by Linda Jordan
Then she began to speak in a language Evangeline didn’t recognize. It was hypnotic all the same. No one else around her seemed to recognize it either, although they seemed to be almost in a trance. The language was lilting and guttural at the same time. Full of drama and softness. Morrigu’s speaking became chanting which transformed into singing.
Colored lights swirled in the smoke. They took shapes of deities and animals moving around each other, as if in a dance. The air felt charged with magic. It wasn’t all Morrigu’s. Those deities were here, drawn by death and sorrow. Many in the crowd were openly weeping. This seemed to go on for hours. Evangeline spotted Kalfu in the smoke. Roosevelt was on his arm and they were both smoking cigars and laughing.
Morrigu finished in their language again. “Go in peace. Find some sleep. Rest and be easy.”
Evangeline felt exhausted. She followed everyone else into the housing for Morrigu’s people. Someone gave her a blanket and she found a couch in one of the common rooms. She was asleep within minutes.
Tomorrow would be a hard day.
13
Cady
It was moving day. Bright and sunny as soon as the sun crested the trees. By then, Cady had packed her few belongings. Bedding, clothes, a few herb roots, some seeds and her food. Plus two books. One, a field guide to native plants. The other, a guide to garden plants. Both might come in handy. She’d decided to wear her weapons. It wouldn’t do any good having them in a bag if the villagers were attacked.
She packed her two bags of belongings into the box Joe had attached to the back of the bike. It was a bit ungainly, but easier than carrying them. She tied them to the wire box so nothing would bounce off. Then tied on her four ancient, stainless steel water bottles, freshly filled. Then went back and closed her door, patting the house.
“Thank you for giving me shelter. I appreciated it.”
Onyx sat watching her, waiting to leave. Everyone in the village had met him and approved him as an addition to their moving party.
Then she picked up Monster, who knew something strange was going on. She put the harness and leash on him.
“C’mon dear, you’ll need to wear this today. Just in case something happens, I might need you to move quickly. Let’s put you in your own space. I’m not leaving you behind.”
He purred as she put him into the pet box on the bike with his new special blanket, that probably smelled like her. She’d gotten him used to sleeping in the box for the last two weeks. And she’d even gotten him used to wearing the harness and leash. He was an amazingly adaptable cat for being an adult, Sharine had told her.
The pet box was snugly attached, just in front of the handlebar, so Cady could keep an eye on him and talk to him. Monster curled up, ready to sleep.
She wheeled the bike towards the village, shifting her rifle, so it hung just right and was easy to get to. The others were mostly ready and they moved off, following Onyx and Gia, who was leading them. Onyx’s bulk flattened the foliage, creating a trail which made it easier for them all to move through the underbrush. Being at the front kept Onyx well away from the livestock, who were still quite afraid of the dragon.
As the day wore on, they traveled through forest, then heavy brush. Tall Douglas firs grew out of the ruins of old houses. They passed over buckled streets filled with alder clumps. Thorny blackberries grew everywhere.
Cady had read in one of her books that the blackberries had been brought to this country from Armenia, wherever that was, for their fruit. They had become an invasive weed and taken over.
Onyx’s hard scales broke ground for them. The dragon’s chest tore through the blackberries without a thought and the bulk of its body made a wide enough trail for even the carts. Its dragging tail creating a rut which made it easy for Cady to wheel her bike through. Onyx was following a path already used by feral goats, coyotes, wild dogs and who knows what else. Cady had seen an occasional herd of deer by Greenlake, but they were far and few between. Hunted relentlessly for their meat by those with no care or thought about anyone’s future food source.
The day grew hotter and hotter. Sweat rolled down her face and body. She covered Monster’s carrier with a cloth, hoping to keep the hot sun off. They stopped for a time beneath some large trees. To rest and eat. Those carrying children, or herding them, really needed the rest.
