Displaced

by Drake,Stephen

  “Okay, I have a new job for both of you,” Murdock said as he positioned the women in the center of the cart. “I want both of you to scan the horizon for possible threats. Since the ground is mostly flat, you should be able to see for quite a distance.” As he picked up the cart, both women squealed a little.

  Murdock started off at a quick walk, then accelerated to a long, loping stride. Mei Lee’s and Rose’s hair flew back in the wind from the speed. When both women tried to communicate with Murdock telepathically, they failed for the first time. Rose saw the trees in front of them quickly getting bigger as she felt Murdock slowing. After they reached the stream, Murdock stopped on the path and let the cart down easily. As she got off the cart, Rose handed Murdock the water skin.

  “I haven’t felt that for a very long time,” Mei Lee said as she looked around. “I had an older brother who used to ride a very old motorcycle. He used to take me on short trips. That felt like thirty-five or forty miles per hour.”

  “We were trying to talk to you,” Rose said. “Why didn’t you answer?”

  “I needed all my concentration to not hit something and dump the cart,” Murdock said after taking a drink and looking up and down the well-worn path, seeing no one. “Let’s get off the path,” Murdock said as he picked up the cart, levitated it across the stream, setting it down under the trees.

  He turned in time to see Rose and Mei Lee float in.

  “We don’t have too far to go. Can you make it?” Murdock asked Rose.

  “As long as we go at a normal pace,” Rose said. Mei Lee agreed.

  Murdock, Rose, and Mei Lee continued upstream keeping in the cover of the trees. While they were walking, Murdock contacted Beron to find out where the concealed entrance was located. He got a picture of a strangely gnarled and tortured pine tree growing close to the mountain. He had gotten the feeling that it wasn’t too much further ahead. Murdock sent the images to Rose and Mei Lee and they spread out to try to locate the actual place from the image. It did take a little while, but Rose finally found the same gnarled pine tree.

  Murdock felt around the wall searching for an entrance but finding none. As he stepped back to see the bigger picture, he saw the entrance. It appeared to be about thirty or forty feet off the ground and was buried behind tree limbs from the gnarled pine tree.

  “Did you find the entrance?” Mei Lee asked.

  “Yes, I did,” Murdock said, pointing up. Rose and Mei Lee looked up the side of the mountain and saw the opening.

  “How are we supposed to get up there?” Mei Lee asked.

  She had no more gotten the words out than she started floating up to the opening. Taken by surprise, her breathing was labored as she was lifted and deposited gently inside the cramped entrance. Rose followed, but without surprise, and Murdock floated in last.

  “Which one of you did that?” Mei Lee asked, still panicked.

  “It wasn’t me,” Murdock said as he motioned for the women to move forward out of the cramped passage.

  “Me either,” Rose said as she moved farther into the cramped passage.

  As they entered the room at the end of the passage, Murdock recognized it immediately and grinned. He moved quickly past the women, who hung back because their eyes hadn’t adjusted yet to the very dim light. After Rose’s eyes became accustomed to the very low lighting, she smiled and took Mei Lee’s hand. Then both followed Murdock with Rose pulling Mei Lee along. After winding around the entrance, the women entered the chamber. Rose let go of Mei Lee’s hand and ran over to Murdock. Mei Lee could see her excitement. As Mei Lee watched, Rose jumped into Murdock’s arms, and he spun her around.

  “Nothing has changed,” she said to Murdock.

  “Yes, it’s just as we left it,” Murdock said to Rose, nodding.

  #

  Mei Lee stood off to the side, unsure what to say or do. She looked around the huge cave, noticing some of the features. This is the cave Murdock used when he helped Beron’s mate, she thought. This cave would always hold a special significance for Rose and Murdock. As she looked around the cave, Beron showed himself. She was sure he didn’t walk in; it was as if he was there, but they had failed to see him.

  #

  Almost immediately, Murdock and Beron entered the sharing state. Rose and Mei Lee assumed they were excluded because Beron wanted to speak only to Murdock. Then, as Rose looked past Mei Lee, she saw Beron’s mate.

