Chapter 5

Almost a ten-day later, we arrived in the vicinity of Meridian and Tony recognized parts of the area. As he described it to others of the Jacks, they agreed that we had found a place through which they had traveled. They had originally followed the old I-20 track east this far. We met a group of traders that evening who had just come from the Jacks' territory. They reported that they had been asked to be looking for the missing party as they traveled. They were interested in knowing of the Oaks. They told us little since they came from the west beyond the Jacks and Birham was the direction in which they usually went. They did not go south or west of their home area saying they knew of no settlements south of the Jacks.

I was not totally surprised as that was the answer in most cases from traders according to what I had been told. Either they really didn't go there because there were no villages there or they considered that a secret and, if we went there, they hoped we would not find their secret.

We continued on toward the home of the Jacks. Tony was interested, but the other Jacks with us were really excited. Two days later, we met the Jacks as a party came out to meet us. We had made no secret of our presence and Calveen really did not want to surprise people that we wanted to view as friends.

The leader of the Jacks was a fine looking woman of approximately fifty years. She sat astride the only horse in their group. We approached and she greeted Janet. "Greetings, Sister. Welcome to the Jacks. Tell us of your party."

Janet was unprepared for that greeting but replied after a quick second and glance at me. "Greetings to you, also. My name is Janet. Our party is made up of Sin Loos, Oaks, and Jacks who we are escorting here. Our leader is Calveen, a Sin Loos." She pointed at Calveen when she said that.

"Janet, you and your party are welcome. My name is Kathy."

"Let's sit down and talk so we may know how best to be good guests and worthy of your hospitality." Janet said.

Janet dismounted and motioned to me and Calveen. We dismounted. Linda and Trud brought blankets for us and for Kathy and two others she picked. I noticed that her choices were one woman and a man. The man looked nervous. We all sat down.

Calveen opened the discussion by saying, "We have traveled from the north of here from Sin Loos and met the Oaks. We then went south to the Ruined City that our maps name Atlanta. There, we found the remnants of your party who had been captured by cannibals. We executed the cannibals and set your surviving people free. They accompanied us as we went east to the Atlantic Ocean meeting with the Columbias before returning to the Oaks. We then came here."

Kathy responded looking at him and at Janet, "We are glad to see our exploring party return. I saw Tony helping set out these blankets?"

"Tony," Janet said, "has joined our family under the leadership of Jonathon." She pointed at me. Kathy looked puzzled. Janet continued, "Jonathon is from the past. He leads me, Linda, Tony, Trud, Ran, and Bell. We have plans to set up our own village in the future. He is a wise, kind and loving man." This embarrassed me a bit but I tried to be quiet and let Kathy stare at me without responding.

Kathy said, "Your governing is different from ours. As guests, we will allow that but your men should not go into town without accompaniment."

Calveen responded to this, "We only plan to spend the night and then depart as we have traveling to do south and east of here. We can camp here in these ruins if that is acceptable to you."

"It is," Kathy replied, "and you, Janet, I welcome to enter the town and join me and my man for dinner in my quarters."

Janet looked at me and I nodded. "Jonathon and I accept your invitation. We need to set up our camp and clean ourselves from our travels. Will you send someone at the appropriate time?"

Kathy rose. "Yes," she said, "I will do that. Bring our people with you." She turned, mounted and rode away.

After a minute, Calveen said, "That was different. Our dealings with the Jacks in our party did not prepare me for that."

I raised my voice, "Tony, come here please." Tony came over looking troubled. "I think there are things you have not told us about the Jacks. Do so now and be complete."

"Master Jonathon," he began, "I did not know how to explain. Our leader when I left was Mattie who was old and gentle. She must have passed and Kathy has taken the leadership. Women only can be our leaders. That is why I am comfortable with Linda and serving Janet as Mistress. Learning that men lead has been a new thing for me to understand.

"Men of the Jacks serve the women who make the decisions for our people. Well, their people now, for I am one of you. When you go into to the town with Janet, you will be considered available sexually to the women there though Janet is fierce enough that I don't think anyone other than Kathy would try anything and I'm not sure she would either. She had a reputation of taking men off the street and using them. When she was finished, they wanted no one but her and she wouldn't have them. This was permitted but it was not considered polite. Now that she is in control, it may have moved up a few notches. I didn't want to go back no matter what, but Linda showed me a different way to be with a woman and I am happy and contented with my life. Please, Master Jonathon, do not go with Mistress Janet. She will be fine but Kathy is evil to men. I believe she will try to take you. If you fight, they will have an excuse to kill you which they would do if Kathy commanded it."

