NINE
With a cold shiver tingling at her neck, Rachael stops at the spot of some animal tracks frozen in some mud just beyond the last patch of trees ending a trail she followed. Whatever it is, it looks bigger than before, like nothing she has ever seen. The paw marks are bigger than both of her feet together from end to end. The nails have clawed their way pretty deep leaving huge chunks of dryer mud stripped away.
She remains standing there still for a moment looking off ahead to see how far they go. There's a small mound with some rolling grass peeking through some snow bunnies where the tracks tapper off and then disappear. At the turn of an eye she turns the other direction and starts a faster paced walk heading in to some tree coverage that lingers nearby above some fallen timber that has splintered and covered the area.
"I better be careful and watch where I'm going, I don't want to run in to anything. I just couldn't stand it anymore," she blurts to herself as she turns her head back for a moment checking to see if the area is clear behind her still. After walking a little further she finds a large branch with some leaves still attached.
She picks it up and starts walking again while stripping the leaves away along with some of the other smaller branches. Once she is finished she whips it through the air a few times. Then she passes a few trees whacking the tree trunks as hard as she can when walking by. "Wham," she yells really loud as the branch bounces back from a hard slamming hit.
She approaches the next tree doing the same stunt, "Bam," she shouts briskly bouncing the tree branch back around again nearly throwing her arm out of whack. "Going back I'm not."
"I've almost left many times before, if there was somewhere to go," she scrambles while walking along a narrow brook she came across between some brush and a narrow cliff which leveled down a few hundred yards further.
Before going too much further she hears a rustling behind her coming from the above narrow ledge protruding its way down to a clearing alongside the brook. Without even taking a glance back she begins to run as fast as she can without any other thought. Suddenly she trips over a few small logs hidden beneath some tall grass on a high spot by the side of the brook.
She rolls back on her side and takes a look back noticing some moving brush as some image creeps in and out of the gaps within some tall bushes. Quickly she gets back on her feet and makes another chance with her luck at darting away. Realizing she dropped her bag she turns back hurriedly retrieving it as fast as a flash.
Back with the others with the search of finding their lost youngster Jon has taken command and is leading them all on a wild hunt like he's searching for game. Ray takes the initiative to put him in the right direction, "You know she isn't some animal we're hunting, she a little girl."
Off to the side Hilda is yelling out for her, "Rachael…………………..Rachael?"
Angrily Jon answers back asking, "So what are you insinuating?"
Ray tells him, "You don't need to get down with your spear looking for footprints; we should just follow the low part of this valley."
Hilda walks over to another direction looking and pointing in to some trees over down a little ways, "Rachael………………………Rachael."
Hether gets confused realizing that they don't really have a sure plan, "And go where?"
Shantelle calms her nerves by taking control of the situation once more, "We should just look for another camp up ahead."
Kay questions her authority and intuitional reason why Rachael would look for others, "What makes you think she would head for another camp where there are others?"
Shantelle explains how she thinks the little girl feels by shrilling, "I think she just wants to get away from everybody."
Kay thinks that sounds so absurd coming from someone that they hardly even know very much about, "That sounds foolish, why?"
Shantelle starts to talk as she starts walking again leading the others down through the valley, "Because she feels by herself being the only youngster in the group."
Mycroft thinks back to when they were sleeping because he never heard a sound or any rummaging around and she has been gone a long time already, "I wonder how far she has gone?"
Krista gets in to the conversation by asking some things about her. It seems she is pretty quiet and doesn't say too much. Once in a while the little girl will make a comment or two about something, "Has she ever been left alone before and had to take care of herself?"
Hilda gets really concerned about that question since she hasn't left her alone by herself that much, although she has spent a lot of time hunting with her father. Hilda makes a comment to Krista's question by saying, "No, but she has some hunting and trapping experience from her father. And I have taught her a lot of things myself. But I don't know if she can handle herself on her own very good. I mean I don't know this has never happened before."
Jaymes asks a question about Rachael that no one else has thought of, "Have you ever had to look for her before?"
Hilda replies by saying, "Sometimes when she's out playing or wondering off or something!"
Ray pushes them on by relating how she has probably gone a long distance by now and it is sure hard to tell which way she has gone. He brings this up to the others by declaring, "I doubt she's even in this distant area by now, we should just keep moving down this stretch of trees."
Elsewhere with Rachael still making her distant departure from the others, she hears some more creaking coming from behind off to her side. She keeps on moving as some murmured voices pierce their way through. At first she hears a male's accent say, "Looks like a little girl!"
Another female's tone of voice rings its way towards her as she keeps her pace trying not to pay any attention to any sounds she might regret hearing, "She's all alone!"
Ignoring the over tone of the strangers, she continues to hurry away from the scene as fast as she possibly can without mustering any unwanted movements which may cost her another devastating fall. As she flees the scene she can only imagine to herself how brainless it was to leave in the first place. She was just tired of the stingy and hungry mob always thinking for only themselves.
For some reason she feels that she has led herself in to some kind of trap which separated her from her family leading to another group. This world was all of a sudden very unknown and changing very rapidly before her very eyes. Building her way up a new path she finds a little cave nesting beneath a rock face bristled with enormous vine like patches covering the entrance somewhat.
