by Allan Joyal
Hencktor, Steve and Al had been grabbed by the coeds and were being subjected to a lot of teasing as the young ladies ran brushes through their hair. Hencktor was the most uncomfortable, but he submitted to the caresses. His brow was wrinkled by a slightly panicked frown, and I noticed his eyes kept darting towards the clearing entrance.
The girls finally let Al go. He grabbed a bedroll and dashed off, finally settling down near Eddie and the clearing entrance. The girls giggled as he dashed off.
"He is such a boy," Dusty said as they watched him lay down.
"Um, should we pass around food or anything?" I asked.
Elizabeth snorted. "We already ate! You were so busy checking everything that Kariy couldn't bring you any food."
Kariy stirred next to me, but I put my arm around her shoulder and held her down. "No," I ordered. "I can get it myself. You can enjoy the fire with everyone."
"The first pack has food packages at the top," Martha sang out.
I stood up, trying to hold the cloak tight to my body. The ladies all tittered as I quickly turned away and sidestepped to the pack. Once there, I knelt down and opened the fabric.
Two wedges of cheese sat atop the pile. I set them on the mossy ground and then dug a bit deeper, soon finding a large bundle of dried meat. I took three strips out and picked up the cheese. My final action before standing was to snatch a full canteen.
Backing up to return to the fire was difficult, but I managed it without tripping. I had to turn slowly to keep the cloak from billowing open. It remained closed as I sat down and set my dinner on the ground next to me. I had settled in when Kariy latched onto my left arm.
"Darn, I wanted to see," Dusty said flirtingly.
I just shook my head as Steve groaned. Conversation seemed to lag at that point as I concentrated on eating. Everyone sat around the fire, silent as the sun completed its passage and long dark shadows covered the clearing.
There was only the faintest hint of light by the time I had finished eating. I was licking off a few crumbs of dried meat on my fingers when Lydia rose to her feet.
"I think it's time we collect the clothing and then find a place to lie down and sleep," she said with a yawn. "Are we going to have sentries?"
Hencktor shook his head. "We shouldn't need them. The merchants pay to have enchantments placed on sites like this. The magic prevents violence from occurring. So we won't be attacked by bandits."
"What about William?" Steve asked. "Could he return and take things?"
Hencktor shrugged. "I can't say. He didn't seem eager to return. I've never heard of someone stealing from one of these places. I'd expect to find out that he's tried to continue to Linktrum. The trail we are following meets a caravan road. We'll reach it tomorrow before noon. If he traveled far enough, he could have reached it tonight."
"I just hope he doesn't try finding people to ambush us," I moaned.
Steve grabbed my arm as the rest of the group started to disperse. As a group, the ladies picked up bedrolls from the pile of packs. Once they had those, they headed to the drying clothing. Each gathered their outfits before pairing off and moving to the shadows near the trees and lying down for the night.
"We might not need to post a guard, but I think we should sleep near the entrance and have our weapons where we can get them," Steve said.
I nodded as we headed to the packs for bedrolls. The spear was there as well and I added it to my burden before turning towards the water and my clothing. The cloak flew open and I sighed.
"Don't worry," Al whispered. "They have all turned away. We should just get our clothing and make up some beds. It's likely to be cold tonight."
"Well, don't expect me to cuddle up with you to keep warm," Steve said acerbically.
Nothing more was said. Each of us found our clothing and picked it up. My socks felt a little damp, but the rest was dry. I turned and keeping the stream to my left, walked back towards the clearing entrance. When I was about ten feet away, I stepped away from the stream and laid the bedroll down.
I lay down and looked up. Night was falling and unfamiliar stars again burned in the night sky. I tried to form new constellations from the strange patterns, but fatigue overcame me, and after only a few minutes puzzling over the twinkling lights high in the heavens, I rolled over and slept.
Chapter 8 – Meeting More Strangers
The chirping of some frogs jarred me awake. I rolled over and sat up. The sky was just starting to become lighter. Looking around, I could see the bundles of cloth covering my sleeping friends. It appeared that I was the first to wake.
