Apart from a half a dozen men who stayed on the wall, the rest of the villagers, the men still carrying their weapons and bows, followed. Some of the braver adults, and a number of children who were curious, touched their backpacks and clothing. A regular parade!
* * *
Sandspour led them to a small square. On one side of the square was a Transit Station with two arches, the same as in the desert village. In the daylight Amy could see that it was over 50 feet long and about half as deep as it was wide. The front of the building was open with only one column in the center, same as the one they'd snuck into only a few hours ago. A curved stone roof arched from front to back. The walls were stone blocks and on the front, arches went from the center column to the end walls. On the opposite side of the square was a large building with columns across the entire front of the building, and Sandspour was leading them there. Amy noticed that it was a similar design to the place they’d slept in on Green Harbor Three. Paul was looking too. “Those columns. They’re similar to tapered columns in the temples at Agrigento in Sicily, just about the same height and shape, and with fluting, is that the right word, around them. The columns in Agrigento had twenty ridges; I remember counting them.” He added as an explanation, “Family vacation.”
Sandspour heard the remark, and advised them, “This is the Temple.” He led them past the columns, stopping at the first row of benches. “Take off your packs and take a seat. It will take some time to get the village elders together. Don’t mind the crowd, there’s not that much excitement around here. Three new strangers, an Evil One, and bandits, all in one day!” Sandspour left enthusiastically on his errand to round up the village elders.
Amy looked around. There were villagers in groups all around the square, and a few groups in the Temple taking advantage of the shade. Amy saw Firstlight in one of the groups and waved him over. “Hello, Firstlight of Ravinesedge. Our conversation was interrupted. I wanted to ask you some more questions about weapons. I know it is a difficult question, but can you give me an estimate of how long it would take to be proficient with a staff, a bow, or a sword.”
“I’m probably not the best person to ask. Firstscout of Ravinesedge, my father, is a retired guard and he might know.”
“Could we speak to him?” Amy was hoping to get to know a number of the villagers before the elders arrived, as she was sure that having friends would help them.
“My father is at the other gate, but I am sure he would be interested in talking to you. I will ask.” Firstlight headed off at a brisk walk towards one of the other streets leading out of the square.
Frank leaned over to whisper, “What are you doing?” Paul leaned in to listen to the answer.
“I want to make some contacts here,” Amy said quietly. “The more people we talk to before we meet the elders the better. I’ll talk to Firstscout when he comes. Paul, you talk to the sentry and show other people how to use the binoculars. I think that we’ll be able to trade Frank’s binoculars for our stay here. Make them sound valuable.”
“Yeah!” said Paul. “As good as a blockbuster movie!” Paul headed off to the group with the sentry and was soon showing them how to use the binoculars.
“Frank, it’s your turn. I want you to talk to the villagers, especially those who were at the gate where we came in. Play up our role of running, chased by the Evil One and bandits, to deliver the warning in time.” Amy could see that Frank was puzzled. “Today we’re heroes and we can buy something with that. If the village elders see a friendly crowd, they’ll give us a better deal. I’m sorry to sacrifice your binoculars, but they’ll be good for the village.”
“That’s OK; I can replace the binoculars when we get back to Earth. Weird to say ‘back to Earth’, eh! I’ll try to get more information about this Evil One, and the bandits. This stuff comes naturally to you, doesn’t it?” Amy just smiled. Frank headed off to a group that included some of the men from the gate.
Amy saw Firstlight walking into the Temple with a man that was the mirror image of him, only 20 years older, who could only be his father. Amy stood up and started to extend her hand, before remembering the different customs here and giving a short bow.
“I am Firstscout of Ravinesedge; we thank you for delivering the warning.”
“Amy Elizabeth La Reine of the nation of the United States of America on planet Earth. Your son was very helpful when we first arrived.”
Firstscout was thoughtful, “Amy Elizabeth La Reine, I have never heard of a planet called Earth.”
