“The rest was classified and I couldn’t get into it”, Ellen said. She hesitated as if with an internal struggle.
“Our base is part of the secret mountain complex. We are only allowed to use the emergency room and some nearby areas. It is under high security with lots of armed guards. There are field operatives that come and go from the complex all the time. I shouldn’t be telling you this so please keep it to yourselves.”
“Wow,” you’ve certainly given us something to think about,” Rafe shook his head. “This doesn’t sound good to me. There is something wrong, especially if the rogues are really field operatives. Why would field operatives attack us?”
“And attack the Village,” Crow spoke up. “There have been several incidences of villagers being attacked by rogues and we always believed it was clansmen that attacked us. It is beginning to sound like someone wants the clansmen and the villagers to hate each other. Perhaps someone is trying to provoke conflict between us. We need to go to the village and prove we are not attacking them. Too many people have died already.”
“Yeah, and my parents were right in the middle of it,” Tobal said bitterly. “It killed them and it might kill us if we are not careful. He turned to Crow who had been listening intently to Ellen’s story.
“What can you tell us about any of this? It sounds like your grandfather, Howling Wolf was as much in the middle of this as my parents and he is the only one still alive that I know of except Sarah’s father.”
“This is all new to me,” he said. But I will talk with him about it. I will return with any information I feel is important. More than ever I feel there is danger to my village and they need to be warned.”
Tobal was thankful Crow never mentioned the special training on bi-location and the secret meeting place under the waterfall. He was certain that Ellen was too.
“I’m concerned about Apprentices leaving the area and visiting the village.” Ellen told them. “We will be ordered to stop you from going there even though there are no specific guidelines preventing it. Crow seems to have found a loop hole in the system only because he is from the village himself and because it is within our area of coverage. Our orders don’t contemplate such unlikely scenarios. You need to travel as fast as you can.”
She continued, “As long as the air sleds continue to monitor your med-alert bracelets you should be alright”. She paused, “That does mean we will need to patrol further to the west then we have in the past.” She looked straight at Crow. “They are going to try to stop you from reaching the village you know.”
“I know,” he said. “It will be alright. Grandfather is expecting us.”
They left things at that and the conversation moved on. The group gradually broke up and began talking about other things. Tobal and Becca stayed together holding hands as they wandered around the group chatting with other clansmen. They slowly made their way to the beer keg where Rafe had rejoined Dirk.
Rafe and Dirk were both still on the beer task force and grumbling because they had twice the beer to brew since the reserves had been consumed at the Yule party last month. Still they were good natured about it and said they were trying a new recipe that should be quite interesting. It was just as well there was only a small group that month though. They wouldn’t be drinking quite that much.
Becca hadn’t heard about the special brew Dirk and Rafe were cooking up and didn’t really know what to think.
“When will this new beer be ready to drink,” she asked doubtfully?
“Sometime this April probably,” said Dirk chuckling. “Rafe and I both plan on being medics by then. We can administer first aid to anyone that needs it. Pump their stomach or something.”
Tobal snorted and blew beer all over.
“Hey, watch it,” Rafe complained. “It’s not that funny.”
Tobal turned to Dirk, “How did that sure thing match go?”
Dirk turned red, “Not so well.”
“He got his ass kicked.” Rafe chuckled and proudly displayed his own fifth chevron. “Some people actually win once in a while.”
Rafe ducked a playful fist that Dirk threw at him. “Now we get to see who the best man is. We’ve got a bet going on who is going to get their sixth chevron first.”
“You still fighting the girls,” Becca kidded, “or have you gotten to the big boys yet?”
Dirk got a little red but Rafe took it in stride. “I don’t have to worry about it. Everyone is still challenging me. I haven’t gotten to challenge anyone yet.” He grinned at Becca, “I would challenge you if you hurry up and train some more newbies.”
She grinned back. “Perhaps we can always arrange something unofficial.”
This was a side to Becca that Tobal hadn’t really seen before and it interested him and disturbed him at the same time. They filled their mugs and rejoined the crowd. There was a drum circle forming and the sound was deafening in the small building.
Tobal and Becca slept together that night. They cuddled for a long time and shared stories about things they had done and things they wanted to do. The energy between them was different and when Tobal asked about having sex Becca murmured “not tonight. All I really want to do is just hold you and sleep with you.”
With that cryptic answer circling in his brain they kissed, embraced and fell asleep entwined in each other.
The next morning was bright and cold and there were sun dogs circling the sun promising even colder weather. They joined their friends for breakfast and soon Becca was on her way to base camp to continue training with Loki, her third newbie and Tobal set out on the trail toward sanctuary.
As he snow-shoed toward Sanctuary and pulled his sled he wondered at the strangeness of how things had been with him and Becca last night. He had certainly not been prepared for it and didn’t really understand it. It seemed things had been all right but then again it seemed there had been something wrong.
He hoped she hadn’t changed her mind. Perhaps she was sleeping with Loki, the newbie. He instantly crushed that thought. He knew it was not true, but he just didn’t understand and because he didn’t understand he felt a little hurt. He had been expecting something like last month and it had not happened.
