by Allan Joyal
"Hopefully, the trouble won't return for a while," I said. "Roy and his minions are behind us, and might not even be traveling yet. William might be ahead of us, but each day makes it more likely that any tales he tells are distorted enough that the people don't believe we are involved."
Martha smiled, but I could see Dusty's frown deepen. Lisa then pulled me away and dragged me to where Jennifer was helping Natalie navigate the ruts. This was my first chance in the day to watch Natalie walk and it was a painful experience. She could not raise her leg more than an inch above the ground and her knee was stiff and reluctant to bend. Impulsively I put a shoulder under her arm and supported her injured side.
"I can do this myself," Natalie snapped as my body started to support hers. "Oh god! Ron! I'm sorry!" she then said in surprise.
"Surprise," I said. "You looked like you could use a lift. That leg isn't bending right is it?"
Natalie gave a sad smile. "I'm just drained and tired. When we were in the canyon I could lift the leg just fine. But now my thigh just hurts when I try to lift my leg. I'm using my left hip to hold up my body as I swing my injured leg forward with my other hip."
"Can you keep up?" I asked.
"I can," Natalie said without conviction.
"Natalie, you don't have to lie to me. We won't abandon you. Do you really feel like you can keep up with us, or are you tiring out?"
Natalie gave a huge sigh and stopped. "Simple willpower is all that keeps me moving," she admitted.
"Nat!" Jennifer snapped. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"I can't," Natalie said. "I don't want your pity."
It was my moment to sigh. "No pity, but our support and love. Natalie, I'll carry you."
I knelt down in front of Natalie holding my right arm back while my left held the spear. Natalie bent down and put her arms around my neck. I pushed my back into her chest and slowly stood back up, using the spear for extra leverage. As Natalie's body rose, she lifted her legs. I grabbed her right leg with my hand and pulled it around my waist. Her left leg copied the motion as her breasts bored into my back.
"Don't strangle me," I said. Jennifer giggled, and I felt Natalie faintly kiss my ear. She held on firmly, but lightly, and I stepped forward, leaning slightly on the spear.
The coeds all wolf whistled as I carried Natalie. Lydia just smiled and shook her head. I did get an angry glare from Eddie and a confused stare from Hencktor, but no one said anything as we continued down the road.
About an hour later I was sore and tired. I was still carrying Natalie, who was slumbering against my back. The road had gone up and down a couple hills and was approaching a belt of trees. It was then that the wind shifted and from the forest a pleasant smoky smell wafted free.
Hencktor started smiling and turned to Kariy. "Smells like trout!"
Kariy nodded but I could read the confusion in her eyes.
"Henck, what are you talking about?" I called out.
"There is a camp in the woods. It's used by those who don't want to enter Linktrum to trade," he called back.
"How far are we from Linktrum?" I asked.
Hencktor looked up at the sky. The sun was far past zenith and only a couple of handspans above the horizon. "We could reach it before the sun came down if we hurried," he said.
I looked around the group. Steve and Lydia looked fully awake, but Eddie, Lisa and the coeds were all walking with their eyes half-lidded. I could see Victoria buzzing around, watching over the coeds and making sure they stayed on the road.
"We need to stop here for the night if we can," I said. "Can we purchase a hot meal and a protected campsite?"
Hencktor nodded. "It shouldn't be too expensive. Probably cost a drachma or so for the full group."
The group offered a weary cheer. "Wha?" I heard Natalie mumble as she stirred. Her arms relaxed a little as she turned her head. "Trees?"
"Henck says there is a camp of some kind in the trees, and people trade there. We're going to see if we can pay for a safe campsite and some hot food," I told her.
Natalie started squirming. "Let me down," she ordered as her left leg loosened its grip on my waist.
I stopped walking and moved to the side of the road. Once I was out of the way, I relaxed my right arm carefully, squatting down as Natalie lowered her legs. She paused for a moment to steady herself, then removed her arms from around my neck and stood up. She grimaced just a little, but lifted her right leg until her knee was waist high.
