Cooper found the whole thing hilarious. Watching this mini-man command the brewers was a shocking thing. He was also curious to see that the men had seriously cut back their own drinking while in the presence of these kids. They were much more interested in keeping the kids from falling off the barge, which nearly happened twice, than drinking the ale they brought.
Thinking back to the village, Cooper realized that he never saw kids in the brewery. These men probably felt uncomfortable drinking around the young ones. It was certainly all for the best. This left more of the hoppy ale for Cooper. Not that he was drinking it recklessly, but one or two to quench his thirst made the trip that much more enjoyable.
Going slightly faster than the current seemed to be a boon for fishing off the back of the boat. They had caught several whiskerfish now; some of them were quite large. The children enjoyed eating a fish other than carp very much. Cooper remembered on this very river, trying the fish himself. The first thing he did though, once one was caught, was warn them about the fins and teach them all how to hold them. Naturally, Albert took to this immediately and began gently correcting the other children in their techniques.
At this rate, they would be back at the village early tomorrow morning. The men had discussed trying to push on and get home after dark but everyone agreed it was simply not worth the risk. They were in no rush and running the barge aground onto one of the mud flats would be a big problem.
Cooper was excited to get back and present all the kids. He knew how thrilled everyone would be to have so many new youngsters. The village had children in it, but not very many. In this day and age, children were always a precious commodity. He was staring out over the water thinking about this when he heard a great splash from the other side of the barge.
The redhead jumped up and immediately ran over there in time to see both dogs take flying leaps over the side. He could hear everyone yelling and running over behind him. Once he got close enough, he could see a small form in the water that the dogs were frantically cutting through the current to get to it. Then, it was pulled down into the muddy river.
Without hesitation, Cooper threw himself off the edge of the barge and plunged into the cold, rushing water. He was digging around for where the child had gone under, hoping to snag a shirt or something.
Lupe and Rufus were treading water downstream from him when suddenly they both started barking and didn’t stop even when the river forced itself into their muzzles. Cooper quickly got over there as he heard other men from the barge jump in and children shouting from atop the craft.
He quickly pushed the dogs aside and reached down, his fingertips finding something that was not borne of the river. With a quick tug he pulled up a sputtering and terrified Jackson. Both dogs latched onto the boy’s shirt and began trying to pull him to shore even though he was securely in Cooper’s arms.
It had all happened so quickly that the redhead failed to see the log he was quickly floating towards. He heard Doc yell his name from the barge and he turned his head just in time to see his collision course. He held the struggling Jackson above the water, but the log still struck Cooper just above his ear and his whole world went dark.
When Cooper woke up, he was laying on the shore with John kneeling beside him and Doc pressing onto his head. He sat up quickly and yelled for Jackson, then felt his vision swirl across his eyes as a searing rip of pain shot around his head.
“It’s okay, Coop,” John said. “When you hit the tree, you let go of him because you went to sleep. The dogs yanked him right onto shore.”
“Yeah, he’s still pretty shaken up, but he’ll be okay. Oh, and the log won, man! Don’t try to split wood with your head again,” Doc said, still pressing the rag against his head.
“My head is killing me, you can say that again. How did I get out of the water?”
John looked around a little, but didn’t say anything at all.
“Big man here was right behind you and grabbed your neck as you went under, then he slapped the log out of the way like it was nothing and you both washed up on shore right here. It was something to see!” Doc said, giving John a hearty nod of approval. “We’re gonna need to keep your head wrapped up tight, you have a pretty good gash. Don’t go running around or anything for awhile, just take it easy.”
Cooper looked over at John. “You saved my life, John.”
“You saved mine too, and you saved Jackson’s.” John looked over at Cooper, glowing with pride. “Don’t mention it, Cooper.”
“I hardly think I saved Jackson, seems to me the dogs did most of the work. I was just in the way.” Cooper chuckled through the pain and rubbed Lupe behind the ears as he stared into her dark eyes. He wondered what these dogs couldn’t accomplish.
9
Handro was nervous. He had planned on walking into the village several days ago, but had found ways to distract himself from it. There were so many unknowns in his plan that it made him uncomfortable.
His father had always taught him to be in control of every situation. It was the key to survival. In this instance though, Handro had to realize that he simply could not control everything. He considered just abandoning the whole plan and continuing his journey.
He had used that thought as an excuse for an entire day before he realized it was sheer cowardice. He wanted to know other people. His years alone had highlighted the fact that the world today wasn’t as it was when he was a boy, or even how it was when his parents first started their nomadic lifestyle.
He remembered skirting settlements often as a lad. His parents always told him that the people in those places weren’t to be trusted, so it was useless to even listen to them. As the years went by, they ran into fewer and fewer groups of people. Thinking back, he thought it had been at least five seasons since he saw another human being besides his own lonely reflection staring back at him in a stream.
No, this world was different. It was time to alter the guidelines his parents had taught him. Besides, they always had each other, and then eventually him. They were born into cities, not out in the bush the way he was brought into the world. They had never been alone.
