Chapter Fifty-One
Parenthood
Vanessa, Becky, Jemma, Rowena, Karen, Jane, Paula and Jean all stayed with Rolf and Soo-Kai until the end of the summer. Rolf never knew the small house to be so full and so noisy. How they all fitted in he could never really understand. But the girls did their own organising, and they were never a burden.
Karen and Jane helped with a lot of the chores inside the house while Paula, Vanessa and Jean did the work outside. Becky and Rowena helped Rolf with his work as a tailor, and Jemma, well, Jemma generally got in everybody’s way.
They saw Emile only once during that time. He and Jai-Soo came to visit late one evening. Soo-Kai knew they were close even before Karen had come running into the house to announce them.
Paula went wild. At first she was angry with Emile for stealing Jai-Soo away from her, but the sight of the Destroyer, and the lengthy hugs they exchanged, soon drove out any animosity.
Jai-Soo was just as pleased to see Paula. The bond allowed her to relax, to be more open and responsive. She related to all the girls in a much more expressive way than even Soo-Kai. It surprised Rolf.
Jai-Soo and Paula spent the whole of the following day in one another’s company, talking, playing, or just sitting together.
Emile was content to leave them alone. He stayed at the house and talked with Jean and the girls. Rolf could see the change in Emile, too. He was confident and relaxed. His bond with Jai-Soo had brought manhood to him early.
Like Jean, Emile had begun to learn to speak English, but he was not as fluent as his old school friend. The reason was obvious. When he and Jai-Soo spoke together, they spoke in his language, in French. And Jai-Soo spoke as quickly and as fluently as he did.
Emile and Jai-Soo stayed with them for only two days. They had made their home in a valley close to the border with Falonbeck. It was Jai-Soo’s original den, and Emile was anxious to return there. Rolf understood. Like him, Emile had already learned to fear the proximity of people.
Rolf thought that Paula would protest and make a scene, but he was wrong. Paula was sad, but controlled. She now knew that she would see Jai-Soo again, and promised that next time it would be her that went to visit them. She and Jai-Soo both hugged, and Jai-Soo said her goodbyes to all the girls. In the end it was her parting with Soo-Kai that was the saddest.
The weddings were in late summer. The marriage of the Crown Prince made the affair into a state occasion of the highest kind. The whole of the Palace was decorated, and ribbons and bunting lined the streets of Ellerkan.
At any other time Prince Carl’s choice of wife might have led to protests from his father or his ministers, but such was the change in Carl’s attitude to his position and his future role that neither his father nor his mother were prepared to sanction any interference. In fact, anything that kept this unexpected but well received acceptance of responsibility in their son they were more than happy to support. And if the Lady Anne was the cause of this change, then they would embrace her with all their might.
For her part, Anne did her best to fit in with a society she could have only known about from the history of her own world. This was a feudal society, rich in pageantry and custom, while she was a product of a modern and abrasive culture. But she was eager to learn, and with Carl’s unwavering help and support, learn she did.
Queen Charlotte was her first conquest. She was quick to recognise the love her son had for Anne, and its importance to him. She announced her support for the Lady Anne openly and publicly. And where she led, others quickly followed.
Ministers, Courtiers, noblemen and women, all were approached and treated by Anne with the utmost respect, dignity and polite charm. Anne worked hard, her efforts surprising even Carl, and in the end her rewards were well earned. Anne wasn’t an instant success, but by the time the date of the wedding approached, there was no one in the Palace that would speak against her.
The Royal wedding was supported by that of Sir John L’Barr and the Lady Sophia. And it was the Lady Sophia who almost stole the limelight from her Royal partners. No one in Ellerkan had ever seen a young woman quite like Sophia, and in her wedding dress she looked far older than her meagre sixteen years. In the taverns and the inns for many days and nights afterwards, all would agree that L’Barr was the most envied man in Halafalon.
The third couple to be married that day would have been considered of little consequence only a few months earlier. But a few months earlier, none could have suspected the depth and speed of success that had been achieved by the groom.
Craig’s confidence in his ability as a salesman and trader proved to be far more accurate than even he could have imagined. He had learned his skills on the streets of a modern city, where success was often measured by the strength of one’s legs as well as one’s wits. Ellerkan had a much slower and sedate pace, and there were many opportunities for success that had so far been left unexplored. Craig brought the cunning and foresight of a modern society to a naive but prosperous one, and with Prince Harold as his financial backer, he didn’t hesitate for a second in taking advantage.
By the time the wedding took place, Craig had established himself as a shrewd and clever merchant man. His dealings on the market in corn and flour had already become legendary, and his wiles as a salesman knew no equal. It was said that he could sell ploughs to fisherman, and nets to farmers. His marriage to the Lady Amy was an important event on the calendar of every business man and trader in the city.
