by Saxon Andrew
“Women?”
“Yes, there are about a hundred and fifty in the first group and a hundred more in the second.”
Maxus stared at Enapay, “Where will we find the men to match them up with?”
Enapay stared at Maxus and after a moment said, “I have no idea. There are forty Outsiders that chose to fight with us.”
“That gives us about two hundred and fifty men including them. There will be close to four hundred women.”
Enapay smiled, “I’m glad this is not my problem. I’ll let greater minds than mine tackle that issue.”
Maxus sighed, “You’re probably right. I need to start drawing up what we need to do. You should go and get some water and food.”
A loud roar came out of the forest close to the entrance in the walls and Maxus blew his whistle. The roar immediately followed it and Maxus shook his head, “It looks like a stranger has entered our domain.”
Enapay nodded, “I’ll get Togawa to send out a hunting party.”
“Thanks.” Enapay started walking toward the cave and met five Samurai running out. Mitsu yelled as he ran by, “There’s a rogue Allosaurus.”
Enapay smiled, “He’s waiting for you just north of here.” The Samurai ran down the slope and Enapay was once again amazed at how the community was adapting to their new surroundings. He went inside and took a drink from the spring. He washed his face and saw Glory bringing him a meal. He smiled and, after he finished his meal, he no longer heard the Allosaurus. Yes, the community was really making progress.
• • •
Andy arrived at the community and was greeted by thirty archers. Andy had the ropes tied into slings and the archers began lowering the women to the ground. Andy rappelled to the ground and assisted the women out of the slings. They gathered to the side and in an hour, they were all on the ground. “If you will follow me,” Andy led them toward the cave entrance and he could see the women were worried about how they were going to be received. The watchers in the tower announced their arrival and the community came running out of the cave to welcome the new members. The women were amazed at the greeting but suddenly started screaming and running away.
Andy turned and saw Anna coming full speed toward him. He smiled and Anna skidded to a stop next to him and rubbed her head on his shoulder. He reached up and rubbed her lower jaw. Anna fell to the ground and rolled over. Andy went next to her neck and stroked her head. Anna started moaning and the women were shocked silent. Andy yelled, “It’s alright. She’s a pet.” The women were eventually coaxed to go by Anna to the cave. Many of them stopped and rubbed Anna. The large dinosaur loved it.
• • •
Linnae looked at the huge wooden container moving up the cliff wall. She shook her head at the ingenuity of the Romans. The large rock cut out of the cliff to balance the huge box was perfectly balanced with the loaded box. The pulleys were pulled from the ground and the container was at the top in less than ten minutes. She looked up at the top and saw the boxes being moved to one of the wagons. In forty minutes the container was emptied and the Romans at the base of the cliff pulled the second set of pulleys and lowered the box back to the ground in front of the cave’s entrance. Four weeks had passed since the victory over the Outsiders and the cave would soon be emptied of its contents. The women were in the cave working in three different groups. One was working on learning how to fire the bows; another was working with the Samurai on how to use the cutters effectively; the last was studying Latin. In two hours they would rotate. Some of the women were really getting good with the weapons. Arashi told her that a third of them were ready to take part in the defense of the community.
Linnae missed Andy. He had come to visit three times…it wasn’t enough. She stood and went inside to assist in the archery class. Arashi never ceased to amaze her with his accuracy with a bow; although he was insisting she was as good as he was. She sighed. After teaching archery classes for months, firing a bow became as natural as breathing. One thing she had worked on, and recently began to master, was pulling two arrows out of her quiver, firing one and then firing the other. Performing the task wasn’t that hard; firing both arrows accurately was the issue. Still, it was something that helped her pass the time.
She looked at the women and saw they were back in good health and their energy was incredible. They drove their instructors to the limit. All of them were determined to learn how to defend themselves; no one would ever enslave them again. She shook her head. There weren’t enough men. These vibrant women needed a mate. She thought about raiding another cave to the north to acquire them…but that wasn’t the right thing to do. She knew there was going to be a problem and coming up with a way to resolve it eluded her. Oh well, Andy and the other leaders could decide on what to do.
“Linnae.”
Linnae turned and saw Carrie standing behind her, “Yes.”
“Can you show me how you pull two arrows out of your quiver? I find that really fascinating.”
Linnae smiled, “You need to perfect pulling one before you work on two.”
Carrie smiled, “Arashi says he can’t teach me more about pulling one; I’m pretty good pulling one.”
Linnae stared at Carrie and said, “Show me.” Linnae led Carrie over to one of the targets and stood back. Carrie smiled at Linnae and nodded. Linnae found her smile infectious and she smiled as she said, “Go!” Carrie moved faster than Linnae could follow. She stopped firing and Linnae saw ten arrows in the center of the bull’s eye. Her smile disappeared and she stared at Carrie. Carrie said, “I guess I just have a natural affinity for this wonderful weapon.”
Linnae’s eyes narrowed and she said, “Come with me.” Linnae led Carrie out of the cave and jumped down to the ground. She looked at the tree line and saw a Raptor venture out close to the river. “Do you think you can hit it?”
