Book Three, The Darwin’s World Series

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An Epic of Survival

By Jack L Knapp

 

 

 

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Book Three, The Darwin’s World Trilogy

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An Epic of Survival

Copyright © 2014, renewed Copyright © 2023, by Jack L Knapp

 

Cover Art Copyright Mia Darien

Images from Fotolia

 

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited.

Disclaimer: The persons and events depicted in this novel were created by the author’s imagination; no resemblance to actual persons or events is intended. Product names, brands, and other trademarks referred to within this book are the property of the respective trademark holders. Unless otherwise specified, no association between the author and any trademark holder is expressed or implied. Nor does the use of such trademarks indicate an endorsement of the products, trademarks, or trademark holders unless so stated. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark, registered trademark, or service mark.

 

Table of Contents

Prologue      5

Chapter One      6

Chapter Two      10

Chapter Three      14

Chapter Four      18

Chapter Five      23

Chapter Six      28

Chapter Seven      32

Chapter Eight      36

Chapter Nine      41

Chapter Ten      47

Chapter Eleven      52

Chapter Twelve      58

Chapter Thirteen      62

Chapter Fourteen      67

Chapter Fifteen      72

Chapter Sixteen      79

Chapter Seventeen      84

Chapter Eighteen      89

Chapter Nineteen      94

Chapter Twenty      98

Chapter Twenty-One      103

Chapter Twenty-Two      109

Chapter Twenty-Three      114

Chapter Twenty-Four      119

Chapter Twenty-Five      124

Chapter Twenty-Six      129

Chapter Twenty-Seven      134

Chapter Twenty-Eight      138

Chapter Twenty-Nine      143

Chapter Thirty      148

Chapter Thirty-One      153

Chapter Thirty-Two      158

Chapter Thirty-Three      163

Chapter Thirty-Four      167

Chapter Thirty-Five      172

Chapter Thirty-Six      177

Chapter Thirty-Seven      182

Chapter One      189

Chapter Two      194

Prologue

Welcome to Book Three of the Darwin’s World Series.

Matt is one of several transplants from a parallel timeline. Their new home corresponds to Earth’s late Pleistocene Epoch, an Earth where humans didn't survive. The time is about 15,000 years before Matt’s 20th Century birth. He names it Darwin’s World because survival depends on individual fitness and luck.

The transplants adapt and form associations, familial, then tribal and village. A variety of factors forced Matt’s ‘family’ to join a larger tribe (Darwin’s World), then seek a permanent home (Darwin’s World II: The Trek).Their journey began in late winter and lasted until early fall. This brings us to the current book.

They build a fortified village in a narrow valley between limestone cliffs. The village is near a small river that joins a narrow seaway, and arm of the future Gulf of Mexico. The Seaway is fed in part by the lower Rio Grande of future North America.

The tribe’s numbers are few, despite having absorbed people during the journey. Matt felt that the best solution would be a cliff dwelling similar to what the ancient Anasazi built. Despite being outnumbered and surrounded by enemies, they had prospered, safe in their canyons and cliff-hollow villages. Two engineers, transplants from the 20th Century, feel the cliff-hollow is not large enough. They decide to build storage bins in the cliff hollow, but construct a walled village below. Matt accepts the decision and work begins.

Then tragedy strikes; two tribe members, Laz and Lee, are captured by slavers. The tribe has had trouble before, but this is the first time they’ve lost members. Earlier encounters have seen the slavers killed, their captives released. But others were not so fortunate; the ones who were not rescued were sent south into the area corresponding on Earth Prime with northern Mexico. None have ever returned.

Matt intends to strike back, but there’s a problem; nothing is known about the lands across the seaway, and his Headchopper Tribe is outnumbered. No matter; he will take the war south. Lee is the son of Matt’s consort Lilia and Matt accepts him as his own son.

Meanwhile, winter is coming; the tribe must prepare shelters and stock them with food. This reduces the manpower available to Matt.

Will this winter be as harsh as the previous one? No one knows. Survival of the many must take priority over rescuing two. There’s much to be done, not much time to do it, and few hands to do the work. They must hunt, harvest plants, and cut and stack firewood. The rescue expedition will need warriors, people who must come from the same group that does the hunting. Rescuing the two might mean starvation for the others, even should the raid be successful.

These are the issues that Matt must resolve.

 

Chapter One

“I don’t see anyone, Matt. How about we steer for that little cove?” Piotr asked.

“Go ahead,” Matt said. “We’ll drag the boat up on shore and hide it; if it cracks, it cracks. We can patch it again or just steal another one. We took this one, we can do it again.”

“Sounds good, Matt. You want to go in now or wait until dark?” Piotr asked.

“We go in now,” Matt decided. “We're in one of their boats, so if anyone’s watching they won’t be suspicious but if we waited offshore until dark, they'd wonder why we didn’t land.”

The boat, driven by the paddles, glided smoothly into the sheltered water of the cove. The beach was a gentle slope, mixed sand, pebbles, and shell. A small overgrown gully offered concealment.

The men dragged the boat into the gully, turned it upside down, then covered it with branches. Moving up the slope, they concealed themselves to watch the beach and wait for dusk.

***

Planning had begun the week before.

Five people, buckskin-clad, gazed south across the seaway. They appeared to be in their early twenties, but looks were deceiving; all had undergone the Futurists treatments before being transplanted. Aging bodies had been rejuvenated, their memories retained and augmented. None showed signs of further aging. Even scars, the result of living in harsh conditions, vanished after a short time. “We’re never going to keep those bastards away if all we do is respond. They’ve got to learn there are consequences.” The speaker was tall, dark-haired, and armed with bow and spear. His name was Matt, and it was the only name he'd known since being picked up by the Futurists.

“I agree, Matt,” Lilia said, “but they’ve got more people. Their weapons are as good as ours, maybe better.”

“Even so,” Matt argued, “if we don’t act now they’ll keep taking our people. As for numbers, there are probably more of them but I'm guessing only a few hundred total. Otherwise, wouldn’t the raids be bigger?”

“What if they’re also raiding south, Matt?” asked Colin, “Or maybe further to the west?”

“They’re not capturing many people, less than a hundred slaves during the course of a year because there just aren’t many people here. I'm thinking that slavery is only a sideline, a part of what they’re doing down there, and only a few of them are involved in taking slaves. The rest have to be farming or ranching, although some may be involved in manufacturing. We won't know until we get there.”

“Matt, I’m not sure I understand but I guess if you know, the rest of us can just go along for the time being,” Sal said.

“We have to go soon if we're to have any chance of success,” Matt pointed out. “They could be taking Laz and Lee farther south right now. It's a hard choice, I realize that, because we can’t mount a rescue without hurting our own chances for survival. Just to start with, we have to finish building winter shelters and gather food. I figure there's not much time before the first snow, although this far south and west I can't be sure, and we’re also short of manpower. His tone was bitter. “They picked the right time, probably why they prefer to raid in late summer and early fall. The raiders are not slaveholders, they can't be, because farmers and miners can’t leave slaves unguarded. Besides, who would make sure the crops got tended? Which means that the ones that grabbed Lee and Laz are middlemen, captors who sell the ones they catch to the slaveholders. Anyway, that’s what I think. It’s too much to hope we’ll find Lee and Laz as soon as we get over there, so I’ll take a small patrol with me this time and spend a couple of days sneaking around. With luck, the slaveholder farms won’t be far inland, but I’ll go into the interior if I have to

“You’re just looking, Matt?” Piotr asked.

“For now. Think you might be up for a little walk in the woods?”

“Sure, Matt,” Piotr said. “It beats sitting around and chipping stone. When do you plan to leave?”

“As soon as I've got enough people,” Matt said decisively. “Five should be enough, six is too many. If we take more, the odds of being discovered go up. I don’t want them to know we’re coming.”

“I want to go too, Matt.” Lilia wiped a tear from her face.

“Not this time. I can be risked, but if you’re in danger so is our baby. No, you stay here and help Colin. Get the village built and see to stocking it with food. We'll need furs and firewood as well as meat, plus whatever vegetables you can gather.”

Lilia reluctantly nodded agreement.

“How are you going to conduct the scout, Matt?” asked Piotr.

“Move after dark, hide during the day. With five people, there’s enough for two pairs, one pair watching while the other sleeps, and I’m the spare. We'll only stay three or four days, a week at most.

“I'm not intending to fight, not yet; I’d rather get Laz and Lee back first. Then teach the slaveholders they’ve got something to lose. I’ll burn them out, destroy everything I can and hit them where it hurts, in their wallet. If we can free other slaves, great, but the priority is to get our guys back. Chopping out the slavery cancer might have to be left until later.”

The others nodded, then left to go about their business.

Lilia remained behind. “What about our people, Matt?”

“I’ve got you and Colin to look after them, Lilia. The engineers too, they’ll be working with Sal and his crew to get shelters built. For that matter, everyone will have to pitch in.

