Kinderling 39

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

Not knowing what else to do, because I sure hadn't come up with a plan and if Flower had one, she wasn't talking, we decided to follow the slaves.  

Well, I decided, and Flower followed along without trying to stop me, so I took that as a "we decided".

The platoon marched the slaves down the road South, which had them pass not far from where Flower and I were hiding.   Each slave was manacled and they were all chained together in a string.  Flower and I kept to the rocks paralleling the road.  That put us walking and climbing over rocky, uneven ground, but the slaves looked to be in poor shape, so they were slow.  

Of the platoon, one squad of Gorf soldiers marched ahead of the slaves, and one squad marched behind.  The third squad walked on either side of the slaves and prodded them along to keep them moving.  Like usual, the platoon was accompanied by three better dressed Gorfs who were in charge.  Also like usual, the Gorf soldiers were mostly dull, staring off into nothing.  It seemed to me like this platoon was even worse than the others I had seen, and definitely worse than the Gorf soldiers I saw in the village.

After about an hour's march, one of the Gorfs in charge called a halt in front of a cave entrance and the slaves were marched inside.

"That cave must be larger than it looks from the outside, because they all fit inside."  I said.

"Grumble grumble." Flower said, although it did sound like an agreeable grumble grumble.  Still, for all I knew she was saying how dumb it was to judge the size of a cave by the cave opening.  Flower didn't roll here eyes or anything, so I'll go with agreement.

We found an out of the way vantage point and sat and watched.  There wasn't a lot to see.  The Gorf leaders came out every so often and then went back in.  They didn't go anywhere or do anything, so I could only guess they were coming out for air.  

"At least we know they haven't gone anywhere."  I whispered to Flower. 

I kept trying to come up with a plan.  Could we sneak in and hide among the slaves?  Could we attack?  I still had my arrow chucker and some arrows.  What would happen if I managed to kill the three overseers?  Would that render the Gorf soldiers useless, or get everyone killed?

A few hours later, the Gorf soldiers, slaves, and overseers all came out.  The slaves, still shackled in a line, each carried a sack on their back that were bulging full of something.  The overseers efficiently got them all into line and the precession started on it's way back up the road from which it came.

Once they were out of sight I scurried over to the cave entrance and entered.  The cave itself wasn't very large, but lead to an excavated tunnel that sloped down into the mountain.  The slope wasn't too bad, so it was easy for Flower and I to follow although not far in, it started to get dark as the light from the cave entrance didn't reach this far back.  I pulled one of my lights from my pack and we proceeded down.

I knew what this place was before we reached the bottom.  Mushrooms have a distinctive smell, and it's one that any Kinderling would recognize.  So far I don't think I know enough about Gorfs.  I know very little in fact, but one thing I do know is that Gorfs and Kinderlings share a love of Mushrooms.  At the bottom of the tunnel, there was a huge natural cavern housing a sizable mushroom farm.  And I can tell you, this mushroom farm was impressive.  There was an underground stream flowing down the middle of the cavern, providing just the right amount of moisture, and the Mushroom beds were bursting with mushrooms.

Now I'm no mushroom farmer, and I'm barely a passable cook.  However, I do know some good mushrooms when I see them.  Mizzy went through a phase last year where she went out and got the best of the best mushrooms to hone her cooking skills with.  Of course, she used me as a very willing stand-in test husband as she often did when expanding her cooking skills.  She said it had to do with knowing that I wouldn't lie to save her feelings.  I never had to, Mizzy is probably one of the best cooks I have ever known.  After the meal, she laughed when I proposed, knowing that I was joking.  I did that a lot.

As I looked over the farm, I started to recognize some of the mushrooms being grown.  This place was a veritable smorgasbord of all the very best mushrooms.  Here were Goldencaps, there were Towering Bonnets.  I saw a variety I didn't recognize but by the way Flower was staring at them in awe, they had to be good.  I went over and took a sniff and almost giggled.  The first thing I thought of was taking some home to Mizzy, the second was wondering how to get some spores to take back to Bez for the mushroom garden under the garrison.

