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The group awakened early again to pack their stuff and clean up the campsite. Thomas and his group were eager to get home, so they wanted to push forward. Paulette, being a little slower at getting up, was gathering her things when Thomas approached her. “Morning. I hope you slept okay. How’s the ankle?”
“Morning to you, too. I slept fine, for sleeping out in the woods. My ankle feels much better today, even after all the walking we did yesterday.”
“That’s good. We’ve got a moderate distance to go today. Our village is on the other side of Tiger Mountain. It should only take us a few hours to get there.”
“Nice. I know I’ll be glad to be off my feet again.”
“I need to warn you that our group is very suspicious of new people. The only reason you’re getting to come into the group is because I vouched for you. Besides, I’m the leader and what I say goes, usually anyway.” He smiled.
“I understand, and thank you once again for taking me to your village.” So, Thomas was their leader. This was good to know. “I need to know what’s going on and how I can get back to where I came from.”
“You sure you want to go back into space? Even if you came from Mars, I doubt they’re doing well after all this time,” Thomas said sarcastically. “Can you tell I don’t believe your story? You just have too many inconsistencies.”
“Sorry about that. When I feel a little more comfortable, I’ll share with you what really happened, though I doubt you’ll believe me, even then.”
“Ah, I see. Well, I hope you begin to trust me and one day soon can tell me the truth about where you come from. For now, let’s grab a quick bite to eat and then get going.” Thomas walked off to join the rest of his group, and Paulette followed.
They all ate jerky and drank water before putting their packs on and heading out. Paulette wondered how she’d go about telling Thomas the truth and what the truth might do to her once he knew. She was afraid that the group would throw her out or refuse to help her anymore. Doubts kept playing in her head as she walked along the path that the group had set out on.
For a change, the walking was a lot easier. Apparently, they had cleared this area so they could come and go more easily. She again thought about her friends in the past and wondered what they were doing. Obviously, they hadn’t figured anything out yet. If they had, her watch-like device would have showed that the time pod was operational. She had been there for three weeks now and was not enjoying it very much. She had no idea how much longer she’d be there and hoped that it was not until she died. She really wanted to get back home. Her dreams of traveling though time had soured greatly since this mishap, and she vowed she’d shut the project down as soon as she got back. She thought if it wasn’t reliable enough to return, it would be too dangerous to keep it operational. She was so deep in thought she didn’t hear Thomas.
“Paulette, are you listening? Wake up from your daydream there, girl. I need to talk to you. Hey!” he yelled, waving a hand in front of her face.
Finally, she blinked and turned to see what he wanted. “Sorry, you were speaking?”
“Yes, I was. What the heck’s got you so distracted that you didn’t hear me?”
“Just thinking about my situation; that’s all.”
“Okay. Just wanted to let you know we’ve got about an hour to go and we’ll be there.”
“Oh, okay.”
Thomas just shook his head and walked back to the front of the group.
“Thomas, I really don’t think this is a good idea. What if Paulette is a spy for another group, or worse?” Bo asked.
“Bo, you worry too much. I don’t think she’s a spy, although I think there’s much more to her story than what she’s saying. However, that doesn’t mean she’s dangerous.”
“So you say. You get the say in everything. Sometimes I get really tired of having to do what you tell us.”
“Discontent, are we? You know I saved your butt a long time ago and practically raised you. Therefore, I think I earned the right to tell you what to do. If you don’t think so or feel you could do better, then by all means leave the group and go live somewhere else.”
“I don’t want to live on my own. I’m just tired of all the rules being made by you. Wouldn’t it be fairer to allow everyone to vote on the rules?”
“Maybe it would, but I’ve found that too much arguing takes place, and then nothing gets accomplished. I talk to a select group of people for advice before I make my decisions. That should be good enough.”
“Great, and I’m not one of those people.”
“You might be if you could keep your temper in check. Like I said, I don’t want a bunch of arguing when things need to get done.”
“Fine!” Bo said as he stomped off mumbling to himself.
The path began to twist and turn and work itself up the hill. The hiking was getting a little more laborious as the group made its way up and around Tiger Mountain. Paulette began leaning more on her walking stick now that there was a steep incline to the path. Why are we going so far up the mountain? It doesn’t make any sense. She kept silent and continued to make her way along the path, limping slightly. Abruptly, there was a change in the path. It widened and became more like a road.