I checked my clothing and everything was dry. There was a bit of stiffness in the shirt, but I ignored it while I quietly dressed. The rest of the camp remained asleep. I had time to get completely dressed and roll up the bedroll before anyone else stirred. The morning was peaceful and relaxing, but I realized that my stomach was empty and my mouth dry.
Hencktor had not mentioned any way of purifying the stream water, but it moved quickly where it first entered the clearing. Stepping lightly to quiet my footsteps, I glided over to the shore and bent down to drink. The water above the pool proved to be clear and cold.
When I had drunk enough to feel refreshed, I stood up and turned back towards the camp. The once slumbering camp was now active. Several of the coeds were had already pulled on their now dry closing and were moving to roll up bedrolls and cloaks. Kariy was going through one of the packs. Natalie was sitting up and stretching her legs. I noticed that Esme attempted to walk over and talk to Natalie. The conversation was in whispers, but it was clear that Natalie refused to say anything. Esme ran towards me, covering her face with her hands.
I grabbed her before she ran past me and out of the clearing. Muffled sobs were escaping her fingers, but then she threw her arms around me. "She hates me," she whimpered.
"Esme," I said slowly, "she feels a bit smothered. I know you said you weren't going to allow the injury to affect her life, but you need to allow her to ask you for help. Don't force it on her."
Esme sniffled again. She held me tight for a moment and then nodded into my chest. Relaxing her arms, she stepped back. I lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. She offered a faint smile and then turned to run to the stream.
"What was that about?" I heard Steve ask. I looked over my shoulder to see him walking toward me from the clearing entrance.
"Esme was mothering Natalie a bit too much I think," I whispered back. "Natalie told her off."
"Good," Steve said. "Esme means well, but Natalie is right to keep her from smothering her. Meanwhile, William never returned. I know everyone distrusted him, but should we search for him?"
"Not really," I replied. "The other group will probably be following us today. We can't slow down too much or they might catch up to us when we aren't ready. We should definitely keep moving quickly."
"How long will we be running?" Steve asked.
"As long as it takes to get someplace that we can be safe," I admitted. "Could be in the next town, or it could never happen. I won't stay if any of the girls will be in danger. I won't force them to stay with us though. If they decide to leave the group, they can."
Steve nodded. "That sounds about right. We probably won't lose too many though. Lydia and I will stick with you of course, and I expect Heather and Natalie will want to stay with you as well."
"We need to find a way to fit in. And we need to learn how to do things here. I'm so used to having a nice kitchen with a microwave for preparing meals. Cooking over an open flame isn't something I'm familiar with." I said.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking back, I could see Lydia standing there. She had thrown a pack on over her clothing and was holding some dried fruit in her other hand. "We can eat while walking," she said. "And I heard what you said. The problem is that it's unlikely we'll ever find a place we fit in."
"Then we make a place," I vowed. "We might have to fight for the land, but we can make a home here."
"Could we?" Steve asked as the rest of the group began to gather. Hencktor was circling the clearing, checking for something. Eddie was splashing water from the stream on his face. The rest were nibbling on handfuls of food and waiting by the clearing entrance. Most looked up at me in silent appraisal as I thought of how to answer that question.
"We can," I said after several moments of silence. "We need more money so we can purchase the right equipment. And it would not hurt to find a few more wonderful people like Kariy and Hencktor who can help show us how to use tools we are unfamiliar with. But with the right planning, I know we can find a place that we can make ours."
"And it will be Ronland, I'm sure," Eddie snapped as I joined the group. "You'll make us do all the work, AND you'll take the glory."
Kariy jumped in front of him slapping him across the face. "You fool! Do you understand so little? That spear right now represents the only thing keeping others from turning you into a slave. If Ron was trying to carry a pack with it, he'd lose the ability to move quickly to protect us. Or did you forget the fight yesterday morning?"
