Page 71 of Circle of Days

Bet fell to her knees and reached into the hole for Duna. The stone had momentum, and did not stop moving even when the volunteers dropped the ropes. Bet got hold of Duna’s arms and Duna grabbed Bet’s neck. Bet hauled Duna out just in time.

The base of the stone ran into the far side of the hole, lodged in the earth there, and stopped.

Joia felt terrible. It had been her idea to stand people on the thick end, and she had almost killed Duna.

If Narod says I told you so , I will kill him, Joia thought.

She put on a brave face and said: “I think we’re almost there.”

Seft said thoughtfully: “The people pulling are now lower than the top of the stone, so they’re pulling down . We need to be higher than the highest part of the stone, so that we’re pulling up. Then it may come upright.”

Tem said gloomily: “If there was a tree nearby with a branch conveniently at the right height, we could loop a rope over the branch. Then when we pulled on the rope it would lift the stone. But I don’t see such a tree.”

Joia looked around carefully. Tem was right.

She did not like this indecision in front of the volunteers.

It could undermine their morale, which at the moment was high.

She glanced at the sky: it was midday. “Everybody, let’s have lunch!

” she shouted, and they cheered. Speaking quietly to Seft, she said: “We need a new plan by the time they’ve eaten. ”

“I’ll do my best,” said Seft.

Verila and her team were handing around slices of smoked pork. Joia took some and looked around for Dee, hoping to sit with her. But Dee was deep in conversation with Bax. Feeling mildly annoyed, Joia went back to sit with Seft and Tem.

They were working on something, she saw with relief. The ground around them was scattered with flints and hammers and ropes. Also on the ground were two poles, very long, longer than the stone. Joia guessed that each pole was the entire trunk of a tall, slender tree.

Seft and Tem were tying the two poles together with rope.

The knot was nearer to one end of the poles than the other.

The thing they were making was like a giant with two long legs and two short arms. While she watched, they took one pole each and raised the structure upright.

Both men nodded, as if finding it satisfactory.

They put it down again and did some more work on it. They added a crossbar so that the legs could not move closer together or farther apart.

Then Tem said: “We don’t want it to fall flat at the wrong moment.”

Seft grunted agreement, and as Joia watched, they fixed two shorter legs to the crossbar, front and back, so that if the giant leaned forward or backward the short legs would stop him falling to the ground.

Joia wondered how this strange four-legged thing would help, but she suppressed her impatience and kept quiet. All would become clear in time.

Finally they sharpened the feet of the giant into two long points.

The volunteers were finishing their lunch and gathering for the afternoon’s work, and they stared at the giant with the same baffled curiosity that Joia felt.

Seft and Tem now positioned the giant flat on the ground with his arms toward the thick end of the stone. Then they took the rope that was tied around the thin end and laid it so that it passed between the giant’s arms, across the knot, and between the legs.

He told ten volunteers to grab the end of the rope.

Then he and Tem lifted the giant. It came up, lifting the rope, which was draped across the knot. The pointed feet sank into the ground. Seft stopped them when the giant was still leaning slightly toward the stone.

Now the rope ran from the stone over the knot of the giant, then down the other side into the hands of the volunteers.

Joia began to see the purpose of the giant.

It would do the same as the convenient tree branch that Tem had wished for.

Although the volunteers were on the ground, the height of the giant meant that the stone would be pulled upward, and would therefore come upright instead of sliding along the ground.

Seft and Tem were still holding the giant’s legs. Seft said to the volunteers: “Take the strain.”

They pulled the rope taut.

As they pulled harder, they drove the pointed feet of the giant deeper into the ground, making the whole setup more stable.

The harder they pulled, the deeper the legs would sink.

Joia was struck by how clever that was. Seft was brainy in a special way.

She should have known to trust him. But there was so much at stake.

Still holding a leg of the giant, Seft nodded to Joia. She said: “Ready… heave!”

The stone did not move.

Seft said: “Ten more volunteers, please.”

More women and men took hold of the rope.

Joia said: “Ready… take the strain… heave!”

The thin end of the stone lifted off the ground.

“Keep going, keep going!” Joia yelled.

It moved higher.

Seft said: “Some of you get ready to shovel earth into the hole around the fat end. But wait for my word.”

Several volunteers grabbed shovels.

The stone continued to rise. The sight filled Joia with pride.

When it was approaching the upright position, Seft said: “Try to hold it still now.” He turned to those with shovels. “Fill the hole and tamp the earth down.”

When that had been done he turned to those holding the rope and said: “Very slowly, very slightly, release the tension.”

Joia bit her lip.

The stone rested back a little.

“A bit more.”

The stone seemed to settle.

“And again.”

The stone did not move.

Everyone stared hard. It remained still.

“Drop the rope,” Seft said quietly. “We’ve done it.”

Not many people heard him, and anyway his tone was too matter-of-fact for such a joyous announcement. Joia raised her voice. “We’ve done it!” she yelled. “We’ve done it!”

The valley rang with shouts of triumph and delight.

And Seft dreamed that up while we were having lunch, Joia thought in amazement.

Whenever Joia was feeling triumphant she would ask herself what she needed to do next. Now she looked at the sky and said to Seft: “If we’re to keep to our timetable, we must get the stone onto the sled today, so that we can leave first thing in the morning.”

“You’re a hard taskmaster,” he said, but he smiled.

“And you love it,” she rejoined.

He laughed. “All right.” He turned to a group of volunteers. “Pick up the giant and move him to the thin end of the stone, please,” he said. “Handle him carefully, we’ll need him again.”

He recognized Vee and addressed her. “Can you see three big logs over there, a few yards away?”

The logs were thick. Seft’s cleverhands had felled an oak tree and divided its trunk into three parts. Joia had noticed the logs but had not been able to guess what they were for. She was about to find out.

“I see them,” Vee said. “You need them?”

“Yes. You and your friends bring them here. They’re heavy, but if you roll them it won’t be too difficult. Put them right next to the stone, two on the ground and the third on top of the other two.”

“Next we need to move the sled until it’s touching the logs. Ten or twelve of you, push it along the track, carefully.”

When the sled was in place, Joia saw that the pile of logs was slightly higher than the load-bearing platform of the sled, and now she understood what the logs were for.

Seft had long been worried about lowering the stone onto the sled.

At first contact the entire weight of the stone would be on one end of the sled and might crush it.

But this way the stone would first rest on the logs, and they would take the weight until the stone was almost flat, with its thin end on the front of the sled.

Then the logs could slowly be removed, allowing the thick end to come down gently onto the sled.

The giant was raised, and volunteers grabbed the rope. Now they would not be raising the stone but letting it down. More volunteers were ordered to dig the earth out of the hole, to free the thick end, while those holding the rope took the strain as the stone began to tilt over the sled.

The huge stone sank with majestic slowness. It made Joia think of a hunted aurochs finally giving in to many arrow wounds and lying down to die.

The thin end touched the sled. The logs were slowly removed and the thick end sank the last few finger-widths. Joia’s heart seemed to stop as the total weight of the giant stone rested on Seft’s wooden sled. But the wood was stout and the carpentry was sound, and the sled took the weight.

Seft supervised the roping of the stone to the sled, making sure the knots were as tight as they could be.

Joia smelled roasting mutton. Dinner was being prepared.

She was surprised to see that the sun was going down.

The afternoon had passed swiftly. But they were on schedule.

She thought of the obstacles they had overcome.

At midday she had feared the task might be impossible, but Seft had brilliantly solved an unforeseen problem.

Now she was exhausted. But what a victory the day had been.

Perhaps tomorrow would be easier.