*
Everette, with Sven beside him, walked through the door. His huge frame lumbered down the aisle while Sven hurried, his little legs churning—almost running, to keep up with the giant. Everette lifted the boy into his arms as if he were a rag doll, then stepped up onto the stage and walked to the podium.
The Chieftains and the rest of the crowd started stomping their feet, causing a rumble like an earthquake throughout the lodge, shaking the walls and alerting the mountain people outside that the meeting was about to begin. They started clapping their hands and whistling to let those on the inside know that they were there to support their get together. Everette smiled, but the look on his face portrayed amazement. These people really do want peace, he thought. But it took a common enemy to overcome hundreds of years of traditional rivalry.
He set Sven on the floor and raised his hand to quiet the crowd, but they kept on stomping, clapping, and whistling. It was like someone had finally brought them to that place in their minds where they could have brotherhood and sisterhood with the other tribes of the mountains.
He raised his hand again, but the cheering became even louder.
"Kinsmen," he shouted out in a booming voice. "Kinsmen, let us begin the meeting."
But the raucous continued.
These people would certainly be out of place in an elegant Newusa nightclub, thought Everette. He looked down at Sven and noticed he looked scared as if the raucous crowd would attack and kill them like the hooded monsters in the forest. Everette walked over to the side of the stage, got a chair and brought it back. He set it slightly behind and to the left of the podium, then he lifted Sven into the air and sat him in the chair. There was a big smile on his Everette’s face, and he patted Sven on the head letting him know everything was all right.
Three nights ago Everette had been home lounging in his big chair in front of the fire when he heard a tapping at the door. It was so slight that at first he thought it was the wind, but then it occurred again. He lumbered to the door and opened it. There was little Sven shaking and cold, waving his phasor in his right hand—his skinny little arm going back and forth. "I killed three of them," he whimpered. "I killed three of them."
At first, Everette was stunned and just stood there. Then he looked around to see if anybody was with the boy.
"I killed three of them," he whimpered again and again.
Finally, Everette leaned over and picked the boy up holding him to his chest.
"I killed three of them," he said again.
"It's okay, boy. It's okay." He hugged him tighter to his chest. And then he felt the cold coming off his bare, little arms. So, he took him over to the fire and called to his wife. "Robin, come quick and bring a cup of warm mead."
"I killed three of them."
"It's okay, boy. It's okay. It's okay." He gently rubbed his head and started rocking him back and forth as if he were a tiny baby.
Robin came into the room and seeing the boy in Everette's arms she hurried over to them. She held the cup of mead toward the boy. "Here son you drink this." But he didn't see it.
"I killed three of them," he said.
"Oh, my," said Robin. She set the cup of mead on a table. "Here, let me have him." And she held out her arms.
As Everette handed him to her she said, "He's freezing. Get him a blanket." She sat Sven in the chair next to the fire and picked up the cup of mead. "Here, now you drink some of this." She held the cup to Sven's lips, and he took a sip.
Everette came back with the blanket, put it around him, and tucked it in.
Robin held the cup to his lips again, and he took another sip. "They killed my father," he said. And then he bent his head and began to sob.
"There, there," said Robin. She pulled him to her, hugging him tight and patting him on the back.
After a while he calmed, and Everette asked him what his name was.
"Sven," he answered in a shaken voice.
"And what Clan do you belong to?"
"The Bear Clan, but my father and all the men are dead."
"What!!?" exclaimed Everette. "A Clan would never kill all the men in another Clan. Who did this terrible thing?"
"They were monsters wearing hoods." He was angry and crying at the same time. "And they killed little Toby and my brother and all the other children.
The realization of what and who sank home, and Everette was suddenly experiencing so many emotions he didn't know which one to exhibit. He was sad for the children and the men of the Clan. He was furious that Hurd could do such a thing. He was glad that he now had a villainous deed with which to unite the Clans. But in the end he realized that most of all he was grief stricken.
The crowd had finally quieted.
"It's okay," he said to Sven. "I'm with you now and everything's okay." He stood up, turned to the podium and looked down at the Chieftains. Did he start with a greeting? Or an opening commentary? No. He shouted out, "And who do you think did this terrible deed?" His voice boomed through the lodge almost shaking the windows.
He glared at the Chieftains.
It didn't take an instant, but Rayz shouted back, "Hurd."
And then a chorus of other voices shouted out "Hurd."
"That's right. And if we don't do something about it, he will continue to kill us until there are no more of us left alive." He paused as the crowd began to growl. "Are we going to let him get away with it?" Everette was still shouting.
"No!" came the angry shouts. Men and women were jumping to their feet and shaking their fist. They started stamping their feet, and they kept yelling, "No!" over and over.
Everette raised his hand and held it there for several minutes until the crowd quieted again. "Okay then," he used a normal tone of voice, but continued to emphasize his words. "It's time for us to unite and become one nation."
Rayz jumped up and shouted, "Who will join the seventy-six?" And, of course, everyone knew she meant the seventy-six clans, which had already joined the unification under the leadership of Everett.
One of the chieftains jumped up and yelled, "I will!" And then a neighboring Chieftain, who had been warring with him for as long as he could remember, jumped up and yelled, "Me too!"
Shortly thereafter all the Chieftains rose, almost in unison, and shouted out that they wanted to join.
"Okay," shouted Everette over the din. "All of you who are new members come up to the table and Tosk will show you where to sign the Unification Agreement."