Today was the day that he planned on walking into the village. He had been watching the people all morning again from high in a tall tree. They seemed to be bustling with activity, more so than he had seen in the days he had spent observing. Handro tried to imagine the proper way to greet this village. Should he come bearing gifts? Should he go kill an animal and present it to them? He worried that this too may anger them. Maybe they thought the animals belonged to them and he had no business killing any.
Finally, the opportunity presented itself. He witnessed a young woman badly cut herself while moving tables into a large gathering space. Pulling out his bag of herbs, he made sure he had what he needed. He watched the others gather around her to treat the wound. Mixing some of the dry herbs together, he was fairly confident that his treatment would work better than what they were doing.
With his herbs mixed to the appropriate amounts, he slowly climbed out of the tree and began walking toward the village. He walked slowly, but tried not to be imposing. His father had always told him that his sheer size alone had the ability to scare people and that was the last thing he wanted.
As he crossed through the tall grass and stepped his feet onto one of the well worn paths of the city, he realized he was shaking slightly. He had not expected to still be this nervous.
From behind him, he heard the low rumble of a dog growling. Suddenly he realized a man was behind him also. Somehow, a person had snuck up in him. That was a novelty for the long haired man that had spent his life eluding others.
Handro slowly turned around; his hands at his sides with his palms facing out. He was trying to look as friendly and relaxed as he could, even as the dog growled at him.
As he turned fully around, he saw a man. It was the same man that had come out with the dog and almost discovered him in the tree. He had very short, brown hair and tight wrinkles
by the corner of both of his eyes. He had dark skin, but not a darkness to his skin like Handro’s, that never went away. He appeared to be that color from countless hours out in the sun.
“Relax Fry.” the man said. “You know, we all had bets as to when you were going to come down outta those trees. You sure picked a hell of a time, old Ceannt will be thrilled.” The man said with a nice big smile that made Handro relax slightly, but not totally. The block-headed dog had stopped growling as soon as the man spoke and now slowly sniffed the stranger’s legs.
Handro worked hard to compose himself, but he was still in shock that they had known he was there the whole time.
10
The barge glided up onto the mud flat where it had been created and both dogs eagerly jumped off. Over the course of the boat ride back home they had seemed to grow even more enamored with the children, but were ready to leave the boat. They instantly knew where they were and went bounding off into the woods in the direction of the village.
FZ looked around as Doc and Lakewood secured the boat to the trees along the bank. “Hey fellas,” the lanky FZ yelled, “where do you suppose everyone is?”
Tim looked around also, slowly scratching his head. “He’s right. I figured we would come home to a big welcoming party. I don’t even hear the old man playing those ridiculous bagpipes!”
Cooper cringed at the mention of those pipes. He remembered how frightened that sound had made him when he first came into camp. “Let’s all be happy Ceannt isn’t stomping around in the sand making all that racket. We got back a little early and nobody really hangs out down here anyway. I’m sure they are all back at the village preparing for a homecoming party. The dogs will get there shortly and everyone will know we have returned.”
Little Albert came up to stand next to Cooper and looked out over the beach and into the woods. “So, this is where we live now?”
Cooper smiled, “No, actually the houses are into the woods a little ways. Sometimes the ocean comes up, so the village is tucked farther in. We don’t want everything getting wet.”
“So we need to hike some more. Ok.” With that, Albert walked over and began telling all the other children that it was time for another hike.
Cooper was still amazed at the way Albert fell into the role of leader of all the other kids. He was good at it, seemed like a natural even. Plus, it seemed to go over better hearing commands from another child.
Albert had walked back and let the men know that everyone was ready for another hike. No one had blisters anymore and Albert even offered to carry some of the gear.
“Don’t worry about that little buddy.” said Tim. “We will come back out with other people to collect what’s here. It’s a short hike, but we’ll bring a little water just in case anyone gets thirsty. Leave everything else.”
They were nearly to the village when they saw Ceannt leaning casually against a tree, waiting for them. “Hey there chaps, bring me back a present?” the old man said, while chewing on a plant stalk. “Saw the pooches and knew you’d be coming by before too long. What happened to your head coppertop, you try to drive the boat and Scoob said no?” Ceannt stopped laughing at his own joke and his eyes grew wide as he saw the parade of little people, with Albert leading the way of course.
“Not exactly, but I’ll live. Where is everyone Ceannt? We figured they would be anxious to meet our new guests.” Cooper was peering over the older man’s shoulder, trying to see what might be happening in the village.
“Yeah well, Caitlin nearly cut her leg off on a wooden table. Still don’t see how she managed that one! Anyway, we have a guest of our own and it all just happened. Everyone’s timing is impeccable, as usual. I didn’t even have time to pull out my pipes!” The old man said while clapping his hands on their backs. The relief to have his brewers back was obvious on his face, but Cooper could see something else hiding behind his eyes as well.
With news of Caitlin being hurt, Cooper had barely heard anything else the man said. Looking back to Lakewood, he said, “Have you got this for a second? I want to go check on her.”
