The Moon Worshippers Read Online Free Page B

around three times at his master’s feet and lay down. He put his thick tail under his long black nose and settled down to sleep.
    At dawn on the morning of the 27 July, 771 AD, Aguirre and Inaki rose, walked down to the stream, took off their tunics then washed and refreshed themselves. They filled their goatskin water bottles and made their way back to the stone hut. Once inside Aguirre took three wooden bowls, filled them with goat’s milk and broke a few pieces of stale bread into them. He took the bowls outside and gave two short whistles. From amongst the sheep grazing on the hillside, the two large Pyrenean Mountain dogs came bounding down. Inaki marvelled at their speed. They were pure white and moved smoothly and powerfully. Aguirre gave one of the bowls to Inaki.
    “Give this to Storm. Always look after your dog. In these mountains he will be the difference between life and death.”
    He placed the other two bowls on the ground. Inaki studied the dogs at close quarters. Around their necks they wore spiked collars. Nearly ninety-eight pounds in weight and up to a man’s thigh in height, they were as big as Storm, and like Storm, totally devoted to their master.
    “Come,” said Aguirre, “we must pack. Today, we move the flock into the high mountains, where the grass is new and sweet. We will remain there until the snows come.”
    Aguirre took two toxas, large leather bags made of wild boar hides and extremely strong, and filled them with pieces of dry salted pork, flour, dry meat and a bag of salt. In the other bag, he put candles, flint and three large goats cheeses, together with a bag of arrowheads and spare bow strings. The remaining space he filled with sheepskins, rope and needles with some thread. Finally, from under this sleeping pallet he took an unstrung bow. Inaki marvelled at the bow. It was the length of a full grown man. It would take someone of enormous strength to string it, never mind pull it. They took a bag each, a goat skin water bottle each and began their journey.
    As they walked, Aguirre explained how they would train Storm.
    “But first we must tell your mother where you are,” said Aguirre.
    Not for the first time, Inake’s mouth opened in astonishment.
    “How can we do that?”
    “When the great Sun God goes to his resting place we will send a message,” replied Aguirre simply.
    At sunset, Aguirre made a fire and prepared an iron pot of food. After they had eaten, he stood up. He filled his lungs with air and started to yell the undulating battle cry and alarm call that the Basques name the irrintzi, followed by a number of short and long whistles. Almost immediately, they received a reply. There then followed an exchange of whistles and shouts.
    “There, the message is sent. Gortxu the shepherd on the next mountain will pass it back until it reaches your mother.”
    Aguirre sat down, deep in thought.
    “Something wrong?” asked the boy.
    “Too early to tell. Gortxu said that there are troops massing on the other side of our mountains in Aquitaine. It could be something or nothing. They’re always fighting someone. We live in a world of intrigue, betrayal and death. In my whole life, I’ve never known a day without a war being fought somewhere or other. Enemies are all around us. To the south are the Moors, to the east are the Franks and to the west the Visigoths and Asturians, but they’re no match for us. Only the sea to the north is our friend and even he can be treacherous, especially when the Great Octopus Sea God has eaten something that disagrees with him.”
    The next day, after they had eaten, Aguirre turned to the boy and said: “You must learn that Storm thinks differently from men. His senses in many ways are superior to those of man, in particular his senses of smell and hearing. Also he can sense changes in the weather before we can and most important of all, he can smell evil. You must learn to use this in his training and make use of this great power and