Return of the Maca (Chronicles of the Maca Book 4)

by Mari Collier

  “Ye forget that I've lived as a land Ab these seven years.”

  She tried to walk with dignity, but the crutch, the limp, and the soreness of her muscles made her pathetic.

  When they returned Lorenz had a small fire going and the moons were losing their fight with the clouds. “I have pina leaf bags. It's supposed to be nourishing. Y'all can have most of the tea. We'll share the cup. Our meal will be these delicious bars and some dried meat.” Daniel made a face.

  “Sorry, but it's the same emergency supplies and a couple of brools for breakfast. I slipped up. I thought we'd be back at the Station or in Donnick on the day I found Daniel and y'all.”

  Di stared at him and sank down on the blanket. “If ye thought that, why did ye bring so much?”

  “I didn't know how long it would take to get ye both out of Bi's village.”

  “It does nay matter. Here, Wee Da, ye may have mine. I will sleep now.” All Di wanted to do was hide: hide the pain, hide her broken body.

  “No, he can't. Y'all need it. Tomorrow will be just as rough.” Lorenz's voice was gruff. “Daniel, your mither is being a mither. Y'all said ye are a Warrior.”

  Daniel stood, bowed, flopped back down, ate the bar with relish, and reached for some of the dried meat.

  Di was too tired to argue. She choked the bar and tea down before crawling into the shelter. Smaller rocks were piled around the four boulders and laced with twigs. A tarp, anchored by rocks and stakes, covered the shelter. She could hear Wee Da and Lorenz rinsing out the pot, and the Laird mentioning the zarks and she remembered nothing, not even the rumbling thunder.

  “Daniel, make sure y'all and your mother stay alongside those barriers we built.”

  “Why fither?”

  “Because if someone sneaks up and starts shooting, the rocks may offer protection long enough for me to get there.”

  “Where will ye be?”

  “Up in the biggest tree around here.” He pointed towards the spring. “It's the one closest to the spring. I'll tie myself up there so I don't fall during the night if I doze off.”

  “Ye will nay sleep?”

  “Not as much as y'all. Someone can trail us just by following the grass our zarks have beaten down.”

  “But we were in the river and along the banks there was nay grass.”

  “Four zarks leave plenty of tracks. If the rain had hit this afternoon, it might have washed out some of them, but a good tracker could still find us.”

  Daniel looked doubtful. Lorenz reached out and tousled his hair. “Go to bed my laddie. We all need our rest. We'll leave as soon as we can in the morning.”

  The clouds had obscured the moon and stars. The air was heavy with moisture. The tree Lorenz had selected looked like a cottonwood. The brush looked a great deal like willows, and the other trees like the ash trees that grew throughout the Midwest and West.

  The storm erupted from the clouds during the night. The wind drove the rain downward and sideways, slammed it into the ground, and poured it over the landscape. Lorenz had tied himself in the stoutest tree, but the leaves did little to break the rain. He managed to pull the water shedding blanket up over his head, but worried about his ammunition getting wet. He'd chosen this as a good place to keep watch. Sleeping in the shelter would put him in the opening; a risky place to be if someone were tracking them.

  Sleep became impossible as the rain and wind kept tearing at the blanket. He climbed down to finish sleeping in the shelter, but even there the rain blew in. As dawn spread grey light he crawled out and headed for the latrine. His wet clothes and Daniel's tossing had awakened him.

  When he finished, he adjusted the thong and buttoned the Levis when the old nagging feeling of danger alerted his senses. He drew his gun. Had the rain gotten to it? It was impossible to judge. He began to listen. The prairie grasses rustled, but no other sound was detected. Whatever he had sensed was drawing nearer. Of that he had no doubt, but the wind still waved the grasses obscuring any unnatural movement in the grass. Lorenz took one soft footfall at a time to return to the camp area. Every few steps he would stop and listen. The sound of the zarks snorting came from the correct location. Then one of the zarks whinnied, and he heard the sound of an arrow thudding into the shelter and Daniel yelling.

  “Mither!”

