Merth thought of his boys and what they had been through over the last several months. He knew they needed a place to rest. The voyage had been anything but kind to them. At least they had made it this far. They were standing on dry land, if one could call it that. Pillagers and water, pillagers and water, was that all that the world had left to offer?
The western lands had become a hostile environment. Food was scarce, and humanity had taken a malicious turn. Merth knew that he and his boys would no longer be safe there. They had been forced to make the tough decision to look for a new place to call home. He had not made them any promises; they were old enough to know better. They had all agreed that something had to be done, that it was better to take their chances out on the water. There was nothing left for them in their lands.
Merth remembered to the night they stole out, careful not to be spotted with what little goods and food they had managed to stow away. The boys were both excited, and looking at it as an adventure. They were speaking of the tales they would have to tell. If only he was younger, he might have been able to revel in their emotion, but his was a sense of trepidation. They left their home and snuck out in the middle of the night. He was saddened that humanity, the people he had grown to know and call friends, would come to this.
The rain had become more ever-present, and game was much harder to find. The birds rarely made a show anymore. If you were lucky enough to land a duck, you had to watch your back. There was always someone waiting in the wings to take it from you, and they were not afraid to use force. To think anyone would cause harm, even to someone who was once a friend, over a duck. This was not a place he wanted to raise his boys.
They had no choice but to go, and leave all that they knew behind. They knew that they had to take their chances out on the water. Merth wondered if they would ever find their place in this world of unrelenting rain, and even more unrelenting people. He did not know what would become of them after this day. There was one thing that he was sure of: he was done searching. They could not go on any farther.
“Dad, do you see anyone coming?”
Merth looked up to his oldest son Luke. “No, not yet, but I am sure that it won’t be long,” he said as he gathered his net. It was one of the few things that had survived the trip. He quickly counted the fish, if one could call them that. They really weren’t much more than minnows, barely enough to have a mouthful, but they would have to do. He and Luke slowly trudged back up to the cave, constantly looking over their shoulders.
“Todd found some sassafras, and has a pot brewing for us,” Luke said.
“Sounds good, Luke. I could sure use it about now. Something to warm the bones from the damp.”
“What do you think is going to happen?”
“If all goes as planned, we will be eating tonight, that’s what I think is going to happen.” But Merth highly doubted things would go as planned, because nothing had so far. To keep his boys from being afraid, he had to keep up the charade. He had to give them hope, hope that they had found a place to call home. They deserved that, and he was going to try his best to give it to them.
After passing the tin around till they all had had their fill of the tea, he stirred the coals and watched the little flame come back to life. Placing the old beaten can on top of the fire, he watched as the meager fish slid inside, along with a few mushrooms that had been gathered earlier. All the while the boys looked at the meal being readied with great anticipation. This was more than they had had in recent days. It had been quite some time since they had been on land, so he figured to them it must look like a feast. The meal was greatly enjoyed, right down to the broth, so as not to let anything go to waste. It filled their bellies and provided a bit of warmth.
Nightfall came and Merth gathered his things to go to the dock. He knew that the others would most likely arrive at dawn. He wanted to be ready when they arrived. He told his boys to stay in the cave, and to try to get some rest. He knew that there would be no need for them all to be there, and it would do him no good if they were tired from lack of sleep.
Luke, being the oldest, begged his dad not to go, or at least to let him go with him. Merth reassured him it would be okay. He just planned to talk and would call on them if needed.
Time passed slowly as Merth tried to get comfortable behind an outcropping of rocks. The tarp he had set up did very little to keep him dry. He lay there listening to the rain and going over the possible scenarios of what might happen until he couldn’t think about it anymore. He searched his soul for the person he had been before the violence, and yearned for the joy he had once felt. Merth thought of his home, and how he and his boys would sit up late at night by the warm fire playing games. They would often stay up until they could no longer chase the sleep away. On more than one occasion he would pick up the youngest one and carry him sound asleep off to bed. Those were good days, days he wanted to enjoy once again. He yearned for just a humble life with his boys, living in peace, no fear or hunger, to just be happy and safe once again.
***
Dawn had come and Merth was surprised to find that he had fallen asleep. Although he’d only slept a short while, it was welcome nonetheless. He crawled out from under his meager shelter to look upon the water. He had come to a decision that he knew was right. He did not want his boys to see any more of men fighting one another, struggling just to survive in a world gone mad. He wanted to show them that he was still the man that they knew. After all, he was the one who had taught them right from wrong. He wanted them to know that they could still depend on him to keep them safe. Merth knew that this was the man he wanted them to remember.
As he pulled the tarp up, he placed it over his head to keep himself somewhat out of the rain. He could just make out the boats in the distance. There were far more boats than he had imagined, and he knew at once that he had made the right decision. Merth stood at the end of the dock and knew all he could do at this point was await their fate.
***
The mayor looked through her magnifiers and could see someone standing at the end of the dock. She had an overwhelming feeling of uncertainty, and hoped that this could be handled peacefully. After great deliberation with the elders, she had been able to convince them that she was the one who needed to travel to the cave to speak with these people. She knew it was an extraordinary situation, one that needed to be handled delicately.
She herself had handpicked the men who were to accompany her to this meeting. She made sure that she picked men with cool heads, so as not to create a crisis. The mayor’s main concern at this point was to find out where the strangers had come from, and what they had seen. Did they know of the great land of the endless blue skies?
