A Taste of History Past

by Forrest Brant

  Grabbing their gear, and not taking the time to make sure that their fire was truly dead they hurriedly threw their gear together and took off after them, not bothering to check the camp where Kal and Jura had spent the night. As in so many other attempts, it was obvious that this wasn’t what they had been searching for either, so why bother searching the area where they had spent the night? The two who were following, hung back just far enough so that they would remain unseen, and shook off the dregs of waking from a deep sleep and felt once again that luck was with them. Now they had to be careful, and trail a little further behind and make sure that the ones they were following didn’t take off on some side trail, thusly losing them.

  The three who were following the two who were following Jura and Kal had remained further down the trail with one scouting ahead, when the one who had been doing the scouting ran back to them. He stopped to catch his breath before being able to say anything. “All of them are heading back down the trail towards us, and we only have a very short time to disappear.” Looking around, there wasn’t any place to go so they headed rapidly back down the trail to where there was a ravine that cut into the side of the trail and curved around out of sight. Unfortunately it wasn’t very deep but with the concentration of the four coming back down the trail they hoped that they wouldn’t be looking too hard. The only advantage they had was twofold, first this wouldn’t be some place that one would normally conceal themselves, and secondly they were not visible from a higher point on the descending trail. They had to lie flat, barely hidden, with only the grasses providing anything to block one’s view.

  They heard, more than saw, the first two pass their location and continue on, none the wiser that they were here. Their positions were uncomfortable but they had to wait what seemed like forever before the heard the second pair approach their position, quietly talking as they slowly continued down the trail. The three waited until they were sure that enough time had passed to safely come out of hiding. The one who had been scouting simply said, “That was too close.”

  * * *

  Jura as they headed back down the trail at a rapid pace to force the ones following no time to check out their camp commented, “Look I have a feeling that whoever the ones are they aren’t very good in the outback. I guess in some ways yes they are since we didn’t even know that we had someone following us from the beginning. But look,” as she pointed to the trail, “their tracks are as plain as daylight. If any of my family had been doing this we’d eliminated our tracks so that they couldn’t accidently be found later like this.”

  “At least by them doing it this way,” Kal replied, “we can see that we’re probably only looking at a few of them, which means if we did have to face them it would be a little more equal.” He stopped, and it took a second before she stopped, as it had been unexpected. Shaking his head, she could see that there was a little bit of anger in his stance. Breathing out a deep cleansing breath Kal said, “This just sucks. And to think I trusted that learned, that Sabohl, and now he has been watching us ever since. I know I don’t have any real proof, but who else could it be? It makes me want to confront these few that are following us and get the truth out of them. Although I suspect that they aren’t tied directly to Sabohl but someone else. Look we have another issue, and I know we briefly talked about it before heading out this morning, but I’ve been thinking about it as we led them away. And it’s not only the fact that when we return that we’ll give ourselves away. We can only stay there so long and we have to head back. We’ll be the only ones who know that we were the first, and there’s no quick way for us to get back. Plus, I wouldn’t know who to report our find to anyway.

  “Originally I just figured it would be you and me and the families who would know about what we’ve found. Then when we would have had the chance to search out the different locations and have an understanding of what we’ve found find the right people to report it to and go from there. By us being followed like we have been, none of this is going to happen. At least we now know that what the journals say is accurate, and that they weren’t some forgeries that had been planted in the family in the past. What they say is true and real, which means that the other places talked about are real also. Meaning that the way we are viewing our past is not right. These places are not myths or creations of our ancestors, they are very real.

  “I guess, like so many things that we do, we go into it with an unreal expectation of how it will go. And if we both think about it, finding or trying to find this site is a good example. Both of us figured that with the crude map that it would be easy to just use the map and walk right up to the clan home. Well, we both know how well that worked. Here it is almost the Season of Cold and after working through the end of the Season of Heat and most of the Season of Falling we’ve finally located it only to find that we have been under observation the whole time and none the wiser for it. And teaching the ones who are behind us a lesson will not change anything. They’ll still know and we can’t change that. And I can’t just kill them, although I suspect they probably deserve it. So I guess after this long winded talk it comes down to, now what?”

  Jura listened quietly with her hands on her hips as he spoke. After finishing, she remained quiet, cocked her head to the side, and said, “Here’s a thought, and like leaving this morning it has risk, not that everything we’ve been doing doesn’t. Instead of heading back to our discovery we could just pack up, look dejected and defeated and call it a season of failure, even though we know better. We might be able to give them enough of a misdirection that this will remain safe until we can find someone who could help us. And it’s becoming obvious that we’re going to need help. Although who to ask, I really don’t know either.”

