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Chapter 11  by Joe Bandel |
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Wayne and Char were still working on their base camp and making good progress. They invited him to stop by if he was ever in the neighborhood and gave him directions. At least they were not mad at him. Tara was still looking for someone to partner up with for the winter and wasn’t doing so well with the construction of her base camp. It was pretty obvious she was looking for a man. Tobal saw some of his other friends gathered by the kitchen and waved. Only a couple waved back and a few looked the other direction and moved away. He saw the Ox glower at him and sulk past silently. Apparently there were no other candidates that month and Melanie’s initiation was going to be the only one. There was a highly charged atmosphere about the camp with an under current of anger and many were curious to get their first sight of this hell cat that was also rumor had it, prepared to take her solo! She was going to do this without even the traditional month of training and it was causing quite a stir. Later he learned from Ellen the Ox had waited at sanctuary for another student and none had appeared. Both Zee and Kevin had gone there after the storm and waited too but no one had shown up. That’s why they were upset with him. While they had been worried about him he had been out training the only newbie available. She warned him there could really be some hard feelings and resentment among Apprentices unless more newbies started coming in. The last couple months had been abnormally slow and people planning on becoming Journeymen were still one or two trainees away. Ox was obviously on the war path and it would pay to stay well out of his way if possible. He excused himself from Ellen and was thinking about what she had said when he suddenly remembered the attack on his camp and the mysterious mass grave at the abandoned gathering spot. He wanted to ask Rafe about these things. Unfortunately Rafe was involved in Melanie’s initiation as a guard. Tobal also wanted to share his secret camp location with Rafe so he could find it. As Melanie’s initiation began, Tobal found himself casting furtive glances toward the red haired girl. She was talking rapidly and excitedly to an Apprentice that was sitting next to her. He recognized the gray robed figure as the instructor that brought her into circle last time. He suddenly realized Becca was going to be soloing this month along with Melanie. His feelings of responsibility toward Melanie were stronger than his curiosity and he felt himself drawn back into Melanie’s initiation ceremony as the drums started beating in deep rhythm. He was drawn into the dance with the other circle members. Disoriented, she stood hoodwinked and tied before the central fire. Her tunic had been cut a little too high and he caught glimpses of her pubic hair in the firelight. It seemed that some dancers jostled her too roughly but she stood proudly through it all as the power grew within the circle. Tobal could feel the power growing and soon sensed the presence of the Lord and Lady. He saw them with his inner eye. It seemed they were not as happy as before and the energy had an angry tinge to it that had not been there during his initiation. He was happy for Melanie and gave her a big hug at the end of the ceremony. She was now wearing the gray trousers and there were tears of happiness in her eyes. "Thank you Tobal," she whispered as she clung to him. "This is sanctuary and the safest place I have ever been in my life. I’m among friends I can trust in a place where I belong and you are my closest and dearest friend." She pulled him close and kissed him deeply, her lips crushing his in a fierce embrace. The party was getting into full swing when some raucous voices called Tobal over in their direction. Tobal saw his friends drinking home brewed beer out of leather drinking jacks and hurried over to help drink it up. This evening was in Melanie’s honor and he made introductions. It was Melanie that made the greatest hit by passing out honeycomb and honey to people greedy for the unaccustomed sweets. The drums beat again and the party shifted into high gear with people dancing just for the pleasure of dancing. Rafe came over in his new black outfit. They exchanged stories and caught each other up on what had been going on. Rafe was concerned about Tobal’s camp being destroyed and mentioned there had been other camps that had been destroyed in that general area. He had never heard about the abandoned camp with its mass grave site and found the story interesting, especially the part about the air sleds that came and buzzed them without waving back. He considered going there and checking it out himself. Rafe also brought him up to date on circle and clan politics. It seemed that fewer people were coming to circle these days. The shortage of newbies had caused division among the clan members. The heat of the summer months made food abundant and many treated it as a holiday. Others formed romantic partnerships that lasted several months. Often love turned sour and couples once in love with each other separated in anger and jealousy looking for new partners or newbies to train. The total effect was too many clan members stuck in the Apprentice degree without a means of self promotion. They were going elsewhere and turning their attention to other things. There was even talk of a new gathering spot that had different laws and customs. Rafe’s students had managed to corner the market on newbies and were moving up the ranks faster than others. The incident with Ox brought things to a head and guide lines needed to be set up. Ox had come back from waiting over a week at sanctuary and no one had shown up. Furious he had gone to the elders complaining that Tobal had threatened him with a knife and forcibly taken Melanie away from him. The circle elders took