Without any more delay Rachael pushes her way within the covered cavern. Once inside she notices some bags and other belongings lying there towards the backside of the cavern. She also realizes how small this hole or entrance in the mountain side really is compared to the dwellings she's used to at home. Turning around she hears another voice with a much lighter and younger nature echoing through the front walls shooting their way inside, "She went inside!"
Rachael remains as still as she probably can try to keep from tripping over some blankets lying on the rock hard floor. Standing there as silent as a cold wind a small hand reaches its way in while another spongy voice whispers, "That's our place!
The hand pulls back away from the bushes as the same voice shrills, "You can't just wonder around other gatherer's things!"
Then suddenly another older voice scrambles out in a responsive manner, "Hey! Just leave her alone before you scare her."
Faster than a leap Rachael darts her way back through the foliage covering the entry as one hand takes a hold of her arm, "Hey where do you think you're going?"
She took a deep breath before realizing she was had by some other unknown someone. She turns her head while trying to slither her way free. Then a woman's voice ripples at her with a deep sigh before speaking, "You should be more careful, what are you doing out here all by your lonesome!"
"Just getting away," she says as the estranged lady lets go of her arm after taking a closer look at her. Immediately she notices a younger boy and an older man standing on the other side of the opening. The lady looks at her companions then turns in a swiftly laid voice, "Are you hungry, what is your name?"
"My name doesn't really matter that much. And I'm not hungry neither," she replies as she turns away as the older man makes his way inside behind the hidden opening.
"Don't be so stubborn on yourself, everything matters", the lady says as she follows her husband inside.
The little boy starts to head inside to some extent as he turns to her and asks, "You can come inside, are you sure you're not hungry."
Rachael follows the little one back in to the little room they have found along the way as shelter. Once inside she sets her bag down and sits down on it. The woman takes a bag filled with some boysenberry like stems and hands her some, "I just picked these not too far from here. But they are the last. Hopefully there will be more things to eat like this elsewhere."
Rachael takes them from her while asking her, "Have there been others?"
The woman pulls the bag back and puts it away slowly saying, "Yes there have been some stragglers."
Rachael looks at her with much confusion; she figured there would have been more groups coming across than what she makes it sound like. She answers the woman back twiddling, "That's all!"
The woman speaks to her again explaining what she has seen by saying, "Well, most of them we see at a distance, except for the darker ones."
Rachael looks at her with a shockingly feeling wondering what she means by the darker ones. Nearly melting back in to the stone wall that stands right behind her she replies, "The darker ones."
Suddenly the woman tilts her head up like she's praying, "There are the lighter ones from the north and the darker ones from the south. The lighter colored people live in colder climates, while the darker ones lived further south in hotter climates which burned them."
She nods her head back down telling her companion, "Tell her honey."
"What do you want me to tell her? That if she sees the darker natives she better run," he says with a hasted tone of voice.
Getting some deep shivers down the back of her spine Rachael asks more about them, where they live and what makes them such a threat, "They sound scary, where are they now?"
"Who knows, they could be anywhere," the little boy says as he starts glimpsing towards the outside with an inner feeling of something else lurking about. There was a beating pulse inside that told her she should have stayed back with the others. But it didn't come until now, before the feeling wasn't even there.
Now with a hollow numbness coming over her for the first time she asks, "When was the last time that you saw them?"
"We never really see them up close, only at a distance through the trees. They look and dress kind of different. They stare and watch as you do your daily chores. You always feel them but can never put an eye on them," the woman says with a sense of daring glare.
The woman takes another look at Rachael wondering what her name is again, "I didn't mean to get you scared, but you never told me your name."
"Rachael," she says as she eats the last berry from the little stalk she has in her hand.
The man lies down and starts to take a nap. The woman begins to do some daily tasks around the cave by sorting a few things she had laying around. While folding some of her furs lying next to her bags she shrills, "My name is Marianne, and my husband name is Nick, and our son's name is Clovis the Kid."
"This is our little retreat we found along the way. We haven't ventured any further yet because we feel it may not be too safe for us. But tomorrow morning we will risk our safety to find more plentiful grounds to settle," she blurts as Rachael leans back against the cold stone walls of the abode. "You're welcome to come along if you want to. Or you can at least see what there is to offer just on the other side of these glacier valleys that separate this valley from the next," she adds as she begins to retire and settle down for the night.
"We decided to get an earlier start tomorrow when the sun rises. It makes the travel much easier in case we run in to any trouble," the woman adds as her son lies down putting the side of his head on his bag like a pillow.
The woman finishes up her tasks and begins to do the same. Rachael lies down thinking and contemplating the whole scheme of things up wondering if she has made the right choices when she left. While lying down she reaches in to her bag removing a piece of cloth and folds it in her hands as a stress reliever.
TEN
With the turn of an eye, Hether thought she saw something staring at her through the distant trees and brush out in the distance. She glances back as some image pokes its head out taking only a quick glare and pulling back again, "I thought I saw something."
Hilda replies glaring her way off in the distance trying to focus, "Where?" She tries to focus but can't put an eye on anything. "Over there, through those trees," she says again as she points the direction. "I don't see anything," Hilda answers back looking the other direction and then back again, "And I'm tired of blaring out for Rachael, my throat hurts anyways".
