Journey Across Jord

by Allan Joyal

I nodded and stood back up. "Sorry, I should have thought about that. I am Ron; I guess I would be considered the leader of our group." I started pointing at each member as I spoke. "The men here are Steve, Al, and Hencktor. The ladies are Lydia, Jennifer, Esme, Natalie, Aine, Victoria, Kariy, and Heather."

  "You have more women than men?" one of the farmers asked.

  Heather stepped up next to me. "I don't know if Relway told you much. Most of us were torn from our home by magic. The magic brought us to the mountains above Linktrum. There, Ron declared that he was going to search for a way home. We trusted him and followed."

  Relway nodded. "On that note, I'd like to introduce you to Vincanto," he pointed to the stocky farmer. "And Lewrin," he pointed to the muscular farmer. "The others here are their children. I'll leave Vincanto and Lewrin to introduce them later."

  I nodded again and then looked around. "Relway, I'm afraid we only have the two chairs. We have been sitting on the floor."

  Relway shrugged and claimed a spot on the floor. "I can sit on the floor. Some of the trading families prefer to sit on the floor when they negotiate."

  I nodded and sat down. Heather sat next to me. I could see Esme and Natalie sitting to my right, and to the left of the two farmers. The rest of the group arrayed themselves along the wall.

  Vincanto leaned forward. "Now Relway said you expressed a need to talk to a farmer. Can you explain it a bit better?"

  Heather put a hand on my arm. "Ron has wanted to give us a new home. I can't give you too much detail about our homeland, but we've discovered that we don't fit in here on Jord. So the idea Ron came up with is to travel until we can find some unclaimed land and establish a new home. But we will need to be ready to farm once we arrive. None of us are experienced farmers, but we hoped we could talk to you and perhaps trade for some of the tools and seeds we would need."

  Lewrin nodded. "That is not a simple idea. Where will you go?"

  "We have been told that there is unclaimed land far to the east. We have some funds and plan to journey there once the winter passes," Heather said.

  Lewrin frowned. "You would still be on the plains when planting season ended. You wouldn't find any land that would be safe for a small farm."

  "We understand that there is a large river many days travel from here. We were told that beyond that point no humans dwell. Our plan is to travel into those lands before settling," I said.

  Vincanto nodded. "You could probably find fertile land. I've heard some of the legends of those lands, but the orcs and goblins forced everyone to retreat to this side of the river. You don't seem like trained warriors to attempt such a journey."

  "We have reason to believe that the goblins and orcs have returned to their mountains," Steve said. "We understand that it is dangerous, but for a group like ours, everywhere is dangerous."

  Relway nodded. I could see Vincanto look around more carefully at everyone. He was paying attention to hands and shoulders. By the time he turned back to look at Heather and me, he had a puzzled expression on his face. "Who in your group will be working on the farm?"

  Heather reached out with her left hand and held my hands down as she raised her right hand. I glanced around and could see that everyone except Esme and Kariy had their hands up.

  Lewrin leaned back for a moment and then looked at me. "You won't be farming? He asked.

  "Ron is our leader," Heather said. "I'm sure he will be doing some farming, but we expect him to also be forming the long term planning for us, scouting for sources of food or danger, and helping resolve disputes. He won't have the time to devote to farming the rest of us will."

  "And the other two?" Vincanto asked.

  "I was trained to care for the sick and injured," Esme said. "People are going to get hurt and it will be my responsibility to provide the medical services they require. I just wish I knew about the medicines that can be made or found. Much of my knowledge relied on drugs I cannot find here."

  "Drugs?" both farmers asked.

  "I think you'd call them alchemical compounds," Victoria said.

  The farmers both shook their heads and then looked back at me. "Should we be talking to you, Ron? Perhaps one of the others should lead the conversation."

  I looked around, but no one looked back. Heather squeezed my hand and whispered in my ear. "Lead for now, I'll try to guide the questions when I can. I'm not sure what to ask yet."

  "None of us are experienced farmers," I said. "I believe the others are willing to allow me to start the conversation, and they will ask questions when it's time. I'm sure the primary question is what grains are available."