Eddie held a hand to his face. A blush slowly spread from the area where Kariy had slapped him. The look in his eyes was one of humiliation and rage. I waved to Al and he nodded, taking up position behind Eddie.
"Right," I said acting like Eddie had never spoken. "For now, let's worry about the walk to Linktrum and planning to get to the Wizard's Academy. We might have to spend a couple days in Linktrum. We need more money, shoes for just about everyone, and to learn more about how this land works. Henck, do we keep following the trail?"
"Yes, Ron," Hencktor replied. "If we walk as fast as yesterday, it will turn to the right when the sun is about one handspan above the trees. From there we'll go through another canyon and then meet a caravan road."
"Not another canyon," Elizabeth said with a moan. "Climbing down the last one hurt my feet."
"This one isn't as bad. The trail is much wider, and there probably won't be many rocks," Hencktor replied.
Elizabeth looked upset, but said no more. I scanned the rest of the girls and found that all were now gathered. Steve gave me a final nod, and I turned and led the group from the clearing and back to the trail.
Long shadows still shaded the trail, but it opened up quite a bit now that we were out of the canyon. We were following a ridgeline. To our left was the mountain range, rising rather slowly in this area, but covered with a mixture of trees. Most were displaying fall colors. To the right, the ground sloped away slowly. This area was mostly covered by a low grass. I wondered why until I noticed a number of burnt out stumps protruding above the grass.
Most of the girls were walking in the grass next to the trail, where it was short and relatively soft. They had separated into pairs and were chattering happily. It was almost like taking a walk on a beach or in a forest, but I could hear alertness in the conversations. Every new tree and bush was remarked on. At one point, a breeze caused one tree to quiver. Every coed screamed at the movement as Steve and I jumped between the tree and the group. It was a false alarm, but it reminded us that we were not just walking in a friendly park.
For the first mile or so, I was left alone to watch the trail. The trail was easy to find, and I was putting more thought into what we might do to solve our various problems. I was so intent on the two issues that the touch on my shoulder caused me to spin in alarm and surprise.
Kariy stood there. She smiled faintly. "Can I walk with you and..." she asked quietly.
I said nothing, but turned and started walking again. With my left hand, I waved her forward. She had stood frozen in place when I turned away, but sprinted to catch up to me, putting a hand on my left shoulder. "Just a walk," I said.
"Not that," Kariy said. I looked over and she was blushing. "I...I need to talk to you. I'm confused."
"I don't see what should be confusing. We faced Galmin and got him to admit that your indenture wasn't legal, and then to protect you we allowed you to join our journey. Well, I guess it's fair to say that Elizabeth got Galmin to admit to your illegal indenture."
Kariy shook her head again. "No. I...I like that you protect me. I've felt safe with you and your friends. I just want to know I belong."
I shifted the spear to my right hand and put an arm around Kariy. "You do belong. You have helped with the food every time since you joined. You threw that knife yesterday and prevented Galmin from leaving the tavern. I haven't heard anyone say you don't belong with us."
Kariy looked back. "But I'm not family."
I heard a snort behind me. Glancing back, I found that Elizabeth was walking just behind us. "Sorry," she murmured with a smile. "Eddie is back there making Al and Henck's life miserable with all his complaining, and I decided to walk just behind you. Little girl, I heard your last comment, and you're wrong about one thing. You are family. Or as much family as any of us have. We were thrown together when we arrived here. Don't worry, you're doing fine."
"I'm surprised you aren't demanding that she be your maid," I quipped. "You seem like you had a rather nice life."
Elizabeth snorted again. "You might think that. I still had my student loans to pay and my rent was probably more than your salary."
"I thought you said you lived in the Bronx?"
"I lied," Elizabeth said. "I didn't have a view of Central Park, but I was in a rather nice penthouse apartment downtown. My commute to the office was a fifteen-minute walk. I paid for that commute with a rent that few could afford. So while I had a great place to live, I didn't have many luxuries after that."