Carrie looked at the Raptor; it was at least a hundred and twenty yards away. Linnae saw her look at the tops of the trees and then at the ropes hanging from the top of the cliff. She pulled an arrow and released it. Linnae looked at the distant Raptor and in a moment it collapsed. Carrie was shaking her head, “The wind was harder than I thought.”
“When have you been firing at long range?”
Carrie looked at Linnae and wondered if she was in trouble, “I do it on my own time.”
“How long have you been working on it?”
“About a week.”
Linnae shook her head, “Carrie, I couldn’t have made that shot.”
Carrie smiled, “Sure you could.” Linnae stared at her and then shook her head. Carrie looked at the struggling Raptor as a huge Allosaurus rushed out of the trees and collected it on the run.
Linnae smiled, “I’ll show you how to pull two arrows but I want you to start another archery class. That will allow more individual instruction and speed up the learning process for the others. I also want you to get Arashi to tell you who should instruct you on using the cutter as a sword.”
“I’m not as good with a sword.”
“No one is as good as the Samurai; however, I want you to see if you can match their skills.” Carrie nodded and walked back in the cave to find Arashi. Linnae watched the petite brown haired girl jog away. She was so tiny to be so dangerous. Linnae was twenty three and she knew Carrie was nineteen…she just looked so much younger. That ever present smile brightened the day for everyone that was around her. Linnae couldn’t stop herself from thinking that the community needed her to have children. If they had half the skills of their mother…Linnae could only shake her head.
• • •
Andy sat in the tower looking out over the forest and missed Linnae. He sighed and Togawa smiled, “She’ll be back soon.”
“Is it that obvious?”
“It is.” Togawa paused and said, “I’ve wanted to ask you something.”
Andy looked at Togawa, “What is that?”
“We’re not having any cold temperatures. Why is that?”
“
Do you remember what the air smelled like when you first went out of the cave?” Togawa nodded. Andy pointed across the plain at the distant volcano still spewing smoke, “There are many of those mountains here and they are putting out a chemical into the atmosphere that holds the sun’s heat. It’s going to be warm for a very long time.”
“I just missed the seasons; do you know what season we’re in?”
“No, I’m really not sure. My watch says it’s August…” Andy paused, “I keep forgetting you didn’t use the same calendar. It would be the third month in the hot season.” Togawa nodded. “However, I don’t have any idea what month I was dropped here.”
“The days are getting longer.”
Andy stared at Togawa, “How do you know that?”
“I follow the sun when it comes over the cliff. It’s moving north.”
Andy shook his head, “I’ll start timing the daylight hours. That should get us close to the proper date. I’m lucky I bought a watch that’s powered by daylight. When the day light and night time are equal we’ll know.”
“There’s three Allosaurus moving through the forest at the crossing.”
Andy looked north where the river was shallow enough for large dinosaurs to cross and saw the huge carnivores moving through the forest. Togawa began moving out of the tower, “I’ll handle these.”
“You might want to take some of the new women with you to show them how it’s done.”
Togawa nodded and headed toward the cave. Andy turned and looked toward the three giants and saw them turn and run away. He looked and saw a pack of Raptors were on their heels. They stayed away from the community but were getting more aggressive toward the Allosaurus. He looked to the south and saw a duckbill run out on the sand being pursued by ten Raptors. The duckbill accelerated and opened a large gap between it and the Raptors. It suddenly veered into the trees and headed for the river. Andy sighed, there was so much death.
Togawa came out of the cave with a hunting party and Andy yelled, “The Raptors chased them away.” Togawa shook his head and yelled, “We’re going to go out anyway.” Andy nodded and the six archers led the way with five of the new women between them. Andy watched them enter the forest and looked out at the plain across the river. He saw three of the giant Spineback Predators moving out of the trees and the dinosaurs began stampeding away from them. Two of the giants turned on each other and the larger carnivore chased the smaller one back into the trees. The largest had already run down a large herbivore and was screaming its victory. Andy kept a close eye on the three giants for the rest of the afternoon but at the end of the day they headed west away from the community. He looked at the crops that were planted in the cleared land between the cave and the river and they were growing at an incredible rate. He was going to have to keep some of the archers on the walls at night to defend them against the larger plant eaters.
Andy sat down in the tower’s chair and knew more land had to be cleared and defended. Maxus insisted the walls could be built but it didn’t seem feasible. The community had to move out of the cave into an area with land that could be cultivated. He shook his head and wondered who occupied the caves to the north. As soon as everything got back to normal, he would send the scouts to take a look. He needed back Linnae to help ground him. He was starting to worry too much.
• • •
At long last, the final load of weapons was lifted to the top of the cliff and loaded into the last wagons. The women were waiting at the bottom of the cliff for the ropes to be lowered and most of them were doing well with their new language. Linnae, Carrie, and Arashi were standing guard and most of the carnivores had learned to avoid coming near the small creatures with the loud roars. Carrie was amazed at the effect the whistles had on the dangerous beasts.
