Wisp poked the rifle barrel into the beads and pushed half of them aside with a soft rustling clatter. The room beyond could’ve held four of her cabin and then some. Many round tables and chairs occupied the middle, a fair number with people having dinner. More, square tables and bench seats lined the left wall. At the far side of the room opposite the door, a man with black-and-white hair stood behind a tall counter.
She took one breath and almost drooled on herself, not even knowing what she smelled other than it being food. Licking her lips, she ducked past the bead curtain and crossed the room. People sitting at the tables glanced at her casually, except for one man who looked terrified. She glanced over at him and noticed he’d put a hand on a pistol under his left arm. Of all the people in here, only he appeared to understand the threat her rifle posed, and he seemed alarmed at how she held it ready to fire.
The armed man stared at her, but his expression radiated more worry than anything.
Wisp locked stares with him, but made an apologetic face like she did whenever Dad caught her getting too far away from him. He jumped when she let go with her right hand and the rifle swung to hang from her left. Once she’d slung it over her shoulder on the strap, the man relaxed and offered a sheepish smile.
She disregarded him and approached the older man in the white robe behind the counter.
“Why hello there, little one,” said the man.
Wisp looked up. This person had an odd shape to his eyes, slightly flat across the top. Though, far stranger than his appearance was the concept of talking to someone other than Dad―or Mother… but she never expected Mother would answer her. At least she hoped not. If Mother spoke, it would mean she’d been bad.
“Are you all right?” asked the man. “Can you hear?”
“Yes,” said Wisp. “Can you help me?”
“What’s wrong?” He leaned on the counter to get a little closer.
“I’m trying to find Dad. I saw these lines on the ground, like footprints but one long big line. I think a big monster took him. Have you seen Dad or do did you see any monster tracks? I tried following them, but they stopped when the ground got hard. I haven’t been able to find them again.”
He appeared lost in thought for a few seconds, fingers tapping on the counter. “Perhaps. What is your name, little one?”
“Wisp.”
He reached a hand toward her. “I am Zen.”
She glanced at his hand, tilted her head, blinked, and straightened her head.
“You must not be used to people.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Ahh.” He nodded, smiling. “This is a common greeting. Please, hold out your hand.”
Nothing about his body language put her on edge, so she raised her right arm toward him.
“When two people meet, they usually do this.” He clasped her hand gently, and bobbed it up and down for a few seconds before letting go. “It’s called shaking hands.”
“Shaking hands,” muttered Wisp, staring at her palm. “Why?”
Zen laughed, patting his belly. “Oh, I don’t know. People have always done that. As long as there have been people. Well, now that we’ve been introduced, I shall try to help you.”
“Introduced?” She leaned back. “That sounds like it would hurt.”
He laughed again, tinged with a grimace. “Oh, child… Introduced means we have met each other and exchanged names. Tell me again what you are looking for?”
“A big monster took Dad away.” She explained about the buzzing sound, Dad going outside, and being gone the next day. “I followed this trail but it stopped. I’ve been looking for it but I can’t find it again. I don’t think the monster flied.”
“What did this trail look like?”
“It had two lines.” She held her hands as far apart as her shoulders. “Each one was this wide, deeper in the middle, and it had all these little holes. An’ I found people footprints, too. I think men sneaked Dad.”
Zen rubbed his chin, shifting his eyes around. “Hmm. I believe you might have found an ancient dirt road. Those ruts had been worn into the earth long ago… but the fresh holes are probably tire tracks.”
“Tire tracks? Tires don’t make tracks. Cars don’t work. An’ the monster footprints are fatter than tires.”
A few people behind her muffled whispers.
“Do you know what a buggy is?”
That made her itch. Wisp squirmed and scratched at her leg with her foot. “The little things that fly around and bite?”
Zen chuckled, as did a few people in the room.
She peered back at them for a moment before gazing up at Zen, confused. “What is funny?”
His smile only broadened. “Not an insect. A buggy is, well… You know how the ancients made all these cars, and none of them work anymore?”
Wisp nodded.
“Some people have figured out how to take parts off old cars, fiddle with them, and build something like a car that runs. They’re a lot smaller, and they don’t always hold together too well. They wouldn’t have chewed up the forest to dig those ruts, which is why it didn’t leave a track once it passed the end of that old path.”
“So a monster didn’t take Dad? It was a car?”
“A buggy.” Zen smiled. “Marauders sometimes use them. You said you saw footprints, too? Sounds like they got him.”
“Giant bugs?”
Zen sighed. “No. They’re vehicles.”
“A SUV?”
“I don’t know what that is, but it’s not a buggy. They’re―”
“Limousine?” yelled Wisp.
Zen scratched his head. “I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard of that either.”
“A limousine is like a SUV but it’s longer and shorter. SUVs are tall and big.” She smiled.
“Those sound like things from the old Earth.”
Wisp stared down at her feet. “Yeah. They don’t work anymore.”
“No, buggies are much smaller, and they run on alcohol. Not whatever the ancients used. It’s starting to sound like marauders took your dad.”
