The next morning I awoke completely refreshed. As I washed I looked down at my side and ofund only a small pale scar where the bolt had entered. I moved my body around, stretching and twisting, testing my strength. Iw was as if I'd never been harmed at all. I felt terrific and raring to go.
In the kitchen, Sav and Kenobi were already having breakfast and eagerly being served by Ulin and Raina. Having a Jedi as a companion had elevated Sav in their eyes from village annoyance to local hero, although it was Raina who seemed more attentive to him and he seemed to be enjoying it. I sat down and started to tuck in.
"Do you have everything you need?" asked Kenobi. He looked quite different. He was no longer wearing his Jedi robes, but Taris fashion walking gear, grass green trousers and muddy brown jumper. His hair, which had been loose, was now tied back away from his face, which had a weather beaten quality about it. But his eyes really were piercing, that was the only way I can describe them. It was strange, you felt as though they could have looked right through you and understood everything about you in only a moment. I couldn't understand why I hadn't seen this before.
"Yes," I said as I attacked another slice of bacon," everything except provisions, we should take some yinpatta bread and helta cheese."
I could see Ulin and Raina glance at each other at the mention of this, but they carried on with their work.
"How long do you think it will take to climb over the Fimurans?" Kenobi had finished eating and was sitting back, drinking some tea.
"To get to the top should be around a week, maybe two, depending on the weather, terrain, that kind of thing."
"And can we expect trouble from any garegrax on the way?"
"Shoudn't think so, not on the climb up. They'll be migrating to the high peaks and we don't go that high. The best place to get over is going to be the lowest peak we can find and that's Pass Nivone. No G's around there, not this time of year."
"Any other indigenous creatures I should be aware of? I'm afraid my natural history of this place is rather hazy."
"Not that's up that high. Although the Finuran's are pretty much unexplored, we might find something new," said Sav.
"Interesting," said Kenobi as he finished his tea. "Well, gentlemen, shall we make a move?" He got up from the table and picked up his cup and plate, but Ulin was there immediately to take them from him.
"I would like to thank you both for this excellent breakfast, and for your hospitality throughout my very pleasant rest here," and he bowed slightly to my blushing sisters. For once in their lives they were speechless. Kenobi had that effect on them. It was as though he had them completely under his spell. He smiled warmly at them and then picked up his pack with ease.
Sav and I did the same and I remembered to put my food rations in my pack. We were just about to leave when a thought occurred to me. I turned and went over to the fireplace and lifted up Mum's walking stick. It stood shoulder height to me and felt comforting in my grip. I felt Raina's hand on my arm and I looked at her concerned face.
"Don't worry," I said, "you know if I'm taking this it means I'll be back. And it's what she would have wanted."
Raina smiled and let my arm go. She had tears in her eyes and she hugged me goodbye.
We left the house with the sun on our backs, illuminating the frozen peaks ahead and as the sun rose we kept a steady pace through the valley, passing further and further away from Taris. The terrain was pretty smooth, the occasional bog and ditch giving us a bit of trouble, but surprisingly, we passed the Adta woods without incident.
Out conversation wasn't very much to speak of, the weather, the terrain, how we came to live in the valley in the first place. When I told Kenobi of the time that other Jedi had come to Bowa it was Sav who appeared more interested. It seemed that since we'd set out, Kenobi had become preoccupied with something else, his mission I presumed. He never once got impatient or expressed any anger or unhappiness at our relatively slow progress, there was just the feeling that now we had started it was imperative we didn't stop, even though this was never actually spoken of. The Finurans did get closer, however, and we were soon at the base of their sheer cliffs. It was already quite dark and we made our camp in a cluster of trees some hundred yards from the place we would start our ascent in the morning.
The night closed in and the fire began to die down. Our meal had been a silent affair, with Sav and I giving Kenobi the occasional questioning glance and also to each other, but Kenobi just stared into the fire, a look of great concentration on his face.
Without saying a word we both seemed to know that it was best to just leave him to his thoughts and go to sleep so we settled down. It had been a long day and I was soon asleep.
I woke up with a start, but I couldn't remember what I had been dreaming about. I just knew it had scared me so much it had awoken me. The firelight had died down considerably, but the light from the two moons cast great shadows across the clearing I rolled over and looked at Sav was was snoring gently.
"I guess the tremor didn't affect him," Though his voice was very low the sould startled me and I sat bolt upright, staring at Kenobi who was sitting with his back against a tree, his legs drawn in to his chest, his eyes unusually cold and serious.
"A tremor?" I stammered, trying to recover my composure. The blackness seemed to close in around me.