"The muscles are still tired, but I can walk the rest of the way," she said firmly.
Steve had led the rest of the group onward. They were about twenty yards ahead of us when we started walking again. Natalie gamely tried to walk quickly, but after she stumbled over a rut, I put my arm on her elbow.
"Walk at a pace you are comfortable with," I said quietly. "They will wait for us at the camp."
Natalie sighed, but stopped trying to close the gap to the rest of the group. We walked along behind as the group began to enter the band of trees. Natalie looked up at the trees and sighed.
"What?" I asked.
"I've never seen trees like this," she said, pointing. "They appear to be some kind of maple, but the leaves are all wrong at the same time."
"Huh?"
She picked up a fallen leaf that had been sitting at the side of the road. "I haven't looked too closely, but the bark of the trees is very similar to that of a maple tree from the New England part of the US. The leaves, though, are different. The classic maple leaf usually looks a bit like a three-fingered paw. Look at this leaf."
The leaf was handed to me. I looked at it and immediately understood the issue. Like any leaf I had seen on Earth, it grew from a stem, but the shape was much different than any I had seen before. The leaf immediately widened and then started to narrow much like a triangle would, however before it reached a tip, it split into five sections, each growing in a different direction. The splits looked much like a bay leaf.
"Interesting," I said as I handed it back. "Not sure what it means though."
Natalie sighed. "Nothing that we can act on today. It does prove that we are definitely not on Earth, but the orange sun and those biting bugs already proved that."
"Do we need to study the trees?" I asked.
Natalie shrugged. "I got involved in botany because I wanted to get involved in forest management. I grew up in the middle of Cincinnati, and trees were solitary objects growing in people's yards. I wanted to be outdoors."
"But you never were as a child," I noted.
"Don't remind me," Natalie snapped. "My perfect parents would have been mortified to be seen camping in a forest. They wanted to be in the social elite. Vacations were opportunities to go to art gallery openings and museum special presentations. If I was lucky I got dragged along and then ignored, so I could find something interesting to look at. I had luck in most museums. Otherwise, they just left me in the hotel with the remote to the television and some junk food."
I merely nodded as Natalie examined a few more fallen leaves. The trees were casting long shadows, and twilight had taken hold, when we noticed a fire burning just a short distance away. People were standing around the fire. With a grunt of effort, Natalie sped her walking, and we strode into an open clearing.
The clearing was just to the side of the road. It was large and appeared unnaturally flat. The fire we had seen was only a few feet from the road and burning in a fire pit marked with the ash of untold hours of burning wood. A tripod held a large cauldron over the fire. Beyond the fire we could see our friends sitting on the ground. Most appeared to be eating from some kind of bowls.
"Welcome!" a man shouted. "You must be with them!"
I turned to see a large man walking up to us. He was walking away from a small cart that was sitting by the edge of the road. There were two large loaves of bread in his hands.
"If you mean the group over there sitting and eating, we are with them," I said. "We were going to ask if we could camp here f
or the night."
"Certainly," the man said, handing Natalie and me the loaves. "Your friend Elizabeth already negotiated that. A meal tonight, a safe place to sleep, and another cold meal in the morning was included. She said you'd have the drachma to pay."
"Trust a woman to make the man pay," I muttered as I reached into my pocket. The drachma had gotten caught in the fabric and it took a moment to worry it free as the man watched. Finally I held it up. The man took it, but appeared to be staring at my pants.
"A much better way to carry money," he mused to himself. "Cutpurses can't exactly cut that pouch from a belt and run away."
The man shook his head as if to clear it and walked over to the cauldron. "Open up the rolls, and I can get you some stew," he informed us.
I looked over at Natalie. She was holding her roll in one hand. With the other she grabbed the top and was able to lift it free, revealing a bowl shaped area where the bread had been cut out. She giggled as she looked at it. "I love these bread bowls. You don't have to wash them when you're done."
"Except last time the girls all decided to wash them down with a lot of beer," I muttered as I removed the top from my own bowl.