  “It’s something to think about, and I know that we have some time before we reach our camp. In fact it will probably be between the zenith and dusk before we get there. So we’ll be spending at least one more night in our more permanent camp. Maybe we can come up with something, and I think your suggestion is a good one. But anything we do is a problem at this point. Well this isn’t getting us back to camp, shall we continue?”

  CHAPTER SIX

  INTRIGUE

  It had been a hard decision since they had actually been, even if so brief of a time, in the clan’s ancient home, the home of his and hers by becoming the mate of Kal, ancestors. But now they were back in High Trail checking on the bakery and all the paperwork that seems to always multiply. One would swear that it could reproduce itself. While they had been away the business had grown under the care of Sara and she had suggested that they pick up a second site as they were now outgrowing the one that they were in. So for the Season of Cold they would work through all that they had to do, touch bases with his parents, and bring the family up to date with what they had discovered. For now it would have to remain within the confines of the family. And they hoped that it would be enough, and the ones who had followed them through their season of searching hadn’t returned to that last place where they had made their discovery.

  Then the word got out that in the near future that Sabohl would be making a major announcement about a discovery in the far northeastern foothills and one of importance. And at this point they knew that he had stolen their discovery, but even if they tried to counter this up and coming announcement that Sabohl would be sure to silence them. If they hadn’t been sure of Sabohl’s position, they now had personal proof of the way he worked. Again, while there had never been proof that the break-in had been requested by Sabohl, this reinforced this thought that he had a strong role in it. Too many coincidences, too short of time between knowledge that Sabohl had gained to the actions, and here was another. Breathing out deeply and feeling somewhat defeated, Kal said. “We were so hoping that when we left like we did that whoever that was that was following us would just ignore what we found and we could safely go back in the Season of Greening. But I guess we were wrong. Probably should have moved our camp and at least tried to check out a couple
of additional areas to, as you call it, to lay a false trail. Something made them curious enough to go back and find what we had found, and now it’s lost to us. Who knows what mess he’ll make of the place, and how he’ll bend it to fit his own interpretations. This is so wrong!”

  Feeling helpless Jura could only be silent as she listened. She felt betrayed also, but who were they but just a couple of bakers? How could they go against one of the most important people in their world? She knew that he wasn’t really expecting any answers from her, but it seemed so unfair. Yes but life is unfair. She heard her parents telling her that in her mind. Sometimes you saw someone who never deserved what they had, continue to receive undeserved rewards, acknowledgements, and the ones who actually should have remained unknown. It was that way of the world now, and as far as she knew, it had always been that way, and probably always would be. “I know you don’t expect me to answer those questions since I have no answers and you know it, but there’s got to be some way, or someone out there that can help us. There’s just got to be.” Again she was silent. Then in a much softer voice, one that held no confidence she said, “Although I have no idea who that would be or where to even look.”

  She leaned forward on the table that both of them were sitting around. It was the end of another busy day with not enough time to accomplish all that had been set before them, and she had to admit that she was tired. Yet the next few 9-days were going to be no different, and once everything had been brought up to date with the bakery, they needed to start their planning for the next season of searching. Yet, before any of that could be accomplished they had to find someone who could help, pure and simple. If they continued like they were doing, then as they made their discoveries, Sabohl, who seemed to have them watched all the time, would just claim it as his own, as he had on their first major discovery. It almost made one want to forget the whole thing. But now that they had located the first she was finding that she had a desire to continue, she felt that she was catching fire like Kal, and wanted to go find those mythological places and prove that they were real. Shaking her head she said, “I just don’t know, there has to be someone out there who knows about how this Sabohl works, and is trying to end his reign. I’m sure that we aren’t the first that he’s stolen from, and if he continues in his place of power, we won’t be the last.”

  “True, but I don’t have any ideas as to where to even begin to look. And I’m sure if we had a way to see in the dark we’d find that there are people out there watching us. I mean it took us almost all the time we were out there searching to discover that we were watched. It was a shock to say the least. Now if …” His thought and statement uncompleted, as out of nowhere there was a single knock on their door, this being a complete surprise since it was dark, and rarely would any come by this time of night. They looked at each other and then the door, “Now who could that be?” Carefully he got up and peered out the window that allowed them to see the entrance, but there was nobody there. Now curious he went to the door and opened it and confirmed that there was no one there. Puzzled he stepped out and almost tripped over a small bag that was all but invisible. It was something that hadn’t been there earlier. So instead of bending down to pick it up he kicked it inside, closed the door, walked to the window and looked once again trying to see if anyone was there, anyone at all. But the roads were empty, and all that was visible were the lights from the other shelters in the area.

