Further:

by Travis Mohrman

  They came up to see Tim grinding up deer meat in a large metal drum with a handle he was spinning. He was feeding chunks of the deer into one end, spinning the handle, and ground up meat was coming out the other end. The way Tim was sweating it was obvious that spinning that handle was a great deal of work and he had been at it for quite some time.

  “Coop, Handro, you guys come up here to help out?” Aria exclaimed, out of breath herself.

  Aria was taking the meat and mixing it with a bowl full of herbs and what looked like the off-white salt from the water in the gulf. Then, she was squishing the mixture into her own metal drum, and spinning a similar handle but the meat was coming out into a tube with some kind of case over it. As she spun the handle with one hand, the other let the case out slowly as it filled with meat.

  “It’s that time of year boys; time to make some sausage to put up for the winter.” Everyone knew that Tim loved sausage, but Cooper had never seen it made. It seemed easy enough, if a little physically taxing. Typically, when the air started growing cold Tim would hand out these logs of hard sausage to everyone in the village. They were instructed to slice it thinly and enjoy. It did not need to be kept cold. Cooper had loved them when he first tried them last year.

  “Of course I’ll help. This looks much more fun than making rope. Plus, I get more sausage if I help right?” Cooper snorted a little at his own joke as he said it. He walked over and took over the grinder from Tim. “Aria, Handro found something to show you.”

  “Almost done with this one, give me one second,” she said. A few more cranks on her drum and the sausage in her hands was the same size as the rest. She lifted it up and twisted the open end into a knot. Then she placed it on the pile with the rest.

  Handro had been standing there taking in how the sausage was made. It really impressed him. Since he never stayed in place very long, he had never air cured sausages like that. Sometimes he would take chunks of meat from deer, salt them and then place them in the sun to dry. It wasn’t very flavorful, but it lasted a very long time and was needed several times when other food was scarce. This whole process looked and smelled delicious.

  “Yes, this came floating down the large river that cuts off to the Northwest. I saw it when I was on a journey up that way several days ago.” Handro handed the object to Aria.

  She turned it over and over in her hands questioningly. “It’s very light for its size isn’t it? Lighter even that tree bark.” Aria stared at it quizzically. “I don’t think its natural, do you?”

  Handro shrugged his shoulders. “I have never seen anything like it, but I have never walked that river before.”

  “I think I have seen something like it before,” said Cooper. “It looks and feels just like the outer material of our council of chambers building back in the old city. This was the soft white stuff that we covered up with wood. It was formed into blocks and then the inside of the block was filled with some kind of rock and metal bars.”

  “Oh yes, you told me of that building. It was the only one that was still standing when the rest crumbled right? Do you think a piece broke off and somehow found its way to the river?” Aria asked.

  “I don’t think that’s possible. It came down a different river and from a different direction. I definitely think it’s man-made though. This was the only piece you saw, Handro?”

  “Yes, it was the only thing besides sticks floating down the river. Seemed to be many sticks, more than I normally see in the other rivers.”

  Tim had been staring at the cube for some time. “The river probably flooded somewhere up stream and picked this up, and all those sticks, off the banks. Flushed ‘em right downriver. Look close at this though, it’s made of millions of tiny white balls that are fused together.”

  Everyone crowded around Tim and looked closely at the square.

  “I wonder if we could find more up there?” asked Tim.

  Cooper scratched his head a little. “What would we even use this stuff for?”

  “Well, we know it floats because that’s how Handro found it. It’s way lighter than wood or metal so we could make a pretty nice boat with it.”

  Aria had released the cube but was still looking at it, deep in thought. “We don’t really need more boats, but it’s still a good idea. I think we need to bring in the boys and get some more people thinking about this.”

  “So I need to finish the sausage myself?” Tim was not all too happy about that prospect.

  “No, the children should be done with school for the day and this looks like a perfect job for Albert,” smiled Aria. She knew Tim wasn’t too fond of the children. He seemed annoyed by most of their antics, but he had taken a shining to Albert.

  “Fine by me. That kid gets work done while providing music. I like it!” Tim said.

  +++

  Aria and Cooper had gathered their best thinkers together at the center of the village under the pavilion usually used for gatherings. Everyone had been crammed into a tight ball, looking at the mystery cube for sometime.

  Many folks had ideas for what it could be used for, boat flotation being the most common. Tom wanted to use it as the largest fish indicator ever, although he had no reason for that use. He just wanted to see how big a fish had to be to pull it underwater. Normally, he despised those little fishing floats that the children used. “Good for children, adults don’t need ‘em,” he would always say.

  Now, the group had separated into several small pockets and they were trying to come up with other uses for the stuff. Everyone agreed that it reminded them of tree bark in its composition. It was light and airy, but seemed to protect from the elements.

  Ceannt had stepped up and said “I bet I could line my cellar with it, keep the cold in. During the hot months it can be tough to keep it cold enough to make good beer.”

  Aria laughed that off. “If a whole bunch floats down to us and we have no other use for it, I think that’s a great idea, but we’re not mounting an expedition just to try to make slightly better beer for a month or two.