As she approached the island, she picked up her horn and announced her arrival. “Hello, friend. We come in peace. May I approach?”
“I want to speak to whoever is in charge.” Merth cupped his hands over his mouth as he called out to her.
“That would be me. I am the mayor.”
“I need you to come by yourself, and have the rest stay back,” Merth ordered.
She used her magnifiers to scan the hill again, making sure she was not walking into a trap. Just as she had been told before, she only saw two young men up at the cave, but she could also make out a shadow or a shape just inside. She looked closer as a young boy, not much older than six, briefly stepped out. The other two quickly ushered him back inside.
The mayor gasped as the picture became clearer. This was a family; she was sure of it. She studied the lone man standing at the pier and saw how incredibly thin he was. His hair and beard were unkempt and he looked as though he hadn’t seen a bath in ages.
“Everyone, stay back! It’s okay. I am going alone,” she said as she pushed with her hand at the air to tell them to stop.
She no longer felt that she would be in danger, and she was anxious to hear what this man had to say. As she stepped on the dock she looked into his eyes. She saw a sadness in them that made her fe
el a deep sorrow for this stranger. She reached out and shook his hand.
“I have some coal gathered here for you,” Merth said as he handed her a sack.
Mayor Olson took the bag. “I’ve brought you something as well.” She handed him a basket laden with food. “I was unsure what else you might need. If you let me know, I’ll do my best to see if I can get it for you.”
Merth’s eyes were wide as he took the basket. “Thank you so much, ma’am. I want to apologize for my earlier actions. I was out of character and acted foolishly. My boys and I have grown weary of traveling. Hunger and exhaustion can make a man do things, well, things that he normally wouldn’t do.”
“I see. Can you tell me where it is that you travel from?” she said, nodding in understanding.
Merth looked the mayor over carefully. It did not appear that she was a threat, so he decided it was probably best to tell her the truth.
“We came from the west, a place much like here. After several months of travelling I lost track of the time. I cannot be sure how long it took us, but it seemed like a lifetime. The place that we left, where we used to call home, was no longer a place to raise my boys and keep them safe. Food had become scarce due to a growing population. I have found out the reason for this the hard way. There is very little land between here and home, so most of the drifters that landed on our soil remained.”
He went on, “There was unrest among the locals, and violence was becoming commonplace. The family pets had begun to disappear. We all knew the reason for this, but no one spoke of it. I knew it was going to be just a matter of time before things were going to spiral out of control, so me and my boys packed up and left. We stole out one night and set out for the east hoping to find a better place, a safe place that we could make our home. We knew very little about what lay ahead, but at the time, we thought any place would be better than what we were leaving behind. Boy, we couldn’t have been more wrong.
“The beginning went easy enough. We had rations of rice and jerky, along with gear to help sustain us. We would fish during the day, so as not to waste the jerky, and stop on small plots of land at night. Now, most of these places were uninhabited, you see, as they were just too small to sustain wildlife, so these were fine places to stop for a rest. We would light a small fire with our coal rations and cook the fish we caught during the day. We would rest under a makeshift tent and continue on the next day.
“Now, the trouble began when we came to islands where folks occupied the land. You see, they didn’t take too kindly to drifters, nor did they particularly care for visitors, either. We learned very quickly not to stop if we saw signs of life. After a while the islands became few and far between.
“The last place we stopped appeared to be deserted, but we never went inland to check. We were weary from being on the water, so we just made a fire right there by the bank, ate, and went to sleep. We woke in the middle of the night with the youngest one missing. Our first thought was that he must have gone to the bathroom, so we searched near the camp and called out for him. After not having any luck, we began searching further inland, where we found him tied up to a pole. I hurried to untie him and took off out of there. Never did see who it was who tied him up. I hate to think what they were planning on doing with my boy.
“That was the last time we spent the night on solid ground, but that didn’t keep us safe. About two weeks ago we came across a group of men who pulled up beside our boat. They seemed to be friendly enough, so we got to talking. While I wasn’t paying attention, one of the men pulled a knife and threatened my boys, said for me to give him whatever gear I had. I told him he could have whatever he wanted and gave him everything that was in sight.
“That was the last time we saw anybody until now. We were left with nothing but our net, tarp, flint and the clothes on our backs. That leads us to where we are now.”
Merth, along with the mayor, was wiping away the tears that were falling. Mayor Olson’s heart ached for him.
“That explains a lot.” The words were softly spoken. “These drifters who would show up, can you tell me more about them?” the mayor asked with great anticipation.
“I really don’t know that much about them, except some of them came from the east. They said that life was better where they were from, so we decided to search for it for ourselves.”
“Do you know any of their names?” asked the mayor.
“Around two years ago a group arrived, weary and broken. I guess much like we are now, come to think about it. There was a boy named Seth that my son quickly became friends with, and a woman named Tera, who was like a mother to the boy. They often spoke of their families back home,” Merth recounted.
The mayor was in disbelief. She thought about all that he had said, and knew there would not be another search party. It would have to be called off; she could not put more of her people in danger. She knew the search was over.
Mayor Olson reached out to comfort Merth. She put a hand on his arm and spoke softly. “You and your boys will be safe here.”
From The Author
Thank you for taking the time to read the first book in the series Water Saga. I hope you enjoyed reading this story. The second installment is now available. It’s called Water Saga: Into The Unknown.
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