Cady let Monster out of his carrier, giving him some water in the palm of her hand, which he drank happily. He wandered as far as the leash would let him, looking warily at two boys who chased each other around. Then sat next to Cady, eating pieces of dried goat meat which she gave him. She chewed on the dried meat, too. Ate a carrot from her garden. The crunchy carrot tasted sweet and strong, with an earthy flavor. The goat meat, well drying was the only way to preserve it. It had been better fresh. But it was food.
Their party spread out for quite a length, with all the people and animals. Sheep, llamas, goats, a few horses which were mostly being ridden. Dogs running back and forth, most of them helping herd the other animals. Chickens and other birds were caged and riding in small carts being pulled by heavy horses who were led.
Sarah and Beth’s kids had brought along some kittens, in small carts they took turns pulling. The mother had been feral and wouldn’t have anything to do with people. But they’d gotten the kittens after weaning, but early enough to be able to make friends with them. The kittens were in pet boxes, stuck in the boxes until the destination was reached.
After the rest, the villagers moved onwards. Several people at the tail end of the train were fluffing up the broken and battered foliage, trying to obliterate the trail of their passage.
Cady didn’t see how that was going to work, but she hoped things would grow back to normal before anyone came looking for the village. If anyone did, which was unlikely.
The smell was different now, dusty. They’d passed from the trees onto a wide plain. Dried grasses and weeds. There was no water here and it was blindingly hot.
They crested a hill and on the other side saw a valley of crumbled, burnt ruins, filled with more dried grasses and weeds, plus a few green bushes. Several charred trees stood sentinel, the tallest structures. A fire had swept through, perhaps last year. Now nature was reclaiming it.
The short plants would grow first, followed by bushes. Then trees would move in and it would become forest, until the cycle began again. Might take hundreds of years, she’d read. Or, in the case of calamity like fire or quake, might happen any time. Her books and observation had taught Cady marvelous things.
Halfway up the hill across the valley, the forest began again. That was the where the fire had burned out. Mostly deciduous trees. She could spot the alder with its grayish bark and big leaf maple. A few evergreen madronas near the edge of the fire line, identifiable by their reddish, peeling bark and open structure.
Gia said, “We go over that ridge and down there is our lake, I think.”
The sun was setting off to their left. Sunlight had been waning for quite a while, but Cady hadn’t noticed. The heat hadn’t gone down though.
“Do we stop, or keep going until we make it?” Gia asked.
Mazzy said, “I don’t like stopping in such an open spot.”
Sam wiped his face with his hands and said, “I’m exhausted. So are all the kids. But it’ll be cooler to travel by night. If we can just rest a bit and eat. Then we can go on.”
Cady was exhausted too. She hadn’t walked so much in years. And her still healing thigh throbbed with pain. She let Monster out of his box, then plopped down onto the ground, but not before grabbing a water bottle and food.
He was so hot, he panted. She gave him more water then wiped her hands on his head, wetting his fur. Maybe it would cool him somewhat. The water was still cold in her bottles. They were heavy and insulated and she felt the cool water slide down her throat. She was grateful for the moisture.
Onyx took off flying. Probably to look ahead, or possibly to stretch. The dragon’s dark wings were silhouette
d against the deep blue of the sky.
Cady ate and fed Monster. Then she must have dozed off. She was woken by activity as everyone around her got up and packed their belongings again.
Monster was gazing intently at a small lizard that scuttled past. He leapt and caught it, seemingly knowing exactly where the leash ended. Then ate it.
Cady stood, putting the food and water away. She interrupted Monster’s post meal bath to put him back in the box. She removed the cloth from on top of it. The air would flow better and hopefully everything would cool now that the sun was down.
Onyx returned with the moonrise, luckily it was full and would light their way for a time. Sam walked beside him now. They picked their way down into the valley and across it. The roads were sometimes usable for a short way. Buckled by the quake, obscured by fallen trees or even buildings in other places. It took a long time to make their way through the rubble. Clearing the road sometimes meant four men taking axes to the trees trunks. Which took awhile. Onyx helped, lifting away as much as the dragon could fly away with.
