Hereafter

by C. K. Crigger

  “Books are a great prize,” Nate said. He paused to read the back cover blurb of one. “This sounds good. It’s about a racehorse.”

  Lily, gazing at the cover, smiled. “Itisgood. They made a movie of it.” The book wasSeabiscuit, by Laura Hillenbrand. The second book was by her, as well. And the third was a how-to book on primitive pumps, which probably made the slim volume the most valuable find of them all.

  “A movie?” Nate was still reading the back cover. “Soon to be a major motion picture, it says. That’s the same thing, right?” He looked up at her. “I’ve read about movies, but haven’t figured how the hell they put pictures into motion.”

  Although tempted to tell him, “by magic,” she refrained. She thought a moment. “Simplest way to explain it, I guess, is for you to imagine thousands and thousands of single photographs all lined up and put on a reel. The reel spins, advancing very fast and projecting the pictures onto a flat surface. The photographs look as if they’re moving.” Visions of pre-1900 film clips ran through her memory. Crikey! Hard to believe this society was even more primitive.

  “How many people will read these books?” she asked, picking up the one titledUnbroken.

  He shrugged. “Me. Harrison. A few others, during the winter. Many more over the years.”

  “But not Neila.” It wasn’t a question.

  “No.” He gave her a questioning stare. “She giving you a hard time?”

  “Nothing I can’t handle.” Lily thought it prudent to change the subject. “Where did you get these?”

  “Found somebody’s hidey hole. Happens every now and then even after a hundred years.” He reached into his saddlebag, withdrawing two spiral bound school notebooks. “Paper is scarce these days, too. This is a real find. And so is this.” This time he brought out a ten-pound spool of copper tubing. “It’ll make the hooch from Black Jack’s still a whole lot safer.”

  Lily snorted. “Hooch. I might have known.” She sobered. “This is what you do, isn’t it? Make discoveries, preserve history where you can.”

  To her surprise, he turned pink beneath the warm olive of his skin. “Among other things,” he replied tersely, striking her as being on the defensive. Why?

  But he didn’t tell her what those other things were. She didn’t think he would’ve even if Selkirk hadn’t hailed him just then from outside the artifact shed. Stretching her neck, Lily saw Nate’s roan hitched to the rail with a most peculiarly shaped load tied on behind the saddle. The clan leader was looking at the load, too.

  “Nate,” Selkirk called. “What have you got here?”

  Nate, his pink color fading, motioned for her to precede him outside. “Maybe you can tell me exactly what this thing is,” he said to her.

  Her curiosity aroused, Lily stepped into the sunlight, shading her eyes and trying her best to ignore Selkirk’s hard stare. He, no doubt, disapproved of finding her together with his cousin.

  Nate apparently took no notice of the stare, nor cared what Selkirk might think. “See,” he said, busy with the pack. “Metal. A bonanza. Enough to keep our arrowhead makers busy for a while.”

  Nimble fingers yanking open knots, he flung back the deer hide cover. Revealed was a length of silvery metal, bright, uncorroded, beautiful.

  Lily reached out and touched it, hefting the loose end in her hand and finding it surprisingly light for its size. “Titanium,” she breathed in delight. “Part, I think…” she surveyed the piece, estimating the point at which the metal had snapped,“…I think it may be part of a helicopter rotor,” she finished. She smiled at Nate’s hidden excitement. “Metal that’ll make great arrowheads if you can rework it. Is this the only piece you found?”

  “There’s more,” he said. “I saw this glinting and dug it out of the ground. I’ll go back later with a pack horse.”

  Even Selkirk was pleased. “Well done, cousin. Is there enough to trade?”

  “Trade?” Nate frowned. “Seems to me we should keep this for us.”

  Selkirk’s gaze drifted over Lily. “Bring in the rest and we’ll see. You’ll have to go tonight. Traders won’t be staying long.”

  That isn’t what Lily had heard. Studying Selkirk, it didn’t take long to figure him out. He just wanted to get Nate away from her, that’s all. What an asswipe! As if she could ever be attracted to—

  A little part of her stuttered to a halt and she took a second sneak peak at Nate as he leaned against his horse.

