Pioneering on Jord

by Allan Joyal

  Pioneering On Jord

  By Allan Joyal

  Copyright 2015 Allan Joyal

  This book is dedicated to my fellow authors from the Swarm Cycle Universe. Their encouragement and support convinced me to open up and publish these wild tales.

  Chapter 1: All Aboard

  The whole group was stunned by what had just happened. My idea of taking the raft was immediately, if not enthusiastically embraced, and everyone started walking towards the riverbank. Corwar ran ahead and jumped onto the raft causing it to bob against the shore. It was a large raft, probably nine hundred square feet.

  The boy looked back at the rest of us. “It floats, but will it hold all the animals?”

  I glanced around at the flock we had gathered. With the new animals we had picked up in Crayolyn Falls, we now had nearly sixty animals. It was clear that we would not be able to fit them all on the one raft. I had turned back to the raft to announce this when Corwar pointed at something upriver. “I see another raft!”

  Everyone turned to look. This raft was almost the same size, although it appeared to be just a bit shorter. It was pulled up against the bank bobbing peacefully in the water. A rope tied around the last log in the raft was secured to a rock on the shore, preventing the raft from drifting away.

  “Ok, I said. Verval, Corwar, Yveney, and half our herds go on the smaller raft. Anyone know how to pole one of these things around?”

  “I can if we can find a pole,” Jeff said. “I belonged to the boy scouts and did a few canoe and raft camping trips.”

  “Now he tells us,” Heather said mockingly. “Ron, we should probably move some… You’re hurt!”

  I glanced down at my body. To my surprise, I could see several cuts in my left arm and an arrow that had caught the inside of my thigh. The shaft of the arrow had broken, but I could see the head at the back of my thigh.

  Aine screamed. “Oh god, Henck, Al, you’re bleeding too.”

  “Ron - Natalie and I will need to check everyone who is hurt,” Esme told me. “Can we keep the injured on one raft?”

  “Gertrilla, Gerit?” I asked as my body started registering pain from my wounds. “Can we get the carts and half of the flock on the larger raft and still have space for the rest of us?”

  “Put a few more animals on the smaller raft and unhook the mules and we can make it all fit,” Gerit said.

  “Let’s do it,” I said as I collapsed to the ground. Heather dashed over to put her arms around me.

  “Ron,” she cried. “We’ll take care of it. Rest and allow Esme to check your wounds.”

  I glanced up to find Verval kneeling next to me. “You have done all you could. You even got us out of that ambush. I’ll lead everyone in getting onto the rafts. Let’s get the carts on and we’ll carry the wounded aboard.”

  Heather pushed my shoulders back until I was sitting on the ground. With tender care she straightened my legs and looked at the arrow through my thigh. “I don’t know how to fix this,” she said.

  “Leave it for Esme,” I groaned. “Help load the rafts.”

  Heather looked hurt as she started to stand back up. I reached up with my right hand and grabbed her arm. “Heather, I love you. I’m sorry about how I’m acting, but I’m hurt and we do have to move.”

  The woman I now thought of as my wife leaned down and kissed my cheek. “I know,” she said lovingly. “Now allow Victoria and me to get everything done while you sit and rest. We only made it this far because of you.”

  “I love you,” I said. I looked at the rafts to see that Gerit had guided the horse pulling our old sled to the riverbank and was now carefully encouraging it to step onto the raft.

  The raft itself was nothing special. It looked like someone up at Crayolyn Falls or another point on the river had merely gathered a large number of logs and lashed them tightly together to make a large platform. There did appear to be some cross pieces under the platform, and Gerit found a long pole laying on the wood. He picked that up and summoned Mary.

  I was unable to hear the conversation, but Mary put the pole into the water on the far side of the raft and started pushing against it. The raft pivoted slightly and then slid against the shoreline.

  “Amalya, love, bring the first cart down once I have unhooked the horse. Um… boy... what’s your name?” Gerit said.

  “It’s Piemal,” the young boy who had joined us in Crayolyn Falls said.