The moon passed to its highest point as they began to climb upwards again. Cady figured they must be getting closer. The group was quiet now. Not enough energy to talk. The children mostly asleep. Those that were awake seemed cranky, but mostly quiet.
They group paused just after they made it inside the forest. To rest a bit. They still had to reach the top of the ridge, but everyone needed a break.
Sharine came past and asked, “How’s your leg? I noticed you were limping.”
“It hurts.”
“Here’s some salve you can rub on it,” she said, handing Cady a tin. “It might help the pain some. Use it now and then when we stop for good.” Sharine moved on to check on someone else. Did the woman never rest?
There was no privacy here, but everyone was minding their own. Cady dropped her pants, rubbed the salve on her thigh and pulled them back up.
Monster meowed plaintively.
“Yes, yes, I’ll let you out.”
She did and gave him more water after he’d dug a hole, done his business and covered it. Cady ate more carrots. And a piece of goat cheese which she shared with Monster.
“We’re getting closer. Soon, we’ll be in our new home. With whatever that brings.”
He purred and sat on her lap, watching the other villagers intently.
Then it was time for one last push. Onyx said their new village was over the hill and down towards the lake. The dragon hadn’t landed down there. Hadn’t wanted to alarm those who’d gone ahead and didn’t know about the dragon. But Onyx had seen and smelled a fire and humans.
Cady’s leg felt a bit better as they continued on up the hill. It wasn’t a thick forest, so Onyx and Sam were able to find a path wide enough, removing bushes and saplings as they went. It was slow going though.
The smell was refreshing after the dust of the fire-burned valley and the air was cooler among all the trees. As they crested the hill, more evergreen trees sprung up around them. Tall Douglas firs and Hemlocks with their soft needles. In a clearing, a clump of huckleberries was found and people stopped, to pick and eat the sweet, dark berries.
They began going downhill, although there was no view. The forest was thick here. It was rough moving between the tall bushes. And the foliage let little moonlight in. There were a couple of flashlights in the group, but people were saving them for emergencies. Onyx could see and everyone else closely followed whoever was in front of them. The only sound was the snapping of branches as people and horses stepped on them. The other animals had smaller hooves and made less noise.
The hill became steep enough that Sam and Onyx made a trail that cut across the hill gradually going down, then walked back the other direction still going downhill. They did this twice. It made the trip longer, but Cady didn’t feel like she’d lose control of her bike. The bike felt very heavy. Her legs and arms were becoming shaky. They’d been going for hours upon hours. She couldn’t imagine what those with heavy carts were going through.
Then the ground leveled off and they came out of the forest. There were still a few trees, but the land was more open with bushes and grasses. Cady could see the lake and smell the moisture. Down below, near the shore, she saw a cluster of houses, not quite on the shore. Up from it a ways. Enough to account for any spring flooding of the lake.
There was no one about. The moon was close to setting over the far horizon and the sun wasn’t up yet. A streak of moonlight grazed the calm surface of the lake, making it look like paradise.
Sam said, “This is our new home. They’ve built a lot since we found the place.”
A slight breeze blew past and Cady could feel the sweat on her body. The lake looked like a good place for a swim.
Sam said, “There’s a creek that runs down that hill, just on the other side of the village. It’s fresh and clean. That’s where we’ll get our water until a well is dug.” He pointed to the far side of the houses.
They crossed over to a large fenced area and Sam told the herders to put all their animals in. The fencing had been scheduled as the first project. A stout wooden fence, with wire to keep the goats in, when they weren’t grazing elsewhere.
Cady watched as the goats, sheep and llamas filed in. Happy to be allowed to just rest and eat fresh grass.
There were full troughs, the water shining in the moonlight. Cady could see a pipe emptying into the first trough, which overflowed into the second and so on. Fresh water poured through the troughs and then another pipe came out of the lowest trough leading down towards an area near the edge of the lake, filled with cattails and iris.
