Tomorrows Child

by Starr West

  “We just want food, bullets, if you have any, medicine too.”

  “…And whatever else we want, we plan to take,” one of the other men said. He was wearing an old beanie pulled down to his ears.

  “So you plan to leave an old lady and a child with no food?” Libby was not taking this without some attempt at resistance. The men said nothing.

  “Go on then, food’s inside.” Two of the men went into the house carrying backpacks and large khaki canvas bags. We stood there, silent while the men raided our house, listening to the sound of falling cans and breaking glass.

  “Where’s ya stash, old woman? One of them called from the house.

  “There’s no stash, that’s it, that’s all we have.” Libby’s voice was firm, she was not afraid of these men. I was terrified. The energy was seeping into me from every direction, converting to chaotic energy faster than it ever had before.

  Beanie-head marched from the house and grabbed me by the shoulder, dragging me in front of the man with the grey beard. “She’s lyin’,” he said as he pushed me to the ground. He turned the gun and held the barrel a few centimetres from my face. “Don’t plan on killin’ today, but the pretty one here won’t be so pretty when I’m done with her.”

  “I told you, there is no more food. It’s been months now and that’s all we have left. So please leave the girl alone.”

  Three things happened at once. A gunshot echoed through the valley, which caught everyone by surprise. This also bought the gun barrel down on my face; the cold steel making contact with bare skin. The shock of the cold metal on my warm skin and the sound of gunfire was enough to cause a spontaneous release of chaotic energy and Beanie-head flew into the air and landed on his butt.

  “Leave the girl!” snapped Greybeard as another gunshot echoed through the valley. The men looked at each other, this wasn’t good.

  “Go! Get out of here! See what’s going on over there!” Beanie-head didn’t move, still in shock. Greybeard shoved him with his boot as he turned to leave.

  “Hey! Max Vega!” Libby yelled, “You tell your ma I said hi! Raised ya real good, she did.” I thought that would be it for Libby.

  Beanie-head turned, raised his gun and said, “You tell her yourself! You’ll be seein’ her before I do.”

  Libby didn’t normally speak with an inflection. She’d been born in Australia in a time when proper English was expected, but she clipped her words and matched Beanie-head’s lazy slang. Phoenix helped me up as the men disappeared through the forest toward the gunshot.

  “I’ve got to go…”

  “You’ll do no such thing, Phoenix Riley.” Libby never spoke anyone’s full name. That she did so today, meant the situation was serious. “We will wait.”

  Libby marched into the house and took the gun from behind the door, and only then did we realise that the pantry was bare. Smashed jars of preserved fruit lay on the floor and rice was scattered like a carpet of maggots. Gone were all the tins of food, salt, sugar, honey and spices. The bread Libby had baked only this morning was also gone, but the rice, salt, sugar and spices were devastating losses, irreplaceable supplies.

  “Incredible,” Libby stood at the door to the pantry, shaking her head.

  “It could have been much worse. You took a risk by lying to them. How could you put Psyche at risk like that?” said Phoenix.

  “If necessary, I would have told them the truth, but we are all at risk if they know we have hidden storage. If one family has a secret room, then they would suspect we all have one.” Libby was right; saving my life was not reason enough to risk everyone’s life.

  “He didn’t threaten to kill her anyway,” Libby said. She was the calm in the storm, but Phoenix was furious. I was annoyed that just moments before they arrived, I had discharged the pent-up energy. I probably couldn’t have changed the outcome, but I would have blasted that smart ass Beanie-head much further across the yard.

  Navarre arrived. “They’ve gone. Are you all right? Lachlan’s been shot. Raven is gone and Seth is missing.”

  We ran after Navarre as he yelled about what happened all the way, but the words were lost to the wind. Libby carried her gun, not that it was any use now, but it still seemed like the thing to do.

  Lachlan was perched on a chair on the veranda of his house. Emily was trying to stop the flow of blood that gushed from his leg. Lachlan was smiling through the pain, but his face was pale, “Just a flesh wound, guys… This is way too much attention for a couple of drops of blood.”

