Willow by Wayland Drew

went a bit transparent; Willow could see right through him. But then he collected himself. Firmly in place, he raised both gowned arms and spread them wide. The crowd fell silent.
    “This child is no ordinary child. I cannot tell you everything about her because I do not know all. I cannot see the end of her long journey.” He turned sternly toward Burglekutt. “But we shall have no more talk of giving this child, or any child, to dogs to tear apart!”
    There was a long silence, broken only by the soft laughter of the little girl in Willow’s arms.
    “Someone,” the High Aldwin continued, “must take this child north, along the shore of the great river, beyond the northern limits of our valley, to the Daikini crossroads!”
    The crowd gasped. The thought was so astonishing, so terrifying, that they were stricken dumb. For any Nelwyn, the prospect of leaving the valley to the north was frightening enough, but to go as far as the Daikini crossroads was impossible. Only maniacs, only witless, wandering fools had ever reached the Daikini crossroads, and what happened to them became the stuff of fables with which Nelwyn mothers warned their children. In fact, many people who heard the High Aldwin that day half believed that the Daikini crossroads was a fabulous place that did not exist at all.
    “The Daikini crossroads,” the High Aldwin repeated somberly, as if to impress its dread reality upon them.
    “But . . . but who’ll do that?” someone asked at last.
    “Ufgood!” Burglekutt said, pointing. “I nominate Willow Ufgood. After all, it’s only fair that the man who interrupted the journey of this Daikini baby, here, in our community, should be the one to take it on its way. Ufgood, you’re it!”
    Many in the crowd nodded agreement, grunting. “Right, right . . . only fitting . . . only fair . . . what comes from meddling . . . his duty . . .” A few applauded.
    “But I have a family! I have a farm!”
    “You should have thought of that before you interfered.” Burglekutt folded his fat arms. “Too late now.”
    The High Aldwin sighed deeply. He held out a hand, palm up. “The bones,” he said. One of the councillors scurried off to the vault for the divination bones, returning moments later.
    Ceremoniously, the High Aldwin shook the little leather pouch of bones to the east, the south, the west, and the north, and then he bent and scattered them. Slowly, he knelt and considered the significance of their alignment. Slowly, he nodded. At last he looked up and beckoned Willow close. “The bones tell me nothing at all,” he whispered. “You must help me, Willow Ufgood. Do you have any love for this child?”
    Willow hesitated. He looked at Kiaya, then at the baby who gazed sweetly into his eyes. “Yes,” Willow said, “of course I do.”
    The High Aldwin sprang to his feet. “The bones have spoken! Willow will take the child. The safety of Nelwyn Valley is in his hands.”
    “Praise the bones!” Burglekutt shouted.
    “Hurray!” shouted the crowd. “Praise the bones! Hail Willow Ufgood!”
    “But . . .” Willow said.
    “But you will need help. You will need protection. The outer world is a corrupt and perilous place. The journey to the crossroads is long, and the child is hunted by beasts. I now ask all of you: Who will journey with Willow and protect him?”
    “I’ll go,” Vohnkar said quietly. He looked from the High Aldwin to Willow. He nodded.
    Two stalwart warriors stepped up beside him.
    “I’ll go.”
    “And I.”
    “Vohnkar!” the crowd shouted. “Vohnkar will go!”
    “Not Vohnkar!” Burglekutt waved fat arms in consternation. “No, no, no! Vohnkar’s our best warrior. What if more beasts come? We need him here! He should protect us.”
    “Not Vohnkar!” the crowd shouted. “Vohnkar won’t go!”
    “Step back, Vohnkar.” Burglekutt waved his hands. “Back. Back.”
    “Well,” the High Aldwin asked, “if not Vohnkar, who ?”
    The crowd fell silent. Men