Chapter 1

1
Ari would never forget the day he was selected. It was the eve of midsummer and he could smell all the wonderful food being prepared for the next day. He could hardly wait because the next day he would be eight years old and selected to be someone's apprentice. The boy was a little apprehensive, but mostly excited at the prospect. Tomorrow, he would start the rest of his life!

Ari's mother had told him to chop some wood into kindling, but at the moment, he was seated on the chopping block with his fists balled up under his chin. He was imagining who he would be apprenticed to. Maybe Tam the blacksmith, or Kitso the tanner, or Sildi the butcher, no, Sildi had taken an apprentice the year before. Ari was not sure who he really wanted to be selected by. He knew all of the men in the town, and all of their professions were important, but none of them seemed interesting to Ari. He knew that he desperately hoped NOT to be chosen by Doorn, the undertaker. Not only was the work undesirable, but Ari had heard it rumored that Doorn beat his apprentices daily "to build character" he said, and sometimes, if he was very angry, shut them in a coffin overnight! Ari shivered just imagining the horrors of such a night. No, he decided he would rather die than be apprenticed to Doorn.

The trumpets sounded and Ari jumped up in alarm. No, the sun was not low enough in the sky yet for them to have called for supper. He hurried into the house. His mother was just pulling on her hat as he came in and she exclaimed,

"Oh, Ari! Wash your face immediately! You're a mess! We must go to the meeting hall right away."

Ari was confused. Nothing like this had ever happened before. Was something wrong? Why had the trumpets called for a meeting at this time? It was getting close to supper time, and everyone would be needing to get home soon. As he wondered, he quickly splashed water on his face and scrubbed it with a towel. Then he ran out of the door after his mother, leaving his hat dangling on its hook.

At the meeting hall, every seat was full, which meant the whole village was present. On the platform, there were two strange men standing behind the chief elder. They wore long, scarlet robes with silver glinting on the sleeves and necks. But the strangest thing about them was that they were both wearing ominous- looking silver masks with two slits for eyes and another slit for a mouth. Ari was a little frightened of them and had he been a little younger, he probably would have hidden his face in his mother's lap. The trumpets announced the beginning of the meeting and the chief elder began to speak. He asked all of the boys turning eight the next day to come up on the platform. Ari went with the seven other boys and stood grinning nervously in front of the strange, masked men. As the chief elder spoke, Ari stood frozen, expecting at any moment one of those pale hands to grasp him from behind. After years of agonizing suspense, he heard the chief elder saying from somewhere far away,

"Our honored Prayermakers will now choose their successors."

Ari suddenly felt his stomach jump and his heart pumped faster in his chest. The masked Prayermakers had each started at different ends of the line of boys, and Ari was the fourth in on the left side. He saw the Prayermaker on the left checking the teeth of Nilo, his lifelong playmate and neighbor and moving on to the next boy. Ari shut his eyes. The only thing he knew about Prayermakers was that they lived in the Temple of Prayer and that was very far away. He didn't want to go far away! Ari thought he would be glad to be apprenticed to anyone, even Doorn, if only the Prayermakers wouldn't take him away from his beloved village! As he was frantically wishing not to be chosen, he heard an old voice say,

"Full name, please."

Ari looked up and saw a pair of kind, tired eyes peering out from the slits in the mask in front of him. He spoke timidly,

"Arihama* Jorisch^ Lomand.** Sir."

The eyes crinkled up as if the Prayermaker were smiling.

"That's quite a long name for such a small boy," he said. Pausing and looking deep into Ari's eyes he added, "But you will grow into it. Now, may I see your teeth?"

Ari nodded and opened his mouth. This Prayermaker seemed friendly, even though the mask was frightening, but he was still afraid he would be selected, so he could not relax. The Prayermaker seemed pleased with his teeth and asked to see his hands. Ari gave them to him, hoping they were not dirty. The Prayermaker only said,

"Interesting. Very interesting. Yes. Well, thank you very much Arignamondh," and moved to stand next to the other Prayermaker, who had already finished his search. They both spoke briefly to the chief elder and left the stage. The chief elder cleared his throat and said in a loud voice,

"The Prayermakers have made their decision! They have each selected one boy to be trained as a Prayermaker, to take their place as they bid farewell to this world and to keep the number of Prayermakers at eighty- eight. The boys they have selected are Alakirr^^Derobo*^ and Arihama Lomand!"

The village erupted into cheers and many people called out the boy's names. Ari was frightened and bewildered. He had no idea what was ahead and could not imagine why the old Prayermaker had chosen him. He was not especially handsome, or smart. He did not even know exactly what a Prayermaker did. He only knew that this must be an enormous honor... but an honor he did not deserve or desire. Some of the village men swept onto the platform and carried Ari and Alakirr (called Alak) to the waiting crowd below.

That night, there was a long celebration around the communal fire. The villagers danced and sang with wild jubilation. There was much eating and drinking and shouting. Ari was a little bewildered by all the noise but he was mostly excited. He and Alak were sitting in the seats of honor, something which neither of them had expected to happen until they became men. They were both getting sleepy as it was much past the time they regularly were sent to bed. Everyone was dancing and singing so intently, no one noticed the Prayermakers come and lead Ari and Alak away into the darkness.




* Are-ee- HAH- mah
^JORE- eesh
**LOW- mahnd
^^Al-ack-EAR
*^Dare-OH-bo