“She says that when we get to the far end of the trail, to be careful. There’s a group of people called the Genomos. They are taller than these people but not as tall as us. We’ll need to pass through quickly. They’ll harass us. She says they’ll hold us down and try to keep us there. They’ll ask us to stay overnight to share a meal and eat and party with them."

From what Dr. Gyasi could understand, the Genomos males were short, had long beards and wore suspenders over short pants. Females wore long dresses. Jal would know they were Genomos by their red hats.

“Red hats?” Jal scratched its head. “Do the Genomos have a leader?”

Again, Ugo spoke. “She says we need to run. Not waste time. The leader will capture us and take us into a cave.” Ugo made a dipping motion and Jal understood that she meant underground.

“How can we get away?”

“She doesn’t know.”

“Can you find out what these people call themselves?” The two conversed.

“Menapii.”

“Would you tell her thanks?” Jal said. “Thank you for translating, Dr. Gyasi.”

Ugo told Dr. Gyasi that she would walk with them to the stream. She went into a building and returned with metal buckets. When she returned, the members of the expedition were gathered around Jal and Dr. Gyasi and they were explaining the plan to follow the stream to the mountain sheep trail.

The group followed Ugo between the two long rows of the low homes. Nearby, tiny children played with metal balls and sticks.

At the end of the houses there were huge piles of stones, taller than the little houses. “Are those rubies?” Jal said to Sage Elvan.

“I think so.”

“Rubies?” Ugo shook her head. She made a motion with both hands and spoke to Dr. Gyasi.

“Ugo says those are trash. They can’t make anything useful from them. She says they’re just junk.”

Jal moved one off the pile onto the ground. It took out the wand. “Erken!” A box popped up. “Item: Ruby. Use: Personal Shield. Lasts: 3 hours. Notes: Can only be used twice in sequence. Second time use: 1.5 hours. Personal energy: No drain. Value: Unknown.”

It picked a different one off the pile and held it up. Luk pushed through the group to Jal’s side. “May I look?” He held one up into the sun and turned it around and around. “It’s beautiful. Top quality.”

“Ugo wants to know if you like them,” Dr. Gyasi translated. He told her that they were beautiful and very valuable. She shook her head and argued. “She claims they’re junk. They’re of no value, since nothing can be made from them. She says you should each take as many as you like. They’ll just continue to lie there and no one will do anything with them.”

Members of the group objected, saying that she couldn’t possibly be serious.

“She is. Take what you want.”

Everyone looked at the piles of rubies. “You have got to be kidding! Who would turn these down?” Luk asked.

“Are they worth something?” Morti asked. “I don’t wear jewelry, so I wouldn’t know.”

“A small one like this is worth about three hundred mu-tok,” Luk said. “The problem is, if we take them, they’re going to get heavy. What if we find other gems and rocks in the mountains?”

Everyone looked at Luk. He was the jeweler. He knew what they were worth. Should they take them or not? When Luk didn’t respond right away, they looked at Dr. Gyasi and at Jal. “What should we do?”

“We could come back another time,” Ladi proposed. “You aren’t going to want to carry that across the continent.”

“What if we transported them to our homes? Could we do that?”

“That’s up to each of you,” Dr. Gyasi responded. “I’ll take one as a souvenir.” He slid it into his pocket.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Ugo disappeared while they discussed what to do. A few minutes later, she returned. She went from person to person, handing out bags. She placed a bag on the pile of rubies and shoveled tiny ones in with her hand. “Pu teker.” She went from person to person filling the bags. When Jal set its backpack on the ground to put the bag away, she took the bag and dumped the contents of the bag into the pack. Stones slid everywhere. Jal gave her the bag and she took it and filled it again. “Pu teker,” she said.

Jal tried to give the bag back to her. “You should keep your bags.”

“Pu teker be ons. Hev," she said.

“Dr. Gyasi, what is ‘pu teker?’” Jal asked.

“She’s saying, ‘You take the big ones.. They're too heavy for her."

“Mundu eftir mer.” She turned the bag over. “Ugo.” She pointed to the symbol.

Jal looked at Dr. Gyasi. “She wants us to remember her,” he said.

Jal asked Dr. Gyasi how to say ‘thank you.’ “Pakka per fyrir.”

As Jal knelt in the grass, digging in its pack, the other members of the expedition went to the pile, took tow or three handfuls of the rocks and dumped them into their packs. Each person said thank you in her language. A few of the women knelt and tapped her on the back, as if to hug her.