  The truth was far more dramatic - there was blood everywhere. Emily held a towel over the wound and around his leg, but the blood seeped through and now oozed between her fingers and dripped onto the floor, adding to the already voluminous pool. Lilly dug through an old, metal first aid kit in a desperate search for some magick potion to stop her husband bleeding to death.

  Libby whispered instructions to Navarre, who promptly ran in the direction of the old shed. He returned a few minutes later with wads of spider silk. Libby handed the gun to Ruben and pulled at the sticky web until it looked like a piece of gauze and bound it to his leg.

  The bullet had ripped through the side of Lachlan’s leg, creating a single, fleshy wound. There were no entry or exit wounds and thankfully, no bullet lodged inside. The bleeding didn’t stop immediately, but within about five minutes, it slowed enough to replace the blood soaked towel with a fresh wad of spider web gauze. The blood clotted then and finally stopped.

  Seth stumbled out of the forest and toward the house. He was not so lucky and would not heal as quickly. His right arm hung limp at his side, blood ran from his face, and bruises had already appeared on his cheek and under his eye.

  Trinity and Phoenix ran across the yard and helped him the remainder of the way. He winced in pain as they sat him on the steps, unable to go any further.

  “Bastards, ambushed me,” his voice was breathy and the words caught in his throat. “…Was on the ground before I knew what hit me.” Seth was a big man and the force used to knock him down must have been considerable.

  “Is everyone okay? What’d they want anyway?” Seth had missed the entire thing. Out cold on the forest floor.

  “Food mostly, raiding everyone’s house.”

  “Took the Jeep,” said Lachlan.

  “And the cruiser and most the fuel too, I’d imagine,” Ruben said as he shook his head in disbelief.

  “Thankfully, the kids were playing in the toy room and missed most of it. They ran out when Lachlan got shot, but the men left in the Jeep shortly after.”

  “Oh man! Did you get shot?” Seth tried to turn toward Lachlan, but winced in pain and stayed where he was.

  “Yes, a flesh wound. But the bleeding stopped now. Reckon I’ll have a gory scar though,” Lachlan joked.

  “Men!”

  “Where is Raven and Abigail?” Libby was inspecting Seth’s shoulder as she spoke.

  “Abigail is in the toy room with the kids. They were distressed by the blood.”

  “Raven has been gone for a few hours. She left early this morning, but I expect she’ll be back later today.”

  “She left? To go where?” Trinity questioned Tahinah. “That’s not normal. There’s nowhere to go.”

  They continued to discuss the raid, Lachlan’s wound, Seth’s broken arm and Raven’s disappearance. The loss of food would hit us badly, but losing the Jeep and the cruiser had long-term effects. We were vulnerable and isolated without reliable vehicles. But this wasn’t the only problem. These people knew where we lived and these raids would continue if they thought we were hoarding food and supplies. We were, of course, and Beanie-head wouldn’t stop until he had it all.

