Read Online Beyond the Valley of Mist by William Wayne Dicksion - Free Book Online

lions.”
    Most of what was left of
the afternoon was gone when they came upon a medium-size stream
flowing into the river from a cliff on their right.
    Lela said, “I see a large
overhanging of rock about halfway up the side of that cliff.
Perhaps there is a cave up there where we can spend the
night.”
    “Let’s go see,” Jok
replied.
    “ We’d better take water with
us, and the rest of that cooked fish. The climb to that ledge is
going to be difficult. We’ll be hungry and thirsty before we’re
ready to come down from the ledge tomorrow morning,” Zen
said.
    “ If it is difficult for us
to climb,” Ador remarked, “it will be difficult for large animals
as well. We should be safe when we get onto the ledge.”
    “ Jok,” Zen said, “you carry
the food, and I’ll fill this pouch with water to take with
us.”
    “ Let’s go,” Jok
replied.
    They began scaling the
cliff. The girls carried dry wood to make a fire, which would be
very comforting during the long night.
    The climb was even more
difficult than they had anticipated. Loose rocks kept sliding out
from under their feet. After quite a struggle, they reached a ledge
of flat sandstone, with a good overhang of rock to keep them dry.
The find pleased the two couples, who were too tired to look any
more.
    “ It’s unlikely that an
animal large enough to harm us could climb the face of the cliff
without causing a rockslide,” Lela observed. “On this side, the
ledge ends at a sheer cliff, so there’s no chance that an animal
could climb up that way, but it would be possible for an animal to
approach us from the other end.”
    “ Why don’t we build a rock
wall at that end?” Ador suggested. “We have all the loose rocks we
need. If we block the entrance with heavy rocks and make them into
a wall, it will completely block that end. We’ll be secure, and we
can get some badly needed sleep tonight, especially with a fire to
protect us.”
    “ Wonderful,” said Zen.
“Let’s get started while we still have light to work by. We’ll use
the heaviest rocks possible; no animal will be able to move them.
We can pile smaller rocks against the larger ones, which will wedge
the large rocks into place. Then the only place we’ll have to guard
is the face of the cliff.”
    Some of the rocks were so
heavy that the four had to drag them into place by making ropes
from the skins they had brought with them. They completed building
the wall just as it was getting dark. Even though they were tired,
they built a fire and ate the remainder of the fish, then sat
contentedly, watching the shadows growing longer while sunlight
reflected off the snow-capped peaks in the distance. The river of
the Valley of Mist wandered on through the flat plain beyond the
mountains.
    Between their lookout
shelter and the snow-capped mountains, they saw what appeared to be
another river joining the one they had rafted on through the
valley. The rivers continued far into the distance. The view was
magnificent. They couldn’t see the Valley of Mist, though, because
it was hidden by the hills the river had cascaded
through.
    Suddenly, Ador began to
cry.
    “ Why are you crying?” Jok
asked.
    “ I miss Mother and Father. I
wish I could tell them that we made it through the Valley of Mist
and that we are safe. I think they doubted that we would make it.
It would be wonderful if we could bring our families here to live
with us and start a new village. We would all be free from the
terrible priests and their awful God.”
    Tears came to Zen’s eyes,
too, but he turned away so the others couldn’t see. Now that he had
accomplished the nearly impossible, he was shaking so much he was
afraid they would notice. “One day soon,” he said, “we’ll find a
way around the Valley of Mist and rescue our families.”
    “Do you think that is
possible?” Ador asked.
    “ Yes, I do,” Zen replied.
“We know there are two sides to the valley, and I believe there is
a beginning and an end. It