  “We’ve been invited to a female sharing,” Rose told Mei Lee, indicating with her gaze the other bear-creature in the cave. “Are you game?”

  “I don’t want to intrude,” Mei Lee said, as if apologizing. “I’m the new person in the group. You already have a history.”

  “Oh, pooh,” Rose exclaimed. “Get over here and join us!”

  Mei Lee went to Rose’s side, lay in the warm sand, and entered the sharing state.

  While in the trance-like state, Murdock was shown, thru images, or told outright that winter would be upon them soon and the Oomah would be in the long sleep and couldn’t be disturbed by humans; they could be awakened, if it was dire, by the white bear, if they could find him and get his co-operation. Murdock didn’t think that was going to be possible. He was also given instruction on developing more of his mental powers during the winter. He was informed of the recent developments at the encampment.

  “More death/sorrow from there,” Beron told him.

  “I haven’t yet come to a permanent solution,” Murdock responded.

  “Better sooner,” Beron said.

  Murdock felt that Beron had some minor disappointment in his and Rose’s decision to move out of the cave, but he had agreed that Murdock had to be allowed to make his own decisions. Murdock did ask if it was possible for either he or the women to initiate a sharing state between them and how to go about it. Beron showed him how to do that and strongly urged him and his mates to develop their skills to their maximum as quickly as possible; the more they learned the less vulnerable they would be.

  While in their own sharing state, Rose and Beron’s mate were getting to know Mei Lee. Rose thought of Beron’s mate as Bridget and, once she explained the meaning was exalted one, she was pleased, and, in a good-natured way, accepted the name and said the two women could refer to her as Bridget.

  Rose and Mei Lee got to see Murdock and Rose caring for Bridget from the bear-creature’s perspective. Both women saw and felt what the humans’ help meant to Bridget and then what it meant to Beron, as Beron relayed it to Bridget at the time.

  Bridget and Mei Lee saw when and how Rose met Murdock and all that had passed before her rape.

  Rose and Mei Lee saw what happened after the rape. Rose assumed that Beron and Murdock had shown her the information in previous sharing sessions.

  Rose and Bridget saw all that had happened between Collier and Mei Lee, between Mei Lee and Whittier and his henchmen, and between Mei Lee and the rest of the people in the encampment.

  Rose, Mei Lee, and Bridget decided to keep their sharing private between them. They had decided that the males didn’t need to know what the females had discussed, or that they had discussed anything.

  Rose, Mei Lee, and Bridget ended their sharing session just before Murdock and Beron ended theirs. After getting some water, as well as splashing some on his face, Murdock made a small fire in the fire ring. After Murdock had levitated all the items into the entrance, Rose and Mei Lee moved their gear into the cave. Then Murdock gathered more wood for the fire. When the cart was unloaded and the wood gathered, Murdock hid the cart skillfully not far from the entrance. At some point during their preparations, Beron and Bridget had left as quietly as they had arrived.

  “I sure do miss our tub at home,” Mei Lee said as they ate.

  “There’s no need to miss it,” Rose said, grinning. She indicated the general direction of the different pools. “There’s one right over there. And if you feel like a cold dip, there’s a pool for that, too.”

  “I’d like a hot soak, personally,”
Mei Lee said. “Anyone else care to join me?”

  Rose looked at Murdock with a questioning look.

  “Go ahead, if you want to,” Murdock told his wife. “I have some things to think about.”

  “You can’t think in the tub?” Rose asked incredulously.

  “Frankly, no,” Murdock said. “You two being wet and naked is too distracting.”

  Rose kissed his cheek softly. “You say the sweetest things!” she said coyly as she followed Mei Lee to the tub.

