affame_le_geant_the_hour_of_wisdom fyn gula hey keggi!" cayris yelled. he leaned out the open window of the middle car of the caravan. the air was colder than a witch's tit. keggi, his hands on the reins keeping the ostrich team at an even pace of 3o kph, turned his head back to accomodate his leader's wishes. "what is it, sir cayris?" "is there somewhere along this god forsaken road that we can stop and eat?" keggi thought for a moment, his eyes blinking twice, his mind working hard through the files of his memory, for keggi was leader of the reconnaisance team and had spent much time discovering the ins, outs, up, and downs, of the el camino of kemulya, the bianca strada. suddenly, he remembered. "about ten minutes ahead sir," he answered. "right on, wolfboy!" cayris shouted, and he slammed the window shut. keggi turned back to the road and snapped his whip, a long hand-braided creation of black leather and bits of bone just above the heads of the ostriches. it exploded like a clap of unexpected thunder in their sensitive ears and they reacted by simultaneously putting their heads down and picking up the pace, their strong legs pumping harder and faster into the compacted snow. keggi shouted something in a personal language he had construed with them and they seemed happy to comply, as if it was their honourable service to transport. poj linnet, sitting across from cayris, removed a small tin from the pocket of his leather jacket. he opened the lid and with his fingers fished out a small paper envelope and a stiffer packet of cigarette papers. most kemulyans grew their own 'shabaz' a perennial herb that when dried and smoked, produces a mild sense of mental clarity. poj, acutely aware of cayris's emotional malaise, desired to help him and by smoking a 'shabbie' he hoped to acquire a bit more intuition for they were facing a dark time, an unsure future and now was the hour of wisdom. a few moments later, the car was filled with sweet smoke. 030312 what's it to you? who go blather from