Free Wasteland Blues by Scott Christian Carr, Andrew Conry-Murray

who can’t cast his goods aside to save his own life is a man enslaved. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, Mother.”
    “Good. Now, how will we remember where we’ve hidden these things?”
    “They are one hundred paces from where the road bends,” said Tariq. “From here I can see a rock formation that looks like the face of an old man with a big nose. And we have marked the spot with a stone the size of a water jug, and scratched our sign onto its underside.”
    “Well done. Now we’ll return to the wagon. Stay near me and keep alert. Soon we’ll be with our family again.”
    ***
    When they returned, Raina invited each of the men to choose items from the pile.
    “It is the least form of repayment,” said Raina.
    “Don’t go crazy, fellas,” said Leggy as the boys made for the pile. “We’re supposed to be travelin’ light.” For himself he took only a whetstone and a mirror. The mirror was slightly bigger than a playing card, and fit inside a leather pouch that could be worn around the neck.
    “What the Hell you want to look at yourself for?” asked Derek.
    “For when I want to remember what handsome is,” said Leggy. “It’s easy for a man to forget when all he sees is your pokes.”
    John fished through the pile until he found a new bedroll and a container of matches. Teddy chose a large blanket with intricate patterns weaved in red, gold, and black thread. He also found a flute-shaped instrument. It produced a reedy wail that Derek found instantly annoying, but Teddy wouldn’t give it up.
    Derek found a silver bracelet, fashioned like a serpent swallowing its own tail. As he put it on his wrist, his eye caught site of a smooth cylinder, perhaps eight inches long. He bent to pick it up, thinking it was another musical instrument. Maybe it made a better sound than the one Teddy had fixed his heart on. But he was surprised by its weight. It was hollow, and it was made of brass, not wood. As he picked it up, a smaller cylinder slid out so that the whole tube was now a foot long. One end was stopped with glass, and the other end had a strange, cup-like fixture attached to it.
    “Ho now,” said Leggy, wheeling over to Derek. “Is that what I think it is?”
    “Don’t know,” said Derek. “What do you think it is?”
    Leggy took it and put the cup to his eye. “Lord a’mighty,” he said. “It’s a spyglass. Come and see, boys.”
    They crowded around him. “This here is a device for making things far away seem closer. You set your eye on this end and point the other end at whatever it is you want to see. Go ahead and give it a try.”
    One by one the boys put the device to their eyes. Each gasped in amazement as distant objects suddenly sprang into clear view.
    “Hallelujah!” said John. “I can see prickles on that cactus, and it must be three or four hundred yards from here.”
    “How’s it work?” asked Derek.
    Leggy scratched his head. “Don’t quite know,” he said. “It’s got pieces of glass in it called lenses, sort of like spectacles. You fellas know what spectacles are, don’t ya?”
    “Sure,” said Derek. “My father had specs. It made the words seem bigger on the page.”
    “Well, that’s it then,” said Leggy. “It’s in the way they shape the lenses. But that’s a powerful tool you got. Take good care of it.”
    “I will,” said Derek, snatching it from Teddy, who wanted to see how far up the donkey’s nostril he could look.
    ***
    They set off at a slow pace, but still faster than they could’ve traveled on foot. The boys stayed in the shadow of the tent, happy to let the donkey do all the work. Raina steered the wagon, her son at her side. They had both swaddled themselves against the sun. The landscape rolled past with dreary regularity.
    “I don’t think them Bedouins have to worry about too many people makin’ off with their stuff,” said John, scanning the baked, blasted earth and dry hills in the distance. “Who on earth could live out