  On the other hand, maybe she could, given a certain set of conditions. A startling idea.

  Chapter 15

  Lily, in her room brushing her long brown hair into a soft cloud, figured she was the only one in the whole compound not actually invited to the party being held that night in the big barn. Not that she planned on letting the lack of a formal invitation stop her from showing up. No indeed. She planned on attending just to spite the clan. Her only regret was the dearth of party gear. A brush of her pants and a swift polish of her boots would have to do.

  The party was in honor of the Traders, the second celebration in the seven or eight days the clan had been home.

  And yet, as she approached the barn, a part of her wished to retreat to that dour little room in the medical building. In fact, she turned around once, but getting hold of her nerves, forced herself across the compound to where music soared from an open doorway.

  Slipping around an oblivious group of young men at the barn entrance, she saw where the trade good displays had been pushed to the side, freeing the thick plank floor for dancing. Even with the doors open the cavernous space was warm. Guys wore shirts unbuttoned to show brawny, or otherwise, chests, their sleeves rolled above the elbow; girls stripped down to short skirts and tank tops that struck Lily as absurd paired with their moccasins. The old building quaked under thirty pairs of feet pounding in a kind of dance she could never have imagined. It was a mixture of hoedown, American Indian powwow dancing, and hip-hop. Dust motes left from days the barn was filled with hay floated in the lantern light. Watching, she had to laugh.

  She gathered parties were an important part of the culture. These people lived on the edge, aware that at any time an enemy might try to wipe them out, so she supposed they welcomed any excuse to drink, dance, and sing. When they weren’t fighting, anyway. Apparently, they enjoyed that, too, along with some free and easy bed-hopping. Their visitors, the traders and the mercenaries who guarded them, made no bones about liking the last part very much indeed. As far as she could tell hardly anyone slept alone.

  Except Bannion, according to overheard gossip. And Selkirk. The mysterious Nate. And now her.

  She’d also heard enough talk to know the outwardly promiscuous behavior was because most of the younger women, along with a few older ones, were constant in their endeavor to bear children. The clan needed population, and these outsiders helped widen the gene pool. She learned that when she listened in on Neila. Neila the bad-tempered, the hard-assed, the dedicated hater of anything outside her personal realm, who had been whining to her sister about miscarrying another child last year after Pike’s visit.

  “I took every care I know of, Pauline, and still I lost it. You’re so lucky with three healthy children. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m strong. I’m healthy.”

  “You want it too much, Sis.” Pauline had hugged her sister. “You’re so tense your innards just bind up in a knot.”

  Lily thought Pauline might be on the right track. Though the subject had never been of primary importance to her, she had read a few articles along those lines. She ought to start a general information magazine for these people. Open up a new occupation for herself. ‘Living Beyond the Grave’sounded like a good title. Give them some insight by one who’d lived in the information age into what had gone wrong with them.

  Her mouth twisted into a wry smile. Hell, judging by Nate’s glee over finding two old notebooks, there wasn’t paper in quantity enough for a magazine, which might open her up to yet another necessary profession if she
could only remember what all went into making cheap paper.

  “Do we strike you as funny?” a deep voice asked from beside her. “Or contemptible?”

  Lily started and shrank farther against wall nearest the door. She hadn’t been aware of Selkirk’s approach, odd, since he was such a large man. Light on his feet, though.

  She took a breath and faced him. “Funny, yes, at times. Contemptible? Never. I don’t hold anyone in contempt who has the ability and the desire to kill me.”

  “And you think we do?”

  “It’s not much of a secret, Mr. O’Quinn. There’s a certain faction in this compound that’s all for it. So far, none of them want to get their hands dirty.”

  “Aside from the fact they’re afraid of you.”

  “Which I suppose is why they want to kill me. Round and round it goes. It isn’t like I’ve done anything to harm anyone here. Quite the opposite if memory serves me correctly.

  His eyes, which she noticed were every bit as hard as his cousin Bannion’s, glinted down at her. Usually he hid himself behind a wall of natural bonhomie. Right now he was letting his true self show through. Or maybe he wasn’t consciously letting it. After the encounter yesterday afternoon, she thought she saw him in a way other people didn’t.