Amy knew that this would be a standard question, and thought about the best way to answer it. There were a group of people around them quietly waiting for her answer. She came up with, “The planet Earth has been cut off from the Isolated Planets for thousands of years.” There were gasps and comments at that. “We are some of the first travellers, exploring planets, and trying to learn about your society. Until we are ready, we will be keeping the location of our planet a secret.”
“You are wise in that, caution is necessary, as you have seen today. Firstlight of Ravinesedge told me that you have questions about weapons.”
Amy was glad that Firstscout had dropped the formalities, it made conversation so slow! “We normally do not travel with weapons, and were surprised at the need for them. What would be the best choice for us as travellers?”
“Choices for travellers are the staff, sword, or the bow. Have you training with any of those weapons?”
Amy shook her head, “None. Only Paul Augustine Fortezza has training on fighting with a knife.”
Firstscout asked, “Do you intend to learn to use a weapon?”
“As a woman you mean?”
“Yes. There are no women guards here; we are very traditional in the villages, but women guards are not unusual in the cities.”
“Yes. On our planet I am an expert with a weapon that shoots metal slugs at your opponent, like shooting an arrow, but we did not bring those weapons with us. Our thought was that we should carry local weapons so we do not look different.”
Firstscout smiled at that. “Your clothing and packs would have to change for that to be true.”
“Yes. That is part of what we want to learn here.”
Firstscout pulled out his sword. “Then you have three main choices. A sword like mine.” He passed to Amy so she could feel its weight. It was heavier than she expected, with a lot of the weight in the handle; she wasn’t sure why it would be made that way. She passed it back, carefully. “A bow like my son’s.” He took the bow from Firstlight and passed it to Amy. There was no string on it now, so it was like a bent staff, but a lot thicker in the middle. “You can also use the bow to fight as if it was a staff.” Firstscout took the bow, passing it back to his son. “Or you can fight with a staff like the one you carry. Can I look at it?”
Amy passed the staff to Firstscout. He felt its weight, its balance, and tried to bend it. When he couldn’t, he was surprised. Firstscout examined the carvings on the staff and as he looked at the symbols at the center of the staff, she saw a brief flash of recognition on Firstscout’s face, quickly hidden, before he handed it back. Amy wondered if Firstscout had recognized the Master Wayfarer symbol, and if he had, why he wasn’t asking about it.
Firstscout continued in the same tone as before, “A sword takes the most training, a bow can be useful with less training, and a staff can be the quickest to train with. You could all choose the same weapon, or you could different weapons, there are advantages both ways.”
Amy saw an opportunity to get more people involved in this conversation. “Thank you, Firstscout.” Amy then addressed the group, “I wonder if anyone else has a suggestion on the choice of weapons?”
After a slow start, many of the group wanted to give her their opinions as well, and soon there was a heated, but friendly, debate going on around her on the best choice of weapons for them to learn.
Amy, Paul, and Frank were known to half the people in the square and the Temple by the time S
andspour arrived with the village elders. People rearranged the benches in the Temple so everyone faced the elders. Introductions were made, and Sandspour gave his account of meeting the three strangers without mentioning their antics at the stream. He praised their use of the binoculars to watch the Evil One, and the bandits.
Amy praised Sandspour’s run to save the sentry, and Amy gave the account of their run from the top of the second hill to the gate, on foot, chased by the Evil One and the bandits on horseback. She gave the same explanation about Earth, which created a stir of comments throughout the Temple. All went well until Amy told them that Simon had told them to come to the village.
No one had heard of Simon. Then Frank had the idea to use his laptop to show a picture of Simon to the elders. They recognized a man they knew as Hillseeker of Bayside City. Amy, Paul, and Frank exchanged looks; they would need to discuss this later. Amy could see that the elders wanted to ask about the machine that Frank was using, but were hiding their curiosity. After that, the negotiations went well, and the sentry and Firstscout were both vocal in asking the elders to obtain the binoculars. With that support, Amy was able to trade the binoculars for a week’s board, lodging, and tutoring in Galactic for the three of them.
