The Road Sharks

by Clint Hollingsworth

  She continued to look at him.

  “Oh. Well… I suppose I probably shouldn’t leave my post anyway….” He said, disappointment in his voice.

  “I’ll see you when your shift is done Kenji.” She patted him on the shoulder. “Or sooner, if they kick me out again.”

  “They won’t do that!”

  Ghost Wind grinned and continued up the path to Yama No Matsu. Then she stopped, went back and kissed him on the cheek. Kenji blushed.

  As she came to the main “street,” she realized everyone was looking at her. Ghost Wind halted for a moment, ready to turn and bolt for the nearby forest, when she saw that many of them were smiling. Many walked up to her, saying variations of “welcome” and she soon found herself overwhelmed by names, handshakes and attempted conversations about the village. She was surrounded by more people than she had seen in many a year.

  “People, people!” Eli pushed through the crowd. “She’s new, she’s a forest elf, not a schmoozer. Let’s give her a little time to adjust and get used to us before we rush her en mass.”

  “Sorry ‘bout that.” Eli led her away from the group. “Everyone has heard about your part in subduing the Sharks and they’re stoked to meet you.”

  “I…” she said dazed, “I just did what needed to be done. There’s no need to treat me like some sort of hero.”

  “So said by the most heroic, usually.” Eli smiled that big smile at her. “I want to show you your new digs. Kita’s going to meet us there.”

  “Digs?”

  “We had just built a new cabin for the Sheffields. It’s kinda small but it has a stove and some solar.” Eli grew quiet for a moment. “The Sheffields are moving into Mort’s cabin. It’s larger, and Mort was a bachelor with no kin. So, we have a cabin ready for you, and as a bonus, it backs up to the forest.”

  When they reached the cabin, she saw it was small, around six hundred square feet, but for someone who had never had a house of their own, it was a palace. It was new log construction with a slightly rusty aluminum roof and covered front porch. On the porch sat a rustic newly-made wooden bench, built with an angled backrest. A steel bucket sat to one side.

  “That bucket is for hauling water,” Eli told her. “We need to scrounge some more Ultraflex pipe before we can get something running from the creek system we’re using. Sorry ‘bout that.”

  “I don’t mind. I don’t mind at all. It’s… wonderful!”

  “Good. I felt a little bad we hadn’t gotten that done for you. Lack of materials…” Eli opened the cabin’s rough-hewn plank door for her.

  There was furniture inside, obviously handmade also. The bed was wooden framed with a grid work of leather straps taking the place of a mattress. There was a table and two chairs that looked to have been Beforetime products and a squat wood stove sat on bricks in one corner. Next to a slightly worse for wear loveseat, she saw the wonder of wonders, a handmade bookshelf. It was almost half full of books.

  “The books,” Eli said, noting the stars in her eyes as she looked at it, “were donated by the townsfolk. I told them about your taking the books from the farmhouse, and they stepped up to the plate and helped start your library.”

  “It’s great!”

  “Now, if you go scoutin’ around and find some books, you can bring ‘em back, if they’re in decent condition,” Eli said. She smiled at him. It was all too wonderful to take in. Nothing could spoil this moment.

  A knock came at the door. It was Kita.

  “I see you have finally come,” The older woman said formally. “Do you find your accommodations to be satisfactory?”

  “I do.” Ghost Wind adopted the same formality. “It is a very nice place to live. I thank you.”

  “I want to say this to you. You are officially a member of this township. We welcome you and you will want to read our laws in the common cabin. Everyone here contributes and as elected leader of these people, I am informing you that we have a job for you. Actually more than one.”

  “I see,” Ghost Wind said, envisioning all sorts of demeaning “break in the new girl” jobs. Whatever came, she was willing to do her best, no matter how irritating. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Other than Eli, we have no scouts. We didn’t know how much we needed them. Being one is your first job. Your second job will be to train apprentices in your arts, both those of the scout and the empty hand fighting.”

  “But,” Ghost Wind said, almost stuttering, “I’m a mere scout, and I’ve only been one a couple of years. Normally, apprentices are trained by Master Scouts in the Clan of the Hawk. It would be presumptuous—”

  “I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Eli said dryly, “but this ain’t the Clan of the Hawk and around here, you’re the best there is. So, Kita, shall we promote her, on our vested authority, to the rank of Master Scout?”

  “Done and done’” Kita replied. “Besides, we need to have SOMEONE who will train the next generation following. Certainly the only other person here who might be considered a scout hasn’t seemed to have much interest in that.”

  “Now, Kita,” Eli said, “You know I’m trying to cover a huge area and…”

  In a most formal manner, Kita slowly turned her head towards him and stuck her tongue out. Ghost Wind did her best to hide a smile.

  “So, Master Scout, do you accept your position?” Kita asked.

  “I will do this job to the best of my ability. I so swear. But who do you have in mind to study my arts?”

  “Certain young people who have been impressed with you. Kenji, Tara, and Arianna. Roger would also like to train with you. For some reason they’re fascinated by you and what you do. Take that and mold them into the warriors they can become, for the good of this village.”

  “I will, but it won’t be easy for them.”