  Ceannt made a mental note to be sure to pour her next mug heavy on the yeasty dregs from the bottom of the barrel. He thought it was a totally worthwhile expedition.

  “We don’t even know if there is more up there.” said Lakewood.

  “No, we don’t, but Cooper’s city has a whole building made out of the stuff if we really wanted it,” Aria said.

  Many people groaned about that. They didn’t want to go back up there; they had just been there and could have grabbed it then if this stuff was so important.

  The afternoon was slowly turning into evening and people were drifting away from the crowd. Handro and Cooper had not strayed though. They were off in one corner of the pavilion, obviously hatching a plan.

  As most everyone else had left, Aria walked over to them. “You two look like you’re up to something. What’s going on?”

  The pair immediately stopped talking and looked at Aria, then back to each other. Cooper spoke up first. “Well, Handro is planning to go up the river and I think I want to go with him.”

  Aria was surprised at this. She assumed that Cooper would not be eager to go back to his old city so quickly. As she inquired about it, he quickly corrected her.

  “No, not that river. We want to take a small boat and go up the big river heading to the northwest.”

  Handro spoke up now. “Yes, it is an area I have never explored and could yield some good finds. I never ventured very far north because my parents had been up there and described it as a wasteland. This cube is just an indicator that there may be more up there. Perhaps an entire city built out of this material.”

  Aria had to admit it was a good idea. She knew she would never try to stop Handro from going on one of his expeditions anyway. She still had her reservations though, since they wanted to take a boat, and it must have shown on her face.

  “I’ve wanted to go on a journey with Handro anyway. This way we can take a small boat and motor up the river. If somethin
g happens or we run out of fuel the river will float us right back down here.”

  “Oh, the river almost floated you back down here last time too, just not in the boat,” Aria said, looking kindly at Cooper.

  He absently rubbed his head where he had cracked it on the log. The wound had long since disappeared, leaving a rather ugly splash of scar tissue running above his eye. FZ had sworn that the ladies would love it. As often was the case, FZ was wrong about the ladies and scars.

  “I still blame the kids for that. I wouldn’t have jumped off if he hadn’t fallen off the boat in the first place.”

  “I know dear, I’m just teasing you. Mostly. It seems like a good idea. A simple scouting mission. When would you want to leave? Wait for spring?” Aria said with a lilt at the end of her sentence, obviously hopeful they would put this voyage off for awhile.

  Handro had no real experience with this sort of body language as his parents had never understood the use in skirting a topic of conversation. “We were hoping to leave right away, before it gets colder.”

  It never got very cold around the village, or even up north around the old city. Few alive even remembered ever seeing water freeze. Game became less available though and plants all mostly went dormant during the winter, so food became an issue.

  “We’re not planning some big journey here, Aria. We’ll just go up that river a few days, peek around a little and come on back home. If we see something interesting or think it would be worthwhile, we can mount a bigger trip in the spring,” Cooper said. He was trying to put her mind at ease and it seemed to be working.

  “Ok, well I have no problems with it. We need to check with Tom and get a nice small boat that can handle shallow water. I vote to keep this fairly quiet. You’re just going on a little journey with Handro. No reason to get the whole village excited.”

  Cooper stood up a little straighter. “Fine with me, although I do love the parties that go along with big expeditions!”

  “Yeah, that’s what we are trying to avoid. We need the brewers here now as we are preparing everything for winter and if they learn you’re going off on some kind of adventure, they’ll beg to come along.”

  “Why do they want to come?” Handro spoke up.

  Cooper chuckled a little and replied, “Get out of work mostly. Spend a few days drinking on a boat. Take your pick.”

  Handro still didn’t seem to understand that Cooper was joking and said “Oh, then I don’t want them to come either.”

  Cooper and Aria both laughed at the bluntness of Handro’s words until they had tears in their eyes.

  “They are very good to have around, big man. They can fix almost anything and I would take them by my side any day in a crisis. You just have to put up with all their conversations about nothing,” Cooper joked.

  He and Aria laughed again, this time with Handro joining in, even though he wasn’t entirely sure why. Aria’s laughter generally had an infectious quality to it.

  “I’ll talk to Tom and get a few things together. You guys head over to Doc and get a barrel of fuel. Bring extra, always bring extra. You won’t be walking so it’s not like you have to carry anything.” With that, Aria lazily strolled off the pavilion to go talk to Tom.

  As she walked, she thought about how nice it was that he had made peace with his demons and was around the village more. For years he had been stuck in the past, dwelling on things he wished he could change. The successful mission to the Cooper’s old city had given her the old Tom back. It had been so long she had nearly forgotten how much she missed having her oldest friend happy.

  14

  The trip to see Doc went as smooth as could be expected. When the duo showed up, they were greeted by a massive fire. Sitting in the middle of the fire was a thick kettle filled with something that Cooper couldn’t get close enough to see, due to the heat. Doc had yelled that it was all broken glass and then stepped away from the fire to explain.

