Chapter 34

Ruba nailed me right after breakfast. I’d been expecting it, but I really hadn’t expected her to be so blunt about it.

“I want to kill the man you are holding prisoner,” Ruba told me, looking me squarely in the eye. “I want my revenge!”

I wasn’t alone. Clara was with me. So were Rugar, Cala, Sygor, and Gogra. We’d come down from the kitchen in the command post to see just how much more packing we had to do. Ruba had been waiting for me.

“You had your revenge, against O’Quinn,” I told the woman flatly, not pressing her on the topic, but not giving into her demands. “Clara gave that to you. This man has done nothing to you.”

“You let the others kill the men and women who you found here who were bad,” Ruba stated emphatically, her eyes staring into mine as she said it. “I need this, just as Sygor and the others needed this. You can’t deny it.”

“I can if I decide to deny it,” I responded sharply, returning Ruba’s glare with a stern, unyielding stare. “I am Chief of the tribe. I will decide.”

“I will share your furs,” Ruba offered without pause, declaring it as emphatically as she’d claimed the right to kill Max. “I will be your mate and bear your children if that is your desire. All I want is to kill this man. Please let me do it.”

I sighed in response and shook my head ‘no.’

“Please,” Ruba begged me, her face actually going from the cold, flatness that she’d presented herself to me, to one of fright and concern. “I’ll do anything for you. I promise.”

“No, Ruba,” I replied firmly. “I will not trade this man’s life for you lying in my furs. I gave you my protection and the welcome of my hearth, two summers ago. While you do not share my furs, you are my mate and you cannot make this offer to me. I will not accept it.”

“But I need this, Jake,” Ruba pleaded sorrowfully. “I’ll do anything you ask, but let me kill the man.”

I sighed again and then I shook my head.

“I’ll think about it,” I told Ruba coldly, “but I wouldn’t get my hopes up. I’ve promised this man an easy death. Your way would involve pain. I cannot allow it. I also don’t think it is right for you to kill this man. He didn’t try to kill you. He tried to kill me.”

“But... ,” Ruba started to protest. I cut her off.

“No, Ruba,” I said sharply. “Now go with Cala. I’m sure she will have a job for you to do. I will speak to you later.”

Ruba went with Cala, although she left me hesitantly. I watched her go. Kim asked me what that had been all about.

“I’ll explain it to her,” Clara offered sympathetically, taking Kim aside. “However, before I do I’ll say this to you; I think you should let Ruba do this. The woman needs closure.”

“I thought that’s what killing O’Quinn was all about,” I asked her, not smiling as I did.

“It was, until you let the others execute the people you found here,” Clara sighed heavily in reply. “Ruba wants to have her pound of flesh.”

I watched Clara and Kim head off as well, and then I sighed. The men just shook their heads. Sygor was of the opinion that he should kill Max. Rugar thought it was my responsibility. Gogra was of mixed feelings about the whole thing.

“Regretting your advice of the other night?” I asked him once the other two had gone off to see to the loading of the horses.

“I still think letting the young hunters kill the bad men was good for the tribe,” Gogra stated softly, though with some resignation in his voice. “I understand what is coming with these outsiders, who you say are of your people, but bad. There will be more killing and in truth, you are the leader and not just the warrior. Others must do that job. I just do not think Ruba should do this thing. She is a woman of the tribe, not a hunter. This is not her job.”

“I agree that this isn’t her job,” I told Gogra, “but I do not agree that she is only a woman of our tribe. Clara and Gabby know how to kill. They haven’t done it, but they know how, and are trained to do it. Other women in our tribe know how to kill. Geeta is a fine shot, although most of the hunters do not wish to know it. If the fighting comes that you are talking about, the men will not be the only ones who must learn to fight for our tribe. The women will need to learn as well. Perhaps they will only stay and guard our home when we men go off and kill the bad men, but perhaps not. That is in the future and I’m not sure yet how that will play out. It will be something though that the men must learn to accept.”

Gogra grunted his acknowledgement as to that fact, though reluctant to admit it as being true. I left it at that.