  This was bad, really bad, but the biggest problem for me was that we planned to leave for Emma Creek today and the only two vehicles able to take us had just been stolen.

  ~~~

  By late afternoon, Raven still hadn’t returned. Tahinah was distressed. Ruben was beginning to think the raiders might h
ave kidnapped her. As night descended, Libby and Tahinah tried to force visions of Raven, but they couldn’t. By morning, she still hadn’t returned.

  “I am sure she is still alive. There is no presence anywhere. She must be still alive,” said Libby.

  No one was saying much. The men had just come back after finding no signs of her. There were a lot of tracks because of the raiders, but none that led anywhere and none that were distinctly Raven’s.

  “You know, how no one could sense the binding?” I said, “Maybe this has something to do with magick.”

  Everyone looked at me. “Why would it have anything to do with magick?” Libby said.

  “I don’t know. Everything seems to come back to magick, sooner or later.” It didn’t seem so strange to me, not anymore.

  “Well, it could be magick, but I couldn’t even guess why,” said Tahinah. “Raven has no interest in magick; she never has.”

  “I think she ran away,” said Navarre. “She keeps telling me how much she hates it here, but I figured she was just overreacting. You know, the way Raven always does.”

  Phoenix returned to the room, holding a piece of paper in his hand. “Did anyone think to check Raven’s room?”

  Tahinah’s eyes were rimmed red and she shook her head, “I checked her bed again this morning.”

  “Well you need to read this; she left a note.”

  I know you won’t realise I’m missing until I don’t show up for dinner, by that time I will be long gone. You have no hope of finding me so don’t bother. I have found a place where I am wanted and not expected to work myself to death.

  Consider this my suicide note. I am not dead and I am not going to kill myself but pretend I have.

  Raven

  Tahinah’s hands were shaking as she released the note and let it float to the table. I saw the writing. The letters were large and scrawled and written in red. Raven was angry when she wrote this, but she was always angry. It was so crazy, it could have been a joke. But it wasn’t and I wasn’t really surprised.

  So that was it, Raven had run away. She wasn’t kidnapped or murdered or injured. There were no clues where she had gone and no way to make her come back. Everyone found a reason to blame themselves, except Phoenix. But I knew why she really left. She left because of me.

  ~~~

  Two days after the raid, Phoenix and I headed off towards Emma Creek. Ruben, Luke and Navarre were supposed to take up the slack, now that Lachlan and Seth were unable to work and Phoenix was with me. The men had agreed there was less risk to Phoenix and me than to the other people of the valley. The women needed to be protected if the raiders returned, not to mention what remained of the food.

  Libby didn’t agree, entirely, but her concern for me didn’t override the wishes and needs of the community. If Libby thought she could have managed to walk to Emma Creek and back, she would have. So Phoenix and I began the journey to Emma Creek… on foot.

  Chapter 26 ~ A WARRIORS HEART

  We walked towards town in the direction the dreams told us to travel. Following the old bitumen road was easy and the pace steady. My early morning training sessions meant that I was fit and carried no weight to slow me down.

  Phoenix carried a gun at Ruben’s insistence. After everything that had happened, we needed to be prepared for every possibility. There was no gun in my dream and there was no feeling of impending doom. But it was a good idea and Ruben could relax, knowing that we had some protection from whatever lurked in the shadows.

  I carried a long bamboo stick, a pouch filled with herbs (attached to my belt for protection), and a backpack. Libby and Tahinah had helped us pack. The backpack held two sets of clothes, socks, food and bundles of carefully selected herbs. Thanks to Libby.

  Navarre designed the stick, which he informed me was actually a staff, as a weapon. It stood over seven feet tall. We spent many hours working out how to use it and inventing techniques that made it a weapon. It really was only suited as a method of defence and not attack. In theory, it should be more useful than a gun because it allowed me to focus my anger and fear directly through the staff. I could poke, prod and hit. Navarre hated the thought that I would be unarmed, but Ruben still didn’t trust me with a gun.

  “How long before we take a break?” I asked. We had been walking for about four hours. Though it was hard to tell, the canopy of the forest was dense and dappled light painted the road. The sun was not visible from any direction.

  “We can stop anytime you like.”

  “We could have lunch, I guess. I’ve been starving for the last hour. So anytime soon would be good.”

  “I know your dream showed you the crossroads, but I think we should avoid it. There’s no cover, it’s way too open and if there’s any danger, I think we will find it there.”

  “Whatever you think is fine with me. I’m not so attached to my dreams that I can’t allow any detours. I’d be happy to take the shortest route. But you know, Libby thinks the dreams are really important.”

  We detoured past the crossroads anyway, despite Libby’s advice, not so far that we were way off course, but I felt a tug in my chest as if I had missed something. I didn’t mention it to Phoenix, in case he made me double back and walk through the crossroads.

