by Stan Morris
“Sure, I saw her, Chief,” she said. “She told me she was going down to the Hanging Tree to draw it. She said something about drawing it for our history.”
“Did you see her come back,” Mike asked.
“Uh, no,” she answered fidgeting uneasily. “I got off my shift right after that. Did I screw up?”
“No, it’s all right,” Mike answered, and then he went to find Jacob and to tell the scout what had been discovered.
“She’s gone,” Jacob said. “Chief--”
“Yeah, go find her,” Mike said, shaking his head in disgust.
Jacob was on the road in minutes. He walked swiftly, not taking his time as he usually did. He was worried about Lily, more than he cared to admit to himself. Will she try to go through the Fog? He shuddered at the thought.
He walked far into the night, but he did not overtake her. Eventually, he had to rest. He slept for several hours, and then he set off again. He remembered the first time he had made this hike. He was in much better shape now. The days in the woods had toughened him, and had honed his senses.
For a second day he followed Lily. Then, a few hours after dark, he stopped. She was close. He did not know how he knew, but he sensed that she was close. Then very faintly, he heard her crying. His blood ran cold, and he began to run.
“Lily!” he called. “Lily!”
“Jacob? Jacob, is that you?”
She stopped crying as she called to him. He found her just off the road in a small clearing. She flung herself into his arms, and she started crying again.
“Lily, are you hurt?” he asked, desperate to hear her denial.
She wiped her eyes and gave out a shaky laugh.
“No. Sorry. Just feeling miserable, that’s all. I can’t see very well. I should have stolen a flashlight, too, I guess. I saw a dog tonight. It scared me.”
Jacob did not respond to that. He doubted that the animal she had seen was a dog.
Jacob had his flashlight, but he quickly made a fire. Shortly, they were warming their hands by its flame. Jacob saw that Lily was wearing all her clothes again, and she was carrying her purple bag with her blankets. And she had found a short, heavy piece of wood.
“You found out,” Lily said as, she stared into the fire.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry for stealing your food. I’m sorry I stole the backpack.”
“You could have asked,” said Jacob, his tone flat.
“Would your boss have given me some? Would he have let me go?” she asked.
“You know we call him, Chief. Yes, he would have given you food. Yes, he would have let you borrow a backpack. Yes, he would have let you go. He’s not running a prison. He’s trying to keep us alive. He’s even going to try to keep those men at the Retreat alive, because he hopes that will keep those kids alive. You would have known that if you had asked me,” Jacob finished, with sadness in his voice.
Lily was silent for a moment, and then she spoke. “I’m sorry, Jacob. I’m still not use to the freedom that your people have. But there must be a way out of here. I’ve got to find it.”
Jacob sighed. “I need to sleep,” he said. “Give me your blankets.”
Lily did not argue. She handed Jacob her blankets, and she took his mummy bag. Without another word, Jacob rolled himself in her blankets and fell asleep.
The next morning, Jacob said, “Let’s go.”
Lily balked at his command. “Where are we going?”
“To the Fog.”
By the end of the day, they were barely a half mile from where Jacob had first encountered the fog. Jacob insisted that they stop. He didn’t want to be closer than this to whatever was in the deadly mist. He didn’t make a fire. They ate cold food, and then they lay in their sleeping gear talking.
“I wonder why the men at the Retreat didn’t tell us we were surrounded by this mist,” Lily mused.
“Good question.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you knew about the Retreat?”
“Didn’t know if I should. Waited to talk to the Chief.”
Lily pondered his words. “You’re very loyal to him. Why it that?”
“He’s loyal to me.”
Jacob slept next to Lily that night. Lily reflected on the fact that she did not feel disturbed at having him so close. She accepted it as a sign that she was recovering. She was glad that he was near. Once again, she imagined a conversation with a woman from the distant past.
“They are not all like that,” the woman would say. “Some will feed you, clothe you, and protect you, and ask nothing of you in return. Whatever you decide to share will be up to you. Some of them will say it’s because they are decent. Some will say it’s because they are honorable. Some will say it’s because they are civilized. Whatever their reason, they are why our tribe has not just survived, but has grown stronger.”