this very seriously and they were very interested in talking with Tobal about it. The incident between Melanie and the guard had defused the situation and Melanie had told her own version of the story to Ellen. That was probably why none of the elders had approached Tobal yet and now they might not. What the elders had done was decree anyone wishing to train a newbie was welcome to wait at sanctuary as long as they liked and take turns as newbies showed up on a first come, first served basis. Some got tired of waiting and left in disgust without anyone to train. Others stayed and waited for as long as three weeks before a newbie showed up to train. Everyone now felt they had an equal chance to train someone and much of the earlier resentment was fading away. There was still a crisis though. The average length of training had gone from two months to less than 28 days and some newbies were not being trained properly. One of the newbies trying to solo had gotten lost without water and almost died. Luckily the med-alert bracelet called the medics before it was too late. Given this, there was a lot of concern about Tobal declaring Melanie ready to solo in not quite four weeks. There had been some discussion about letting her solo at all. Only the fact that Tobal had been Rafe’s student caused the elders to go along with it. None of Rafe’s students had any trouble soloing and it was obvious they were happier and healthier than most of the other trainees before and after their solo. It was also very obvious they knew their stuff. Rafe had gotten his Journeyman degree in one year and he was highly respected in the circle of elders as a talented trainer. Not only was he a good trainer but his students had proven themselves to be good trainers. They were willing to give Tobal the benefit of the doubt. "And," Rafe continued with a chuckle," It seems Melanie can take care of herself!" In other areas it seemed Rafe wasn’t doing so hot. While Rafe was glad to meet him and participate in circle ceremonies, he also had the obligation of Journeyman circle during the new moon at a different location. The Journeyman degree was devoted to self defense and combat. There were constant challenges for combat. Because of Rafe’s age and small size, he was a prime target and considered an easy win. Most of the Journeymen wasted no time challenging Rafe whenever they could. Luckily the six victories needed to be six different people. After having fought and won they left Rafe alone. If Rafe wanted to rechallenge anyone he had the right to do that as the loser. But in general the winner could not rechallenge someone for another official fight. This was a hard time for Rafe. He was frustrated and having trouble dealing with it. Tobal’s reverie was halted abruptly by the appearance of the red haired girl, Becca. She walked up in front of him and stood silently with her head bowed. His friends turned silent with curiosity. Not comprehending they looked from her to him and back to her again. She had tears in her eyes as she looked at him. "I’m sorry," she said, "Please forgive me. I didn’t mean to hurt you." Tobal’s nerves snapped, "Get away from me! Get away from me!" He screamed. Her hand flew to her mouth and she stumbled away into the night crying. As she turned and ran Tobal got up and left. He moved over to a place in the shadows and savagely fought back tears. His thoughts were lost in bitterness and despair. Rafe came looking for him first. "What was that all about," he asked? "Do you know her? Have you met before?" Tobal looked at Rafe. The pain was gleaming darkly in his eyes as he raised his hand and touched the scars on his face. "She did this to me," he choked and breaking into sobs turned away. "Oh, God!" Rafe started and gasped. Then Rafe turned and left him crying against the trunk of the tree he had been sitting against. Tobal guessed Rafe had gotten the word out and felt even more humiliated and angry. It was not fair, now the entire camp was going to know what happened. He’d told everyone he had been attacked by a wild animal and now was caught in his own lie. He was going to be the laughing stock of the whole camp. Melanie came to him toward morning. She had been crying. Her eyes were puffed and red and she was sniffling. She ran to him and held him in her arms. It took a few minutes but he put his arms around her too and held her close. He had to admit she did feel good in his arms. Soon she had him smiling and was trying to get him to join the rest of the group. When he finally walked over to the others he noticed a strange silence. Ellen turned to him. "Becca ran away last night and no one has seen or heard from her. We think she is starting her solo early, but we are not really sure of anything at this point." Zee and Kevin both came over and apologized for their bad behavior toward him last night. They hadn’t understood about Becca and assumed he had raced to sanctuary in spite of their earlier agreement to get a newbie. They were heading for sanctuary with Nikki and invited him to travel with them. He thanked them but said no. He would be coming a bit later and needed to talk with Rafe first. If it was going to be such a big deal he would let the others go ahead this time. Ox would be there and that made four people he knew would be at sanctuary. He just didn’t feel social right now. August was the month of Melanie’s and Becca’s solos. Tobal had gotten his second newbie, a boy named Nick. August was an unusual month with eight newbies at sanctuary. That is the first time all summer for so many newbies. Tobal had gotten lucky because Nick was number eight and waiting at sanctuary. The Ox, Zee, Nikki and Kevin had each gotten newbies to train. Tobal had resigned himself to waiting out the entire month and was astounded to find Nick waiting when he arrived a few days later. The others had already left but told Nick he would be coming. They went straight to Tobal’s main camp and spent the