by Hannah Ross
"Been living on this land for some years now. Not bothering anyone, am I?"
"Not at all, Mr. Davies," the other office said, not raising his head from his notes. "According to our information, you have Class B citizenship. The current policy is to encourage Class B citizens to settle in the Reclaimed Lands. Your residence here will be legally confirmed and, provided you don't break the law, you should expect no trouble."
Frank merely nodded, swallowing an oath.
"We must ask you something, though. Have you by any chance met an Illegal woman who goes by the name of Ginny Waters? She left the government camp to the south, and might have passed through here. She's young, slim, dark-haired, and has two children with her."
Frank shrugged. "So? Is it against the law for Illegals to leave them camps now? I didn't know they had to be kept locked up."
"Mr. Davies," the woman officer spoke in the kind of refined, highly polished voice Frank hated, "Ginny Waters fled the camp under the mistaken assumption that something is threatening her or her children, which, of course, is not true, as the government camps are all perfectly safe and much fitter for human habitation than the wilderness. She is now traveling across the country alone with two infants, putting herself in great danger. If you know anything of her whereabouts, now would be a good time to say so."
"I have seen no such young gal as that. But I do ask myself why one Illegal is important enough to have two officers go looking for her."
The man and woman exchanged glances. "It is we who ask questions here, Mr. Davies,” the woman said in the same odiously smooth voice. "If you do see such a woman, or any other non-status people coming up from the south, we ask that you, first, assure them they had better turn back, and second, report to us."
"How? We have no phone here, and you're very much mistaken if you think I'd go all the way to this camp of yours just to tell you I've seen some strangers pass by."
"It's your civil duty," she said, handing him a small cardboard rectangle with a phone number printed in fat black letters. "We expect to hear reports of any suspicious Illegal activity, Mr. Davies, or you just might find yourself facing regrettable consequences. Class B citizens have a precarious status. If they transgress, they might soon find themselves with no legal standing whatsoever. I'm sure I don't need to elaborate further. Good day to you."
Once the car drove away, Frank let out a long-held breath and an oath.
"What is it, Frank?" Annie asked, coming out of the house with the children clinging to her apron.
"Those bastards have something to hide, that's what. If they didn't, they wouldn't be so determined to catch that poor girl. One Illegal more, one less, what's the difference? But they don't want the people who escaped to spread panic and get more of the Freeborn on the run. They're up to something very nasty in those camps, if you ask me, maybe even nastier than that girl Ginny could understand."
"Is it true what that woman said, Frank? Can they take your status away if you don't report to them?"
Frank shrugged. "It might just be a threat. Or not. Either way, they ain't making a sneak out of me. If I must, I'll go on the run, like the wild children. You can stay here at home and the Hursts will help you out. You're Class A. You should be fine."
"Oh, Frank, I hope it don't come to that," Annie said, wiping her eyes on her apron.
"I hope so too. One thing is certain, though. We must help those poor buggers as much as we can, or we should be ashamed of ourselves."
10
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"It seems kind of ridiculous, now that I think of it," Tony said, "to just tear off and assume we're going to find your brother."
"But we aren't going in a random direction, Tony," Kate objected. "We know Ben and Priscilla have gone to join Thunder Cloud, and I know more or less which areas their camp covers in this season. I'm sure we'll come across them soon. In fact, the abandoned campsite we passed by earlier might have been theirs. I wish it had been clearer where they went."
"Yes," Tony said slowly, frowning with concentration. "It's almost like they attempted to cover up their tracks. I wonder why." He kept a tight grip on the steering wheel, as the old roads ended a long way back, and they were going over open terrain now, trying to choose those areas which were less rocky.
"You OK, Ginny?" Kate turned her head back. "You've been awfully quiet these past two hours."
"I'm fine," the young woman said. "Not used to riding around in cars, but I'm OK. I just... I've been thinking of Eric. I wonder how he is. If he tried to escape and got caught…" she trailed off. The possibility was too frightening to contemplate.