In the morning, they packed their gear, and they walked to the fog. As they approached, Lily stared in dismay at the dreary brown mist covering the ground. She stopped walking, and her eyes filled with tears. She turned and walked well back up the road before she sat down, and then she put her head against her knees and sobbed.
But Jacob was intently examining the landscape. He looked at where he was. He scanned the land on either side of the road. He bent down and studied the ground. He picked up a large rock and started to throw it into the fog. Then he hesitated. I’m not alone, he remembered. And besides, throwing the rock would only be an act of defiance. He went back to Lily.
“Lily,” he said. When she didn’t respond he said her name louder.
“Lily, it’s going down.”
Her eyes were bleak and red. She wasn’t hearing him.
“Lily, listen to me,” he urged. “The Fog is going down.”
The more he thought about it, the more excited he felt.
“What,” she asked, lifting her head.
“The Fog. It’s not as high as it used to be. Last year, you would have been sitting in it.”
She rubbed her eyes. “It’s going down? It’s receding?”
“Yes, it’s going down.” Jacob turned and looked at the edge of the fog along the asphalt. “It’s going down,” he whispered with satisfaction in his voice.
He looked around again. On either side of the road there was some reddish brown goo on the ground. But grass was growing through it. He looked up. For the first time, he was struck by the fact that the trees whose trunks disappeared into the fog below, did not seemed to be dying. They looked perfectly healthy.
“We have to get back, Lily,” said Jacob. “We have to get back and tell the Chief.”
Lily winced as she stood. “Do you think I can go back? Do you think your Chief will let me come back?”
He smiled at her, as they started walking back the way they had come. “Oh, he’ll be pissed. But he’ll let you back in the tribe.”
“After hearing you talk about him, I guess he’ll think of some gruesome punishment for me,” she muttered.
“Yeah, probably,” he said cheerfully. “But look on the bright side. At least he won’t hang you.”
“Ha, ha,” said Lily as she scowled at him.
But she was glad of one thing. Jacob seemed animated. He seemed happy. And Jacob’s cheerfulness was infectious. But three days later, the embarrassed woman stood in front of Mike and listened to an ear scalding lecture.
It’s humiliating, she thought glumly, for a twenty one year old woman to have to listen to a scolding from a fourteen year old boy. Still, it was only proper that she take her medicine.
Mike sentenced her to clean the Porta Pottys for a month, which actually caused the rest of the tribe to generously forgive her theft. One boy even suggested that at the end of her month, she steal something else. In addition to cleaning the toilets, she was to begin a visual record of their tribe’s history.
“And the first picture that you draw will be the Hanging Tree,” Mike had said sarcastically, causing Lily to wince.
Jacob’s report on the ebbing of the fog excited Mike. He had Jacob describe what the scout had seen at Meeting that night. By the time Jacob finished speaking, the tribe was cheering.
“How low do you think the Fog is now, Jacob?” Eric asked.
“I think it’s down to about six thousand four hundred feet,” replied Jacob. “Look’s like it dropped about three hundred fifty feet in one year.”
The cheers were slightly muted at that observation. Eric calculated it would take two decades for the Fog to dissipate at that rate. But they realized that there was a chance, that one day they would live once again in a world without Fog.
“But the problem of my moss covered, three handled gradunza remains,” Mike commented the next day.
“Huh?” most of the Council said.
“Cat in the Hat,” Gabby explained.
“Who let you in here?” Mike asked.
“You know, Chief, it wouldn’t hurt to have one of us younger kids on your staff,” Gabby suggested.
“One of the younger kids,” Mike repeated. “Well, that would be me.”
Gabby looked surprised. “How old are you, Chief?” she asked.
“I’m fourteen,” he replied. Gabby giggled. “And a half,” he added defensively. “Now get lost.”
“Going, going, gone,” she said airily as she left.
“Now where was I,” he said.
“You were saying that we have a problem with a moss covered, three handled gradunza,” said Hector. “Whatever that is.”
