Chapter III, Reading 9

Days later, Flindra looked across a vast, rock strewn plain.  As far as she could see, there were rocks, boulders, and massive monoliths.  She couldn't imagine what force of nature could produce such a collection of rock debris.  It was if some gigantic force had hurled the rocks together.  There was no order to the placement of the rocks.  It was a jumbled mess, which would make crossing difficult.

It was late afternoon and the shadows were long and blue against the ground.  The long shadows made the ground look as if there were gaping holes in the earth.  Flindra suppressed a shudder as she looked across the boulder field.  On an instinctive level, she felt uneasy.

"Guide my steps, Spirit," she prayed briefly.  "Keep me safe," she added in a whisper.

Flindra loosened the reins and let Deru pick his own way.  It wasn't long before he discovered a game trail winding through the rocks.  The path was in the general direction of the pass so she let him continue on his chosen way.

The deepening shadows turned the massive stones into bizarre shapes and forms.  Flindra was overcome by a nagging sense of danger.  "Well Deru, I'm being a silly, little girl letting a bunch of rocks make me afraid.  Leudh would laugh at me."  Talking to the horse made her feel better but the fear didn't go away.

She made camp by a spring that bubbled from beneath a boulder.  The water from the spring trickled into a depression in the underlying rock forming a natural basin.  It was clean and clear and tasted refreshing.  She had a long drink before she did anything else.

There was little grazing for Deru so Flindra slipped a feedbag over his nose.  "Short rations for you tonight, Deru.  Tomorrow should see us out of this and into the mountains.  Hopefully, the snow will be shallow enough that you can dig your way to grass."  She had enough grain to make it across the pass but she knew the horse preferred to graze.

After her austere dinner was eaten and the fire was only embers, Flindra spread her furs on the hard ground.  She stretched out on her bed and wiggled, trying to find a spot where a rock wasn't digging into her back.  She finally had to put her saddle blankets beneath her sleeping furs before the rocks no longer dug into her side.

Because her bed was so uncomfortable, she couldn't sleep right away.  With her head pillowed on her saddle she looked up and gazed into the night sky.  Tonight there was a new moon so the sky was bright with stars.  She looked at the stars and picked out the familiar constellations.  The Bear was still trying to catch the Horse as they raced through the stars.  The Traveler always looked so burdened with his huge sack thrown over his shoulder.  Flindra felt a certain degree of empathy for this stellar figure tonight.  Her burden was more emotional but it still weighed her down.

She laughed aloud as she realized how silly it was to compare her situation to an imaginary figure in the sky.  The laugh lightened her mood so she surrendered to her blankets and closed her eyes.

"Beloved Spirit," she whispered, "thank you for another day.  Bless my sleep tonight and guide my steps tomorrow.  Thank you."