Wisp’s eyes bulged. She leapt forward, grabbing the counter’s edge. “I saw marauders! We saw one right before the giant bug… uhh, buggy came. And Dad is gone.”
Zen walked out from behind the counter, approached her, and rested his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry, child. It sure sounds like they took him. You’d best forget about him. He’s as good as dead.”
She tilted her head. “Dead?”
“More than likely. That’s what happens to everyone when marauders take them. They wind up dead.” He brushed a hand over her head, nudging her hair away from her eyes. “I’m sorry. It is fortunate that they did not find you, too.”
“What does dead mean?”
“Have you heard of the Other Place?” asked Zen.
She nodded. “Yes. Mother is there. But I don’t think Dad is, because Mother is leading me to him. She brought me here so I can find him.”
The room got quiet.
“Your… mom is in the Other Place, but she brought you here?”
“Uh huh!” She nodded, grinning. “I’ve got a magic pointer, like Dad’s north box. She tells me where to go.” Wisp pulled out the Mother Twig and let it dangle. “See? When it stops spinning, that’s where she wants me to go.”
One man whistled. A few people shook their heads. About half the room gave her sad stares. The man with the pistol held a finger up to the side of his head and twirled it around while staring at Zen.
She turned back to face him and made the same hand twirl gesture. “What does this mean?”
“It, umm… means that… umm…” Zen pursed his lips. “You’re very smart. He thinks you’re a brave little girl to go looking for your dad like that.”
The armed man made a sputtering noise.
“Poor kid,” muttered a high-voiced man with chest pillows and a perfectly shaved face.
“Can you help me find the, uhh, tire marks?” asked W
isp.
“I’m afraid I cannot. I wouldn’t know where to look, plus I wouldn’t feel right bringing a young girl to marauders.”
She shook her head. “It’s okay. Mother is protecting me. I’m not scared of marauders. I already sent two of them to the Other Place.”
For the second time that day, the whole room fell silent.
Work
-22-
Wisp twisted around to look at everyone staring at her. The people seemed relatively nice, though appeared confused at what to make of her. A few whispered phrases like “poor thing” or “she’s nuts” or “someone ought’a do something,” though no one moved.
She turned back to Zen. “Can I have some food?”
“Of course. Do you have anything to trade, or any coins?”
“Coins?” asked Wisp.
“Small round pieces of money?” Zen held up a tiny silver disk.
“I’ve never seen money, but I’ve read about it. How does it work?” asked Wisp. Characters in her books often wanted, stole, or spent ‘money,’ but she had no idea what it looked like, or how it worked.
“Forget it. Do you have anything to trade?”
“Umm.” She looked over her possessions, not wanting to part with anything. “I can’t trade this stuff. It’s all Dad’s, so I can’t give it away. None of it is really mine except for my clothes.”
“Hmm.” Zen rubbed his chin.
“I could trade my clothes for food.”
He waved her off. “No… no… you keep them.”
She bit her lip. “Yeah, I guess I’ll need them when it gets cold again.” She sighed at the floor. Right before she gave up and walked out, she lifted her gaze to meet his. “Zen? Since I’m only twelve, would you maybe just give me food because it’s nice?”
He tapped a finger to his chin. “How about you trade a little work instead?”
“Work?”
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t get out much, do you?”
“Out?”
“In the world.” He waved his arm across in a sweeping gesture. “Traveling, meeting people.”
“No. I stay at the cabin with Dad and sleep in my Haven so the Tree Walkers don’t take me.”
He pursed his lips, silent for a long moment. “Umm. Right. Well. Work is when you do something that you don’t really like doing, but you have to do.”
“Like making ngh?”
“I’m sorry. What is―” He emitted a sharp grunt.
“Ngh is what comes out your butt.”
The room erupted in laughter.
“Where…” Zen leaned on the counter while laughing himself to tears. Once he got his breath back under control, he looked at her and tried to speak, but cracked up again. Eventually, he calmed down enough to ask, “Where did you come up with calling it―” He grunted again.
“It’s what Dad always yells when he makes it. Isn’t that what it’s called?” She glanced back as another wave of heavy laughter rolled over the room. One man fell off his chair.
It took Zen a moment to collect himself. “Oh, child, you are a breath of fresh air. It is so rare to have such a moment of purity. I needed that. We have a couple words for it, but the only one I’m going to share with you is poop.”
“Poop?” She blinked.
“Yes. That’s what someone your age should call it.”
She mentally rolled her eyes. Ngh was ngh. She didn’t need a new word for something like that. “So, what work do you want me to trade you?”
“Come…” He extended an arm to the side.
She grabbed his hand and shook it.
“We’re past the handshake.” He grinned. “I mean for you to follow me.”
“Okay.”
He walked through a door behind the counter into a room with metal tables on each side and a big metal box full of burning wood at the far end. A small man with long black hair and a purplish-pink garment stood by a giant plastic bowl, kneading the contents with both hands. He only had an inch or two of height on Wisp and an equally slender body, though darker skin―but not as brown as Dad.
“Lijuan?” asked Zen.
The man turned, revealing a small set of chest pillows beneath the floral print garment. The long shirt hung down to his knees, almost like a dress.
