Chapter 16
Samuel's Path, The Old Man's Valley
The lightning flashed. The raindrops fell. The stone house and the prairie were left far behind. The path on the road was well worn. Creatures. They knew they weren't alone. The way station had been torn apart. And the keepers were long gone. The roof of the way station had fallen forward. Most of it was still intact. This left the two-front rooms of some use. When they entered, the stank of creatures was prevalent. But they were gone.
Runner spoke, "Rooms are empty. No creatures. Acacia, are you sure they aren't scared of you? Wherever we go, they seem to scatter and run away."
Acacia playfully shouted from the other room, "Never complain when a creature runs away from you."
Samuel observed the creatures and said, "Not all of them are running away. Another small group is about to stroll up."
Acacia asked. "Do you think we can use the fireplace? So, we can dry off?"
Samuel spoke to Runner, "Do you want to check out the fireplace? Or do you want to take watch?"
Acacia pulled on Runner's sleeve. "I think we're working on the fireplace."
Samuel watched movement in the distance. Most of the day was gone. Soon the light would be gone as well. What did this mean for the creatures and the travelers? He wasn't sure. The sound of approaching creatures? It came from the side of the station, by the corral. Well, what was left of the corral.
Six creatures walked in from the prairie. They were spread a good five minutes apart from each other. They spoke in unison. "We have come a long way to find you. You are..."
Bang! Thump! The shot and the impact were heard as one sound. It echoed for all the surrounding creatures to hear.
The second creature approached. She continued speaking. "You are the one we seek."
Bang! Thump!
The third creature continued her speech. "We come to offer you a gift. Peace..."
Bang! Thump!
Runner offered. "I could shoot them from here? You don't have to wait?"
"No, don't bother. I can just keep doing this. They seem to be acting strange. Maybe this way. I'll figure it out." Samuel replied.
The next creature approached. "Truce? We cannot do it alone. We..."
Bang! Thump!
Acacia asked. "I wonder what the next one is going to say?" She stood in the rain next to Samuel.
"I thought you two were working on the fireplace?" Samuel asked. "Go back in there and get dry."
"Yes, we are." The girl replied. She went back into the waystation. "We have fire."
"That's good." Samuel replied. Bang! Thump! The fifth creature fell. "I couldn't understand what that one was saying."
The sixth creature approached. Like the other five, soon she would lose the appearance of being human. Time and living wild had caught up with her. The shell of a person spoke. "Please! Mercy? We..."
Samuel replied, "No, no mercy." Bang! Thump!
She slumped to the ground.
Runner came out of the station and spoke to Samuel, "I'll take a watch until midnight. I don't think she'll go to sleep without you. Go on in with our little warrior."
Morning came sooner than any of the travelers wanted.
The three travelers were walking. Ten to fourteen days away from the old man's house. Suddenly, Acacia pulled on Samuel's coat. She pointed to a mound up ahead. Then she said anxiously, "It's a bunch of old gray creatures!"
Samuel said, "Yes, but I don't think they can hurt us. Climb on my back just in case. I think they might be dead. And we have Runner here to protect us." He bent down.
Acacia climbed up on his back.
Runner spoke. "I'll go take a look."
Samuel offered. "Slow and easy. Stay in range. Watch for the pretenders."
Runner nodded. He cautiously approached the mound of old gray creatures. He really didn't need any instructions, but it was good to know someone cared.
Acacia and Samuel watched as he examined the creatures.
Runner looked up in the distance, and he said, "No wounds. No injuries of any kind. They had time left. They weren't at their end. No signs of why they died at all. They just died. They made a pile and died. I don't know why. It's hard to kill an old gray? They just don't die? Samuel there's more piles. Spread out all along the side of the road. As far as you can see. Are they all dead? I'm not sorry that there dead. I just want to... want to know why?"
Meekly, Acacia spoke. "I don't like it here. It's really scary here. Can we keep going?"
Samuel answered them both, "I believe you are both right. We should keep going. And I have no idea what's going on. But I would like to know."
The three travelers kept walking. The mountains in the distance were drab gray-green. Their sharpness covered by clouds, fog and haze. Still, each day they grew closer. Each day the Valley of the old man was nearer. Soon the terrain would change. It would become difficult to see any distance. They will be surrounded by cliffs, canyons and small valleys, but mostly they be surrounded by rocks and trees. The two protectors hoped this meant safety for their Little Warrior. In the grand scheme of things. Protecting one little girl might have seen small. To the two men it was a very big thing. It was hope.
Samuel asked Runner. "Have you been to the valley of the old man before?"
He answered, "No. But I think we're close."
Acacia ran up to Samuel. She grabbed onto him as she gestured for him to look. More of the old gray ones. And more piles.
Runner observed, "They go off in the distance. On each side. They seem to form a half-moon. They follow the rim of this canyon. I don't see any in front of us. It's almost like they form a circle around this place?"
Acacia pulled on Samuel's shirt, and then she pointed. "It's walking."
"Yes, I can see it." Samuel said. "It's not an old gray one. It could be a person?"
Runner suggested. "I'll take a look."
Samuel stated, "I believe Acacia would like us to stay together."
The young girl nodded.
Samuel spoke. "Well, over this rim and across the canyon is the old man's valley. His house is still over three days away. But we'll find water, and game here. Eating sounds good right now. And if we make enough noise, the old man will hear us coming. Maybe he won't shoot us that way. It's good not to get shot. But I guess we'll have to be quiet until we find something to eat."