  Lorenz ran as silently as possibly on the beaten down, wet grass. He had warned Di and Daniel to stay low and up against the rocks if they were attacked, but sleep can rob a person of good sense when the unexpected happens. Now he could smell the smoky presence of another being living in the open. He was about to emerge from the pathway when the slippery grass proved his undoing and he fell headlong into the opening and his handgun fired into the air.

  Perhaps it was the sound of the shot for the arrow zinging towards him also missed its mark and sank harmlessly into the ground. Lorenz sensed someone leaping at him and he rolled, pulling at the knife in his right boot, and stood.

  The scout was upright, a knife in his hand. The two men circled each other, each feigning a thrust and withdrawing, then closing. The scout whirled in and slashed. Lorenz whirled away and slashed back, his boot heels catching firmly in the ground, and he slashed again. This time blood appeared on the man's arm. The Ab ignored the gash and moved in, slashing at his midsection. This time he caught Lorenz near the hip, but the rivet on the heavy denim deflected the blade. The man was caught by surprise and his eyes moved up to Lorenz's face. For an instance he froze, and Lorenz slashed at the man's middle and ripped upward, his left hand reaching out to grasp the other's knife arm and push it to the side.

  The man sat down and held his abdomen, his intestines and blood oozing between his fingers. His eyes were glazing and he looked up at Lorenz.

  “How can ye see?” Blood bubbled out his mouth and he crumpled to the side.

  “Wee Da, come back!” Lorenz could hear the Kenning Woman screaming. He stepped backward and looked over towards the shelter.

  Daniel was running towards him with both hands holding a rock. His mouth determined, and his eyes wide. Di was trying to pull herself out of the shelter. Soft yellow light crept over the world and illuminated the blood flowing into the earth.

  “Daniel, put the rock down. He's not going to hurt anyone now.” He started to move towards Di to help her when he realized that danger was still all around them.

  “Daniel, get your mother back into the shelter.”

  It was too late. Ten armed men came over the other side of the hillock. The lead man carried a stunner. Two men had bows strung with arrows, but the majority carried long knives that looked like machetes. These men weren't dressed in buckskin, but were wearing a combination of light blue or butternut colored clothes that Lorenz knew as homespun. They wore a boot like shoe, but they were not the soft, pliable boots of Thalia's Houses. These looked like the cobbled boots of his youth.

  He stood with his hands away from his sides. If he used his mind, he would break his promise to his father. Using his mind against ten men, however, was not a good idea. He couldn't control them all.

  One man stepped forward. Like most Thalians, he appeared to be about thirty-five, but he was not muscled in the same manner of House members. Once again, the reminder was of Lorenz's own country: a stocky, determined man of the earth. These men were farmers.

  “We saw the smoke from a village fire and feared it might cross the river, or those who were raiding were headed towards our village. What tis the state of Bi's village?” He stopped speaking. He stared at Lorenz's range clothes and then at his eyes.

  “Who are ye? From where do ye hail?”

  “I am Lorenz Adolf MacDonald from the state of Texas in the USA of the planet we call Earth.”

  The man shook his head over the strange words and outlandish string of names as one trying to clear his mind.

  “Ye are blind, yet ye fought a man and won. How?”

  Lorenz's eyes brimmed with amusement. “I am grey-eyed as many of the people from my world are, but t
hat doesn't make us blind. It's just an eye color like blue, green, or brown.”

  The group seemed to take a deep breath. “And how many are here from your world?”

  “Right now there's just me and my younger.”

  Another man stepped closer. “Langford, the Kenning Woman tis here as foretold. We are to return with her. Do we take these two with us?”

  Daniel started to move and a man raised his fist.

  “Daniel, attend.” Lorenz snapped the words out. “Don't move.”

  Di moved forward on her crutch and none stopped her. She put her arm around her Wee Da. “This tis my laddie. I go nay without him. Ye came for me, but these two are part of me.”

  Lorenz couldn't help but wonder at her statement. The men were now looking at her and realized they'd forgotten him. The one called Langford turned to the man on his left.

  “Do ye think the Select Man and Council will wish to see them too? If we dinna take them, we need to put them afoot or kill them.”

