paused meaningfully. “I want you both to understand that this is not a vacation. Jabba has extended his hospitality to us, but this is still a dangerous place. Be careful.”
The minute he was gone, Tash started toward the tunnels of the B’omarr monks.
“Hey!” Zak said. “Uncle Hoole just finished telling us to stay out of trouble.”
“I’m not getting into trouble,” Tash responded. “Besides, he also said it was important to study the B’omarr monks.”
“Important for him, not for you,” her brother retorted. But Tash was already gone.
Zak caught up with her just as she reached the monks’ tea room again. Surprisingly, it wasn’t hard to find. The B’omarr monks were very orderly, and their tunnels were laid out in neat, organized rows.
They found Beidlo in the tea room, using an old-fashioned push broom to sweep sand off the floor. His face lit up when he saw Zak and Tash. “I’m glad you’re back! I’ll be done with my chores in half an hour; then I can show you more of the tunnels. There are some excellent caverns, and even a few-“
“Actually,” Tash confessed, “I was just looking for Brother Grimpen.”
“Oh,” Beidlo said. He looked disappointed. “All right. He’s down that way.” The young monk pointed toward a hallway at the end of the room.
“Thanks,” Tash said, moving on.
“Don’t feel bad,” Zak said to Beidlo. “She’s been doing that to me for a couple of days now. I’ll talk to you later.” He hurried after his sister.
“Tash!” Grimpen called out as they moved down the dark tunnel. The monk seemed to step out of the darkness itself. “So good to see you again,” Grimpen said to Tash, barely nodding at Zak.
“I had some free time,” Tash explained, “and you said we were welcome-“
“Of course, of course!” Grimpen said approvingly. “In fact, your timing is perfect. I was just going back to my private rooms to meditate. If you’re really interested in the B’omarr ways, it’s a perfect chance to learn.”
“Let’s go,” Tash said.
“Um, Tash,” Zak said, grabbing hold of her sleeve. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. What would Uncle Hoole say about us going off with some stranger?”
Tash’s eyes were like lasers blasting her younger brother. “You’re starting to sound like a baby-sitter, and I don’t need a baby-sitter, Zak. Besides, Grimpen is a monk. It’s not like he’s one of Jabba’s henchmen.”
“Exactly right,” Grimpen said.
Zak gave up with a sigh. The strange thing was the more Tash wanted to be a grown-up, the more she behaved like a child. And the more Zak wanted her to be her old, thirteen year-old self, the more he sounded like an adult.
Why couldn’t things just stay the way they were? he thought as he hurried to catch up. Beyond the tea room, the tunnels became more confusing. Zak found more twists and turns, and he nearly lost sight of Tash and Grimpen twice as they made sharp turns down smaller side tunnels, winding their way deeper into the catacombs of the ancient B’omarr temple.
‘,… There are many stages of spiritual growth,” Grimpen was explaining to Tash. “At each stage, there is a test to make sure the monk understands what he has learned.”
Tash, Zak, and Grimpen passed a pair of monks walking in the opposite direction. Beneath their hoods, the monks scowled at the two Arrandas. Zak had the strange sensation that the angry old monks wanted to see his brain on a shelf. He swallowed. “What are the tests like?” Tash asked.
“Sometimes the tests are very easy, like answering questions or reciting passages from the ancient writings,” Grimpen said. Up ahead, Zak and Tash caught sight of a faint light source. “And sometimes the tests are physical, to test how well a monk uses his mind over matter.”
Grimpen stopped. Before them lay the source of the light they’d seen a moment before. They stood at the edge of a glowing bed of hot coals. Steam rose from the thick layer of fiery rocks, and now and then a rock would crack into smaller burning embers with a loud pop! The bed of coals stretched from wall to wall across the tunnel, and was far too wide to jump across.
“What’s this?” Tash asked.
Grimpen flashed her a confident smile. “This is your first test, Tash.”
Tash blinked. “But how-?”
“Like this,” Grimpen replied. Then, calmly, he stepped onto the blazing coals. Zak winced, but Grimpen looked as if he were calmly walking across a field of grass. Step by step, he crossed the coal bed as light and flames licked at his ankles, and steam rose up around his face.