“With luck, the houses will be up and the walls finished by the time I find Laz and Lee. No idea how long it will take; I can’t just amble up to the slavers and ask them nicely to return our people. At the same time, I won’t be able to operate after first snow. We’ll leave too many tracks. So that gives me a month or two, probably not more than that.”

“You’re sure you can do this, Matt?”

“I have to try, Lilia. He’s my son, even though he had a different father. We fought together, risked our lives for each other, and Laz did too. I’ll bring them out or die in the attempt.”

“Don’t talk like that, Matt! I depend on you, we all do. You’re the heart of the village. The buildings are just buildings, they need people to make them into a town. That means we need you.” Lilia paused for a moment. “It’s not easy to say, but if the choice is rescuing Lee or coming back alive, leave him. He might escape anyway. He’s very resourceful, in part because you taught him, but I can’t lose you. Our child can’t lose you. We need you.”

“I’ll keep it in mind, Lilia.”

Matt left to find Marc and Michel. “I need you two to find that boat, the one we hid after we wiped out that raiding party. I’ll get the other guys together and we’ll meet you when you get back.”

“We should be ready to go as soon as we’ve got trail rations.”

“Thanks, Michel. We’ll be waiting when you get back.”

***

Marc and Michel paddled wearily up the river, late on the afternoon of the second day. They rested, leaning on the thwarts, while Matt, Piotr, and Santiago dragged the boat up on the beach.

“Took longer than we expected, Matt. We found it where we left it, but the bottom had dried out. A long split had opened up. We punched holes and laced the crack together; I sealed it with pine rosin, the ties too. After a while, it stopped leaking. I think it swelled and caused the crack to close up. I tightened the laces before we left this morning, and only a few drops have leaked in since.”

“Good work. Get something to eat and rest. We’ll be ready to go in another two days, three at the most.”

***

Matt called the four men together at dawn.

“We’ll take our spears, bows, and a dozen arrows. Carry your belt emergency kit too, and pack a spare bowstring, two water gourds, and dried meat for four days. Lilia has dried fruit, so take some of that too. No sleeping furs, we’ll huddle together if we need to. We’ll travel after dark when it's coldest, so moving will help us stay warm. Questions or suggestions?”

“Knives and hatchets too, Matt?” asked Santiago.

“Right, but tie them in place so they don’t bang against anything. We’ll carry the bows unstrung. If we’re hit in the first few minutes, we won’t have a chance to use them. Spears work better in close anyway.

“One pair sleeps during the morning, one sleeps in the afternoon, and we stick to the schedule until we get back. We’ll probably be short of sleep, but if someone’s too sleepy I’ll take his place. We should be able to get ashore, sneak and peek, look for a place to land a larger raiding force. If we do it right, nobody will know we were there. Find out as much as can, then it’s back to the beach and head for home. We have to know where they are, how many, and whether there’s a lot of movement. We need to know about roads, obstacles, anything that will hinder us later on.

“Piotr takes over for me if necessary. If we’re discovered, evade. If we can’t remain together, try to escape in pairs. If you get separated, go back to the beach and wait by the boat. Wait long enough to see if anyone else got away, then move the boat offshore. You can watch for a day or two, see if anyone else gets away, but the priority is to get information back. Today, we’ll practice setting up a typical hide. I’ll show you how to keep watch, then we’ll walk through patrolling while it’s still daylight. Tonight, we rehearse moving after dark. Collect supplies tomorrow, get a good night’s sleep, and cross the seaway the next day. Let’s get to it.”

Two days later, they crossed the seaway.

***

The slow minutes passed as they crouched in screening brush, only a hundred yards from where they’d concealed the boat. Wavelets lapped on the shore, a light breeze stirred the sparse grass. They waited, silent, listening, as the sun sank behind the western mountains.

Matt decided it was dark enough to move. Motioning to the others, he soundlessly made his way toward the line of trees south of the beach.

The men were all experienced woodsmen; moving silently was an ingrained habit. Matt scouted ahead, setting the pace; Santiago came next, carrying the knotted end of a woven cord. Other knots had been tied, five feet apart. Marc held the first, Michel the second, and Piotr held the coiled end. Santiago had wondered at the extra length. Matt showed how the patrol, despite the darkness, would remain together yet far enough apart to keep from blundering into each other.

“Shouldn’t we cut off the excess, Matt?”

“We’re looking for information. Not only what to expect on the ground, but enemy forces, weapons, training, how alert they are, things like that. We explore the terrain first, maybe snatch somebody. That’s what the extra rope is for. We might even find Laz and Lee.”

Walking was easy; the ground was even, only a slight slope leading up from the shore. There were few bushes beneath the trees. Shallow creeks slowed their pace, but otherwise presented few difficulties. Their wet buckskins were uncomfortable, but soon dried.

Matt estimated they’d traveled at least a mile when they came upon a well-traveled path leading south.

***

Days were shorter now, leaves changing color. Summer had begun to give way to fall. The icecap was gone, the warm, green lowlands home to wildlife. Glaciers plugged the upper valleys between peaks, shaping the mountains. In time they too would vanish, victims of advancing warmth.

The massive glacier had been retreating for centuries. Snow fell from time to time, turned to ice, and joined what was already there; the ice mass complained, cracking and grinding as it pushed down the valley.

A block of ice cracked off, eventually falling onto boulders left by the melting face of the glacier. It became trapped and for a time joined the growing terminal moraine. Meltwater from beneath the glacier backed up behind the ice dam and formed a small lake at the base of the glacier.

Loud noises sounded from deep within the ice. Rumblings were followed by an explosive crack, then another as a fissure opened across the front of the glacier. Alarmed birds flew away. If this one was wider than others, the block of ice larger, such is the way of glaciers. Ice always pushed on until blocks calved off.

Behind the block, freed meltwater swelled the pool. Inquisitive birds looked for food near the edge, but found nothing and soon flew downstream. Small fish swam where the cold meltwater flowed into a small creek. The birds landed and began wading near the banks.

Quiet returned. The meltwater pool behind the ice dam grew larger.

 

Chapter Two

“Wait here. I’ll take a close look at that trail.” Matt whispered. Piotr nodded, then turned back to pass the message along.

Matt returned a few minutes later. Gathering the patrol around him, he whispered, “The only recent tracks go south. They were probably made by raiders; there’s nothing else up here. No village, no farms, they only come up here when they’re raiding. The tracks weren’t new, so there’s probably not much traffic. Still, there’s a chance someone could spot us. The trail leads where we want to go, so we’ll follow it. It’s too dangerous to walk on the trail, so we’ll stay off to the side. We should be able to see anyone on the trail before they see us. Comments or questions?”

No one spoke, so Matt resumed, “We’ll eat now. If you need to crap, do it off to the side and cover it up. Don’t make it easy for them to find.

“Michel, you’re lead when we move out. Piotr, you’re second, I’ll be third. Fifteen minutes, people.”

The half-moon provided light; Piotr had no trouble seeing Michel when he stopped suddenly, hand up in warning.

Piotr whispered, “Matt, Michel’s found something.”

“Wait here. I’ll see what’s going on.” Matt crept up to where Michel waited.

“What have you got?”

“Looks to me like a skeleton, up ahead of us. I wanted you to know before I went any closer.”

“Good call. I’ll bring up the others, but we don’t want to make a lot of tracks around it.”

“Understood, Matt.”

The skeleton appeared to be complete. A large ant’s nest was nearby; the industrious insects had picked the bones clean. He picked up a femur and hefted it, thinking.

“Piotr, feel the weight. If the bones had been here long, this one would be lighter.”

Piotr examined the bone. “You’re right, Matt. I figure at least a month but less than a year.”

“A month, maybe even two, so it’s not Laz or Lee. It wouldn’t matter anyway, we keep going.”

The others nodded.

Marc whispered, “Should we do anything, maybe bury the bones?”

“We can’t,” Matt said. “They might find the grave and wonder who dug it.

“Anyway, it’s time to swap scouts. Piotr, you’re lead, I’ll be behind you, Michel’s tail-end Charlie.”

***

They crossed a stream, refilling their water bottles before taking a short break. The trail remained deserted.

Matt, leading again, found a brushy covert where they could wait for darkness. They moved in and made themselves as comfortable as possible. Dawn found three already asleep while the remaining two kept watch.

The watchers woke the sleepers at noon. The men ate jerky and drank from their water bottles. New sentries took over, the others slept. There was no traffic on the trail.

“I think we can use the trail. Nobody’s stirring, and even when they do walk the trail, they probably only do it in daylight. Any objections?”

The men remained silent. The decision was made.

The men moved onto the trail at dusk, now able to move faster. They saw only a few small animals, raccoons, opossums, rabbits, squirrels, others Matt couldn’t identify. The squirrels vanished with the light; the nocturnal raccoons and opossums occasionally forced the column to halt, seeking concealment in the brush alongside the trail. The moonlight silvered the trail; Matt looked for tracks of people, but also for big cats, wolves, and bears. He found only a few moccasin tracks, all heading south.

