He paused and looked around the group before continuing. “There is only one condition. They will not tolerate guns in their region.”
Uproar ensued.
“What are you suggesting?” Patrick snarled as the tumult died down.
“I will not give up my gun,” Shawn growled.
“This is not open for discussion,” Luke shot back. “We need the Greenbowes’s help. The villagers have promised to guard our guns and even give us weapons that are acceptable, like knives and bows.”
“You can’t expect us to go into enemy territory unarmed!” Mark demanded.
“Don’t act so outraged,” Daniel replied, coldness in his voice. “It’s your fault anyway.”
“What?” Mark gasped.
“You and your drinking,” Daniel exploded. “The villagers warned them, no doubt, that they’d be hosting a bunch of drunks. Drunks with weapons.”
“That’s dangerous talk,” Mark growled, rising from his seat.
“Whatcha gonna do? Beat him up?” Kurt sneered. “Like you did that William fellow? Then make him swear not to tell?”
“Quiet, both of you!” Patrick barked.
Luke stared hard at Patrick. “What’s this all about?” he asked very softly.
“There was a problem, but we solved it. Like men,” Patrick said.
“Bullshit!” Luke yelled. He pounded the table with his fist. “I am the leader of this mission, and you will tell me what happened.”
Luke and Patrick locked eyes. There was a long tense moment. Patrick looked away but remained silent. Luke turned to Mark, who also looked away.
“He got into a fight,” Kurt said, pointing at Mark. His hand shook with suppressed rage and fright. “The first night. With one of the men in the village hall. We all swore not to tell.”
“We went outside, away from the hall,” Patrick explained quietly. “Everyone swore to secrecy.” He shot a mutinous look at Kurt. “Both sides. They won’t tell.”
Ignoring the looks, Luke rounded on Mark. “How could you? Do you think this is some Sunday picnic? These people are helping us. You remember the ranch? The one we are supposed to be saving? How could you jeopardize that?”
Mark turned beet red but didn’t answer. Shawn came to his rescue. “He had to fight. Our honor was at stake.”
“What honor?” Amy spat.
“Our honor?” Luke asked.
“Yeah,” Shawn explained. “They said we couldn’t hold our drink. They were laughing at us.”
Patrick rolled his eyes and gave Shawn a look. “Don’t bother trying to explain,” he muttered.
“You fought because of that?” Luke replied incredulously. “You are dumber than I thought.”
Mark turned even redder but didn’t speak. His eyes shot daggers at Kurt, who stared back defiantly.
“Lay off him,” Patrick groused.
Luke turned on him and yelled, “You are not in charge of this mission!”
“I know!” Patrick yelled back, rising. “I wouldn’t even consider letting us be disarmed so easily if I was.” He turned and stomped out.
Late that night, Mark was sitting on his bunk. Luke had ordered that nobody was to go to the hall.
Mark looked up as Patrick came in. Patrick pulled something out of a side pocket. The cool metal handle of a 9 mm was pressed into Mark’s palm.
“At least two of us will be prepared,” Patrick said.
Mark nodded.
Chapter 7
LEXA GREENBOWE
It was a low-key departure two mornings later. They had spent their last day of work a sullen and quiet lot. Mark shot Kurt angry looks, but he made no move to retaliate for spilling the beans about the fight.
They returned from work to find knives and bows laid out for them. Luke had decided to surrender their guns while the others were still working, to save another confrontation. Mark and Shawn both muttered sourly and glared at Luke all evening. Patrick glared at Luke but refused to speak, preferring to give him the silent treatment. Kurt and Daniel, however, seemed to have taken the change better. They spent the evening studying and discussing their new weapons. Amy wasn’t sure which irritated her more.
The sullen and silent atmosphere followed them through the first day’s march and into the second. Midway through the second day, they encountered another of the big, dark statues. This one was also housed in a pagoda, but it was less graphic. She was a squat, vague form with a pregnant belly and ample breasts.
Mark made a suggestive comment, which caused Shawn and Patrick to snicker. Kurt lectured them angrily, keeping both Luke and Daniel safely between him and the targets of his anger.
“Oh, stop being such a fag,” Mark told him.
Kurt went beet red and shut up.