"It looked like a face staring back at me," Hether says with a very concerned and bewildered tone of voice. Lara admits to getting some distorted images looking off wondering where she is as well, "I see faces when looking off in to the distance as well, and it's just your mind playing tricks with you."
Hether is still sort of skeptical because what she saw seemed real and different in some way or fashion, "Honestly, I don't think we are alone, there's something out there watching."
Jaymes thinks it's better if they spread out a little so they can cover more area, "I think we should spread out a little bit."
They all agree that they need to do something in order to make a much better search. Ray agrees, but in addition he thinks they shouldn't split up either. They should just stay in each other's sight at least. Ray heads towards a slight hilly crescent with some over hanging rock formations shrilling, "Nobody wonder too far off in case we aren't alone for some reason."
He continues as Kay descends her way across a small cliff like meadow with some bushes plucked of ripens. There are a few scatterings lying around that have been smashed by some foot prints that linger their way where Ray is heading towards the over hung rock face. She pulls one of the branches with disappointment, "It seems someone has beaten us to the punch on this one."
As Ray descends closer up the hill towards some tall bushes branching their way towards the foot of what appears to be a room of some kind, he sees more and more foot prints strewn around in some damper splotches of mud. He turns around informing the others of what he has discovered, "I found something, and it seems someone has been here."
He pulls some branches away noticing the empty vastness of what once was temporarily refuge for the trail which will lead them to end their search for Rachael. Making his way inside a bit he notices a wearing or worn in look about the place. There are a few scraps left behind along with some shredding of fibers from clothes worn by others. He slowly looks around the place until he finds a small crumbled up cloth left in one of the lower corners to the right of where he's standing staring. He kneels over and picks it up putting it to his nose. Quickly he turns around and heads outside to show Hilda and Jon what he has found, "Found something!"
"You might want to take a look at this," he says again as he walks over to one of them to let them take a look.
Jon walks over and takes a hold of it from his hand, "That was mine, she's been here!"
Ray mentions to him that there must have been others as well, "But she's not alone, it seems that there were others here besides her."
"I wonder when they left," Jon says as he puts the cloth away in his bag and leans over brushing his hands across the rocks forming a sort of fire place that has been burned out for a number of hours.
Ray answers him back by saying, "They probably left this morning around the same time that we did I guess."
"I wonder how far they have gone," Ray adds as he looks around to determine which way they have probably headed.
As they all look and get a view of the area they noticed that things aren't as barren as they once were. Slowly and slowly there is a denser tree population and many more types of bushes and shrubs in addition to that. There are also more types of grass showing their way forcing through the eroded soils filled with rich timbers that have aged and rotted away over the years.
As the grounds began to move them out in the distance to further unknown territory, Jon decides which direction to go, "I think we should try going this way down along this cliff like overhang and follow it down a ways."
They all make their way walking through the patches of grass growing along and besides the cliff walls. They notice more and more moss forming on the rocks lying just below their feet. Many of them are slippery as they start to make with a slower pace.
Flipside to Rachael and the friends she had mistakenly found, they have reached a mountain range that separates two worlds. But that journey won't be fulfilled until they can cross the glacial valley lying right before their very footsteps.
Once they get a little ways away from that temporary shelter they found comfortable for some time, Marianne begins to tell Rachael about their journey across the land bridge which separated them from a few family members.
She begins to tell their personal story to her by beginning, "When we made our away across, there were a great many of us. We were all part of a few clans that formed together in order to work together to grow more food so that we may be more able to take care of ourselves. But eventually the weather started to change for the worse and we had no choice other than to leave searching for new lives. We weren't as prepared as we wanted to be. Many of the clans split up along the way choosing other valleys to chance with their luck."
She stops as large gusts of wind shred through the tree tops before spewing a large gust of snow towards them. The wind blows for a few more seconds and slows down a bit as she gets back to her story, "Our clan was the smallest of course, just us and our relatives; my parents and my sister, and his father and brother."
Rachael looks around a slight bit wondering where they are now, "Where are they?"
"There was a mishap that nearly took all of us," she carries on with while a weeping tone emerges forth.
"What happened to them all?" She asks with a very curious manner.
Marianne takes a deep breath before going further with anything, "What happened was we got to close to the shore that was slowly melting and falling away in to the sea many feet below. We just wanted to see how it meandered around without having to go out of our way any longer."
"Did they trip or slip in by accident?" Rachael asks as another gust of wind rips its way right past them once again without warning.
Marianne takes another deep breath released with a depressed sigh exhilarating much pain and effort, "No, what happened was that while standing at the edge looking out everything just started to crack away. And the whole area they were standing on caved in and they all fell in too fast to even do anything."
"Why didn't you all fall in?" She says with a skeptical impression.
Her husband gets defensive right away by adding, "We didn't have a chance to, her sister ran over there after hearing some noises out below. Then everybody else followed before we even knew what happened."
With much concern for them all and their lost loved ones Rachael replies, "I'm sorry to hear that?"
Marianne soothes her tattered nerves by imploring, "It's okay, and it was a few moons ago."
Clovis the Kid starts to get a little closer to Rachael like he's trying to build closeness or a sort of bond with her mentally, "We never told anybody that story."
Building that special nearness Rachael carries on by adding, "I never told anybody my story neither."
