“Seven hearts the journey make. Seven ways the hearts will break ...”
The witch Sheba’s prophecy is like a riddle. A riddle Rowan must solve if he is to find out the secret of the Mountain and save his home. To the sturdy villagers of Rin, the boy Rowan is a timid weakling. The most disappointing child ever.
“Bravest heart will carry on when sleep is death, and hope is gone. Rowan doesn’t believe he has a brave heart. But when the river that supports his village of Rin runs dry, he must join a dangerous journey to its source in the forbidden Mountain.”
“Rowan knew, as Annad did not, that without the bukshah there would be not rich, creamy milk to drink, no cheese, curd, and butter to eat. There would be no tick gray wood for cloth.There would be no help to plow the fields or carry in the harvest. There would be no broad backs to bear the burden on the long journeys down to the coast to trade with the clever, silent Maris fold. The life of Rind dependen on the bukshah. Without them, the village, too, would die.”
“Something has to be sacrificed-and in putting his interest in Rugby before all other consideration, Rowan finds himself embarking on a course of actioln which has unfortunate consequences.”