Secret Sacrament Read Online Free

his head, worked so that his long hair flowed and became the feathers of the outstretched wings, was an eagle in flight. It was a striking design, skillfully executed, and wonderfully blending the images of bird and man.
    Gabriel pressed the carving against his aching forehead. The bone was smooth and cool, and seemed to vibrate softly against his skin. Instinctively he knew it was old, very old, and precious. He closed his eyes. He heard his brothers running down the hallway outside his room, their footsteps muffled on the narrow strip of thick carpet. The sound was prolonged, became deep and haunting, like the throbbing of drums. He heard the rushing of a river, and men shouting. The sounds faded. An old man was chanting, his voice grating and cracked like stalks of grain falling on dry ground. Thunder rolled, rain hissed onto the parched earth, and cool water ran deliciously over his naked skin. Inside an earthen dwelling a fire roared, and fish sizzled on hot stones, smelling good. Again the odor of wool, and the sound of women singing. Then a curtain rattled on its wooden rail, and the enchantment was shattered.
    It was Gabriel’s mother, drawing his curtains now because it was evening and the air was chill. Gabriel slid the bone beneath his pillow. He longed for the dream-images, the solace and the joy. Desolation swept over him, as if something unspeakably precious was gone.
    â€œHow are you feeling now?” asked Lena gently, sitting near the foot of his bed.
    He did not reply.
    She sighed and looked down at her hands, tensely clasped on the soft blue linen of her robe. She was again carrying a child, and her long dress flowed loosely about her. Her hair, tied back in a knot, was chestnut brown.
    â€œThere’s something you have to understand, Gabriel,” she said. “You’re a very special child. Your father is one of the most honored merchants in Navora. You’re his eldest, his heir and future hope. But the city’s full of desperate, unhappy people, and some of them do terrible things to get money. You must never wander the streets at night, never go outside the city walls, never go down by the river. We’ve told you this a hundred times. I worried so much about you, last night. I thought you had been kidnapped. I couldn’t bear that. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
    He shook his head, distraught. “I’m not special. Father says I’m a coward. He says I run away, instead of facing my responsibilities. He says I’m not a true son of Navora.”
    â€œStrength isn’t always a matter of muscle, Gabriel. And, in a way, you were brave to run. But there are times to run, and there are times to stand firm. You’ll learn the difference as you grow up.”
    â€œI’m not brave,” he said, choking, tears streamingdown his cheeks. “I ran. I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have left . . .”
    â€œHush, hush,” she said, stroking away his tears with her hand. “It’s all right, it’s over now. Try to sleep some more.” She smoothed back his damp, disordered curls and caressed his face. When he was quiet she stood up and went out, closing the door behind her.
    He lay on his side crying, hot with guilt. Afterward he took the bone carving out from beneath the pillow and looked at it again. Slowly, like a dawn, peace came to him: a Shinali peace, full of the sweet scent of the grasslands and the grand freedom of the skies. With that clear, unquestioning trust that only children have, he opened his heart and accepted it. Sighing deeply, he curled his fingers about the bone, held it close against his heart, and lay for a long time staring into the gathering dark.

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    H EALING D REAMS
    T HE YOUTH WAITED at the top of the mausoleum steps, staring down at the open ancient doors and the musty dark beyond. Though he stood in bright sunlight, and his black funeral clothes sucked up the summer heat and made