The Long Walk Chapter 15

While traveling through Mongolia towards the Gobi Desert, the group of prisoners came across a small town where they saw a small home and a boy and father working at the home. There were also two women who paid them no mind when they came near. There was an animal called a bullock threshing, which Slavomir mentioned was a slow way of doing the job. After they tried to introduce themselves but were confronted with the language barrier again they went towards the bullock and started threshing to help the boy. They finished and with thoughts of re compensation they were happy until the man came with a barrel more of work to do. They did it and finished with the help of all the group. They then had a great dinner which the women made. Slave craved salt so he asked for some and was given some by one of the women, and as she took it out of some special hiding place from a covered bowl he realized that salt must be scarce and of high value to them. They went on ahead on their journey after staying the night with the Mongol family. They ended up bumping into other Mongol travelers who again did not understand them and vice versa. They offered the group tea and when they told them they were headed to Lahsa, they shot back the known response, a worried look, signals of how many many days it would take to get there and prayers to them.