"So what's your story?" Marianne asks as a thundering roar echoes from the glacial canyons above.
Without more to say they all curiously look to the mountain range above as a rush of snow rips and tears its way down towards them. Swiftly and in a hurried craze the four of them stand there panicking. Nick pushes them from behind with both his arms flung wide open. As he pushes forward his arms pass over Rachael who then grabs a hold of Marianne as they all seemed to lunge themselves forward.
Something propelled them to move as fast as they possibly could. Is this huge mass of fast moving snow going to bury them alive or will they be able to get out of the way. Many of these thoughts rummage through their mind as they continue to step away and away as quickly as a frog leap.
Moving faster and faster they can still hear the fumbling of something approaching nearer and nearer ripping through whatever lies in its path. More thoughts of getting out of the way and reaching a safe distance are all that stands between them with a propelled feeling of death.
As they make their flight to freedom Nick sees a thicker patch of trees that may abide a bit of protection from the tundra that's heading towards them. Ducking behind them he turns to become aware of an avalanche that has just ripped its way right behind them where they were standing.
With a sense of relief he turns to everybody declaring, "Boy are we lucky, we nearly got caught in a large heap of snow."
"I've never seen anything like it!" He continues jousting about with a sense of fear with the whole journey of discovering the other side. Getting very frustrated with everything he explains, "We have to be more careful. Life was a whole lot safer back at home. Everything was flat mostly. If you're not that careful you can lose your life in a moment!"
The snow heap still rips away further and further as they turn the other way trying to leave the area. They all start back on their way once again as Marianne seems to forget it all very quickly, almost like she has had so much bad luck with everything that it doesn't even seem to faze her anymore. Getting back to things with a sense of carrying on she shrills, "Now where were we…………………So what's your story?"
Rachael of course is still trying to catch her breath and get back to the scheme of things. Taking another deep lung full of air she says, "Nothing different than this one!"
"What's that suppose to mean? Is your family alive still?" Marianne asks as she seems more concerned that maybe they have found a stray that has lost everything to disasters in the same way that they have.
Rachael gives her an answer back with a still shacked up feeling still overcoming her after what has just happened, "I guess so……….. I don't know!"
"When was the last time you seen your family, when did you leave?" Marianne asks as they reach another small foothill where the snow starts to taper away.
Rachael tries to think of something easy to say that won't lead them on too much, although she can't get the words out, "When I left," she replies trying to push the subject away.
Marianne asks her again with a more subtle question figuring that she ran away and probably really doesn't even care anymore, "Well, how long ago was that, days, weeks, months. You could say something!"
"I just want to try and forget all of them." She says trying to brush it all off once again.
"It seems like you don't like whoever or whatever you came from, you leave me wondering if you even have any relatives," Marianne adds as Rachael looks up at them and away back towards the drifting foothills lying behind them.
Nick gets a little more curious as to her origins as well thinking that she has something to hide from them. He questions whether she has any parents again by asking, "So who's your father, of course you have to have a father. Everyone has a father and mother, right son."
"Yes," his son says smartly, "….and they even have sisters and brothers too, except me. I don't have any."
"No sisters and brothers. I don't have any. My parents are stubborn and I just don't want to say anything about that. The whole group is stubborn and stingy. They seem to fight over everything at times. I just want to be by myself, that's all," she blurts giving in a little bit.
Marianne relieves her intentions by saying, "That's too bad to hear how you feel, I don't know what I'd do if my son just split and didn't want anything to do with us, right Clovis the Kid."
Clovis the Kid answers back like a Boy Scout with his Camp Masters or something like that, "Right."
They continue walking and talking while Rachael begins to feel out of place and resenting the absence of her close ties she has relentlessly left behind. Talking to them has only made her feel guiltier as they reach the crest of another foothill which marks the end of the glacial mountain range. Up ahead are some lower canyons formed along streams and rivers which will hopefully yield somewhere they can find refuge.
ELEVEN
Lara turns back as she thought she saw something staring back at her through the trees. As she turns towards Hether she says, "Why is it that I get the feeling we aren't alone still?"
"I've been getting that feeling two the last couple of valleys or so," Hether answers back quietly.
"I was wondering if something or somebody is following us all," Kay says as the guys all seem to group together talking amongst themselves.
Mycroft glances around about the area as they cover more ground eluding their seclusion, "Whatever I saw looked darker than normal."
Jaymes has another solution to Rachael's whereabouts thinking that maybe somebody came and took her in the middle of the night, "Maybe she stepped out for another moment and someone took her."
Jon didn't hear anything considering the fact that he was sound asleep. Expressing his feelings about the situation Jon shrills, "I didn't hear anything and I have no idea where we are going either."
"We don't have a map in our head or anything to guide us, we're lost for all I know," he unceasingly says.
Ray speaks his mind feeling that they should just continually keep going in the direction they are leaving, "We won't be lost if we just follow these lower valleys, it appears that many others have come through this way."
Jon starts to feel guilty a bit as to what reasons caused her to leave in the first place, "I guess I should have paid more attention to her or something."
Jaymes adds a momentum to the scheme of things trying to make Jon feel more comfortable with everything by eluding, "I'm sure she's in good hands."
"Well no matter what, she's looking to cross to the other side," Ray says with much assurance.
