Chapter 14
Four wet children, and two adults in a boat. What a surprise to
discover that it was Baralard who had acquired our rescue vehicle. He had
also done all the planning, and masterminded our escape. I could not have
guessed that there was an ounce of intelligence in his body. As for being
Kinti's uncle; families never cease to amaze me. Baralard propelled the
canoe with one long oar from the back which he skilfully rotated backwards and
forwards. We made slow, but silent progress through the chilly mist.
By now we were very cold, and I think Roti was aware of this because she
looked concerned and talk furtively to Baralard, pointing to the wooded banks
of the fiord. I gathered that there was concern also about meeting up
with a ship sailing out into the sea. We did however pull up and
Baralard, with care I had never seen demonstrated before, carried each one of
us into the woods and placed us in a hollow made by an upturned root base
of a collapsed tree. The vertical wall of roots gave a sense of
protection and homeliness. Again I marvelled at Baralard's ability to
start a fire from scratch. I had been used to rekindling fire from embers
every morning, but here we witnessed an expert at work. Within a moment,
lifesaving heat and billowing smoke enveloped us. Very soon our cloaks
were steaming hot and we fell asleep, leaning upright against the roots. When
we awoke, it was first light. Roti had a hot drink ready for us, and we
took it in turns drinking from a large horn cup. It was fun, and I
recalled the many drinking games we had seen the sailors indulge in late at
night. Invariably someone would fall off their bench, to gaffors of laughter.
Roti also produced some food. Freedom made this tasted wonderful;
some slightly damp bread, and salty cheese. Seated out in the wilds once
again reminded me of meals I had shared with my people at home. We always
began by looking up into the sky and being grateful for all good gifts. I
looked up, and notice Honya watching me, and she too looked up with curious
eyes. I grinned at her and remarked "we're alive and free, isn't it
wonderful." She grinned back and said she was just glad we were all
together. Roti and Baralard were talking again. They were discussing
how safe we might be. Would we be seen on the fiord? Did we need to
travel by night, and rest by day? How much food had they brought? There were
quite a few ships moving up and down the fiord every day, and our absence for
sure would provoke a response. Everyone knew that the best way out of Oshlo
would be on the water. A ship with a sail and a favourable wind would
catch us up in a few hours. Six people propelled by a one oared boat was
not going to be quick. It was decided that the canoe would have be
abandoned. We would need to follow the side of the fiord towards the sea
staying hidden in the trees. How we got out to the ship might be a
problem, but maybe we would find a ferryman. We had our coins, though
none of us had a clue how much each was worth, and we would be at the mercy of
strangers.
Food, drink, warm clothes, dry weather, everything made me feel
good. Soon we were cheerfully bounding over boulders, and ducking under
low branches. All the time we kept an eye out for the blue glint of water
and the fiord. Baralard insisted on silence, which for Kinti was her
natural state, but for Honya was a form of torture. The journey was far
longer than Baralard had expected. All his reconiscense was based on the
reports he picked up from our customers. He described the headland, where
the land become a bare, broad expanse of rock, with isolated intrepid trees
poking up through deep fissures. Here we heard about a small fishing
port, built on stilts out into the sea, where the people were described as foreign,
and hostile. We wondered what lay in store. Like most escapees I guess,
the thought was there that we might end up worse off than before. Then I
remembered Tilda, her words when we first hit trouble in Jokou. "We
have done nothing wrong, and we are not alone." I had knew deep down we
were doing the right thing. This was a risk worth taking no matter what was to
happen. I was with my new family, and everything was good.
At last my old skills came to the fore. This journey was
pretty much like our expedition, and my expeditionary knowledge came back to me
with ease. First I was able to find safe mushrooms, eggs and wild herbs.
With Kinti, I shinned up tall pine trees to recce the route. I
noticed short cuts, and where passing ships might be avoided. Finally I helped
find where the best places to sleep might be. I'm not sure how many nights
passed. So far we were completely on our own, but I had seen smoke from my
observations. Eventually I saw the sea, and we knew our next challenge was soon
approaching.
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