Chapter 2

The sun was high in the sky when I woke. I listened for about twenty minutes then climbed down. I put a few miles behind me before I stopped to search the bag. It was a treasure trove.

There was a wooden bowl with a spoon and fork. A small chunk of cheese. A small bag of flour and another with oatmeal. A tiny bag of salt, a tiny chunk of smoked ham with a small coarse loaf of bread. There were also a second shirt and a leather purse. The purse was dark with age and well made. Inside of it, I found three garnets and a collection of coins. Five made out of tin and 2 copper ones. I would have to figure out what they were worth. There was also a man’s silver ring. It had a flat face with a design cut into it. Something about the ring bugged me. I couldn’t figure it out, so I put it back.

There was a treasure of all treasures, a full tang, black handled, sheath knife. The blade was four inches long. I ran its edge along my forearm. I wanted to cry when I saw the hairs lifting off my arm. I sheathed it and put it inside my waistband. I had second thoughts and put it in the bag. There was a whetstone and a small striking iron with some tinder wrapped in a cloth. I wanted to dance in place. I was set!

It was about a month after that when I noticed I was being followed. We played the game for about a week. This man had my respect. He never followed any false trail I laid. I swore he was watching me two or three times when I backtracked him. It became obvious that he was better than me. I’m sure he could have killed me if he wanted.

One afternoon, I had enough. I killed a rabbit and built a fire, cooking it. Dusk was approaching when I hollered. “Come on out, dinner’s done.” I had hoarded the last of the cheese. I cut the rest in half and placed my guest’s on a piece of bark on the opposite side of the fire. I turned to resheath the knife. When I looked back, I almost grabbed my chest. A large man was sitting across from me. He smirked as he saw my face.

“I am Kelt.” He said in a deep baritone.

“How in the hell can you hide something as big as you?”

Kelt laughed. “A hunter raised me. You were within five feet of me eight times.”

Fuuck, this boy is Rambo. I shook my head and said, “My name is Mark Baird.”

He looked at me, puzzled. “Are you a royal?”

“No. Why?”

“You have two names.”

“Actually, I have three. Mark Daniel Baird. It’s the custom where I’m from.”

“Where is that?”

“A place called Earth. It’s far away.”

“It must be.” He nodded, “You are a soldier.”

I shook my head. “Not for a long time, how did you know?”

“The way you clean your camp and the scars on your chest. Do you like fighting?”

“Only when the money is right.”

He took out a knife and cut off a piece of the rabbit and popped it into his mouth. He looked to be thinking as he chewed. After he had swallowed, he said. “I think we can travel together.” Kelt pointed a direction and then said, “Almost a full first brother’s journey...”

“First brother?”

He looked at me puzzled and said, “How can you not know of the two brothers?”

I shrugged and said, “ Maybe, I do. We might call it another name.”

His brow furrowed and then he shook his head. “The two brothers are the two moons. The First Brother is slow and takes twenty-seven days to complete his journey. The second makes his in twelve. As I was saying, Almost a full first brother’s journey that way there is a group we can join. They make money by raiding and slaving. We could do well.”

I ate my own piece of rabbit and thought. From what little I had seen, the people here were about the same as the sand niggers as far as civilization went. The only reason they had anything was because we gave it to them. I almost felt like I was in some movie. In what world are knives expensive? One where either the metal or ability to make them was rare or both. I don’t know how to make a living farming or anything else that might be here So...”Sure. It sounds like a plan.”

We ate in silence. When he finished eating Kelt laid down. I banked the fire and put a branch of dried leaves near me in case we needed some fast, well fast-ish, lighting. I slept.

It was two days later, We found a man who had an unfortunate accident -he met us. He only had twenty-five of those tin coins. Kelt and I split them and flipped for the odd one out. Kelt won. He was disappointed. Those Barrens as he called the coins were only worth two and a half days worth of work. I didn’t mention the coins I already had. I liked Kelt, but I didn’t trust him.

Three days later, we came across this old farm. It had a sign that called it the Ramshackle Inn. It was a dump. Kelt was excited. I guess he was tired of our cooking, lol. We went inside. The owner was an older guy in his late forties. He was thin but wiry. His eyes were sharp and he had the look. He wasn’t one to be fucked with.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

Kelt said, “My friend and I would like to spend the night.”

The owner nodded and said. “For three Barrens each, you can have dinner tonight, sleep in the barn and have breakfast.” He nodded his head toward a busty middle-aged woman. “For an extra Barren each, you both can fuck my wife.”

Her yell was so loud I thought a grenade went off. She stormed over to the three of us and screamed. He put his arms up and ducked. She pulled her tits out of her top and held them. “I’ll beat your head in. I told you, anyone wants to touch these it’s four Barrens. I may be a whore, but I’m not a cheap one.”

Her tits were exquisite. They were large, firm, but so soft looking. “I’ll pay four.” I said to her.

She nodded then bared her teeth at her husband. “See!” She held out her hand, and I counted four Barrens into it. She made them disappear. She took my hand and said “Come with me.” She led me out to the barn. Inside, she found a pile of straw and started to undress. “Men like to bite ‘em, and that’s alright. If you draw blood, I’ll knock your teeth out.”