I walked about checking out the state of our preparations. I found that Kim had marshalled our vehicles and had lined them up so they could be driven out through the vehicle bay once we were ready to go. I smiled appreciatively at her when I went by her and I headed over to where Rugar was standing. He was supervising the loading of all the packhorses. All of them were loaded down with the lightest of loads. Anything in the way of clothing, bed linens, blankets, towels, and pillows had been packed up into the panniers that Rugar had brought from our settlement, and those were now hanging off the pack frames. In addition to the panniers, we’d loaded up mattresses. They were simple foam mattresses with a cloth covering, and each of them had been rolled up tightly and tied off. A couple of them were tied to the top of each frame. The only other stuff that the horses were carrying was coils of wiring, cables, and ropes. When I got to Rugar, I asked him how he was doing.

“Good,” Rugar acknowledged with a nod. “These loads will be easy to carry and they won’t burden the horses at all. We should be able to get back to the enclosure by the end of the day.”

“Good,” I declared in response, looking from the packhorses to the mounts that stood waiting off to one side. A few of them had bags or mattresses tied behind their saddles, but that was it. I counted the animals and reassured myself that there would be enough.

“Worried?” Rugar asked when he noticed that I was counting the horses.

“Just making certain that we’ve got enough mounts and vehicles to get us home,” I told him, glancing from the horses over to where the vehicles were marshalled. Rugar followed my gaze. As we watched, Clara and Ohba were moving along the line of vehicle, making certain that people riding on the back decks of the ATVs were secure.

“It looks like it’s going to be close,” Rugar muttered a second later.

“I know,” I chuckled in response, eyeing the column of vehicles. “I had to stop them from converting the other vehicles to cargo carriers. I had to explain that we’d be carrying people on the back of them to get as many people back to the settlement in one go as we could. It took taking Ohba and three of her friends for a spin about the courtyard to convince them that I wasn’t mad. It terrified them the first time around the interior, but they eventually got used to it.”

“It terrified me the first time you took me for a ride,” Rugar admitted half under his breath, “and it still does. I’d rather ride a horse.”

“I’d imagine you would,” I chuckled some more, “but I also remember the first time I got you in a saddle. You weren’t happy with that, either.”

Rugar didn’t honour me with a reply to that comment. Instead he looked about at all the stuff we hadn’t packed, and then he looked back at me. I just eyed him, challenging him to ask the question. He didn’t. I’d told him we’d be doing this in one trip because it was going to snow and there was no way he was going to press the issue.

When everything was ready I ordered Clara to take our people home. The plan was for the ATVs and trailers to leave first and break the trail. I sent Kim with her, Ohba and her people, Bogdi, Geeta, Katherine, and Kim’s team of support personnel from the compound; plus as many women who’d come with Clara on the trip to help pack up the place with her. Most of the vehicles carried between five and six people. They were heavily loaded and Clara would have to keep the speed down on the trip home, but unless she ran into difficulties on the way back, I was certain that they’d get home well before dark. I kissed Clara goodbye, as I did every woman in the convoy that I was intimate with, including Katherine and Ohba. It put a smile on the young woman’s face when I leaned into her and I brushed my lips tenderly against hers. She certainly didn’t pull away, and when I did break our embrace, I was left with the feeling that soon we’d be sharing the same bed.

I didn’t send Ruba back with Clara. I kept her behind with most of the men whom I was sending back with Rugar. Once Clara and her convoy were gone, I waved the woman forward.

“We need to talk,” I told Ruba pointedly. “Come with me.”

I took Ruba to the command post. She hesitated when I went into the passageway that led up to command post level of the container, but she only hesitated for a few moments. I didn’t wait for her and by the time I was standing in the kitchen area, she was on the stairs walking up.

“Take a seat,” I told her once she’d stepped over the lip of the hatch and into the room. I pointed to the fold down seat adjacent to the fold down table and then waited for Ruba to comply. She did, though as hesitantly as she’d entered the place.

“I’m sorry to have brought you into this place,” I told Ruba once she’d settled, “but it was necessary. You and others have spoken about getting closure in regards to what happened to you at the other compound. Being able to sit here and talk to me is part of the process. It might seem cold and heartless, but I am trying to help you.”