“This is my daughter, Lijuan,” said Zen. “She’s seventeen.”
“Daughter?” asked Wisp.
“She is my child, like you are to your dad.”
“Oh.” An older girl.
Lijuan held up her hands, coated in a mixture of something pale. “Sorry. I’m making dumplings. Hello! What’s your name?”
“I’m Wisp.”
Zen patted Wisp on the backpack. “Please work with my daughter for a little while. Perhaps you can peel or do whatever she asks. In return, we will feed you and give you a room for the night.”
“Okay,” said Wisp.
“Let me know if you need any help.” Zen smiled and went back out to the front.
“One moment, kid,” said Lijuan. She grabbed a cloth and wiped her hands clear before walking over and folding her arms, looking Wisp up and down. “Not much to you. Lot of stuff you’re carrying. You might as well put it down.”
“Where can I put it?”
“There in the corner.” Lijuan pointed.
Wisp walked to the indicated spot, leaned the rifle against the wall, then took off the backpack and canteen belt, but kept the pistol and knife.
“Over here,” said Lijuan. “Since you’re so small, I think my father only wants you to do a little just so he feels like you’re helping.” She winked. “He’d have fed you if you begged harder, or were littler.”
Wisp grinned.
“Do you know how to peel?”
“No. I’ve never done that before.”
The older girl picked up a strange bulbous object and a small knife. “Watch me.”
Wisp observed as the girl held the knife at a shallow angle against the lumpy plant and turned it so the outer layer of skin sliced off in thin pieces.
“You’ll need to cut off all the skin like this.” She held up the naked vegetable. “Got it?”
“Yes. I can do that.”
While Lijuan resumed mushing the contents of the big bowl with her hands, Wisp sat on a nearby chair, grabbed one of the lumpy things, and proceeded to peel it. The first few didn’t go so well, but by the fifth one, the process got easier.
“What are these plants?” asked Wisp after number ten.
Lijuan looked over at her. “Potatoes. What, you’ve never seen them before?”
“No. Nothing like this grows where I live.”
“What do you eat?” asked Lijuan.
She grabbed another potato and put the knife to it. “Yellowgreens―Dad calls them dandelions, but he lets me use my name for them ’cause it makes him smile. Umm, Clovers, purslane, asparagus, wood sorrel sometimes. Oregon grapes, blueberries, raspberries, grubs, crickets, grasshoppers…” She proceeded to list off every edible plant or mushroom she could think of plus a bevy of insects.
Lijuan gurgled. “Ugh. Please, no more.”
“What?”
“A lot of those are bugs.”
“Yes. They’re good.” She started to describe the process of skewering a giant grub and fire-roasting it, but Lijuan gagged. “Umm. Where do potatoes come from?”
“The ground.” The older girl took a few breaths while fanning herself. “We have a farm. My father made some pipes to bring water from the creek. We have carrots and turnips and corn, too. My father trades for flour with a settlement a few hours away, so we can make dumplings.”
“I don’t know those plants.”
“They all grow out back. People plant them for food. They’re much better than the stuff you usually eat. Trust me.”
Wisp shrugged, tossed a peeled potato into the bin, and grabbed a new one. “Okay.”
A while later, Lijuan finished whatever she’d been doing in the bowl and
dragged a beat-up metal chair over to sit nearby. The older girl began peeling another vegetable, bright orange and pointy. Wisp watched her for a few minutes until her curiosity grew too great to resist. She peered over at the older girl, considered a moment, then poked a finger into her chest pillow. “Why do you have stuff under your shirt?”
The older girl grabbed the spot and gasped. “Stuff?” She laughed.
“Yes. What is under your shirt that it’s sticking out?”
Lijuan’s face darkened with blush, but she erupted in giggles. “They’re breasts.”
Wisp tilted her head. “What?”
“You’ll have them too someday, and from the look of you, fairly soon. Maybe a year or two. You’re a girl right?”
“Umm. I think so. How do I tell?”
Lijuan blinked. “You don’t know? How could you not?”
“Dad calls me a girl, but I don’t really know. I saw this other girl that I thought was a girl but when she let out the bad water, there was this thing I don’t have. At first, I thought maybe the Tree Walkers took mine when I was really small.”
“Thing?” asked Lijuan.
“It looked like a finger.” Wisp put her hand against her skirt and stuck one finger out.
Lijuan cackled. “Oh, you are adorable!”
Her eyebrows scrunched together. “I’m not stupid. I remembered a book said ‘boy.’”
“No, you’re not stupid. Just… sheltered. Someone who’s got one of those ‘things’ is a boy. If you don’t have one, you’re a girl. We don’t have those. That’s normal. No one took anything from you.”
“Oh. I’m a girl.” Wisp poked her in the breast again. “Why do you have those?”
“Because I’m a girl.”
“Mother doesn’t have them.”
Lijuan raised an eyebrow. “Your mother doesn’t have them? Well, not everyone’s are the same size. Some girls aren’t that big up there.”
She tossed another peeled potato into the bin and took the next. “Do they pop when a girl goes to the Other Place?”
The Forest Beyond the Earth Page 18
