Chapter 11

The four followed the creek southward watching for signs of old buildings. Four feeder creeks had made their original creek much wider and deeper as they each joined their creek. They also slowed the flow. The ground also became flatter which surprised them.

Lisa noted that and John said, "You're right, Lisa. We would expect the land to get hillier or at least stay as hilly. I think we may be coming to a river. That will mean there is a good likelihood of some ruins."

They had covered about five miles that morning when they stopped for a quick, light lunch of dried deer meat. After cleaning up, they continued on and, three miles later, found the river and big ruins.

John said, "Ladies, look at this." He pointed to water markings left on rocks. "I think the river floods. We will look back up our creek to be sure it doesn't or we could be creating a future problem."

They nodded. Pat said, "Do you want Lisa and I to look upstream some on our creek?"

"Let's stay together. We can explore the ruins a bit, set up camp, and eat. We can look up our creek in the morning when we leave."

They spent the night eating fresh venison that John shot. They lay down in their makeshift sleeping setups with John and Nancy on one side of the fire and the sisters on the other. In the morning, all rose and packed. They went up the creek a couple of hundred yards. John found some watermarked rocks just above the water level but no debris or water markings above that level. He said, "This could be from spring floods or just from the water backing up from the river. I think we will be okay in our valley though I will look when we get back just to be sure."

They traveled northwesterly leaving the sizeable town behind and trying to watch for signs of Ted and the main party. They walked most of the day covering many miles. John stopped them when he saw one of their trail markers. He said, "We are crossing our trail to the valley here. Let's stop. I want to look at little more to be sure Ted and the rest haven't passed this way yet."

They stopped and John managed a deer for fresh meat. As usual, the sound of the shot could be heard some distance. It was half an hour later that John said, "Company coming. I think we have found Ted and the rest." Nancy and the girls stayed together ready to go up a tree while John moved forward to intercept who or what might be coming.

It was Ted's party. John saw Frank and another man coming through the trees. Frank said, "We're close to the spot where that shot originated."

John said, quietly, "That's true. You're very close."

The other man whirled around nervously while Frank turned more slowly. He said, "I guess you are okay, John."

"Yes, we're fine. We found a good place. How far is the rest of the main party behind you?"

"Less than an hour."

"Good, come on in. Nancy and the girls are with me."

Frank said, "The girls?"

"Yes, the teenaged sisters. Ted sent them with us. Their stalkers made an attempt to take them but weren't successful. Nancy and I didn't take prisoners."

As they came into the camp, Nancy said, "Hello, Frank. We were starting to wonder where you were. It's good to see you.

"You're Nate?" The man nodded. "It's good to see you, too. I guess you guys heard John's rifle?"

Nate said, "Yes, we figured it had to be you but Ted sent us ahead to be sure."

John said, "What were you going to do? Throw rocks at us?" He chuckled.

Frank said, "Nate has his bow and arrows. I still have my hands and my short spear. They work pretty well."

John said, "So, how have all of you been doing?"

Frank answered, "Actually, we've done pretty well. We lost four elderly couples that gave out and passed on a couple of different nights. We've managed to keep everyone else and are making better time as even those older ones left are becoming used to walking. When we stop, Todd and Cindy and their helpers work hard to make more implements. We have axes and saws now along with men becoming hardened in their use.

"Fred and Millie haven't found anywhere else to work but we have tried to stay on the road you marked and get to a permanent spot. Have you found a place?"

Nancy said, "Yes, we found a lovely little valley with good water and good sites for building. John and I have marked out a spot for a cabin and the girls were collecting stones for a fireplace and chimney.

"We may not have a sufficiently varied diet for the winter but we should be warm and have meat. We have found very few volunteer vegetables."

Pam and Lisa had noticed Frank's companion who was early twenties.

After going with Millie that first time, he hadn't been evident. Fred and Millie had found him a valuable helper but his college learning had helped even more in identifying plants for the benefit of the entire party. He had found and identified many plants with practical uses.

Nancy noticed and said, "Nate, this is Pat and Lisa." She pointed at each one. "They are traveling with John and me. We enjoy their company and they are good at finding rocks."

Everyone chuckled. Pat and Lisa looked thankful to be noticed and also embarrassed. Lisa said, "Knowing useful plants sounds neat. Tell us about it, please."

They went off a little while the older ones talked. Frank said, "He's 'good people.' He and I have hunted together and my wife, Marge, approves of him. Not only does he know plants and can hunt, he's level headed and a genuinely nice guy. He had a girl before the Landing and is probably open to a relationship."

Nancy said, "What happens, happens. They will have to figure it out though the choices may be few."

Frank said, "There may be some age differentiated pairs. Only time will tell how they will work. We are seeing a few developing already."

After a while, John said, "I really want to finish our explorations. What were your plans if you hadn't seen us?"

Frank said, "We were hunting and looking for a good spot to rest for the night."

"Okay, there's a small creek just under a mile ahead. Your next effort should get you to our camp. We will be back there in two days."

"Okay, John. Take care of Nancy and the girls and we'll see you then."

John, Nancy, and the two sisters headed north while Frank and Nate followed the marked trail toward the creek. Pat walked with John while Lisa walked with Nancy. Pat said, "Surge on ahead. Lisa wants to talk to Nancy privately." John nodded and stepped up the pace fractionally.

Lisa said, "Nancy, I want to talk to you. I think that everyone is mistaken about our reaction to the two guys who tried to kidnap us. Neither of us are virgins."

Nancy was not totally surprised. She had been adventurous at an early age. She still was when she could find a partner like John.

"We weren't trying to avoid those two jerks over sex. We both love sex. We just weren't going to be their full-time slaves.

"I know that's a bit of a surprise. I bet you and John thought you were protecting our totally non-existent virtue."