The triple wedding was the event of the decade, and several days were set aside for the festivities. Rolf, Soo-Kai, Jean and the girls were there as promised. When the children and their teacher all met again at the Palace the tears of joy and sadness flowed as quickly and in as much quantity as did the wine. They stayed for the length of the holiday. But as is the way with joyous occasions, the days passed all too quickly. And when it came time to part once more, the tears flowed as strongly as they did on the day when they had first arrived.
It was the last time they all saw one another until the reunion.
In the autumn, with the leaves already turning brown and gold in the forest, the day finally came when Jean and the girls had to leave the little house by the stream. Of course, they didn’t want to go. And Rolf himself felt his resolve wavering. He had grown used to having them all in the house, and he would miss them dearly. But by now, Soo-Kai’s pregnancy was clearly visible, and the knowledge of what was to come forced Rolf to face this decision. They couldn’t all stay in the small house together. If Soo-Kai successfully gave birth to six children, they would all grow very quickly.
For a while, Rolf considered taking them all back to Ellerkan, but Soo-Kai was still sure that the best thing to do was to take them to Mai-Zen and Gustavo. Mai-Zen and Gustavo could not have children together. They lived in the mountains away from most towns and villages. They could trust them to do what was right, and it would be the perfect and safest place to grow up and learn.
In the end Rolf had to agree. Their little house was already known to many villagers, mainly young men and boys, who would often happen to pass by very accidentally. The presence of seven healthy and boisterous young girls had not gone without notice. He hoped that they wouldn’t have to move, but he was already looking for abandoned cottages deeper in the forest.
Rolf expected the girls to argue. But getting them to accept his decision wasn’t as hard as he had expected. Yes, the girls were as reluctant to leave as Rolf had been to part with them, but the lure of adventure that a life with Mai-Zen and Gustavo would bring was too much to resist. They had all read and re-read Soo-Kai’s journal, and the many questions they had asked about the Outsider and her bond had given them a fair understanding of Gustavo’s more cavalier attitude to life. It was exactly what they wanted.
Since the death of Gil-Yan, life with Rolf and Soo-Kai had been safe and predictable. Rolf was like a father to them all, and like a father he would scold them and tell them off if they were naughty or badly
behaved. But he would also advise them and teach them what they needed to know. They all loved him and Soo-Kai, but by the end of the summer they craved for a life filled with adventure.
The journey to the pass at Falonbeck took several days. Rolf worried about Soo-Kai all the way, but she refused to show any sign of weakness or any acceptance of her condition. And no one dared to discuss it with her.
Right at the beginning, when Jean and the girls had come to stay, Rolf had explained the situation to them. He had obtained an oath from all of them that Soo-Kai’s condition would not be discussed. They had all kept that oath.
There were many times during their journey when Rolf wished that one of the girls would break that oath, or that he himself could speak out and chastise Soo-Kai, to tell her to be more careful. But the oath was kept, and he dared not speak out. What Soo-Kai thought he could not tell, but she worried him greatly as she charged her horse up the steep slopes of the hills, as if daring herself to fall.
But if their journey was fraught with worry for Rolf, it was also not without its more lighter moments. On the way they passed Jasanta, and the girls laughed as they remembered the fight with Edgar and his two sons. And when they reached the foothills of the mountains and crossed the snow-line, snow-ball fights abounded.
Vanessa was the only one who faced their memories with sadness. The fight with Edgar and his sons only reminded her of Bernice, and it seemed that every memory she had that should make her smile brought instead the same sadness. But her grief drove her on.
Since her sister’s death, Vanessa had grown stronger, harder and sterner. By the end of the summer she was a woman, and by the time they had reached the mountains, she rode her horse as straight and proudly as Soo-Kai did.
They were nine days out when they finally reached Mai-Zen’s den. Rolf wondered how Soo-Kai knew her way to a place she had never seen. Her answer was that Mai-Zen had told her that her den lay in the shadow of mountains in the pass at Falonbeck. It was all the description she needed. And she was right.
They were all gathered around their campfire one evening when two fur wrapped figures on horseback appeared from out of the gloom. It was Mai-Zen and Gustavo. They had been out hunting. When they came closer, Mai-Zen pushed back her hood, revealing her face and blonde hair, and Gustavo called out, “You make more noise than a mountain elk with wind!”
With his very first words the girls all took to him. He was exactly what they needed. He was brash and irreverent, and the way he spoke to them reminded them of home. He was someone they could instantly relate to.
Mai-Zen and Gustavo climbed down from their horses and shook hands with Rolf, and then Soo-Kai and Mai-Zen embraced, rubbing their faces together and holding one another tightly. Soo-Kai cried and Mai-Zen shushed her, happy but understanding.