  While the women splashed in the tub, Murdock thought about the encampment. I know I should’ve taken care of the Whittier issue rather than leaving with the tools, he thought. All I wanted to do was to protect Rose and Mei Lee, especially given their condition. I didn’t want them to be used as leverage against me and I knew that Whittier would stop at nothing to hurt me as badly as possible and would do or say anything to further that agenda. This caused great turmoil in him. Do I tell Mei Lee and Rose that I need to bring justice to Whittier before anyone else is killed? The spear being thrown had surprised me a little. I could have grabbed it out of the air if my hands weren’t full. If my new found mental powers had been more developed, I probably could have stopped it before Jameson was killed. Mei Lee knew the people at the encampment better than he did. To him, they all deserved what happened to them for falling for Whittier’s lies again, but Mei Lee may not feel the same way about them. He was still trying to sort through his thoughts when both women came over, naked and wet.

  “You really missed out,” Rose said to Murdock. “We could have acted out the first time we found this place. I was telling Mei Lee about it, and after she finished laughing, she said she would have loved to see you fall in!”

  “It wasn’t funny to me,” Murdock said. “I could’ve cracked my head on the rocks, and then where would you be?” he said facetiously.

  Rose was playfully pouting. “I would be knocked up and husbandless!”

  “I beg to differ,” Murdock said in a good-natured way. “You would not have been knocked up, as you say, and wouldn’t have a husband — at least not me.”

  “Oh, you beast,” Rose said with mock indignation. “See what I have to put up with, Mei Lee?” When the other woman didn’t answer, Rose turned to look at Mei Lee, who sat with her head down.

  Murdock heard Mei Lee crying quietly. “What’s wrong, Mei Lee?” Murdock asked in a gentle voice.

  Rose sat down and put her arm around Mei Lee. “You’re still missing him a lot, aren’t you?” Rose asked. Mei Lee nodded.

  “Anything we can do?” Murdock flashed to Rose.

  “I’m afraid there is something,” Rose flashed back, “but I don’t think you want to comfort a widow and all that would entail. I’m not sure I would want you to.”

  “So, what do we do?” Murdock flashed. “Her crying makes me feel guilty for what Collier did.”

  “It bothers me, too!” Rose flashed. “All I can think to do is just be there for her.”

  “I’m going for a little walk,” Murdock said in a soft tone. “I want to see the other entrance.” Rose nodded and continued to console Mei Lee.

  Murdock left the cave and proceeded up from the outer chamber. Soon he was in the original room in which he had nursed Rose and met Beron for the first time. Murdock remembered all the events since coming here that had such a great impact on him.

  He walked out of the cave and smelled the moisture in the air. It’ll rain soon. Dark hadn’t fallen yet, but would soon. Murdock looked down the path that ran along the side of the mountain. About ten feet from the entrance the path was missing. He couldn’t see around the bend of the mountain to see how much of the path was missing, though. Murdock laughed. I know Beron had removed the path to prevent anyone from coming up to this point, he thought. Beron doesn’t know how much that denial would be instrumental in someone sometime overcoming that minor obstacle.

  Murdock sat on the ground outside of the entrance, close to the edge. He looked over the valley stretched out before him, waiting for darkness to fall. Then, just as dark fell, Rose approached him.

  “Did you get her calmed down?” Murdock asked his wife quietly without turning around.

  “Some, yes,” Rose said just as quietly. “Mei Lee is very fragile right now. Her husband was killed and then she stepped into the responsibility of leadership for a group of selfish people. Did you know they dismissed her because she wasn’t there? Did you know that while she was there, no one talked to her, except for official business, or even acted friendly to her?”

  “No, I didn’t know,” Murdock murmured. “I did suspect, though. She was rather talkative when we visited.”

  Rose sat next to Murdock; letting her feet dangle over the edge. Murdock slid over toward her and put his arm around her shoulders. Rose rested her head on his shoulder. They sat quietly, looking over the valley, while the last of the light disappeared. Thunder rolled through the clouds, but it was still a mile or two away. They had both gotten up and were turning to head into the cave when they saw Mei Lee standing in the opening, leaning against the rock with her arms crossed.

  “Are you okay, Mei Lee?” Murdock asked.

  “No, I’m not okay,” Mei Lee said. “I don’t think I’ll be okay for many years, if ever.”

  “Is there something we can do?” Rose asked.

  “There is,” Mei Lee told the couple. “Promise me that my child will always have a place in your home and will be treated as an equal to yours. That would help some. It would remove some of the fear I’ve been feeling.”