Shantelle shrills out that they have already crossed over perhaps, "We're already on the other side."
Hilda hasn't screamed out her name in a long time now and doesn't really care if they're on one side or the other. "Let's just keep moving, I don't care what side we're on right now, but we must keep on moving."
Many questions have come to her attention since her daughter has been lost from them for some time now.
Why did she leave? Where has she gone? And with whom were these strangers that she's apparently with, if any?
However, most of all the questions of whether or not she'll ever see her again looms overhead in her mind every step that they seem to take. As she scouted forth through the thickened forest trees that stretched their way ahead, she realized how late in the day it has become with only a few hours left if that. Any longer than that and they would once again be trying to make their way in the dark.
Back with the others, they have entered the top of a canyon that has a creek running right directly down the middle with a scatter of trees and shrubs following along the side. Down below are deeper canyons formed from rock faces which form some foot hangings below. There are several mounds of broken rock that have falling or broken from the rock faces through time. Most of them are battered by severe wind, rain and erosion.
There are some trails forming that spring off into different directions leading up to one side of the canyon leading to a higher mountain pass. They are very slight with much grass and vegetation growing through as moss and algaes cover most of the ground. As they advance nearer and closer to a faint trail leading towards some very steep cliffs forming some sort of overhangs, Rachael notices a few strewn caves formed by the broken overhanging rock faces above a mound of boulders and rocks spread out below the foot of it. Rachael starts to run a bit ahead of everybody else as she shouts, "Look, another hideaway!"
Marianne and Nick keep up a slow pace as Clovis the Kid starts to run after her trying to catch up. Nick tries to slow his son down by saying, "Wait up!"
Rachael keeps moving towards the rock shelter as fast as she possibly can realizing that this unknown place is very beautifully laid out. The area is strewn out with different types of vegetations laying there way alongside the small creek that forms from the melting snowy mountains that forged their way directly behind them. Looking back over her shoulder as Clovis the Kid starts to catch up closely she blurts to him, "I'll race you to it!"
They both continued darting off towards the openings like it was the race of their life trying to find a bit of shelter from all of the strong winds and rain that has swept their way passed them on this forgotten journey.
As Rachael approaches the foot of a hill covered with nothing but broken rocks which have falling to form a sort of stairway leading inside she accidentally nearly trips over a jagged corner. Quickly Clovis the Kid reaches his hand from behind her only to grab a hold of her arm in order to keep her from falling over. Keeping her from falling flat on her face Clovis the Kid shrills, "We need to be careful, there could be others!"
Rachael catches her balance the best she can as Clovis the Kid starts to run passed her laughing, "Tricked you!"
Slowly she starts to walk ahead, but she looks back over her shoulder again and waits for Nick and Marianne who are a considerable distance away. As they come closer to her Nick says, "What's the hurry, what's gotten in to the both of you?"
Rachael waits for them to catch up all of the way replying, "Just got excited that's all!"
Up ahead, Clovis the Kid makes his way inside the rock shelter realizing how much room and how far back it extends in to and under the gigantic cliff like over hangings he crept underneath. There are some holes and lower crawl spaces which obviously have been dug out by others who may have possibly visited this unforeseen or unknown place to them. As he looks about the inside around the walls he notices some hanging skins of animals which have been left from somebody or something. He had no idea of what to make of it at all, only to wait for Rachael and his parents to enter and take notice.
Rachael approached nearer and nearer noticing the different rooms strung about like condominiums along a battered sidewalk or something. They made their way up and over the rock piles of debris and entered in the room where Clovis the Kid remains still standing there observing the darkening corners that loom over with a spooking feeling. Nick enters first walking over to some of the animal skins that have been left there drying out over a long period of time. He lifts one of them up slightly with his hand trying to take note of what animal was skinned, "Looks like someone else has stayed here."
Marianne notices some branches left in a pile next to an old fire altar that lies there covered in dark ash and partially burned stems. She shrugs her bags from her shoulders saying, "I wonder who was here."
Rachael has a curious attitude as well realizing that they are of course alone answering back, "Who knows, it's not like we know anybody out here in this place!"
Clovis the Kid stands there staring down some writings on one of the walls that looks like a hand print laid out with red blood from something that has been butchered or killed. Looking the writings and images down continuously he adds, "You don't think it's those dark people that once lived here, do you?"
Rachael notices the bloody hand prints with blotted dripping lines stringing their way towards each other. Taking a deep breath she asks, "Are you sure it was the dark people?"
Nick takes a look back at all three of them after gazing out at the outside with a very precautious feeling, "Well I can't think of anybody else it could be, whoever it was they have long moved out!"
Feeling even more itchy about this place like a vine of poison ivy curling its way up his back, Nick looks back towards the entrance with a more blurry and vivid image with sort of a slight trance creeping over him. Taking a few steps closer to the outside he replies, "I think I'd better have a look around to be on the safe side."
Marianne comes back quickly on the defensive side with an overwhelming feeling of fear as Nick steps outside the rock shelter, "I think it's better if you stay here and we all stick together just to be on a safer side."
Continuing on she adds, "After all we can at least stay here for the night and do some picking'. There's even enough wood left over we can use to get a fire started!"
Nick turns back a slight second answering, "Look, I'll only be a minute or so. I just have an eerie feeling all of a sudden!"