  Lewrin frowned. "You might have a problem there. Some grains have seeds that won't store for a year, so you can't take the seeds with you. I can think of a few we can provide, but unless you have a way to transport several large barrels, your first crop will probably need to be saved and the seeds planted the next year. The second year the yield would be enough to feed everyone and save seeds for the following year."

  "Do you plant in rows, or just scatter the seeds on the ground?" Natalie asked.

  Vincanto turned to stare at Natalie. "Plant in rows? What is that? For most grains you plow the soil to turn the weeds and provide a good environment for the roots. You smooth out the surface, taking care not to pack the soil and then scatter the seeds. It works best if you can time it just before a rain."

  Lewrin nodded. "The only difference would be for rice. There you want to plant it in a flooded field. I have a few fields by the river just south of the city that flood every spring. They have been perfect for rice. I just wait for the floods to recede so I know the rice won't be washed away and then scatter it into the fields."

  I could see Natalie frowning, but she looked over at me and shook her head. Esme whispered something to her love.

  "I heard you mention rice," I said. "What other grains do you grow?"

  "Wheat, oats, barley," Lewrin stated. "I've heard that in the south some farmers plan a new grain that grows in tall stalks, but we don't have any seeds for that here."

  I nodded. "Wheat and rice would probably be best for us. Is there anything special about growing them?"

  "Not really," Lewrin said with a shrug. "Sow after the snow melts. Once the plants sprout, it's best to weed the fields regularly. Once they are well established, it's usually the dry part of the summer. We have a few irrigation canals we use to flood the fields when they get too dry. Both rice and wheat are easy to harvest, and you can always tell when they are ready. You can feed the wheat stalks to your livestock or leave it in the fields and plow it back into the soil."

  "Rice can be grown just about every year if you are getting good flooding," Vincanto said. "Wheat does good for three years, but then you have to leave the field fallow for a year."

  I nodded. "Are the seeds easy to obtain?"

  Vincanto laughed and turned to view the corner where the teenagers sat silently. "Vansalto," he shouted. "Bring the two kegs you carried here."

  One of the teen boys climbed to his feet. He accepted help in lifting two large barrels and then walked over to Vincanto.

  The boy was clearly related to Vincanto. He had the same stocky build. Unlike his father, the boy's clothing was relatively new, but I could see several tears in the torso of the shirt. Vansalto in turn was leering at Esme and Natalie as he walked up and set the barrels at his father's feet.

  Vincanto nodded at the young man. "My son," he said needlessly. "I thought he might benefit."

  "I can understand," I said. "So what is in the barrels?"

  Vincanto lifted one up so only part of the bottom was on the floor; he spun it around slowly until I could see a large complex mark gouged into the side. The mark looked like a stylized picture of a stalk of wheat. "This would be wheat," Vincanto said.

  I nodded. "And is the other one rice?"

  "Of course," Vincanto replied.

  "How much will this cost" I asked.

  Vincanto laughed. "Nothing to you," he said. "R
elway said you had paid him a large sum, and that included having us come out and help get you set up. This is already paid for."

  "Will the seeds survive the trip?" Heather asked. "I thought you had to plant them the next spring."

  Lewrin smiled. "That is the benefit of living near wizards. The casks are magical. Once they are sealed, they stop any seeds inside from growing. The seeds won't rot or sprout until you unseal the cask. I should warn you not to get the casks wet; if the wood expands it can break the spells. But as long as the cask is intact you can reuse it."

  "That must be expensive," I said.

  "Not for the farmers that supply the academy," Lewrin said. "The wizards learned long ago that it was wise to have supplies of preserved seeds in case of a flood or other problem causing a poor crop. I understand that every apprentice is expected to make at least five of these during their training."

  "Nice," Natalie said. "It will make the means of transporting the seeds much simpler. Does it work for sprouts or bulbs?"

  "I've seen it used on tubers," Vincanto said. "It doesn't work on anything that has started to germinate."

  "Damn," Natalie said. "So I'm guessing we can't have seeds to help start an orchard of any kind."

