Eritopia

Something is Coming

It was two in the morning when Beetle walked past the shack in which Not-Bear and the others slept. Raff was the only one awake inside. He had the watch for two hours between one and three and was sitting by the door, head resting on the wall.

The men Beetle had left earlier were sleeping too. Jake was on his back, snoring, and Stellan lay half-propped between a wall and a bed. Empty jugs of beer were strewn on the floor between them. Jano was on his bed, but his eyes were open. He was staring at the ceiling. Something Beetle had said earlier stayed with him.

Beetle, of course, as he passed Tom's hut, had no idea he was so close to his son. The beer was having an effect and he soon settled under a thick hazel bush. He pushed down into a pile of leaves and began to doze. The river gurgled in the distance as it ran past further down the slope. Clouds gathered to block off the moonlight.

Across the city, in the Palace, there was little activity. The king was in bed, and Melos dozed in a chair in front of the big window overlooking the palace courtyard. The shutters on the windows were down. Both outside and in soldiers slumped where they could. All over town, the citizens were sleeping and only rats, stray cats, and thieves were out and about.

Beyond the river, there was even less going on. No one lived on the north edge of Pitside in the winter. The citizens who had summer houses there left when the river rose. Floods were common and they hoped there would be something to come back to in spring. Although the land was fertile, people lacked the knowledge or energy to plant many crops. The Palace took the profit anyway and most of the produce went to feed the King or his army.

*****

Further north still, onto the Outside, the landscape changed again. Roads petered out into groves of hawthorn and wooded copses. Away to the east, the earth became soft. Low lying pools and marshes dominated, linked by soggy tracts of sphagnum moss and reeds. The streams that originated in the mountains splashed into choked pools. Here there was just moss and marsh grass and flapping birds that winged over the bogs.

There was some respite from the water. Tufted swells also rose above the low land and were easier to walk along. Between the matted grasses, sedges and reeds were stretches of firmer ground. Walking on these was easier, but if you lingered too long you began to sink into the dank ground.

It was on one of these stretches that Bear, Van, Anya, and Calypso walked after another long day. The wind was against them, with its incessant whirl and whistle, and they had given up shouting above it. They kept their thoughts to themselves and their heads down. 

Walking behind Van, Bear wasn't thinking at all. At least, not about the present. He was back on the Inside, eating fruit and berries on a summer afternoon. Chatting with friends about the acorn harvest, or the upcoming Occasion.

He should be there now, with the others, preparing for the Chilling and helping with the fruit harvest. Instead, he was many steps from the rest of the world, cold, hungry, and tired. He had almost forgotten why he was there at all. The Elders had thrown him into it, without chance of refusal. It was all about Not-Bear, he remembered, but was that a good enough reason? He kept telling himself not to worry. Some good might come, he reasoned as he plodded on. Some good must come.

The deer wasn't feeling so melodramatic. With Calypso asleep on her back, she at least had a purpose. The monkey had stopped sliding off now, and was balanced on what remained of her saddle. A leg was hooked in it and one hand was clinging onto her fur. He slept with a baby's abandon. She would never think of questioning what they had got themselves into anyway. She followed their leader, Van, walking ahead of her and Bear, who gave some shelter from the biting wind.

She did allow herself a brief thought of her grandchildren back on the Inside though. Little Duppy and Grammy, and her daughter Carel, who was bringing them up in the traditions of deerdom. She was doing this for them, she had decided long before, as an effort for their future. For her there was no need to doubt; the Elders' proposal had been enough. Besides, she had warmed to her companions. Bear, in particular, seemed to be a caring creature. He was going to need looking after. Even the nagging ache in her back from carrying the monkey didn't bother her.

She stopped. Her ears were playing tricks on her, as they sometimes did. She thought she heard a noise above the wind. None of the others seemed to notice it. But ahead she saw Van stop, and listen. He had heard something too.

Van looked around. Bear caught up with him.

'What is it,' he asked. 'The usual worries?'

Be quiet,' Van said, his ears cocked.

'I heard it too,' Anya said as she came alongside.

Bear looked at her. 'Heard what?'

'Something is coming,' Van said.

'It's only the wind,' Bear said. 'I'm amazed you can hear anything above that.' But he wanted them to be right.

'No, Bear,' the deer told him, 'It is definitely not the wind.'

'It's gone now,' Van declared.

'Moved away, whatever it was,' Anya said.

'They may be looking for us,' Van told them.

'Who?' Bear asked.

'Friends, I hope,' Van said.

'Oh,' said Bear. 'Well, why don't we wait for them?'

'Because we cannot be sure. We need to reach our destination,' Van said.

'Where are we then?' Bear said. 'And where are we going?' The thought of meeting more strangers, after the incident with the hyena, worried him. His bravery had disappeared long ago, with the sunshine.

'We are where we need to be,' said the fox.

'Lost,' Bear added.

Anya thought she heard Van laugh.

Calypso snorted in his slumber.