The time was perhaps three o’clock in the morning; the moon had not yet set, but dawn would soon make it necessary to hide. Santiago, now leading, stopped and held his clenched fist overhead.

Matt whispered, “Bring up the others and wait here, Piotr. I’ll join Santiago; we’ll either wave you up or come back.”

There was a new tenseness about them when Matt and Santiago rejoined the patrol.

“There’s a cleared field and a house up ahead. No lights, they’re not stirring yet. The field’s not very big. It’s basically a cleared area in the forest with a house in the middle. There’s something’s growing, but it’s too dark to tell what it is. We’ll bypass it and hide on the far side. I want to get a better look in daylight, but unless we see Laz or Lee, we keep going.”

***

Daybreak found them spread out, concealed behind brush a few yards past the edge of the field. Two men, armed with bows and spears, carried hoes out to the field. Laying the bows and arrows aside, they began working among the plants. The spears remained slung across their backs.

Minutes later, Matt signaled to Piotr, who passed the signal on. One by one, the men slipped away into the forest.

The team reassembled half a mile from the small farm, once again near the trail.

“Nobody I recognized,” Matt said. “How about the rest of you?”

One by one, the patrol members shook their heads. “There was no overseer and no one was wearing a collar or restraints that I could see,” Piotr said. “They also had weapons, so they aren’t slaves.”

“Matt, just because some people keep slaves doesn’t mean they all do. According to what I remember from history, only a few could actually afford slaves. Maybe this is one of the poor ones.”

“Could be, Piotr. We’ll move on a little farther, then lay up for the day; just keep your eyes peeled, we don’t want to be spotted now.” The team moved away through the trees. An hour later they found a thick covert.

The rest of the day passed as had the day before. The sentries saw no one.

Moving out at dusk, they headed farther south.

***

The next farm was different. The farmhouse was larger, not unlike the blockhouses they intended to build for Home. The surrounding fields were much wider too.

“There’s a light on that second floor, a fireplace or maybe a candle,” Matt whispered. “There aren’t any lights on the bottom. If that part even has windows, I don’t see them.”

“The fields are big enough that they’ll need more people to work them, Matt,” Piotr suggested. “If they’ve got slaves, maybe they keep them on the bottom floor. I don’t see any stairs, but there’s a ladder by the railing on the second floor.”

“Probably. Anyway, I want to do the same thing we did last night, lie up on the other side. We’ll watch for a while, but we’ve got to start back tomorrow night. We’ve got a little information, not much, but the fact that everything is so spread out is important. We can raid one of the farms and be gone before anyone else knows about it.”

There was no question about what they saw when the sun grew bright the following day.

Two men came out onto a veranda on the second floor. Looking around, they lowered the ladder, then one climbed down. Bracing the ladder, he nodded to the man above. Seven other men filed through the door and awkwardly climbed down the ladder. An eighth man followed, carrying a bow. He had a quiver of arrows at his waist and a spear slung across his back.

“Those are slaves,” Matt whispered. “They’re tied to a long strap, just like the captives in that village we raided.”

“I don’t see much chance of capturing just one of those slaves, Matt,” Piotr argued. “You still don’t want to raid this place”

“I’ve been thinking about that, Piotr. There’s only one man with weapons and two others are workers but they’re not tied. The rest are linked to that strap. We do almost everything outdoors, so what would anyone else be doing in the house? Wouldn’t they be out here working, or at least supervising?”

“Maybe not, Matt. This many people will need someone to feed them. Could be a man, maybe a woman, maybe more than one. There’s smoke coming from the chimney, so someone’s in there. It will take time to cook the next meal.”

“That overseer and those two working by themselves are probably the only free men on the place, Piotr. If we killed them, we could take the others with us. Spread out the way the farms are, it would take time before anyone realized there had been a raid. They’d have to get people together, too, so I figure we’d have half a day before anyone came after us. We’d have to travel fast, but we could do this. There are seven captives, we could take the woman, women, too. The boat can carry sixteen people so we won’t have any trouble crossing the seaway.

“This is only the second farm we’ve seen, the first one that’s keeping slaves. We don’t know anything about their mines or industry, but that arrowhead tells us they’ve got them. We haven’t seen any sign of organized enemy forces and no one seems to move around at night. The way I see it, our best chance to get information is to rescue the slaves.

“We’ll shoot the overseer and the workers, take the slaves with us. I’m sure Colin and Lilia would like to talk to the woman, or women. What the fieldworkers don’t know, the women likely will. We don’t have enough to feed them, so we’ll have to loot the place. The fieldworkers can carry everything we take.”

“Sounds good, Matt; how do you want to do this?” Piotr asked.

“You and Santiago hide near the house,” Matt said. “You’re the stoppers in case the rest of us miss one.”

“What if those two guys are trusties or freedmen, Matt? They might be former slaves.”

“Can we take the chance, Piotr? If someone gets away, he’ll warn the others.

“Matt, I don’t see any weapons on those two. Only the overseer is armed. I think that if you take him out, the rest will be easy. We can watch the other pair and if they try to run, Marc and Michel will shoot then. If they head for the house, Santiago and I will ambush them before they can get inside. You plan to burn the house anyway, right?”

“That’s what I was thinking, Piotr. We can make it look like this was a slave uprising. Put the bodies inside and burn the place. Even if someone sees the smoke, I doubt they can put out the fire.”

“Matt, if the other two are freedmen, would the slaves kill them?”

“Good point, Piotr. No, probably not. The slaves might take them along to keep them from warning others, but they probably wouldn’t kill them. If there were more bodies than expected, that might cause suspicion. All right, we’ll try to bring them out too.

“Okay, we’ve got a plan. Piotr, you and Santiago hide by the house, signal us when you’re ready. I’ll take out the overseer. If the workers run for the woods, Marc and Michel will deal with them. As soon as the overseer is down, go up the ladder. If anyone heads for the house, you shoot them. Make sure the door doesn’t get blocked. I’d rather not burn anyone alive, but we can’t leave witnesses. Did I miss anything?”

“Hopefully we won’t have to kill anyone except the overseer,” Piotr said.

Matt nodded, then moved off with Marc and Michel. Piotr and Santiago slipped away, working their way around behind the house. They would approach, using the house for cover. Their pace was slow. Occasionally they crawled, the rest of the time they crept on their bellies.

Two hours later, they were ready.

***

Matt was watching for Piotr’s signal, so needed only seconds to arrow the overseer where he stood watching the forest. Even as he collapsed, Matt had a new arrow ready on the string.

None of the workers noticed.

Piotr and Santiago slipped to the ladder and climbed, watching the door above.

As they disappeared through the door, someone finally realized the overseer had fallen. The men stood upright and stared at the body.

Matt watched them as he walked over to Marc.

“Keep your eyes peeled, this isn’t over yet. You go talk to the two freedmen, if that’s what they are. Michel keeps watching the road, backup in case we have a problem. I’ll talk to the slaves.”

Marc nodded, then walked slowly toward the two freedmen, now standing near the slaves. He held his bow loosely at his side, the arrow in the same hand that held the bow. He did not look threatening, but even so, he could have the arrow ready in seconds.

Matt walked up to the slaves. The attack had gone well.

But it wouldn’t be over until they were safely across the seaway.

 

Chapter Three

“Can you understand me?” Matt asked.

“Yes, Master. Is the boss dead?”

“I’m not your master, and yes, he’s dead. We don’t have much time. You’ll need food, so let’s go over to the house and see what we can find.

“If you’re not a master, what shall I call you?” the freed slave asked.

“Call me Matt. What about those other two men?”

“They were like us, before the boss freed them. They work without the collar, but they don’t run away. The boss told us we would be freed too if we work hard.”

“The boss is dead, so you’re free anyway,” Matt said. “Who else is here, other than you and the two men?”

“There are two women who cook the food. They’re like us, not free. They stay upstairs with the boss.”

“All right,” Matt said. “Two of you drag the boss’s body into the house and gather up as much food as you can carry. If you have any personal possessions, get them too. I intend to be gone from here in an hour, so don’t waste time.”

“Matt, must we go?” the slave asked.

“You’re slaves, why would you want to stay here?”

“The work’s not hard, the boss didn’t beat us if we worked, and we knew he’d free us in a few years. Before we were brought here, our village got raided each year and some of our neighbors got killed. There were dangerous animals too. We’re safe here, nobody gets killed, nobody gets taken away. I’m not saying we won’t go, I’m just asking.”

“You’re going,” Matt said harshly. “We’re going to burn the house with the boss in it. The other masters will think you did it. What will they do then?”

The man thought for a moment. “You’re right, we have to go. Are you taking the freedmen too? And what about Berry and Moll”

“Are those the women?”

“That’s what the boss called them,” the man said, and shrugged.

“We’re taking everyone. Get your possessions, load up on food. If you don’t bring enough, you won’t eat. As soon as you’re ready, wait in front of the house.” Matt walked up to the house as Piotr came out. Behind him came two women. Santiago brought up the rear. “Did you talk to these two, Piotr?” Matt asked.