  Another slimmer man named Spence decided. “The Council will decide their disposition. We are on Zarks and all will ride. Milon, Liken, bring up the zarks.”

  Langford turned on the man. “I was appointed to lead this expedition.”

  “Aye, that ye were, but that was for any fighting there might be. There tis nay fighting, and I sit on the Council. This tis a Council matter.”

  Spence shouted at the men going for the zarks. “Bring me some rope too.”

  “That's not necessary.” Lorenz feared his anger might override his thinking if tied. “It's very difficult for the Kenning Woman to ride. She'll need assistance. She's too stiff from yesterday to have her arms bound and then be tied to the saddle too. I pledge my word by your Gar.”

  “Bah! Tis but an excuse.”

  “Right now she needs someone to assist her to the latrine area. I suggest ye permit her laddie.”

  Spence was puzzled. “What gives ye that authority and why are ye with them?”

  “Bi took my son from my ranch. I came after him and found him with his mither.”

  Spence's eyes narrowed. “What are ye saying?”

  Lorenz smiled broadly, the smile transforming his hard face into that of one that drew attention and respect.

  “In your words, he tis my laddie given to me by Gar. Bi took him from Donnick. I came after him and found him with his mither, the Kenning Woman.”

  “Why was he with ye in Donnick?

  “My fither wishes me to take over the Guardian duties of Don.”

  Langford was on his other side and snapped. “Who tis your fither?”

  “In this world he is Llewellyn, Maca of Don.”

  Langford tightened his grip on his stunner and swallowed. “Then why do ye call an Ab your laddie?”

  “Langford, we waste time here. The Selectman can ask him those questions. There may be more of them coming after her.” Spence jerked his thumb back at the dead man. “The Council will do the asking and deciding.”

  Lorenz felt certain that “selectman” meant this group was electing their leaders. Perhaps they were reasonable men of Don who were farmers.

  “The Kenning Woman is still in agony from yesterday's ride. She needs sustenance before we leave and someone to support her in the saddle.”

  Chapter 41: LouElla's Town

  Di was white-faced and biting her lips when they approached the fort. The moons had appeared in the East as white caricatures of their usual yellow night brilliance.

  Lorenz noted that there were both men and women stationed above as watchers. When they'd flown over, the scanners had shown images of houses away from the fort, but no smoke rose from them. The inhabitants must have been called in. None of the men surrounding them had been talkative. He'd spent his time tending to Di. Daniel had been allowed to ride untied also. These men probably operated on the theory that as a child, he would be too fearful to flee. Daniel would have been insulted at such a conclusion.

  They pulled up in front of the gate. Langford waved his stunner in the air and someone at the top responded in the same manner. The heavy gate doors swung inward in slow motion and the group rode through.

  “What is this place called?” Lorenz asked the man riding beside him.

  “LouElla's Town.”

  Once again that transfiguring smile spread across Lorenz's face.

  “Grandmère will be pleased.”

  As usual, no one understood his words. Inside, a large man, resembling an old Langford, stood waiting for them. They all stopped in front of him. A quick glance showed Lorenz that it took two men on each side to operate the gates.

  “Who are the others with ye?”

  “Selectman, the younger tis the Kenning Woman's laddie. The other claims to be the blind-eyed Laird of Don.”

  “I made no such claim. I am Lorenz A. MacDonald. The Maca of Don is my fither, but no Council of the Realm has ruled on whether they accept this.” Silence greeted his statement, and Lorenz could see the doubt on the other man's face.

  From the walkway around the fort came the sound of a horn blast.

  “Tis the hour for sustenance. Lock these three away and the council will see them in the morning. Langford, tend to it. Have sustenance sent to them. Both ye and Spence will give your report this evening.”

  Langford led the way to a small log structure with one narrow rectangle for a window and one door for access. The four men surrounding them watched as Lorenz helped Di down and held her while Daniel retrieved her crutch.

  “We all need to use whatever you all use for…” Lorenz hesitated. “Whatever ye use for natural body functions. The Kenning Woman is hurting badly and canna go far.”

