24
Each day I ride farther, the morning sun at my back. There is still no rain, and it becomes harder to find water and grass for the horses. Occasionally, I see the white of a group of yurts in the distance, but I avoid them, not wanting to curse other clans. Summer turns to fall, but as I follow the direction of the evening sun still the rains do not come. Does this curse stay close to me so that rain now falls on my people and the grass fattens the sheep and goats? I do not know.
What I do know is that the days have turned colder, and I feel winter coming. Nights are spent wrapped in bedding under the open sky. Insects swarm around me, but the hares and marmots that I seek for food have disappeared. I see deer and herds of Ibex in the distance, but I cannot venture close enough to fel
