A Taste of History Past

by Forrest Brant

  The rest of that day as he worked his mind continued to go over the conversation, well more listening than talking, but it meant that he would be leaving the village that he had always known as home. Unlike his mate who had left her home to join his, he had never faced such a thing. At first it excited him, and then he became nervous. After all, all of his contacts, all of his friends, and most of his relatives lived either in this village or very close by. And before he knew it he was heading home, and still being deep in thought over the implications of this revelation found himself opening the door and not remembering the walk from the bakery to their shelter. Jura had arrived earlier. She worked part time helping out some of the older members of the community. She could see that faraway look in his eyes and wondered what was going on. “Kal, is there something wrong? She asked cautiously.

  “What? Ah, no, nothing’s wrong.”

  “Okay, I know something’s going on, so are we going to play twenty questions, or are you going to fill me in?” At this point she pushed him towards the table and then sat across from him waiting expectantly for an answer. As she sat down she crossed her arms, placed them on the table and leaned forward.

  Not quite sure how to start he gathered his thoughts, and inwardly laughed. He then asked himself, hadn’t he had been doing since he had received the news from his mother? Looking down and then briefly up, he cleared his throat and began. “I’ve been informed that there are changes coming and those changes will involve me directly, and truthfully both of us.” Again not sure how to continue he paused. After all this had come as a complete surprise to him leaving him to wonder as to how would this affect Jura? “I’ve just learned, today in fact, that the family business will be expanding.”

  She smiled, “Ah, and that’s the news! Great news if it is true.” Again she paused because that comment he’d made did not match the look on Kal’s face. With a look of consternation on her own face she realized that there had to be much more to it than just that. “Okay. I can see that there’s more to it than what you just told me … oh, this change will somehow affect us, do I have it right?”

  Smiling back at her, even though it was a nervous one, “Yes, as always you’ve figured it out before I could say anything.” He then went over the conversation that he had with his mother and how everything would change for both of them.

  It was her turn to be silent as she absorbed everything he had just told her. “So when is this to take place? I mean it will be wonderful to be closer to my own family and my old stomping grounds, so to speak, but I have to admit that I’ve established strong roots and ties here. It will be hard to give them up. So how long do we have?”

  “I really don’t know. Mother didn’t go into a time line, but I suspect that it will be soon. So I guess we should be planning on making the move in the not too distance future. I know that we’ve been in this place for a while, so I suspect that as all of us do, we’ve been accumulating stuff.” He laughed before continuing, “Look, if I remember it right, when we became mates and first moved into this place we barely had enough of anything to fill one room, let alone the whole place. Now look at it, every room is full and comfortable for us.”

  She had to admit that the shelter had filled up over time, but how else could one make a shelter their own? Yes, it would be difficult to decide what went with them, what they got rid of, and what they stored. From his description the space they were initially to live in would be much smaller than this. “Knowing your parents as I do now, I’m sure that they’ve planned this for a long time, worked towards it, and are just about ready to make it work. So I’m sure that in that planning they had you in mind all of the time, which means that they’ll give us the necessary time to prepare and make the move. I suspect that we’ll be using the pack and cart beasts that they use for the caravans that your father operates.” Again she paused as another thought came to mind. “Oh my, that means that I’ll have to leave what I’m doing and try and find something in that other place.”

  “Yes, that probably true, but I suspect that there’ll be plenty to do at this new, well new to us, bakery so that there will be no lack of work for either of us. And I suspect that we’ll be using some of the earnings to support ourselves. She, ah mother, said that they didn’t expect the operation to be profitable immediately, and while she didn’t say so, I suspect that is because that part of what this place earns will have to support us.”

  * * *

  It was now 1513TOG, and they had been at this new bakery for two cycles of the seasons. And all that they had speculated back in their old shelter now had answers. Both had worked hard and full time in the bakery. And as the bakery was named, back where the original one was, this one was also called, Bakery of Kaygor. With the skills that he had obtained from all of the time working in the family business, much of what he did not realize that he had learned, this new location began to grow almost immediately. And the time that was necessary for it to earn a profit turned out to be shorter than his parents had projected. But the work had been hard and both of them found no problem falling asleep at the end of another busy day. In truth that first turn of seasons found them working from dawn to dusk with no break, and all the 9-days were also worked with no time off. So now with the operation showing a profit, and workers trained, the two of them felt that finally they would take one 9-day off and be able to spend some time away from the bakery, and quality time with each other.

