Chapter II.

Journey Inland

For days and days, we traveled away from the coast. We journeyed across endless rolling hills, through winding river valleys, and stopped only to get food in the small farming villages along the way. We didn't dare spend the night in any of those villages however, for fear the soldiers would attack.

Finally, at the end of day seven I think it was, we began to climb into a mountain range. It started out easy, but the slope began to get steeper and it was beginning to get harder and harder to continue. And it was the first time I ever felt what it truly felt like to be cold. The winds weren't anything like the warm, sea breezes from our home in Istanbul; they were strong, fierce and chilling to the bone.

"Can't we please stop to make camp for the night," I asked Ramus. "We could make a fire to warm us."

Ramus shook his head. "No, the wind up here would blow it out anyway." He pointed above us, to a cave towards the top of the mountain. "We'll camp out up there, it looks perfect."

So we all agreed and followed our brother up the hill, even though we barely had the energy to walk halfway up. Even our energetic dog Wolfen seemed to be tired. That's what's so strange about the mountains; you can't judge distance worth a damn. You think you are almost there, but you find out that you're only half way. From where we had started off, it looked like it would take us five minutes to climb up to the cave, but it took us thirty.

Finally, we dragged our limp bodies into the mouth of the cavern, and tumbled to the cave floor in exhaustion. Ramus laid out the blankets we had gotten from the people in one of the villages, so we would have something to sleep on. Somehow, he found the energy to return outside and gather firewood from the junipers and pine trees that grew near the cave. When he returned, we soon had a roaring bon fire, and the shivering cold of the highlands melted away as the flame's heat turned the cave into a sauna.

"That was the farthest we've ever walked," Heidi moaned. "My limbs are so sore."

"Tomorrow we must resume our journey," Ramus announced as we all sat around the fire.

"You can't be serious, Ramus," Jasmine objected. "After today? Do you really think we would have the energy to continue any farther?"

"Yah, I think we should rest for a day," I said.

"But we have to keep going," Ramus insisted. "Do you want the soldiers that killed mom and dad to find us?"

"Ramus, we're miles away from Istanbul. I don't even think we're in the same empire anymore. The soldiers are miles south of us. We'll be fine if we stay here to rest for a few days. By the way, where do you think we are?"

Ramus paused for a second. "We've been traveling north for several days now. We are probably somewhere in Greece, but I've never been to these mountains before."

It turned out that we were in the Balkans Mountains, but we didn't find that out until later.

"I miss mom and dad," Heidi said softly. "When are we going to see them again?"

I looked at both Jasmine and Ramus for an answer. I already knew it, but I was wondering what they were going to tell Heidi. They were both looking at each other uneasily, biting their lips.

"Um, Heidi," Ramus said slowly to Heidi, "we're not going to see mom and dad again for a long, long time."

"How long?" Heidi asked, her eyes wide. Her long brown hair was tangled messily in her face, which was caked with dried mud. She stared innocently at my brother with her large brown eyes.

"Forever," I suddenly blurted out to her. "Heidi, mom and dad are dead."

"Don't say that!" Heidi wailed.

"Why did you have to break it to her that way?!" Ramus asked, shoving me angrily. "Things are bad enough as it is, we don't need Heidi to know about this yet."

"Why? Why does it matter when you tell her? Sooner or later she was bound to find out anyway, at least now we don't have to keep it a secret. Mom and dad are dead, and there's nothing we can do about it."

"Let's just get some sleep," Ramus said, his voice resentful.

But sleep didn't come very easily that night. Heidi sobbed quietly in the corner of the cave, and I felt tears welding up in my eyes as well. But I couldn't cry, I was a man. Thirteen years old, sure, but no longer a boy. I had to cope.

The next day I woke up early, before any of my siblings. When I looked outside, I was astonished to see the sky was gray, and small white things were falling to the ground. It had already covered the mountainside, and when I stepped through it wearing my leather sandals, it was cold and wet against my feet.

Could this be snow? I wondered to myself. I remembered my mother telling us stories of Europe, before she moved to Turkey and how in the winter snow would fall to the ground in the forest and everyone would go outside and play in it. In Istanbul, it had always been to warm for snow to fall.

It was amazing what a good night's sleep could do, because I didn't feel tired at all as I explored the snowy mountainside. We were so near the top, that I could look down and see the hills and valleys below, the ones we had been hiking through. I could even see a small stone village in the distance, where the domes of an Orthodox cathedral towered above the other buildings.

I would have gazed at the view all day, if I hadn't heard the something behind me. It was a bleating sound, like a sheep. I turned around to see a little black and white goat. He was skinny, that was for sure, as though he hadn't eaten in a while.

"Come here, little guy," I said softly to the animal.

He paused, as though it wasn't sure this was such a good idea, but then curiosity got the best of him, and he walked over to me.

"Sorry, I don't have any food," I said, sensing that he was extremely hungry, like the rest of us. I figured he must have gotten separated from his herd or something.

"Do you want to come with me?" I asked.

I took yes for an answer, when he followed me back to the cave. Jasmine, Ramus, and Heidi were up. Heidi had large red rings around her eyes, proof that she had been crying all night.

"Where the hell have you been!?" Ramus asked angrily. "We've all been worried sick!"

"Um…I'm fine," I assured him, "but look who I brought with me."

"Julian, we already have the dog to feed, we don't want a goat."

"Actually," said Jasmine. "We could get milk from the goat. And cheese. And goats just eat grass, right, so he could just graze. I think it's a good idea to keep him."

"See, Jasmine agrees with me," I said defiantly. "We're keeping him. We shall call him…um…what's a good name for a goat? Well, we'll figure it out later."

Ramus rolled his eyes. That was ok. He always thought my ideas were stupid. But for now, I was happy because we had a goat.