“We need to camp,” Daneh continued. “And set out our snares and lines. We’re not getting much, but not much is different from nothing.” She glanced over her shoulder at Azure as the rumpled and foot-sore house lion walked slowly over the bridge. “Maybe Azure will get something.”
The house lion had actually been bringing in most of the group’s protein. He had started off the trip in fine fittle, despite the rain, tail high and off on what looked to be a very interesting long walk. That had lasted most of the first day, but house lions weren’t well designed for long-distance travel and by the end of the day his tail was dragging. Despite that, in the morning he was sitting by the remains of the fire with a dead and only somewhat mangled possum. And he had continued to bring things in from the woods for the entire first week: twice rabbits, three more possums, a female raccoon and on the third day had turned up dragging a spotted fawn.
But by the eighth day the cat was getting as fine drawn as the humans and for all practical purposes had stopped hunting. Cats were obligate carnivores, which meant that they had to eat meat every day. Daneh had shared small helpings of the readimeals, hopefully enough to keep him from having liver damage, but the cat wasn’t getting enough food, even with his own foraging, to keep him in condition.
Daneh looked at the cat and her daughter, who had also lost too much weight, and shook her head. “We’ll rest here tonight, up the road a bit in case any more scavengers come around. We’ll lay out our snares and tomorrow we’ll do nothing but forage. Maybe we can scare some game out of the woods for Azure to catch. We’ll spend a good bit of it just resting, though. And if we don’t find anything, we don’t find anything. Day after tomorrow we’ll go on.”
“Works for me,” Rachel said, shifting her pack. “Couple of hundred meters?”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked around at the rain-sodden woods and shrugged. In another couple of days they’d be up to the Via Appalia and some relative degree of civilization. Surely the worst was over. How much worse could it get?
“Ten more refugees today.”
June Lasker had been one of the first in. She lived in a house not far to the west, up the Via Appalia at the edge of the Adaron Range. It was comparatively well set up for the environment with wood fireplaces and a few items that could be used to cook in a pinch. But she knew there wasn’t going to be anything to cook in it and as a long-time trader at the Faire she knew right how to find Raven’s Mill. She was one of the relatively well-off refugees, having come in on her own horse and carrying the tools that had made her a successful dealer. Her stock in trade was handmade calligraphy, and the reams of parchment, inks, pens and various quills were well received; no one had thought until they were well into the plan that there was no way to keep records.
So June had become the primary archivist and was training two of the refugees as scribes, including how to make inks and paper. As soon as a few of the artisans were freed up she intended to get started on a printing press.
“Anyone we know?” Edmund asked, looking over her shoulder at the lists.
The rain beat steadily against the roof of the tent that had been set up to receive the refugees. Not far behind it was the mess tent and the sound of the chow lines forming was clear. He turned his attention to the sound for just a moment but it was slow and methodical. Sooner or later they were going to have real problems, but the refugees were, so far, just happy to have some food and shelter and people who had some idea what they were doing. Of course, there were many hysterics; the sudden change from a life of peace and perfection was not easy and that had been borne out in much crying and mnany nightmares. But the three day food and rest period seemed to do the trick. At the end of that time, most of the groups had gotten their act together and were now helping around the camp. Some had declined the requirements necessary to stay, instead hoping for something better somewhere else. Well, they could just keep looking for the pot of gold, if there was ever another rainbow.
“No, but they said there were some wagons on the road behind them. I’d guess that’s dealers.”
“I expected more before this,” Talbot mused unhappily.
“I know,” June replied. “She’ll be all right.”
“They had everything they needed to make it,” he said, definitely.
“You know, Edmund, no one would take it amiss if you got on a horse and went looking,” she said.
“I sent Tom,” Edmund replied. “Between you and me. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m taking privileges of my rank. He went to Warnan and down the trail but he didn’t find them.”
“Damn.”
“He said that some of the people on the trail said that the bridge was out south of Fredar on the Annan. If they tried to cross…”
“They probably went around,” June said. “Daneh wouldn’t try to cross the Annan in full flood. If so, they’re on one of the side trails.”
“And I can even guess which one,” Edmund said. “But if I went out looking, all sorts of people would want to go haring off in every direction. And we can’t have that; we’re running on a knife-edge here.”
She worked her jaw but nodded in agreement. “Which makes the other piece of news I got all the more unpleasant.”
Edmund’s face was like stone except for a raised eyebrow.
“The last group in had been… set upon by a group of men. The men took everything they had of value.”
“All the wonders of period travel and now bandits,” Edmund said with a snarl. “We’re going to need a guard force faster than I thought.”
“There are plenty of reenactors…”
“I don’t want a bunch of people painting themselves blue and charging screaming,” the smith said with a growl. “This won’t be the first problem by a long shot. We’re going to need professional guards, soldiers damnit, who can get the job done in a stand-up fight. I want legionnaires, not barbarians. Among other things, I’m not going to see them become the nucleus of a feudal system or my name isn’t Talbot.”
“You need a centurion to have legionnaires,” June said with a smile. “And the proper social conditions as background.”
“If we’re lucky the first will turn up,” he said cryptically. “As to the latter; working on it.”
“Well in the meantime you’d better scratch up a few good Picts before the Norsemen get here.”
Herzer had been having a very bad week.
The Fall had caught him at home, but like most people he had little of use in the post-Fall world. His parents had kicked him loose at the earliest possible age. Neither his mother nor his father had ever said anything to him about his condition, other than to inquire if it was improving yet, but he was well aware that both blamed the genetics of the other for it. And neither of them were the sort of people who could handle the psychological burden of a child with “special needs.” They had both treated him well when he was young, more like an odd toy than a child, but a well-loved toy; however, when his palsy started kicking in they had become more and more distant until finally, when he reached the minimum age to be “on his own” his mother had pointedly asked him when he was moving out.
Thus he lived by himself. And whereas everyone had a very generous remittance from the Net, he used a good bit of it on his recreation games. Thus his home was modest and so were the things he owned; the term “minimalist” could be used for the small house in which he lived. He’d never even kept the weapons that he trained with, instead storing them “off-line” to reduce the clutter.