  He actually had no interest in going on the trip as he was in the middle of trying to create sheets of glass out of a bunch of old broken pieces of glass he had found well outside the village in some old hole in the ground. Cooper had asked him how he found the glass and he just mumbled something about places that people used to dump garbage.

  Doc readily gave him the fuel without asking many questions. Handro and Cooper carried the heavy barrel as far from the raging inferno as they could as quickly as they could. When they both ran out of breathe, they decided they were a safe enough distance to slow down a little.

  It unnerved Cooper slightly that Handro didn’t seem comfortable with idle chit-chat. They walked in silence most of the way to where Tom kept all the boats he took out to catch fish.

  By the time they got there, they were both exhausted. They had switched sides several times to give each arm a rest and the end result was two sore arms on each of them. They set the heavy barrel down with a thud on the little ramp heading out into the water and Tom stood up from inside one of the boats.

  “Hey fellas. Heck, I would have helped you carry that here.” He smiled big, making the wrinkles at the sides of each eye deepen. “I feel safe to say that because you’re already here!”

  Cooper and Handro did not laugh. They didn’t even think about laughing.

  Tom didn’t seem to care in the slightest. “Aria says you’re looking for a shallow water boat to take up river?”

  “That would be very helpful.” replied Handro.

  “Well, this is the girl right here.” he said, slapping the top of a small craft, capable of carrying maybe four or five people. “She’ll draft through water that’s only ankle deep and you don’t need to worry about hitting bottom because she doesn’t have a prop. Runs on jets!”

  Cooper looked the boat over. It was flat bottomed, like the barge, but not metal. It seemed to be some kind of plastic. It looked to be twice as long as he was tall and half that wide. A small arm protruded from the side of the motor for steerage. Like all the boats, it had metal T shapes along the sides to tie it up when they stopped and a big hunk of funny shaped metal for an anchor.

  “I think she’ll do just fine. Thanks Tom, we’ll take good care of her.”

  “You better, I really like this boat. Plus, it’s the only jet motor I have! So make sure she comes back in one piece, okay?”

  “Certainly fewer than five pieces. We can do that,” Handro said while looking around.

  Cooper and Tim had never really heard Handro attempt a joke. They glanced at each and both started laughing at the same time, even though it wasn’t very funny. Tom slapped the dark skinned man on the back.

  “Aria said you guys are leaving soon?”

  “Yeah, we want to get going. Probably going to load everything up in the morning and head out. We’ll be back in a few days.” Cooper’s eyes were still on their little craft as he spoke.

  “Ok, dress warm, boys. I’ve never been up north, but out in the gulf the weather can change quickly so it’s best to assume that can happen anywhere. And be real careful. I know Handro is leery of new people; listen to that instinct.”

  Handro nodded to Tim and they began walking back into the village to get their things together.

  +++

  Cooper was packing his things into one of the packs when he heard the door to his house open and close. Most people, even close friends like Aria, knocked on the door before coming in unannounced. Only one person just strolled in without making a noise.

  John walked around the corner and stepped into Cooper’s bedroom. “Hey Coop, I hear you’re headed out with Handro?”

  “Yeah buddy. Just for a few days then we’ll be back. You gonna be ok with that?”

  “No problem with me Cooper. I am busy watching the kids at school. Hey, did you know that the world we live on is round, like one of the tomatoes? But we can’t tell its round because it’s so big!”

  Of course Cooper knew this. All the kids learned it very early on in school, but letting John explain what he had learned recentl
y always made him happy. “No way? It sure looks flat to me.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I said, but Katherine had pictures of the world and it sure is round. If we went high enough up in the air we would be able to tell,” John said excitedly.

  “That’s pretty neat buddy. Thanks for letting me know.”

  “Oh yeah, I’m learning all kinds of stuff while watching the children. Anyway, I won’t keep you from packing up. Just wanted to come by and tell you climb any really tall hill you see, just in case you can see the world curve a little.”

  “Sounds like a plan, John.”

  John left Cooper’s little cabin just as quickly and quietly as he had come in. The redhead heard the door creak open and then swing back shut with a loud cracking sound. All the wood seemed to creak and crack more as the air got colder. Cooper really enjoyed the sounds of the creaking wood. It made his house almost seem alive. It was so much different than the old metal box he used to live in.

  While he continued to stuff some of his clothes into the pack, Lupe jumped onto the bed. She sat there, staring at him with one paw resting on his bag.

  “You wanna come, girl? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  Lupe swished her long, blonde tail back and forth, slowly keeping a perfect, furry rhythm.

  Cooper remembered how his traveling companion usually acted around the dogs. “Handro seems a little nervous with you pooches.”

  Lupe looked up at him and batted her long, nearly white eyelashes at him. The veins in her snout were barely visible under the blonde and black streaked coat.

  “I will check with him, I promise.”

  Lupe then stuck her nose into his pack and slowly worked her whole head in there until all Cooper could see was her thickly furred shoulders as she tried to disappear among his clothing. Cooper began laughing at the dog’s attempt at subterfuge.