  But before the opportunity to actually take that time off, fate once again intervened, and they received word that his uncle had passed away. His uncle had lost his mate a few turns earlier to some disease that slowly wasted her away until there was very little left. He hadn’t fared well after her passing, and had withdrawn. The family had been quite worried, but there was very little they could do. So instead of joy and time with Jura they returned to the village where he had been raised, and where most of his family lived. In those two turns, two cycles of the seasons, he had all but forgotten about the family historical record, and his thoughts of finding the locations mentioned within. But now after the funeral, with the family gathered, all remembering the good of the dead, and of other family members, who had passed on, brought back what he had received from that uncle, and the fact that he had returned the family history to him to protect it. Now it would be back in his hands, and again it brought back to the forefront, all that he had planned on doing with the knowledge that was contained therein. He remembered that conversation that he had with his mother about making this move working in this new bakery, and making it thrive. And that eventually once all was functioning as it should that he would be free to pursue the answers to the riddles this document provided.

  While it had been a sad time for him since this uncle had always been a favorite, but with the work that the two of them had been involved with, there had been no time to stay abreast of family. The only contact that they had had with either of the families, hers and his, was by letter and by contact when his father would come by with the supplies. And even here, he did not visit every time. So he wasn’t even aware of what had been transpiring with his uncle until he learned of his death. And now with the will having been read and the personal belongings passed to who they were bequeathed, the families returned to their own homes, sad in the fact that another member of the older generation was gone, and with the knowledge that slowly they were moving towards being that older generation. “I remember as I was growing up,” Kal related, “he’d show me some things, and was always funny. Coming up with these little jokes and stunts to pull on others – I really wish I had known.” But he hadn’t, and no one had figured out how to go back in the past and correct mistakes. They’d been so busy that at times it seemed hard to breathe let alone get away.

  Looking down at the letter that his uncle had addressed to him and only him, he stared at it unopened, not really wanting to open it and read the last words from him. After all if he put it off then he would still be with him with some wisdom or insight to pas
s on. It made him realize that his parents were not getting any younger. And while this uncle had been the oldest of the siblings he had died somewhat young. What made this sadder still lie in the fact that there had been no offspring from him and his mate. Kal suspected that was one of the reasons that they got along so well. He had become like a son to him. “Well,” Jura asked, “aren’t you even going to open it and read what he wanted to say to you?” They had finally returned to their shelter, which fortunately was no longer the back of the bakery, but a real separate shelter. They both sat at the table where they ate, discussed things, and worked the books.

  Shaking his head and looking down he said. “I’m not sure. I know that once I do that he will be truly gone – not that he isn’t. But this is the last of anything that is personal from him, and once I’ve read it then whatever I had of him will be gone. I mean, well I’m not sure what I mean.” Sighing and taking a deep breath, “I’m saying this really bad, but as a child I looked up to him, and from there we begin to develop our views of someone else. I guess, even though there was no real reason to do so, I kind of looked at him as my hero. No, he never did anything hero like, but was there when my parents were tied up with some problem with the business. It seemed that he was always available if I needed someone to talk to or confide in. I’m sure that being brothers, my father and him, that if he felt it was important that he would pass on whatever it was we talked about. As a kid you don’t think about such things. He’d take me on small outings and such. We’d have these great adventures, at least in my eyes, and we were close. So by not reading this I’m kind of trying to hold on to some of that, some of the mystery. This is the last of that and once I’ve read it then there will be nothing more ever.”

  Taking a deep breath herself before replying Jura said. “For someone who couldn’t explain it very well, I think you did a great job. So I’ll not push you to read this until you’re ready, even though as a female I’m very curious as to what your uncle wanted to pass on to you. Okay different subject, but we have that family history again, what are your feelings on that? I know back when we were working on it all the time that you wanted to pursue what we had discovered. To find out if any of what was written there, and what we’ve been taught in the learning centers is accurate.

  “I don’t know at this moment, haven’t even thought about it, let alone consider it. I guess for now until we’ve gotten everything where it needs to be it will just have to wait. I guess, if time allows, we can start working on it again to make sure it is preserved for others down the road of time. I suspect that once we start that we’ll become passionate once again.”

  “True, and while on the subject of family, mine contacted me recently and suggested that all of us get together for a couple of days, and I thought it was a great idea. And with us originally planning on taking some time off, for which we still have a couple of those days available, I agreed. Besides, this will be fun, and help you get over that loss that you just suffered. So we’ll be heading over there the day after tomorrow.” She smiled pausing a moment, “Besides I’ve been bragging about how much you’ve improved with the staff.”

  This brought his head up since he had been looking down at the table. “What? You’ve told them about me practicing with you? I admit that I’ve improved, but you can still beat me most of the time.”

  “Oh come on. You’ve come very far. Now I actually have to work at defeating you. Besides you’ve only had one person to work against. I want you to go against my siblings and if you feel up to it, mom and dad.” Here she laughed when she saw the look in his eyes. “Oh come on, it won’t be that bad. In fact I think you’ll have a great time, and if it isn’t more than listening as all of us recall our good times.”