Ruba just looked at me and glared. I ignored the glare and instead, went on with my little speech.

“I want you to listen to me,” I told her. “I don’t want you interrupting me, or protesting my decision here. I am the leader of the Bear Tribe, and you are a member of it. What I decide goes, and you’ll either accept it, or I’ll leave you here. Do you understand that?”

“Yes,” Ruba growled in reply, looking at me even more angrily than she had a moment before.

“I’m not going to let you kill Max,” I told her bluntly. “You’re not owed that man’s death. He’s done nothing to you or anyone from your original village. He did however try to kill me. If you cooperate with me, I will let you stay and watch his execution. It will be short and sweet, and as clean as I can make it, but it will be final. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll either put you on a horse, sending you back with Rugar to the settlement, or I’ll leave you here to fend for yourself. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” Ruba growled back at me, clearly still angry at me, but with tears in her eyes. “I will stay here on my own.”

I looked at Ruba for a moment, watching her try and get control over herself, and failing at it miserably. I then sighed heavily and shook my head in disbelief. It didn’t help matters much. Ruba just looked away from me and sniffled.

“I do have a deal that I want to offer you, if you’re willing to listen to me, before you make your decision,” I told the woman, lowering my voice and trying to sound like I was less than the bastard that she thought I was. “Do you want to hear it?”

“Yes,” Ruba muttered through trembling lips, still refusing to look at me.

“There are more people out there like the ones who attacked your village,” I told Ruba bluntly. “More that are like those who captured and tortured Gort, and held Geeta and Bogdi. They are far from here, even travelling in the wheeled vehicles. These people are living to the southwest of here by a very big body of water. They have weapons like the ones I use, and they have more people than our whole tribe including the children. I’m going to go fight them, but not today. Snows are coming and it will be impossible to reach them until spring. That’s okay though, because it gives me time to train people to fight them and to kill them. I know you can fight. Tisa has taught you some of the things that I’ve taught the younger women and the girls in our community. I also know that you can use a sling. Geeta showed you how to use it. My question to you is this, do you want to train to fight these bad men, using rifles like I use, or do you want to stay here on your own, and fend for yourself.”

“The men will never let me become a hunter,” Ruba snapped back at me through clenched teeth. “I am a woman.”

“And I’m the Chief of the Bear Tribe,” I told her bluntly, “and the shaman. The Earth Mother has spoken to me about this. I will point to the fact that these men and women slaughtered Ohba’s village, and that they intend to do the same to ours. I will tell them that I have seen the need to train you, and to train any other unmated woman in our community, to fight the bad men. If they do not accept that, then I will leave and those who are willing to follow me will return here and we will live here until it is time to fight the others. In either case, I will train you to fight, if you wish it. It’s your choice.”

Ruba blinked at me several times in response to my declaration that I would leave the settlement if I was opposed. She just couldn’t believe it. Then she started to shake and cry uncontrollably. Seeing her cry that way, I walked over to her and I pulled her to her feet. Amazingly, she didn’t resist me. I pulled her into my arms and I held her and I let her cry.

“I will stay with you, Jake,” Ruba whispered to me when she’d stopped crying. “I will let you train me. Thank you.”

I didn’t say a word in reply. I just held the young woman for a few more moments, waiting until her body stopped trembling and I was pretty certain that she’d stopped sniffling. When she had, I stepped away from her.

“Follow me,” I told her.

I stepped over the lip of the hatch and descended back towards the entrance to the container and the inner compound where everyone else was still waiting. When I got there, I looked over towards Dunbar and I nodded. At that the big man turned and headed into one of the storage bays. He returned a moment later, leading Max by a rope draped about his neck.

“Please, no!” Max cried out the second he spotted me. “I’ve cooperated!”

“I know,” I muttered coldly in reply as I drew my pistol out of my holster, and chambered a round into the breech, “and I told you if you did cooperate, I’d make it quick.”

I brought the pistol up and fired. I put the bullet through the man’s forehead. It hit him like a hammer blow, knocking him off his feet. As he fell, his body pulled the rope out of Dunbar’s hands. Dunbar never even flinched.

