* * *
“Look we’ve tried this from a number of directions, and so far none of it has worked. So let’s think about this for a moment.” Jura was frustrated with the results so far. Both of them felt that it would have been relatively easy to find this place, but as the 9-days had passed and no success she was just about ready to give up.
Taking a deep breath as he looked around, both of them were sitting in their camp that they had located just about three days from the Sacred Mountains. It was from here that they had been scouring the surrounding areas for some sign of that ancient site. “I know that both of us felt that this would be easier than it has turned out to be, but I guess if it’d have been easy someone else probably would have found it by now. We’re having trouble and we have a rough, although I have to admit it now, a very rough idea of its location. I think I know why the exact location was never mentioned in the text. Well, at least I think I do. What comes to my mind is this; first off it would have been unwise during that time to reveal your location, and secondly they knew where it was so why state something that was obvious?”
Staring into the fire that they had built and then looking out towards the grasslands, their camp was located in area that hid them from the surrounding open country. They had located the camp at the base of the foothills knowing that somewhere in those foothills that clan home existed. Sighing she said, “Yeah, I guess that would make sense. But I have forgotten how tough ‘roughing it’ can be. As a kid I loved doing this, but now find it’s not quite the same. I feel dirty, I itch all the time, and I have to admit it, to have a privy would be nice. Funny how important something becomes when you don’t have it. I just figured that by going to the base of the Sacred Mountains and backtracking those three days, give or take, since I would guess that their three days of travel would cover a greater distance than ours … But I forgot how large an area we are talking about here. These mountains cover great distances to the east and to the west, and the foothills themselves while not as big seem to cover vast distances also. And from the descriptions of the area where they were located it could be a thousand different places. So much of the area looks the same when it is described in general terms as this is. I guess I was a little, well maybe a lot, optimistic about finding this place. I guess for both of us you could throw in naïve, which would make sense, since neither you nor I have ever done anything like this before. It makes one appreciate the ones who do this all the time. I guess we only see the results and not the work that went into the finding of these ancient sites.”
“Hmm, sounds like the pot’s boiling, would you like me to dish you up some of this stew?”
Shaking her head and smiling she replied, “I guess so. But I have to admit that I’m getting tired of this too. I guess the excitement has just left and for some reason I’m wanting some of the comfort that we had in our shelter.”
“Okay, point taken. I know that you’ve done this because of me, and my passion to find out the truth. Yeah, and I know that the truth can be interpreted in so many ways and still be the truth, but you really didn’t have to join me on this adventure. Oh don’t get me wrong, I love having you with me, and sometime in the future we probably will look back and think that these were the best of times. You know times where we were free to do as we please, and not be tied down with whatever responsibilities that we will have then. We’ll forget the bad and just remember the good – but point taken. Tell you what, tomorrow let’s head into that village, you know the one that probably has been here at the time of these ancestors of mine. It’s on the road that leads into the Sacred Mountains. We can take a couple of days, rent a room, and just act like we are visitors on vacation. It will give us time to recharge, and buy what we need to continue this, how does that sound?” He had to admit that looking at her here at the camp, that she was still a beautiful female in his mind. Even with her brown hair somewhat disheveled and clothes that were loose fitting but couldn’t hide her body, but he knew that right now a break would be welcome to both of them.
“Mother raised no fools, of course. I suspect that if it was possible that I’d soak all day in a bath and maybe even then not feel like I got all the grime off of me. I’ve never gone this long without a bath even as a kid when they were something to avoid.”
“Okay then, we’ll pack up in the morning and do it. Besides maybe we’ll get lucky and something there might help us, I doubt it but one never knows.” He stood up and headed around the fire and asked her to stand, he then gave her a loving hug for which she returned. They clung together for the longest of time, and then she began to laugh. “I think we better take that stew off the fire, I believe it’s beginning to burn.”
“He started laughing also and stated, “Are you sure it isn’t us? After all that hug and the way we were close surely got me interested.”
“Oh you males, always thinking that way.” Then in a teasing voice she said, “I bet even as dirty and smelly as I am, you’d still think that way and if I offered you’d take me up on it immediately.”
Smiling he threw his arms out with the palms up inviting her back into his arms. “Why of course. I find you attractive no matter what you look like, or how dirty or odorous you become. Besides if we do become involved tonight, we can always repeat it once we’ve cleaned up back in that village and having a room for a few days in the inn.”
Coming back into his arms and putting her head on his shoulders she whispered, “Then, how can I refuse such an offer. After all you’re not so clean or fresh yourself. And if you can stand me, I guess I can stand you. Just understand this though, we may be trying to find where your, and I guess if I really think about it, our ancestors and where they lived, but I’m not going to do what those females at that time did.”
With a questioning look he asked, “Did?” Then as he thought about it he simply said, “Oh.” Nodding his head before continuing, “Of course not. After all we are a very long way away from that time and place, and much has changed for the better since then, and you don’t have to prove anything to me. Besides,” he decided to tease her a little, “I’m the only male in this relationship and I don’t require that kind of proof that you did your duty to the clan.”