"Well," I said, "That puts a different slant on the situation."

"Jonathon, surely you aren't thinking of going after Tony's warning?" Janet asked.

"Yes, I am thinking about it very seriously. I don't believe Kathy has ever met someone like me. I am not subservient like Tony nor believe to be her superior like Calveen would have. Instead, I see women as partners and that gives me a leg up in creating a relationship. Also, with Janet as my family, I will never truly desire another woman. That makes me willing to be with Kathy but not in a way that she will find familiar or comfortable. Anyway, we are already committed to going."

We cleaned up and, when Kathy's representative came for us, we left for the village with him in the lead and walking hand in hand talking together quietly. The returning Jacks followed us. With Janet's good looks and my size (compared to most men of this time), we attracted a lot of attention. The fact that we were walking together as equals also made an impression and not one that Kathy would have liked.

We came to Kathy's home, a modest little house, and went inside. There we found Kathy commanding her servants who, with one exception, were men. Janet was offered a seat and we sat down together on a couch large enough for two. We had caught looks from everyone there and most seemed shocked that I sat down next to Janet.

"Jonathon, think how they would have really been shocked if I sat at your feet!" Janet whispered.

"I think we are making them nervous enough, my Janet." I whispered back.

Kathy came over and sat down in a chair closest to Janet. She ignored me and started speaking to Janet. "Thank you for coming this evening. It is rare that we have visitors from far away."

"You are quite welcome," I said. "We have traveled far to return your people to their home. All those who survived except Tony are returning. He has chosen to remain with us and become a part of my house."

Kathy was somewhat taken aback to have me answer her rather Janet. She said, "Tony is in your party but not returning as a Jack?" This trapped her into having to talk to me. I could see that Janet caught the humor in the situation.

"Yes," I responded, "He chose to become part of my house swearing fealty to me and to my mistress, Janet. He formed an attachment to another of my ladies, Linda. If he wanted to stay with her, he had to be accepted by us and become a part of our house."

Finally, she had to ask. Turning to Janet, she said, "Mistress Janet, how can he speak of his house? Are you not the leader?"

"No," Janet answered, "It is his house. I was a servant in his house and he has raised me to a high position until I am now considered, at least, by Jonathon to be his equal. That will never be because he will always be the master of my heart. He is much more of a man than any I have ever met. But, it is his kindness and wisdom that won my heart. I try to be worthy of him in every way."

It was a sort of left handed way for us to declare our love for one another but it was absolutely blowing Kathy's mind. She had enough trouble with the concept that I was equal. For me to have "lifted up" Janet to her position was more than troubling, it was inconceivable!

"Unlike your group or the Sin Loos, Jonathon believes that neither men nor women are better than the other simply because of their sex," Janet said. "He believes and I have come to agree that each person has value and worth. It is the job of a good leader to bring out the best in each person he or she has charge over. Jonathon has proved to be an excellent leader. He plans to start a new community and I am proud that he will allow me to be by his side when that happens. One of the reasons for our trip was to assist your people in their return. The other two are to explore the area east and south and to seek out a good place for our new community. He hopes to pick a location so that we can start construction of housing and planting of crops in the spring."

Now, Kathy was simply without words. The two of us had toppled her one-sided world plan. I realized that now was the time to start rebuilding her into a real leader of the Jacks. I said, "Our community will be open to all people and freedom will be our primary principle. I believe that all leaders want all their people to be better than they are, to live more safely and more comfortably, and to have an opportunity to learn anything they can. Knowledge is a precious thing and a valuable possession. It becomes more valuable when shared. Linda of our house is preparing a copy of our maps and notes for your learned men and women to study and keep. We only ask that, as you add to the store of knowledge, you share it. Moorehome will become, I hope, a place of freedom and learning that will draw people as welcomed guests and valuable members. I would hope that the Jacks will add greatly to everyone's general knowledge and that you will be able to show your leadership to your people in working with others."