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pretty soon I found the herd. But five of the cows were still missing. Now I knew I was in big trouble. First of all, I’d lost the cows. Second, when my family asked me, “Where did you lose the cows?” I’d have to give them the true location, and they’d know I did not take them where I was supposed to take them. And now it was getting late.
    So I brought all my remaining cows to my friends and asked them to take them home for me. I decided I wasn’t going home that night. I knew I’d be punished, and it was embarrassing. I went looking for the lost cows but couldn’t find them, so when it got dark I found a very big tree, climbed up, and slept there. All night I could hear people walking by looking for the cows—and looking for me. My mom was totally scared, and eventually the whole village was running around asking, “Have you seen him? Have you seen him?” No one knew what was going on. At about three o’clock in the morning the cows came home by themselves, but I didn’t know that. I thought they were lost for good, so when it got light, I was still scared. I spent two nights hiding.
    Early on the third day I went to a cattle camp that was not far from our village. One of the older people there had heard that I was missing and sent word to the village. Now I had to face my biggest brother. My father had died when I was about eight years old, and Paraikon, my much older brother from my other mother, was now the head of the family. We all called him Father because that was his place in the family now. I knew he loved me, and he was kind, but he was just as strict as my own father had been.
    I decided I’d better not wait for him to find me; I’d go and find him. I’d been hiding long enough, I guess. And I decided I’d be ready to speak for myself. I waited for him where I knew he’d bring the cattle. Eventually, I saw him coming. He was carrying a whip made from a thin tree branch and chewing his knuckles, spitting. I could see his long ears, could see him looking at all the cows.
    I went up to him and said, “Father, I have something to show you.” I was carrying a sheet of paper. He didn’t care. He was looking the other way. But I brought the paper to him and said, “I’m asking for forgiveness, and this is what I learned in school.” He took the piece of paper and looked.
    “So what does this say?”
    “It says, ‘I’m sorry for losing the cattle.’”
    He looked at me and said, “You know, Son, I’ve been proud of you for what you’ve done in school, even though I don’t agree with it. And that mistake—you’ve paid for it by hiding in the woods for two days. You’re lucky you didn’t get eaten by a lion. So take the cows out today, and take them to that place I told you.”
    I could see my friends hiding behind a small rock, looking to see what was going to happen to me. They knew that morning was the time the grown-ups usually get you. If they punish you in the morning, they know you’ll be taking care of those cows very well for the day. And I said, “Yes, sir, I know where it is. I’ll take them there today and make sure that they graze well and that nothing happens to them.”
    “We’ll talk in the evening when you come home.”
    At that point I didn’t want to see my friends at all, didn’t want to have anything to do with them. I just wanted to be on my own. I took the cows, and I grazed them. And when I brought them home their bellies were full.
    Father told me, “Come.” He took me to the cows, looked them over, and said, “This is Sile. She has got three calves—that one, that one, that one. They’re yours.” And I tell you, I could not believe it. A gift of cows shows great respect.
    It showed that my biggest brother loved me. And it was smart. Because from then on, every time I took the cows out to graze I made sure to take them where there was a lot of grass, because some of them were mine.

Chapter 7
Initiation
    Our clan has no cowards.
    They know no