by Benson, Tom
As he stood, Bill looked around cautiously and pulled one of the arrows from the tree in which it was embedded. “Another use for pieces of bone.” He inspected the pointed arrowhead and was aware that it was once probably a part of one of the three people whose remains were left in the first cave. If she had one redeeming feature apart from her ability to survive. Bill thought, Patsy didn’t waste anything. He unpinned the other two arrows and inspected them—both had bone arrowheads like the first. Bill nodded to his companion to continue, and then he took up sentry duty again.
Flint crouched and entered the cave. There were shelves dug into the walls which showed scorch marks indicating the use of some type of rudimentary candle. Dug from a surface was a large fireplace complete with a chimney hollowed out into the top. He wondered why the smoke from such a fire had never been seen two or three miles away. He reached up inside the chimney and slowly shook his head at the woman’s ingenuity. There was a mesh of branches which were no doubt already charred so wouldn’t burn any further. They would effectively filter any smoke issuing out from the rock face or the earthen bank above the caves.
Flint moved around slowly to appreciate the size of this shelter and again had to admire the skill used to create such a place. A large bedding platform was built to sit a few inches above the floor and around it was an irrigation channel leading to join another channel in the middle of the floor. The single extension was dug deeper and routed to the side of the entrance which would prevent the cave from ever being prone to flooding, especially the sleeping area.
When Flint came out, he said, “Do you want to have a look?”
Bill went inside for a few minutes and came out shaking his head. “It’s surprisingly large and spacious.”
“It’s got the essentials, mate,” Flint said. “It has a place to rest, a place to cook, a flue to remove smoke and a drainage system to prevent water from building up. Those simple drawings on the walls are similar to the ones in the other cave. They’re the same, right down to some with sections of red fading to brown.”
Bill said, “There is also what looks like a tiny cave entrance to the left, and I know it was in use.”
Bill lifted Flint’s long branch and touched every possible pre-entry point but nothing. He kept his arm close to the side and prodded with the branch. Nothing. He threw it inside and still nothing. Two large boulders were next but still no result, so he deemed it safe and crawled inside. Once through the entrance of the smallest cave, the smells of meat and smoke were much more potent. He didn’t need light to know what the place had been.
Flint was at the entrance when Bill came out. “What’s in the small one?”
“Nothing now, but it was a larder of sorts. It was where meat and probably fish were smoked to preserve and store them. Remember, I said I saw her with a couple of big bundles—it had to be smoked meat.”
“Why are you so sure that Patsy and her child have gone for good?”
“As I said before, I saw them leaving in their boat down at the lochside and they had everything with them.”
“It’s quite a journey down through the forest to reach the loch.”
Bill said, “They both moved pretty quickly when you consider that they were carrying weight and holding a weapon ready to—”
An arrow struck the tree nearest to Flint, and both men hit the dirt.
“She’s fucking dead now.” Flint started to get up, but Bill grabbed his arm and held him down.
“That’s what she wants, mate.” Bill raised an eyebrow. “She fires at us, and then we both go tearing off down the hill after her. I’d bet big money that the child is waiting in ambush not far away.”
“We have to—”
“We’ll give them a few minutes,” Bill said. “Patsy might be crazy, but she isn’t stupid.”
It was a while later when the two men descended on the long journey through the forest to the lochside, both on high alert. There was no sign of the woman, the child or their boat.
15 - Building Confidence
Late in the afternoon, Bill and Flint arrived back where the trees had been felled. The pair were still within the forest. Not far away they could see Sandy and Norman trimming the bigger branches from a tree they’d recently dropped.
“Hello,” Bill called.
“Hi,” Sandy said, and Norman waved.
“How much more have you to do?” Flint asked as he looked at the narrow trough created by trees being dragged out of the forest.
“This will be the last one today,” Norman said. He pointed to the channel he’d seen Flint looking at. “You’ll have noticed that as a by-product we’ve created a pathway all the way from this old forest trail straight across to our new shelter location.”
“Are you saying that was intentional,” Bill said and grinned.
Norman laughed. “No, but once we saw the first logs being dragged in a straight line toward the shelters, it struck us that it wasn’t such a bad thing. It means that by the time we’ve got enough timber cut and dragged we’ll have a ready-made path to the forest.”
Flint said, “We could use Victoria’s idea of planting heather along the lower side to support the edge of the path, just like our main downhill route.”
Sandy said, “Knowing Victoria, she’ll already be working on it.”
“Ready to go,” Norman said.
Bill and Sandy slung their rifles over a shoulder, and then all four people gripped one of the remaining stout branches and pulled. As they reached the edge of the forest, they were all panting heavily.
“Wow,” Flint said when they paused out in the open. He was staring at the dark scar made from multiple trips on which logs had been dragged across the two-mile stretch towards where the downhill path wound around the shelters.
“We’ll wait here for a while,” Sandy said. “A team will be coming back to help with this one, and if you two guys are with us, it will be much easier.”
A few minutes later they saw Archie, Jay-Dee, Dawn and Victoria striding back along the new path made by the logs. Archie had a rope looped over his shoulder.
