by Allan Joyal
I nodded. “Everyone, let’s get back to the camp.”
“Can’t we go down there now?” I heard Mary ask.
“It’s getting dark, and we will have to find a place to ford the river,” I said. “I don’t want to be moving and unable to find a good place to cross. That river looks rather deep. We might have to go downstream a few miles to find a place we can get the animals across.”
“So what do we do?” Mary asked.
“First we return to our current camp,” I said. “Once we are there, I’ll explain my ideas to everyone, and we can get some input.”
Everyone grumbled a bit. It was clear that the idea of sleeping in the valley was on everyone’s mind, but none complained aloud as I turned and started to walk back to the campfire. Lydia and Victoria joined me immediately.
“Their grumbles are just for show,” Victoria observed. “I think everyone realizes that it’s too late to rush down there.”
“I’m just happy we found a place,” Lydia said.
Heather put her arms around me and started kissing me on the cheek. “We found it! Ron, you’ll make it a home for everyone now! I just know you will.”
Victoria and Lydia laughed as I picked Heather up. “Not yet,” I said. “We have a lot to do once we get down there tomorrow.”
We arrived back at the fire a moment later. As I approached, I could see that nearly everyone was sitting close to the fire – only the group watching the herd were absent. Kariy smiled shyly as she handed me a bowl filled with some grilled meat and a couple citrus wedges.
“Have we been saving seeds from the citrus?” I asked. “We’ll need the vitamins someday, and we might be able to get them to grow.”
Kariy looked over at Natalie who smiled. “I have collected quite a few. I have no idea if they will grow into bushes or trees, but we have seeds. I even got some of those grape clippings you picked up to put out roots. We just need some good soil to plant them in,” the young former botany student told me.
I nodded and then looked over the assembled group. As I stood by the fire, I could see tears shining in more than a few eyes. Everyone seemed to be more interested in looking at me than eating. I shifted my bowl to my left hand and smiled.
“I can see everyone has already heard,” I began. “Konstanzia has found that we are sitting just a stone’s throw away from the entrance to a valley that appears to be exactly what we were looking for. We can’t be sure, but it looks like we have our new home.”
There was a cheer from all my friends. “Speech, speech,” Lydia called out sarcastically.
I raised my right hand. “Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. We have no idea how big the valley is. The view from the bluff was a bit limited in the fading light. The entrance appears to be fairly wide, but we can’t see all the way to the beginning. It could be a small valley, or it could go back a couple of miles into the mountains. We’ll have to see which it is.”
“Does that make a difference?” Lawus asked.
“It does,” I replied. “If the valley is a deep box valley, that means we have more land we can safely turn into groves and farmland. We can fence or wall in the mouth of the valley and keep everything except the river and what it carries from the valley inside. We would not have to worry as much about being discovered.”
“Could that be a problem?” Borlan asked.
“Think about the creatures we escaped from a few days back. If we have a wall across the mouth of the valley, they have to break through the wall first. But inside we’ll have food and water, so we can’t just be starved out. That protects us and it’s what we’ll need to have,” I replied.
Krysbain held up a hand. “Ron is correct. Having sources of food and water inside the walls will be a huge advantage. Especially for the herds. And we wouldn’t have to have as many people watching them.”
I held up a hand. “And that is part of what we need to talk about before we bed down for the night,” I said.
“Why don’t we go down there now?” Borlan asked.
“We don’t know a route,” I pointed out. “There is the river that leaves the mouth of the valley, and hugs the south wall of the canyon. We must cross it to enter the valley. I was going to suggest that tomorrow morning Krysbain would take Soldrin and Yveney with him to find a ford.”
“Why them?” Corwar asked.
“If you would let me finish,” I said calmly.
Corwar nodded. He had a frown on his face as I looked at the others. Yveney looked a bit nervous.