  Di's face was drawn with pain and her eyes almost closed. She barely managed the crutch and clung heavily on Lorenz's shoulder.

  “Ye are prisoners. We will bring ye something.” Langford wanted rid of them.

  Lorenz noticed three of the men looked uncomfortable, and one cleared his throat.

  “She tis the Kenning Woman. We will bring pallets, the pots, and sustenance.”

  “Our comforts are Ab like. Ye'll find everything far different from what ye are accustomed to having.” Langford was sneering.

  Lorenz smiled. “Not true, my world was the same as this one when I was a laddie.” Di's eyes flew open and all looked at him.

  Langford motioned them inside. The place was barely large enough for three pallets. It would be a long night Lorenz decided, but at least he wasn't tied. Overcome by weariness, Di sank to the floor.

  “Careful, this place is probably bug infested.”

  “What else can we do, Laird? I canna stand and must stretch out. It will make nay difference when they bring the pallets.”

  Half-light spilled through the rectangle creating grey light. Daniel and Lorenz squatted, one on either side of Di and they began massaging her legs. After a few minutes Lorenz spoke.

  “Let me take over, son. Y'all are tired too.”

  Di turned to him. “Laird, I canna be a woman to ye.”

  “I wasn't expecting that. Besides, Daniel's here. That wouldn't be right.”

  Di closed her eyes. The man made nay sense.

  They woke her when the food arrived. The men deposited the pot of what Lorenz knew as samp: green corn cooked in milk and a bit of butter. Instead of bowls, they were given three spoons, two blankets, and a large, metal thunder mug without a cover. Lorenz doubted if the container was large enough for all three come morning.

  “Would it be possible for those two to be taken outside to your privy or whatever ye call the bathroom quarters here? From what little I saw, ye have them located outside of the homes.”

  “They are nay available.” The man's voice was gruff, and he looked embarrassed.

  “Kenning Woman, nay all here are against ye.” He backed out, one of the others tugging at his sleeve.

  “Here, Daniel, help me spread this blanket. We'll set the pot just on the outside of it and share.”

  They fl
apped out the rough, woolen material. It wasn't as well woven as some of the Navajo blankets Lorenz had seen, but was on a par with the blankets out of Mexico and parts of his own country.

  “What tis it?” asked Daniel, wrinkling his nose.

  “Tis podding, my laddie, at least that's what I've heard it called. I sorrow, Laird, tis nay fit for House, but I'll nay eat if ye need it all.”

  Lorenz shook his head. “Lady, I call it samp, and it's not the first time I've eaten it. Everyone shares. Now let's eat.” He tried to keep the irritation out of his voice.

  Di fell silent and crawled onto the blanket. The man was a total puzzlement. When he rescued them, she felt he was everything she had seen in her vision. Now she wasn't sure. She could see nay way for them to flee this village. If the Laird remained here it meant that Thalia would be destroyed. She barely ate any of the podding. Her appetite was gone and her bones and muscles ached from two days of riding. The night air this close to the mountains was cooling rapidly and the aching in her left side and leg increased with the cold. She crawled over to the thunder mug and used her crutch to support herself. Modesty was nay part of an Ab's daily living. Lorenz's voice startled her.

  “Do y'all need some help?”

  “Wee Da can help me.” Her voice was stiff to her own ears.

  “He's not big enough.” Lorenz ignored Daniel's protest and walked over to her.

  “Laird,” Di tried to protest.

  “My name's Lorenz. Try using it once in a while. I'm sick of the Laird thing.” His hands took the thunder mug. “I'll hold it and y'all use that crutch and me as brace.”

  Di found she needed to comply. Soon the odor of urine filled the small space. Lorenz gave a wicked smile in the darkening room and placed the empty podding pot over the top.

  “If need be, we'll use that too if they haven't retrieved it by morning.” He returned to the blanket.

  “Kenning Woman, or Di, ye take the middle and Daniel and I will be on either side. We'll use the second blanket for cover. If it gets too cold, I'll sit up.”

  Di found herself annoyed with his order for her laddie. “Wee Da should be in the middle. He tis the laddie.”