  “But you’re not afraid of me,” she added.

  “Should I be?”

  The question warranted thought. “Depends,” she finally answered. “If attacked, I’ll fight back with every weapon at my disposal.”

  “I know you will. I’ve been warned.”

  “By whom?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe I saw it in a dream,” he said, watching the dancers twirl past, his toe tapping the rhythm.

  But Lily wasn’t inclined to let the matter drop. “All I want is for the people here to respect me and allow me my space. Help me and I’ll help you. It’s as simple as that.”

  “Ah, but wait until word gets out about you.”

  For a moment she couldn’t think what he meant. Then she did. “Oh,” she said, her tone flat. “Because of that.”

  “Because of that, yes.” His expression lost any vestige of softness. “Come the time one of my people gets killed fighting over you, or for you, then we’ll see if you’re so positive regarding your space and your respect.”

  “Why should anyone be killed?”

  “Foolish question from one such as you.” Selkirk folded his arms over his massive chest. “But here’s the answer. Everyone will want a piece of you. Have you thought about that?”

  Lily recalled the trader’s wide-eyed interest yesterday, and the surreptitious visit by the wagon master and then the leader of the mercenary guards. Oh, yes. And Neila’s reaction when she heard about the contact.

  Avoiding Selkirk’s eyes, she said, “I don’t know what you mean. Why should they? I refuse to hide myself away. To tell the truth, a change of address sounds pretty good right now. No one here speaks to me. I’m treated as if I have some communicable disease. Why?”

  Selkirk’s shoulders hunched. “Come now, Lily Turnbow. You can guess. You’re far from dumb.”

  “And you’re avoiding the issue. Why not be straightforward and tell me what’s going on? I’m sure your cousin would, if he’d hold still long enough to hold a decent conversation. With him, everything is a confrontation.”

  “Who, Bannion? Then you should try harder.” It sounded as though he had no great fear of that happening.

  Impatient with the way he avoided a direct answer, she snagged a lock of hair behind her right ear, not caring if it gave her a lopsided look. “The traders want me to go with them when they head out,” she said. “I guess I will. There’s nothing for me here except distrust and animosity. If I leave, you won’t have to be afraid me or worry about what I might do.”

  “You think not? You’re not being very realistic. I expect your leaving would only make matters worse.” With this, which left Lily frustrated beyond belief, Selkirk slipped away, cryptic as ever. At the beginning of the next song, she saw him dancing, squiring a young woman nearly as tall as he around the dance floor, and acting as though he hadn’t a care in the world.

  Music pulsed over Lily, fortunately not at the ear-splitting volume she was used to. Or had been, in the real world. Her world. There were no amplifiers in this age, just the sound natural to the instruments, fiddle, guitar, pipes, hand drums. Clan Bell/O’Quinn unplugged.

  Although angry with Selkirk, her body longed to join the dancers. She wanted to fling herself into motion and lose herself in joyful abandon. Standing alone on the dance floor’s edge, she was conscious of many eyes on her. Watching, someone always watching her. That’s why the light, almost tentative touch on her arm made her jump like she’d been poked with a pin. Spinning, she found Jacob Felix grinning at her, his teeth flashing in his dark-skinned face.

  “Did I scare you?” His eyes twinkled.

  “You guys are entirely too good at sneaking up on people,” she grumped, glad in spite of herself to see a half-way friendly face. “Got a real talent for it.”

  “Thanks. Who else snuck up on you?”

  “Selkirk.” She bit out the name.

  “Him? Hell, he’s like an old woman. Wait till the boss gets after you. Or Nate. He’s the best.”

  “The boss?”

  “Nate. But Bannion is only a hair behind.”

  “Oh. Sure.” She should’ve known.

  Jacob, taller than she by a few inches, was rigged out like the other men in open shirt and denims. He had his dancing shoes on, fancy moccasins beaded with an intricate geometric pattern in green, blue and red. For a moment she wondered where these people got their beads, but the thought was lost when he held his hand out to her.

