Chapter 16: There and back again

We left the next morning a much more enthusiastic group. Word had spread of Chrystal and Timmy’s new life as James and Kathy’s children. With the rest of the children now hopeful, they began to focus on their new lives at the Citadel. They were now unconcerned with few hardships remaining along the way.

The time passed as we moved onward; then we saw the wagon train in the distance coming towards us. We had been running low on rations, and we had purchased all available food in towns as we passed through them. We paid the merchants of course, but there very little was left to eat once we passed.

Roy had outdone himself; the wagon train consisted of forty wagons loaded down with supplies of all types. There were also one hundred guards each of whom would be assigned to a platoon of children. The parental guidance that would be given by them was going to help even more. I knew that many of these children would find homes with those guards that had families. I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a few James and Kathy conversions after we got back to the Citadel.

As we made our way along, it seemed to turn into an extended camping trip of sorts somewhere along the way. There were games with the kids after we stopped and set up camp. During the evenings, we had campfires with singing and stories. The resilience of the children was amazing. They seemed to have left their enslavement behind them, and now were headed for what was certain to be a better life.

Kimberly was never far from my side. I slept between her and Jasmine. She had endured much, and was comforted by being with us. I didn’t have to worry about Kimberly whining about the delay of getting back to Crossroads because Jasmine had taken her aside and explained everything to her. As happy as I was to have two women to sleep with every night, my heart longed to be with Beth.

I was missing my toothbrush again; I guess when life was going good, you wanted to make it better. Someone was going to invent one on Chaos, and become rich doing so. If it changed the course of their entire culture and world, then so be it.

It was just after lunch weeks later when the towers of the Citadel came into view. We had returned triumphant although a bit slower during the return than when he had left. The children had no idea what actually lay ahead. They had been told what to expect, but they couldn’t help but be concerned as we approached with their new lives now a certainty.

We stopped five miles from the Citadel to give everyone a chance to clean up. I wanted us looking our best for all those would come out to see us. With this many children, and the importance of project I had left for Roy to complete, I was certain he would not let us down.

We rode the last few miles and then, as we came over a rise, there were people lining the road. They held up signs stating that they were looking for a child or asking a child to come and live with them.

As we approached the Citadel, the roads were lined with crowds ten deep. There were signs everywhere asking about children. Roy had done his job well beyond anything Chaos had likely ever seen before. It made my heart swell at what he had accomplished. I hadn’t broken a rule; I had started a new one.

The platform was still standing in the center of the square from when I had made my appearance on General Samuel Day. We rode up to it and all of the members of my team came to join me. A cheer erupted from the crowd, and then the words that stroke an ego were chanted repeatedly. Hero John, Hero John, Hero John, Hero John. Try as I might, I could not get them to stop. I finally just quit trying and let them bask in their revelry.

They finally calmed down; then I stood up to speak. Actually, I stood up and spoke from the bottom of my diaphragm; I was taught speaking this way would cause my voice to project to fill a courtroom. It had worked well for me in the past. Also, I knew if spoken with the wind coming from my back, the wind would carry my words to the crowd. I spoke of our great triumph, and of how we rid these lands of the Society of Thieves. I had to stop while the crowd cheered some more. Then, I spoke of the children and how the Chamberlin had worked out a plan for the “Children of the Hero” to be reunited with their families, or if they had no family, they could be adopted into new families.

There were more cheers. It was simply too much for me to continue. Roy had a plan and it was up to him to execute it. He of course had enlisted the aid of J.A. and Curly. What happened was families were separated into two groups: the ones missing children and those wanting children. The children were first marched past the group that had families that were missing children. There were many happy reunions, but still there were many sad faces as the final children went by.

The families that had not found missing children were moved into the group wanting a child. It wasn’t what a social worker would have done on Earth, but it worked on Chaos. Every family was given a small amount of money to help them during the adjustment. Their names were written down along with the names of the children. Soldiers from the Citadel would be stopping by to see how the families were progressing. The penalty for abusing one of the Hero’s children was steep and each family was warned against it. The child was warned that falsely accusing the family carried the loss of Child of the Hero status.

As the selection process was completed, no child was left, but there were families remaining in the group that were not able to find a child. I looked at Roy and he looked back. “It looks like you need to find some orphans who are having a hard life,” I said.

He smiled and nodded his head. We finally could go inside and relax. I wanted nothing more than a hot bath and some time in a soft bed with Jasmine and Kimberly.

We ate dinner first since it had taken all afternoon to finish our duty placing the children. We would talk about the next step tomorrow; however, for now that bath and bed were calling. I didn’t get a chance to wash any part of me. Kimberly and Jasmine made certain of that. The only complaint I had was that we could not go farther. We enjoyed ourselves anyway, and finally got into bed. The ordeal, bath and the soft bed left me totally exhausted; I fell asleep holding Jasmine and Kimberly close to me.

We had breakfast the next morning; everyone looked much better. However, Roy had dark circles under his eyes. He had spent the night worrying about his children, and how they were getting along with their new families. The man was a wreck and could not even carry on a decent conversation.

Finally, when he didn’t answer Curly after the third request, I said. “Roy, they are all fine. This is the honeymoon period.”

“Honeymoon period?”

“Everyone loves every one now. They won’t have any problems until the kids have to start doing chores and taking baths,” J.A. busted out laughing then.

“He’s right you know. When they have to become a working member of the family instead of a guest, then the problems will begin.” Curly added.

“So make a list, and have someone visit every family in a month and then every two months after that,” I said.

Roy sat back; he finally seemed to be more at ease. He had instituted the new visiting procedure but had no idea if it would work. I could understand his concern. However, when I was happy, he was happy, and for now I was more than happy.

We spent the next week in the Citadel just relaxing. With the reduced activity, Chrystal and Timmy started to get cabin fever. However, James and Kathy had another type of fever, and it didn’t have anything to do with needing to be out of their room. I had little doubt that there would be another sibling in the household before long.

Our bodies eventually were rested; however, the need to be on our way soon had us bidding every one goodbye. There were seven of us traveling back to James’ home. William and Martha would not forgive me if I didn’t bring him back, especially now that he had a wife and two grandchildren for them to meet.

As we were getting everything loaded on the packhorses, and preparing to climb in the saddles, Calvin came riding up.

“Going somewhere, General?”

“On an adventure with you, my King?”

“King?”

“Yes, it seems that I resigned from my position as general this morning; As a result, once again I am just a member of the Society of Thieves.”

“Really? Then it is just you and I who compose the entire Society.”

“That it is true, but that brings up another problem. You see my brother killed my blood brother and by our bond, I am required to seek revenge. But my blood brother had also sworn to kill me and had my blood brother not killed my blood brother my blood brother certainly would have killed me after killing my blood brother.”