Dawn said, “Did you two boys have a pleasant stroll in the woods looking for danger?”
“It was interesting,” Flint said.
Archie and Jay-Dee went into what was now a well-practised routine of making a towing harness around the log. They finished the job and laid two long trails of rope in the direction of travel.
Bill said, “You guys have done a few of these, so would it be easier for all of us to pull or take it in shifts with four pulling and four resting?”
Jay-Dee turned and nodded to Archie, Victoria and Dawn. “We’ve done okay with four, haven’t we?”
“Yes,” Dawn said, “and it’ll be more efficient with four fresh people in short bursts.”
Sandy said, “Norman, how about you, me and our two forest rangers for the first section?”
“Sounds good.”
Bill and Flint nodded, and the four of them took up positions on the rope.
It was difficult until they got into a steady stride and gained momentum. The worn area made it much more comfortable than it had been for the first teams to have pulled a log across the vast distance.
“Time for a change, guys,” Archie said.
The second team of four, all of whom had made several trips fell to work like horses taking to traces. A brief countdown from Archie and they set off into a comfortable pace causing the others to shake their heads in wonder.
Bill smiled as he watched Victoria and Dawn leaning into the task. Not for the first time, it struck him that from the earliest post-apocalyptic days, the women never asked for any special treatment and all worked as hard as the men. He smiled at the sight of the tour guide and the botanist labouring happily for the benefit of the community.
As he strolled along at the side of the big tree, Bill thought too of the older women like Jean, who had delighted in getting back to teaching and taking care of the children. She was regularly supported by Steph, the
author who had found her new niche as a part-time teacher and childminder.
It was also peculiar, how many of the community had found life with a new partner. Where Jean was content to be alone, Steph had paired off with the lovely firefighter, Tracey. Right there on the ropes, side by side were another pairing. Archie the big plumber and his partner in this new life, Jay-Dee the male nurse, whose Indian name was so hard to pronounce he’d suggested at the outset that he kept his nickname.
“Are you ready, mate?” Flint said.
“Yes,” Bill said. “I was miles away.”
The teams changed over and were on their way once again.
The distance was covered by the team in good time, and when they reached the downhill pathway, they stopped. When the logging path met the smoother zig-zag, there was no indication of logs being dragged any farther.
“Now,” Archie said, “this is where it’s best to have as many on here as possible. To avoid destroying our footpath or the grass area between the zig-zag route we carry from here. Fortunately, it’s not far.” Archie and Jay-Dee worked together and rapidly amended the position of the rope to make a long harness in the centre.
“Four people on each side now,” Jay-Dee said and squatted ready to pick up. “After three … and one, two … three.”
The load was lifted clear of the ground, and the team of eight carried it to the site of the newest shelter.
“Right there, please,” Marie said, pausing in her labours to indicate where to lay the log beside a few others. “I think we’ve got enough for a full day of trimming, shaving and building tomorrow.”
The general briefing would be taking place half an hour after the evening meal. Bill arranged to meet all the expedition volunteers out on the patio before the meal. For half an hour, individual eligibility was discussed. The final choice would be made based on the stated criteria, and there were to be no bad feelings about who was selected for the team. Training would continue but in the second week carrying weight in a backpack.
Bill said, “We’ll make our team choice on Saturday, but I’ll be training like everybody else. Whoever is chosen, we need the others to continue early morning training in case a last-minute replacement were needed.”
After the team talk, Bill asked Sandy and Flint to stay with him to discuss defence on the mountainside while the expedition was underway. Both soldiers knew that it was a ruse to update Sandy. From the first time they’d had a casual chat out on the patio, they’d found it the best place to discuss any topics which were best not offered for general conversation.
Flint said, “Is it just me, or does it feel like we’re deceiving people by meeting like this?”
“It may be secretive,” Bill said, “but while it’s for the greater good, it’s not deception, mate.”
“I agree with Bill,” Sandy said. “We’ve got some good social and working routines going on and it wouldn’t do any good to introduce fear. Everybody knows about the possibility of wild animals wandering this way, but we shouldn’t allow scaremongering. We need any perceived threat to sound like it would be wild animals.”
Flint said, “We also have to keep in mind that the bottom part of the sign at the reserve was missing, so there are at least two or three animals we don’t know about.”
“It might be chimpanzees, giraffes or something,” Bill said.
“Bill, mate,” Flint said. “I was there with you when the sign was discovered. The final animals mentioned were leopards and tigers, so perhaps I’m a pessimist. I can’t see chimpanzees or giraffes being the next logical animal.”
Bill grinned.
Sandy said, “On a serious note, I suppose you two ought to tell me about your walk in the forest.”
Bill said, “I couldn’t be sure at first, but I confirmed it when Flint was with me today.” Bill explained about the intricate, double booby-trap set at the freshwater pond.
While Sandy sat listening in wonder, Flint went on to tell about tripping the primed and active booby-traps in the caves. He then went on to explain about the smoke larder.
Sandy nodded. “She wasn’t bothered about killing anyone—she was leaving us a clear message. ‘I know you’ve found me, so I’m out of here’.”
