Children of a New Earth

by Eliason, R. J.

  “It’s strange, hiking without our guns,” Shawn commented that night over supper.

  “So we’ve gathered,” Amy groused from the other side of the fire. “You’ve only mentioned it, what, twenty times?”

  “Well, it’s strange, that’s all,” he persisted.

  “We have been through this a hundred times,” Daniel groused. “It was either leave the guns at the village, leave them in the woods somewhere before we entered the Greenbowes’ territory . . .”

  “And no one wanted to leave them unguarded,” Kurt threw in.

  “. . . or not go into their territory at all,” Daniel finished.

  “I would have told the Greenbowes to take a hike,” Mark put in.

  “You would have been the one taking the hike,” Luke said. “About three extra weeks to get around their territory, from the sound of it.”

  The rest of the meal was consumed in silence.

  The next day, shortly before noon, they crested a hill and found a crossroads in front of them. A large gray truck was parked there. Greenbowe Tech was printed on the side of the truck. They approached it cautiously.

  Under a tree, just a few feet away from the crossroads, sat a figure. As they approached, she stood. It was a young woman, approximately their age. She wore a one-piece jumpsuit in gray and a wide-brim straw hat. Short, red hair and a button nose stuck out from under the hat.

  She beamed at them, the freckles on her face almost a match for Amy’s, though the two were alike in no other way. She was almost a head shorter than Amy with a slender body. She had a confident, almost cat-like walk.

  The sun was bright, and the horizon seemed to stretch on forever. Amy was struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu. Is this the woman from my dream?

  “You must be the Freedom Ranchers,” she called out. “My name is Lexa Greenbowe. I believe I can pick out Amy. The rest of you, I am afraid, will have to introduce yourselves.”

  Luke stepped forward. “Luke Zachary of Freedom Ranch,” he said extending his hand. “I’m confused. I thought we had several more days to go before we’d reach you.”

  Lexa laughed. “You do have a ways to go yet, I’m afraid. I was out working on one of our remote power stations when Lady Sapphire got me on short band and told me about you. She thought we might run into each other. I decided to swing by and give you a lift. What do you say? Want to go for a ride?”

  The men all looked taken aback. They had never met anything quite like this new girl. It’s obvious what they’re thinking, Amy thought as she watched the smirks and leers on the men’s faces.

  “We thank you,” Luke said after a moment.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll ride in your truck,” Shawn fumbled out. Lexa laughed.

  She took Luke by the hand. “Introductions?” she said, patting his arm. He led the way, introducing each member in turn. They blushed deeply as she looked each of them over appraisingly. Shawn turned beet red and mumbled something that made her giggle.

  She’s a rather brazen tart, Amy thought. When her turn came, Lexa’s smile was so infectious and her voice so sincere that Amy forgot to be offended. “Amy, a fellow mechanic, I hear. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Turning back to the others, she said, “We’ll have lunch before we set off, okay?”

  She casually switched from holding Luke’s arm to taking Amy’s and led the way back to the tree. She found her small pack and rummaged in it for a moment. She came up with a smallish jar and broke the seal. “Baba ganoush,” she declared brightly.

  There was a long perplexed silence.

  “Eggplant?” she said.

  “Oh,” several voices mumbled as she produced a couple of loaves of dark bread. Amy was becoming quite used to the bread down here. It was heavy and grainy, but satisfying.

  “Lexa, that’s a pretty name,” Patrick said sitting beside her, in what he no doubt thought was a smooth move. Amy thought he looked ridiculous.

  “Thanks. Patrick, is it?” Lexa replied, pulling out a long knife. “Be a sweetie, dear, and cut some slices for me.”

  Amy expected Patrick to protest, either at being called a “sweetie” or being asked to do women’s work, but to her surprise he did neither. He took the loaves and started cutting them.

  Shawn sat down next to Patrick. “Lexa, that’s an unusual name,” he said.

  “What can I say? I’m an unusual gal.”

  “You’re one of the Greenbowes?” Mark asked sitting on her other side.

  “In the flesh.” She smiled.

  “’Cause we’re headed that way,” he finished lamely.