A closer look around, and I could see how and where these mushrooms were being carefully harvested.  I can imagine, my first instinct would be to just chop a big path through the middle, alternately stuffing mushrooms into a bag and into my mouth.  These weren't harvested that way.  They seem to be being harvested by someone who really knew what they were doing.  Picking each mushroom specifically based upon I had no idea what criteria.

"Flower, our food supplies are low, we should take some." I said, "But we need to be careful not to make a mess of it since we don't know when someone might be back, and we don't want to give away that we were here."

Nod.

I took out my small knife and got ready to try to emulate the care that was used by those who were here before me.  Who did the harvesting?  The Gorf soldiers wouldn't have been able to do this, I get the impression they are only able to accomplish simple tasks while being controlled by the harness.   and I don't think it would have been the Overseers, they were outside too often and didn't look to be the type that likes getting their hands dirty.  That left the slaves.

Flower's people are Forest Gorfs.  Nothing wrong with that, but being Forest Gorfs they don't have the background.  Flower obviously recognized some of the swankier mushrooms, but that almost had to be Watcher's influence.  Unless her tribe was unique among the Forest Gorfs, they wouldn't have farmed mushrooms, they would have found them in the forest using their noses.

I found a nice out-of-the-way batch of mushrooms - some Brown Caps that were familiar because they were a family favorite - and carefully gathered enough to fill my small backpack.  It would only be enough to last us a couple days. Hopefully that would be enough, or we could come back for more.  I thought about fashioning my spare shirt into a bag and taking more, but decided not to be greedy.  Besides, looking at myself, with how smelly and tattered my clothes were at this point I would probably be needing that shirt before long.

As I was finishing up packing the mushrooms, and fretting over dirty shirts, I got grabbed from behind and dragged behind one of the mushroom beds.  I was about to start fighting for all I was worth, when I recognized Flowers sniff-grumble in my ear.  

With that, I hurriedly shut off my light and went limp and quiet.  Flower wouldn't have grabbed me and dragged me behind something for no reason, and I was pretty sure that reason wasn't going to be that she remembered her long-lost forest Gorf love for Kinderling stew.  She didn't even have a stewpot.

As I listened, I noticed the sounds of Gorfs and the clank of chains.  The slaves were back!  We were in deep trouble.

Glancing around, Flower motioned me to follow and crawled deeper into the cavern.  The whole cavern was covered in mushroom beds, and I quickly gathered that what Flower had in mind is if we hid behind the mushroom bed in the very back of the cavern, maybe we wouldn't be seen.

We managed to find what I hoped was a good hiding place in some rocks beyond the last mushroom bed.  It was also a pretty good place to observe what was going on in the cavern.  We couldn't see the whole cavern, but we could see enough.  The Gorf soldiers removed the chain that tied the slaves to each other, but each slave still had chains on their hands and feet.  The Kinderling slaves, the two Dwarves, and a couple of the Gorf slaves were going from mushroom bed to mushroom bed, using a small implement to harvest  mushrooms that were ready.  Then they deposited the mushrooms into sacks carried by one of the other slaves.  Nobody spoke much, just pick, deposit, as if they had been doing this job every day of their lives.

"Hey, what ya got there?" came a quiet, male Kinderling voice.  I startled and almost screamed, but managed to stifle it.  One of the Kinderling slaves had managed to sneak up on us!  Flower looked like she was ready to brain the guy with a rock.  

"Flower wait!"  I whispered, holding my hand out in front of her.

"Are you going to turn us in?"  I whispered to the Kinderling slave.

"Not if you're here to rescue me, although you're noting but a wee slip of a girl, so I don't have a lot of hope."  He said.  The Kinderling had as odd accent, and I didn't recognize him from the village.  I didn't know everyone from village, but I could usually recognize people when I saw them.  This guy didn't even sound like he came from the village.  I had never heard anyone talk like that.  

"Who are you?  Where do you come from?"  I asked.

"No time for that lady,"  He said.  "The soldiers don't come all the way back here all that often, but they will eventually notice I'm not where I'm supposed to be.  Stay hidden back here until we are gone and get out of here... come back with an army if you can and rescue us."

"And I wouldn't be caught with those mushrooms if I were you, the Gorf King does not like when anyone touches his stuff.  Last guy caught poaching mushrooms was skinned alive, quite literally."

With that, he walked off and started picking mushrooms again.