The elders asked Firstlight to lead them to a house where they would sleep and study. It was back near the south gate, where they had entered the village. When they arrived, Amy’s first thought was that it was hardly a house. It was only a bit bigger than her bedroom.
Firstlight apologized when he saw their looks of disappointment. Firstlight explained, “Many people who normally live outside the village are now staying behind the walls because of the bandits. This is the largest house that is empty.”
Amy smiled. “We will do fine. Thank you, Firstscout of Ravinesedge.”
“Amy Elizabeth La Reine, I return to my duties at the north gate now. If you need me, you will find me there,” and with a bow Firstscout left.
Amy saw a small alcove, opposite the kitchen. She’d have enough space to lay out her sleeping bag. If she put her space blanket over the doorway, she’d have some privacy. “Guys, how about I take that alcove?”
Paul was looking around and had opened the door at the back of the house; it opened onto a small walled yard with a few small patches of dry grass, and a gate that led to an alley. “OK, if you take the alcove, I can pitch the tent out here, and Frank has the main room inside?”
Paul looked inside a small shed in the corner of the yard. After a few seconds, Paul came out, “It’s a toilet. It’s nicer than some I’ve used in Africa, tiled inside with some open vents near the ceiling. The toilet is a hole in the floor about a foot wide that you squat over; there are handles on the wall to grab.”
“You’re kidding!” Amy protested, suspicious of a joke.
Paul teased, “You Americans are so pampered! There is a basket of soft leaves to use as toilet paper. You wash your hands in a leather bucket that hangs on a hook. They have soap, but it stinks! You dry your hands on grasses, and probably throw them down the hole. Then you flush by taking the bucket and pouring some of the water down the hole. We’ll have to refill the bucket before dark.”
Amy shook her head. “Well I’m using my toilet paper, soap, and towel. You can go native if you want!” Paul and Frank seemed to find this funny.
Paul returned to the subject of sleeping arrangements. “I’ll pitch the tent out here. Frank, is that OK?”
Frank smiled, “It's sunset here, but almost midnight on Earth, so I could sleep anywhere. It may be small, but it’s better than being stuck in a tent listening to you two snore all night!”
“I don’t snore!” Amy protested, but Paul and Frank just smiled at each other.
Chapter 18 – Back to Earth
Their days in Ravinesedge quickly became routine. Paul was up first, as soon as the morning light hit the tent. He would wake Amy and Frank before going off for a run. The villagers thought Paul’s running strange. Amy heard one villager saying, “Why wouldn’t you save your energy for work?” By the time Amy and Frank cleaned up, Paul was back from his run and it was his turn to freshen up. Soon after that their tutor would arrive with breakfast. Wellfilling of Ravinesedge was an older woman who used to be a schoolteacher. Education seemed to be the responsibility of the Temple, and she was now their tutor. Amy found it difficult to adjust to the meals as the villagers had a heavy protein breakfast, a light lunch of fruit and melons in the heat of the day, and a late supper, at what would be eight pm on Earth, eating slowly as it seemed to be the evening’s entertainment. If they had visitors then it was usually during this late meal, and visitors would just sit down and eat without even asking.
Amy found Wellfilling was a good teacher, but as an older woman she found it difficult to talk to them outside the teacher mode, so she didn’t stay to eat the late meal, or to socialize. Wellfilling would continually look up at the camcorder with suspicion, and only Amy’s repeated insistence that they needed to record the lessons kept Wellfilling tutoring them. In the heat of the day, from one pm to about three pm, most people took a siesta or relaxed, so they had free time, and then tutoring would stop at sunset, and they would have a couple of hours before the late meal was delivered. They used those breaks to wander around the village and practice their Galactic with the villagers.