“Yes, they’re slaves too. I thought they were going to kiss my hand when I told them their owner was dead. He keeps them shut in the house, cooking, cleaning, and warming his bed at night. They didn’t mind the cooking, but the owner wasn’t gentle and his breath smelled bad.”

“OK, but watch those field hands,” Matt suggested. “At least one of them didn’t mind being a slave, and I haven’t talked to the others yet so I don't know how they feel. Tell the women to help the others collect up as much food as they can carry. They can bring their personal possessions, but food comes first. See if there’s leather around, deerskin would be ideal. Make up bundles. Everyone carries something except us, we’ve got weapons and packs already, so unless you see something we really need, leave it. Santiago and Michel will collect anything that will burn and set it near the door. Put the body inside, recover my arrow, make sure we don’t leave anything that’s tied to us. As soon as it’s burning well, we hit the trail.”

“You’re following the trail, Matt?” Piotr asked.

“Right, I think we have to. It’ll be dark soon, I doubt anyone will see us. I’ll take point, you bring up the rear, and space Marc, Michel, and Santiago in with the others so they can keep an eye on them.”

“What about that small farm we passed?”

“We keep going,” Matt said. “It’ll be dark when we pass there, so hopefully they won’t see us. If they come out, too bad. Even if they’re not slaveholders, they’re part of the culture over here so I don’t have a lot of sympathy for them.”

“You’re the boss, Matt.”

“I’d rather you didn’t call me that, Piotr. I—just don’t like it, OK?”

“Sure, Matt. No offense intended.”

“None taken, Piotr. But that’s what they called the overseer I killed.”

***

Matt allowed the first break three hours later.

It had been slow going. All had been tired, and the freed slaves were unaccustomed to the fast walking pace. Matt led, Piotr brought up the rear. Santiago, Marc, and Michel handed the knotted rope to the rescued people and told them not to let go. The untidy clump blundered along behind Matt, shepherded by the others, but at least together.

Matt met with Piotr while they rested.

“I had hoped to be farther along by now,” Matt whispered, his tone revealing worry.

“Can’t be helped, Matt. They’re not used to this, and they’re not used to trail discipline either; they want to talk, but at least when you tell them to shut their mouth you don’t get any argument. They’re too tired to talk now anyway.”

“Can they keep going, Piotr?”

“We’re going to have to take a longer break at some point,” Piotr said. “Most of them are sleeping right now; they fell asleep as soon as we stopped.”

“We’re all tired. How are you guys holding up?”

“We’ve got a few more miles in us. You’ve got to be tired too; we were short on sleep when we hit that farm, we’ve been going ever since.”

“Yeah, sleep. I think I remember what that was like, vaguely.”

Piotr chuckled.

“I hate to waste the moonlight, though. We need to get as far away from that farm as we can. Now that the moon’s up, we can move faster. I figure about an hour before we pass that farm, and if they spot us, we’re in trouble. Even if they don’t come outside, they could tell others.”

“I understand, Matt,” Piotr said. “But unless they sleep, these people aren’t going to make it.”

“OK, this is as good a place as any. You guys sleep too; I’ll wake you about midnight. That’s about two hours from now, not much, but it will have to do. Once we’re past that farm, we can find a place to hide. As long as we’re not spotted, we can afford to stop for a few hours.” Piotr nodded and went off to tell the others.

Matt moved back along the trail and leaned against a tree. If anyone was following them, this was the direction they’d be coming from. With luck, the deception had worked. Even so, someone would eventually realize the slaves were gone. They would start looking for the escapees, and the only solution was to have everyone across the seaway before that happened.

A pair of slave-takers, that the patrol could handle. Even as many as four, Matt would expect to take on that many and win. But he might find himself outnumbered, no good place to make a stand, maybe unable to protect the former slaves. Four were now armed, their weapons formerly the property of the ‘boss’. The bows seemed to be of good quality, not so strong as his own, but the arrows had steel tips so that should compensate. The spears were ordinary things with points of chipped stone.

Whether the former slaves would fight, for that matter how well they could fight, neither was known. The weapons were now in the hands of the people who’d found them.

Matt watched the trail and thought. The tactical problem nagged, but he saw no solution.

Finally, he woke Piotr.

“Get our guys up, eat a little something, then wake up the others. Give them a few minutes to eat too. You take the lead, Marc takes rear security. I’m pretty sleepy, I’ll just march along in the middle for now.”

“Understood, Matt. I’ll get us there.”

Matt remembered little of the journey. It was just one weary foot in front of the other, then do it again. It was not the first time he’d fallen asleep while marching.

Piotr called a halt as the sky grew light in the east.

“Everyone get some sleep. I’ll watch this time, the sun will be up in a couple of hours and we’ll push on then. I figure we’re only about two hours from the boat. I talked to Marc; there’s been no sign of pursuit.”

Matt nodded groggily. He was asleep as soon as he lay down.

***

The sun was peeping above the trees when a worried Piotr woke Matt.

“Matt, how many people did we pick up from that farm?”

Matt shook his head and blinked, trying to think.

“There were two women, I remember that much. Two freedmen and...” Matt thought for a moment longer, “...seven men that were roped together. Is that what you remember?”

“Right, Matt. The women are here, but only seven men are.”

“Did the other two get lost?”

“Maybe. But the freedmen didn’t want to leave and one of the guys on the rope wasn’t sure. The missing ones may have gone back to warn the slaveholders.”

“All right,” Matt decided. “No choice now, we push on as hard as we can. I don’t like the idea of leaving anyone behind. If the slaveholders figure the slaves were in on killing that overseer, there’s no telling what they’ll do.”

“Matt, there’s another possibility,” Piotr suggested. “I don’t know if they got lost or just hid, waiting for us to move on. They might have fallen asleep along the trail and we didn’t realize it. It was pretty dark after the moon went behind the clouds. I'm willing to go back and try to find them, and if they’re heading south to warn the slaveholders I’ll kill them. If they simply got lost, I’ll hustle them along until we catch up. I'm sure we’ll be able to move faster than this mob! You take everyone else to the boat and wait for a couple of hours, but if I haven’t shown up by then take them across. I'll be okay.”

“I don’t like this, Piotr, leaving you over here!”

“I’ll be okay, Matt,” Piotr repeated. “I think we have to take the chance. If the slaveholders find those two before I do, they’ll be watching for us when we come back and we won’t have much chance of rescuing our guys. Even if the two we lost don’t want to tell, they will; it’s that, or take the blame for the overseer’s death. No, if they’re taken, the owners will know, which means I have to try to make sure that doesn't happen.”

“OK, Piotr, and thanks. Just in case you don’t catch up, take the rest of our jerky. That’ll give you a couple of days rations.” Piotr nodded and stuffed Matt’s jerky in his pack. A brief word to the others as he collected their remaining food, then he was gone, swallowed up by the trees.

“Santiago, you’re rear security, I’ll lead,” Matt said. “Marc and Michel, you herd the rest along and keep them moving. No more stops; the seaway is only a few hours ahead, and it’s daylight. They don’t need the rope, but make sure there are no stragglers.” The others nodded and they were soon on the trail. The former slaves were limping, but there was no help for it. They would just have to cope.

The forest opened up as they approached the shore. Wary, Matt stopped the group, then slipped ahead to see if anyone was waiting.

Half an hour later he was back. “We’ve got half a mile to go. The boat’s there, but it’s got another crack in the bottom. We won’t have time to patch it. Have everyone pick up one of the large seashells for bailing.”

“Matt, what about Piotr?”

“Marc, we’ll get out past the rollers and wait offshore. We’ll give him a couple of hours. If he doesn’t show in that time, we’ll have to leave.”

The three looked at each other, then nodded. “Matt, Michel and I will fix the boat after we get across. We’ll come back for Piotr.”

“Thanks,” Matt said. “How about this, we take a day to rest up, gather a few more men, then all of us head back?”

Santiago chimed in. “Piotr would come back for me. so I’m in.”

Matt nodded, unable to speak for a moment. “It may not be necessary, but thanks. We’ll wait offshore for a while. Piotr may turn up. He could still make it before we have to go.”

But Piotr never showed. Matt waited as long as he could, as two hours turned to three. “Okay, head for home. Piotr had enough food for a couple of days, three if he stretched it, and we’ll be back before then.”

 

Chapter Four

Exhausted, Matt fell asleep as soon as he reached Home. A leg cramp woke him later and he had trouble going back to sleep. Images of Laz and Lee in captivity haunted him. Had he done all he could? Finally, he drifted off again.

An insistent bladder woke him next morning and sent him stumbling for a place to relieve himself. There was a screened-off area near the bluff and Matt decided to look there. As expected, it concealed a simple straddle trench. He added his own deposit, cleaned himself using leaves from a box, then sprinkled a thin layer of dirt over the evidence before heading back into the village.

The sun was well up. People were busy, some working on construction projects, others on their way to the next task. Much had been done. The wall was not yet finished, lacking a gate to close the entrance. Still, the lower levels of two houses were complete enough for occupancy. They served as bunkhouses for the time being, allowing the villagers to sleep safely with fewer guards on watch during the night.