first week completing some permanent winter shelters he and Melanie had started. They also worked on stone axes since axes were so desperately needed for chopping wood. The knives didn’t work well for the heavier and thicker logs. Nick was strong and liked working with his hands building things out of stone. He got the idea of chipping flint much more easily than Tobal, which was good, because it was just about the only thing Nick found easy. They spent most of their time trapping and hunting. Tobal wanted to be sure Nick would be able to get enough food when winter came. Nick was a total klutz in the woods and seemed to lack an intuitive sense about anything dealing with animals and hunting. But they kept at it until he was getting good results simply from repetition. Nick was a person that couldn’t be told anything. He had to learn by doing it himself and that took time. It was a long hard month but at least the weather cooperated. Nick was a little slower than Melanie was. He required more work and didn’t get things quite as quickly. There were times when Tobal’s patience wore completely out and he felt ready to explode, especially after going over the same thing for the fourth or fifth time until Nick got it right. Nick required a lot of personal attention and hands on experience but once he got it, he really got it and he was ready to solo by the time of the next gathering. Nick was the only one of five new initiates ready to solo and that made quite a stir within the clan. Tobal was proving himself to be quite a trainer following in the footsteps of Rafe and even doing a little better as long as his students were trained properly and he knew they were. The elders were inclined to agree and allowed Nick his solo after questioning him at length about what he had learned. The weather was getting colder and they were getting more careful. Nikki, Kevin and Zee were each spending another month training their newbies even though they would be initiated tonight. The elders called Melanie and Becca to the front of the circle for completing their solos. Then it was his turn. He had his 1st chevron sewn on his shoulder and it felt very good indeed. "Hey Melanie! Wait up!" He hurried to catch up as they headed to get robes. "How was your solo?" "Oh, I found the perfect place and it’s not that far from yours," she said excitedly. "It’s east of yours on the other side of the stream that feeds into the lake. I’ve already started building my base camp. You need to stop by and see it some time." "I will," he promised. "Is it easy to find?" "Give me your map and I’ll mark it for you," she held out her hand for his map. "I don’t have it with me," he said. "It’s in my pack." "Well, let’s get it then," she said and they wandered over to his pack. He handed her his map and a pencil. She put a quick mark on the map and he looked. It was about ten miles east of his own camp and in some even rougher territory. "I know this is going to be hard to find," he told her. "You might have to show me how to get there the first time." She smiled quite pleased and replied. "Sure, I’ll take you out there anytime. I really want to train one newbie before winter sets in though. I’m leaving very soon." "Well, good luck and take care of yourself," he gave her a hug and a kiss. "I miss you a lot more than I’m going to miss Nick. Say, I’m going to sanctuary after circle. If you want to we can go together." She laughed and waved as she turned around. "Let me think on it. I was going to leave before circle. I’ll get back to you." With that she wandered over to the food table and he went back to where the robes were being given out and changed into his. Angel was handing out the robes this month. Most clan members wore tunics during the day but were required to wear robes during ritual. Everyone was responsible for their own robe and was expected to turn it back in by noon of the next day. "I see you’ve got four chevrons now." He kidded her. "Your leg must be getting a lot better." She laughed, "I beat up one of your friends to get it." "Really," he said suddenly interested. "Who’d you fight?" "Oh, it was just Rafe," she said. "But he really is getting better. I used to feel so sorry for him getting picked on all the time and then it was my turn and I thought 'why not.' It was a tough fight though. He almost beat me." She grinned, "Don’t tell him that though. That’s just between you and me ok?" "Ok," he said, but was already thinking about kidding Rafe and went looking for him. Tobal roamed the gathering spot talking and mingling with his friends and other clansmen. Everyone seemed friendlier then last month. He spent time talking with Wayne and separately with Char. Wayne was a burly salt of the earth type that was friendly and open. He and Char had been the first one’s to welcome Tobal into the clan and make him feel wanted. He always made a point to speak with them and see how they were doing. Wayne had one chevron because he had trained Char. They had stayed together over the past winter and summer but there were growing problems. They both needed to train newbies and didn’t want to loose each other as romantic partners. Char wanted to leave and train someone else over the winter. "I think she’s tired of me and doesn’t love me any more," Wayne complained to Tobal. "She wants another boyfriend. If she thinks she can do that, I’ll rip his head off." Wayne stamped his foot on the ground in anger. "I don’t want to share her with anyone else." Tobal didn’t really know what to say since his own track record with girls wasn’t that good. He patted Wayne on the shoulder and tried calming him down. "Hey, things might not be all that bad," he said. "Tell you what. I’ll go over and talk with Char and see what’s up. Will that help?" "Thanks Tobal, I’d really appreciate that." "I owe you one," he said. Tobal went looking for Char about the same time Tara walked by with Nick. She was getting him pumped up about his coming solo. Tobal