Amy just shook her head. The statue reminded her that when she had asked about the first statue, the answer she received had been about the battle it commemorated. She still didn’t know anything about the statues themselves.
“It’s strange, hiking without our guns,” Shawn commented that night over supper.
“So we’ve gathered,” Amy groused from the other side of the fire. “You’ve only mentioned it, what, twenty times?”
“Well, it’s strange, that’s all,” he persisted.
“We have been through this a hundred times,” Daniel groused. “It was either leave the guns at the village, leave them in the woods somewhere before we entered the Greenbowes’ territory . . .”
“And no one wanted to leave them unguarded,” Kurt threw in.
“. . . or not go into their territory at all,” Daniel finished.
“I would have told the Greenbowes to take a hike,” Mark put in.
“You would have been the one taking the hike,” Luke said. “About three extra weeks to get around their territory, from the sound of it.”
The rest of the meal was consumed in silence.
The next day, shortly before noon, they crested a hill and found a crossroads in front of them. A large gray truck was parked there. Greenbowe Tech was printed on the side of the truck. They approached it cautiously.
Under a tree, just a few feet away from the crossroads, sat a figure. As they approached, she stood. It was a young woman, approximately their age. She wore a one-piece jumpsuit in gray and a wide-brim straw hat. Short, red hair and a button nose stuck out from under the hat.
She beamed at them, the freckles on her face almost a match for Amy’s, though the two were alike in no other way. She was almost a head shorter than Amy with a slender body. She had a confident, almost cat-like walk.
The sun was bright, and the horizon seemed to stretch on forever. Amy was struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu.
Is this the woman from my dream?
“You must be the Freedom Ranchers,” she called out. “My name is Lexa Greenbowe. I believe I can pick out Amy. The rest of you, I am afraid, will have to introduce yourselves.”
Luke stepped forward. “Luke Zachary of Freedom Ranch,” he said extending his hand. “I’m confused. I thought we had several more days to go before we’d reach you.”
Lexa laughed. “You do have a ways to go yet, I’m afraid. I was out working on one of our remote power stations when Lady Sapphire got me on short band and told me about you. She thought we might run into each other. I decided to swing by and give you a lift. What do you say? Want to go for a ride?”
The men all looked taken aback. They had never met anything quite like this new girl.
It’s obvious what they’re thinking
, Amy thought as she watched the smirks and leers on the men’s faces.
“We thank you,” Luke said after a moment.
“Yeah, sure. I’ll ride in your truck,” Shawn fumbled out. Lexa laughed.
She took Luke by the hand. “Introductions?” she said, patting his arm. He led the way, introducing each member in turn. They blushed deeply as she looked each of them over appraisingly. Shawn turned beet red and mumbled something that made her giggle.
She’s a rather brazen tart,
Amy thought. When her turn came, Lexa’s smile was so infectious and her voice so sincere that Amy forgot to be offended. “Amy, a fellow mechanic, I hear. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Turning back to the others, she said, “We’ll have lunch before we set off, okay?”
She casually switched from holding Luke’s arm to taking Amy’s and led the way back to the tree. She found her small pack and rummaged in it for a moment. She came up with a smallish jar and broke the seal. “Baba ganoush,” she declared brightly.
There was a long perplexed silence.
“Eggplant?” she said.
“Oh,” several voices mumbled as she produced a couple of loaves of dark bread. Amy was becoming quite used to the bread down here. It was heavy and grainy, but satisfying.
“Lexa, that’s a pretty name,” Patrick said sitting beside her, in what he no doubt thought was a smooth move. Amy thought he looked ridiculous.
“Thanks. Patrick, is it?” Lexa replied, pulling out a long knife. “Be a sweetie, dear, and cut some slices for me.”
Amy expected Patrick to protest, either at being called a “sweetie” or being asked to do women’s work, but to her surprise he did neither. He took the loaves and started cutting them.
Shawn sat down next to Patrick. “Lexa, that’s an unusual name,” he said.
“What can I say? I’m an unusual gal.”
“You’re one of the Greenbowes?” Mark asked sitting on her other side.
“In the flesh.” She smiled.
“’Cause we’re headed that way,” he finished lamely.
Amy rolled her eyes as she sat down. She was more than a bit annoyed with the guys, who were casting around for anything to say.
