overgrown with weeds and straggly pines.
“Gonna be a long walk, boys, relax and enjoy the view.”
Karus takes on conversation with a couple of the plain-clothed warriors, and Jack falls in with Braylon and Aiden.
“So what happened to you the other night?”
“They took me to a room underneath the Temple,” says Braylon, his jaw tense, “and they put me in a hole in the ground and locked me there.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No, they didn’t touch me. But it was dark and freezing. I could hear… people breathing.” Braylon swallows hard and squints off toward the distance.
“What did Nisaq tell you? Did he threaten to kill you?”
“No.” Braylon collects his thoughts. “He told me that if I played by the rules, I could be a great man someday.”
The boys walk in silence and turn this over in their minds.
“What do you think he meant by that?”
“I didn’t ask.”
They stop after a while and eat a cold lunch by the side of the road. In the distance ahead, a white angular shape emerges over the horizon.
“Here’s the crew now,” says Karus.
They finish eating and move forward, and as they get closer they see two dozen men fighting the massive stone block, pulling the ropes wound around it, grunting and heaving in the noonday sun. The block is lashed to a huge sledge that rolls slowly over the track of logs laid out in parallel on the road, and as the block passes over the rear of the track the workers lift the heavy logs and carry them to the front and lay them down at the head of the line, creating a perpetual conveyer for the enormous sandstone to move upon. The men grit their teeth and flexed tendons stand out on their arms.
“Hold . Straighten her up.”
Men hunker low and reposition the log as the groaning stone hulk bears down upon it, pressing into the hard-packed ground as it rolls. Their progress is painfully slow.
“New recruits?” yells the apparent foreman.
“Three for now,” says Karus.
“We can use them. See you back there in a few days. Have fun breaking rocks.” The foreman laughs and sets his attention back on his tremendous burden.
“Don’t mind him, it’s not a bad as it seems. At least you get to work outside.”
This is cold comfort to the three boys, and as they walk they keep snatching glances at the monumental stone snailing away over the hill. Each block in the Temple had to be moved in just this fashion, it occurs to them. Eventually it recedes from sight and they turn back to the road ahead.
“I see you keep looking at the old mare here,” Karus says to Jack.
“She’s pretty.”
Karus laughs at this. “She’s old and broken down, boy, not much use for anything but this. You want to hold her reins for a while?”
“Yes.”
He runs up to take the leather lead in his hands and the mare looks at him with big doleful eyes.
“Just hold her steady, she’ll follow you.”
“Does she bite?”
“No, been known to kick a little though. Don’t get right behind her. Give her a little pat, there, let her know you’re her friend.”
Jack strokes his hand along her thick, trunk-like neck and she snorts softly through wide nostrils. “Hello there,” he whispers to her. She lowers her head and huffs and Jack leads her on the rest of the way, and as the fiery colors of evening spread over the countryside they see ahead of them the great cavernous quarry. The crews are winding down for the night, gathering around a small encampment and heating stew in a big black pot slung over the fire. They whoop and beat on pans as Karus and the boys approach.
“Look at the little boy leading old Karus by a leash!”
“Shut up,” yells Karus.
They roar with laughter and get up to meet the new hands.
“Be nice, we have company here. Men, this is Jack, Aiden, and Braylon.” Karus points to each boy as he names them and the crew nods and extends brief salutations. Next he unties the bundles draped over the longsuffering mare and they fall to the
“Gonna be a long walk, boys, relax and enjoy the view.”
Karus takes on conversation with a couple of the plain-clothed warriors, and Jack falls in with Braylon and Aiden.
“So what happened to you the other night?”
“They took me to a room underneath the Temple,” says Braylon, his jaw tense, “and they put me in a hole in the ground and locked me there.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No, they didn’t touch me. But it was dark and freezing. I could hear… people breathing.” Braylon swallows hard and squints off toward the distance.
“What did Nisaq tell you? Did he threaten to kill you?”
“No.” Braylon collects his thoughts. “He told me that if I played by the rules, I could be a great man someday.”
The boys walk in silence and turn this over in their minds.
“What do you think he meant by that?”
“I didn’t ask.”
They stop after a while and eat a cold lunch by the side of the road. In the distance ahead, a white angular shape emerges over the horizon.
“Here’s the crew now,” says Karus.
They finish eating and move forward, and as they get closer they see two dozen men fighting the massive stone block, pulling the ropes wound around it, grunting and heaving in the noonday sun. The block is lashed to a huge sledge that rolls slowly over the track of logs laid out in parallel on the road, and as the block passes over the rear of the track the workers lift the heavy logs and carry them to the front and lay them down at the head of the line, creating a perpetual conveyer for the enormous sandstone to move upon. The men grit their teeth and flexed tendons stand out on their arms.
“Hold . Straighten her up.”
Men hunker low and reposition the log as the groaning stone hulk bears down upon it, pressing into the hard-packed ground as it rolls. Their progress is painfully slow.
“New recruits?” yells the apparent foreman.
“Three for now,” says Karus.
“We can use them. See you back there in a few days. Have fun breaking rocks.” The foreman laughs and sets his attention back on his tremendous burden.
“Don’t mind him, it’s not a bad as it seems. At least you get to work outside.”
This is cold comfort to the three boys, and as they walk they keep snatching glances at the monumental stone snailing away over the hill. Each block in the Temple had to be moved in just this fashion, it occurs to them. Eventually it recedes from sight and they turn back to the road ahead.
“I see you keep looking at the old mare here,” Karus says to Jack.
“She’s pretty.”
Karus laughs at this. “She’s old and broken down, boy, not much use for anything but this. You want to hold her reins for a while?”
“Yes.”
He runs up to take the leather lead in his hands and the mare looks at him with big doleful eyes.
“Just hold her steady, she’ll follow you.”
“Does she bite?”
“No, been known to kick a little though. Don’t get right behind her. Give her a little pat, there, let her know you’re her friend.”
Jack strokes his hand along her thick, trunk-like neck and she snorts softly through wide nostrils. “Hello there,” he whispers to her. She lowers her head and huffs and Jack leads her on the rest of the way, and as the fiery colors of evening spread over the countryside they see ahead of them the great cavernous quarry. The crews are winding down for the night, gathering around a small encampment and heating stew in a big black pot slung over the fire. They whoop and beat on pans as Karus and the boys approach.
“Look at the little boy leading old Karus by a leash!”
“Shut up,” yells Karus.
They roar with laughter and get up to meet the new hands.
“Be nice, we have company here. Men, this is Jack, Aiden, and Braylon.” Karus points to each boy as he names them and the crew nods and extends brief salutations. Next he unties the bundles draped over the longsuffering mare and they fall to the
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