"In the force," he said slowly, "It's what woke you, the living force is very strong here. I felt it as we journeyed across the valley, the trees, the plants, the very soil shook. Something's changed, I felt it's approach all day. I've never felt anything quite like it."
"Is it in the valley, is it close?" I looked around, not really knowing what to look for. Kenobi's words were worrying, his whole manner had changed, his usual slightly carefree attitude had completely gone.
"Over the Finurans, probably in Minpanus, but this does change things. I'll have to go on alone, I don't see how you boys can help. I'll leave in a couple of hours, explain to Sav." He got up and I got up with him.
"Wait, you need our help on the climb. You said so yourself. There's no way you can make that on your own."
"I'll find a way, Vin. You don't understand, this threat is something I wasn't expecting, but it's coming for me and I doubt it will take kindly to any companions I have around me."
"How could it have found you? You said no one but those Stealthers were after you and you dealt with them."
"I should have left once you were safe in Taris, but I was foolish in my own arrogance." He looked gravely at me. "Obviously the Stealthers were not the main threat and were sent to cloud my judgement. This has all become a lot more serious, my friend."
He turned and began packing his gear. I stood thinking for a moment.
"I owe you my life, I'm not about to abandon you. We said we'd get you over these mountains and we will. Sav and I are men of our word." I pointed over at Sav who, at that moment, rolled over and looked at us both with sleepy eyes.
"Is it time to get started, then?" he yawned and slowly pulled himself out of his sleeping bag.
"There; you see, the guy's half asleep and ready to help you."
I could see that Kenobi needed more persuading but I was a farmer, not a diplomat. My last resort was humor.
"Fine, go ahead on your own. But if you fail, don't you dare send your Jedi spirit to haunt us."
His faced changed as a warm smile spread over it, and he laid a hand on my shoulder.
"To Pass Nivone and no further," he said meaningfully, " and since we're all awake I think breakfast is called for, then we can begin at dawn."
Sav looked a little confused but I quickly explained the situation as I helped him with the food.
We packed camp as dawn broke and made our way to the cliff face. It wasn't difficult to find hand and foot holds and we made our way up the first face to a grassy ledge large enough for us to sit and rest in the midday sun. We had made good progress and our spirits were high. The view was magnificent, even though we hadn't travelled up that far. But we didn't have a lot of time to admire it, Kenobi was eager to get climbing again and despite his lack of ability he certainly kept up with us.
Sav led the way, finding it very easy and obviously enjoying the challenges. Kenobi was nest, following Sav slowly but carefully, he seemed to be learning with every move and I came last finding it increasingly difficult to keep up as Sav and then Kenobi sped up their efforts to ascend the mountain. As our first day of climbing came to a close, Sav led us to a plateau he'd spotted earlier. As we approached the plateau, Kenobi stopped.
Sav, wait," he hissed, and Sav immediately froze. Still barely more than a whisper Kenobi said, "let me go first, something's not right."
He moved quietly passed Sav and disappeared over the plateau edge. Dusk was falling and it was getting difficult to see the rock face in front of me so I moved up close to Sav's position as quietly as I could. No sound came from above us, although at one point I was sure I heard a low buzzing sound.
The moonlight shone down, showing us our best way to the plateau and after a few more moments hesitation I made the decision to go up there.
Sav grabbed my arm to stop me. He said 'wait'. You remember the last time you didn't listen to his advice?" But I shook loose of his grip and slipped over the top.
This was a wide but rocky stretch of land and I found cover for myself and my gear. Still no sounds. I looked out from my hiding place, trying to locate any sign of the Jedi knight. I pulled Mum's walking stick from my pack and made ready to move into the area ahead.
There was a sudden rustle behind me and I swung round bringing the stick down hard. Unfortunately, on Sav, who had followed me. He immediately went to yell out but I managed to put my hand over his mouth and stifle his cry. He grabbed his left arm where I'd struck him.
"Sorry!" I whispered as he looked at me accusingly, but he quickly relaxed and we moved back to our hiding place.
"I'm going for a look around, stay here," I said and trying to make as little noise as possible and keeping as low as possible, I left Sav rubbing his arm and crawled into the undergrowth, still wielding Mum's staff.
A great roar erupted into the night sky and from my vantage point I saw a black mass rise up out of nowhere. It tossed something green and brown across the plateau, which twisted in mid air and came to rest in a crouch not far from my position. Kenobi immediately spotted me and did a forward roll in my direction. He grabbed Mum's stick and threw me an excited grin,
"Just borrowing it," he said and leapt to his feet running straight for the black shape.