Acacia pointed, "I think it's going that way." She stayed close to the man.
Samuel knelt and spoke to Acacia. "Yes. It's going straight for the old man. I don't think we're going to have to worry about it. Now let's go find some food."
The young girl wondered. She cautiously watched the figure walking in the distance. She asked, "Why do you call him old man?"
Samuel answered her. "The old man said that he didn't have a name anymore. He told me to call him, Cana. When I asked; he said that Cana meant old man like his beard. So, I started calling him old man."
She looked up with big eyes as she spoke, "What does Samuel mean?"
Samuel replied, "Samuel is from one of the old languages. Your people call it God's tongue. I've been told it means one who hears God. But I'm not sure. I do know that Acacia is from a tree. And it makes a very pretty flower. Runner's name is Marcus, I think. I'm never sure if I say that right?"
Runner Interjected. "Marcus. That was my father's name. So now what is my name? I am Marcus. But I like being called Runner. So now my name is Runner Marcus. I have been told it means one who preaches." He shrugged and walked away.
The two others followed him as Acacia spoke. "Now, can we go hunt?"
Samuel said, "First, we go over a rim and across the canyon." Then they would be able to go hunting. After that It was three easy days to the old man's house.
He wore an oversized black hat, a set of homemade chaps, and a homemade vest. From his appearance it was hard to be sure whether he was foolish or fierce. He stood there lazily, leaning on the wall as the three approached. His right hand casually rested on the pistol butt as it sat in the holster and hung from his hip. His dark eyes seemed to be free of any anger as he searched the world. "What brings you three to my place so far from the wall? I show you that I am free from the green." With his free hand, he pulled down the bottom of his eyelid.
Samuel spoke, "It is a good day for anyone to see we're free of the green. We show you, our eye." Each of the three travelers pulled down their bottom eyelids, on one eye.
The old man replied, "it is truly good to see you on this day travelers. You three sure are noisy. Did you want every creature around here to know you were coming? If that's what you wanted; you sure did it. I heard you two days ago. Well, three days ago. And who is this little one you bought with you? I already like her more than you two."
Samuel spoke as he smiled. "It is good to see you too, old man."
Suddenly, Cana moved. He shouted as he waved around his shooting hand, and he leaned on a long pole. "Don't mind the ladies. They won't hurt you." Cana spoke about the creatures. They were a good three-hundred paces away. "They won't come any closer. They've been acting really funny lately. Talking all kinds of crazy stuff. Me, I've been waiting for a demon. You three come in, and I'll tell you all about it. I hope that's a deer you're carrying?"
After the story, Runner asked, "Does this mean that they think me or Samuel is a demon?"
Cana replied, "As long as one of you is with the girl, they think you're a demon. I believe they are using her as a marker."
Samuel pondered out loud, "This makes Acacia important. They can only find what they're looking for if she is around. They may not want to risk her, to find their demon. This demon sounds important to them. Getting Acacia away from them would certainly confuse them." He paused. "I think it must be Runner. The demon." He said jokingly.
Runner spoke, "I think we do what we came here for. We get Acacia over the mountain to safety. Together we can find a way to get her there."
Cana interjected, "That won't work. You two don't know the way. Well, you do know the way. You just don't know, you know it. I am too old to make it all the way. Through the gates and over the walls, we go. And you can't go right now anyway. The snow and the cold would not let you through. So, I will have to teach you what you already know. Then we will have to wait until It's time to go. The little one may be more important than you know. She knows things we do not know." The old man laughed out loud.
Acacia moved close to Samuel. She had a worried look on her face as she looked up at him. He picked her up and sat her on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, and he spoke, "It's OK if you want to talk. The old man just talks funny sometimes."
She asked, "Can I call him Cana? I don't want to call him old man."
Cana replied, "Little one, it is alright if you call me Cana. You can call me whatever you like. I believe I would like that." He drifted off into a story of the past. He finished with, "Ah, but those secrets are not mine anymore, and my Feliz is gone. Now, it is Acacia's time. Samuel, you and Acacia will go to the house in the South by the broken wall. There is not enough room or food for four people here. Me and Runner, we'll prepare for the trip over the mountain. He must learn what he already knows to make the trip. You and Acacia will grow food and hunt. We will need much to make it over the mountain."
Winter had passed before Acacia and Samuel saw another human. Runner jumped off the mule. "The old man said it was time to go."
Acacia ran up to him, and she gave him a hug.
The man picked her up and made a growling noise. They spun around in a circle. They spoke over each other, so no one could understand.
Samuel asserted, "Hey, you two need to be more careful. Either one of you could have been a monster." He shook his finger at them both. "So, the old man says its time? Well, we will need to pack up the food and other supplies. I hope you two figured out where we were going? I still don't know what he meant by saying we knew what we didn't know?"
Runner held Acacia in the air. "Do you remember the child song about the mountain?"
Samuel spoke, "That badly written rhyming thing? The one that really doesn't make any sense and it's very hard to sing?"
Runner put the girl down on the ground and replied. "Yes, that one. The instructions are in the song. You just have to know how to interpret them. So, now we go on the path to the mountain. We find our little warrior a new home. Somewhere safe from the creatures."
The next morning, the trip to the old man's cabin began. Samuel's horse and the old man's mule were both packed with food and supplies for the trip. Samuel and Runner walked alongside the animals. Acacia would walk by one man and then by the other. She made sure each of them had a turn.
Acacia did not know what to expect over the mountains. For the moment, she was glad to travel in the safety of her friends. Expectations and hope would be left for another day.