  “Sorry, Piemal, can you hold the horse. Once I release it, guide it to the far side of the raft and try to keep it calm,” Gerit said.

  “Ron?” Aine called out from my left. “Who is this?”

  I struggled against fatigue and pain to turn to my left. When I finally managed to look I found that Aine, Shaylin, and Verval were looking down at a huddled figure wearing a dirty cloak.

  “I did free one slave from the string before we had to take on the group following us,” I said. “This must be the person I saved.”

  The figure nodded, but said nothing.

  “Well,” Aine said. “It appears that we are understood, but who is this?”

  “I know one way to find out!” Corwar shouted. He ran over to the figure and pulled the hood of the cloak back.

  A dozen throats opened up and gasped as the hood fell away and revealed an extraordinary face. I remembered the beauty of Elrolethlyn, the elf bard who had accepted Lisa as a fellow musician. This face was even more beautiful. The cheeks seemed to be a little higher, and the lines around the nose softer, but that only made it clear that we were looking at a woman. Unlike the fair skinned Elrol, this woman had dark grey skin and long white hair. Her blue eyes looked directly at me, fear dancing in them.

  I quickly glanced around to see that while Amalya and Lenoir had backed away no one was holding a weapon. I turned back to the dark elven woman and smiled. “You do understand us?”

  The woman nodded, but then reached back for her hood. Corwar clung to it keeping it from covering her face.

  “Wait,” I said. “Can you speak our language?” I asked.

  The woman nodded again and put her hands in her lap.

  Aine and Victoria started to giggle. I looked over at Victoria, and she was shaking her head. “I never thought I’d see another culture do that,” she said between giggles. “Ron, you have to ask her to speak. She answered your question.”

  I could see bafflement on Heather’s face as I looked back to the woman. “Would you please speak?”

  “I…don’t… know… what… to … say,” the woman said in a melodic voice that was sexy and serene at the same time.

  Lydia groaned. “Please tell me that she didn’t learn her speech at the William Shatner School of locution.”

  I laughed for a moment before the pain in my arm forced me to stop. “How about you start with telling us your name?” I asked.

  “In my crèche I was called, Cimbra,” the woman replied. “Now I have no name.”

  “Why not Cimbra?” I said. “That was the name you grew up with.”

  “My people… my friends…. Sold me to the slavers,” the woman said sadly. “I have no home.”

  “Oh no,” Heather said heatedly. “No one is homeless around me. That is not right, and I won’t stand for it. Ron, Lydia, we lost Steve, Gorm, and Jennifer today. I know that hurts, but I’ll leave if we don’t allow Cimbra to join.”

  Lydia started giggling. It soon became full-throated laughter as the rest of the group joined in. I watched Cimbra look around in confusion as everyone released the tension we had been feeling since the slavers first appeared. Finally, it calmed down enough for Hencktor to sit up and speak.

  “It’s decided,” he said. “Cimbra, on behalf of the merchant organization Daytona Trade, and at risk of sleeping alone fo
r a few nights, I’d like to welcome you to our merry band.”

  “Hey!” Lydia said. “You mean that you like her more than me?”

  “Nope,” Hencktor said firmly. “But you have to admit she is beautiful.”

  “Stop ogling her,” Lydia said. “I’m the one you are supposed to look at with lust in your eyes.”

  “And do you ever try to feed that lust,” Victoria murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.

  Once again, the older members of the group burst out laughing. I could see Amalya shaking her head and smirking at Gerit who was blushing at the banter. The young boy Piemal and the girl Dafalia looked completely confused by the laughter.

  Dafalia crept over and knelt to my right. “Why is everyone laughing at that?” she asked.

  “Mostly relief that we are still alive,” I said. “The fact that we barely escaped the slavers is hitting everyone hard. It also happens to be true. Lydia and Hencktor love each other and aren’t afraid to show that love.”

  Dafalia nodded. “I guess I get it. Should I help?”