  Amy rolled her eyes as she sat down. She was more than a bit annoyed with the guys, who were casting around for anything to say. They are acting like they’ve never seen a girl before, she thought as Luke and Daniel practically sat on top of one another to be close to Lexa.

  “So what brought you out here?” Luke asked as he joined the tight circle of boys. Amy shot him a dark “you too?” look that he totally missed.

  “Oh,” Lexa waved vaguely northward, “bulldog station had a problem with its charge controller in the photo-voltaic array.”

  “You have photo voltaics too?” Amy asked surprised.

  “Sure, it’s one of our specialties,” Lexa replied. “You have them at the ranch?” She was making sandwiches and handing them around.

  “Sure, they’re more reliable than wind generators,” Amy replied. “Well, until they get hit by lightning.”

  Lexa giggled. “Damn straight. Wind is good and reliable, as long as you have the parts. Solar is a much better long-term investment, however. No moving parts to break.”

  “That’s right,” Daniel nodded sagely.

  The fool doesn’t even know what he’s talking about, Amy thought. “What do you mean by a remote power station?” she asked. Someone has to keep the level of intelligent conversation up.

  Lexa rose and carried two sandwiches over, handing one to Amy, then sitting down beside her. The look on the boys’ faces, now five feet away, almost made Amy break out in laughter. “We maintain powering stations for EVs every twenty miles or so, for our use and for travelers,” Lexa said.

  “What’s an EV?” Patrick asked.

  “Electric vehicle,” Amy answered quickly. Patrick gave her a sour look, but what was she supposed to do? Let Lexa answer and think they were all stupid?

  “It’s a good thing you guys brought one smart one with you,” Lexa teased. They all laughed. Amy couldn’t believe it. If she had made a comment like that, they’d have killed her.

  “So how many visitors do you get?” Luke asked.

  “Not so many. You will find ample welcome, I’m sure,” Lexa replied. Amy found the tone cryptic. Something had been implied, but Amy had no idea what.

  “How long will it take to get there?” Luke persisted. If he had caught the implication, he didn’t show it.

  “Our EVs are built for rough terrain and heavy loads, not speed,” she replied. “It will take the rest of today to reach the next power station. Tomorrow by supper, we will be back in Tir-Na-Nog.”

  “Tir-Na-what?” Shawn asked.

  “Tir-Na-Nog,” she sounded out. “That’s the name of our village. Let me put out an offering and we can get going.”

  Without explanation, she disappeared into a nearby bush. She came back presently and led them to the truck. The wide back door rolled up to reveal a mostly empty cargo space.

  “Haven’t room in the cab for everyone, so in you go,” she laughed, grabbing Kurt’s bag and throwing it in. They all tossed their bags in and started scrambling in after.

  As Amy threw her pack in, she felt a quick slap on her butt. She spun around, ready to pound the man responsible, only to find herself face to face with Lexa’s innocent smile. “Ride up front with me, partner,” she said. “We’ll have some girl talk.”

  Disarmed by the friendliness, Amy waited while the others were loaded in. “Must be a hoot traveling with that lot,” Lexa said conspiratorially after
she rolled the big door shut. “One poor girl with six strapping lads.”

  “It’s not like that!” Amy protested, indignant.

  “Damn! And I was hoping for some juicy gossip. Oh well, I am glad someone’s life is as boring as mine.”

  Amy doubted very much this woman led a boring life, but she said nothing. As she went around and climbed into the cab, she wondered what the next few hours would bring. A mechanic’s daughter, she had never been particularly versed in what you might call “girl’s talk.” In fact, she had no idea what that might be.

  “I want to thank you for saving me a trip out to Boringhaven,” Lexa said as she swung herself into the seat beside Amy.

  “Oh, that’s fine,” Amy replied. “I was glad to be of use. Don’t you like it out there? They seemed friendly to me.”

  “If you go for old skin bags.” Lexa grimaced. Amy blushed. She hadn’t thought about it like that at all. “They’re a bunch of prudes, if you ask me. Every time I go out there, all the girls watch me like chickens guarding their nests. Not that it’s much of a nest either. Even the few young’uns out there are only good at two things, drinking and bragging, if you know what I mean.”