They divided up their research to make the most effective use of their time. Amy usually went to the Temple, in the shade where it was cooler, and talked to the villagers who would gather there, learning how this society functioned. Paul frequently headed off to Firstscout’s house, learning how the policing and military systems worked on the Isolated Planets, and sometimes you could hear the sound of staffs hitting together as Firstscout taught Paul how to fight with a staff. Paul was to pass on those lessons to Amy and Frank later. Frank talked to the merchants who came each day to the village square, asking about their dealings and trading between the planets, trying to figure out how this economy functioned. Frank had learned a lot about the different planets, and some of the merchants had even given him archway directions and pillar sequences to cities on this and other planets. Frank was creating a wiki of all the information they learned on his laptop, explaining to Amy that it was like an electronic encyclopedia.
The archways in the village’s Transit Station were locked as going to or from Northcity. Green for outgoing and red for incoming; weirdly similar to those colors on Earth. Unfortunately, they didn’t have time for exploring on this trip.
* * *
The sun was setting behind the hills as Amy, Paul, and Frank sat on the steps of the Temple watching the villagers completing their errands and work before dark. There were three merchants left in the square and they were getting ready to leave.
Amy mentioned, “I just found out how to keep an archway open while you go through it.”
“And…,” Paul prompted.
“Just tap on the edge of the archway with your staff. That keeps it open until you tap again. When you tap the edge the second time, the archway closes as soon as you withdraw the staff.”
Frank was incensed, “Why didn’t Simon tell us that!?”
Amy wasn’t sure either. “Maybe he intended to.” Amy tried to distract Frank before he went on about conspiracies again. “Frank, what time is it on Earth?”
Frank was no longer wearing his phone on his belt, but it was usually in one of his pockets. He pulled it out. “11:56 on Thursday night.”
“Do we spend some time here in the morning, or head straight out?” she asked.
Paul shook his head. “Head straight out. I think we should allow as much time as possible to get back to Earth. Look at what went wrong on the way here. If we have extra time we can spend it on Simon’s planet, or should we call it Hillseeker’s planet?” It was a rhetorical question. Paul didn’t like that fact that Simon hadn’t told them about changing his name. He asked Amy, “What did Wellfilling tell you about Simon’s change of name?”
Amy resp
onded, “She said people change their names at significant times in their life, like when they take up a trade, get married, or are appointed to something. She asked about the name Simon; she thought what the name meant was significant and might tell us something. Wellfilling was also surprised by the single name, like ours, because it’s traditional to use two words put together.”
Paul remembered, “Simon comes from Simon Peter, the founder of the Christian church. It means something like fisher of men?”
“Yes,” Amy answered, “I think it does. Maybe I should have paid more attention in Sunday School.” Amy and Paul exchanged smiles.
Frank said, returning to the original subject, “We don’t have much leeway. We should be ready to leave right after breakfast.”
It was getting dark so they headed back to the house. They’d used up most of their batteries, and were saving the flashlights for emergencies. Also, the flashlights scared the villagers, who were used to fiery torches but not beams of light.
* * *
Wellfilling delivered breakfast as they finished their packing. Amy gave her one of her scented hand creams, and thanked her for her tutoring. Wellfilling was pleased with the gift, and wished them the protection of the One Who Tests on their journey home.
Paul wanted to review Simon’s instructions before going to the archway. Frank put his laptop on a shelf where they all could see it, and started the video at that scene.
Simon was saying, “Coming back to Earth you cannot use the mine, the outgoing archway is buried. You will have to use the Transit Station at Ravinesedge to go to Northcity, then to Northcentral. These archways will automatically take you there. In the Northcentral Transit Station, the third archway to your left as you come out is preset to an island on Great Island Two where they fish and gather seaweed. There is a good chance that no one will be there. At each Transit Station you should put one small coin,” Simon stopped to pull out a coin and show it to them, “called an it-rak, for each traveler in the basket. If you do that, and smile, they’ll just wave you through, but move quickly so they don’t have a chance to start asking questions. An it-rak is one sixty-fourths of a kad, and the smallest coin we use. They are made of some kind of almost indestructible silver metal without any markings. We tell the value by the diameter of the coin. Don’t be insulted if someone tries to scratch a coin; that’s the only way to tell if it is not a fake.”