine buying. On the far side of the square were a few permanent shops, including the smithery where the blacksmiths worked.
There was a loud banging coming from inside, which scared Raef just a little. Raef walked carefully through the door and immediately saw Rocecé’s father, Cint. Cint was a short man but very sturdy. He smiled a lot, and Raef had never seen him cross. Rocecé’s father smiled through a dirty face and pointed toward the back of the small building. Raef walked carefully toward the loud banging noises, passing other men with blackened faces, and finally saw Rocecé, who was hitting a piece of metal with a hammer. Rocecé looked up and saw Raef.
“Ho, Raef!” Rocecé called.
“Ho, Rocecé!” said Raef.
Rocecé put the hammer down and began removing a heavy apron he wore. Though still a greenling his face was already lined a bit from a hard life. Rocecé was scarcely taller than Raef, but his arms bulged, and he had a face no one would confuse with a youngling.
“Come, come, lets go to the house. My mother has prepared some food.”
“But I ate just before I came.”
“That’s okay, we can always eat more, no?” said Rocecé.
Raef carried his wrapped blanket and followed Rocecé down the narrow street behind the shop. Behind the smithery a stream ran parallel to the row of shops, dividing the village in half, east and west. Raef and Rocecé walked across a wooden bridge, one of several that crossed the stream, and down a dirt road. Raef noticed that the roads were narrower here and there was a ditch that had been dug all along one side. A stench from the ditch that told him it was used as an open privy. The road had pits in it that were in need of repair. A home on his left had several places were the mud had broken away exposing sticks that wind could easily blow through. Younglings ran here and there, dirty and some barely dressed. Raef walked closer to Rocecé.
Raef felt lost winding through the narrow roads in the Labor sector and was relieved when Rocecé announced they were home. The house was very small, and it was hard for Raef to imagine a family of four living inside it. Rocecé had a sister a bit younger than he, but older than Raef. Raef followed Rocecé into the house. It was dark inside with a very small fire pit in the middle, a tiny table, no visible washbasin and three beds, each with its own tattered privacy curtain. Raef wondered where he would sleep.
Rocecé’s mother was short and quite fat. She was even shorter than Raef, who had only ten seasons. She greeted Raef with a broad smile, hugged him too tightly, patted his cheek, then told him to sit. Raef put his blanket on the floor and sat at the small table. He did not see Rocecé’s sister, but Rocecé sat next to Raef, pulling his knife from his trouser tie strap. Raef reached for his knife and spoon tied to his side. Rocecé’s mother brought a black pot to the table, gave each of them a trencher, and served pottage. Raef sniffed the pottage on his trencher when he could not identify its contents by its appearance. It smelled of cabbage gone slightly bad and potatoes. Raef managed to eat it out of courtesy and was glad he was not a picky eater. He noticed that Rocecé picked up his trencher and began to eat it. He looked at Rocecé’s mother and saw her do the same with her trencher. Raef shrugged to himself and picked up his stale bread and ate. It was tough, but he managed.
After eating Rocecé stood and pointed to one of the beds.
“Put your things on my bed. You will sleep there with me.”
Raef eyed the bed, trying to determine if the two of them could both fit. It was wider than his own, so he imagined it would be large enough. He walked to the bed and tossed his bedding on the straw mattress.
On the wall above the bed hung a wolf skin and several smaller skins, probably squirrel and rabbit. Raef’s father never hunted much and they had no skins hanging anywhere in his own house. While Raef had never been interested in hunting, the animal skins seemed wild and exciting somehow.
“Here, get on the bed,” said Rocecé.
Raef jumped on the bed, and Rocecé sat next to him, closing the curtain around them. Rocecé held a finger to his lips, then reached between the bed and the wall, pulling something out.
“Do you know what this is?” whispered Rocecé. He held up a long, thick strand.
Raef felt a chill at the sight of the dragon hair. He nodded his head. What was a greenling, well, nearly a man actually, doing with a dragon hair? Especially a greenling who attends ceremony.
“I know where we can find more of them,” said Rocecé, still talking very quiet.
Raef wondered if Rocecé had simply found the dragon hair while out hunting or if he actually visited the dragon. Did Rocecé know Rail?
Rocecé hid the hair again and pulled the curtain open. Raef followed as Rocecé left the house. The older greenling went to the edge of the road and stood with his arms crossed. Raef stood next to Rocecé and crossed his own arms, looking in the same direction as Rocecé was looking, which Raef discovered was at nothing in particular.