  “Come on and dance, Lily Turnbow. I seen you bouncing up and down. You’re feeling the beat, ain’t you?”

  Lily hadn’t known she was so easily read. Embarrassing. “No, thanks,” she said, denying the music’s siren song. “I don’t know the steps.”

  “It’s easy. I’ll show you.”

  “I’d as soon not make an ass out of myself, if you don’t mind. And I don’t think your people would appreciate me barging in on their fun. I should go.” In full retreat, she turned to leave.

  “You scared of us?” he asked. “Got reason, I guess. Me and Harrison, we’ve told the folks you’re okay, but they need to get used to you. If you can dance, they’ll warm up sooner.” He held out his hand. “C’mon. It’s a good way to get acquainted.”

  So what if he was a kid making trouble for himself in associating with her? Or so Lily excused herself. Young or not, he had a streak of practicality to him. Blunt, too. And not a bit shy. His advice, when she pondered it, made sense. More than the clan leader’s, she suspected, coming as it did, in a manner of speaking, from grassroots level. Besides, Lily wasn’t much on foregoing a challenge when she heard one. Narrowing her eyes at him, she took Jacob’s outstretched hand. It was warm, but not sweaty like most boys his age. Of her acquaintance, anyway. This kid had no nervous qualms. Made sense for a warrior like him.He wasn’t afraid of her.

  “Okay, pal,” she said, feeling better at the thought. “You asked for it.”

  She had no trouble with the steps, just the patterns, and after a few minutes she got onto that, too. Soon she was able to relax and lose herself in the rhythms, and rise and fall of the fiddler’s tune. She loved dancing. Loved music. After executing a particularly tricky step she picked up watching Jacob earlier, she grinned at him.

  “Good one. Told you,” he said, just before the answering grin faded from his face as he glanced over her shoulder. “Uh oh.”

  “What now?” His alarm barely registered with her before Bannion O’Quinn twirled his partner to a stop beside them. The girl was the same one who’d earned his praise at the battle’s aftermath a few days ago. Kira Shandy. The one Neila thought Bannion should…er…court.

  Still in unison, Lily and Jacob’s dance came to a halt.

  “What the hell do
you think you’re doing, Felix?” Bannion growled, his voice low. “Parading this woman around is asking for trouble. And you…” he shifted his glare to Lily. “I’d think you have sense enough to stay out of sight. Are you deliberately trying to stir folks up?”

  Her temper flared. “I’m not trying to do anything but dance.” She didn’t trouble to hide her anger. “I figured it was time to get acquainted with the people here. Nothing wrong with that, is there?”

  “What’s your motive?”

  “I don’t know what you mean. The only motive I’ve got is getting out and meeting the people in this new world. It’s as simple as that.”

  Jacob exchanged a puzzled look with Kira. “We’re just dancing, boss. That’s all.”

  “I’ll want to talk to you tomorrow, Felix. Drop by the house in the morning.”

  Lily surmised Jacob was due for a butt-chewing. He knew it, too, because his shoulders jerked straight and a set look came over his face. “Whatever you say.”

  “Don’t blame Jacob for my transgressions,” Lily said. “I was intrigued by your unique dances and wanted to try them for myself. That’s all. I picked Jacob to be my partner, and he was gentleman enough to indulge me.”

  “The hell,” Jacob said. “I talked you into it, Lily. You don’t gotta fib for me. Anyway, boss, she ain’t in jail, is she?” His eyes flickered, then settled on Bannion. “Is she?”

  Bannion’s answer was slow in coming. “Been keeping her close for her own protection, Jacob. I thought you knew.”

  Lily made a sound somewhere between laughter and disgust. “He means he’s been trying to keep my presence here a secret, Jacob, though I don’t quite understand his motivation. It hasn’t worked anyway. A dozen or more people saw what happened in that meadow. Were they all sworn to silence? Did you trust each one to keep such news totally quiet?” She spoke to Jacob, but her words were meant for Bannion. “I don’t think so. These traders showed up a little too promptly, wouldn’t you agree? Anyway, what difference does it make?”