“So, you were really eavesdropping, correct?”
Fao and Ina nodded guiltily.
“Pretend that you have not heard anything!” he ordered severely.
“But we would like to go to the Valley,” sighed Fao.
“If they let us go,” Ina added.
“I’d like to go, too,” said Docko thoughtfully.
“What happened, anyway?” asked Fao.
“It does not matter anymore.”
“It does! Say it! At the end of the day, you were sent to the Vedichs for this!”
“The Valley has been deserted,” Docko said after a moment’s thought. “At some point, people just disappeared from it. The rulers of Elinor felt that all eight nations should take part in repopulating the Valley and to find out what misfortunes happened there.”
“It cannot be,” Ina stood with her mouth open. “Listen, take us!” suddenly she suggested abruptly.
Docko’s eyes widened.
“Do you want war between the Vedichs and the Taurs? The elders aren’t letting you go!”
“Yeah, they won’t,” Fao sighed again.
“Then at least tell us how one can get to the Valley!” Ina asked roguishly.
Silence fell. Fao understood that her friend had crossed all possible lines. Docko was already in a bad mood, and here they were with their stupid questions. But the Taur reacted to Ina’s request very calmly. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. And then he made another step towards them and turned to her friend.
“Give me your left hand.”
Ina extended her little palm. He turned her palm down and took her thumb slightly to the side, in the direction of the Gray Thorns.
“As you enter the thicket,” said Docko, “Stand in front of the moss cap on any tree. The index and the middle fingers should be pointed exactly in the direction the moss grows. A thumb will show you where to go. Here! Remember how much it needs to be bent. If you don’t get off the track, on the twentieth day you will reach the huge river of Kawa, and then go along its bank downstream.”
“Thank you, Docko!” blurted Ina, obviously not expecting the Taur would fulfill her request.
“No matter what happens, don’t you dare say that it was I who told you the direction!” the Taur almost barked with unprecedented severity. But it was superfluous: Fao and Ina immediately assured him they would obey.
“And you yourself will go to the Valley?” Asked Fao.
“Right away! Only the direct way,” answered Docko and climbed onto Keshol-Irajk’s back. Taurs assistants began to saddle the moose.
6
Unhappy, the girls walked through the glades of Swa-Ioledea. And everything that was occurring wasn’t pleasing to their eyes at all. The Taurs were gone, and life returned to its original course. Gawk, secretly looking at the guests, had long hid in their trees.
At the fir where Fao lived, her great-great-grandfather, on whom she so unceremoniously landed in the morning, played Hurra with his friend of about the same age.
The older the Vedich, the more he loves playing Hurra. If you don’t like playing Hurra, prepare to spend your old age alone. All day long, the players clatter their bones and rearrange the figures on the field. Year after year, circle after circle, the inhabitants of the forest Dockol-Mo sharpen their skills in the game. Once Fao said that she considered playing Hurra a waste of time. Oh, how she was punished! Since then, she simply hated this traditional entertainment.
The old people were all still sitting, looking thoughtfully at the hexagonal board. Slowly they moved the figures with trembling fingers.
Fao looked around to see a burly Vedich woman, a bear sow, pounding berries in a mortar. Next to her, in the canopy of oak there was another one, younger and much slimmer, a doe, embroidering patterns on her shirt. Two husbands weaved a large hammock and prepared a floor for a new suspension bridge between the trees.
And then Fao’s eyes filled with tears, as she realized she would see this same picture her whole life.
Yes, the forest of Dockol-Mo was incredibly beautiful. Yes, she had hairy friends in Bear Woodlot, but nothing, nothing changed in the town of Swa-Ioledea, only if a new embassy from the Taurs or a travel explorer from the Valley wandered in!
How I’m bored of all this! To live in freedom – only the imaginary one. To live as the elders order – those elders who break sacred oaths, who put prejudices above reason! Listen to fairytales about the six-fingered, although no six-fingered was ever seen. Watch how old people play Hurra and pretend to enjoy this spectacle! Get a wig for curiosity! Get boxed on the ear instead of answering questions! That’s how it is – the Dockol-Mo forest!
“Listen,” Fao looked at Ina. Her tears disappeared instantly, and her voice became confident. “Did you ask Docko about the way to the Valley in earnest?”
The friends’ eyes met. The eyes of Ina flashed with the same spark again. And again, the girls understood each other.
7
Swaol-Ney wasn’t as spirited as Fao and Ina, but she was just as curious. While she hid her desire for discoveries and shared secrets with friends, with her parents, grandfathers, and especially the elders, she kept her mouth shut. But Swaol-Ney read a lot and understood a lot. If you had to go to someone for advice, then she was the one to go to.
Swaol-Ney listened attentively to her friends and shook her head.
“You are mad! You turned into squirrels and consequently began to think like squirrels! Primitive! So, you plan to just leave? How do you imagine that?” She was getting more and more upset.
“Just take off and go!” Fao replied looking into her eyes, though she was beginning to recognize their venture was insane. “Nobody has ever tried!”
“And the Valley,” added Ina, “They’re calling all the people there. Though we go against the will of the elders, we are obeying the will of… errr… all of Elinor!”
“Of course, sure,” Swaol-Ney frowned. “Here come the people of Elinor begging the Vedichians to go to the Valley…”
“So, you’re not with us?” Ina put the question directly.
Swaol-Ney fell silent, hung her head, and then gave an answer that Fao hadn’t expected:
“Yes, I’m with you!”
The joyful Fao and Ina began to hug their friend, and when everyone’s emotions died down, they began to formulate their plan.
“Well, how do we do it best?”
Swaol-Ney changed in the face.
“Ah, so you came to me to fix everything up for you?”
“Well, you’re the main inventor among us,” Fao said guiltily.
“We must first understand who else is ready to leave!” Swaol-Ney declared.
“But the more there are of us, the easier it will be to catch us… to stop us…” pointed out Ina.
“How can you say such a thing?” Fao responded. “Maybe someone has long longed to see other nations, to see the Valley, just as we have! Then we’ll act dishonestly not only in relation to our parents and elders, but also to our like-minded people!”
“Okay, okay… Let’s do it that way!” Ina was embarrassed, and Fao managed to marvel at her