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Part Three
BELOW AND ABOVE
Long days stretched into weeks. Stopping the day’s journey
when new men joined their
caravan, the boys
slipped away.
Shimei and Baanah scuttled out of the cave, shrieking.
“What was that?” Shimei yelled, running his hands through his
hair.
Baanah shook his head.
“Not sure, Shi.
Maybe a bat?”
“But bats don’t attack people!” Shimei countered.
“Boys, come over here!”
Belthasar barked.
“I don’t want you two going into these caves alone.
We’re strangers here, and we don’t know who these caves
belong to. Just our luck you’re tramping in someone’s grave.”
Belthasar said to them as he tended the fire.
“Yeah, well, we won’t go into them again, that’s for sure.
Some crazy bats attacked us!”
Shimei said, shuddering.
“We don’t have any idea what we’ll find, boys.
This is all new, to us, too.
Gasper will be here soon with some dinner.”
“Who are these new people, Dad; are they going to the same
place we are?” Shimei
asked.
“They are a mixed group.
Some are Zoroastrians, people who, like us, worship one God.
Others are polytheistic,
they worship many gods.
But they all are following this new star.
Only your Granddad and I have heard the prophesy about a new
baby whom we suspect will be a king, Baanah.
The others are
understandably curious.”
The days were long and the boys were bored throughout the
weeks that followed.
They didn’t explore caves anymore.
Crossing mountains was excitement by themselves, and there
was no where to explore when stopping.
The boys played games around camp:
like racing, and tossing stones near a mark.
The weather grew very cold at night at the higher elevations.
Then they arrived at the cedar forests of Lebanon.
The trees were
immense. Shimei breathed
out, “Whew!” He threw
his arms around one tree’s trunk.
He couldn’t touch his hands on the other side.
“Have you ever seen trees like these before, Baa?”
Baanah did the same thing around a different tree, shaking
his head. “No way, Shi!
These trees are so vast, you can’t even see inside the
forest!”
The boys looked up.
The tall trees had limbs with so many leaves that they
blanketed the sky from view.
“That’s why the forest is so dark” Shimei said.
“Let’s go!”
Shimei took off running through the trees.
Baanah ran behind him laughing.
“It feels so good to be running and off that camel! Maybe my
back will survive this trip, after all!”
Baanah yelled to Shimei, who was laughing his head off.
They ran and ran and ran. Freedom of running was contagious.
Finally, Shimei stopped and plopped down at the base of an
enormous tree. “That felt so good, Baa!”
Baanah dropped down beside him.
He looked all around.
“Wow, Shi! I
can’t see much of any thing!”
Shimei looked around.
“Yeah I hear that! I can’t see much more than you” slapping
Baanah’s thigh, beside him.
“Good thing we ran in a straight line, Baa, or we’d be lost!”
Shimei stood up.
He smiled at his friend, and reaching his hand down, helped him to
his feet. “Think we
could climb one of these trees?”
“If we find one with a low branch, maybe.
Look here’s one.” Baanah boosted Shimei up, who heaved
himself onto it. “Awesome,
Baanah! This is really
cool! I can see better
up here. But it’s still
pretty dark. Try
finding another tree that you can climb.”
Baanah searched for another tree with a low branch.
He yelled out, “Got one, Shi!
I’m going to try climbing as far as I can.
Can you see me?”
Shimei followed his friend’s voice, but couldn’t see him. “I
can’t see you, but I hear you.
Maybe we can see each other farther up. Race you to the top!”
The boys climbed and climbed. The higher they climbed, the
lighter it got and the more they could see.
“Baanah, I’m as far as I can go.”
Shimei said, shaking a small branch. “Can you see this branch
waving?”
“Yeah, Shi! I’m
pretty much at the top, too.
He shook some small branches.
“Here I am. See?”
Shimei looked where he heard Baanah’s voice.
“Yes, I can see you, too. This is fun, Baanah...But how do we
get down?”
“I’m sitting on a
branch now. I’ll worry
about getting down in a minute.
It’s just so beautiful up here.”
“I hear that, Baa!”
Shimei sat down on a branch, too.
He looked around. Nice.
He could see for miles.
Then he looked down.
He couldn’t see the forest floor!
Now Shimei began to worry.
How will we get down?
“I’m going to try climbing down, Baa.
I can’t even see the forest floor!” Shimei yelled.
Baanah looked down, and gasped.
“WOW! Did we
climb that high?”
