Chapter 5: A ShelterIf you catch a tiny bead, six is the number of that you’ll need.
When you catch them all, then they roll into a small.
If the small is not enough, one and five is middling stuff.
Middlings gather in a dozen to grow into a large one, cousin.
– Children’s rhyme
They found an old woman stirring a big iron cauldron on an open fire at the end of a side alley and sat there, eating stew while Thorat told the story of how he’d met Iola.
The people of Thorat’s village sent him off on the road to Anamat with their blessings and a good handful of beads. He had a full pack of provisions, including the best of the past summer’s dried apricots, and a sharp knife at his side. He slept in farmers’ sheds and on temple porches. Everywhere he went, people wished him good fortune in