“What I meant to say is that Jacob and Jean still have to go to the Retreat and do the sheep thing.”
“We’ll be ready tomorrow,” Jean said.
The next day, Mike met with Jacob and Jean before they left.
“Two weeks to get there, one week to do the job, two weeks to get back,” he said. “Six weeks, if you run into trouble. After six weeks, I’m going to get worried. After seven weeks, I’m going to get really worried. After eight weeks, I’m going to get pissed. And I want you to take the Admin’s whistles. Use them if you get separated.”
“We’ll be fine,” Jacob said, as they left Chief’s Headquarters.
“Famous last words,” Mike muttered.
Outside, the two scouts found Howard and Lily. Howard didn’t say much. He just wanted a few kisses, and he warned Jean not to pick up stray men.
Lily had more to talk about. First, she asked Jacob if he had enough food. He assured her he did. Then, she asked him if he had enough water. He assured her that he did. She asked him if he had packed his tube of Neosporin. He assured her that he had. She asked him if he had packed enough clean underwear. At that, Jacob blinked, and told Lily that he and Jean really needed to leave. Right now. So they left the camp on the first day of May.
April had passed, and May had arrived. Around the camp, the snow had melted. Hector and Kathy were busy making shingles for the roof of the Lodge. Hector vowed that the roof would have less than five leaks come winter. Mike didn’t have enough guilty people to cover the waste under the Porta Pottys, so Mike made everyone carry a few buckets of dirt to cover the excrement. Once again, the tanks were installed in the Porta Pottys to everyone’s aromatic relief.
Mike sent another pair of boys to the Brown farm in May. Tyler returned, eager to see Gabby. Gabby sat him down for a long talk, and she told him that although she was fond of him, she didn’t think that she was ready for a serious relationship, being that she was only thirteen. Disappointed, Tyler rose to leave, only to find that Gabby had covered the plastic chair with a thin layer of glue. Mike threatened to make them stay in their underwear for a week, even if it took every tube of sunscreen in the camp.
Desi and John were enjoying their single room, now that Howard and Jean had their own, especially since some of the girls were camping in the bus at night. This meant that it was less crowded in the living areas of the Lodge. The bus got very warm during the day which made the vehicle a toasty place for the girls to gather together. The only problem the girls had was finding enough coverings to hang over all the windows at night, since the area right outside the bus had become a favorite loitering spot for some interested boys. The girls asked Mike to intervene, but he was surprisingly unsympathetic.
Mary drove her tractor down to the camp and plowed some of the meadow. She sowed ten acres of wheat, five acres of animal feed, and five acres of oats. The kids griped about the loss of so much of their playing area, but they helped sow the seeds.
“We can make oatmeal and oat cereal,” Mary said.
The whole milk Mary brought was mixed with water and Mary left in some of the cream. She told the kids that if they built a chicken coop, she would give them some chicks.
Mike told them, “No, Hector cannot help you.”
Hector did tell them about a roll of metal wire still up at the old logging camp. Several of the kids, led by Rasul, hiked up to the logging camp and carried the wire back. Hector didn’t help them build the chicken coop, but Kathy lent them a hand. Kylie and Paige came to visit, and they helped, too.
Mike worried that the patrols were not covering the Brown farm. One day, he thought about the RV that was still in the biker’s clearing. He asked Hector to see if the RV could be started. It could, but just barely. The cold winter had damaged the motor. But Hector got it started, and he and some of the kids managed to roll it down to the junction of the gravel road and the logging road, before it overheated and died for the last time. It became a guard house, and Mike asked for volunteers to man it. Those who were willing to stay for forty eight hours had to walk to and from the RV. Those who were willing to stay for a week were taught to ride a motorcycle and were allowed to ride. The tribe referred to them as ‘RV guards.’ There were several who volunteered to stay for a week, and after a vigorous discussion during Meeting, Mike relented and allowed girls to be RV guards. This meant that one of the motorcycles was stationed about half way between the Lodge and the Brown farm, and the Council agreed that this was a good way to speed communications between the two communities in case of an emergency.