"I'm sure he wouldn't let himself be caught," Kate said, feigning a certainty she didn't really feel. "And who knows, maybe my parents managed to see him and speak to him. Do you want me to come and sit in the back and help you with the little ones?"
She shook her head, holding her baby close with one arm and keeping the toddler steady with the other. "I'm fine, Kate, thanks."
Tony stopped the car. "Look," he said. "Some riders."
He was right. Ahead, Kate saw a group of five or six people on horseback. They rode toward them in a rapid gallop.
As the riders drew closer, it became obvious that they had a significant measure of Native American ancestry. The style of their clothes and hair, too, put Kate in mind of the Plains Indians of days gone by: there was quite a bit of attire made of tanned hides, looking oddly out of place alongside jeans and sweatshirts. Some of them had long braided hair, others sported close-cropped hairstyles, but all faces without exception wore a look of suspicion and hostility.
Two riders caught up with the vehicle and placed themselves in its path, evidently signaling that further passage was prohibited.
"You better roll down the window, Tony," Kate said. "They're armed, and we're outnumbered."
Tony looked unconvinced. "We could swerve at full speed and throw them off."
"They probably think we are government people," Ginny put in. "There aren't too many cars around here, I imagine."
"Don't do anything, Tony," Kate said. She opened the door and got out, waving her hand in a friendly gesture and ignoring the scowls and the fingers edging close to the weapons.
"If you are working for the White Tower, you'd better head back now," one of the men said. "This is Freeborn territory."
"They're friends," Ginny assured the riders, getting out of the car with the snugly bundled baby in her arms and the sleepy toddler hiding behind and clinging to her legs. "They helped me escape the Registry."
"We're looking for Thunder Cloud," Kate added. "Do you know where his camp is?"
"How do you know Thunder Cloud?" one of the men asked, surprised.
"He's a friend of my brother's," Kate said. "Ben is one of the Wild Children."
"And you aren't?"
"I was born with a permit. Ben didn't have one."
"So how do you even know each other?" another rider asked. "We all know illegal children are taken away to orphanages… or worse."
A sigh accompanied Kate's wistful smile. "Believe me, you don't have time to hear this story. So can you point us to Thunder Cloud?"
The people around them evidently relaxed. Some nods were exchanged, and people were no longer holding on to their weapons.
"If you follow this trail, you'll find Thunder Cloud's camp further to the northwest. You'll have to go slow with this car, but you should get there in about two hours. When you reach the camp, you'll be stopped by sentries and you'll have to leave the car at the bottom of a mountain trail and climb up on foot."
"Thanks," said Tony. "Come on, Kate, fasten your seatbelt."
As the car moved northwest, they passed a small cluster of abandoned shacks they assumed once belonged to miners, and small herds of buffalo and elk grazing in the distance. Not quite two hours later, they were stopped by sentries as the car crawled through a rocky clearing. Their mention of Thunder Cloud and Ben's names again turned suspicious g
lared into smiles.
After parking the car in a spot where it would not be in danger of being hit by falling stones, Kate and Tony hauled out the necessary supplies, leaving any nonessentials in the car, and distributed them between two large backpacks. Then, huffing and puffing, and helping Ginny with the children, they followed one of the sentries as they ascended the narrow trail. When the trail split, the sentry gestured to the left and told them the camp was about a mile further on. Then she turned and started back to her post.
"Having a couple of horses would have come in handy," Tony said, wiping his sweaty brow. "They'd be able to climb up here."
"I'm sure that's the idea," Kate said. "Make the camp accessible to riders, not drivers. Only the Freeborn use horses."
"Ginny, you can give me the baby for a bit," Tony offered. "You look all worn out."
The baby was unwilling to leave her mother's arms, but the older child was quite pleased to be lifted up to Tony's shoulders and take a ride looking over the view from above.
Finally, as the rocky mountain turned to a higher plain, the camp came within view. They saw a cluster of teepees, with smoke rising up from some, and people working outside, cooking meals or performing some chores Kate couldn't quite discern at first glance. Noticing the arrival of the newcomers, several people dropped what they were doing and came over to have a look.