Kinderling 38

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

And so it went for the next few days.  Flower and I got up, ate a few bites of our quickly dwindling food supply, and carefully scurried up the next place of dubious concealment.

I had only been carrying enough for a Kinderling, not enough for a Kinderling and a Gorf, and with Flower's pack gone, we were going through  our food supply at an alarming rate.  I know Flower tried to eat less, and was probably practically starving herself, but there was no getting around the fact that with her much larger size, she needed quite a bit more food.

I wasn't sure what was going on,  but it seems our party had stirred up quite a hornet's nest.  We started seeing two or three Gorf platoons pass us each day.  At one point, we met a platoon coming down the switchback in a place where we couldn't find anyplace to hide.  I thought we were goners for sure, but the platoon just passed us by.  The Gorf soldiers' eyes all looked blank and uninterested.  Like the others, the platoon was accompanied by three better-dressed Gorfs, although not as well dressed as the three on that first day, but luckily when the platoon passed, the three of them were on the other side of the platoon so they didn't see us.  The whole time they passed, I held up the no-see-me in front of us and prayed to Kindness harder than I ever had before.

I hate to admit it, but that scare almost had me pack up and go home.  I was battered and bruised, hungry, dirty, tired, and terrified.  I found myself thinking things like "this is too big a job for me", "I need help",  "Mama would know what to do", and "nobody would blame me for quitting."   Well below with that!  

"Tandy ain't no QUITTER!"

I guess I yelled that last part, because I really startled poor Flower, who's nerves were definitely on end.  She stood there staring at me with her eyes nearly popping out of her head, acting like she was about to run, but couldn't decide which direction to go.

Look, I have always been small for my age, and as I'm getting closer to the age where Kinderlings stop growing, it looks like I'll always be small.  When I was in Kinderling school, I had to fight to be allowed to go to classes with Kinderlings my own age.  The school constantly tried to corral me in with Kinderlings a few years younger.  At the same time, both Mama and Father pushed both Tommil and me hard when it came to education.  Both with our school work, and our personal interests, so I'm not bragging, but for me school was mostly review of things I had learned years before.

That did not ingratiate me with students who were less advantaged, educationally speaking.  Beso, in particular, struggled every day in school.  I offered to help tutor him.  I was trying to make friends, but he took it as an insult and never forgave me for it.  I guess that explains why he threw me in that ditch that day, when he and his minions almost killed me by pelting me with rocks.  Explains it... doesn't excuse it.

So I have never been a quitter, even when that would have been easier.  Even when the adults around my tried to hold me back.  The idea of quitting, of giving up, angered me, and right then I had a good old fashioned mad-on.  I pulled out my arrow chucker, made sure it was loaded up, and started marching up the road.

"C'mon Flower."

Bless her, she followed.

That was when we finally reached the top.  Me, for all the world to see, looking like a Kinderling child playing at war, followed by a fretting Gorf woman, wringing her hands.

As soon as I saw the battlements, I grabbed Flower and dove off the road dragging her with me scrambling in my pack for my no-see-me charm.

The battlements, there was nothing else to call them, topped an impressive wall.  They were patrolled by what looked like a hundred Gorf soldiers.  Once it became clear that troops weren't going to stream forth and grab us, we were able to find a good vantage point to hide and watch.  The whole spectacle would have been impressive if I didn't notice that the soldiers were practically bumping into each other, and it didn't seem like any of them were actually doing much watching for trouble.

The wall itself was built of rough-hewn stone - nothing like the smooth stone walls that Tilly built in the garrison at Outcropping - but still it looked formidable.  The ends of the wall connected to the side of the mountain, and the center curved outward.  The road ended in the middle of the wall with huge, strong doors that were closed.  There didn't seem to be a lot of traffic in or out.

Another road ran in front of the wall, running North to South.  I didn't know where that road lead in either direction, but it looked much more used than the road down the mountain towards the forest.