Roofs would soon be added to the other dwellings; the timbers had already been cut and dragged into camp, ready for use. As labor became available, the logs would be lifted into place, then covered with branches. This would become the floor for an apartment, built atop the lower building.

Matt drank the cup of hot tea that he’d gotten from the kitchen. A second cup, plus a slice of bread and a thick slab of fresh meat completed his breakfast. Still hungry, he cajoled the cook into giving him a second slice of bread. A dab of honey made it more palatable. He thanked the cooks politely and went on his way.

He found Lilia and Colin talking to the newly-rescued slaves. Gesturing to Colin, the two walked a short distance away, leaving Lilia to continue the conversation.

“Morning, Matt. I see you’ve returned to the living!”

“I was pretty tired, Colin. That last day was rough on all of us; I thought my feet were tough, but I’ve got blisters and my moccasins are so thin you can see daylight through them!”

Colin chuckled. “Anyway, you’re up now. We’ve found out some very interesting things from the ones you rescued.”

“I hoped that would happen. How much do they know about the area south of where I found them?”

“Not much, unfortunately,” Colin confessed. “Only the two women had ever been farther south. The slaveholder bought them from a trader maybe fifty miles farther inland, based on what they remembered, but that was two years ago so they don’t have clear memories of the trip north. The men were bought before they ever went south. Most of what we’ve found out has to do with the slaveholders. Many of them are rejected transplants!”

“Colin, I’m still sleepy. What do you mean, rejected transplants?”

“I mean they’re descendants of people who were transplanted here more than a century ago. They were picked up, ‘harvested’ as the Futurists called it, educated by having new memories implanted—that seems to be how the Futurists educate everyone—and turned loose in Futurist society. Some of the transplants probably worked out, but some took advantage. Even with everything available to them, they turned into bullies, and a couple were rapists. I have to wonder what kind of society they grew up in! If it happened here, the woman would likely gut the would-be rapist, and if she didn’t someone else would.

“Anyway, the Futurists don’t have execution as a punishment, so they exiled them back here and most of them were transplanted into the area that was Mexico before national borders disappeared. The rapists got a different destination, the middle of South America; none of the Futurists had intended to transplant anyone into the jungle, but that’s what they did with that pair and I doubt anyone will ever see them again. They’re immune to the tropical diseases, but there are snakes, spiders, any number of baddies to contend with. The thinking was that even if they survived the jungle, they’d head south and not interact with people in North America.”

“Huh. Sounds like they took a leaf from 18th-Century countries. That’s what the British did, deport criminals to North America or Australia, while the French sent theirs to Devil’s Island. Were any women transported into Mexico?”

“Not as far as we know, although this is second-hand information, but the story is that the rejects started out by kidnapping women. They soon realized they could do the same with men, and that’s how the slavery started.

“Apparently, as slaveholders go, they’re not all bad. They aren’t like the North American slaveholders were, they treat their captives more like indentured servants. Mistreatment of an investment is bad business, you see, and the best way of motivating people to work is to promise them eventual freedom. Slaves become freedmen, who then become slaveholders in their own right. That’s why the two we took away weren’t happy; they intended to invest their wages in slaves, clear land, and become owners themselves. The man you shot was a former slave.”

“Colin, were all of them like that, resigned to the system over there? But I guess it doesn’t matter; they’re killing people during the raids, capturing others, and selling the captives into slavery.

“We spent almost a year on the trail to get away from people like that, and now there’s no place left for us to go. The north has more mountains, even higher than the ones farther west, plus glaciers. There are high mountains to the west and desert beyond that, or at least that’s the way it was, the sea is to the south and there are slavers on the land beyond that. The raiders were operating to the east, and even though we wiped out one village, I’d be willing to bet there are others doing the same thing. The way I see it, we don’t have a choice; we’ve got to convince the raiders to leave us alone, and the easiest way to do that is destroy their market for slaves.”

“Not the women, Matt, they were glad to leave. About half the men would have stayed if you had given them the choice.”

“Colin, what about the two we lost on the way back?”

“One was a freedman, probably wanted to stay. He would have been an owner himself in a year or two. The other, they don’t know. He hadn’t been there long.”

“What about Lee and Laz?” Matt asked.

“Not good. Captives who resist are treated pretty rough from what they’ve heard, and incorrigibles wind up in the mines. They’re primarily using iron for manufacturing, so they locate blacksmith shops and forges near the mines. That’s where the hard-cases go, and the next step down from there is a mine. Some work the lifts and haul ore, but the worst ones end up down in the tunnels. There’s quite a lot of gold and silver around too, but it’s not worth much. They use it for bullets. Slings throwing metal bullets are deadly and they’ve killed mammoths with catapult balls, so lions and saber-tooth cats don’t stand a chance.”

“You’re joking! Gold and silver bullets?”

“Well, there’s probably a lot of lead and copper mixed in too,” Colin said. “They don’t worry about it, just melt down everything that’s not iron into a round blob. They recover the balls after use and use them again too.”

“They’re that accurate, slinging those metal balls?” Matt asked.

“They’re accurate, Matt, but they don’t need to be. Toss a hundred of those two or three pound bullets and you’re likely to hit something. The range is something less than two hundred yards, using metal ammo. Slings can throw rocks too, but they’re not as effective.”

Matt shook his head. “This world keeps throwing surprises at me. I thought I had it figured out, but this one...it’s something I would never have imagined!”

“Yeah. I was surprised too, but it makes sense. Anyway, I figure we’ll need to keep it in mind if we ever have to face an army from down there.”

“Are the raiders former transplants too?” Matt asked.

“No, they’re simple thugs who’d rather raid than work, and when they get tired of that the owners hire former raiders as slave-catchers. We know that because the captives recognized some of them when they stopped in at the farm to ask questions. A few slave-catchers have become owners, but from what the freedman said the other owners don’t like it. They also discourage raiders from just bringing slaves in and setting up their own farms, because they think it creates unrest among the slaves. The other owners would need more overseers if escapes got to be a problem.”

“So Laz and Lee are probably in the mines by now?” Matt asked

“There, or in one of the shops,” Colin confirmed. “Some shops smelt metal, others are forges, and the blacksmiths make arrowheads plus some other things. Mostly they make arrowheads for hunting, because they get more projectile points that way. They don’t need many new spear-points, now that they’ve suppressed the big predators down there.”

“How did they manage that, Colin?” Matt asked.

“They hunted the grazers until they’d pushed them away from the farms, the cats and wolves followed the herds. There are still dangerous animals further west, but they’re scarce and they've learned to avoid humans.”

“If they’ve been successful with bullets of metal, why do they need all those arrow points?” Matt asked.

“Range and accuracy,” Colin explained. “The slings have killing power, but they’re only good for a couple of hundred yards and they’re not as effective on thick-skinned animals. The bison have thick fur too. Arrows punch through both, which is why ranchers use them.”

“The two bows I saw, the ones that the overseer had, didn’t appear to be very powerful,” Matt observed.

“They aren’t,” Colin confirmed, “but they’re still dangerous if the user is skilled. I looked at the ones the captives brought in; they’re adequate for killing people, not so good against a short-faced bear or a saber-tooth. Against a lion or a pack of wolves, they’ll likely work just fine if there are enough shooters.”

Matt looked unconvinced. “Colin, I’ve fought those things. They take a lot more killing than you’d expect.”

“Matt, the people you brought back claim the bows are powerful enough. Maybe not for a mammoth or a bull bison, but if you put enough arrows into anything, even the big bears or sloths, they’re going to die!”

“Yeah, but how long will it take? And how many people will they take with them?”

“Matt, I’m only telling you what they told me.”

“Okay, Colin. Next question, are we going to have problems with them or will they fit into the tribe?”

“The women will,” Colin said. “As for that freedman, I just don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to go back. He’s got visions of being an overseer with a few women and field hands of his own.”

“Put him to work, see how he does,” Matt said decisively. “If he heads back, we'll kill him. There are already too many slavers over there, we don’t need more.”

Colin looked grim. “We’ll do what we have to, Matt. If he gets back, he’ll bring the whole bunch down on us and we can’t have that.”

“Agreed. Seems a shame to rescue him, then have to kill him. But it’s up to him.”

Colin nodded and the two separated, Colin to continue talking with the rescued ones, Matt to find Sal.

***

Sal was working with the engineers, shifting logs to the top of a building. “Staying busy, Sal?” Matt asked.

“That I am, Matt. Good to see you. How’d the trip go?”

“Some ups, some downs,” Matt admitted. “You and your crew have done a lot!”

“It’s been work, no denying it,” Sal agreed, “but the limestone is easy to quarry and easy to stack. It doesn’t require much adobe between the blocks either. The ends are rough, but a few taps with a stone-headed club—I’ve got one like yours now—knocks off the worst projections. There’s a crew that does the quarrying and another one that brings in the blocks. I stacked rocks this morning, so I’m just helping with the logs this afternoon. It’s a good system. We’ll have a real town in less than a month, with high walls and a gate to keep critters out.”