Nick takes his spear and heads out in to the vast unknown lurking around at every rock crevice and corner. First off, he follows along the overhanging cliffs along a patch of cedar trees that creep their way taller and taller along the edge of a creek. The stream flows relentlessly running with chunks of fallen snow that has unlogged itself from the glacial valleys above. Only the sounds of the flowing waters can be heard by him except for an upper breeze that quickly rips over the cliff tops.
Making his way with a quick look around Nick stops for moment thinking he has heard some sort of rustling behind over to the left. Looking back he sees a Turkey vulture creep up beside him looking him up and all the like. Sticking his foot out in front of the prowling bird he shrills, "Now where did you come from so sneakily."
The vulture gawks at him with a flaring stroke of his wings while backing its position up hastily. Immediately the vulture jumps up and scrambles back towards a meal it has long been waiting out for a long time for all of the other scavengers to take their turn.
Standing with an observing notion Nick notices some scattered remains between a few trees off in the remote distance.
Without any further delay he makes his way closer to get a much better look at the nearby scene. As he approaches a bit he can see a few more vultures feasting on what has been left by other animals that have made their way through this dreadful area. Catching his eye are the remains of a long horn deer that has been ambushed or attacked by something. He backs up and turns around to return to the search of the area with a little more concern than before.
Back at the rock shelter Marianne has put all of the good wood together in a pit she has cleaned out a moment ago. Then a grab of rocks by Clovis the Kid's hand follows then with a swifter strike together. Then a spark flies from his hand but goes out very quickly. He follows that up with another striking blow that casts another spark that goes out momentarily. Then finally he smacks the rocks together with more force which ignites another spark that starts to flare up a strand or two. Quickly he moves his face closer so that he can blow some air on it to get the embers spreading faster. After a couple of good huffs and puffs he pulls his face back while his mother places some smaller stems and branches left over by whomever else had stayed here.
Right away a small fire burns its way through the crackling stems while she adds some larger pieces to get things going a bit. Rachael scoots in closer to warm up her cold stiff hands before they freeze up anymore.
"This ought to warm us up a bit before we all freeze to death out here in No Where Land," she says as they all try and cuddle around as close as they can without catching themselves a flame.
Outside Nick is making his way through some taller grass coming across some more scattered bones spread out between some Sycamore trees. However this time they don't seem to be the remains or the carcass of any animal. Without any further delay he approaches the area as fast as he possibly can in order to reach for a cranium that has been entirely de-fleshed and missing the lower mandible in order to be a full skull. Getting a fast grip at the cranium Nick stands back up looking around before turning back towards the rock shelter.
Leaving the glacial mountain valleys the others have approached a larger area with scattered bones which happens to be a kill site. This kill site is very large with a larger repertoire of woolly mammoths, mastodons, and bison. There are even some scattered eagle and falcon bones as well as many other species. Drawing nearer and nearer they all stop and observe with a felling of awe that has just come over them. Hilda is the first to make a comment at the massive death arena, "Boy someone has done a lot of hunting around here!"
Jon adds to the conversation by asking, "Yes, I wonder what kinds of people are that ravenous, lots of overkill!"
Lara firmly replies, "Who knows, whoever they are we should try to avoid them at all odds possible."
Mycroft takes a good look at the bone remains realizing there's nothing he really recognizes except for the fact that there are some bones of bird like creatures. The rest of everything looks more foreign to him. He questions everyone's authority by asking, "Can anyone make anything out."
"No, I don't recognize anything, I've never seen anything fauna like this before," Ray says as Jaymes walks around a couple of boulders noticing a broken spear tip with fluted edges and bigger grooves for easier hunting.
"There's a long spear tip lying over here wedged between some ribs of whatever living thing this was," Jaymes says as he rubs his fingers over the sharp flaked edges slowly.
Shantelle walks over and looks over his shoulder to get a good look at what they could possibly be up against. Hether glares around at many of the other carcasses lying there.
As Shantelle looks down all she can see is a dark bloodstained projectile point lying there within a mass of inlayed skeletons. She looks off in to the distance seeing some taller grass on the other side of what seems to be a mud bog of some kind. She looks back at the others who are all inspecting different parts of the collage saying, "Looks like a mud swamp of some kind!"
"Someone must have trapped them here or chased them here like a sort of trap," Mycroft declares while gazing off to the right side across the mud bog. While drifting his mind off out in to the distance he notices some breaks in the grass where there seems to be some dry dirt they may be able to walk around to.
"We should cut across to the other side," he blurts while he stands up and out to overlook the distance with a slight of hand across his fore head over his eyes.
We could go around the other side of those trees and back past those grass crops," he says again as he starts the initiative.
"Aye and maybe we can all trip and fall in and become fossilized meals for our enemies" Lara shrills as she starts to follow Mycroft as he makes way for the other end of the mud bog.
"I'm not worried I'm always dressed for a swim in a mud hole," Hilda then replies with a sort of humorous relief.
Hether adds, "Same here."
They all start their way about the opposite end of this rancid mud bath filled with who knows what of the sort. Jaymes tends to lag a little behind as Shantelle moves past stating, "What are you waiting for a Holiday?"