Natalie burst out laughing at my comment and remained laughing as she handed the man her bowl.
She received her bowl back a moment later. It was filled with a steaming, thick white stew. Holding the bowl under her nose, she inhaled deeply. "Fish," she said with a sigh.
"My mother's best fish stew recipe," the man said proudly. "My brothers catch the fish in the river. She brings them here to me. I cook them for travelers."
Natalie smiled as I stepped up to turn over my bowl. Beyond the man I could see Heather waving to us. "Nat come over here!" she shouted. "I owe you a massage."
Natalie limped away from me as the man filled the bowl. I had been looking around the clearing. Spaced almost evenly around the area were stone circles obviously set up as firepits. With the exception of one near my friends, all were unlit and the man was the only stranger in the area.
"It's quiet," I observed.
"A caravan was camped here last night and left in the morning," the man said as he filled my bowl. "Usually there would be some local farmers here offering fresh food and some trade goods, but after a caravan comes through they run to their homes. I expect it to get busy again soon."
"Don't caravans come through regularly?" I asked.
"Not really," the man said with a shrug as he covered the cauldron with a metal lid. He reached down and proceeded to tug one leg of the tripod away from the fire. "Caravans come through maybe once a season. They are expensive to put together and defend, so only a few merchants are able to afford to form and run caravans. Most will have one or two wagons of goods. But you can't get the best price on many goods the first few days after a caravan has been through. I won't see any smaller traders for a few days."
The man walked around the cauldron and pulled the other two legs of the tripod towards the first one he had moved. The cauldron was now over the stone of the fire pit rather than directly in the small and dying fire. I was going to ask the man more when I felt a gentle touch on my arm.
I turned and found Kariy standing there holding one of the group's spoons. "Your food is best if you eat it hot," she informed me. Before I could protest, the spoon was dropped into the stew, and I was marched to a rock and forced to sit down.
Kariy was glaring at me. The clearing grew silent as I sat there staring in surprise. Finally, I set the spear on the ground in front of me and picked up the spoon. Kariy just stood and watched as I took my first bites of the stew.
That first bite woke my stomach. I could hear a fearful growl shoot through my body and immediately spooned up another mouthful. Kariy's frown slowly faded as I devoured the stew. It was surprisingly tasty. The flavor reminded me of some kind of walnut covered trout or salmon. A generous portion of tubers of some kind thickened the stew. It was hot in the mouth and felt warm in my stomach as I emptied the bowl and then devoured the bread itself, seeking every last drop and crumb.
Kariy was sitting on the ground in front of me when I finished. She held her hand out for the spoon. "Better than mine?" she asked.
"Different," I admitted. "Yours had a lot more spice, but this was quite tasty."
Kariy smiled. "You know this is the first time in twelve years that I had a hot meal I didn't cook myself."
"And we talked about you cooking for us," I replied. "If you want, we can change that. I'd hate for you to be forced to do anything."
Kariy giggled. It sounded much like the giggles of Lydia and Heather. "Oh, you don't need to do that. I want to help. It's not like you'll survive if I don't cook. Martha knows a little, but says she has no experience over an open flame. Lisa and Elizabeth admit they have no idea how to cook. Vicki says she always used an oven. The others are about the same. I think Henck knows more than they do."
"Yes," I said with a sigh. "We are remarkably unprepared for this life."
Kariy shook her head as Esme walked over. I could see a scowl on Esme's face and patted the rock I sat on. "Sit Esme, tell us your troubles."
Esme sat, crossing her arms under her breasts. "Why is Natalie allowing Heather to massage her leg? I've offered several times and she ignores me."
I leaned back, putting my hands on the rock. "Well, Esme, have you allowed her to come to you, or have you been trying to push her to accept your help?"
"I just want to help her," Esme hissed. "What do you mean to imply?"