Ruba gasped in surprise. She was standing right beside me when I’d shot. She hadn’t seen me pull the pistol or chamber the round, but she had seen the result. It left her and everyone else still standing in the courtyard blinking with surprise. I just put my weapon back on safety, and then put the pistol away.

“Mount up,” I snapped into the cold crisp air, “and let’s get going. We’ve got a long, hard ride ahead of us, and unless you want to sleep in the forest tonight, we’d better get going. Now move it.”

I walked over to my big bay. Rugar was holding the reins to it. I nodded to him and then I took the reins and I mounted up. Rugar mounted up a second later and then so did everyone else in our party. The only two who didn’t mount up were Dunbar and Burton. They were going to play rear guard for our pack train until we got through the forest and back to our valley. I nodded to them and shouted that I’d see them later. Then I led my people out. To my surprise I found Ruba riding close behind me.

The trek back proved uneventful. We followed the trail left by the ATVs and the wagons. It helped. The valley beyond the forest was deep in snow and the passage of the ATVs had made a road that the horses could follow with some ease. We had to push them a bit, but not much. I was certain that our horses could take it. They were hardy animals, and used to the work.

By nightfall we were back into our valley. I sent Rugar on with the pack train, telling him that I would wait for Dunbar and Burton to catch up. He nodded his understanding and led everyone else away, except Sygor who he left to stay with me. Surprisingly Ruba choose to stay with me as well.

“Why are you here?” I asked Ruba after a few moments, having sat in silence simply watching Sygor eye her in a questioning manner. Ruba pretended she didn’t see him glaring at her.

“You said you would train me,” Ruba told me bluntly, glancing over at Sygor as she did. “I thought that staying with you would be a good way to learn.”

I smiled at that, actually surprised by Ruba’s thinking. Then I shook my head.

“You may be right, Ruba, but there are a lot of things that you’re going to have to learn, before I ever trust you with a gun,” I told her firmly, but in a matter of fact manner, with very little sternness in my voice. “You will need to learn to obey. If you can’t, you will never be allowed to fight the others.”

“I will learn to obey,” Ruba declared defiantly. “Trust me on this.”

“I do, Ruba,” I told the woman looking over at her, “because if I didn’t, you wouldn’t be sitting here talking to me. I’d be sending you back with the other women. Now be quiet. I hear the others approaching, and you make too much sound.”

Ruba fell silent immediately; though I did detect a flash of anger in her eyes just before I looked away in order to glance at Sygor. Sygor looked like he was going to burst. I just shook my head in response to his unspoken plea to allow him to speak, and then I looked away. By then Dunbar and Burton had reached the mouth of our valley, and it had started to snow. Once they’d joined us, I tuned my mount towards home, and I led the way. Not a word was said until we got there.

“What did she mean when she said you would train her?” Sygor asked once we’d returned to the enclosure, and we were in the stable, removing our tack and rubbing down our horses. He didn’t look very happy.

“She meant that I’ve told her that I would train her to kill the men and women who came to these lands looking for Gabby, and killing anyone who gets in their way; like those did to your village,” I told Sygor bluntly. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“She’s a woman!” Sygor exclaimed adamantly, pointing out the obvious. “She cannot learn to fight.”

“Is that what you told Tisa and Sapha when I offered to teach them how to defend themselves?” I asked the man bluntly. “Did you congratulate Tisa when she fought Tomor, or did you tell her never to do it again?”

“That was different,” Sygor snapped back defiantly. “She did not use a weapon.”

“There is no difference,” I told the man, shaking my head as I said it. “I taught Tisa to defend herself if she was ever attacked, and she did it. Now I am going to teach Ruba to defend herself and show her how she can help me defend our community. Not only will I teach Ruba, but I will teach Geeta, Ohba, and any other unmated woman in our community. That is my decision, and it is final. If you have a problem with this, you may leave.”

That shut Sygor up. It shocked Sygor, and it shocked Ruba who’d been tending her own horse just a few feet away. It also shocked Balto who’d come to oversee the settling of the horses and the stowing of our tack. The older man looked at me with concern etched upon his face.