As I watched, a small caravan of three wagons, each pulled by a large goat with tall curved horns.  I couldn't tell what the wagons held, because the wagons were covered by tarps.  When the wagons reached the gates, a squad of Gorf soldiers with a single Gorf leader came out through a small door to talk with the creatures from the wagons.  I couldn't tell what manner of creature they were though, because they wore long cloaks with hoods that they kept up, covering their heads.  They were much too big and stocky to be Kinderlings.  Not that I would have expected them to be Kinderlings.  They were the wrong shape for Gorfs though, which surprised me.  Gorfs come in all shapes and sizes, but even the shortest and stockiest of Gorfs aren't as wide and stoutly built as the wagon people.  Couldn't be elves of course, by all accounts, elves are tall and wispy thin.  Perhaps dwarves then?  Dwarves appeared in a couple of the books I read as a kid, but I didn't know much about them than "There was this dwarf who did this or that and he liked gold a lot."  There are old stories that the coins we use in the village were minted by dwarves at some point in the distant past.  They are all from back in the time of the last Kinderling King, and it's known that Kinderlings were much more numerous and traded with other races much more back then, so maybe.

After a short conversation with the wagon people, and a look under the tarps and around the wagons, the Gorf  in charge of the squad signaled to the gate, and the gate was opened and the wagons went in.  The gates closed right after the last wagon.

Seeing goats harnessed to the wagons was a new experience for me.  Kinderlings don't domesticate animals in that way.  Sure, we keep cats around to keep mice and rats out of the village, and there are a few Kinderlings who keep songbirds as pets.  Chickens and sometimes ducks are commonly kept for eggs and food, although most Kinderlings don't eat meat, so mostly for the eggs.  I made myself laugh trying to imagine a wagon being pulled by a chicken and instantly regretted it seeing how much my laughter disturbed Flower.

I also know that there have been at least a few Kinderlings in the past who's gift was being able to converse with animals.  I grew up on stories about a Great Great Uncle that had that gift.  The story goes that he eventually went crazy and ran off into the forest with a family of wild boars, although Mama insists that those stories are untrue and that Great Great Uncle Pnof died quietly of old age in bed.  There were wild boars in her version of the story too, but they quietly left the village for the forest soon after Uncle Pnof died and were never seen again.  Of course, Father disagreed and said the real wild bores of the story are the people who ruin the fun by having a slavish addiction to the literal truth.  Of course, both Mama and Father claim that Uncle Pnof was from the other side of the family, so I have always taken the whole thing with a grain of salt.

We did, of course, learn in school about the race of Man and their beasts of burden.  Horses and oxen to pull their wagons, pigs and cows for food and leather.  Sheep and goats for wool.  And the tame wolves that they call dogs that they train to guard it all.  I've seen wolves in the woods.  I take that story with a grain of salt too.

The next interesting occurrence at the gate happened early the next morning.  The gates opened, and a group of bedraggled beings in chains shuffled out, being escorted by a platoon of  Gorf soldiers.  The group consisted of a mix of peoples.  Mostly Gorfs of various sizes - none of them anywhere near as large as the Gorf Soldiers - but I also saw what I was almost sure were a pair of dwarves and a few of the race of Men.  To my surprise, there were also three small forms that almost had to be Kinderlings.

"Flower, get up here.  Are those your people?"

Flower scurried up and looked.  I gathered from the tear in her eye that at least a few of them were indeed her people.  I took a second look, and it was hard to see because we were so far away, but it did look like some of the Gorf prisoners shared the odd hand-shape like Flower.

Kinderling 37

  In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

I felt sure that the answer to the riddle of the Gorf harnesses would be key in explaining what was going on, both in the village, and on the mountain.  I didn't have enough to answer that riddle yet, but it did answer the question of how Flower and I managed to escape two whole squads of Gorf soldiers.  Sure, there was the brave, or stupid depending on how you look at it, leap off the cliff, but that doesn't explain how we managed to get out of the caves in the first place.  I've been chased by Gorfs before.  They aren't stupid.  We shouldn't have even made it out of there.

Now that I have time and relative safety to look back and think on it, the Gorf platoon that attacked us in the cave were slow and not particularly bright.  Just like the Gorfs that Daggi was commanding the day Mama and I rescued Mizzy.  

That cinched it.  Those Gorfs were being controlled, but by who?  We would have to get have to go see the Mountain Gorfs to find out.  We had to go there anyway.  I promised to help Flower find her people, and every indication was that the Mountain Gorfs had them.  Besides that.  I couldn't leave Watcher and Mouse to their fates either.