  "Seeds we can do," Lewrin said. "My daughter Shaylin has been trying to encourage a few bushes to grow. She saved seeds this fall, thinking to plant them next spring."

  Natalie smiled. "I hate to take something she put a lot of effort into."

  Lewrin shook his head. "She gathered many seeds, and I saved them in smaller casks. Donrin, can you bring over the small cask I had you grab when we were packing to come here?"

  I glanced over at the trio. The first boy, Vansalto, had returned to the group and was now sitting with his back facing us. The girl had shifted a bit closer to the kitchen fire and was gazing at the counter. The third boy had been watching us, but he turned and began rifling one of the packs the group brought.

  He stood up, and I realized that this young man was bigger and better muscled than Hencktor. He had curly brown hair and an engaging smile as he stalked over to the group and set a tiny cask in front of his father. Unlike Vansalto, this young man proceeded to sit next to his father.

  "Can I join in?" he asked. "It sounds like the conversation is different."

  Natalie was gazing at the cask. "How many?" She whispered.

  "We never really counted," Donrin admitted. "This is only a third of what Shaylin collected. She would wander the forests and hedgerows looking for the various bushes. One of the trees produces a fruit that is round and turns red in the fall. The seeds are at the center, but the rest of the fruit is edible. It's usually sour, but we like it."

  "Some kind of apple?" Heather whispered in my ear.

  "The next comes from a bush. It seems to struggle to grow around here, and Shaylin thinks it came from a place that's warmer and has less snow. The fruit is some red gourd, and the seeds inside are coated with a red film. Very sweet, but sticky," Donrin continued.

  Jennifer raised a hand. "Does this bush have small thin leaves that don't fall off until very late in the fall?"

  "How did you know?" Donrin asked.

  "My parents tried to plant a bush that might be what you described," she said. "Mother wanted the fruit. It struggled to grow where we lived."

  "What is it?" Al asked.

  "Sounds like a pomegranate," Jennifer said with a shrug.

  Donrin looked over at Jennifer, he had a surprised and perplexed expression on his face. "The last one we had seeds for is a tree that blossoms with lots of flowers in the spring. The fruit is small and red, with a hard seed in the middle."

  "Cherries," Heather gasped out. "At least that's what it sounds like."

  Lewrin looked at Heather. "It sounds like you know these plants."

  Heather grabbed my hand. She took a deep breath. "Not very well," she admitted. "I've never picked fruit directly from one of the plants you describe. However, I have eaten the fruit."

  Lewrin shook his head and looked over at me. "I also had my son bring a larger barrel of tubers. Those should grow well in any soil."

  "I thank you for that," I said.

  "Ron," Esme said. "What will we do for cloth? We can't just wear fur year round. I'm sure it would be comfortable, but cotton or something similar would be nice."

  "Do they have anything like flax?" Natalie asked. "The only problem is it grows best in almost swampy ground."

  Vincanto looked over at Natalie. "You seem to know the most about farming, but your arms and shoulders don't look like what I'd expect of a farmwife. Where did you learn?"

  Natalie shot a panicked look in my direction. Heather just squeezed my hand and leaned forward. "Vincanto, I guess we should try to explain a bit more. Where we come from is beyond your reckoning. In our homeland there are wizards who have mastered ways to move goods incredible distances in very short times. This has allowed great cities to grow. The cities bring in the food so that the inhabitants can concentrate on designing and building new tools. With the exception of Hencktor and Kariy, who joined us in the mountains above Linktrum, we all come from the cities on our homeland. Natalie however, was interested in plants and growing things, so when she had an opportunity, she studied. That's why she seems knowledgeable. The problem is that she hasn't used what she's learned."

  Vincanto looked at me. "Relway warned me that your group had outspoken women."

  Relway groaned. "I did, but I thought the brown haired one hanging out in the back would be the most talkative. She was the one you brought by the first time."

  I shrugged. "That was chance. Lydia and I have known each other for some time, so I try to protect her when we venture into a town. Heather was staying behind to learn more about cooking. Our wizards developed new ways to cook and the ways you use are unfamiliar to us."

