We didn't immediately break camp that morning like we had planned the night before because the king wanted to take the lion skins with us. He probably could have skinned them faster, but he was taking the time to show Tommy how to do it and let him help. As I sat watching the two of them, two thoughts came into my head. The first was that Gilgamesh would make a really good dad. The second was that Tommy finally had a father.
The king eventually sent Nicky and me to a fresh water spring he had spotted, while he and Tommy scouted the area the night before, to refill our water, while he and Tommy finished their work with the lions. When we got back, I made two horrifying discoveries. My little brother was wearing a lion skin, and my mom was going to kill me if the stink didn't wash off. The other discovery occurred when the king asked if we got all the bladders full of water.
"Bladders?" I asked curiously.
"Our water containers," he said, "They are called bladders."
"That's a strange name," I replied curiously, "In our time, a bladder is an organ in your body that holds pee."
"Yes," he said with a smile.
"What?" I replied hoping I was misunderstanding him.
"That's what the goats used them for first." That's when I dropped the one I still had in my hand. "Be careful," the king told me, "They are quite strong but they can bust."
"That's it, I'm not drinking anything else for the rest of this trip," I said trying to make sure I didn't puke.
"Yeah, right," Tommy said with a grin.
The king offered Nicky and me part of the skin from the lions before we set out again, but I politely declined. The smell was going to be bad enough with Tommy and Gilgamesh walking around with those things on, I didn't need to actually have any touching me. Nicky decided he'd pass as well, but I think he did it because he thought the two of them looked ridiculous.
The hike that day was really long and difficult, mostly because it was all mountains. It didn't help that no one had tried to cross these mountains before, at least not in a really, really long time. There were no trails. We were battling fallen logs, overgrown thickets, and lots and lots of bugs. More than once, Gilgamesh had to pick each of us up and set us down on the other side of boulders or brush. I was even surer that we were slowing him down today, but he seemed to be enjoying telling us stories. He told us about his father, King Lugalbanda, and how before he was the king of Uruk he rescued a baby anzud bird. He explained that this creature had a head of a lion and the body of an eagle, which I had a really hard time trying to picture. For his efforts, the momma anzud gave his father lightning speed. Tommy wanted to know if he inherited that. He explained that unfortunately he did not. He told us that his father went on to use that speed to help King Enmerkar conquer the city of Aratta. When I asked him how it was that he was a demigod, he happily explained that his dad was a demigod in addition to being king of Uruk for 1200 years. He also told us his mother was a full goddess. She is the daughter of Anu, the god of the sky, and Uras, the goddess of the earth. Sounded a lot like a Titan to me, but I didn't tell King Gilgamesh that. He seemed to be really proud of his parents. It sounded to me like he had every right to be. The king asked about our parents. Of course, we didn't have any gods to boast about, but that didn't bother him any. He seemed to think we were worthy companions for this quest.
We camped that night without any unwanted visitors like the night before. Gilgamesh said it was because the smell of the lion skins scared everything away. When I said, "At least we're getting some benefit from having to endure the smell," he laughed heartily. He had an amazing smile and it seemed to me that the closer we got to the end of the world, the more we were getting to see it. After dinner that night, Tommy and Gilgamesh put their bedding close to each other, away from Nicky and me, so we wouldn't have to smell them all night. I could still hear them talking softly.
"King," Tommy asked, "how old where you when your dad died?"
"I was close to your age I would guess," Gilgamesh told him. "I was not yet old enough to rule. That is why King Dumuzi ruled for 100 years between the time of my father's rule and mine."
"How old are you?" Tommy asked shocked.
"I do not know for certain," the king said. "It is hard to explain things such as time."
"I hope you do get to be immortal," I heard Tommy tell him.
"Why is that?" Gilgamesh asked.
"So you'll still be around when we get back home. Do you think you'll remember me?" Tommy asked.
"I will make certain I do," Gilgamesh told him. I couldn't help but get tears in my eyes listening to the two of them. I wondered if my mom realized how much Tommy missed not knowing his dad. Suddenly I hoped Gilgamesh would be around to remember me too.