The next four days were spent learning more about the people of the valley. He was becoming more comfortable with the heavy accent of the valley people. It seemed, with twelve major villages and many smaller villages along with the people who lived in the countryside the valley's population was close to seventy-five or eighty-five thousand. However, there was no army or even a major police force to keep the peace. Each village was assigned an area to control, and the village elders, along with one or two constables, were responsible for keeping the peace. Yet, there were no memories of wars.
One event profoundly affected Kaleb. There was, what he assumed to be, a piece of art behind the counter at the inn where he was staying. It was a piece of wood cut into a square and set up on one of the points. At each of the points was a large knot, and along the sides between the large knots were five smaller knots. A wooden arrow was attached to the center. This arrow always pointed to one of the knots; however, it seemed to be pointing to a different knot each time he came in. One day, as he was entering the inn, the innkeeper was changing which knot the arrow was pointing toward.
"May I ask why you are moving the arrow?" he asked her.
"It's time." Was her reply.
It must have been obvious he didn't understand. "It's for keeping time. Don't you Sunrisers have these?" she asked.
Kaleb was stunned; a device for keeping the time of day. As she explained how the device worked, many applications ran through his mind as how this could be used. She explained that her device had to be manually moved, but a village near the Sunset Mountains had made a device which changed itself. When he asked her where he could get one, she told him it could be obtained in the general mercantile. The device, called a clock, was easily obtained. Apparently these devices were very common in the valley. He was able to trade for a self-adjusting timing knot clock. This would cause quite a stir back home.
Kaleb was beginning to see that these people were not as backward as he had first imagined. In fact, they were well advanced in many areas. It was the fact they had no written language that made them seem backward. Kaleb began to view the town with new interest, asking questions now he didn't think of the first time around. It finally dawned on him that these people did have a written language. It just wasn't written on paper, it was all tied up in knots.
At first Kaleb thought this was stupid. It would take massive amounts of rope or leather straps to convey the information in a single book. As he began to study the knots around the village, he began to realize that certain knots in certain combinations could impart a great deal of information. When he received his invitation to the college, his eyes were opened even more.
With this tour of the school, Kaleb gained a whole new respect for these Knot People. He was shown the school of philosophy, the school of engineering, the school of medicine, the school of mathematics, the school of astronomy, and many lesser disciplines. Both men and women attended the school. The concept of women being educated was beyond him. The students in the classrooms were taking notes by tying knots in leather straps. All of this was impressive, but the most impressive of all was his trip to the library.
In the Great Library of Knots, which looked like an old barn from the outside, he met the old blind man. The man, named DeCarlos, was the custodian of the library. He had not always been blind; it was an affliction that had come upon him in the last ten years. However, since he had been a master knotter before his sight went, he could still read the great knot tomes by feeling the knots.
Kaleb would ask a question and DeCarlos would laugh and reach for one of the ropes and begin to tell the story hidden within the knots. Kaleb noticed a rope wrapped around two huge spools. When he asked DeCarlos what kind of information was on the rope, the old man became quiet and carefully used his blind man's stick to approach the spool.
"This," he started, "is called the history of the world. Of course, you and I know that it is just the history of the people of the valley. However, it does represent much of our knowledge and our myths of old. Each year a new length of rope is added and that year's history is knotted." The old man smiled, "Even you will be knotted into this year's records."
DeCarlos began to unwind the spools to reach the beginning of time. "They say if you took this rope off the spools it would stretch over a millstone in length, and I believe it would."
When he reached the beginning he continued. "The Great Herco knotted much of this. Some laugh because the knots are simple and crude in nature. But if you consider that he was developing the knots as he went along; they are quite amazing. Even at today's standards, some of the knots are so complex that I'm not sure I understand their meaning. It's been over two hundred winters since he died."
With that, DeCarlos began to read the knots to Kaleb. When the guard came to say school was closing for the night, the sun was on the western horizon. Kaleb realized he had been listening to Master DeCarlos from mid-day to sunset, yet, the old man had covered very little of the spool. Kaleb wished he had several months to hear all of the history before meeting the council of elders.
"May I come again tomorrow and listen to more?" Kaleb asked.
"That would make an old man very happy." DeCarlos said as they left the Great Library.
The next day Kaleb arrived early at the Great Library, but DeCarlos was nowhere to be found. Kaleb found one of the students and asked where the old man could be located. The young student told him that he would escort him to Master DeCarlos. Kaleb followed the student until they reached the classroom where the old man tutored students. They seemed to be working on a knot made with two leather straps and a piece of rope. As Kaleb entered the room, the students moved aside to let Master DeCarlos present Kaleb with his own personal knot. DeCarlos told him the knot meant 'One from beyond the Sunrise Mountain who listens'. However, the knot would simply be known as 'Kaleb'. Kaleb was touched and watched closely as the students showed him how to tie the knot. After several tries Kaleb was able to tie a reasonable fashion of the knot. He then slipped the knot around his neck and wore it proudly.
After this, he and Master DeCarlos went back to the Great Library where the old man continued to read from the history spool. It was well past mid-day when a runner from the elder, Crimn, came. Kaleb was to meet this evening with the council to present his case. Master DeCarlos seemed disappointed this would end his opportunity to read more from the history spool.
Kaleb had learned more in two days with Master DeCarlos than he could have learned in months by himself. He asked Master DeCarlos if he could come again to visit him in the Great Library. 'I'm afraid it is not to be.' was the old man's reply. Leaving the Great Library, to prepare his presentation for the Council of Elders, Kaleb felt a great sadness.
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