Then laughing and teasing back she asked, “Are you sure? After all with the way it was back then I would be dealing with many of you males.” She saw the look of surprise in his eyes and just laughed harder. “Now come on, you are the only male in my life, other than, let’s see, hmm, there are my brothers, and my father and then there’s …”
Interrupting her he said, “Okay, okay I get the point. But I had to admit there for a moment you had me going.” Then pointing to their portable shelter he asked, “Shall we?”
* * *
“Sabohl, this is an update to let you know what is transpiring with the two that you have an interest. They traveled to the Sacred Mountains in the north, and have backtracked just about three days from them and have been scouring the foothills. Whatever it is that they are looking for must be somewhere there. Although considering the very size of this minor range one could be searching their whole life and never find anything. They recently pulled camp and headed for one of the local villages. At this time we feel that we’ve remained hidden from their sight, and neither is aware of our presence. Because they have been somewhat stationary, we’ve added others to make it easier to watch. If there is a change we will pass it on immediately.”
After reading the note he had to admit that whoever wrote this one was better educated than most of these he dealt with. So they are searching for something in the northern foothills are they? This confirmed in his mind that they had to have a source, something ancient that had sent them to this location, but so far nobody had seen it, and even with people eavesdropping on their conversations, nothing was discovered. Yet there had to be a reason for them to be there, and not only there, but searching all over those foothills. He’d need to get a note right back to those who watched. But even if he sent it out today t
o one of the many drops it would probably take at least one 9-day for it to reach them. Well that was something that couldn’t be helped. There was no way presently to move something like this any faster. He couldn’t use the signaling system that moved important messages, so he had to depend on the hand carried method, and dealing with these people who were less than trustworthy could actually add time to its arrival.
Still, he had to be careful to leave names and such out of these notes so that if they fell into the wrong hands that they could not come back and incriminate him. He could answer saying that whoever was accusing him of something couldn’t prove anything. After all it was just a note and nothing more, and could mean any number of things. He was still angry with that one visit that happened a few cycles of the seasons in the past. It came close to exposing him and his many less than honest contacts that he used. But at this point in time it appeared that no one noticed, which meant that he was still in charge, and still safe. Leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head he stretched, shaking his head, and sighing slightly he thought. Still got more papers to read through and grade before I can get that response out to one of the drops so that it can be on its way.
* * *
“Now that was a wonderful break, and to be clean for the last 9-days was just wonderful.” Jura stared into the fire at their new basecamp and actually felt relaxed and refreshed. It had been a nice diversion, which sounded funny to her. Since normally their diversions had to do with leaving the village and maybe go camping. Now it was just the opposite. They had found a place where a small stream ran. Upstream and just a short distance from their location there was a waterfall and at the base the water pooled in a small pond before continuing on its way. Surrounding this pond was a number of large boulders making access somewhat difficult, but accessible. Plus it provided privacy and while the water wasn’t heated it still allowed both of them to bathe and not feel so dirty. The way the stream twisted and turned their campsite was completely hidden, making them feel a little safer than they did in their last campsite.
It had been an accidental discovery since small and large streams were a common sight here in the north. The plan had been to head back to their original site, but had detoured briefly because of a wild beast, and came across this stream. Pushing through some of the vegetation that grew because of all this water, and they found this place, a little oasis of clear ground surrounded by boulders and small hills with the only entrance and exit being through that vegetation. Smiling Kal said, “Yes, that was rather nice wasn’t it? And you’re right this is quite the opposite of what we’re used to. And to find this place, for what we are doing I cannot ask for better. We have privacy, we have our own pond, to both bathe and fish, and plenty of boulders to take care of our nature calls, and all of this is invisible from the outside. Heck, even where that small falls comes in here you can’t see in. It’s like this is our own little world. Of course when we build a fire, the smell of smoke would draw someone to us. But there doesn’t seem to be anybody out here but us, although there probably is.”
“Yes there probably are others around; still I’m happy with this. Now if we had a permanent shelter built here it would be almost perfect, but since we can’t this is just about as good as it gets.”
“Yes, and this allows us to search a different portion of these foothills, and we double checked when we came back and we are still just about three days from the Sacred Mountains, so this could be the area.”
For the next 9-days they searched the areas close to their new campsite and came up empty. Sitting by the fire that last night, with frustration showing in both of them, it just hadn’t occurred to them that it would be this difficult. At least they were learning, and finding that slowly a map of the area was developing in their minds. And in those mental maps there were still a number of blank areas but slowly the large area was beginning to make sense, and as each blank area was filled in, the map shrunk in size. Warming his hands over their small fire, and then leaning back against a convenient boulder Kal said, “So far, from any of the descriptions and the rough map that we have none of this looks right. What is it that we’re missing? I know that when maps were made during this era that there was never a specific orientation like all of them do now. It was more based on a key landmark, something that was familiar or commonly known at the time.”