  “Right, and me having trouble sitting because your family beat the crap out of me with the staff, what fun would there be in that?”

  Laughing again from his comment Jura said, “Ah is my little male worried that he could be bested by my sisters, let alone my brothers or parents?”

  From the tone of her voice he could tell that she was teasing and all he could do was smile and shake his head, “No, not really. I know they will beat me. While, as you’ve pointed out I’m so much better now I’m not good enough to beat champions, or in this case former champions. And working with you I’ve dealt with too many bruises and tender spots. So I can imagine how I would fare against the rest of your family.” Sighing he continued, “Still, I have to admit that seeing your family would be nice and would take my mind off of my uncle’s death. So what do we do with this family history, now that we have it back? I don’t want to take a chance that it will disappear like it almost did.”

  “Good point.” She stopped and thought a moment, “I don’t know, how about the bakery? There’s usually someone there all of the time.”

  “True, but there’s that back entrance, the one we get supplies, and that area where we lived is just off of the hallway. It would be so easy for someone to sneak in there during the busy parts of the day. Heck you wouldn’t have to sneak. It’s so noisy that a crying babe couldn’t be heard. It is a problem. When he was alive it was a great place for it to stay, but now …” Both were silent. Nothing had ever come of the original investigation from the past break-in, since all they had to go on was the broken lock. So whoever had been responsible was still free. And even though it had been two cycles of the seasons they had tried to keep vigilant, but had seen nothing to even raise their suspicions. He still believed that Sabohl was responsible, and because of this had never gone back to ask any more questions. Plus it was soon after that that they had made the move and had been heavily involved with making this new bakery work. And since that initial attempt there had been no others.

  Breathing out and leaning back in her chair she said, “Well I really have no answers. And right now the fewer who know about this the better. But we do need to come up with something. I don’t want to leave it here when we aren’t. We still only have partially copied it, and if it disappeared we’d have nothing.”

  “Agreed, so I think that we’ll take it with us when we visit your family, at least we’ll have it with us, and maybe we can come up with some type of answer or solution.”

  * * *

  He’d been right, while indeed he had improved through practice, it had only been against the same individual. So as he went against other members of her family they found weaknesses in both his attack and defense, and had taken advantage. And for the first time he became involved in one of those free-for-all’s Jura had talked about. While it had been desperate, since he was the least experienced, it forced him to react instead of think, and he found that he could make some of the moves quicker than he ever had. And while it would be time before the bruises disappeared he had to admit that it had been a lot of fun – rough fun, tough and brutal, especially since all of them were now adults, with no quarter taken or given. Even her parents would join and show the youngsters how it was done. And they still could whip any member of the family, and make it appear easy.

  Breathing quite hard after the last free-for-all, he asked, “All of you did this kind of thing all of the time?”

  Laughing, Fara the youngest sister of Jura’s family stated, “Why of course. But we’d only be allowed to do such a thing after all the chores and such were done. And here there are always a lot of chores. I guess, in a way, this stuff was important too, but we looked at it as a game, as something fun to do. And as all kids have a tendency to do now and then, it could get out of control, and then mom and dad would come out and put all of us in our place.” This brought a laugh from the rest of the family.

  He could imagine, in his mind’s eye, what that must have been like. The parents had been much younger then, and even now they could still whip any of them. Their skill was unbelievable. And he could understand why her parents had wanted them to become proficient with the staff. It gave them piece of mind knowing that any of their children could defend themselves if the situation warran
ted. Yet, when he had first witnessed one of their free-for-all’s, before getting brave enough to join one of them, he couldn’t believe the frenzied attacks and movements as they pushed to win the match. And while there were bruises that resulted there almost seemed to be a dance within the chaos he was witnessing, and as each one was eliminated until there would only be one winner, the dance would become almost beautiful. Then they would all laugh and do it again. Finally they convinced him to join, and the one thing that turned out to be consistent was he became the first to be eliminated. All of them were just too good, and that included Fara who was younger by many cycles of the seasons than he.

  Finally, as in all things, it was time to return to the bakery and work. It was always there, and there was always work. They said their goodbyes and added promises of returning when they could. With the pack beast they headed away from the farm out to the main trail, and then to the major road that would bring them back to High Trail, the village where they were working and living at this time. Many of the villages were named far into the past as this one had been. The main road that they now traveled had originally be a trail out of the foothills and had picked up the name High Trail. Since this particular village had served the many travelers it had become known as High Trail, just as the one he had grown up in had been known as Cross Trails because it was where two major trails, which were now roads, had crossed. It had been a location that was perfect for a village. While Cross Trails was much larger than High Trail, neither had grown large enough to become townships. Both had farmlands that supported the communities. Cross Trails sat within the great grasslands, while High Trail nestled in the foothills on the edge of the great grasslands.