  I was watching Gerit struggle to get a third cart up on the raft. The added weight had caused the wood to sink enough that the current was pulling the raft away from the shore. Mary was struggling to hold the raft in place. “Go and see if you can help steady the raft so the last carts can be loaded.”

  Dafalia ran off as Natalie walked over to me. She knelt down to look at my leg.

  “No Esme?” I asked.

  “Al is hurt worse than you are,” Natalie said. “It looks like he caught a knife with his left forearm. Esme is afraid it might have cut a ligament.”

  “That would be crippling,” I said with a groan as Natalie reached down grab the arrow that still protruded from my thigh.

  “She thinks it missed, but she can’t be sure. Al’s arm got broken by the blow, so she has to be extra careful as she splints it,” Natalie said. “Now you! The arrow went through clean, and it was far from any major blood vessels. The problem is that when I remove it, your pants will be in the way.”

  I sighed. “You want me to.”

  “No,” Natalie said firmly. “Heather! Get over here.”

  Heather trotted over. “I’m helping get the carts on the rafts,” she said. “What do you need?”

  “The arrow has to come out of Ron’s leg, and then I want to bandage the wound. I’d prefer to put the bandages on skin after I check to make sure no cloth got forced into Ron’s body,” Natalie said.

  Heather nodded. “Ah, so you want me to pull his pants down after you remove the arrow.”

  “Could you,” Natalie said. “I want it done quickly before the wound bleeds too much, and Ron will probably be in too much pain. First, hold his leg while I get the arrow out.”

  “Ooh, I get to hold Ron down!” Heather said with a giggle. She reached out and put both hands on my knee, holding my leg in place.

  Natalie watched and then reached under my leg to grasp the arrow just behind the head. With her free hand she started to push the remnants of the shaft through my body.

  I twitched, but Natalie shook her head. “Don’t move. Right now, I think I can get this out without doing more damage. Then we just have to make sure the arrow didn’t drag some threads from the pants into the wound.”

  “The pants are made of leather. I don’t think they have threads like that,” I said through the pain as the end of the shaft vanished from my sight.

  I leaned back to try to ignore the pain as Natalie gently coaxed the arrow through my body. She finally finished drawing it out. I felt a bit of a pull as it came free.

  “Now, let’s get the pants down quickly, before there is too much blood,” Natalie said.

  I felt hands at my waist working to loosen the drawstring that held my pants against my body. A moment later Natalie was holding up my hips as Heather pulled my pants down. The two girls giggled while they performed this action.

  “Now I know why my boyfriends liked trying to undress me,” Natalie said between giggles.

  “There isn’t much blood,” Heather said worriedly. “Is that good or bad?”

  “How are the pants? Is there anything missing?” Natalie asked. I felt hands around the wound and hissed as their manipulations added to my pain.

  “There is a gash in the front, but it’s small, and I can line up the two broken edges,” Heather said. “The tear at the back is longer, but I can still get the pieces to mesh without any visibly missing pieces.”

  I felt the fingers probe at the wound. I hissed as the intrusion induced more pain. “I don’t see any debris in the wound,” Natalie said. “Let me wash it with some ale, and then I’ll need you to hold the leg while I wrap the bandage around the leg. We won’t stitch it, because we want it to be able to drain.”

  I felt something wet falling on my leg. The wound filled with pain as the liquid was rubbed into my skin. Two more applications of the liquid were made before Natalie began winding some cloth over the area.

  “It looks good,” she told me. “You could probably walk miles, but let’s try to stay sitting so you don’t move too much and rip the bandage off.”

  “I have to be on the raft, and I’d like to be dressed,” I grumbled.

  Natalie giggled and patted me on the head. “Heather, take care of grumble guts here. I need to look at Lenoir again, one of those bola things clipped her shoulder and she has a huge bruise.”

  Natalie got up. I could hear her walking away as Heather put a hand on my shoulder and kissed me lovingly. “I love you too,” she whispered. “Now help me get your pants on, and then you can limp to the raft. Natalie is already limping toward it.”

  “Natalie got hurt?” I asked.