"No, I was wondering how the hell we ended up at a place likes this," Jaymes answers back with a serene and candid tone of voice.
Jon confronts Kay about the greener valleys they would find on the other side, "Where's the greener valleys for the gathering' you were talking about Kay?"
"All I see is a pile of hog wash," Jon precedes on skeptically putting her down like a psychic without a clue.
"I'm not the one that fled us this way, maybe you should show some better leadership skills or act more like a scout or something," she gibbers as she sinks in some soft mud coming around a quick turn.
Hilda takes an affirm action by yelling out, "Why doesn't everyone rest their lips and keep it moving."
Hether starts heading out, "Anywhere is better than here!"
TWELVE
Rachael asks Marianne a question while they are still waiting for Nick by the dying out fire as Clovis the Kid throws a few more branches in to it.
"Why don't groups of people have names?" Rachael asks trying to just barely get the words out.
Marianne replies saying, "You mean like clan names?"
"No, I mean like family names for parents and their kids. A name they could all go by together," Rachael adds correcting herself of what she actually means.
"You mean like an ending name the whole family can be called?" Marianne shoots out like she has given the whole idea a hint at before. She goes further saying, "You could tell others your name along with the name of the family or group your with, I guess."
Clovis the Kid throws a few more branches and stems in the fire again while saying, "What would our family name be?"
Marianne stays silent for an instant giving a thought to any name she can maybe think of right at the very split second. After another moment she says, "I guess our family name could be……………."
"The Whitey's," Rachael interrupts as fast as a youngster trying to make a joking comment.
"What makes you think of that for our family name," Marianne asks back to her.
Rachael thinks before telling her, "Well, we're whiter than the strangers and they're darker than all of us!"
"Well, we can think of a better name for us than that, I suppose," Marianne informs her with a kind of fast reply.
"How about the Browns so we are neither white nor dark," Clovis the Kid speaks out giving them all a name that sounds a whole lot better and more suitable for their needs.
Marianne gives that name a second or so to sink before saying, "That's a good name but we should run it by your father first."
"Oh he'll pick some other name that sounds stupid," Clovis the Kid lashes out liking his name a whole lot better than anything his father can conjure up.
Only a moment later Nick returns with a cranium he brought back to show everyone that they are definitely not alone in this god forsaken no where's land. Making a quick entrance inside Nick informs them all, "Looks like we're not alone in these parts."
Marianne takes a good look at what Nick is holding within his hand, "What's that you got there?"
Nick holds it up so that they all can see the cranium missing a mandible as clear as day, "Looks like someone else had been living around here besides any of us."
"The vultures were still finishing up when I came around," he blurts out immediately after his other words.
"I think we ought to be a little careful around here and keep an eye out because there could be some others around lurking, but then it's hard to say for sure considering that the vultures had ate all of the evidence," he shrills while placing the skull next to the fire.
Clovis the Kid looks and stares at the skull while conceiving a name for the bony face that stares them all down now, "What would his last name of been?"
Rachael takes the time to make a joke out of the whole thing, "Who knows, he's dead, his last name could have been "not dead just need a burial ground."
Clovis the Kid squeals back saying, "That's too long, it needs to be only one word, besides nobody buries their dead anyhow."
Rachael answers back straight forth, "We should, I think."
Nick gets in to their conversation wondering what the hell they're talking about, "What are you all getting at?"
Marianne explains everything to him, "The kids and I were thinking that we should all have a family name sort of like a last name that everybody could go by, all right!"
Nick gets a negative attitude towards the entire concept right off the start, "Sounds like a bunch of nonsense to me. And if we did have a last name that name would be………Huh, let me think a little. Our last name would be "Hunter" because we are always hunting for something there a yonder. Whether it is seed like acorns and nuts, its berries and whatever fruits we can gather up. And if it isn't that we're scrounging up small deer and other smaller game."
Clovis the Kid immediately disagrees with his father right off the bat, "But we were always growers of food and raisers of domesticated animals and the sort!"
Nick explains the reasoning for his chosen last name a little further, "Until our land was frozen over and we had to leave to find a better place. That's when in desperation we became hunters of smaller game and gatherers of whatever we could find, and not to mention how many of our inhabitants died trying to eat different plants to survive which had made them sick and died."
Rachael adds a momentum to the idea of everything, "Huh, that happened to my aunt and uncle who seemed to eat anything they thought would cure their hunger pains."
"The name will go well with us until our enemies prove the name wrong. But don't worry we are only to use or tell that name to the individuals of whatever group of people we become or join if there are any at all," Nick rambles on to get his point across.
Flipside the others are on the other side of the mud bog that once had block their way as a mass grave or kill site. So far they have seemed to lose any clues to which way Rachael could have gone. However they all seem to just keep moving on thinking that they may eventually pick the trail somewhere. Hilda stops for a moment looking back at this massive line of grass weeds that surround the swampy mud pond informing them, "I'm not sure which way we should go I have seemed to lose any sense of her scent anymore."
"Why don't we stop and imagine where she could be right now. And then just all head in the direction we stare the most at," Shantelle implores quickly to get them out of all the confusion.
Hether keeps moving as she starts to slow down a bit saying, "What an idea?"
Jaymes answers back saying, "That's a great idea."
Kay then asks, "And where's that?"