“As I was saying,” I continued. “Krysbain will take Soldrin and Yveney with him to find a ford. Once he has found it Yveney will come back to the camp to lead us to the ford. Krysbain, I’ll need you and Soldrin to cross the ford.”
“We don’t know what’s on the other side,” Krysbain pointed out.
“Yes, and that will be your goal. Once across, I need you to scout out the area, especially the area to the north of the valley. We need to know what is nearby. Soldrin, I’ll need you to head upriver to the valley. Once you are in the valley, we need to find another ford so we can split the herd. The sheep will cross back over the river. We’ll keep the cattle on this side for now,” I said.
“But that would mean Haydee will be on the other side of the river,” Lawus complained.
“We’ll try to work on that,” I said. “One of the things I’m going to work on is to make sure we clear the valley of any predators and then get a wall up to keep them out. Then the shepherds will be there mostly to monitor the health of the herds and can return to their homes at night.”
“I’ll build a bridge for her!” Thom volunteered.
Everyone laughed at the boy’s enthusiasm. I smiled and looked at him. “You can work on that in your free time,” I promised. “Meanwhile, Natalie, Verval, once we get into the valley I need you to find some areas to plant. Tap people to help you. I know it’s already past the normal planting season, but let’s try to get some plants growing.”
Natalie looked at Verval. “I didn’t look at the river. Do you think we could flood an area for rice? I believe that grows quickly. Also we have the seeds for citrus and cherry trees. But I’ll probably want to clear trees for that.”
I nodded. “There might be a problem with that. Al, we are going to want to clear the trees from in front of the valley. Once we get inside, try to draw a line between the two sentinel bluffs that mark the mouth of the valley. We’ll want to clear the trees to the east of that line.”
“The east?” Al asked. “But that will be outside the valley.”
“I know,” I said. “We’ll want to clear that area so that we’ll be able to see anyone or anything that approaches. Also we can dry that wood and use it for fires or to build a palisade to protect the entrance.”
“Can we have help?” Al asked. “And can we get a team of mules to help drag the trees out of the way?”
“The farming comes first, but after that, if you need help we’ll find people to help,” I said. “We need to clear that area both for the wood and to give us some warning if predators come.”
Krysbain was nodding. “I can help on that,” he said. “You’re right that it will probably be one of the more important tasks.”
“What else could there be?” Aine asked.
“Well, we need shelter,” I said. “I was going to see if Hencktor could work with others to recommend where we want to build some kind of longhouse. We’ll probably use logs, but I’m open to suggestion there. If stone or brick would work better, I’ll go along with it.”
“Need clay if you want to do brick,” Mary said. “I don’t know if there is any clay in the valley.”
“Can you look for it?” I asked. “We’ll want something to give us a solid and flat floor. It’s either that or hope we can find stone that has a flat surface.”
“What about cement?” Aine asked.
“Concrete?” Al asked. “I know the Romans developed it, but I never saw it used in any of the towns we visi
ted. If I remember it used volcanic ash as a base, but I can’t remember what they used to make it hold it’s shape. We’d have to experiment.”
“We can once we have the first shelter built,” I said. “I’d rather we have a shelter we might tear down next spring because we discovered something better, than we spend all summer experimenting and then have no shelter come the winter.”
“I do know that we need a kiln,” Al said. “We’ll need it to dry bricks if we use clay, and as I remember, one of the ingredients in cement is made by firing limestone in a kiln to make quicklime. At least I think that’s how it works. I’m trying to remember some things from one of my summer jobs.”
“You know more than I do,” Jeff said. “My talents were all in using a computer. That won’t help us now.”
I just shrugged. “Kariy, we’ll want a permanent fire pit. I’ll put you in charge of the food for now. Think about storage. Do you want us to dig out a root cellar for you?”
Kariy smiled. “You talk to me so little,” she said with a smirk. “And now all you offer me is a root cellar. I should be offended.”