  “I should hope not,” Kita said. “Now, when you get settled in, come see me. I have a wood-heated hot tub that might help ease some of those aches and pains of yours. I would also like to take a look at some of those injuries to make sure none become permanent.” Kita’s tone made it clear this was not a request.

  “Yes, Kita.” Ghost Wind inclined her head. She was smart enough to pick her battles and the thought of a tub of hot water was actually a very enticing one.

  “Good. Come then, Eli, let’s give our Master Scout a little time to get settled in to her new home. Eli? Are you coming?”

  Eli looked like he didn’t really want to leave, Ghost Wind noticed, but he turned and moved through the front door. As he and Kita walked away, the newly minted Master Scout couldn’t help but notice how narrow his hips were, and how incredibly broad his shoulders were. She shook herself.

  “Enough of that kind of thinking, girl,” she said to herself.

  “Ghost Wind!” Eli’s bass rumble actually made her tingle. “I’ll see you later, OK?”

  She gave a big smile and said, “In a village this size, Eli, I don’t see how you can avoid it.”

  He smiled and they walked on. Ghost Wind was alone in her own home, and realized she still carried her pack and rifle. She set them down and pulled Go-Go Bear from the blanket roll, setting him on a shelf above the bed.

  “We have… a home, Go-Go! I… thought…” She couldn’t finish the sentence.

  She went out to the porch and sat on the bench. She gazed at a stand of quaking aspen down the hill from her cabin.

  Home. I have a home. I have people who care whether I live or die. I really thought I would die alone, unloved, unmourned. Tears started from her eyes.

  As if to interrupt this good moment, she felt that old sense of someone seeking her and remembered what Jannelle had said about the Clan of the Hawk, and their unfinished business. Her eyes narrowed.

  “Come then, whoever you are. You will find Ghost Wind ready for you. Knowing you are out there will keep me sharp.”

  As she moved back to unpack her meager belongings, she thought to herself, I have a place to stand, a future and friends to defend. And
I WILL defend them.

  She looked out over the world she had come from, smiled, and went inside.

  End.

  Acknowledgements

  If this is the first time that you’ve been exposed to the post-apocalyptic world of The AfterTime, you many not know Ghost Wind’s origins. She was a secondary character in my long running (15 years to date!) online webcomic, The Wandering Ones ( wanderingones.com). Ghost Wind is the sister of the main character of that comic, Ravenwing, and in that comic, they have some big differences with each other. (but that’s ten years into Ghost Wind’s future)

  Note: If you liked this book you’ll probably like the Wandering Ones, (and it’s free to read) but you might want to pack a lunch. I mean... fifteen years...

  I can safely say, without the kindness and support of my Wandering Ones fans, not only would this book not exist, but I might well have given up on my creative endeavors some years ago.

  So, let’s raise a glass to all those fans, past and present!

  I’d also like to thank the people who in one way or another helped me with this book.

  My wife and fellow author Suzette (Suzie) Hollingsworth, who encouraged, badgered, cajoled and quite aggressively beta-read for me.

  Daniela Morescalchi for much needed encouragement when I was needing help. J.S. Brady for looking at the raw book and giving me much needed early feedback. Richard Van Fossen and Michael Kay for helping me not make a complete idiot of myself when it comes to rifles and C4. (Hint: Hollywood doesn’t always get it right, and should not be your sole source of information)

  Thanks also to my editors, Tina Winograd and Michele Carter for helping me not look like an uneducated ape. Ladies, you at least partially succeeded.

  Also by Clint Hollingsworth

  (See more at my Amazon Author Page or my Facebook page)

  Novels

  The Sage Wind Blows Cold

  Bagging a killer should have been the end of it, but it was only the beginning.

  Young tracker Mackenzie Crow, working at his uncle’s bounty hunting business, is ambivalent when an old flame pleads for help. Mac’s conscience won’t allow him to say ‘no’ to finding a lost child in the woods.

  Mac, in his element, within a short time has found the child’s trail. He also finds something completely unexpected: a strange set of tracks following the girl. It’s clearly the day for unwanted surprises.

  Deep in the woods, desperately following the trail, Mac comes upon an SAR volunteer face down in the forest with an arrow in his back. Little does Mac know, this is just the beginning of his problems.

  Available from Amazon.com

  Author Bio

  Clint Hollingsworth has studied tracking under Tom Brown, Jr., consultant on “The Hunted”, and is a black belt in Goju Ryu karate.

  Having spent a good deal of his time in the woods growing up, Hollingsworth developed a certain sensitivity to the natural environment. In 1990, he became a student of Brown’s Tracker School, learning wilderness survival and tracking. This led the author to more advanced training from naturalist Jon Young in tracking and awareness, skills which have saved his life in the far back country.

  Hollingsworth holds a 4th degree black belt in Sho Rei Shobu Kan Okinawan Goju Ryu. He co-authored Wolves in Street Clothing, a non-fiction book on situational awareness, with judo and martial arts expert Kris Wilder, and is the author/artist/creator of the long running post-apocalyptic webcomic (and its attending books) The Wandering Ones at wanderingones.com with over 20,000 readers across the world.

  He lives in the beautiful Cascade Mountains in Washington state with his lovely wife Suzette, author of Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Sword Princess.

  You can find more about Clint at his website;

  clinthollingsworth.com