by Patrick Shea
“The big exception is the group in Alaska. They want to winter there one more year. They’re very self-sufficient but they aren’t sure the growing season is long enough to stay there permanently. While they love that environment, most aren’t ready to live like Inuit’s yet.”
“We’ve stayed in touch with many groups around the world and a couple of Canadian groups and Mexican groups have arrived here already. We might still get one or two more.
“None of the other nationalities have committed for this year but some have told us by next year they’ll be on sailing ships, and will join us for the festival if we can provide land transportation from whatever harbor they can get to. I’ve agreed in principle.
“There are still a lot of singles or doubles out there on their own, but some of them are coming to the festival, so we’ll see.
“Charlotte, I’ve been out of touch for the last three weeks so tell me what the schedule for the festival looks like.”
“This place is chaos right now with people meeting other people, many of whom have spoken on the phone or radio, but not met person to person. And of course a big part of this festival will be people going through the mating rituals, especially the younger people who didn’t lose spouses last year.
“We formally start the festival with the torchlight parade Friday night. We’ll pipe in the clan leaders with bagpipes and they’ll announce their clans, the dress and the colors.
“After the clans have been introduced we’ll have a short memorial service for those we’ve lost in the last year. This includes those you lost in the battle, two accidental deaths, five natural deaths, plus the loss of the newborns.
“We then move to a celebration of the newborns that did not die at birth from the virus. We have only a couple of those, but it will be a worthy celebration.
“As you know the big question on everyone’s mind is if babies born of two parents that are immune to the virus will live, or if only a percentage of them will live.”
“I wish I knew the answer to that Charlotte, but only time will tell. Do we have any newly pregnant women?”
“We have four that I know of that will deliver later this year.”
“What are they doing for husbands?”
“Jack, I thought you knew this, but we decided collectively that with the lack of religious leaders in our groups that we would revert to the method of marriage that the pioneers used when they settled the west. Our folks will announce at a public meeting that they have decided to live as man and wife, and they are then free to do so legally, by our own rules. Then once a year at this gathering, we’ll have formal ceremonies for everyone who was married in the past year. The date of the marriage will be the date they publicly used. We only have two preachers in all of our groups, and both of them will be busy on Saturday at noon when the marriage ceremonies will be performed.”
“You must have given some thought to this, but who will be first?”
Charlotte laughed and said, “You’re going to love this. It’s Heather and Ben. We did not allow them to announce and consummate the wedding. Instead we’ve made them wait for this ceremony and the two of them are so excited they have everyone else feeling really good. We named this the Festival of Families for a good reason.”
“Anyone else we know getting hitched?”
“I was hoping that Noah and Shelly would make an announcement and take the plunge but they haven’t said a word yet. They spend a lot of time with each other and I hope one day they decide to get married, but it doesn’t look like it will be this year.
“Jack, how about you and Sam, do you have any forthcoming announcements?”
“Not yet Charlotte, I have some things I’m still checking out and until I get through them I can’t commit.
“Once the festival is over I’m going to Canada to track down some strange messages. I have to get that done before winter returns.”
“Okay Jack, but I expect you to commit to that lady one of these days, and you’ll do that if you expect to stay my friend. She’s much too good to spend her time sitting around waiting on you.”
Jack laughed and said, “I know that Charlotte, and you’ll be the first to know when we’re ready. And by the way, if might not be me that’s holding this up, it could be Sam you know.”
“Don’t start talking nonsense to me now. I know both of you and I know what both of you want. And I know a beauty like Sam is going to be a big hit at this festival and everyone after this, so don’t wait too long.”
Jack laughed again and said goodbye.
As Sam walked back to the front she handed Jack a cup of coffee, took a seat and said “How’s Charlotte?”
Jack reached out for her hand and said, “Sam, she’s fine and is looking forward to seeing you. But she thinks you and I have something to talk about before we get to Genesee Park.
Jack looked at Sam and as usual all he could do was smile.
Acknowledgements
I don’t know about other authors, but I needed a lot of help to complete this book. I would like to thank all of those who read the various drafts and gave me great feedback. At the top of that list is my wife Uschi, and my sisters Colleen Booth, Kathy Shea, Mary Heiman, Peggy Colombo and Monica Hofstetter. My sister Colleen also served as my editor and spent countless hours trying to stay ahead of my mistakes.
Thanks also to our friend and author Joelle Osias, who wrote “How to Prepare for Life” and also provided great insight for me.
I would also like to thank everyone who has contributed to the World Wide Web, where most of my research took place.
And of great importance I would like to thank two groups. The first are the people of the Inland Northwest, where I now live, and the second are the people of Okawville, my hometown, a small rural farming community in Southern Illinois. Both groups have taught me everything I know about strength, being independent, and thinking independently. Both crucial aspects of my book.
And my needed disclaimer: While I had much help with this book, and have tried to make the facts as accurate as possible, any mistakes in this book belong solely to me.