As he neared Sanctuary his thoughts turned to the subject at hand. He now had four chevrons with only two more before he was eligible for the Journeyman degree. As he headed toward sanctuary he felt kind of strange because Sarah had really been the last person he had trained and that had been in September and October.
He didn’t really count Crow since Crow had taught him much more than he had taught Crow. That meant he hadn’t been doing much training in four months and he was determined to get going on it again. He wanted to get this training over with and be partnered with Becca more permanently if she was still interested.
He thought of the ways he had changed in the past years and the things he had done. He had gained a reputation as a very good trainer. None of his students had any trouble soloing and their students didn’t seem to have much trouble either. At gathering and circle people came to him with questions on the best way to do things.
His opinion was respected. He was also gaining a reputation as someone that kept to himself and was hard to get to know. His closest friends continued to be Rafe, Crow, Ellen, Sarah, Melanie and now of course Becca. People liked him, his friends liked him, he was companionable but in a quiet sort of way. He didn’t have anything to prove and he didn’t show off. He was just comfortable and at ease with the situation, any situation. People respected that.
Tyrone was Tobal’s fifth trainee and the month of late January and early February went by fairly fast and uneventfully. Tyrone was a tall, wiry farm boy from the Appalachian Mountains of all places, a real honest to God hillbilly complete with a Southern Accent and an engaging smile that would drive the girls wild at circle. The training came easy to him since he was already an accomplished hunter and trapper.
The nights were long and Tyrone spent many evenings carving a fiddle and then practicing with it. He had learned the skill from his grandfather back home and Tobal watched in fascination at the precision with which the fiddle was created piece by piece and then lashed together and sealed with pitch. He had never seen anything like it and was appalled at the terrible noise it made until he got used to it.
He used to laugh when Tyrone would pull out the fiddle and start to play because the wolves would start howling to keep company. All in all Tyrone was good company and the month went rapidly. Tyrone was a natural story teller and knew how to make people laugh and Tobal laughed often. Tyrone was like the brother Tobal had always wanted.
Once Tobal asked him how he had heard of Heliopolis way in hillbilly country and Tye had thrown back his head and laughed and laughed. He stretched his long legs and shrugged.
“I never heard of it before,” he admitted. “I was trying for a city named Minneapolis and got my ticket wrong. My head never was that good with names. I knew it was cold there and didn’t give it much thought until we had to start hunting our own meat and making our own clothes. It was so much like back home that I figured something was wrong but thought I’d study on it for awhile.”
Tobal had been drinking tea and it exploded from his mouth and nose as he doubled up in laughter.
“Stop, You’re killing me,” he waved weakly at Tyrone who was doubled over laughing too.
There were melancholy times when Tobal thought back over the past year and how much he had changed. He was more resourceful and inclined to do things by himself or on his own. He didn’t care much about what other people thought. He had learned to judge people not by their appearances, but by what they did and even as important by what they didn’t do.
Almost in spite of himself he found his feelings about Becca were deepening. She down played what she did and seemed to have a quiet competence that went unremarked. She had just a hint of melancholy that matched his own. There was an emotion in his heart that stirred and sang when he was around her. As spring drew closer he found himself thinking about her more and he knew he was in love.
Late February came around as Tobal and Tyrone snow shoed their way to the gathering spot. He dropped Tyrone off with the guards to be prepared for his initiation. There were going to be three initiations that night.
Nikki had proclaimed her newbie, Bran, as ready to solo and he along with Loki and Cheryl had been examined and approved to solo by the elders. Nikki was ecstatic because the winter training had gone pretty well. She was looking forward to training her next newbie.
“Hey Tobal,” she asked, “Think I can get my six trained by mid summer? This winter training isn’t really that bad.”
“That might be cutting it kind of close,” he considered, “but go for it. I’m hoping to get mine done by May if I can.”
“By May?”
“Yeah, when the weather gets warmer I can speed the training up a bit. Or at least I hope I can. Next month will be one year for me. Rafe was finished in one year. I thought I could too but I don’t think I will be able to.”
“It’s more important to do a good job and teach properly than get done quickly,” she said.
He nodded, “I did need to spend some extra time before winter with Melanie and Sarah. I will just see how the last one goes.”
“See you later at circle?”
“Sure,” I’ll probably be with Becca if I can find her.”
He waved and headed for the food area. A quick lunch seemed in order and then helping out with some of the shelters. There were a lot more people this month and the weather was milder even though the snow was deeper.
There were some minor frostbite cases for the medics to treat but not as many as last month. It seemed people were learning they had to be careful. On the down side one of the clansmen had fallen through the ice on one of the creeks. He had managed to get out but not been able to get a fire going. He had frozen to death before the medics got to him. There were more medics at camp. They were going to have a memorial service. Angel had had found him and been unable to help. It was already too late.
The incident served to remind everyone just how fragile and dangerous it really was in the wilderness even with all the safeguards that were in place. The death put a damper on things and people were quiet.
Anarchistbanjo's World 