Raef spoke in a hushed voice, “Do you, well, you know, go to see the dragon?”
Rocecé’s eyes lit up and looked down at Raef.
“You know about visiting the dragon?”
Raef nodded.
“You, a Keeper’s son?”
Raef smiled and felt his face flush.
“Have you ever seen it?” asked Rocecé.
Raef felt his face grow hot and nodded slowly. He hoped Rocecé would not
become alarmed.
“I as well!” Rocecé whispered, “lots of times.”
Raef grinned. He had never expected this.
“Come on,” said Rocecé, “let’s go see if it is there now.”
Rocecé led them down a road going farther west, then out of the village and into the western forest.
“But, this isn’t where Rail hides,” said Raef.
Rocecé stopped and looked down at him, “You even know its name!” Rocecé shook his head and smiled, “Raef, the dragon has lots of hiding places. This is one of them.”
There was no trail that Raef could see. Raef followed Rocecé through bushes and dense bunches of maple saplings deeper and deeper into the unfamiliar woods. Raef began to worry because they had been gone so long. He wondered if Rocecé’s mother would worry. But then, Rocecé was nearly a man. Finally, they came to a rather large clearing between the trees. Rocecé went to the center and sat. Raef follwed and sat next to him.
“Rail will be along soon enough. Sometimes I have to wait a while for it to see me out here.”
“The place I see the dragon is much smaller than this,” said Raef, “It’s kind of crowded.”
They waited quite awhile, until Raef grew tired and almost fell asleep. A strong wind blew down on them and woke him up with a start.
“The dragon is here!” said Rocecé.
Rail landed just in front of the pair. It bowed its great head twice, once in front of each of them.
“Ah, young Raef,” said Rail, “I see you have discovered brother Rocecé is one of us.”
Raef smiled and nodded. He looked at Rocecé who was grinning but otherwise just sitting and looking at Rail.
“Watch what I can do!” said Raef.
He ran to the dragon’s tail and wrapped himself around its end. Rail lifted its tail slowly, then began to swing it in circles, faster and faster until Raef was laughing hysterically.
“That’s pretty good,” said Rocecé, “now it’s my turn.”
Rail put Raef down, who staggered around out of balance until he fell, laughing in a heap. Rocecé got on the dragon’s tail, and Rail lifted him into the air. Raef sat up and watched as Rocecé spun around in circles on the end of Rail’s tail. Rail spun Rocecé so fast it frightened Raef to watch, but Rocecé seemed barely amused. Next they took turns climbing on the dragon’s neck, asking it to sit up, and sliding down it’s back and tail to the ground.
“Hey, come over hear,” said Rocecé, as he walked under the dragon’s head.
“Go ahead, Rail,” said Rocecé.
The dragon lowered its head and let down its long tongue, drooling with smelly saliva, and sloppily licked Rocecé on top of the head. Raef cringed a little. Then the dragon ran its tongue part way down Rocecé’s back. Raef scrunched up his face at the sight.
“Uck, that is disgusting, Rocecé.”
“No it’s not.”
“It got wet stuff all over you!”
“Just a little on my head.”
“Still…uck.”
“It is nothing. Come on, get over here.”
Rail had licked Raef on the head once or twice, but only just barely, and Raef didn’t like even that. Raef had never purposefully let Rail lick him. He didn’t know why the dragon even wanted to do that. Maybe it was like a cat licking its kittens or something. Rocecé straightened up, his muscles standing out on his arms, waving for Raef to stand next to him. He didn’t want Rocecé to think he was weak, so he sighed and slowly walked over next to Rocecé. Rocecé smiled at him. Raef squeezed his eyes shut and scrunched down a little. Raef felt something warm touch his head.
“Ahhhk,” Raef muttered. Then he felt the warm wet tongue touch the back of his neck, and he jumped. “Ick, ick, ick!” said Raef, jumping around in circles.
“Here, I’ll show you something I bet you haven’t done,” said Rocecé.
Raef stood back to watch, wiping the back of his neck with his hand. Rail lowered its head to the ground and opened its mouth wide, so that it’s lower jaw touched the ground. Rocecé unlaced and removed his boots, and to Raef’s amazement, stepped inside the dragon’s mouth. The dragon’s fangs framed Rocecé on each side.
“Rocecé, what are you doing!” Raef said.
