Chapter 8

The road wasn't as pleasant walking as the path had been. The surface was gravel that slipped and crunched under their feet. It didn't wind around obstacles, but cut through them. Paul marveled at the effort it must have taken to cut through the hills. Still, it steadily climbed as they walked.

"Did he say how far we had to travel to the north?" Daniel asked.

"No," Paul said. "It is four days west to the River, but all he said about north was don't go there."

"I was just wondering if we have enough food."

"Why would you think about that?"

"He said all our stuff would fit in the pack soon enough. I was trying to decide what he meant. As we eat our food it will take up less space."

"I didn't consider that." Paul felt the weight of the pack on his back. "It feels heavy enough now."

"Let's hope it stays that way long enough to get us where we are going."

"God wouldn't let us starve."

"I wonder how long we can go without food?"

"I'm pretty sure I don't want to find out."

They walked in silence for a while. The trees loomed over the road and brush made a in impenetrable fence. There was no clearing for them to camp so they huddled at the side of the road when it got dark. Paul didn't object when Daniel made their meal with a scant measure. It was colder that night, and even with the shared heat under the sheepskin cloak Paul shivered through the night.

The forest they walked through the next day was dark and gloomy. Trees with hard spiky needles surrounded them. Black birds flew through the trees called harshly. All around them moss draped from dead looking branches and carpeted the forest floor.

Every once in a while, they had to fight their way through a tree that had fallen across the road. The trees seemed to be getting bigger. At first they just had to push through branches that snapped easily but made Paul's hands sticky with sap. It didn't wash off with water and made his skin itch. By afternoon they had to climb and weave their way through branches that were as thick as smaller trees or hoist themselves up and over trunks that lay like walls across the road. Their clothes were covered with sticky spots and needles from the trees.

The light had almost gone when they came up against a massive fallen tree Even with Daniel standing on Paul's shoulders they couldn't reach the top of the trunk.

"We'd better stop here for the night and have a look at it in the morning," Daniel said. "We can light a fire and keep a little warmer."

It didn't take long for them to find plenty of dry wood and soon they had a little fire going. The warmth it gave was as much from its cheery light as the heat of the wood. Daniel poured water into the pot. The fire snapped and popped at them, but it heated the water quickly enough.

"That's the last of our water. We'll have to find more tomorrow before we eat breakfast."

They ate their scant dinner, then rolled up in the cloaks under the curve of the huge tree trunk.

Rain woke Paul in the middle of the night. The tree mostly sheltered them, but he set out the pot to gather the water from the rain. Even with the rain not soaking them directly the air was damp and cold. It took a long time for him to fall back to sleep.

When they woke in the morning the fire was out and the wood was soaked. None of Daniel's efforts could get the fire going again.

"We should have bread instead of oatmeal," Daniel said.

"But it is an oatmeal day," Paul said. "Isn't it?"

"I think so, but I'm not sure we can make oatmeal without a fire."

"ButÉ" Paul sighed. "You're right, but it feels strange not eating oatmeal on oatmeal days."

"You'll get used to it."

"What?"

"I never liked oatmeal," Daniel said. "I usually eat bread."

"But the Book says to eat oatmeal on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It is very clear on that."

"I put oats in my bread dough," Daniel said. "I think that makes it OK." He shrugged as he put a dollop of honey on each slice of bread. "God hasn't smitten me for it."

"That sounds an awful lot like being a Chooser!"

"Are you going to put me to death then?" Daniel said. "That's what every Book says to do with a Chooser. Would God have sent you out with a Chooser?"

"I guess not." Paul took his slice of bread and honey from Daniel. It tasted sweeter somehow, maybe because it wasn't in the Book. "I wonder why God tells us to eat oatmeal when even God doesn't like it much.

"Who knows?"

They finished their meagre breakfast in silence. Paul looked at the water in the pot. It looked green. He thought about eating green oatmeal and shuddered. He poured the water out and packed the pot.

"Let's go," he said. "It's not going to get any drier."