By the end of May, Hector and Kathy finished shingling the roof of the Lodge. Hector told Mike that he wanted to take a stab at building a fireplace on the east end of the Lodge. Mike agreed to give him forty five days after which, if he was not finished, he would replace the wood wall that he had removed. Hector began to gather stones and to tear down the wall.
Lily’s latrine duty was finally over. During the day she was busy making drawings in charcoal of the various historical sites of the camp, including the infamous Hanging Tree and the graveyard. The kids also insisted that she make a drawing of ‘Mike’s Throw.’ At night, she had been helping Howard to develop drawings of plants that could be harvested for food. Howard knew most of them by sight, but he wanted to wait until Jean confirmed their accuracy before he used the drawings. Together, they worried about Jean and Jacob. When the middle of June arrived, Howard and Lily went to see Mike.
“Where are they?” Lily asked demandingly.
“Good question,” Mike replied. “We knew that this might take some time. They know what they’re doing. Let’s give them another week before we panic.”
Except for worrying about the two scouts, the year was passing pleasantly, so far. The grain was growing well in the meadow. The hunters had brought back another buck. They were getting regular shipments of vegetables, milk, butter and bread from the farm. There were the usual squabbles but nothing too serious. Even Tyler and Gabby were behaving.
But another week passed, and there was still no sign of the scouts. Seven weeks, thought Mike with a heavy heart. Seven weeks. Howard was grim faced, and he was becoming unpleasant to be around. The only person he would speak to was Lily.
Another week passed, and the whole camp was worried, now. At Council, Howard demanded that Mike send him and the Spears up to the Retreat to look for Jacob and Jean. Mike agreed to discuss it that night. After talking it over during Meeting, there was a unanimous consensus
that they would have to go in strength to the Retreat.
But the next morning, as they were making preparations to depart, the motorcycle from the RV guard post came roaring into camp with the message that Jacob and Jean were at Davis Brown Farm. Ralph had ridden one of the horses to the RV guard post, and the guards had agreed that this was an emergency, so they used the motorcycle to deliver the messenger. Jacob had twisted an ankle, and they were both bone tired and in need of a long rest.
“They got in late last night,” Ralph said. “Mary is planning to bring them home in the wagon tomorrow. They really need to sleep today.”
The community was filled with relief.
“Thanks, man, for coming to tell us so quick. I really appreciate that,” said Howard, as he shook Ralph’s hand vigorously.
Lily wanted to ride the motorcycle up to the farm, but Ralph convinced her that the two desperately needed to sleep.
“I promise you, Lily, that you’ll see them tomorrow,” he said, and then to Mike he added, “I hope you can make sleeping arrangements for all of us. The girls are coming, and so are Comet and Star. I’ll leave the boys to watch the farm and to do the chores. I need to get back, now. We’ll need the horse for the wagon tomorrow, and I want her rested.”
“Anything you need, Ralph. Anything,” Mike responded, and he waited at the small bridge until Ralph and the RV guard disappeared over the rise.
There was joy in the camp that day. Desi and Yuie suggested that pound cakes should be baked to celebrate. Mike agreed, but he suggested that they wait and bake them in the morning, so the cakes would be fresh for the scouts, who were expected in the late afternoon.
The next day, everyone waited impatiently for time to pass. The pound cakes were baked, and then fresh butter was spread on top while they were still hot. Mike allowed people to wait at the top of the hill, but they were forbidden to go down to the Hanging Tree, because he was afraid someone’s foot would get run over by the heavy wagon, if there was a pressing crowd on the narrow road.
As darkness arrived, the wagon appeared on the road below, and a cheer went up from the waiting crowd. Jacob and Jean were sitting on the bench next to Mary. Paige, Kylie, Star, Comet, and Ralph were riding in the back. The cheering got louder as the wagon approached. Jean waved to the crowd. Jacob appeared to be startled and annoyed at the fuss. The wagon came up and over the hill, and the boisterous crowd followed it down to the parking lot.