“We will talk about this, tomorrow,” I said aloud, not speaking to anyone in particular. “Anyone who wishes to speak may do so; however, I have made my decision. I will not change my mind. Now it is late and I am tired. I still have much to do before going to my furs, so you will excuse me if I do not stand here and argue with you for the rest of the night.”

I turned and walked away from Sygor and the others. I shouldn’t have been so curt with the younger man, but I was tired; not only physically, but mentally as well. I hadn’t actually wanted to kill Max that morning. If I could have found a way around it, I would have. In truth there hadn’t been another option. If I had let the man live, he could have returned to Winslow and told him where to find us, or he could have gone off and hurt someone else, or if I had kept him as a slave, or even as a trusted follower, the man could have turned on me at any time. I just couldn’t trust him; not with the safety of Clara and Gabby hanging in the balance, and the lives of our children and my children with the other women in the community, and the lives of everyone who followed me. I’d made it quick, as I’d promised him I would, but it still had been an unpleasant job. I think what really left me feeling tired, was the knowledge that killing Max hadn’t really solved anything. In a matter of months, I would be out there again, killing someone else.

Dunbar and Burton had stood there and watched my discussion with Sygor. I called to them and I told them to follow me. They did.

“I guess we really do need to learn this common tongue you keep talking about,” Dunbar mused aloud as we exited the stables and started trudging through the snow towards the longhouse. “It would make it easier on us to know whether you’re having a friendly chat with someone or if you’re pissed off and about to kill someone.”

“You’ve got that right,” I told the big guy in reply, chuckling sadly as I did. “It would make all our lives that much safer. We’ll start teaching you, tomorrow. For now, let’s find you food and a bed.”

Clara had everything organized. She had food waiting for all of us, and beds made up for those who didn’t have a place to sleep already. It would be a cramped winter, but people would get used to it. Considering what we needed to get done before spring, we’d be too busy even to worry about it.

I left Dunbar and Burton to the care of the women of our tribe. I was too tired to eat or drink. I needed a shower.

I was under the water and rinsing myself off when Ruba stepped into the shower area of the bath house. She was naked. I looked at her. I’d seen Ruba naked before, but not often. She usually took care not to come to the bathhouse when I was there. I eyed her questioningly, trying to keep my gaze from wandering away from her face and down her luscious body. It was hard to do, although I did it. Keeping my dick from getting stiff was another story all together; I failed at that. Ruba blushed and looked away as she noticed that I was getting hard.

“I’ll be done here in a second,” I told the woman flatly, trying not to sound gruff with her or annoyed. “Then you will have this place to yourself.”

Ruba’s head came up in response to my words. She looked me squarely in the face. Her cheeks were streaked with tears once again. I could see fear and trepidation in her eyes.

“What is wrong,” I asked the young woman, turning off the water that had been cascading over my naked form. “Has someone said something to you?”

“No, Jake,” Ruba sobbed in reply. “No one has said anything to me, except you, and I am sorry for what I have made you say. Please do not send Sygor away, and do not leave the tribe over me. I was wrong to want that to happen. Too many people in this tribe depend on you for you to just walk away. Please tell me that you won’t leave.”

I stepped out of the shower and up to Ruba. I pulled her to me and I held her tightly against me. Ruba didn’t resist. She just laid her head on my naked chest. She started to shake as she started to cry. I just held her tighter and waited as she cried herself out.

“I’m sorry,” Ruba muttered over and over between sniffles and sobs. I just stroked her head and reassured her that everything would be all right. Eventually Ruba stopped crying.

“Sit,” I told the young woman, pointing her to a bench that stood beside the wall opposite the shower stalls. Ruba sat. Then I grabbed a towel and I started drying myself. As I did, I spoke to the young woman.

“I’m not going to leave the tribe, Ruba,” I reassured the young woman, speaking firmly, but tenderly, “and I am not going to send Sygor away. Tomorrow, I will meet with the community. Everyone will have a chance to speak and to voice their opinion. I will listen to their opinions, but my decision has already been made. I need warriors to fight the others so they will not come here and hurt my people. There are men in this community who will not agree with me choosing to train women to kill, but I do not care. I also know that there are men in this community who do not want to kill other men. I will listen to them and respect them for making their own choice, but I will expect them to respect me for making my choice. I’m sure that in the end, we will come to an understanding and no one will leave.”