“No problem, I’ll just hand all these kids off to Gramps here…I need a drink anyway.” Lakewood laughed heartily, as did Ceannt. The old man stopped laughing once he realized who ‘Gramps’ was.
+++
As Cooper went trotting up to the village his head began to ache and he could feel the steady thud of his own heart thumping against his injured skull. He tried his best to ignore the pain and figure out what was going on. He could see the crowd gathered around the main pavilion where all the big festivities were always held. Some people turned as they heard him run up and a few gasps swept through the crowd. Several people patted him on the back or shook his hand, but most were paying close attention to whatever was happening in the center of the mass.
The redhead gently weaved his way through the mass and he could hear someone explaining something. “You see, the mixture of herbs goes into the wound to numb the pain while at the same time stopping the flow of blood and keeping the rot at bay,” he could hear someone say.
He heard Aria’s distinctive melodic voice in response and he called out to her.
“Cooper? Everyone quiet down, did I just hear Cooper?” she said.
Then Cooper slid out from between the front lines of people and Aria ran over to him. After a quick embrace she said, “As you can see, a few things have happened in the past few moments…”
Cooper looked around and saw Caitlin on the ground with her leg elevated. The grimace on her face showed she was trying hard not to let on how much her leg hurt. He couldn’t see the wound because it was covered in what appeared to be gray mud.
Standing across from Cooper was a man he had never seen before. The man appeared to be older than him, but not by much. It could have just been his large size giving that impression. He had jet black hair that hung straight, falling just past his shoulders, and a large flat nose. His dark eyes were several shades darker than his deeply tanned skin. He appeared to be wearing some kind of heavy canvas around his waist and most of his upper body and he had a small pack on his back.
“This man is called Handro,” said Aria. “And that’s about all we know about him at the moment. Caitlin just badly cut herself, and he came out of the woods to offer help. His treatment is having a remarkable effect.”
“Wow, that’s amazing.” Cooper beamed while staring at the poultice that had been applied to her wound. “What’s in it?”
Handro met his gaze and smiled, happy to have the inquiry. “I was just getting to that. It is a combination of things that my parents taught me. I don’t know if they all grow here, although I did see one of them in the woods just outside this place. They all grow to the west of here, where I was born. I use a small pepper called a cayenne to stop the bleeding. You dry it and then grind it up. It stops bleeding almost immediately but you want to wash your hands well after crushing it up. A smoking herb is mixed in to numb the pain, without it the cayenne is quite painful. Then a small root that grows all around here, garlic, is dried and crushed. It stops the wound from rotting altogether. Once the bleeding has stopped, the cayenne is no longer mixed in as it is not necessary.”
Aria picked up the small sack of light yellow powder and stared at it. “Yes, we eat garlic frequently, but I had no idea it had a use such as that. How amazing!”
Tom had been standing near Handro, watching his techniques. He turned to Handro and said “Well, you and I should go for a little walk. Folks are going to want to catch up with Cooper.” After being thanked profusely by Caitlin and Aria, Handro followed Tom on the path away from the pavilion and towards the fields where the grain was grown.
Cooper turned back to Aria. “I brought guests.” He had a big grin as he said it and Aria could tell there was more to the story.
“More exciting news! I want to meet them, but help me get Caitlin settled at my house first.”
Caitlin propped herself up on her elbow. “I’m not broken; I can
get around just fine. I will stay here and help get things organized.”
“You shouldn’t be working dear, I have seen wounds like that take down grown men. You need to be careful”
“Those men weren’t as tough as me. Just relax, I will only instruct people where things need to go and keep everyone working. Go off and greet our new guests, I’ll be fine.”
Aria knew better than argue with Caitlin, especially once her pride had been wounded by having everyone gather around her like that. She stared at the young woman a second more, wishing she would just go lay down, but then knew the fight was lost. “Ok Cooper, lead the way.”
+++
As Aria and Cooper walked away from the pavilion and towards the trail he had walked in on, Aria’s long dress was blowing slowly in the wind. It appeared to be dancing on its own and it was nearly hypnotizing. She turned her gray eyes to Cooper.
Staring up at the bandage wrapped around his head, she asked, “How did that happen? It looks pretty painful.”
“It does hurt a little still, but it’s fine. I was trying to do something that the dogs were apparently better suited for and my friend John had to bail me out. He saved my life, actually.”
Aria stared up at the bandaged mop of red hair, clearly wondering if she should inquire further and instead wrote it off. “I am going to need to hear more about that story, but while we walk please tell me about our new guests, quickly, before I meet them.”
“My friend John, who I had told you about, he was still there. Most of the people had left the city though. We found a group of them dead outside the gates.”
“I am very sorry to hear that.” She placed her hand gingerly on his shoulder as their pace slowed down.
“Those people made their own decisions. I realize that now, but I still feel partly to blame.”
“That’s true that they made their own decisions and it’s a very important thing to remember, Cooper. Mourn them, but don’t blame yourself, nothing can change what happened.” She realized immediately that the redhead would blame himself for whatever condition he found his city in. She hoped he would be wise enough to realize the folly in that.
Further: (Down The Path Book 2) Page 5