Chapter 9

I chuckled. "I will just go around the hill and pick one up for you."

She smiled at me. "I have in mind a more old fashioned method for getting one."

I stammered. "Okay. However, I only want one pregnant woman in this cave at a time."

She said, "Then you're okay with the idea?" I nodded. "I told Leelee that it would be fine. I may already be pregnant. I stopped taking the herbs twenty days ago."

Leelee smiled. "I will wait until she is almost ready to deliver and then I will quit the birth herbs.

"Tom, is it really okay? Merry and I both want your children."

"Yes, Dears. It is really okay. I love you both."

We have been here for two years and we have two sons. Merry is pregnant again. I was hunting with Leelee and we saw people in the distance. We were in some trees and out of sight of any of them who might look our way.

She said, "Tom, what should we do?"

"Leelee, what do you think?"

"Tom, I don't want us to change. Having people around would be nice though."

"I agree. Let's stay under the trees and out of sight. We can watch them for a while before committing to them."

They weren't as careful as we were. It quickly became obvious they weren't in good physical shape. I wondered if they were refugees from somewhere. This wasn't a hunting party but family units on the move.

I spoke with Leelee as we watched them. "Leelee, keep watch for a while. I want to check their back trail to determine if they are being followed or, worse, being chased." She nodded and I left her side.

Staying away from the path the people had walked, I went almost two miles and found a place that would allow me to look over some more of their path and determine if anyone was following. No one was. We could talk to them without having a concern that some "bad guys" would sneak up on us.

I made my way quickly back to Leelee and whispered, "The back trail is clear as far as I could see." I paused. "Let's go down carefully and find out something about them. Then, we can decide if we want to bring them home."

Leelee smiled. "That is good by me. I have tried to listen to them talk but I'm too far. However, they seem to get along well. No one appears to have been mistreated."

We stood and began to walk slowly down toward the group. We had covered half the distance when we were seen.

There were only ten adult males in the group. They came forward slowly and warily. I quickly realized that Leelee probably helped make our appearance more peaceful. She and I on one side and the five men on the other stood about fifty feet apart.

I said, "I am Tom. Leelee is one of my mates. This is our land. If you come in peace, you are welcome. If not, we will fight to protect our home."

One of the men stepped forward after lowering his bow and loosening his arrow. With the bow and arrow in one hand, he raised the other hand in the sign of peace. He said, "I am Mario. We are all that's left of our village after the Manubans and the Others attacked our village. We are looking for a place to raise our crops and where our children may live in safety. May we talk?"

Leelee smiled at him and said, "Yes, Mario. It appears that your enemies are also our enemies." We walked forward and I noticed that the other men had lowered their bows, too. We met and Mario and I clasped each other's forearms in friendship. To the men's surprise, Leelee then clasped Mario's forearm in the same greeting of equals. My two mates, particularly Leelee, had come a long way from the frightened girls that they once were.

We clasped arms of each man. By then, the women had come up close to the men. I went to each one and clasped her forearm in that same greeting of equals followed by Leelee. We then took seats on the ground. Leelee sat beside me. Only one woman sat beside the men.

Mario said, "It appears your customs are a bit different."

I smiled because I wasn't surprised at his statement. Leelee spoke. "Tom is from a place far different than Urth. My other mate, Merry, and I have adopted his way of life. It is more free though requires more responsibility on the part of those involved.

"Mario, please, you or someone tell us your story."

Mario spoke after looking at the others. "We were a small village located a day's hard trek from the town of the Manubans. They did not harm us though had come for a messenger every few years. As it happened over the years, the high priest died and a new high priest was chosen. He was different from other high priests. Suddenly, we were not protected from the Others and their raids became worse. Our headman complained and a group of priests came to our village. They brought our headman out into the middle of the village and executed him. His mate and son were then executed. His daughters were taken away. A month later, the Others attacked again. We barely managed to fight them off. Our losses were serious. Two weeks later, the priests brought the headman's two daughters back. They had been abused sexually. They were led into the middle of the village, stripped, and executed.