So, there was the plan.  Get up to the mountain to the home of the Mountain Gorfs.  Find Watcher and Mouse, and the rest of Flower's tribe.  Find out what is going on with the harnesses.  Then, somehow, escape.

Of course, none of the details were filled in, so I had no idea how I was going to go about doing all of this, but at least I had a framework to start with.  

With go-stick gone, it looked like the switchback road was going to be the only way.  So far, we had been avoiding the road, and below the tree line that wasn't exactly easy, but it wasn't impossible.  Not far above the tree line, there wasn't a whole lot of options other than the road.  When you have only one way forward, and you have to go forward anyway, you take that one way.

The climb  up the switchback road up the mountain was just as I remember it.  At one spot where it evened out on one of the switchbacks, there was some loose dirt and gravel and I swear I saw one of my own footprints, undisturbed, from when the four of us made this climb days ago.  It struck me as odd that the Gorf squad that assuredly would have come looking for us, could have missed this footprint.  If they found it, I would think there would be Gorf footprints all around it at very least.  Gorfs like to sniff everything, and in my experience, if there area a group of them, when one of them sniffs something interesting, the rest will also want a sniff.  Gorfs are good trackers.  They are great at reading sign, and those big noses really should have picked up my scent from that footprint.

I pointed the footprint out to Flower.  "Do you smell that?"

Flower nodded and pointed out a half dozen more of my foot prints that I hadn't seen.  That sealed it.  Either the Gorfs that were chasing us hadn't come down the road to look for us, or the harnesses were making them so dumb that they couldn't follow a scent.  I tried to look at the road so I could tell, but everything was trampled enough that I couldn't really tell for sure which.

We kept climbing.

By mid afternoon, we found a place where there were some rocks along side one of the switchbacks that we could use to rest  I set up the no-see-me to hopefully obscure our hiding place in case others came looking, and we settled down to eat a little and get some rest.  It wasn't ideal to be stopping this early, and we sure weren't making very good time getting up the road, but slow and safe beat getting there fast and walking right into another trap.  Well, not safe exactly, but safer anyway.

Flower had lost her pack when we were attacked in the cave.  Luckily we Flower managed to grab mine on her way through, because we would never have gotten away without the go-stick.  But that meant all we had was Kinderling food.  Flower persevered and didn't complain, leastways not in a way that I could understand, but I could tell that some of the flavors were off putting to her.  It stood to reason that different peoples would like different foods.  I noticed that she liked some of the stronger, more earthy mushrooms, and didn't like things that were sweet or overly herby.  As hard as it was, I split our remaining food supplies accordingly.  There wasn't much left.

As the sun was going down, we heard the tromping of booted feet coming down the road.  Flower seemed to have sensed them coming before I did, and was curled up shaking.  She was terrified.  I thought I should be afraid also, but I wasn't.  Not really.  We had a no-see-me set up, and while our location wasn't ideal, we were in a place where they shouldn't see us unless they went out of their way to leave the road.  The no-see-me should keep them from finding the path.

Another nice thing about our hiding place was that I could shimmy up to the top of a boulder and if I was careful, watch the Gorf soldiers as they passed with minimal chance of discovery.  I was surprised because instead of a single squad, there was a whole platoon marching past.  Other than that, I saw what I expected to see.  Gorf soldiers with harnesses, just like the others.  This time though, I saw a couple smaller Gorfs walking along side of the platoon.  Those Gorfs weren't wearing harnesses, and were dressed much finer than I had ever seen a Gorf dress.  Even Watcher didn't dress this well.  The three were sniffing and grumbling at each other, and for not the first or last time I really wished I could understand the Gorf language.

Kinderling 36

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

Looking around, I wasn't worried about Flower and me.  Our mad flight took us back down into the forest, so we were surrounded by trees.  I know trees.  No one can find me in the forest unless I want to be found.  Well, except if Mama gave them a Tandy compass I suppose.  I checked my bag just in case, and the no-see-me totems - I brought two - were right where they were supposed to be.

Immediate danger taken care of, I started worrying about Watcher and Mouse.

"We have to get back to the others."  I said, as if Flower didn't already know.

She shrugged again.  

Flower seemed a little bit off.