  Amy laughed in spite of herself. She remembered the first night at the feast, William, the one the boys had fought with, had drunkenly told Amy exactly how many inches he was.

  “Now, that bunch back there?” Lexa asked speculatively. “What about them?”

  “Bunch of immature idiots,” Amy muttered, thinking of their behavior at lunch.

  “Yeah, I caught that,” Lexa giggled. “What was with all those puppy-dog stares? That big one, especially. He’s got some nice muscles there, but he’s not the sharpest tool in the shed now is he? And that Patrick looks like he could handle himself, and he’s got plenty of muscle as well, but I don’t know . . . there’s something dark in those eyes.”

  Amy marveled as Lexa continued to describe the expedition members. She was not sure what surprised her more, how quickly and accurately Lexa had sized the men up or how she described them.

  “That Luke fellow, he seems to be the only level head in the bunch. The whole lot of you are pretty skanky, mind, but that’s to be expected with what you’ve been through,” Lexa said, summing up. “But I suspect he’d clean up pretty nicely.”

  Here is where I’m supposed to say something like, “Hands off; he’s mine,” Amy thought. She didn’t voice the sentiment.

  After several more minutes of speculation about the boys without getting any response from Amy, who couldn’t imagine what to say, Lexa started asking about their trip. “Tell me about this mission of yours.”

  Amy started slowly. She felt like she was reciting a book report. Finding a receptive audience, she warmed up. In fact, she had never experienced a more receptive and lively listener. Amy found herself talking about the ranch and her life there.

  “He said what? Because you’re a girl? That right bastard!” Lexa said of Amos Deaton. “Oh, that place seems frightfully primitive.”

  “Oh no,” Amy replied. “We have electricity, or we did. We have a couple of tractors and had some cars, but we don’t have any fuel—”

  “I meant socially,” Lexa interrupted. “All that boy/girl stuff. It’s just like you read about in the old days. Do they really think less of you because you’re a girl? Mr. Quimby said you did a great job.”

  Amy glowed at the compliment.

  After a moment’s reflection, Lexa went on, “So, you and Luke? You two a thing?”

  Amy shrugged. “Kind of.”

  “But you’ve never done anything?”

  “Anything? Like what?”

  Lexa just looked at her.

  With Luke? Amy was startled. She had never really thought of him that way. Then again, she had agreed to marry him. That would certainly entail something. Blushing, she shook her head no.

  “Oh my Goddess,” Lexa squealed. “You’ve never done it?!” Amy blushed even harder. “Women?” Lexa asked.

  “I’m not a lesbian.” Amy declared indignantly.

  “Just asking,” Lexa sounded miffed. “It’s not like it’s a big deal.”

  Not a big deal? What kind of reaction did she expect?

  After an uncomfortable silence, Lexa changed the subject. “So tell me about the generator.”

  Amy described the wind generator and what was wrong. “It was a pretty old unit anyway,” Lexa told her. “We would have had to replace it in a year or two.” Within moments, Lexa had seemingly forgotten the earlier incident and was back to rambling like she was Amy’s oldest friend.

  Amy was not sure what “girl talk” usually consisted of, but she was pretty sure it was not EVs, solar panels, and wind generators. For the first time in her life, she had found someone who shared her interests.

  As the afternoon progressed, the conversation turned more personal again. Amy described the men of the ranch. Lexa gave an indignant shriek. “No wonder you’re a virgin,” she said.

  “I’ve never had to deal with that,” Lexa continued, “but I know what you mean about people thinking you can’t do stuff. I get that all the time. They say I’m too young, it’s too dangerous, you name it.”

  “Oh God, yes,” Amy said. “I hate that.”

  “Daisy is the worst. She is always after me about these long trips. But I’ve been out in this old truck since I was a little girl, helping mom.”

  “You’re mom used to do this?” Amy asked surprised.

  “Sure, she taught me everything I know. Taught me fractions with her socket set when I was four.”