Rocecé only smiled, then he sat down right on the dragon’s tongue. Raef felt the blood drain from his face.
“Okay!” said Rocecé, waving slowly to Raef.
Raef’s stomach went cold as he watched Rail close its mouth and huge fangs around Rocecé until Rocecé was gone and the dragon’s black lips pressed together. Raef’s mouth hung open in shock.
“Rocecé!”
Then Rail slowly opened its mouth to reveal Rocecé still sitting inside. Rocecé was kind of wet from dragon spit.
“No harm!” said Rocecé, throwing his arms up.
Raef tried to recover from his shock, finding himself nearly out of breath. Rocecé stood and stepped out of the beast’s fanged mouth.
“You are completely crazy!” said Raef.
The sickly smell of dragon breath overpowered Raef as Rocecé stood next to him.
“Ug, and that is disgusting!”
“No its not, its brave,” said Rocecé.
Raef wrinkled his nose.
“Come on, you try it,” said Rocecé.
“Nu-uh,” said Raef, “I’m not getting in there.”
“Come on Raef, you’re not a little youngling anymore. You can do it.”
The dragon opened its mouth a little, and Raef stared into it. As well as he knew Rail, this felt truly scary to him. And the smell, Raef could not imagine sitting in there. He just wanted to swing by Rail’s tail some more.
“Come on!” said Rocecé.
Rocecé stepped over near Rail’s head, and the dragon let its huge mouth fall farther open. Strings of dragon saliva drooled down from its fangs, and its gums were lined with razor sharp teeth as long as Raef’s hand.
“Come on, Raef, you can do it. Just get in for a moment.”
Raef took a tiny step forward and pulled his shoulders in tight. He didn’t know. He didn’t want to. Rocecé bent down, lifted one of Raef’s feet, unlaced the ties around his leg, and slipped off his boot.
“Just do it for one moment, that’s all,” said Rocecé.
Raef felt his heart pounding. Rocecé removed his other boot, then stood up. The air felt dead still. Raef looked back into the dragon’s mouth. It was smelly in there, and it was wet and lined with teeth. Raef’s stomach was tied in knots. He trembled a little, took a deep breath and stepped quickly inside Rail’s mouth. The slimy tongue wet his feet, and he cringed. He turned quickly, closed his eyes and sat with a splat, holding his nose.
“Hurry, quick!” said Raef.
He sensed the dark surround him, and the sounds of nature in the forest went silent. He was inside. Then he could hear Rocecé laughing and he opened his eyes to see the mouth opening in front of him. He jumped out as fast as he could. His feet and seat were wet, as was a spot on his shoulder.
“There, I did it,” said Raef, wiping dragon spit off his shoulder and shaking his head.
“Yes, you did!” said Rocecé, “I didn’t do that until I had fourteen seasons!”
“Then why did you make me do it?”
“Because I knew you could!”
Raef appreciated the compliment, but still felt queasy from the experience.
“Can we take rides on Rail’s tail now?” Raef asked.
“Sure, you go first,” said Rocecé.
They rode the dragon’s tail several more times, and then Rail said it had to go. Others were waiting, Rail said. Raef stood by Rocecé and watched the great dragon fly out of sight. Others waiting? There were others?
“Do you come here a lot?” asked Raef as he watched the great beast lift into the air.
“As many suns as I can,” said Rocecé, “How about you? How often do you see Rail?”
“I don’t know, every few sun’s journeys, I guess.”
They put their shoes back on and turned to walk back to Rocecé’s house. Raef was subdued and quiet. He shook away the memory of sitting in the dragon’s mouth. His stomach was getting tight again. Raef looked at Rocecé. He walked as if he were so sure of himself. Raef wished he could walk like that.
When they returned to Rocecé’s home, it was time for last meal and Cint and Rocecé’s sister were home. Rocecé’s mother never asked where they had been. She only fed the family, smiling the whole time. It was a very tight fit with Raef, Rocecé, and Rocecé’s sister all on one short bench. After last meal they sat around the fire inside and listened to Rocecé’s father, Cint, tell funny stories that had happened at the smithery over the seasons.
That night Raef slept next to Rocecé and found the bed just barely big enough for both of them. Raef had always wanted to have his own privacy curtain, but found sleeping behind one to be confining, especially with no window visible. Rocecé whispered stories about the dragon and told coarse jokes that Raef knew his parents would never approve of. Raef listened while he admired the animal skins on the wall. It was all somehow exciting to Raef.