“You took my advice, I am glad.”
When the greetings and introductions were over Rolf explained the reason for their visit. Gustavo burst out laughing, he didn’t believe Rolf, and he kept looking at Jean and the girls and shaking his head. But Mai-Zen understood, and without hesitation she said, “We will take them.”
Gustavo took some convincing. He argued that their life didn’t allow for children. He had a wandering soul; he liked to see the world, to experience the dangers and the unusual. How could they live their life with eight children?
With every word of his argument, the girls liked the idea more. They didn’t hesitate to join in the debate, telling Gustavo how they wouldn’t be a burden, how they were nearly full grown, and how they wanted to learn and to see the world as he did. With Mai-Zen already on their side, Gustavo didn’t stand a chance.
Mai-Zen’s den turned out to be a large natural cave that Gustavo had extended and fortified. Wood and furs had been used extensively to make the cave not only habitable, but comfortable and warm. It was spacious and perfect.
Rolf and Soo-Kai stayed for five more days. Rolf kept saying that it was just to see that the girls settled in, but Soo-Kai knew that he was still reluctant to leave them. He had grown so attached to them all, and even Jean had found a place in his heart. But the day finally came when they had to go. Soo-Kai’s time was short.
It was one of the saddest days in Rolf’s life. His last sight of them was outside the entrance to Mai-Zen’s den. They all stood waving, Rowena rubbing the tears from her eyes.
Soo-Kai gave birth in mid-autumn. Rolf helped her as best he could, and it was the strangest experience in his entire life. She never cried out or screamed once. She was completely silent, as if anxious to hide any sign of the birth. Rolf didn’t have a second to spare. All six babies came quickly one after another. They were tiny, barely the size of his hand, but they were all perfect and grew very quickly.
By the time a year had passed, all six girls were walking and talking. Soo-Kai had long since forgotten those she had last given birth to, so she had named them from the beginning again: Ann-Soo, Bey-Soo, Chen-Soo, Di-Soo, El-Soo and Fam-Soo. Four had red hair like her own, while Chen-Soo and Fam-Soo had yellow-blonde hair like Rolf.
Rolf was in ecstasy. He spent far too much time with them, playing with them endlessly, and spoiling them all terribly. The house was filled with noise and the clothes he made for them. But while Rolf was filled with the joy of it all, Soo-Kai worried.
Now that her daughters were born she could study them in more detail. Gone was the fear of rejection that forced her to ignore them during her pregnancy. She had held them close, fed them and slept with them. And the more she scented and tasted them, the more she knew that she had not been as successful in the manipulation of their DNA as she had hoped. Yes, four of them at least she knew were deviant. They were not correct, and they would not grow up as Destroyers. But two caused her alarm. They were too perfect. They were too much like her.
Soo-Kai told Rolf, but he was so enraptured by them all that she was sure he didn’t understand her worries. He was dismissive, but she knew that there would be problems.
But Rolf wasn’t the only one to experience the joy and wonder of parenthood.
In the following year Sophia gave birth to her second son, and Amy had her first child, a daughter. It was Craig who brought the news. He visited Rolf and Soo-Kai on one of his business trips. It was a happy and nostalgic visit, but Craig was anxious to return to Amy, and he stayed for only a few hours in the morning.
Time passes, and as year followed year, from the borders with Falonbeck came other news.
People in the villages began to tell stories of a band of brigands that roamed the mountain passes raiding caravans. At first they were thought to be Destroyers, but as their deeds and fame grew, so did the stories about them. They were all women, but they lived and fought like Destroyers. They even had names like those of Destroyers: Slide-Rule, Gym-Slip, Buy-Row, Bus-Pass, and Chalk-Dust. Their leader was called Blue-Tack, and her skin was as dark as night. They called themselves the Sixpack, and their deeds became legendary...
In the Shadow of Mountains:
The Return of the Sixpack
In the second part of the story, twenty-eight years have passed and it is once again the year of the ship. But this time things will be different, for this year is also reunion year. For those that had lived in the Palaces and rich houses of Ellerkan, life had been filled with business, politics and profit. But for those who had made their lives in the mountains and forests life had been very different. For them it had been a lifetime of adventure, battles, war, robbery, mayhem and sex whenever they could get it. They were called the Sixpack, and now, after twenty-eight years came their reunion. The flesh may have been weak, but the spirit was still willing, and what happened was what always happened when the Sixpack were around –all Hell let loose.
And into all of this came Johnson Fold. He was only interested in a little horse trading. Ellerkan was just the sort of backwards planet where his skills and artistry could be most fruitful. And as he often said to his partner, Sinita Khan, “What could possibly
go wrong?”
In the Shadow of Mountains: The Lost Girls Page 52