"Did you get hurt?"  I asked, looking her over to see if I could see any injury.

Slow head shake no.

Clearly Flower wasn't handling all of this very well.  And who could blame her?  It's not every day you get set upon by a whole squad of Gorf soldiers, then chased off a cliff with only a half-mad Kinderling girl and her weird invention the only thing between you and certain crushing - splatting? - death.

I burst out in a fit of giggles.

Oh below.  Clearly Flower wasn't the only one not handling things well.

I, eventually, got my giggles under control.  Only to see Flower's disapproving frown, which started them up all over again.  I couldn't help myself, I think I was in a little bit of hysterics.  

Ok Tandy, deep breaths.  Air.  

Gorf frown.

More uncontrollable giggles.

Finally I broke down and cried.  In a weird way, I think that's what got both of us back in the game.  I cried.  Flower - having no idea what to do - gave me a hug and comforted me, which took her mind off our situation enough that we both pretty much snapped out of it at the same time.

I was caught between wanting to go back to the Garrison, and hitting the mountain again.  Without Watcher as a guide, I'm not sure there was much we could do there, but we had to do something.  Flower decided for us, and after a quick look around, started off back towards the mountain.  She was right, of course.  We really couldn't leave Watcher and Mouse to their fates, and going back to the Garrison was useless, since nobody there would know anything more than we already did about the Mountain Gorfs.  

We were still in the trees when night fell, which was perfectly fine by me.  I scoped out a nearby bush that was big enough to cover the both of us, and set up a no-see-me totem in the most likely place I could find.  I couldn't see either of us benefiting a half night's sleep, so after a short meal of bread, nuts, and whatever else I scrounged out of my backpack.  

During my scrounging, I found a small bundle of  some little honey cakes that Mizzy makes.  She knows I love them so.  Can someone smile and cry at the same time?  I sure can.  I shared them with Flower.  I could tell she loved them too.

Early the next day, we made it back to the tree line.  Knowing that Gorf soldiers were probably looking for us, we were going to have to be very cautious.  That's when it hit me.  The Gorf soldiers were just like all the other Gorf soldiers that I had seen.  Each soldier even wearing a harness just like the ones that were worn by the Gorf soldiers that Baot controlled.  

But what did that mean?  

According to Mama, and the little I had been able to get Mizzy to talk about them, the harnesses were created by Daggi and used to control the Gorf soldiers and the kitchen Gorf that Daggi kept until I rescued her.  Or more like, I dragged her out of there and Mama rescued.  

"Flower, did you see the harnesses the Gorf soldiers were wearing?"  I asked.

Flower started panicking and looking around.

"Not now, I mean when we were escaping the ambush in the cave." I explained.

Flower gave what I hoped was a thoughtful look, and then nodded.

"Is that a style that Gorfs often wear?"

Sniffing and grumbling, then a shake of the head, "no."

"Does that mean those Gorf solders are being controlled by someone?"

A shrug and a nod.  I took that as, she's not sure, but she thinks so.

But why would Gorfs need the harnesses to control their own soldiers?

Kinderling 35

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

When the day finally came for me to leave, I found that I didn't want to.  The Garrison at Outcropping was safe.  My family and friends were all there.  Mizzy was there.  Why would I want to leave?  

I left Smoke with Mizzy.  The two of them had become very close.  For being my familiar, Smoke sure spent a lot more time with Mizzy than she did with me.  I know that makes me sound jealous, but it's not like that.  The bond between Smoke and me matured during my weeks of recovery.  If Smoke was in danger, I would now sense it.  So leaving smoke with Mizzy gave me a way to know that both of them were safe.  I had a feeling I would need that reassurance in the days and weeks to come.

But duty called.  

I was surprised to find Flower, Mouse, and Watcher all three waiting for me when I walked outside.  Mama, Mizzy, and I agreed that it would be better to say our goodbyes inside.  No sense in crying and lamenting in front of the Gorfs.  I'm sure they would  understand, but I'm also sure they would feel bad about taking me away from my family, and I didn't want to be like that.  

"Watcher, I didn't expect to see you on this trip."  I said.  Watcher had all but told me he wouldn't be coming along because of his orders from the Gorphum Priesthood.