I sighed. “Sorry. Things have been hectic. Hopefully once we get started we’ll find more days we can use for resting.”
Kariy laughed. “Oh, I’m fine, and I agree that we’ll need a root cellar, but I don’t want to store the roots on the ground. We’d need some way of covering the walls and floor, so I guess we’d need bricks.” “I’ll make finding clay a priority,” Mary said. “I wanted to explore a little anyways, since we need to know just how big the valley is. Do we have any idea?”
Konstanzia shook her head. “It looks like it opens up once you get west of the mouth, but there are several groves of trees that make it really difficult to see far to the west. I’d guess that the valley is several miles long.”
“Miles?” Lydia spat out. “Ron, this place is huge.”
“I know, which means it will take a lot of exploring. But we have so much that needs to be done. At least I’m volunteering to dig the first latrine. And before you ask Esme, yes, I know to dig it far away from the river so that we don’t contaminate our water supply,” I said.
Esme giggled. “It seems like you know what we need, and you are as ready to command us as we build. We have a nice place to homestead. Tomorrow, we’ll dine in our meadow.”
“But we won’t have a fatted calf to cook up,” Lydia complained mockingly. “We can’t afford to eat our animals yet.”
“Hopefully Krysbain and others will have some luck hunting,” I said. “We could use more deerskin to make clothing,” I commented. “Oh, is Dafalia around. She’s in charge of the chickens and rabbits. We need to have a place for them. I recommend using the north wall of the valley as a barrier, so we only have to come up with a way to fence in three sides to hold in the chickens. The rabbits we'll have to keep caged unless we find some kind of stone slab they can't burrow through.”
“Ron, we are going to be very spread out,” Victoria said worriedly. “Are you sure we want to do it this way?”
“We don’t have time to waste,” I said. “If we throw everyone at one thing we probably won’t get everything done. I do recommend that everyone carry a weapon. Ideally we’ll get the metal spearheads put onto shafts soon. We need someone to find the right wood for that.”
"We have the ones we took from those Aztec orcs," Jeff complained. "Why make more."
"Those bone tips are good for one use only," Krysbain said. "They really are best for hunting. I wouldn't want to try to use them in an extended fight."
“I can try,” Aine said ignoring the argument. “I was hoping to help Al and Jeff.”
I nodded. “Very well, we all know what we will need to do. Please, be ready and willing to help whenever and wherever you are asked. It might only be late spring but that still means we only have so many days before winter, and we have no idea how bad it might be. We need food grown and stored, the herds fattened and hopefully multiplying, and shelter for ourselves.”
“I can’t believe it was this bad for pioneers on Earth,” Esme said.
“If you are thinking the ones in America, they had the advantage of heading towards an area where other people had arrived years earlier by ship. They might have to scramble a bit to build a home, but they usually would have some established villages nearby. Even the Donner Party was able to find help from towns in California after snow closed the passes,” Lydia said.
“We’ll make it happen,” I promised. “We have a lot to do, but we have great people. Natalie and Verval will surprise you with how much they can get planted. And once we get the trees cut we’ll have time to get the shelter in.”
Everyone nodded at my final words. The gathering broke up, and everyone headed off to find their bedrolls. I was looking around to find mine when Heather and Cimbra grabbed my arms.
“You didn’t give me a job,” Cimbra complained.
“I didn’t give myself a job,” I pointed out. “Cimbra, I wasn’t sure what you would want to do. The descriptions you gave us of your life before we met didn’t tell me what skills you have.”
Cimbra giggled. “I was taught seduction and assassination. I do have some training in managing a household, but right now that won’t help much. We need to get all of the elements built first.”
“And you can help with that,” I said. “We all will.”
“But you didn’t give me a job,” Cimbra complained.