  Vincanto shrugged. "Well, your one young lady is correct, there is a plant called Flax that can be weaved into a soft cloth once it dries. It prefers deep loam to grow in, so we don't plant much, but I expected the appeal and brought a small cask."

  "The seeds can be pressed for oil," Donrin added.

  I looked over at Natalie. ‘Nat, what will we do for vegetable oil? Or sugar?" I asked.

  Natalie sighed. "Flax seeds do make usable oil, but it's not the best tasting. I can't think of any other good seeds at the moment. Olive oil is always good, but that tree would not grow well in this climate, the olive tree can't abide snow.

  "Sugar is a bit more tricky. There are really only two sources I can think of. Sugar beets, but I haven't seen evidence that they grow those. The best would be sugarcane, but that prefers tropical temperatures. It would not be found around here," Natalie continued. "In fact, other than perhaps some lettuce or cabbage plants, we probably have most of the seeds these men will have available."

  Lewrin nodded. "We do have some seeds for lettuces. We put together another small cask with five varieties. We threw in some herb seeds; they are in small packets. Donrin, can you bring those over, and you might encourage the others to sit nearby. I don't think they have anything to fear."

  Donrin got up and walked over to the corner. Is could see that Vansalto was a bit unhappy about being encouraged to come over. A huge smile broke out on the girl's face, and she ran over to give Lewrin a hug.

  "Thanks," she told the man. "It seems interesting."

  Lewrin gave a slightly embarrassed smile. "My daughter Shaylin. I'm afraid she forgets to be a proper woman a bit too often."

  I nodded. "I can only imagine how the people here expect a proper woman to act. We've had a hint of that in our interactions with the wizards. However, I guess we can move to our next question for you, which would be livestock. I don't expect you to sell any, but we definitely will want some."

  "What do you expect from the animals you take?" Vincanto asked.

  Victoria stepped away from the wall and walked around until she was to my left. She put a hand on my knee. "I'll take this part," she whispered. "We agr
eed I get to play head shepherd during the trip out."

  Victoria turned and looked at the men. "I guess that's going to be my area. We figure that we need animals for meat, eggs, milk, and probably hide, feathers, and fur. However, we don't have any experienced herders, so we need animals that won't be too difficult to keep together while we travel."

  "What about draft animals?" Vincanto asked.

  "Useful," I said, "But they have to be tolerant of us while we learn how to handle them. We have the same issue with dogs for hunting and guarding. We want them, but we don't need an animal that will cause trouble."

  Lewrin smiled and nudged his son. "Donrin, you keep our herds with Shaylin's and Casindre's help. Why don't you tell about them?"

  Donrin smiled and sat up a bit straighter. He was gazing directly at Victoria as he began. "I can see a few animals that might help. The first would be for meat and wool. Actually they don't require a lot of herding, but you do have to set up a covered area for them to live in. We call them long-haired hoppers. They have long ears and are not much bigger than a newborn baby at their largest, but they have long hair that can be cut twice a year and breed easily."

  "Rabbits," Victoria whispered. "It would work, but they would need protection from predators, and we can't herd them on the journey. If we had cages we might breed them."

  Donrin smiled. "The next would be geese. These you can herd, especially if you clip their wings first. They do eat seeds, but their droppings help plants grow. It's best if you have a pond for them."

  I nodded at that. "I'm guessing they don't like walking the distances we are going, but we can look into getting a few and then breeding them."

  Donrin frowned. "You want to be careful about that. It's best if you have more than one bloodline to combine. For milk and meat, goats or sheep work. I'd actually recommend sheep as they can graze on the trip and are fairly easy to herd."

  "How many should we take if we can?" Victoria asked.

  Donrin put a hand to his chin and stroked it several times. "Well, part of the problem is that I don't know how many people will be helping herd on the way. For sheep I wouldn't suggest more than twenty to twenty-five sheep per person actively involved in the herding, and probably a bit less than that. No more than sixty total there. Geese you can get a decent flock started with two males and about eight females, but I'd try to have at least fifteen. The rabbits, I guess you called them, you could probably get away with the same numbers, since they will breed very fast once you get them to a home."