When Jal rose to its feet, it went to Ugo. “Mundu eftir mer.” It gave her a small cloth bag with flowers painted on it.

She recognized the flower, “Myntu.”

“Pakka per fyrir, Ugo.” She smiled and as they went on their way, she stood waving.

The group followed the stream through the canyon to a narrow opening in the rocks. On the other side of the opening, they continued on, foraging for plants along the way. Bees buzzed around flowers in a small meadow, so Jal and Sage Elvan caught a few and ate them.

When the sun began to its arc downward, the group began to make plans to set up camp. They were surprised to find another stream. “Cattails!” Badas Punjal called out. A group of people began to dig for the roots. As various people pitched their tents, Jal looked around for pockets where seed-producing flowers grew. Soon hunters sat with guns watching for something that might make a good meal. After some time, birds landed and began eating the fallen seeds.

Jal made a mess in the tent when it dug the cooking pots out of its backpack. Rubies rolled everywhere. Frustrated, Jal took the kettles, knives, and serving spoons to the cooking area where several people were already preparing the cattails. It returned to the tent and emptied the backpack onto its sleeping bag. It gathered all the rubies into a pile.

“This is crazy,” Jal said aloud. “I’m being greedy. I’ll fill the outside pockets with some of the rubies, then I’ll find a place to leave them in the morning. I have the bag and two pockets full. That’s more than enough.” It didn’t take long to reorganize, and Jal slid the small bag of rubies into a pocket.

As it did, it brushed the charms that were in the pocket already. “The two turquoises. I bought this one to improve my meditative skills, and I still haven’t used it. And I bought this one as a gift for Jan. Maybe tonight would be a good night to teach him the words to the chant that I hear.”

Jal rejoined the group to help prepare the birds for eating. That night, the company feasted on a hot meal of grouse and baked cattail roots. They talked about the generosity of the Menapii woman and discussed the metal buildings they had seen.

Jal’s unease was gone, and that night it heard the voices calling to it before it went to sleep. “Jan, are you asleep?”

“No, why?”

“I have something for you.” Jal sat up and, shining the flashlight, dug in the charms in the backpack. “Here,” it handed the turquoise charm to Jan. “This is supposed to boost your spiritual acuity.”

“I’m not familiar with this one, Jal.”

“I have one here too, Jan. The words for the charm are ‘Lois en groy.’ I’ve not used this charm yet, so this will be new for me, too.” Jal settled itself into a comfortable position. “Cumd uxad ve’ne it. U nume rimos. Mi tisa nim rume. Qui om niar egit.” Jal said each sentence, then said it in unison with Jan. Jal said the words aloud a second time, and Jan was silent.

“Jal Jomari, are you coming?” The voices called out to him, as a chorus. “Are you coming? Are you coming?”

“We are!”

The voices grew joyful. “We look forward to seeing you! Tell who is along! Are there more Stafriez? Our friends and families?”

“There is one. Sage Elvan.”

“Not Giel Moti?”

“No, Giel Moti is not in the group.”

Jal heard Giel call out. “I did my part! I created the child!”

“And then you turned your back on him!”

“Grandfather, is that you?”

LuKan’s face formed in front of Jal. “It is! I stand with you, grandson. Answer the call of our people.”

“He is my son,” Giel’s voice became louder. “This is all because of me.”

The voices of the people wove in and out as if in waves. “Give the credit where it is due.” “Giel refused to claim the child.” “But it is the Stafriez genetics that he contributed,” others argued. “A Ridali is Jal’s true father,” a female whispered. “Jan Elvan Ridali has cared for Jal.” “Without Giel, Jal would never have come into existence.” “Safety. Jal was given a place of safety. Soon, we will meet Jal.”

“The Motis have made great efforts to ensure that our people are joined together.” Jal thought that this voice was Jan’s. It was a calming voice of reason.

“Who speaks?” someone demanded.

“Elvan Timoche Ridali.”

As Elvan’s face appeared in front of Jal, Jal’s heart beat faster. “Grandfather?”

“The Motis and the Ridalis have worked tirelessly for our people,” his gentle voice silenced the others. “We will not discount anyone’s contribution to our people’s future. You have accepted the responsibility of carrying the Ridali name. You bring honor to both families. It is time that the Stafriez lay aside their differences. Soon, the people will be rejoined into one.”

The voices spoke gently in unison, “Cumd uxad ve’ne it. U nume rimos. Mi tisa nim rume. Qui om niar egit.”

As the voices chanted, Jal relaxed. In only moments, it was asleep.