thought he knew what was on her mind but it wasn’t any of his business so he kept his mouth shut. He remembered going up to her one night after seeing her dancing naked at the drum circle after ritual. There was no doubt she was hot and liked to have men look at her. Under ordinary circumstances he might have been inclined to take up her offer to spend the winter. Nick was old enough to look out for himself. "There you are," he called out as he caught up with Char at the roasting pit where she was cooking a monstrous venison roast. Char was a stout round faced blond and the best cook in the entire camp. Her cooking was legendary and this roast was no exception. It looked and smelled wonderful. A roast that size took several people to handle and there were five or six others taking turns watching the roast, turning it as needed and coating it with spices and sauces. There were three fire pits with different things cooking in each one. The cooks kept an eye on all of them and helped each other as needed. "Need any help?" He asked with a smile. "Sure, turn this for a quarter turn and hold it if you would. It’s not balanced right and that spot never gets cooked enough." Tobal did as directed and levered the roast around. She had been right. It was not balanced properly and wanted to fall back to its original position. "There’s got to be a way to hold this in place," he complained. "Do you have any rope around?" He let the roast drop back to its original position and rummaged around for some lashing material and a long pole. He set the pole up with the lashing material so it worked like a very long handle that would spin the roast. It was not pretty but it did lock the roast in several new positions for more even cooking. "I talked with Wayne." He ventured cautiously. Char sighed, "I’ve been out here for one year and I still haven’t trained anyone. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life living in a teepee. Wayne doesn’t understand that. He’s like a big child yet. He thinks this Daniel Boone stuff is fun." "Well, I don’t," she said. "I’d like a regular bath with warm water and soap, nice clothes and both of us leading a normal life, even having kids some day. I love Wayne and want to spend the rest of my life with him, but I don’t love him enough to spend it out here. We both need to train six people and get to the next level of training." "I understand," Tobal told her. "I’m trying as hard as I can to train people. I want to be a citizen and don’t have any intention of living this way the rest of my life." He added, "I’ve often wondered when the two of you were going to start training newbies. I knew you were in love but it seemed like it couldn’t just go forever without training people. Maybe you can talk to Wayne like you did to me and let him know how important it is for you to start training. Winter is a hard time to train anyone though. "Yes, I suppose I’d better try talking with him again," she sighed “but he is slow as an ox at times. He’s a Taurus you know." "So am I," Tobal grinned at her. "Well I’d better be going. I think circle is about to start and I want to be there." He gave her a hug and a kiss and walked back toward the circle. If she was talking about kids he didn’t think Wayne really had much to worry about. Later he kidded Rafe about being beaten by Angel but Rafe wasn’t in a good mood about it and changed the subject quickly. "Hey you remember the dark haired girl that initiated you?" Rafe asked. "Yeah, what about her?" "Her name is Misty and she only needs one more fight." "I already knew that. I was talking to Angel about her last week. I thought maybe you had something new about her." "Not really but she is kind of fun to talk to. I wouldn’t want to fight her though." Rafe joked. "Pretty soon babies will start challenging me and then I might win once in awhile." "You will get your turn Rafe. Don’t worry so much about it. Angel said you almost beat her." "She did?" Rafe eyed him hopefully. "What else did she say?" "I wasn’t even supposed to say that," Tobal shrugged. "You were just feeling so down I thought I had to say something. I know I’m really going to have trouble fighting when it’s my turn. Still I try not to think about it any more than I need to." "How long do you do guard duty for the initiations anyway?" He asked to change the subject. "This is going to be my last month," Rafe said. "Then I’ll get some other duty. Did you know we lost two Apprentices already this month?" "What do you mean ‘Lost?" Tobal asked curiously. "I thought the medics looked out for all of us." "Oh, I don’t mean they got lost in the woods or died," Rafe corrected. "I mean they got fed up and headed back to civilization before winter set in." "People can leave?" Tobal asked in surprise. "Sure, this is a voluntary program and you can leave anytime you want. There is nothing keeping you here except two hundred miles of wilderness. Remember New Seattle is only a hundred and fifty miles straight south of here. You can make that in three or four days pretty easy." "I had forgotten all about that." Tobal said. "Do people take time off and go to the city once in awhile for fun?" "It’s not allowed," Rafe said. "If you get out of range of the air sleds and they can’t monitor your med-alert bracelet you are considered to have quit the program and need to start all over from scratch. Each year someone finds that out the hard way. Most of the times a medic will stop you and give you a warning though." Changing the subject Tobal asked, "How’s Dirk doing anyway? I feel real bad about what happened last month at Melanie’s initiation. I should have warned her or something." "No, people aren’t supposed to know what’s going to happen. Dirk is doing fine and his wound is healing fine. That whole thing was just bad luck, that’s all. Dirk’s a good sport and taking it pretty well even though some of the kids are razzing him."
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