“That’s a lot more than I expected,” Matt said. “I didn’t think we’d manage all that before next summer!”

“Those two engineers set up the system,” Sal explained. “Tex brought in a crew with horses, and they’re the ones transporting the blocks. They haul the stones on travois.”

“Really?” Matt's voice revealed his surprise. “Domesticated horses already? And he’s doing it how?”

“Like I said, he’s got a crew,” Sal said. “People found his ranch and decided to stay on. He taught the first ones to break horses and ride. One of the new men knew about leather, so Tex built him a shop and the leatherworker made the harnesses. The horses aren’t really domesticated, they’ll kick or bite if you’re not careful, but they’re doing the work of half a dozen men each.

The teamsters have a corral to the north of here, but eventually we’ll have one inside the wall. They bring in the stones as fast as the quarrymen can wedge them loose. That’s how they break up the limestone, they drive in wooden wedges. When the limestone slab begins to lift, they bust it loose with an oversized sledgehammer. The sledges don’t last long, either the handle breaks or the stone head does, but the raw materials are easy to get. Make a couple of new ones at the end of the day, let the lashings dry overnight, use them next morning.”

“Sounds efficient, Sal,” Matt said. “Can you spare any men?”

“Matt, if I take people off a work crew, even if they’re only unloading or using a block and tackle to winch up logs, that puts three or four others out of work. It slows us down, and we need the buildings up before the snow gets here.”

“I understand, Sal. Suppose I replace your people with some of the ones we brought back?”

“I heard about that, Matt. I also hear those people aren’t reliable.”

“They’re not, Sal, not yet. What I was thinking was that you could put them to work, show them they can have a good life here without slavery. Maybe you could use a couple of the men they replace as extra sentries to keep an eye on them?”

“I could do that, I guess. It would free up a few men to help you. I hear you’re heading back across the seaway.”

“Right, as soon as I can get enough men together.”

“What do you intend to do once you’re there?” Sal asked. “I know you want to get Laz and Lee back, but I hear you left Piotr over there too.”

“Right, we lost two of the people we took from the farm. Either they got left accidentally or they ran away, and Piotr volunteered to go after them.”

“I hope he’s alright. Good worker, willing. Good man all around.”

“He is,” Matt agreed. “I’ll look for him, but I’ll begin knocking off slaveholders while I’m doing it. I’ll burn them out, kill as many as I can, and if the slaves are willing to join us I’ll supply them with weapons. If they’d rather come over here and work, I’ll see they get across the seaway. But I’ll keep going until I find our men.”

“What if the people you free don’t want to do either one, Matt?”

“Sal, I’ll deal with that too. Slavery will end over there, if not this winter, then soon. They’ll understand that or take the consequences. Call it a civil war, a guerrilla war, whatever; it’s war, and the owners are going to howl.”

***

Far to the north, the huge block of ice calved off and splashed into the meltwater pool. Freed meltwater gushed from beneath the glacier. Pushed forward, the ice joined the remains of the smaller block and crushed the two into a single unit.

The pool behind the ice blocks grew deeper.

Chapter Five

“Morning, Matt. Tex was looking for you a while ago; did he find you?”

“Not yet, Colin, I just woke up. What’s Tex doing here?”

“He comes in every few days to pick up supplies and check on the horses. The teamsters work for him and they rotate back to his ranch ever month or so. A lot of his workers came from villages that folded. They lost people to raiders, so the rest just left. They found Tex, he offered them food, work, and safety, so they stayed. He taught them to ride, too. He’s not having a problem feeding them, they range as far as necessary to find game. They’re mostly eating buffalo and he’s already stocked up for the winter. They’ve got a kitchen, several storage buildings, two bunkhouses, and they’re still building. They hauled in timber for roof supports and such, but everything else is sod or adobe. The timber has to come from the hills, so building with sod makes sense.

“He’s got a system going. He’s always got riders out, and since they cover a lot of ground they find people. The new people learn horsemanship first, then he puts them to hunting or rounding up animals to domesticate. He provides us with horses and people to handle them, we swap supplies he doesn’t have or doesn’t want to make for himself. They’re also watching out for raiders. They haven’t found any, but they’re ready if they do. Tex hasn’t forgotten that the only reason he got away is because you and the others caught up with that bunch. He said he rode down that way to see if the heads were still at the seashore, but they were gone.”

“Tex is running the ranch he always wanted, so maybe he’s mellowed by now,” Matt mentioned.,

“I guess if people don’t like what he’s doing, they’re free to leave,” Colin responded. “So far, they’re staying.”

“Thanks. I’ll look for Tex as soon as I’ve had something to eat, and I’ll check the corrals first.”

***

The largest corral, half an acre or so, was used for feeding and resting the horses.

Open-topped containers held hay off the ground, making spoilage less likely, and the feeders had poles with slots between them where the horses could reach in for the hay. It was easy for the workers to fork hay into the top, then let the horses feed as they wished. Across from the feeders was a loafing shed. This provided shelter from storms as well as a place for the horses to rest in the shade during the day. The brush fence that enclosed the pen extended west past the channel that brought in river water.

The other pen was roughly circular, a breaking and training pen. Two men were working a horse in the pen, controlling its movements by means of a fifteen-foot line. Tex leaned against the fence, watching them work when Matt walked up. “Morning, Tex. How’s the training going?”

“Not too bad. This critter’s a little slow between the ears, but they’ll be riding him by this afternoon. I figured I’d put a couple of riding horses here with the draft horses, and as soon as people start riding they won’t go back to walking. And I’m the man with horses.”

“So you are. And you might be right about riding, but I don’t know whether people in settlements need horses. How far do they have to walk? Hunters, sure, traders too, but people who work on crafts don’t have time to ride or take care of horses. You might consider building a livery stable here in the spring.”

“Wal, the hoss was wild when I caught him so it ain’t as if he’s costing much. All I’ve got invested right now is a little time and sweat, and most of the sweating’s bein’ done by them two in the corral. I gotta feed ‘em anyway, they might as well do some honest work.”

“The kind of work you’re doing, Tex?”

“Naw,” Tex chuckled, “I’m bein’ the boss. I’ve even got a couple of foremen handlin’ things back at the ranch.

“This world is empty, Matt, not like Texas was. Back there, the land was took, so all a feller like me could do was work for somebody that had a ranch. Here, I can either do everything myself and stay small, just keep my wife and me fed and sheltered, or I can grow. If I had one of them flyin’ machines that Futurist feller had, the one you give that empty gun to, I s’pect I could ranch the whole state o’ Texas. Prob’ly Arkansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico too. Why not? It ain’t like I wuz kickin’ anybody else off the land!”

“You know, Tex,” Matt cautioned, “there aren’t that many people you can sell horses to.”

“Aw, I know that, I didn’t fall off the hay wagon yesterday. I’m gonna sell ‘em meat. I’ve got a couple of herds already, one with them camel critters and one with llamas. Plenty of pasturage; I just have riders move ‘em to a different pasture every few days. I’ve probably got at least a dozen riders out right now, some of ‘em herdin’, some guardin’ the ones we already caught. I’m also swapping leather and skins. Want a few saber-tooth skins for the floor of that new house Lilia’s buildin’?

“You’re killing saber-tooths?”

“Got to. It would be different if they only went after buffalo, but they eat my livestock too. Roundin’ up camels and llamas is work, and them cats would just as soon I do the work for ‘em. They just wander in for a snack when they get hungry. I’ve got lion skins too, but nobody wants ‘em, they’re too common. The men just leave ‘em lay, mostly, but the saber-tooths are kind of pretty, what with the spots. They’ve got short tails too, not like lions. One reason they don’t like lion-skin rugs, the tail gets in the way. Bears leave m’ herds alone and so far the wolves are stayin’ away too. Suits me just fine.

“I was lookin’ for you earlier. I hear you’re goin’ on a raid, and I been too settled since I got the ranch goin’. Ain’t hardly nothin’ to do. Don’t even have to hit a lick at a snake, it’s got that bad! Ranchin’s fun, building a big ranch is a job a man can sink his teeth into, but I got a new bow and I sure would admire a chance to put an arrow into a raider. I ain’t forgot that they grabbed me without even a howdy. I’ve got a score to settle with ‘em!”

“Tex, I’m going on foot and I’ll be gone for a while. Winters down here are nothing like what we had last year. There might be a little snow now and then but no more than a foot or two, and even then it melts off after a week or so, that’s what the people we rescued said. I won’t have to stop them from raiding after all; they’ll give up slaving or I’ll wipe them out.” Matt’s voice was cold, but calm.

“Whew, Matt, you don’t think much smaller than I do! You sure you’re not from Texas?”

