Eulogy

Astra could only observe Hesht; her voice could not carry across that canyon in that rain. She saw Hesht removing his boots, and then looking for something in his pockets. He apparently could not find it; he looked at her and nodded his head, and gave up looking. "The knife!" Astra thought. "He wanted it for something."

He held the branch horizontally, in front of him, at the level of his chest. He then took measured steps across the tree, each about half of his normal stride. He jerked to the right once, but quickly restored his balance with the pole. Astra had tracked more mud on the tree than she had first thought, and the rain was not helping Hesht's footing. Hesht reached the fork in the trunk, and paused.

Hesht then turned, and started walking down the left fork. He gingerly walked around the nasty snag that snared Astra's skirt. He was now halfway between the fork in the trunk and the bank. Suddenly the branch that he was standing on shifted down slightly but abruptly. Astra's eyes opened wide in shock, and stared at Hesht, whose own eyes showed the same shock. There was little she could do. Hesht crouched, and flung his head forward, and kept his balance. The pair of boots slipped over his head and in front of him. One crashed onto the tree for a few seconds, before it was pulled down by the weight of the other. Both boots plunged into the river below. Hesht froze for the space of four of Astra's breaths. Neither Astra nor he dared to look down. Hesht then recovered, and continued to walk forward.

Fortunately, there was still plenty of branch remaining, and it was strong enough to hold Hesht. Astra and he both breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Hesht's feet sank in the mud of the canyon's bank.

"It is a pity to lose those boots," Hesht said. "It is more important than ever to make good time. Even though the nights are mild this time of year, once one gets cold, it is nearly impossible to warm oneself without a good fire."

Hesht and Astra started forward, and started to talk again.

"Are your hands that badly hurt? Walking upright looked dangerous," said Astra.

"I have more things to carry than you do. Walking seemed easier than crawling. My hands will be fine, as long as I keep them busy. We have a few more ditches to cross, but they are shallow. They are nothing compared to this. On a normal day, the time it would take to get between here and Doazda's would be about a quarter of the sun's arc."

Astra looked up at the sky. The rain was still steady, but the flow seemed to slacken somewhat from that of the peak of the storm. There was no sign of the sun, though.

"How long will it take us to get there today?"

"God knows," said Hesht, as he fiddled with a bell around his neck. Each of Hesht's steps was now marked by a high-pitch ding.

"What are you doing that for?"

"Doazda requested that I uncover the clapper of the bell when I got close to his place. I suppose that it is a signal of some sort. We are not very near there, but I do not think that anyone will hear it between here and his place. I m- mean that no one who should not be hearing it will hear it."

Astra agreed. She then asked, "Hesht, is there magic in the pine seeds?"

Hesht responded, "Of course there is, Astra. If one plants them, they can grow into great pines."

Astra laughed. "That is not what I meant. I mean, is there alchemical magic, like the tar?"

Hesht responded a little hurt, as if Astra were making fun of him, "I am n- not an al- alchemist. I would n- not know. P- p- pine seeds are not very much w- wanted by them, if that is what you mean."

Astra was a bit surprised that she appeared to have unsettled him by her simple question. She followed up, hoping to put Hesht at ease. "I do not know the Tange. It seems that many humble things, like the tar, are indeed wonderful. When you picked the seeds, it seemed that you were doing more than killing time, waiting for me."

Hesht looked at her doubtfully, as if he were about to make a confession of some doing something that was a little embarrassing. Then he said, "Astra, I have t- travelled the T- Tange a lot. I get l- l- l- ." Hesht could not say the word "lonely." He gave up and continued, "Well, I go on a l- lot of long errands. The Tange c- can be beautiful, but there are places where there is not much l- life."

Hesht continued, "That pine has been a f- friend to me. It was one thing that stayed the same in a land that ch- changes all the time. It gave me a pl- place to rest many times. It kept me going, letting me know that everything was going to be fine, on days where I was worried that I might be lost. And when it d- d- died, it helped me get you across the canyon."

Hesht then said, looking at the ground, "I know that trees do not think, and it is silly to mourn for it. But I feel that I owe the tree something. And I never abandon a friend. So I am going to take some of its seeds, and plant them in Golabi, once I get back."

Astra nodded, not knowing quite what to say. Both she and Hesht walked steadily westward, with tacky brownish mud squishing between the toes of their bare feet.

1. The land ahead was swampy, with pools of standing water.
2. The land ahead was just more of the tacky mud, and was well-drained.
3. There was a sudden change in the landscape.

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