“Yeah, and that’s the problem, we don’t know what that common thing is. It would have been nice if it was orientated like all of today’s maps with South on top, but I guess if that was the case then all of these ancient sites would have been located by now, and maybe the way we view our history would be different, but who knows that may not be true either. I wonder why it was decided to make south as the top of all the modern maps?”
“Could be because most of us live in the south, and because the weather gets a little nasty up here, that there are less of us here, it would make sense to base it on where most of us live. Of course this is just a guess, mapmaking wasn’t something I studied.”
“Well, being that I’m from the outback so to speak, we’ve used maps and been comparing them to the lands for as long as I can remember, and so far there’s nothing at all that is similar to this map. Of course I know that if one approaches an area, one that they are familiar with, but from a different direction that that known area looks strange and unfamiliar until we change our position and then it just clicks. I suspect that this is what we are facing here. With no way to orientate the map, and not knowing what they used as their landmark, and who knows how much has changed since this place was abandoned, we’ve missed it. And let’s face it; the land does change, even if it seems unchangeable. So something major on this crude map may no longer exist as it did in the days when this was created.”
“True, so very true. I guess all we can hope for since this was made towards the end of their time at this place that the changes aren’t great.” Kal sighed, “I really did believe that this would be so much easier than it turning out.” Looking around and then up at the night sky he continued, “That’s really beautiful. Until we started doing this kind of stuff, you know camping and spending time away from the villages, I never appreciated the night skies or so many other things truly. Being one from the villages I was used to having noise and people around me all the time. So getting used to the quiet and the night sounds, feeling the soft breezes, feeling the changes that this world tells you have been a learning experience. I guess by being from where I am, and now doing this I can appreciate your life so much more and I’m finding that I prefer it over the life in the villages.”
Smiling Jura said, “I told you it would be this way. But words can never, and I mean never adequately explain the differences. You really have to experience them for yourself. And in that I mean not just two or three days, but like now where you live it for a long time. It is only then when you shed your village ways and you begin to listen to what this natural world is trying to say to you, that you begin to understand the differences. Of course,” she stopped and smiled with a faraway look before continuing, “there’s many who try and before too many 9-days are over, are running, screaming and heading back to the protection of the village.” She shrugged, “It’s just something I’ll never understand, but I guess some can only live that way. I know that while I’ve been living with you and we’ve been living in the villages it still isn’t an easy thing for me to do. It’s like there is a constant invisible pressure which places a restlessness on me, making me yearn for the outback. But don’t take me wrong here, you’re my mate and I’ll be with you wherever we end up. Although I have to admit it, other than some of the necessities that a village can provide a female, I’m loving every day that we are out here.” She looked up at the stars, looked down and was deep in thought and in her own world for a short time. He waited knowing that she still had something to say. “I don’t know how to put into words, but being here in the natural world where we came from seems almost healing. Yes I know that it can be a dang
erous unforgiving place, but at the same time when this soaks into you, you almost feel healed, whole, and feel like you’ve returned home. You feel more alive, oh I don’t know, but it’s the way I feel.”
For a while both of them were silent allowing the night to surround them, the slight breezes to whisper to them, the small beasts scurrying along their way, the sounds of a night flyer passing overhead, and just the silence that almost seemed deafening. After what seemed a long time both looked at the fire and saw that it had burned down to just coals. Still neither felt like moving both lost in their own thoughts and the night. Finally Kal said, “I guess we could stay out here all night, and probably it wouldn’t matter, but I think it’s time to retire, snuggle a little bit, enjoy our closeness, and get some rest.”
It was late morning with Kal sitting close to their fire. He looked around their private oasis, although this probably wasn’t quite the right word for it. As far as he could remember it had to do with an area in the wastelands where there was water. Well, at least they were surrounded with water. Jura had commented that she needed a bath and had headed for the pond that was just out of sight of the camp. He heard something from that direction and figured it was her returning and got up and began to head in that direction only to be faced by Jura who was wearing only the moisture from her dip. Immediately he could feel the desire rise, and was sure that she could see it also. Shaking his head he stated, “Seeing you like this makes me want you right now.”
Yeah, I’m sure, but I forgot to bring a drying cloth and a change of clothing. I had decided to wash the ones I was wearing as they were almost as dirty as I was. And on that other subject,” there was a look of what he couldn’t quite figure out in her eyes, “oh yes me female, you male. I must as a female submit to you since you are the male. No wait, that’s not quite true. It is this way me female, you warrior, only then must I submit.” She stopped and laughed before continuing. He wasn’t sure where this was going, “No you are not warrior and as such I am not required to submit to your needs, but I am a better warrior than you, so you must submit to me!” She then walked over to him, they hugged, and he stated, “Hey, now you’ve got me wet.”
A Taste of History Past Page 10