Thomas, who was in the front, slid back to where she was. “Around this next corner, we’ll enter the village.”
“Wow. So, why this far up the mountain?”
“We tried having the village lower down in the beginning, but when the rains came, it ended up flooding terribly and we lost a few people. We had to move higher up to avoid the flooding.”
“That makes sense. Can you grow stuff this high up?”
“Yes, there are few crops we can grow at the higher altitude. We grow the remaining crops in the valley and hope they don’t get destroyed by flooding. Usually, we’re lucky enough to get the crops harvested before the rains come.”
“It sounds like the rain is not the normal amount you would get here.”
“You’re right. We get normal rain, but, occasionally, we get a downpour that can last for days.”
“Dang! That’s a lot of rain.”
“Yes, it is. Our forefathers worked to adjust, over time, but it’s always a struggle to survive.”
“I bet it is. You don’t have the conveniences of the past that your ancestors had before the upheaval.”
“No, we don’t, and we prefer to keep it that way. Maybe the earth can heal and we can co-exist with her again.”
“That’s a good way to approach it. I hope other survivors are thinking along the same lines.”
“Who knows? I can only control what my group does. Speaking of which, we’re here.”
Paulette looked forward and saw a large sprawling community ahead of her. There were wooden homes along the path, and each one had its own outdoor fireplace, and basic wooden chairs. There were lines strung between the homes where clothes had been hung out to dry. It impressed her. They had used nature to build their homes and other materials they needed to survive.
Thomas stopped everyone just as a large group of people was gathering.
“Welcome back,” said Julia, a short, plump, young woman, who slouched slightly. Her hair was golden in color and matched her hazel eyes. She wore a simple white shirt that hung over a tanned leather skirt and leather moccasins. She had a warm smile on her face.
“It’s good to be back,” Thomas replied. “I want to introduce to you all a new friend of ours. Her name is Paulette Brown. She ran into Bo and me while we were out hunting, and we agreed to bring her here to visit with us.”
“Wonderful,” Julia replied skeptically. “Wish you had mentioned this to me when you guys were back the other week.”
“Sorry, I didn’t have time to hold a village council meeting.”
The group seemed to try hard to look friendly, but Paulette realized that Thomas was right. It would take time before his people would accept her. She looked around and wondered if there was anyone who would try to hurt her while she was there. She decided that even though they weren’t particularly happy she was there, they wouldn’t do anything to harm her, as long as Thomas was vouching for her.
Thomas walked over to Paulette and said, “Please follow me and I’ll show you where you’ll be staying.” They walked away from the main row of homes and toward some smaller buildings further out. These homes were scattered about behind the main road, and Thomas led her to an unoccupied one.
“This is where you’ll be staying. We usually have at least one or two homes left open for visitors and traders.”
“That’s great thinking of you to have this available for people passing through.”
“We decided that people and groups we traded with may have hiked a long way, so to be kind, we made a place for them to stay while they traded their goods. For now, you’ll stay here. Please make yourself at home. More than likely, you’ll be here for a while.”
“So, why do you say I’ll be here for a while?”
“I think we need to get to know you better, and I want to hear the truth about how you came to be in Squak Mountain. You’ve got unusual things that no one has seen in hundreds of years, so I want to hear your whole story — the true story.”
“I’ve already told you my original story isn’t true, and I alluded to traveling through space, which isn’t exactly accurate either. I just didn’t give the details.”
“When do you plan to give me the details?”
“I guess when I get to know you and your group better.”
“That sounds fair. I need to get back to the main hall. I’ll come back in about an hour to give you a tour of the place.”
Paulette opened the door to the wooden home and stepped inside. There was an oil lamp burning in the corner, and it gave a soft glow to the one-room home. She walked to, what appeared to be, a wooden bed with hay laid on it for the bedding. She unslung the rifle and placed it in the corner next to the bed. Then she pulled the straps of her backpack off her shoulders and set the bag on the bed. She untied her sleeping bag and temporarily slung the backpack on her right shoulder, while she unrolled her sleeping bag over the hay. Placing the pack back down on the bed, she began unpacking her supplies. She placed her ammo for her rifle and the pistol in a hidden location under the bed and then placed her first-aid kit in front of the ammo boxes to help hide them. She laid out what few clothes she had on a shelf nearby.
After getting everything put away, she sat down on the bed to take the weight off her ankle. Thomas had said he would be back in an hour, so she lay down to take a short nap.
