I open my mouth to say something, but Yugi stops me by raising his hand.

“Wait,” he says. “There is more I must tell you. What Gayusoli’s father says is not as bad as what others are talking about. Listen. This is what I heard myself just yesterday at the trading post. There was a group of men in the corner with their heads together. One of them was Sharp Teeth, the father of Udagehi. They looked so serious that I decided to try to listen in to what they said. I did as I have seen you do, Uwohali. I pretended not to listen while I was listening.

“‘It has gone too far,’ Sharp Teeth said.

“‘You are right,’ another man agreed. ‘First your son is hurt. Then my cow stops giving milk. It is witchery for sure. It is Sequoyah’s doing.’

“‘What shall we do?’ a third man asked.

“Udagehi’s father began nodding his head. ‘What was done before,’ he said. ‘Remember when the cabin of Sequoyah was burned with all of his witch markings in it.’

“‘Yes,’ the second man said, ‘but will that be enough?’

“Sharp Teeth smiled then. It was not a good smile to see. ‘It will be enough,’ he said, ‘if this time Sequoyah—and his son and daughter—are in the cabin when it is burned.’”

Yugi stops talking. There’s fear in his eyes and I wonder if it is fear about what might happen to me or fear of me. Does he think I am really engaged in black magic? A chill goes down my back. Things are even worse now than I had feared. I’m finding it hard to get my breath. Our own people now wanting to harm us because they are afraid of my father’s writing? How can people be so foolish?

Yugi wipes his mouth with the back of his right hand. It’s as if he is trying to get rid of the taste of the words he just spoke. And all of a sudden, strange as it is, I find myself feeling more sorry for him than worried about myself.

Perhaps it is because I can see that he is confused. I am not confused anymore. Nor, I realize, am I frightened.

“Yugi,” I say, “Wado, my friend. Thank you for warning me.”

Yugi lifts his head to look at me. I think he is surprised by the calm tone of my voice.

“Now I want to show you something,” I say.

CHAPTER 19

Seeing the Sun Land

One of our old stories tells about a journey that was made by a group of seven young men.

This group of young men were friends. They decided to find the place where the Sun rose, and so they journeyed together to the east. They went through strange lands and saw all sorts of people.