Chapter 7

Ask for twenty.

"I'd like twenty," Paul said, still not knowing what he was asking for.

"Hmm." The woman stared into the distance for a moment, then sniffed the cheese again. "The Book might let me give you twelve."

Paul glanced at the Page.

Fifteen.

"Fifteen," he said.

The woman sighed, "May I not displease God, fourteen."

Take it.

"I'll take it," Paul said. The woman put the cheese down on the table for a moment while she pulled out a tiny bag. She carefully counted out fourteen little round objects and handed them to Paul.

"It's money," she said to Paul. "You can trade these for anything in the market, if you have enough of them." She hoisted the cheese.

"May the Book give you good trading, Levi."

"You too, Tamara," Levi said. He looked at Paul and smiled. "Now what did you want to buy?"

With the help of the Page, Paul bought a small bowl and tiny knife. He even had a few coins left. That was what Levi called the objects. It seemed strange to be discussing such tiny things with such seriousness, but Daniel told him it made sense to do it this way. They spent the last of their coins on a pack that had straps to go over the shoulder. It was big enough to hold most of their stuff. The man that sold it to them said that it would soon enough hold all of it.

"There are two roads out of here," the man said. He showed them how to stow their gear so the pack wouldn't have hard bulges to stick into their back. "The road west will take you to a river in four days. There's a large town called Brurn on its banks. Ask the Book to send you there. The road to the north leads to death.

"How do you know that?" Daniel asked.

"The Book hasn't sent anyone there in years."

Paul looked at the Page.

North

"Well, God wouldn't have sent us on this quest just to let us die," Daniel said.

"Diana kissed me," Paul said. "She said her Book told her to kiss me if she wanted to see me again."

"Well then, north it is."

"May your Book be kind to you," the man said and turned away to talk to someone else.

They walked through the square and out the other side. The narrow path they had been following had become road. In the distance, high mountains soared into the clouds. The road was wide and straight, but it looked like no one used it. Weeds grew up in the centre of the road and where it entered the forest Paul could see a tree lying across it.

"Well," Daniel said, "God must know what she is doing."