A rather fierce-looking young man in a leather tunic, leggings and moccasins, his long straight raven-black hair falling down his back, approached with a wary look. "I'm Midnight Fox," he announced, "and I won't tell you welcome to the camp until I know who you are."
But at that moment a familiar voice called out their names: "Kate! Tony! How did you get here?"
"Prissy! Where's Ben?"
Hearing the commotion, Ben strode out of the teepee as well, carrying Ian in his arms. "Kate! What are you doing here?"
Darren and Jill followed him. "Have you heard anything from our camp?" Darren asked. "How are Mom and Dad?"
"All is well, last time we heard," Kate told him. "Mac and Gabby are a little anxious, of course, but they trust you'll be fine."
"Are these friends of yours?" said the young man in the leathers, relaxing his expression a little.
"Midnight Fox, this is my sister Kate and her husband, Tony."
The whole party, together with Thunder Cloud, who returned from a survey ride, was soon seated in the teepee occupied by Ben and Priscilla. Ginny Waters and her children were led away by a woman who volunteered to find a place for the family in her teepee.
"Wow," said Kate, looking around, "this is all very... very..."
"Primitive?" supplied Priscilla, smiling.
"Minimalist," countered Kate.
"Yes, this is roughing it a bit for us," said Ben. "Life in our cabin seems all cushy and full of luxuries now."
"Getting up here on foot must have been a challenge," Thunder Cloud said. "Why don't you try a bit of this drink? It's made of fermented tree bark. Very refreshing."
Kate took a cautious sip from the cup she'd been cradling. The taste was complex, slightly tangy, but overall not bad. "It's good," she said with some surprise, taking another sip.
"I see you've brought more refugees with you," Thunder Cloud went on. "Lately, not a week passes without us seeing some of them coming this way. Some stop with us, some with other camps, and all tell disturbing tales of what the White Tower people are up to."
Tony nodded. "They're rounding people up, and getting more and more brazen about it."
"We're lucky to be safe here," said Jill. "But I wonder, if they come to get Mom and Dad and the others…"
Kate looked straight at her. "Hiding out here isn't enough, and you know it." Her gaze swept the others as well. "Sooner or later, they will come to get you, to get all of us. If we want to keep our freedom, we have to strike back."
Thunder Cloud, Ben, and Midnight Fox exchanged looks. "Yes," said Thunder Cloud, "we have thought about it as well. We must put up a fight, even if the balance seems all in the White Tower's favor. It is our only chance."
Jill looked wary. "But there are too few of us."
"That's why we must unite. We will need to call an All Camps Meeting and decide on a strategy. We have skilled fighters, weapons, horses, and we know how to live off the land. The Boundary people don't, and that is certain to play in our favor."
Midnight Fox nodded in grim satisfaction. "This is long overdue. We must fight. I say all adult men set out tomorrow…"
"And all women who are prepared to fight, too," Jill said.
"Not so fast, Midnight Fox," Thunder Cloud said. "We can't just leave the camp unguarded. I will need you to stay here and take charge. Otherwise I won't be able to go in peace."
Midnight Fox seemed to deflate at once. "But…"
"And you have to stay here where it's safe too, Jill," Darren said. "Mom will kill me if she knows I let you go and join a guerrilla war."
Jill looked mutinous. "This isn't a question of you letting me."
Ben and Priscilla looked at each other without speaking a word. Both knew what this meant. Ben would go to the All Camps Meeting and join the resistance. Priscilla would have to stay behind with Ian.
"You could go back home if you want, Pris," Ben said. "If anyone catches up with you, you could tell them who you are, and show them your ID. They wouldn't dare to touch you."
Priscilla shook her head. "Not a chance. If I can't go with you, at least I can stay here and make myself useful. I'm sure more refugees will flow in soon. Someone will have to take care of them."
* * *
The next two days were filled with feverish activity as Thunder Cloud, aided by Midnight Fox, Ben, and Kate, was busy taking stock of all the things owned by the camp which could prove useful in the upcoming war.