The boys gingerly stretched their legs downwards, touching
feet on branches beneath, they descended their trees one limb at a
time. It seemed to take
forever. Climbing down was exhausting work.
Baanah sat down on a branch after a time.
“Shi, I’m taking a rest.
This is harder than I thought!”
His breathing began to slow, his arms stopped quaking.
“Good idea, Baa.
I’m pooped! My arms are
shaking. I hope I can hold on and not fall.”
As they climbed down lower to the ground, their views were
dimmed like before the climb up. The forest grew darker with each
passing minute.
“Shimei, I’m almost to the bottom.
But I’m stopping again.” Baanah said, breathing heavily,
perched on a low branch.
“I can see the forest floor now, but it’s still too high for
me to jump down.”
Shimei looked down.
He saw the forest floor as his foot slipped off the branch.
He tried grabbing the trunk with his arms, hands searching for a
hold. His other foot,
bearing his total weight, slipped off the branch and Shimei fell
straight down.
Panicking, his arms thrashed
out at limbs that disappeared upwards at an alarming rate. “Eeeh!”
Finally he landed on the ground with a loud thunk.
“Ahhh!”
“Yeah, you all right?”
Baanah yelled.
Inspecting himself, Shimei realized that his one ankle hurt.
A lot. He placed his hand on it, feeling it throb.
“My foot slipped, Baa!
I fell all the way down, and now my ankle is killing me!”
Shimei yelled.
He heard Baanah’s feet land on the forest floor.
“You down, Baa?”
“Yep. I’m coming
to find you. Stay where
you are.”
Following Shimei’s voice, Baanah found him sitting up,
massaging his ankle. A bump quickly popped out.
He asked Shimei, “Can you walk?”
“Don’t know, it hurts!”
Baanah helped Shimei to his feet.
“Ow!”
“Lean on me, Shimei.
I’ll take your weight.
We’d better get back to camp now, anyway.
See how dark it is?”
Baanah threw his arm around Shimei, pulling him close.
“Try one step at a time.”
Shimei put his arm around Baanah and leaned on his friend.
“OK, let’s try this.
I’ll just grin and bear the pain.”
They took one step.
“Are you sure we’re on the right path?”
“I think so. Let’s just get outside of the woods, then make
adjustments on how to find camp.” Baanah said. His forehead wrinkled
in alarm. He thought,
I have no idea!
They hobbled far.
Shimei was in so much pain that tears streamed down his face.
“This isn’t working, Baa!”
he said, falling to the ground.
Baanah crumpled to the ground along side his friend. “Get
your breath.” After a minute he jumped up and said, “Give me your
leg with the hurt ankle. Then hop behind me on your good leg, Shimei.”
Shimei looked further down the woods. Its so dark, Baanah!
I don’t want to stay here!”
Baanah reached down, helping Shimei to his feet.
“Ugh!” Shimei
lifted his injured ankle high and Baanah grabbed it under one arm
facing forward.
“Ready? Hop
Shimei, one step at a time.”
Their progress was terribly slow.
Shimei’s stomach growled as they broke the forest line.
“Stop for a minute” he begged.
The boys sat down in the twilight.
The earth was moist.
Baanah’s stomach growled, too.
He giggled.
“I remember where we are now, don’t you?”
“Yes, I think our camp is waaaay over there,” Shimei said,
pointing and huffing.
“Yeah, I think you’re right, Shi.
Want to stay here until I get someone to carry you?”
“No, that’s dumb, Baa. I can hop.
Give me a minute to catch my breath.”
As the boys began again, they heard,“There you two are!
What’s going on here?
You’re late!” Gasper yelled, relieved.
Belthasar ran beside Shimei.
“Let me help you” he said and picked Shimei up into his arms.
Sitting around their dinner campfire, the boys spilled their
news. “It was really cool!
Climbing trees is fun, and the higher you get, the more of
the land you can see!”
Gasper said while sharing dinner plates, “Well, it’s great
how well you two get along.
Just like soldiers, not letting the other fall. But...”
Belthasar continued, “You’re not to leave our sides anymore!
From now on, we’ll be traveling at night.”
The boys looked up, mid chew. “Why?” they said together.
Gasper stood up and pointed at the sky.
“See the star we’re supposed to follow?
It’s changed course.
We think we’re heading south now.
As soon as you’re done, we’ll be on our way.”
Shimei slept soundly, his Dad holding his ankle, guiding the
camel.
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