  “She tripped on a rock, and when she fell, she got several cuts on her right calf,” Heather said as she moved down and started pulling my pants back up. I arched my back to get my hips up and reached down to pull the pants up to my waist. There was a bit of a struggle to make sure the pants slid under the dwarven vest I wore, but I got it settled and tied the drawstring.

  Heather stood up and then reached for my left hand to pull me to my feet. When I was standing she put both arms around my waist and held me tight. “Don’t leave me,” she said. “Protect me forever.” Her voice was very soft and childlike.

  “I will die to keep my wife healthy, happy, and free,” I said firmly. “And our children once we have them.”

  Heather waited a moment and then used a hand to hit me on the butt, causing me to jump. “Let’s go,” she said. “The others are starting to board the rafts.”

  I turned around to look at the rafts. There were still a few people on shore, but the animals and the carts were now all neatly arrayed on the rafts. Taking Heather’s hand, I walked toward the large raft as Jeff used a pole to push the smaller one into the current and away from the shore.

  Esme and Victoria met me as I stepped onto the raft. Both appeared ready to speak, but Victoria stepped back to allow Esme to speak first.

  “Al’s arm is broken as Natalie told you,” Esme began. “It now looks like the knife missed anything vital, but the cut is deep, and Al won’t use the arm for a few weeks. Hencktor has at least one broken rib, maybe two. I’ve told Lydia to keep him inactive for the next few days while it heals.”

  “No bandage?” Heather asked.

  “My nursing school said there was a lot of discussion about that. They used to strap broken ribs down tight to keep them from moving, but now medical science just says treat the pain and allow the body to heal. So we can’t do much, other than keep Hencktor from lifting anything heavy,” Esme said

  “Lydia won’t like that,” I said quietly.

  “No I don’t,” Lydia called out from the far side of the raft. “But I love my Henck and will do what I can to help him heal.”

  I nodded. “The other men?” I asked.

  “Verval has some bruises, but nothing severe. Gerit was with the carts as was the boy Piemal. Corwar twisted his ankle climbing some rocks, but
it looks like he managed to walk it out,” Esme said. “We do have a few injuries among the women.”

  “Heather said Natalie tripped and received some cuts from rocks,” I said.

  “Yes,” Esme confirmed. “Lenoir has a bruised shoulder from a bola. And Shaylin took a rock to the cheek.”

  “I’m sorry,” Gertrilla blurted out. “Lenoir made it look so easy that I had to try.”

  I shook my head. “And the rock slipped out. Lenoir, when you have time, I think our two shepherdesses need some lessons in using a sling.”

  “We’ll have to do that on land,” Lenoir said. “So what is the plan now?”

  Gerit had claimed the pole from Mary and pushed the raft out into the current. We floated next to the smaller raft, caught by the current. I pointed downstream.

  “This river leads to Saraloncto, and it looks like we’re moving faster than we were walking. I say we ride to Saraloncto and then camp until the winter is over,” I said.

  Chapter 2: The Long Ride.

  The final level of tension seemed to fade away after my announcement. Gertrilla was sitting on the raft next to Shaylin. The two friends were talking quietly. I could see Gertrilla touching the large black bruise on her friend’s cheek and shook my head.

  “Something wrong?” Lenoir asked as she could see where I was looking.

  “No,” I said. “I am a bit disappointed by the number of people hurt, but we should have a bit of time to heal once we get to Saraloncto.”

  “There could be problems there,” Lenoir pointed out.

  “That’s always true,” I said. “But I’m willing to arrive there with a positive attitude. If all the information we have is correct, it’s the major trading hub for a large section of the plains. That usually means there is a good legal system in place, and they tolerate visitors as long as they have money.”

  “We don’t look like we have money,” Mary pointed out. She was wearing a blouse that had been in Sharice’s pack before she died. “Our clothing is all worn, and a lot of it is torn.”

  “And we have sheep to be shorn in the bright and early morn,” Aine caroled back. Everyone on both rafts turned to look at her. The young Irish girl smirked and pointed at Mary. “She started it!”