"Horses," he muttered, going through a sheaf of notes, "guns, ammo, and some bows and spears. There isn't anywhere near enough, of course. And I can't take it all away. I will have to leave enough so the camp can still manage to defend itself if need be. I don't expect other camps have much of a surplus, either."
"We have some weapon deposits stashed here and there throughout the country," Ben said. "Of course, we must get to them first."
Priscilla was present at these conferences but spoke little, so constrained was her heart. Her thoughts were all focused on the little cabin she and Ben left behind. Her longing for quiet and solitude, for fresh milk and digging in the garden, and above all, for freedom from care and worry was so strong it was almost overwhelming. She could easily procure the legal status that would protect her family. Sometimes she felt she owed it to Ben and Ian. But considering such an easy cop-out made her better nature revolt. "The easy way is not always the right way," she told Stephanie five years ago when she left the world in which she grew up to marry Ben and start a new life. Would she now betray what she knew to be true?
"Take care of yourself," she told Ben in a low, strangled voice the night before the departure of Thunder Cloud and his chosen men. "Don't take any unnecessary risks. Do you hear me, Benjamin Grey?"
Ben nodded, brushing her cheek with his fingertips. "You too, Pris. Take care of yourself and Ian, and if you have no choice, pull out your ID. Just do what you must to stay safe, alright?"
Priscilla threw her arms around him, feeling a great sense of dread overcoming her all at once. "Always remember that I love you, and that we are waiting for you - Ian and I. The White Tower people won't hesitate to crush you. If you don't come back…"
"We will," Ben assured her. "We won't let them get us so easily."
* * *
About half of the camp's men gathered with Thunder Cloud on the morning of departure. Kate and Tony would come down from the plateau on horseback. Once able to use their car again, they would follow the group of riders as best they could until called by other duties. Few members of the resistance would have Class A citizenship and a car, so Kate and Tony could prove to be very useful.
There was hardly
time for anything more than a last hurried embrace. Ben took Ian out of Priscilla's arms and kissed him. The toddler, sensing the tension in the air, clung to his father's neck until the very last, when Priscilla had to unclasp the little arms despite her son's vocal protests.
"Good luck," her bloodless lips quietly mouthed as Ben pressed her fingers for the last time.
"Don't worry, Prissy," Kate said, hugging her sister-in-law. "I'll keep an eye on Ben and make sure he doesn't get into any real trouble."
Midnight Fox watched, arms crossed, as the column of riders disappeared down the mountain trail. Though he was given a position of high responsibility – essentially promoted to chief in Thunder Cloud's absence – the best fighters were gone from the camp, and being shut out of the action rankled bitterly. He allowed himself one wistful sigh before switching back to his brisk and efficient manner.
"The camp is less well protected now," he said. "We must set up nightly watches to keep safe."
There was a bit of muttering and grumbling at those words, but Midnight Fox was undeterred: "With so few warriors left, we must be constantly vigilant. I won't force anyone to pull the slack with watches, though. I expect volunteers, as this is so important to us all. I will be first and, if no one else steps up, I will not shut an eye while I believe the camp is unwatched."
Naturally, after this speech all the remaining men of the camp volunteered to take watches. "I want to do this too, Midnight Fox," said Jill.
"Certainly." He looked surprised but pleased. "Thank you, Laughing Creek."
Jill raised her eyebrows. "Did you just call me Laughing Creek?"
He nodded with a wry smile. "Yes. I think the name suits you."
"I'm not inclined to change my name just now, thank you very much," Jill said with a lofty air. "So I'm going to take my share of the watches, right?"
"Yes, of course. Women who have no children to care for are welcome to volunteer as well."
Priscilla returned to her teepee, which felt terribly lonely without Ben. She closed her eyes, wondering when she and her husband would meet again.
"Mama, Mama," cried little Ian as he tugged on her arm. He was hungry and discombobulated by the strange happenings of the morning.