"Esme, look at Natalie right now. She's smiling and relaxed, right? She's sitting right next to Heather and accepting a massage of her thigh without flinching. Look at her face. She's just chatting with Heather. There doesn't seem to be any tension. It's a massage given by a friend to help an injured friend."
"I could be that friend," Esme responded.
"Do you want her as just a friend?" I asked. In front of us, Kariy gasped. Her face was pale as Esme turned to face me.
"You think I'm interested in that!" she hissed. "I've never!"
Esme stood up and glared at me. She turned back to look at Natalie. As she looked, a hardened expression came over her face. She started scanning the group. Without another word, she marched over to Al and put a hand on his shirt.
"Come," she ordered as she pulled him to his feet. He jumped up, looking shocked.
Esme gave him a hard kiss on the lips. He tried to push her away, but she wrapped her body around his and pressed harder against him. By the time she stepped away Al looked like he had been hit by a truck, and Esme's eyes were full of fire. She dragged him away from the road and into the trees. They vanished into the shadows.
Kariy was now blushing fiercely. "Did she? Is she?" she asked.
Steve had gotten up while Esme was kissing Al; he walked over and looked at me. "What set her off? I didn't even know she liked him?"
I looked over at Natalie and Heather. Heather had stopped her massage. I noticed that Natalie was gazing in the direction Esme had gone. Her expression was a mix of confusion and sadness.
"I made a mistake and suggested that Esme might have a motive a bit stronger than friendship for wanting to help Natalie," I said quietly.
Kariy was still sitting there, she hissed in surprise. "You mean... you allow?"
"Kariy," I said sadly, "we've tried to explain that we allow people to be far more free where we are from. Part of it is that we don't condemn people for who they love. Well, many of us don't. I'm sure Eddie would be making a number of hateful comments."
Steve supported me and knelt by Kariy. "If it was what they both truly wanted, would you deny them? But in this case, it appears Esme decided to prove that it's not true, and she dragged Al into the forest as her partner."
Kariy blushed. "I couldn't," she whispered.
"Then don't and find the right person for you," I said.
Heather walked over to the rock. She had a small box in her hand, and she handed it to me. I looked at it in the dying twi
light and realized she had found the squeezebox. Gingerly, I released the straps holding it together and placed a hand on each end. Heather smiled.
"I know you won't know any tunes, but some music or loud talk might be..." she temporized.
Steve laughed. I started pumping the instrument back and forth, experimenting with the buttons. It took a while before I realized that each row of five buttons was a group of notes. I slowly began adding a bit of flourish to each round of pumping, trying to develop a tune.
It did not take long for the rest of the group to gather around me, laughing. I could play long slow notes and an occasional quick run of three to five notes. There was no pattern to my playing, and despite my best efforts, nothing I played was danceable. Still the simple sound of music seemed to slowly summon in the night. I must have been at it for thirty or forty minutes when Esme and Al slipped into the group. Their hair was in disarray and Al was carrying his shirt.
Natalie did throw a very hurt look at Esme, but no one said anything. Their return soon had everyone else scurrying away. Packs were searched for bedrolls, and everyone started lying down to sleep.
I was putting the squeezebox away when Kariy came up carrying two bedrolls. I took one away from her, but she stepped closer and looked at me. She had a mixed expression of determination and fear.
"Kariy, I'm not the man you want," I said.
Kariy shook her head. "It will be cold tonight. I want a warm body to cuddle with. You won't do anything."
I laid my bedroll down, in the now dark clearing. Kariy immediately laid hers next to mine. She stood waiting.
"One moment," I said with a blush. I dashed off to the trees to take care of some necessary business before returning. Kariy was standing there quietly, but I found a third bedroll had been added. She just shook her head when I looked at her.
I lay down, rolling to my side and closing my eyes. Behind me I felt Kariy lay down and snuggled up to my back. She pressed her body close to mine and her light breaths fanned my ear. It made falling asleep difficult, but the exhaustion of the day started to catch up to me. When I felt someone lay down in front of me I was too tired to open my eyes and felt only the whisper of a set of arms going around me before I slept.