There was a ruffling, scuffling sound and a roar of whispers as two hundred and twenty eight Chieftains, minus the Chieftain of the Bear Clan, started crowding their way to the front of the stage. Everette thought if their pioneer ancestors could see them now they would be proud. Their children's children, many generations removed, were putting forth the effort to stop the senseless killing and to build a mountain nation bringing with it a better life for all the mountain people.
Tosk looked up at the first Chieftain. "If you want to read it first, there are three pages." He flipped through the three pages and pointed at a blank line beneath another Chieftain's signature. "And then sign here."
"I don't need to read it. Give me the pen." He snatched the pen from Tosk's hand and signed the document.
And that's the way it went. All the Chieftains signed the document without reading it. But as each one turned to leave Tosk handed them a copy of the Unification Agreement.
It took about an hour and forty-five minutes of torturous standing around or sitting before the last signature was collected. Some of them, for something better to do were reading the document, but most were constantly shifting in their seats and snorting. Mountain people weren't used to sitting this long elbow to elbow in a small cramped space with nothing to do.
"Now that everyone has signed the document unifying every clan of the Borgus Mountains we can . . . "
"Just a moment," said Clint, Chieftain of the Beaver Clan as he stood up. He spoke almost softly
and those near him had to strain to hear what he was saying, and those further away only heard a mumble.
Everette stopped speaking and looked at Clint. "Did you say something?" he asked.
"I said, ‘just a moment,’" said Clint a little louder. Clint had always spoken softly because he never found a need to talk loud. He was only a few inches shorter than Everette and just as big in the arms, legs, and chest. "It says here," and he pointed to the document, "that you're the temporary leader of this Unification Clan."
"That's right," said Everette.
"Well, you know what they say: ‘a leader without the honor of battle is a leader who might in cowardice dabble.’ And I therefore challenge you to the Clan's creed of leadership by submission or death."
"But that's what we're trying to get away from," snorted Rayz as she stood up and glared at Clint. Everyone knew Rayz preferred not to fight when possible, but they also knew that when she went into battle she unleashed a fury that few could stand against.
"Nevertheless, it is the Clan's creed and it must be answered."
There were nods of agreement amongst the other Chieftains. "He has a right to challenge," said Penz, Chieftain of the Roach Clan.
"That's true," said Everette, "but most of you have forgotten or perhaps have never known of the battle of the Earth Chieftains of ancient times." He pulled a book off the shelf under the podium. "This book was handed down to me by my father, and to him by his father, and so on for a hundred generations." He thrust the book into the air for all to see, and then he slammed it down on the podium. "In this book it tells much of the history of many of the countries of Ancient Earth and especially a country called the United States of America." He flipped through the pages. "Here," he said as he picked up the book and pointed at a page. "This is where it tells how they chose their Chiefs." He set the book down. "They used a different kind of fighting—a kind of fighting where no one gets hurt, at least not physically, and it's called voting." It was going to be difficult to convince the chieftains that this was the best way to settle disputes. They all knew that Newusa used voting to elect their city councilmen, and look at the mess they were in. "Voting lets you choose the Chief you want without having to kill anyone." Everette started speaking louder and his deep baritone voice rumbled through the lodge. "You get to save your killing for the enemy. You get to save it for Hurd and his murderous police force."
The Chieftains, their wives, husbands, and the other spectators, jumped to their feet and started cheering and stomping their feet. The vibration in the floor and walls was so great the ceiling lamps began to sway and documents and various knickknacks began to fall off the shelves and onto the floor. Everette held up the book and yelled, "Death to Hurd! Death to the murderer of children!"
The floor began to rumble and the walls shook violently and eventually the latch on the front door broke away and the doors popped open. Mountain people rushed in to join the clamor until not another soul could fit. And others outside pressed their faces to the windows.
Finally, the crowd quieted, and those with chairs sat down, all except Clint.
"Actually," said Everette "it's a lot easier to vote and less painful." The crowd was upbeat now and easy to control. They started laughing raucously at Everette's last jest.
Rayz jumped up. "I nominate Everette for leader of the Unified Clan." She looked around at the other Chieftains and raised her axe. "And that better be the end of the nominations."
The crowd started laughing and stomping their feet.
"I'm glad you realized she's just joking," said Everette. "Actually, we welcome more nominations." He waited for at least a full minute, but no one said anything.
"In that case," said Rayz as she raised her hand. "I vote for Everette as leader of the Unified Clan."
On her last word, every hand in the lodge went up, including Clint's. And as the noise died down Clint looked at his wife and said, "By God, that was easier." And again everyone started laughing.
"That's it," said Rayz. "You're the leader." And she sat down.
History had been made—a positive event, which would bring peace and unification between the Clans, but now they had to deal with Hurd. "We need a council of war," said Everette. And the first person he appointed was Rayz, followed by Clint, Tosk, and seven other Chieftains.
"And now I will call this meeting to an end, unless someone can think of something which can help us."
"Death to Hurd," yelled one of the Chieftain's wives.
"That's not much help," replied Everette, "but I'm sure we all agree." The mountain people got up and started filing out or bunching into small groups to talk.
"I need the members of the war council to meet with me here on the stage."
*
*
Everette sat in his chair at home next to the fire. The meeting of the war council hadn't lasted long. They still didn't have a solution for the scent, however Everette did inform them that the rebels had a spy on the inside, and they were hoping it wouldn't be long until they could use this man to penetrate the tower.
Chapter Forty