Linnae watched the forest and kept track of the women being lifted at the cliff. She saw the last one go up and heard a noise from the cave. She looked at the cave’s entrance and saw solid rock. She ran over to it and was unable to see where the former entrance had been. Andy was right. If everyone was taken out of the cave and moved away, it would close. Thank God everyone was out. She looked at Carrie and Arashi and said, “Let’s get out of here.”
The three ran to the cliff, grabbed a rope, and started climbing. The Vikings on top started pulling their ropes and they were quickly on top of the cliff. Linnae looked down at the clearing and was amazed that there was no trace of the Outsider bodies. The carnivores had cleaned things up in great fashion. Linnae led the women ahead of the wagons and looked forward to getting home and back to Andy. The former Outsider women were anxious about their new home; they hoped it was all they heard it to be. The ten hour walk went by faster than Linnae expected.
• • •
There was a major celebration when they arrived back at the community and the wagons were left on top of the cliff while everyone partied to the drums. Ayo had found a way to stretch a dinosaur’s hide over a cut out section of a tree trunk and it made a great drum. The Vikings got into drum construction and they had become accomplished drummers. No one could touch Ayo’s skill. His drum riffs were incredible.
Everyone greeted the community’s newest members and the former Outsider warriors that defected were treated like long lost brothers.
• • •
Andy found Linnae as soon as she touched the ground. He pulled her into her arms, “We won’t be doing this again. You will stay with me from now on.”
Linnae tried to agree but couldn’t say anything with Andy kissing her. They finally broke the kiss and Linnae smiled, “It’s good to be home.”
Maxus finally broke free from Julia and came over to Andy and Linnae. Joshua, Harvey, Togawa, Reif, and Jenak arrived right behind him. Andy looked at them and Maxus said, “We need to talk.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“Two women for every man; this is not a good situation.”
Linnae looked at Andy and then said, “We’ll discuss it after the evening meal. Think about what we can do.”
The group looked around at each other and Joshua said, “We should do this away from the community.”
Andy shook his head, “We’ll not start excluding them from any of our decisions. They have as much a stake in this as we do; we’ll discuss this openly.”
Maxus shook his head, “Are you sure about this?”
Andy stared at Maxus and nodded. Linnae looked worried but said, “I suspect he’s right. Would you want to be left out of an important decision like this? Plus, what will the newcomers think if we make decisions about them without their input?”
Maxus tilted his head and nodded, “That’s why we have you; to make the hard choices.”
Andy started laughing.
Chapter Thirteen
The evening meal was completed and the community’s leaders started moving toward Andy and Linnae. The community saw them and started following them. Everyone gathered at the wall where Andy and Linnae were sitting and sat down to see what was going on. The newcomers were sitting among themselves wondering what was going on.
Andy stood up and looked out at the community and smiled, “Before we start discussing issues, I want to take a moment and welcome all of our new members. I know you have been enduring a very difficult existence in our former location and I want to assure all of you that is now over. All of us will do everything in our power to make your life as safe and happy and possible. Everyone take a moment and welcome our newest members.” The community stood and went and hugged the newest members and afterward, smiles abounded throughout the community. Everyone was finally sitting again and once silence was restored, Andy looked out at the group and said, “I’ve been approached by several of our members who have expressed a concern; there are not enough men compared to the number of women here. They feel, and I do as well, that this could pose a problem. I want to discuss this openly with all of you and see what you think about this. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how we go about handling this?”
Julia stood and said, “We need to go and bring some men here from other caves. We know there are some caves north of here.”
Andy waited and hoped someone would see the flaw in this approach and a young girl with short brown hair raised her hand. Andy pointed to her and nodded. Carrie stood up and said, “Would any of you accept the men who shared our former cave? How do we know the men in those caves are any different from those we were just freed from? You also have to ask the question about what would you do with the women in their caves? Would you leave them to die? If the men really love someone, would they ever accept being here with us?” Carrie paused and looked around, “We have to come to a solution here. If it means I remain alone, so be it. At least I’m alive now.”
Carrie sat down and Andy was impressed with the young woman’s wisdom. “Anyone else?”
Branek, the Captain of the Outsider defectors stood, “We are not matched with anyone. We will help anyway we can.” Everyone in the cave laughed.
Andy smiled, “Thank you for your offer, however, it’s nowhere near the number we need.”
Akira stood and looked around the room, “Arashi and I have talked about this issue and there is only one solution that will work.”
Andy looked at her, “What is that?”
“I am willing to accept one of the newcomers into my family.”
Everyone in the cave immediately started yelling at her. Linnae looked out at the ones yelling the loudest and it wasn’t the women in the cave; it was the men. Linnae stood up and it took a few minutes but people started to nudge each other as they saw her standing. After a few minutes, the room was silent. Linnae looked out at the community and said, “My heart goes out to the women we’ve brought here. I’ve witnessed what they’ve endured and no one should have to live in the conditions they were in.” Linnae looked at Maxus and Togawa, “You’re shouting the loudest against Akira’s suggestion. What if the roles were reversed and there was only one woman for every two men. That means half of you would not have a child to continue your lineage. Would you be yelling then?”