The longer Balsa spent with the little people called the Herders, the more she became aware of their unusual customs. One day, when a goat was lost in the mountains, she heard them communicating back and forth in a complicated series of whistles.
“What are they saying?” she asked Toto, who spent the whole day tending the fire.
He took a stick of nyokki from his mouth. “They’re telling each other where the goat is and discussing which path they’ll take to bring it down.”
“They can say all that just by whistling?”
The old man grinned. “Our whistles are just like words.”
Whenever Kassa and Gina climbed up to visit her, which was almost every day, the Herders’ signals bounced back and forth. She was sure they were checking to see if the two children were being followed.
In the beginning, Kassa was a little awkward and stiff with her, but as the days wore on, he gradually relaxed. One day when he came to visit, Balsa was practicing on a patch of grass between two rocks. Her spear thrust with blinding speed, to the right, to the left, then spun in a semicircle in a jab to the rear, so that he could almost see her imaginary opponent. He froze, entranced. Her movements were beautiful to watch. Although he had trained with the spear since he was a young boy and had watched many matches, never before had he seen such economy of movement or the speed that turned her spear into a blur of light.
Balsa stopped and turned to look at Kassa. Wiping the sweat from her face, she gave a twisted grin. “Phew! I’m so out of shape! I’m not going to be much good if I break into a sweat after only this much practice.”
Suddenly she tossed the spear over to Kassa. He grabbed it hastily and Balsa raised her eyebrows. “Go on, show me your stuff. Let me see how Jiguro’s nephew wields a spear.”
Kassa blushed. He swung it tentatively and was surprised at how smoothly it slid through his hands. The spear and shaft were perfectly balanced. He steadied his breathing, swung the spear whistling once about his head, and leveled it in front of him. Then he launched into a series of moves — thrust, block, and parry.
Well, well, Balsa thought, a little surprised. When she had first met Kassa, she had thought he lacked courage, but with a spear in his hand, he was bold and confident. She could tell that he loved what he was doing, and her experienced eye saw the makings of an excellent spear-wielder. If Jiguro were still alive, if he had never had to leave Kanbal, he would have helped Kassa develop his talent.
When he finished, Balsa clapped her hands. “Well done! One day, you’re going to be a great spearman.”
His eyes shone with happiness, but only for a moment. “What’s the point of becoming a good spearman when I’m just a warrior from a branch line? I’m going to have to tend goats all my life.”
Balsa took the spear back. “So you only train in case of emergencies, is that it? But have you ever thought that you’re actually very lucky?”
Kassa scowled. “Lucky?”
“Yes. I’ve had to wield this spear many times even when I didn’t want to, just to survive. Sometimes I think how happy I would have been if I’d never had to do that.” She swung it whizzing through the air. “But never mind…. If I don’t get some exercise, I won’t be able to wield it at all! Would you be willing to spar with me so I can practice? How about it?”
A slow smile returned to his face.
The days passed pleasantly for Balsa, practicing with Kassa and listening to Gina share rumors from the clan settlement. Balsa felt her suspicions and her anger toward Yuguro sink slowly to the bottom of her mind. Winter was fast approaching. The first snow would probably fall within the next few days. Once the snows came, the Herder People would bring the goats down from the rocky crags and return to the settlement. The rugged grazing lands were no place for men during winter.
Maybe I should go back to Yogo under cover of the snow, Balsa thought as she gazed up at the leaden sky. Her friends there would be glad to see her. And Kassa’s technique had improved remarkably in just the few days they had practiced together, so she had taught Jiguro’s nephew some of the moves he had drilled into her. Wasn’t that enough to make her return to Kanbal worthwhile? What good would it do to take revenge?
If nothing had happened, Balsa would probably have left Kanbal with the first snowfall, never to return. But during those few peaceful days, the weaver of fate was already adding another thread to the cloth.
One night, a piercing whistle split the air. Balsa jolted awake and sat up in her bed in the rock chamber. In the darkness, she could vaguely make out Toto, who had been sleeping on the other side. He rose slowly, unusually tense. “Have we been found?” Balsa whispered.
“No. Something even worse has happened.”
After a short interval, Balsa sensed someone else enter the space beneath the rocks. When the small figure emerged from the darkness, however, she was startled. He looked like one of the Herder People, but his eyes glowed green like a wild beast’s, and when he moved, he left a trail of light against the blackness.
Not bothering to sit down, he began talking quickly to Toto. To her surprise, he was not speaking Kanbalese. Toto said something and the other responded at length, gesturing at times to emphasize a point. Toto nodded and seemed to give him instructions. The man bowed and left.
“What happened?” Balsa asked. Toto did not answer, but sat motionless in the dark. Finally, she felt him turn toward her. In the faint light from the rock window, she thought she could see his eyes gleaming at her.
“Balsa,” he said. “May I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“Do you feel any loyalty toward Kanbal?”
“Do you mean to the Yonsa clan?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
“Loyalty? No, none. Perhaps I care a little about my native land, but I don’t have a trace of the kind of clan loyalty Kassa has.”
Toto nodded. “You said that you make your living as a bodyguard, right? That you’re paid to protect people?”
She nodded. Toto leaned toward her. “Can I hire you to do a job then?”
Balsa pulled back, frowning. “Why? Who on earth could you want me to protect?”
“It’s a tangled ball of yarn, as we say here. The story’s so complicated it will take a while to explain. And to do that, I’ll have to break one of the laws of my people. But there’s no point in obeying the rules if it means we lose everything else. Balsa, rest for another thirty lon. When I wake you, put on your kahl and your boots and follow me. I’m going to take you to our meeting place.”
Balsa sensed danger ahead, but she owed the Herder People. Although she did not understand what was happening, she could not desert them in a crisis.