Kariy grabbed my arm. I sensed she was looking back at Elizabeth. "Was listening to singers one of your luxuries?"
"What?" Elizabeth asked.
"I think she's asking about where you learned the duets you were singing with Lisa. You have to admit that not everyone would know those well enough to sing them," I said.
"Ah. Yes, Kariy. Attending those performances was the one luxury I allowed myself. I never thought I'd try to sing like that though."
"You were good," Kariy said with a blush.
"Not really, but you can believe that if you want," Elizabeth said. "Meanwhile, you need to stop worrying about being family. If it does worry you, think of Ron there as your father."
"Elizabeth! I'm not old enough to be that!" I said with a moan.
Kariy just giggled and kissed me on the cheek. I felt my face grow hot as Elizabeth's laughter echoed out over the trail.
After that Kariy seemed content to just hold my arm and walk next to me. I returned to scanning ahead and watching the road. We advanced down the trail at a steady pace as the sun began to rise above the trees. Behind me, Elizabeth dropped back to chat with Lydia and Victoria.
The slap behind me got me to turn around. For once, Eddie was clearly not involved. Instead Dusty was jumping up and down and holding her left forearm. "Fuck! That hurts!" she moaned.
"What happened?" I called out as I stopped on the trail.
"Some stupid black bug decided to try taking a bite out of my arm!" Dusty said. "It fucking hurts."
Henck separated from Eddie and Al and walked forward. "What did the bug look like?" he asked.
"I barely noticed it until it bit me!" Dusty shouted, still shaking her arm out. "How was I supposed to know that this black bug, no bigger than my little finger, could bite that hard?"
Hencktor reached her and gently took a hold of her arm. He held it up and looked at the spot. I was too far away, but from the way he held the arm I assumed the bite was easy to identify.
"Ah, well..." he said. "It's nothing too serious. Those are harmless."
"Harmless! I fucking felt like my arm was going to get ripped off. That bite hurt! Maybe you should get bit in the ass and then tell me that this is harmless!" Dusty hissed at Hencktor.
The other coeds had all backed away, and I noticed several looking around wildly. Hencktor noticed as well because he put a hand up. "Don't worry that much," he said. "It's not poisonous, and it
won't come back for a while. It was just looking for a place to lay eggs. It's probably some distance away, seeking a dead animal."
"Then why did it bite me?" Dusty said.
Hencktor sighed. "Because sometimes those things aren't sure if they found a dead or live body. The bite is their way of testing. A dead body won't move after a bite."
"Well, someone tell that fucking bug that it works damn well!" Dusty snapped. "I've never hurt so much in my life. Tell me that we won't see more of those things!"
Hencktor shook his head. "We'll probably run into more once we exit the mountains. They are far more common around the big rivers of the plains."
"Shit!" Dusty fumed. "She continued to rub her arm, but started to walk again. "What about in the town?"
"There aren't many in towns," Hencktor admitted. "People tend to clean up dead bodies quickly in town to keep them far away."
"Great, let's get to town," Dusty said as she rushed past me.
Everyone started moving again. Dusty tried to increase the pace as we navigated the turn Hencktor had told us about and began descending through a canyon. This canyon was much wider and flatter than the previous one.
Sadly, the same width soon provided its own challenges. The wide canyon floor had almost no trees, and the rising sun was beating down on us without mercy. Some rather scraggly brown grass grew, but otherwise the canyon floor was rocks and dirt. On the right of the canyon, a stream that bubbled and foamed over several rapids broke the ground.
We had been descending through the valley only for about twenty minutes or so when I heard the first splash. I whirled in surprise to find Lydia, skirtless and standing in the water. She giggled when she noticed the alarm on my face.
"Sorry, but the bottoms of my feet were burning. This is a bit less painful right now," She said unrepentantly. She was holding her skirt in her hands. I looked at the panties she was wearing and shook my head.
"And I remember when you couldn't wear a tight top because of how much it showed," I mused as Lydia blushed.