“Yes, Jake,” Ruba replied doubtfully, tears still glistening in her eyes.

I sighed openly and reached out and wiped them away. Ruba didn’t pull away.

“Why did you come to me with no clothing, Ruba?” I asked the young woman tenderly. “You didn’t need to get naked to come and tell me that you didn’t want me to leave, especially since I’d told you if I did leave, I would take you with me.”

“I know,” Ruba replied soft, tears beginning to flow again from her eyes, “but I didn’t want to leave the settlement. This is a good place, and you are a good leader, and the Bear Tribe is strong because of you and because of us. I was going to give myself to you to keep you from leaving. I thought if I lay in your furs then the men would accept your decision because I would be one of your women.”

I chuckled at that. It caused a flash of anger to cross Ruba’s tear streaked face. It also caused her to turn her face away from me, looking very hurt. I sighed.

“I am sorry that I laughed,” I told Ruba, kneeling down before her, and reaching out to touch her chin and to turn her face back towards mine. “It was a generous offer that you just made, and I am sorry I did not accept it in the spirit it was made. Please forgive me, Ruba. I wasn’t laughing at you, but I was chuckling at the fact that you still don’t accept the fact that I already consider you one of my women. I told you that you were one, back at the compound earlier today. When will you believe it?”

“We have never lain together,” Ruba whispered in reply, her lips trembling. “I am an unmated woman.”

“You are a woman of my hearth, and you have been one since I rescued you from O’Quinn,” I told the young woman firmly. “As for you never lying with me, you’ve never wanted me, and I have respected that. You do not have to give yourself to me to prove anything to the men in this community. I will always treat you like my woman.”

“But ... I do want you,” Ruba stuttered hesitantly in reply. “I don’t want to sleep alone anymore.”

I smiled at that, and then I leaned in and I kissed Ruba on the lips. It was a small kiss; very tender and very brief.

“All right then,” I told her as I stood up and I pulled Ruba to her feet. “Let’s get you bathed and dried, and then let’s both go and get something to eat. After that, we can speak to Clara about sleeping arrangements. I will tell you this, though you may not like it. Tonight I need some sleep.”

Ruba nodded her understanding. I helped her shower and then I helped her dry off. Once we were both dressed, we went off in search of food and drink and to speak with Clara and Gabby. By then, my words in the barn had filtered through the community. People watched both Ruba and I hesitantly while we ate.

“We need to talk,” Gabby said to me as I took a drink from her. “People are concerned.”

“I know,” I told her softly in a whisper, “but they don’t need to be. We can all talk about this, tomorrow. For now I need to know just who is sleeping in our bed. Ruba wants to join us tonight. To sleep! I’m too tired for anything else.”

“Even too tired to satisfy me?” Gabby asked teasingly, flashing me a big smile.

“Even if you offered me your tight little ass,” I chided her in response, reaching out and patting her buttocks as I told her this, smiling lovingly as I did. “It’s been a very long day.”

I woke in the morning to find Ruba snuggled up to me on my right side and Gabby snuggled up to me on the left. They were both sound asleep. I also woke to the soft snoring of several other people. Clara was snuffled up behind Gabby with her left arm thrown over Gabby’s swollen belly. Behind her slept Marta. I smiled on seeing her. On the other side of the bed lay Kim and then Katherine. They all stirred when I started to move.

“Morning ladies,” I chimed out cheerfully, earning myself a few resentful groans, as I slowly extricated myself from between all the women. “It’s time to get up! Let’s get moving. We’re in for a very busy day.”

It was snowing still. Once I’d dealt with my morning needs and gotten dressed, I’d gone and had a look outside. The light snow that had started falling the night before was now a major storm. I stood on the steps to my longhouse and I shook my head. I couldn’t see a thing. It was a complete whiteout.

“Breakfast is ready,” Clara told me as she opened the double doors that were the entrance to the longhouse. “Why don’t you come inside and eat.”

“Two weeks,” I told Clara in reply. “That’s how long Kim said this storm was going to last. It’s going to be a long two weeks.”