"There are times when what the priests say, and what I know of Gorphum, is at odds.  In those times I pray that Gorphum will forgive me for disobeying his servants and doing what I know is right." Watcher answered, "Besides, how much more exiled could I be?"

We set out going North at first, but soon turned to the west towards the home of the Mountain Gorf tribes.  Our route took us overland for most of the day rather than by road, although I suspect that where we were going there were no roads to take us.  Most of the trip we walked through the forest, and while there was a slope, but it wasn't a hard journey because we were mostly going across the slope rather than up or down.  That changed by early evening when we reached the Mountain. 

"Up till now, we have been avoiding established paths, if you can call them that.  Soon we'll need to risk the path up the mountain, because the climb will be too hard otherwise."  Watcher said.  "We'll have to be alert to anyone on the trail.  Nobody we meet on this trail is likely to be friendly.  On the positive side, the trail ahead starts zig-zagging up the mountain, so the climb should not be too hard."

"We will need to find a place to stop for the night soon." I observed.  It was already getting into early evening and the light was already starting to fade.  I didn't think we would want to be on the trail at night, but I didn't see any cover.  Maybe we could make camp behind some rocks or something.

"There is a place not far ahead that the Watchers use, we will shelter there."  Watcher replied.  "<grumble>, of course knows about it, in effect it is one of his places.  But there is no reason to think he knows we are coming and this outpost is far enough away from the Mountain Tribe that I don't think he'll have any reason to come here."

The grumble, of course being the name of that un-known watcher who our Watcher believes betrayed his kind.  I wondered if he had a Kinderling-friendly name, but I didn't want to ask.  I guess if I needed one I would just make one up.  Yea, judging from how odd Gorfs seemed to be about names, nothing could go wrong with that, right?

After a short climb, Watcher guided us to what I initially thought was a shallow depression in the mountainside.  Just as I was thinking "yea, if we all squished ourselves into that, we might be out of the wind."  Watcher surprised me by pushing on a protruding rock and the back of the depression pushed in like it was a door.  I have to admit, I was suitably impressed.

"Welcome to Watcher outpost fifty three."  Watcher said as he preceded us inside. 

The place was a little dusty, but other than that it wasn't bad.  Once the door was shut, we were well and truly out of the wind.  I hadn't realized how cool and ever-present the wind was until it was gone and I was able to start warming back up.  

The cold reminded me that it was getting well into autumn.  Autumn is usually my favorite time of year, with berry picking and the harvest festivals.  Because I'm one of the few Kinderlings who brave the forest, I usually made enough money in autumn picking and selling berries that I had spare spending money for the rest of the year if I was careful.  

That made me think of the garrison at Outcropping.  It was an amazing piece of foresight that the garrison had been kept up and was able to house and feed so many Kinderlings.  Bez and Tilly sure did a lot of work keeping the mushroom farms going all these years.  But it also confused me some.  Mama and Father seemed to know about the Outcropping and the garrison, but if they knew about it, why didn't Baot?  Not to mention all the other Kinderling villagers?  I kept my ears open when I was recovering in the garrison.  One of the main topics of conversation among the villagers was how nobody even knew the garrison existed and how lucky they were to have it.  But why would it have been kept so secret?

Those melancholy thoughts, and a small meal of mushroom jerky and dried berries, carried me off to sleep and some disturbing dreams.

The next morning was an early one.  Luckily, I had the exuberance of youth to carry me on.  Poor Watcher creaked and groaned a bit before finally getting moving.  Flower already had a small meal of some kind of Gorf porridge ready for us.  The flavors were odd, I could taste mushroom, of course, because mushrooms were one of the cultural things that Gorfs and Kinderlings held in common, but there were other flavors that I couldn't place.  I just hoped they weren't anything too weird.  I've seen Gorfs put all kinds of things into cookpots.  I ate it anyway.

"We have to use the path up the mountain for today." Watcher told me over breakfast.  "The way is just too steep, and there is no other option for this next part of the journey.  By mid-afternoon we should find a cave that I know of that will take us on up by a more hidden route.   The mountain tribe Watcher will know of this path's existence, but I don't think he dares share that secret with the mountain tribes."

I hoped Watcher was right.

Turned out I was right to worry.  I hate when that happens.