  He was now more in the dark than he was before opening the door. Once outside he had searched carefully, with his eyes, every place he could see, which truthfully, wasn’t much. It was one of those rare nights that none of the moons would be visible, so it was as close to pitch black as one could have. So after seeing nothing with his eyes after giving them time to adjust to the night, he listened very hard for any sounds that would have been unusual, but again it was silent, other than the normal night sounds. Once back inside he looked at Jura shrugged and shook his head when he saw her questioning look. “I don’t know, there was nothing, no sounds and it was too dark to really see anything. And whoever tossed this,” he pushed the small bag with his booted foot, “made sure that they couldn’t be seen or heard.” He breathed heavily undecided, but eventually bent over and picked up the small leather bag which was tied shut with a leather thong. From the feel he could tell that there was a rock to give it weight and what felt like paper inside. He brought over to the table and sat back down across from Jura tossing the small bag on the table, where both stared at it.

  After what seemed much too long of a time Jura finally broke the silence and said, “Well, I guess we better see what’s inside, don’t you think?”

  “I guess so, and we really aren’t going to learn about what’s here just looking at that sealed bag.” He reached for it and with some work was finally able to untie the knots. He examined the bag as he did this and found that it could have been any of the thousands that were made and sold so there was no clue as to the owner from the bag itself. The thong was threaded through the top of the bag and took some work to get the bag fully opened. The rock that had been placed inside was large enough that it took some real work to remove it, and in the bottom was a tightly folded paper. After removing the paper he examined it and saw that once again that the paper was just that – ordinary cheap paper. Looking up he could see that Jura was burning with impatience and curiosity, so he handed the folded paper to her and signaled her to go ahead unfold it and read it, which she did. He waited patiently and really couldn’t read what she was reading but shortly she passed it to him and he then read:

  “You’ve now learned the extent that Sabohl will go. Just know that there are others who are just as aware. We cannot reveal ourselves to you at this time, but know that we truly know who discovered the site that Sabohl is claiming as his own discovery. There will come a time when all of this will come back and haunt Sabohl, but as you have so learned, he has much power and control. Remember you are not alone in this.”

  It was short and sweet, but left neither closer to an answer of the owner or owners of this unorthodox delivery. And while the note promised an accounting sometime in the future, and that there were others aware, it didn’t improve their present situation at all, and truly left a bigger mystery. Like how could they know that the two of them had discovered that site? “I don’t know how to take this? I mean this could just as easily be coming from Sabohl as well as someone else. So we could be fooled into thinking that there’s help out there, well maybe help out there since there are no promises, and in the end it being Sabohl manipulating us to do his bidding. But if it is someone else, that means that there had to be a lot of people out there following us around while we searched. And if that’s so, how many, and how does that reflect on us? I mean we weren’t looking for people out there watching us, and as a result we didn’t know until it was too late. Would we have been able to see them earlier than we did, or were we just too wrapped up in what we were trying to find to notice?”

  “Yeah, everything you’ve asked are valid questions, and this is getting much more complicated than I ever imagined. And when we started this I just figured that we would be out in the outback, the wilderness, by ourselves, trying to find that ancient site. Instead we seemed to have led an army around those northern foothills and never saw them at all. Like you, I figured that once we moved to High Trail and had worked all that time before starting this that we were free of Sabohl and his minions, but I was obviously very wrong. And now, if we are to believe what is in this, this unusually delivered note, then there are others who are just as aware and are working against Sabohl.”

  “Yeah, but can we believe it? I know that the delivery was dramatic, if one wants to think about it, but if, well not if, since we know that we’re being watched, that means that this other shadowy group is also staying out of sight, staying in the background and trying not only to remain hidden from us, but from Sabohl and his organization also. Hey, I’m just a lowly baker, who like everybody has a family h
istory, and I know that I’m not the only one who can claim to have come from the clan that K’jor was the leader of, and part of our historical past. After all there were lots of leaders over the time that clan existed. Yes we can trace the beginnings of change from him and his time, but we also know that there are other influences and it was a very long time past his time that the changes truly began – so why the interest? What is really happening in the shadows, in the depth of the night, and how’d we get mixed up in all of this?”

  “I don’t know, and I don’t like it. After all while you, and I guess me now, we are bakers, but in the beginning I was just a female from the farm. One who only visited the villages now and then, and dreamed of someday doing something other than farming. But this – this is nothing I wanted to get involved with. No I don’t mean chasing your family history, but this intrigue that involves ones in power. Like you I thought it would be nice to actually find those places that are talked about in those documents, those journals from your family, and whole heartedly wanted to search for this as much as you did. I guess in some ways it was being romantic. In those cheap stories that one can buy, while the hero and the heroine go through tough times they always triumph in the end. And even there they leave out much of the hard boring stuff. So when one tackles something like this it is easy to forget that there’s lots of hard boring stuff. And I have to admit that there was.” She paused for a moment and smiled, “But I suspect that after much time has passed both of us by that we’ll personally forget the hard boring stuff and create a romantic story of our own.”