“And,” Flint added, “‘good fucking riddance to any of you who wants to explore,’.”
Bill nodded. “I think we’re all on the same page. Fiona doesn’t know as much as you guys, but as I’ll say at the update, we suspected we had a couple of human neighbours. It looks like they’ve moved on after observing our community.”
Sandy turned to Flint and nodded. “We can live with that, can’t we, mate?”
“Yeah,” Flint said, “the less the others know, the better.”
Bill said, “Further to what we discussed recently about the abilities of a child, Sandy. Although she may not have set up the traps, I think it’s only fair that you know it was the youngster who primed the devices before they left the area. She understood the intention and possible outcome.”
“Holy shit,” Sandy murmured. He briefly closed his eyes, finding it hard to believe that a child could be taught such techniques.
Bill was pleased that he’d left out the detail about the military equipment and clothing. If he were the only person to know that Patsy must have found debris and material from the heli-pods, then that was enough. Knowing such detail would cause Fiona to feel that she had a guilty secret, and neither Sandy nor Flint would benefit from the news.
Bill said, “I suppose we’d better get indoors and get on with our mass briefing.”
Calvin sat at the head table with Tina and Paul to either side of him, and they chatted for a few minutes about the relevant information before the spokesperson stood. Calvin waved to attract attention, and the general chat reduced rapidly to nothing.
“Good evening to you, the lovely community of Auchcarn.” He grinned. “We’ll be hearing an update from Marie on her hillside and meadow village project, a few words from Sandy on our local sharpshooters and an insight into Bill and Flint’s recent patrol in the forest. The fitness training for our Operation Long Haul volunteers is going well but they’ve got a few days to go.” He turned and gave Marie a nod.
“Please raise a hand if you have a question during my briefing.” Marie was more at home being industrious than talking about doing things. “Many of you have been involved in one way or another with the shelters, and the news is good. The turf shelters have settled slightly in height but thanks to all our hard work, they look and feel solid.”
A few cheers went up around the room.
“The log cabin, which is a much larger construction, is progressing well. The floor took a while but, being the foundation it had to be done properly. A layer of twigs and stone chips went down first, and then one of our men with a laser cut logs in half but along their length. The rounded part of the logs were placed face down which created a strong flat floor, and they’re all bedded into position. Corner posts were set in place and posts to represent the doorway.” She paused and looked around the room. “The first layer of the timber walls has been prepared using an interlocking wedge system because we’re working without nails or screws.”
Alan was near the front. “Will we be continuing work on the timber cabin while the small party of explorers is away?”
“Yes, Alan, and I’m confident that we’ll be finished by the time they get back. If we maintain our Sundays as free days, we’ll still have five more working days this week and, of course, the estimated two weeks that the big mission will be underway.”
Another hand went up.
“Yes, Anne?”
“I know that we’ve already decided that it will be a classroom for the children. Do we have plans to build desks and benches?”
“We do because we’d like it to be completed with natural materials. It will take us a while to design and build benches and desks, but in the early days we can afford to take four tables and a dozen chairs from this very room.”
“So obvious,” Anne said and slapped the Formica table she was sitting at.
Marie said, “Two more days of timber selection and hard work bringing the timber from the forest and all of our efforts will switch to construction.” She gave a slight bow and sat down.
Sandy stood. “The reason for teaching a few more people to shoot was not for hunting, but as you all know, for defensive purposes. We don’t have any issues at the present time, but we are aware of wild animals venturing this way, so we want to be capable of warding them off. Our sharpshooters now number twelve which is pretty good for such a small community. The armoury consists of four laser rifles, two laser pistols and an antique hunting rifle.”
Noreen said, “How many weapons will the exploration party take with them?”
“They will take two, which is the minimum they can afford to carry. We know we’re safe in the local area, but the expeditionary group have no idea what’s out there one hundred plus miles to the north.”
Dawn said, “Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to have a back-up in case of malfunctions with firearms?”
“Now that you mention it,” Sandy said, “an idea was mentioned yesterday, and we’re looking for someone to follow up.” He paused and had everybody’s attention. “Norman was selecting trees to fell for our building projects. He said that if we ever wanted to make bows and arrows, we have plenty of yew, ash, elm and spruce locally.”
“What about bowstring?” Alan said.
“According to one of the books we rescued from the reserve a couple of weeks ago, an ideal string can be made with the fibres from hemp, and Harry has assured me that he can grow loads of the stuff.” Sandy smiled. “I’ve got the book here so if anyone would like to read up on it and—”
“I’ll try the bow-making idea,” Paul said.
“In that case, thank you, Paul. I’ll now hand over to Bill.”
“Good evening, everyone. Before I mention the upcoming excursion, I’ll put your minds at rest about something else.” He inhaled deeply before his explanation. “As you all know, recently a couple of us thought we saw movement near the edge of the forest. It’s about two miles away, so it was hard to define. You’ll remember that Sandy and Flint went out first on patrol and found various wild animal tracks plus what appeared to be possibly obscured human footprints.”
