Page 75 of Circle of Days

“I’m very glad you think so,” Ani said sincerely. She was pleased when people appreciated Joia’s strengths.

The spectators began to drift away, taking children home to bed. Scagga came over, looking as if he had been vindicated, and said: “She’s not here, is she? Nor is there a giant stone.”

Ani said coldly: “She’ll be here.”

“I said it was impossible.”

“Indeed you did.”

“Well, perhaps you’ll listen to me next time.”

“I always listen to you, Scagga.”

“Huh.” He walked away and, a few moments later, left with his family.

Chack and Melly, looking frustrated, put out the fires under the spits. Chack said: “The meat will still be warm in the morning,” and Melly added: “But it won’t be as tasty.”

Keff got up, but he stood silent for a few moments. At last he said: “When do you think Joia might get here?”

Ani stood up too. “Right now,” she said, “I have absolutely no idea.”

The volunteers were tired, and the stone moved slowly now. They knew they could not reach the Monument today, and that disheartened them. When darkness fell, they dropped the ropes. They lay down where they stopped, too tired even to look for a comfortable place to sleep.

Joia half expected some of them to give up now and disappear back to their homes. But it was dark and they needed rest.

The frustrating thing was how close they were. The track was just about to divert from the river and head across the plain. Their destination was not far away. They had almost made it.

She spoke to Boli, who was a quickrunner, a tall, slim woman with muscular calves. “I know it’s dangerous to run in the dark, but could you find your way to Riverbend, just walking fast?”

“Sure,” said Boli. “There’s starlight, and no cloud.”

“I need you to speak to my mother.”

“That’s easy. I know where Ani’s house is.”

“Just tell her that everyone is well, we’ve been delayed, but we’ll reach the Monument early tomorrow morning.”

“Early tomorrow morning.”

“But go carefully, don’t hurry, be safe.”

“I will.”

“Ani won’t mind being woken up.”

“Good.” Boli went off.

Joia lay down next to Dee. “Such a shame it’s ended this way,” she said dolefully.

“Don’t feel discouraged. You’ve done something remarkable. No one else could have even begun.”

“But I needed this to be a triumph. I’ve even planned my victory speech. Instead our lateness is going to be portrayed as a failure. You know how people talk.”

Dee reached out and took her hand. “I’m sorry I can’t cheer you up.”

“Thank you for trying.” Joia’s eyes closed and she fell asleep holding Dee’s hand.

Ani awakened in the middle of the night. Looking at her doorway she saw, outlined against the starry sky, the slim silhouette of the quickrunner Boli. “Oh, hello,” she said. Joia had failed to arrive yesterday, and she realized with a chill of fear that this could be bad news. “What’s wrong?”

“Joia says that everyone is well.”

“Thank the gods.”

“They’ve been delayed, but she wanted you to know that they will be here early in the morning.”

“Oh, good,” said Ani. “Early this morning. I’ll spread the word.”

Then she went back to sleep.

Joia awoke at first light. Worried that the volunteers might be slow to get up today, she went around waking them. They got to their feet and rubbed sore muscles.

There was no breakfast. All they had was water from the river. In consequence everyone was grumpy. “There’s beef waiting for us at the Monument!” Joia shouted. “We’re not far!” Some of them perked up. She kept her eyes peeled for deserters, but she saw none.

At sunrise they reluctantly picked up the ropes. “This is our day of triumph!” Joia shouted, but they did not respond. They just wanted to get this over, she guessed. “All right!” she yelled. “Ready… take the strain… heave!”

A slight downward slope enabled them to get the sled moving on the first try, and Joia was heartened.

Seft’s track followed a wide curve to the west, onto the Great Plain, then turned south to climb a gentle rise.

Joia heard a soft, distant noise that sounded vaguely like a crowd.

The volunteers leaned into the ropes as they hauled the stone up the rise. Joia was terrified that they would falter now, so close, but they kept on.

They breasted the rise, and ahead they saw the Monument. The volunteers made noises of relief and happiness, and Joia had to shout: “Keep going! Keep going! We’re nearly there!”

There seemed to be a lot of people gathered around the Monument and on the earth bank. As the stone moved closer, some of them began to run toward the volunteers. There was a sound of cheering. Joia’s spirits lifted. There was a welcome party, even though they were a day late.