  “I thought I’d made that clear a while ago,” Murdock said. “You’re a member of this family and so is your child.”

  “Maybe we weren’t clear what we meant,” Rose apologized. “We were serious about the family membership.” Mei Lee grinned a little.

  As Murdock and Rose entered the cave, Rose extended her arm, and Mei Lee tucked herself under her arm. The rain started outside just as they got inside. Then they stood just inside the entrance looking out at the rain and smelling the clean, damp air. After some time, they disentangled themselves and headed down to the room in which they had established their camp. There, Murdock went to the hot pool for a soak and to relax. Rose joined him, quietly slipping into the pool and sidling up to him. Murdock leaned his head back, arms on the sides of the pool. Rose rested her head on his shoulder. Quietly, Mei Lee slipped into the pool and rested her head on his other shoulder. Murdock held them both as close as he could.

  21

  Murdock, Rose, and Mei Lee stayed at the caves for a few more days before heading back to the cabin. None of them saw any more of the Oomah while they stayed in the cave. As they prepared to leave, Murdock checked to see whether anyone was observing them. After he was satisfied that no one saw them, the group left for their cabin.

  Back at the cabin, Murdock spent the remaining days before the first snow gathering more wood for arrows and flints for points. He did most of his gathering downstream from the cabin, so he could explore more of the land and monitor the river in case someone found a way to cross it. No one appeared to have crossed the river yet. He found plenty of flint close to the cabin, as well as elsewhere. On one of his trips, he followed a herd of deer as it crossed the river. The deer were calm and didn’t know he was trailing them. In order to finish filling the cabin larder, he took down one of the deer before it got completely into a sheltered meadow.

  As Murdock explored, Rose and Mei Lee gathered grass from the meadow downstream from the cabin. Murdock had ordered them not to go out of the cabin alone, especially without weapons. They stored the grass they had gathered in the loft. Rose, who had shown Mei Lee how to braid grass into rope, was intending to braid it into rope while Mei Lee intended to make hammocks for them. She thought that they might be more comfortable and take up less floor space, because when the hammocks were not in use they could be hung up higher off the floor, something that was impossible for a heavy, wooden bed.

  In the evenings, Murdock
worked on arrows. Rose worked on winter wear, and Mei Lee helped by braiding rope. Murdock and Rose were concerned about Mei Lee. At times, she couldn’t sleep and paced the cabin.

  “What’s wrong Mei?” Rose asked,

  “Nothing, really . . . I just feel like I should be doing something constructive. Some way to contribute more,” she said.

  No matter how hard Murdock and Rose tried to convince her otherwise, Mei Lee wouldn’t allow herself to relax. Soon they gave up on trying to convince her and just let her exhaust herself.

  The late fall weather turned out to be very rainy and foggy. Some days, the wind came up, and the cold, damp air cut through the clothes they had worn all summer. On those days, they threw another log on the fire and closed up the windows on the windward side. Rose argued that soon the shutters would be closed for months, so she wanted the fresh air for as long as possible.

  On colder days, Murdock astrally projected himself to the encampment. He couldn’t hear, but he could see. He disliked getting too close; that made him feel like a voyeur. Sometimes, Mei Lee joined him to give him a detailed account of the progress in the others’ winter preparations. Murdock monitored the encampment primarily to keep an eye on Whittier. Whittier was the only one with the will to keep coming after them, and he was charismatic enough to get others to follow him, some of them blindly.

  Murdock had moved as much of the smoked deer and fish into the storage under the cabin as he possibly could. When the smokehouse was full of smoked deer, he left it there for storage. They had more deer than fish, so Murdock intended for them to use the fish to break up the monotony of venison at every meal.

  Murdock routinely checked several places on the river bank to see if a colonist had crossed the river, as well as to monitor the river for freezing. With no idea how hard the freeze was going to be, he needed to know if it was hard enough to allow someone to cross without a bridge or boat. He was sure that the other humans who could harm them would not be able to get out in the weather for long periods of time. They would all be too cold to venture far from a fire.