“Nope, I was born in Louisiana on Earth Prime and I went to California when I left there. Anyway, I figure to use freed slaves for warriors. I brought this last batch up here because I didn’t want to start raiding just yet. I intend to set up forts and control a strip south of the seaway, and for that I’ll use freed slaves for defenders; they’ll raid out of the forts at first, but eventually I’ll turn the defensive forts into fortified villages like Home. The people can farm the land around the fort, do some fishing too, so if the raiders come north they’ll have to fight their way through. They’ll also be taking a chance of getting ambushed on their way back, even if they capture anybody on this side of the seaway. If they manage to grab anyone from the fortified strip, they’re just regaining slaves, not bringing in new ones. It means they stop growing, and when they’re weaker I’ll start a revolution.”

“You’re goin’ to have to arm the ones you rescue, Matt. Teach ‘em how to shoot, too. Makin’ bows and arrows takes time, learnin’ to shoot ain’t all that easy neither.”

“I’ll teach some to shoot, Tex, and all of them will need spears, but I don’t plan to use all of them as archers. I got the idea from Colin, and he picked it up from the people I rescued.”

“What kind of idea?”

“Slings. The little ones you use with your hand, and bigger ones you use with a staff.”

“You reckon people can defend themselves with a kid’s toy, Matt?”

“Not toys, Tex. Soldiers used slings for centuries before bows became common. You can throw a rock the size of your fist with a sling. The rocks can weigh anywhere from a few ounces, maybe a pound, not that you’re going to throw a one-pound rock very far. But would you like the idea of dodging big rocks that were raining around your ears?”

“Nope, reckon I wouldn’t. The hoss probably wouldn’t like the idea neither. You really think you can do this? How long does it take before you can sling a rock that big far enough to hit somebody? And how accurate are them things?”

“Tex, people used them for centuries. For that matter, they’re still using them. People sling rocks and sometimes Molotov cocktails at police or soldiers while they stay behind cover. Slings are still dangerous, and I can teach someone to throw a decent-sized rock within a day. In a week, maybe less, they’ll be ready to take on even a large group of raiders and wipe them out.”

“Wal, if you say so,” Tex said doubtfully. “But I reckon I’ll hang on to my bow a while longer. How about me goin’ with you on this raid you’re plannin’?”

“I’d rather use you as backup,” Matt said. “What I’d like you to do is put riders to patrolling the seaway. Have them watch for people coming across, and look for tracks too. I plan to stop most, but you’re the backup. For that matter, if I end up with one of their sling-bullets bounced off my head, you can take a raid across on your own. Laz and Lee are still over there, you’ve fought alongside both of them.”

“Reckon I have. Good men too. Yeah, if you run into trouble, I’ll take a look over there my own-self. I might just do it anyway. You say you’ve got a plan after you turn the slaves loose?”

“I do, Tex. The ones I brought here are going to help build the town. We’ve still got a long way to go. Sal’s going to let me have a few men from his construction gang, and he’ll replace the men I’m getting with former slaves.”

“Sounds like you’ve got it figured out, Matt. How soon before you’ll be ready to go?”

“Two or three days. Can you have patrols watching the shoreline by then?”

“I reckon. Take me a day, maybe two at most. I might use the two that are workin’ in the corral until I can bring more from the ranch. That soon enough?”

“That’s fine, Tex. Thanks. Anyway, you’ve got things to do, so have I. I’ll see you again before I go across.”

“Wal, good luck in case I don’t run into you, Matt. You’re leavin’ from down near the mouth of the river?”

“That’s the place. By the way, I think it’s time to name that seaway. What say we call it Robert’s Bay?”

“Suits me. There’s people already livin’ down there on the coast, where the bay joins the gulf. They’ve moved into a swampy area, sort of like the Mississippi Delta was on Prime. The shore is further south than you might think, at least a hundred miles from my place, so I reckon the Gulf itself is smaller than it was on Earth Prime.”

“No surprise, Tex. All those glaciers, they take water from somewhere meaning that the oceans are probably smaller here. Anyway, I’ll see you later.”

***

Tex was as good as his word. Two days later, half a dozen men drove a small herd of horses in and turned them into the corral. They set up camp before the foreman sent them out to cut hay and haul it back to camp. From then on, riders went out daily as others rode in from earlier patrols. The others built a hay-shed and stocked it. This grew until finally it had become a kind of pole barn, with an attached shed to store the carts and harness.

Matt had intended to leave within a few days, but that hadn’t happened; the needs of the town had come first. He had disagreed, but Lilia had sided with Colin, so Matt had been forced to postpone his trip. Bored, he’d visited the construction operation but had been ignored. People had jobs, they were working, and when they had questions they went to Colin or Sal for answers.

Lilia had been busy too; Matt had managed only a few opportunities to speak to her, and she’d been too tired to talk when she finally came to the kitchen at night. The women were spending their nights in the women’s barracks anyway, while Matt slept on a pad of skins in the men’s barracks. There would be individual homes later, but later wasn’t now. Cooler weather had set in, there was much to do before winter. He’d barely had time to say hello to Sandra and Millie, because everyone was busy.

Everyone but Matt. Simply put, men could not be spared at this time to raid across the bay. Matt fretted, but he understood. The tribe was more important than individuals, even men such as Lee, Laz, and Piotr.

He looked for Marc and Michel, but they’d vanished too. After asking, he found they’d gone out with a hunting party. The hunting parties operated from a small camp west of the valley, field dressing and skinning animals where they were killed. The cartloads of meat and hides were then brought to the hunting camp. Each morning, some of the fresh meat was sent to the village, while excess went to a separate drying camp.

Matt thought about it; perhaps he could help with the hunting operation? He joined a crew next morning that was returning to the hunting camp.

***

Hunting was easy, almost too easy because a sudden cold snap to the north had sent the herds drifting. More came in daily, and huge dust clouds to the north showing that still more were on their way.

Life in the cabin had never been like this; winter had forced animals to migrate away back there, but the same instinctive reaction now brought them here. Game was plentiful and even transportation wasn’t difficult. But with the herds came predators; a man had been killed, another wounded. As a result, the hunting parties had been supplemented by extra guards. Matt hunted for a day, then joined a guard detail with Marc and Michel. Watchful guards circled the field-dressing sites, then followed the last load back to camp. For now, the new people were more liability than asset. They were mouths that had to be fed. Weapons were being made, training went on each evening, but they weren’t skilled enough yet to join the hunting crews.

Matt’s role as tribal leader had diminished, a side effect of his absence and the new population growth. Where once Matt had been sought out for guidance or assistance, others had taken over during his absence. People saw Colin and Sal daily; they were there with the construction crews, making decisions when such were needed. Lilia worked with the women, storing supplies, seeing that medical care was available, that sanitation was provided for, and setting up the area inside the walls. The two engineers directed construction. Most necessary work now went on inside the wall, making access to the decision-makers easy. The outer wall was in fact the rear wall of the new buildings. It was only necessary to build side walls, which were shared with adjacent houses, and a front entrance. The homes then needed a door and roof. An upper-floor apartment would be added later. People could move into the lower buildings, then convert them to storage after the second-floor apartments were finished.

This plan got people into shelters quickly. They were thus prepared whether the winter would prove to be severe or not. There would be plenty of storage space when the upper floors were finished, and no one was going to raid what had become, in all but name, a castle.

Matt came in with a cart every few days. Leading the cart-train suited him, even though it placed him outside the village hierarchy. Once the indispensable man, he was now virtually ignored. Two weeks later, finally able to break away, he led a raiding party down-river.

Few in the village even noticed.

 

Chapter Six

The boat rocked in the gentle waves, half on shore, half in the water. Paddles lay ready by the water’s edge. Matt stood by the boat and nine others faced him in a loose half circle. “We’ll be there well before dark,” he said. “We’ll land, set up security, then go from there. We only found one path before and it hadn’t been used in some time, so I don’t expect an ambush. As soon as we land, Santiago will take three of you and scout the area to the south. The rest of us will put up a basic fort, roughly similar to what the Roman legions used. Two of you will take the boat back and bring over the rest of the supplies; by the time you return, we’ll have camp set up.

“I’ll lead the first raid. Santiago will stay behind with his patrol, the rest of you will go with me. As soon as we’re back, we’ll integrate as many freed slaves as possible into the group. Each of you will select men from among the captives. You’ll be responsible for equipping, training, and leading them. Even if they’re not trained warriors, they can still work on the fort. When the defenses are finished, I’ll send them across to Home. That’s the plan, anyway. We’ll see how things go when we get over there. Right now, I want to see your weapons. Bowstrings, arrows, bow, spear, emergency kit, hold them where I can see them. As soon as I’ve inspected your gear, climb into the boat. The shovel and axe are already on board, so mind you don’t cut yourself when you get in. Questions?”

There were none, so Matt and Santiago walked around the half-circle, looking closely at each man’s armament. Satisfied, Santiago led the way into the boat. The others picked up a paddle and clambered in after him. The last pair helped Matt push the boat out, then climbed in. Matt picked up the paddle he’d use for steering, then climbed in and took his place in the stern. Ready, he nodded to Santiago. “Let’s go.”