"Well I'm looking over there with a sort of stare over that way wondering what that ridge like canyon is down towards that way," Lara says while pointing her finger that direction.
"You know what, I was gazing off that way as well, and it looks like the entrance to a valley or canyon," Jaymes mentions this partly closing both of his eyes until nearly cross-eyed to get a much further look.
Ray drifts his sights off in that direction also, "If we ever have a chance of finding her that way would be as good as any other chance."
Hilda takes a look that way and decides, "Why not, that's probably a great spot to find some sort of shelter a drift from the frozen arena we have long left."
She starts walking in that course blurting, "If she's anywhere it would be in a place where she could collect a variety of seed, she knows seedlings nuts and stuff fairly good to where I think she would be alright."
They all proceed to start off that way along a slight path with animal tracks skipping back and forth forming a narrower path as they go further along. On the sides are some bushes of brush spreading out from some trees. Out of the corners of their eyes are other animal trails meandering off in split directions. As they move on the brush seems to get a little taller and more full-fledged.
Not much longer and they can see the canyon below only a little ways further away. As they get closer and closer they can see all of the hanging rock columns forming a canyon with many rock faces piercing out at them. Another short distance and they can see a flickering light coming from one of the far off openings on one canyon side. They continue to approach as Jon stops them, "Do you see that?"
Mycroft takes a closer glance by walking next to a tree with some lifted up roots for a better look, "Looks like a camp fire perhaps!"
Hether wonders, "I wonder whose it is?"
Jaymes wonders if it's her, "Maybe it's her campfire."
Quickly they all keep bearing in that way to get closer for a scouting stare. Krista asks the group a question, "Does she know how to start a fire on her own?"
"Yes, she can her father taught her how to," Hilda says answering her question right away.
"That's good, and then maybe that's her in there all by her lonesome," Kelle says backing up what Krista previously had asked.
Kay gets on the defensive right off the mark like they should scout it out and check first, "Shouldn't we make sure that it's her just in case it's someone else."
Jon speaks out quickly with a choice of action, "Just one goes, so we don't stir anything up!"
Mycroft takes the initiative to study the situation, "I'll go see who's in there without stirring up even a mouse."
Ray tries to give Mycroft a sort of gesture before heading off, "Just catch a glimpse and head back!"
Of course they have no idea of who is really there sitting in this cavern with a fire brewing. For all they know it could be others who have crossed a land bridge as they did or it could be the darker natives they should at all costs avoid. On the other hand this could be a moment to undo the question as to where Rachael has been all this time.
As he approaches from a mere distant he starts to slow down so that he can quietly sneak in without being noticed by anyone else. Just the once he nears even closer he slows his pace down to a slow walk scurrying and snooping behind every bush he can find lined just below the rock faces as the dusk light diminishes entirely.
While nagging his way even nearer, he begins to hear some slight voices coming from inside. A few younger voices echo out from the walls inside the cave.
"How long are we staying here?"
A young girl's voice bounces passed Mycroft from the inside barely making it out.
"We'll see in the morning!"
Another female's voice carries forth which sounds a bit older than the other one. Mycroft sits there quietly listening for a moment while the older voice speaks again saying, "We should turn ourselves in early so we can scout around for berries."
"I don't think that is such a good idea right now," Nick replies with much hesitation.
Rachael speaks again, "What are we going to stay in here forever?"
Mycroft recognizes the voice immediately considering he has intruded a little closer to make a better study of whose inside. Without any further delay he turns around slowly heading back to the others. While he's returning Nick puts some more wood in the fire as his shadow blazes against the inside walls.
Once Mycroft returns Hilda asks him, "See anything?"
"I didn't see anything but I could hear them talking, one of them sounds like Rachael, but I'm not so sure," Mycroft tells them all.
Hether is suspicious immediately, "Are you sure?"
"There was nothing to hide behind without getting too close, but I could hear a few women talking and one of them sounds younger like her. There are only a couple of them and no one is out guarding anything. Sounds like a small family just keeping warm and out of sight is all," Mycroft adds backing the story up so that they all decide what to do.
Hilda squeals out, "Yes a family with Rachael perhaps!"
Jon looks over at the cave getting very antsy like he wants to just barge in there, "Let's go in there and see if it's her for howling in the night."
Puzzled Hilda thinks they should wait, "Wait a moment; I think it would be better if we wait until morning and act like we're just passing by or something."
Carrying on she shrills, "Otherwise we'll make her angry and she'll just take off again."
"So what are we going to do just stand here freezing all night," Lara says standing there shivering slightly as a colder breeze approaches from the north.
Hilda comes up with an idea for the night, "No we'll start a fire around that corner and first thing in the morning we'll pack up and walk passed that way so we can see who they are and get a closer look."
"Shouldn't someone stay up and keep a look out so that we can be ready before them," Kay says as they all start to head up canyon a few yards keeping out of sight.
"And what happens if they are still inside when we pass," Kelle asks.
Hilda answers with a daring response, "Then we'll walk in there and see!"
Jon questions the others, "And what about these strangers she's with?"
"As long as we out number them," Ray informs them as he drops his bags from his shoulders ready to set a temporary camp for the night.
Tana chooses the first watch, "Let me take the first watch."
Below is a link to "Hunted Gatherers" subpage 4.