They are acting like they’ve never seen a girl before
, she thought as Luke and Daniel practically sat on top of one another to be close to Lexa.
“So what brought you out here?” Luke asked as he joined the tight circle of boys. Amy shot him a dark “you too?” look that he totally missed.
“Oh,” Lexa waved vaguely northward, “bulldog station had a problem with its charge controller in the photo-voltaic array.”
“You have photo voltaics too?” Amy asked surprised.
“Sure, it’s one of our specialties,” Lexa replied. “You have them at the ranch?” She was making sandwiches and handing them around.
“Sure, they’re more reliable than wind generators,” Amy replied. “Well, until they get hit by lightning.”
Lexa giggled. “Damn straight. Wind is good and reliable, as long as you have the parts. Solar is a much better long-term investment, however. No moving parts to break.”
“That’s right,” Daniel nodded sagely.
The fool doesn’t even know what he’s talking about,
Amy thought. “What do you mean by a remote power station?” she asked.
Someone has to keep the level of intelligent conversation up
.
Lexa rose and carried two sandwiches over, handing one to Amy, then sitting down beside her. The look on the boys’ faces, now five feet away, almost made Amy break out in laughter. “We maintain powering stations for EVs every twenty miles or so, for our use and for travelers,” Lexa said.
“What’s an EV?” Patrick asked.
“Electric vehicle,” Amy answered quickly. Patrick gave her a sour look, but what was she supposed to do? Let Lexa answer and think they were all stupid?
“It’s a good thing you guys brought one smart one with you,” Lexa teased. They all laughed. Amy couldn’t believe it. If she had made a comment like that, they’d have killed her.
“So how many visitors do you get?” Luke asked.
“Not so many. You will find ample welcome, I’m sure,” Lexa replied. Amy found the tone cryptic. Something had been implied, but Amy had no idea what.
“How long will it take to get there?” Luke persisted. If he had caught the implication, he didn’t show it.
“Our EVs are built for rough terrain and heavy loads, not speed,” she replied. “It will take the rest of today to reach the next power station. Tomorrow by supper, we will be back in Tir-Na-Nog.”
“Tir-Na-what?” Shawn asked.
“Tir-Na-Nog,” she sounded out. “That’s the name of our village. Let me put out an offering and we can get going.”
Without explanation, she disappeared into a nearby bush. She came back presently and led them to the truck. The wide back door rolled up to reveal a mostly empty cargo space.
“Haven’t room in the cab for everyone, so in you go,” she laughed, grabbing Kurt’s bag and throwing it in. They all tossed their bags in and started scrambling in after.
As Amy threw her pack in, she felt a quick slap on her butt. She spun around, ready to pound the man responsible, only to find herself face to face with Lexa’s innocent smile. “Ride up front with me, partner,” she said. “We’ll have some girl talk.”
Disarmed by the friendliness, Amy waited while the others were loaded in. “Must be a hoot traveling with that lot,” Lexa said conspiratorially after she rolled the big door shut. “One poor girl with six strapping lads.”
“It’s not like that!” Amy protested, indignant.
“Damn! And I was hoping for some juicy gossip. Oh well, I am glad someone’s life is as boring as mine.”
Amy doubted very much this woman led a boring life, but she said nothing. As she went around and climbed into the cab, she wondered what the next few hours would bring. A mechanic’s daughter, she had never been particularly versed in what you might call “girl’s talk.” In fact, she had no idea what that might be.
“I want to thank you for saving me a trip out to Boringhaven,” Lexa said as she swung herself into the seat beside Amy.
“Oh, that’s fine,” Amy replied. “I was glad to be of use. Don’t you like it out there? They seemed friendly to me.”
“If you go for old skin bags.” Lexa grimaced. Amy blushed. She hadn’t thought about it like that at all. “They’re a bunch of prudes, if you ask me. Every time I go out there, all the girls watch me like chickens guarding their nests. Not that it’s much of a nest either. Even the few young’uns out there are only good at two things, drinking and bragging, if you know what I mean.”
Amy laughed in spite of herself. She remembered the first night at the feast, William, the one the boys had fought with, had drunkenly told Amy exactly how many inches he was.