  We followed the river towards a waterfall and the tugging eased. At least the waterfall was in the dream, so we were back on track. As we approached, we saw two people sitting on the rocks in the sun. Both were naked.

  It was obvious they carried no weapons so we called out as we approached.

  “I’ve met them,” I whispered to Phoenix as we approached. They were the young hippy couple at the markets. I remember the girl flashing the peace sign and smiling. It would be nice to talk to someone that didn’t live in the valley with us and I was curious how things were working out for them.

  “Hey man, how ya going?” said the man, while the girl just smiled. “I remember you, in town that day. Just crazy, you left before all the excitement.” He stepped forward and shook our hand “I’m Ryzer and this is Charity.”

  “I’m Phoenix.”

  “And I’m Psyche.”

  “So, what happened after we left?”

  “Some guy punched another guy, a dog stole some meat before they got to cook any and that tall guy expected everyone to move out to his place, like a damn cult. No way, man, am I getting into any cult shit, so we slipped off when it got dark.”

  It was funny and I thought how Ruben would have reacted. A cult wasn’t something we had considered in the styles of government Lon envisioned. Chances are that Lachlan would have been in the fight and Seth not far behind him.

  We ate lunch and chatted about life. They were still at the old school and were happy and healthy. Life was simple, more or less. The dark haunting look I remembered had lifted and I realised they were younger than I thought.

  “Why don’t you stay with us tonight?” said Charity. “It’s better than camping out, safer too.”

  “There’re some really wild dogs around. It would be better if you stayed with us,” said Ryzer.

  “What dogs? Like great, giant, hairy black things?” I asked.

  “No, more like the meanest pack of poodles you’ve ever seen. They’re vicious, bark and bite and run for miles. There used to be two, now there are ten. Puppies!” he said.

  Phoenix and I talked about going on or going back. It was only half an hour back into town and it was likely that we wouldn’t get far before the sun set. On our way back to town, Phoenix pointed toward the crossroads.

  “We should have trusted your dream,” he said. Libby said always trust the dreams.

  Tall grass and paddocks of dairy cows surrounded the old school. Most of the buildings were old and wooden with peeling paint. But it looked pretty comfortable, considering the alternatives.

  About fifty people had settled in the old school, but there was plenty of room for fifty more. Most of the people had wandered in as they travelled from the coast, looking for somewhere
safe. But fifty people weren’t that many, really. Maybe there were fewer survivors than we thought.

  Charity and Ryzer had other motives for inviting us to the school, beyond their concerns for our safety. The pump wouldn’t pump water and they couldn’t get more than a few cups of milk from the cows. They seemed pretty straightforward with everything else, but didn’t come straight out and ask us for help.

  “Not much can go wrong with water pumps, they are pretty easy to fix,” said Phoenix. He showed them how to prime a pump by pouring water in an opening in the top. “If it loses pressure and won’t pump, it usually needs to be primed.” He showed them a few other things that I wished someone had shown me… before I went swimming in the frozen creek, trying to fix our pump!

  We walked through the paddock to the dairy to find the cows had already arrived. Ryzer watched a documentary once and remembered that the cows had to be brought in twice a day and changed into new pasture regularly. He didn’t really know why, but he did it anyway. The documentary didn’t show him how to milk a cow.

  The herd was small, only about twenty head. But it would be enough to keep fifty people in fresh milk, yoghurt and cheese.

  “These cows here are dry, that means they don’t have any milk. Some will be in calf and will have dried off naturally. These here look like they aren’t in calf, but it’s hard to tell. They would have dried off because they didn’t get milked,” Phoenix explained.

  “Hey, how do you know so much?” said Ryzer

  “This is where I went to school.”

  “Oh man, I wish we met you sooner,” Ryzer was scratching his head and I wondered what other disasters had occurred in the past.

  “These cows here, the ones with calves are the only ones that can give you milk. But the calves get most of it. If you take away the calves, you get all the milk, but that means you have to feed the calves.”