“Port and starboard together, paddle; I’ll count stroke until you’ve got the hang of it,” Santiago said.

The men quickly found the rhythm, paddles rising and falling in unison. They worked in silence, only an occasional splash from the paddles disturbing the soft sound of water lapping against the hull. Matt corrected the course now and then, steering toward the distant hills. Four hours later, he spotted the cove where they’d landed before.

***

Santiago scanned the brush as the boat grounded in the shallows. Climbing over the side, he immediately trotted into the brush with his scouting party while others hurried to offload the cargo.

The men who would go back for supplies waited. A few minutes later, the boat, lighter now, drifted away from the beach. The paddlers turned the craft and headed back across the bay.

“The river curves about three hundred yards southeast of here,” Matt said softly. “It bends around in a wide curve and the water gets shallow. We’ll see whether we can build the fort there, but if not, we’ll look further south.” They found the river to be muddy, wide, and slow moving. Matt tasted the water, finding it fresh; the sea was only a few hundred yards to the north, but the shallow bottom and the current kept the salt water out of the river. For now, it would serve as part of the fort’s defenses as well as a source of water. The wall could be extended later to protect that side as well.

A quick walk-around served to lay out where the wall would go. Matt put two men to digging, and as they did spoil from the trench was piled inside. If they were attacked, the hostile force would have to climb down into the ditch, then surmount the earthen wall behind it. Not much, but it was a start and so far none of the local residents had spotted them. As the workers tired, others took their place; Matt joined the effort, relieving a man who was shoveling at the time.

The wall was completed well before dark. Santiago returned, reporting no activity nearby. He joined the others in gathering armloads of springy branch tips for bedding. The men ate, then went to sleep, leaving Matt and a man named Bert to keep watch. “Bert, I didn’t get much chance to talk to you,” Matt said. “You’re carrying a heavy bow, but do you know how to use it?”

“I haven’t had a problem so far, Matt. I made the bow myself, Lilia provided the string, because I had problems making one that wouldn’t snap the first few times I used it, and I made my arrows too. The spear was an extra I got from Colin. He said you made the point.”

“Could be, Bert. I made a lot of them, but so did others. There’s no way to be sure; one obsidian spear-point looks pretty much like another. Piotr probably made the spear; He had a few of my points, but then he started flaking his own.”

“I’m not all that accustomed to the spear, Matt, but I won’t have any problems with the bow. I’d used one before that fellow picked me up and transplanted me.”

“Did you do a lot of hunting on Earth Prime?”

“I did some, Matt. But most of the time I practiced. I took third overall during the Olympic Games two years before I got picked up. I stopped competing because I developed brain cancer. But I got healed after I was picked up, and here I am.”

“Olympic archer? Shooting at moving targets is different.”

“I’ve shot live targets before. I bow-hunted every year, Matt; some years I got a deer, some years I never saw anything. I bagged a black bear during a Maine hunt and I had intended to try for an Alaskan brown bear, but I got sick before I could go.”

“Good enough, Bert. You wait here, I’m going to walk around camp, make sure nothing is sneaking up in the dark.

The night passed uneventfully. Santiago and Mick relieved Matt and Bert at midnight and they were soon asleep.

***

“I’ll take Bert with me this morning,” Matt said softly. “We’ll do the morning patrol while Santiago takes two men to the shore. Gather whatever you can find that’s edible, clams, crabs, things like that. Rest of you, Marc’s in charge until Santiago or I get back. Improve the shelters, dig the trench deeper and stack the dirt on the wall. When you finish that, collect stakes and leave the ends sharp. We’ll set them up with the points facing out, just below the top of the wall. Do it right, because it might just save your life.” He got nods all around; the men understood the need for silence. Matt and Bert turned and trotted south as the men began working.

The supply boat came up the river later that morning and the men worked rapidly, unloading extra spears and bundles of arrows. The boat had also brought packs of dried food, furs for sleeping, and two cured skins from the animals they’d named stag-moose. The boat was then beached and turned upside down inside the hasty fort, the paddles stored beneath it.

Matt and Bert returned just before dark, having looped some seven miles into the interior before following the river back to the fort. They’d found no sign of recent human activity.

“We’ll raid that farm we spotted last trip tomorrow. If you have a few free minutes, start making slings from the stag-moose hides. We’ll arm any slaves we rescue with the slings. Also gather stones from the riverbank, leaving one man always at the fort, and practice with the slings. You don’t need to swing them around, just put a rock in the leather and let it hang. A single overhand throw is enough if you put your body into it, and you won’t get enough force if you only use your arm muscles. The idea is to learn as much as you can about using a sling so you can teach the people we bring back.”

***

One of the guards shook Matt awake. “Matt, Piotr just came in. He’s brought three people with him.”

“Three? He went after two; I wonder if we miscounted? Anyway, tell Piotr I’ll be there in a minute. Ask if they’re hungry.”

“I already did. Piotr says they’ve been eating well.”

“He’s a resourceful fellow. I’ve got a bush to water, I’ll be there soon.”

The guard went back to his post, Matt took care of his immediate problem, then met Piotr near the small fire at the center of the fort. “I’m glad you made it, Piotr. I couldn’t get back before now. I doubt that this winter is going to be anything like the last one, but we still needed to get Home ready.”

“I didn’t have a problem, Matt,” Piotr said. “I went south and hid in the bushes a little north of that farm we bypassed. Sure enough, along came that freedman we’d picked up. I tried to talk to him but he had this vision of himself as owner, so I left him and headed back up the trail. I picked up Jaime on the way back north. He was hiding in the bushes, but I spotted his tracks. He was hungry and scared, so I fed him and we headed north. You were gone by the time we got there. I didn’t have much food after that, not enough for two. We did some hunting, killed a pig, but we needed more so we raided a small farm. That’s where we got Angie and Walt; they hadn’t been there long.”

“You said you left that freedman?”

“Yeah, but he won’t be talking to anyone, and neither will the man who owned the two I brought in. I didn’t want to burn the place, I figured that might tip your hand too soon. We looted it and dumped both bodies in the river, that one right over there.”

“You dumped them?”

“Sure. They floated off downstream and they might have ended up in the seaway by now.”

“I hope you’re right about the bodies,” Matt said. “Dead bodies float for a while but eventually they sink, and the river is our source of drinking water.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, Matt. That river’s got fish I’ve never seen before, big ones. Alligators too, except with longer snouts. Same big teeth, though, so those bodies probably never reached the Gulf.”

“I’ll tell the men to watch out. Nobody’s seen those reptiles you mention, they’re probably caimans, but it’s a good idea to watch for them whatever they are.”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t go swimming in that river if I was you.”

Matt chuckled. “Okay, find yourself a spot—there’s plenty of room—and get your people settled in. Does Angie want to stay, or would she rather go across with the next boat? Some people will be staying here, but some probably would do better in Home. As we bring them in we’ll decide. Had the new people ever heard of Laz or Lee?”

“Not by name. They said that most captives went further south. There are bigger farms down there, some of them have a hundred slaves or more. That’s also where the mines and smelters are. They said that if slaves are stubborn, they always get sent south.”

“Then that’s where we’ll have to go. Get your people taken care of. I’m guessing you could use some sleep too.”

“I could. It’s tough, being responsible for people with no real woods knowledge! They’re learning, but it’s slow.

“We’ve been looking for you since we smelled your smoke. We hid in a thick patch of woods about five miles to the northwest of here, the bay bends north up there. There are no farms, it’s where the slaveholders do their hunting, so we did some too. We were doing all right before you came back. Anyway, we smelled smoke when the wind shifted so we started looking and we’ve been traveling all night.”

“Go ahead and sleep, then. We’re planning to leave on our first raid today, but you can stay behind. I expect to be gone no more than a couple of days, then we’ll come back.I intended to leave two men back to work on the camp anyway, so why don’t you put your people to helping them when you wake up? If you want to go across to Home next time we send the boat, that’s an option too.”

“No, I’ll stay. I’d rather be doing this than chipping flint!”

“You might not need to when you get back, because other people are making weapons now. Home’s got some new people, for that matter Tex has a growing population too. When I realized I couldn’t get back here right away, I joined a hunting operation. I stayed out of town most of the time, hauling in meat every few days, and I spent the night in the barracks when I did. Tex was staying there too before he went back to the ranch to stay. I talked to him whenever I came in from hunting. I didn’t have much else to do, and Tex liked talking about the ranch. We started having problems with the big predators so Tex went back to take charge in person, but we talked a lot before he left.”

“He’s got that many people?” Piotr asked.

“It’s the mobility effect,” Matt explained. “We tend to stay close because we’re working on foot, so people only find us by accident. But Tex did a lot of riding, so did José and Ernesto. They found a few, but now people are more likely to find them. They come in, Tex feeds them and puts them to work. Some become riders, the rest start building. They needed housing, for that matter Tex did too. I wouldn’t be surprised to find he’s got thirty people now.

That was a preview of Home: Book 3, the Darwin's World Series. To read the rest purchase the book.

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