Long Ways to Go Part XII

“Uncle is outside.”  Raven turned to examine me.  I didn’t care for the look in her eyes.  If she continued to watch me like that, I decided I was going outside, no matter what.  It had been a couple days anyway since I’d seen the sun.  It can’t be that important for us to stay inside. We were at the top of a cliff.
It was a little easier to see in the semi darkness of the camp we’d made for ourselves.  Least when the sun was shining.  Uncle stayed outside quite a bit since I woke up.  Petra had him doing those exercises that were a combination of mind games and balancing.  I tried it for a bit but my balance was off.  I had a dull ache in the back of my neck which didn’t help.  I was constantly hungry and didn’t want to be whining around about it.  And thirsty.   I fell asleep thinking about home and the feasts we had on the First Moon Day.
“We have to bring him outside.  In the sun.  At least for a short time.  It’s not good for him to be in the dark all the time.”
“Yeah.  I know we have to get moving.  I just don’t know how to prepare him for the changes.”  Uncle’s voice was strained.  “How long will it be til we get to the Sky People?”
“A couple days.  There’s another cliff we could shelter in about half way.  Petra’s shoulder is healed.  He should be able to carry you with just a short break during the day.”
I wondered at the sudden silence.  Didn’t dare even open my eyes a slit to see if they were looking at me.  I could feel their eyes on me.  It was an itch I couldn’t reach.  The silence made me very uneasy, mind you.  Getting rid of the itch meant I’d have to say something.  That should get their eyes out of the trance they seemed to go into whenever they looked at me.
“I’m small enough.  Petra could carry me in that sack she brought.”
The stares continued.
“Tomorrow morning is when we’ll be going?”
Nothing doing.  If anything, the stares intensified.  My whole body was crawling now.
“Guys.  You’re starting to scare me.  What is it?  What’s wrong?”
Oh no, that wouldn’t do.  My voice was heading into the high range for boys.  I hadn’t ever been so nervous before.  Not even when we put a hole in the canoe.  There was such a serious, intent look contained in those stares.
Raven squeaked.  “How are you feeling?”
“What a strange question.  I’m feeling fine.  Not even sore.  Just hungry. Oh and thirsty?”
“I think you’d better come outside.”
I got to my feet and stumbled to the cave entrance.  The closer I got, the more I wanted to hang back.  Not a good feeling.  Well, I made it.  Cept you know what.  Things looked different.  Very different.  I blinked my eyes.  Shook my head.  Blinked my eyes again.  Still the same.
Everything still had a different look to them.  I shook my head, this time in confusion, disbelief and a growing sense of unease.  I turned to see Uncle stepping ahead of me.  Like he was afraid I’d do something foolish, like step off the edge of the cliff.  One thing for sure, I wasn’t about to do something like that, even if I didn’t know what was happening to me.  Another thing I did know was we needed to get where ever we were going and fast.  We, I needed answers.