In fact, she saw as she got closer, there were hundreds of people waiting to meet them, the entire population of Riverbend and more. It was almost too good to be true.

The advance guard of the welcome party reached the volunteers and wanted to kiss and hug them. “Don’t stop!” Joia yelled. “We’re not there yet!”

Some of the welcomers grabbed the ropes, trying to be helpful—or perhaps just wanting to tell the tale, one day, of how they had helped bring the stone to the Monument.

Some volunteers gratefully stepped aside and let them take the strain.

Joia had an anxious moment: the newcomers might not have the strength or stamina—or just the sheer grit—to do the job. But the stone did not stop.

She walked ahead along Seft’s track for the last hundred or so paces, holding her head high. She had made this happen, and she was proud. She led them through the entrance to wild cheers from the crowd.

She followed the track to the hole Seft had prepared. She turned to halt the sled at just the right moment, then shouted at the top of her voice: “You are heroes!”

The crowd erupted.

Chack, Melly, and most of their large extended family appeared with baskets of roast beef, still warm, and the hungry volunteers fell on the food.

People crowded around Joia, congratulating her, then moved to the volunteers, hugging and kissing.

The volunteers reveled in the adulation, forgetting their aching muscles and their crabby mood of this morning.

Joia heard snippets of conversation: “I thought it would never move… I was so hot I just threw myself into the river… That night Janno had sex with three girls and in the morning he couldn’t walk…

” She realized they were already telling the stories, true or exaggerated, that would turn the journey into a legend.

When the excitement began to die down, and everyone had had enough to eat, Joia said to Seft: “We must erect the stone now, while everyone is watching.”

“It hasn’t been properly dressed,” he said. “I’ve done a bit, but it needs more. Can’t we postpone it?”

“No,” Joia said decisively. “It won’t have the same impact then.”

“True. All right. We’ll have to work on it later.”

He and the cleverhands untied the ropes that attached the stone to the sled, but not those around the stone itself. Seft said: “If we’ve positioned it right, the stone should slide off the sled straight into the pit.”

Joia persuaded the volunteers to pull one more time on the grab lines.

The crowd went quiet as the stone slipped, with majestic slowness, along the top of the sled.

As it came to the end of the sled, it began to tilt.

They continued to pull, and the thick end of the stone tipped gently until a quarter of its length was in the hole.

Now the stone had to be pulled upright, but—as with many of the challenges they had met in the last three days—they now knew how to do it.

Seft freed the long-legged giant that had ridden all the way on top of the stone.

He and Tem laid him in place and positioned the rope, then the volunteers took the strain.

Seft and Tem lifted the giant, the volunteers pulled, and the great stone slowly came upright.

The crowd gasped with admiration when the full height of the stone was made evident. They had never seen anything like this.

More volunteers quickly filled the pit with earth and tamped it down hard. Everyone stood back, and the crowd applauded.

Joia looked with awe at what she had done. Here, surrounded by spectators, the stone seemed even bigger, and the people were dwarves, or perhaps acolytes. It looked like something divine.

This was the moment to make a speech.

She climbed up on the sled, so that more people could see her.

As the crowd realized she was going to address them, they became quiet, people shushing noisy neighbors.

Looking around, she spotted Shen, the sidekick of Troon.

He would report everything said and done here today to his master.

Let him, she thought; Troon will be as sick as a dog.

The crowd became silent.

Making her voice deep and loud, she said: “This was hard.”

There was a murmur of agreement from the volunteers.

“We toiled in the sun. We got discouraged. We feared we would fail.”

They shouted: “Yes!”

“But we did it.” She paused.

“Talk about people who are strong.

“Talk about people who are brave.

“Talk about people who never give up!”

She felt tears run down her face. She pointed at the volunteers, and her voice shook with emotion she had not expected. “Here they are!” she cried. “These are the great people of the Great Plain!”

The crowd roared their approval.

She let her voice go a little quieter. “The gods are pleased with us today.”

They were hushed.

“We have honored the Sun God. And I believe the God wants to see more stones in the Monument. Today the central oval has one stone and nine wooden uprights. Next year…” She paused for effect. “Next year, friends and neighbors, the God wants to see ten upright stones!”

There was a murmur of amazement.

“That means that, after next year’s Midsummer Rite, we will bring nine more giant stones to the Monument!”