The sun began to peek over the hillside to the east, casting long shadows from the tall wide trees. Cady didn’t recognize what kind they were.
By the time all the animals were all inside the fence, and the horses unsaddled, Bao and Will had appeared, wary at the sight of the dragon.
Onyx had lain down and curled up like a cat. Pretending to sleep, although Cady saw the dragon had one eye open. Just in case the new humans needed watching.
Mazzy and Gia were explaining the dragon situation to the two men who looked unconvinced. It wasn’t long before Tank, Joaquin, Ryan, Brady and Mateo came out of the houses. Joaquin ran to his family, as did Brady and Mateo. The others talked to their friends, while looking warily at Onyx, who had closed its eyes and was asleep.
The sun was up now. Chickens and other birds was been released from their cages, been fed dried corn and seeds. They began scavenging for bugs.
Tank found Cady and said, “I’ll take you to your house if you want.”
“I have my own house?”
“Yes. We built it a bit apart from the others. Knew you liked your privacy.”
“I’d love to see it. I don’t know if I can stand for much longer.”
“Take my arm then.” He took the handlebars of her bike and wheeled it off, as she took his arm. She leaned a lot of her weight on him. Good thing he was such a big man.
On the way to her house, Tank pointed out the outhouse they’d dug.
“That’s the closest one to your house.”
She stopped to make use of it.
Her house was across the stream, over a large wooden bridge and in a forested area. Down below that was a meadow where she could plant her garden.
The little house was made of newly cut logs and smelled like fir. It was a welcoming, grounding scent. Several large windows let in the light. There were little hooks on each side to hang cloth over the windows. It had a metal door with a screen in it to keep insects out and a wooden door that closed over that, both from the old times. She’d never seen such a thing.
It was a bit larger than her old house. The men had salvaged an old wood stove and it sat on a brick area in the center of the room. There was a pile of already chopped wood nearby. The men had also made her a table, two chairs and a platform for a bed. There was a counter against one wall with a metal sink in it.
“The drain go
es to a pipe that takes it out to the forest. So you can fill the sink with hot water to wash things, then pull up this plug and the soapy water goes out to water some bushes. You can even move the end of the pipe if you think it’s too much for the bushes.”
“Amazing,” she said.
There was a cat flap in the wall up near one of the windows that led to a shelf on the wall. On the outside was also a wood shelf.
“Hopefully, that way raccoons or other critters won’t find it easily, but the cat will. Oh, and beneath the house, you access it from the outside, is a root cellar. We’re all going to need them.”
“This is wonderful. Thank you so much. I didn’t expect anything like this.”
“We appreciate everything you’ve done for us. Going back into the Zoo was a brave thing. We’ll make sure you’re taken care of.”
“Well, thank you. I think I’ll get some rest.”
“Do you need any help unpacking?” he asked.
“No. I’ll just let Monster out. The rest can wait.”
Tank nodded and left.
Cady wheeled her bike inside the house and closed the metal door, then noticed that it locked from the inside. So she locked it, smiling. She’d never had a door that locked before. The breeze flowing in through the screen was welcome. She got the pet carrier and set it on the floor, letting Monster out. Then took off the harness and leash.
He prowled around for a bit, meowing. She gave him fresh cool water and some dried goat meat, then drank a sip of the still cold water. It tasted clean and refreshing. She hoped the water around here was as good.
Monster ate and drank, but kept moving around. Restless. She put his blanket up on the shelf and put him up there, showing him the cat flap. And he was gone, out exploring.
Cady unrolled her blankets on the bed platform and set down her pillow. She took off her boots and socks. The wood floor felt cool and smooth beneath her feet. Someone had done a good job sanding it. Sunlight shone in through two of the windows and she found cloth to hang over the hooks to cut the light a bit. Not that she couldn’t sleep in daylight.