“Mostly because I don’t know what all we’ll need to do. I know we’ll need to chop down a lot of trees, for wood and to clear some land. I know we need to get fields planted as quickly as possible. I know we need to build some kind of shelter before the winter,” I said. “What I don’t know is how many people we’ll need for each project, or even how to do many of those things. The farming will be Verval, who was a farmer before he joined us and Natalie, who has studied plants and knows more about farming than I do. I’m asking Al to head the tree cutting, because I’m not sure I’ll be able to keep at it and it needs to be a priority. I’m actually worried about what we’ll do.”
Cimbra looked pensive for a moment. She released my hand and put her arms around my shoulders. “You’ve been under a lot of pressure haven’t you?” she asked softly.
“And it won’t stop yet,” I said. “We have a lot more to do if we are going to thrive in this new world.”
Heather giggled. “Come then. Let Cimbra and I take away your worries for one night. We need you ready to think fast tomorrow.”
They dragged me away from the fire and to a pile of furs. My worries remained, but their comfort and support soon had me in a dreamless sleep.
Chapter 10: A Hitch in the Plan
Yveney shouting “Ron! Ron! We have a problem!” woke me the next morning. Heather and Cimbra were on either side of me. As I tried to sit up Heather stirred and opened her eyes.
“Wha?” my blond lover muttered as Yveney ran up to our bedroll.
I glanced at the sky. It was just starting to brighten with the sun’s morning rays. “Yveney, it’s barely dawn. What problem do we have?”
“We found the ford,” Yveney said excitedly. “But.”
“Is anyone hurt?” I asked.
“No,” Yveney said. “But you need to see. We have a problem.”
“Heather, let me up,” I said. “Yveney give me a moment to dress.”
Yveney dashed over by the fire. She added a couple of logs to the smoldering remnants of the previous night’s blaze. Once her back was turned, I rooted around in the furs to find my pants and pull them on.
I climbed out of bed as Heather sat up. My love looked at me with bleary eyes. “There is a problem?” Heather asked. “But what kind of problem could we have?”
I had sat down on a rock to pull my boots on. As soon as they were on, I started to walk over to Yveney. I was not wearing a shirt, and the morning chill had me shivering, but Yveney was bouncing up and down near the fire with impatience.
“Show me the pro
blem,” I told the young woman.
Yveney dashed off down the trail. I had to run to keep up with her as we made our way down the game trail we had followed to this point. It was slowly closing down as we headed east.
We had run about a half-mile when Yveney stopped. I slowed down and could immediately see the problem. The path had narrowed. It was wide enough for a cow or goat to walk down, but there was no way to get a cart or wagon down it.
I looked around as Yveney stood on the edge of the trail. “See,” she said. “The carts can’t get through.”
“Where is the ford?” I asked.
Yveney pointed to the north. “Just below us,” she said. “The path runs along the cliff face and then turns around much like the ramp we used to get to the pass. Why do they do that?”
I knelt down to look at the slope to the north of the trail. It was steep and rocky. I felt the ground, and it seemed firm despite the recent rains. Carefully, I turned my body and started climbing down the face. “You find trails like that because it uses less energy to climb a hill following that path,” I said. “This way is a lot more difficult.”
“But what do we do?” Yveney said. “We can’t get the carts to the ford.”
My foot missed a rock and I slid several feet down the slope before I was able to stop. A few small pebbles continued to roll as I caught my breath and looked at the surface. Roots covered the soil and I could see a few blades of grass growing. I was a bit afraid to stand up as the angle was steep, but it appeared that the grass added stability to the slope.
“We can,” I said with a sigh as I started to climb back up to the path. “But we’ll need two mules, several people and all the rope we have.”
Yveney just stared at me as I put a hand on the trail and pulled myself up. “How?” she asked.
“We’ll lower the wagons down the slope,” I said. “We’ll just have to be careful and I suggest moving the herds first so they don’t have to wait. This might take most of the day.”
“But,” Yveney said.
“Go get Gertrilla,” I said. “I want to talk to her. And if Amalya or Joelia is awake have them come as well.”