  Amy laughed. “Yeah, well, I got you topped. My dad used to get me to sleep by reading old technical manuals when I was three. I’d even trace the circuit diagrams with my finger,” She paused. “Of course, he probably wouldn’t have taught me if he had a son. Women back home just learn cooking and cleaning and crap.”

  “Sounds like bizarre pre-blast ideas to me,” Lexa said. “They had queer ideas about women, about a lot of things really. Why else would they let the earth get in such a state?”

  After some thought, Amy asked. “So who’s Daisy?”

  “My wife,” Lexa answered. “One of them anyway.”

  Amy stared at her. She was trying vainly to make any sense of the answer. She wasn’t even sure which part confused her more.

  Lexa saw her look and laughed. “Sorry, did I mention that I am married?” Then she asked, “Is that so surprising?”

  “Well, yes, actually,” Amy finally managed to answer. “I mean, just a while ago you were talking about the boys like . . . like . . . a horny tomcat? . . . like maybe you were interested.”

  “Well, maybe,” Lexa answered. “Not the whole lot, mind, but one. Just depends. Does that have anything to do with being married?”

  “Usually,” Amy answered. “And did you really say you were married to a woman?”

  “Two,” Lexa corrected, “and three men.”

  “All at once?”

  “How else?” Lexa laughed again. “I am guessing from your big eyes that is not the usual arrangement up in the mountains?”

  “That would be a big understatement. How can you have more than one husband?”

  “It’s a group arrangement,” Lexa explained. “Robin’s Nest, that’s our family name. There are three men Rowan, Merlin, and Luther. Then there are three women, Daisy, Winnona, and me.” Lexa ticked them off as she went. “We have three children. Our Daisy is quite a breeder. She’s had two already, Owen and Morrigan. Winnona’s had one, Ewan. He’s my little doll.”

  “Where I come from marriage is just one man and one woman,” Amy said, trying to assimilate it all.

  “Sounds awful. Boredom aside, that would mean doing the dishes every other night. Who could stand that? Ugh!” Lexa wrinkled her nose. “I had a boyfriend once who wanted something like that, just the two of us. I can’t imagine why.”

  Amy was unsure how to proceed with this conversation but was luckily spared. “We’re here,” Lexa call
ed, pointing at a small red brick building. Behind it, a tall tower and wind generator spun lazily above them.

  As the truck rolled to a stop, Lexa turned and studied Amy carefully. “I hope I haven’t offended you. I tend to talk first and think second. I know you guys were raised differently.”

  “It’s okay,” Amy told her. “It’s just so different that I need time to get over the shock.”

  Lexa opened the back of the truck and said, “It’s not much guys. Just a utility shed really. We’ll have to camp. But at least there’s a well and a pump out back, and an outhouse.”

  They set camp and made a fire in the permanent fire pit in front of the building. Lexa produced a box of cooking gear and food. She cooked pasta with tomatoes and artichokes. Pasta and tomatoes they had at the ranch, but artichokes were a novelty.

  The boys complimented the dish repeatedly, though Amy noticed that several of them pushed the bitter artichokes to one side. Now that she had befriended Lexa, she found their behavior humorous rather than irritating. She had to bite back a laugh more than once at the sarcastic comments that Lexa kept dropping. The boys didn’t seem to ever get them.

  “I notice you haven’t set camp yet,” Luke said as dinner ended. Several of the boys eagerly moved forward, ready to be of service.

  “I usually just sleep in the truck actually. It’s both easier and safer when I am alone.”

  “I can take Amy’s pup tent, and you two can share my dome. It’s big enough,” Luke offered magnanimously. “If that’s okay with you?” he added as an afterthought to Amy.

  “Yeah, what do you say?” Lexa asked. “A sleepover?”

  “Sure,” Amy replied, not wanting to refuse but not sure what she was getting herself into.

  They sat around the fire for a long time, the boys shifting about periodically and constantly looking for yet another subject of conversation.

  Lexa finally stood and said, “Well, I have to drive tomorrow, and I’m beat, so I’m going to bed.”

  “Me too,” Amy agreed. The boys grumbled a bit, and there was at least one grandiose statement about the night still being young. Amy knew it was all bluster. They all looked dead tired. Once their new subject of interest was gone, they would go to bed as well.