We were lucky climbing the path.  It switched back and forth up the steep mountainside, so the going wasn't too hard.  A constant gradual incline is wearing, but not so much in that it is hard, more in that it is a constant resistance that doesn't let up.  By the time that Watcher found the right place to leave the path it was getting on early evening and we were all pretty beat.  I had taken to riding my go-stick, which helped a lot.  About half-way up, Mouse put Flower on his back and carried her the rest of the way.  Surprisingly, Watcher did all right for his age, but he was looking at my go-stick sideways, and I could tell he was wishing he had one too.  Frankly, I don't know if a go-stick would even work for a Gorf, and while he wasn't Mouse's size, Watcher was probably too heavy for my go-stick anyway.  There is a decided difference in speed between when I ride a go-stick and when Mama rides one.  Then, of course, there is the question of if the runes would work for a Gorf or not.

When we reached the cave, my worst fears were realized.  It was a trap, and we blundered right into it.

Well, blundered is a rather strong word.  We tried to be careful.  We crept up to the stones that Watcher said hid the cave entrance looking for any sign that anyone had been there recently.  I regretted leaving Smoke with Mizzy; having a scout would have been incredibly handy. 

We detected nothing.

The cave entrance was just as Watcher had described it.  Watcher went in first to make sure it was safe, then waved us all in.  It was cool and dry in the cave, and we all stood still as we could listening.  We could only hear our own breaths.  

Exhausted from the day's climb, we ate whatever we had to hand and rolled into our bedrolls for the night.  Of course we set a guard, we always did that.  Watcher took first watch, then he was to waken Mouse for the second, who would in turn wake Flower.  I took the last watch.  This was the normal arrangement that we used every night of this expedition.  

When I was woken, it wasn't by the gentle shakings of Flower, who on the first morning became very aware of my penchant for coming up swinging.  I have to say, she handled it surprisingly well, gently pushing my flailing fists out of the way.

The Gorf warrior, equal in size to Mouse, didn't fare so well.  I got him good, a solid hit right up side his nose, which was easily bigger than my whole head.  Apparently they grow them big in the mountains.  Of course he was more surprised than hurt due to the sheer size difference, but I'll have you know that Gorf noses are as sensitive as they are ugly, and that Gorf soldier's eyes were watering up a storm.

I'd love to say it was me who saved us, but sadly I was too surprised to take advantage of the situation.  Flower, on the other hand, must have been waiting for the chance.  She grabbed me and headed for the exit.  As we went past the dog-pile that represented Mouse being held down by what looked like an entire squad of Gorf soldiers, Flower pulled her paring knife from under her apron and slashed and stabbed for all she was worth as we ran by.  It was just enough to give Mouse a chance to fight back, which was all he needed.  Last I saw of him as Flower and I ran away was Mouse picking up a wicked looking club and covering our escape.  I didn't see Watcher anywhere.

It was early morning when we exited the cave.  I looked around for a place to hide but I'm a forest creature.  I don't know mountains, and we passed the tree line shortly after the path started zig-zagging up the mountain.  So there were no trees to hide in this high up.

One plus was that Flower grabbed my backpack on her way through, so at least I had my things.  It occurred to me that I could just pull out my go-stick and fly away.  That thought made me sick the instant I thought it.  I couldn't abandon Flower like that.   It was bad enough that we lost Watcher and Mouse.

Standing at the edge of a cliff with the only way to go was back to the cave, full of Gorf soldiers, or the way we came when we climbed up from the switchback road was the only two options, and with Gorf soldiers in pursuit, I turned towards the road.  Only to find another squad of soldiers marching up it.  We were cooked.  I was afraid literally.

My mind went back to my go-stick.  That wasn't a way out because I couldn't abandon Flower, and the go-stick wouldn't be able to lift both of us.  But, maybe it didn't have to.  Maybe all it had to do was slow our fall.  

With no time to think about it, and no time to spare, I pulled the go-stick out and grabbed Flower.  

"We're going to ride this down!"  I shouted, hoping she understood.  Apparently she did, because she wrapped her arms around me and we jumped.

I was right, the go-stick wasn't strong enough and we dropped like a rock.  Only, not a particularly heavy rock.  Then I leaned forward and was surprised to find that I could control our descent, which was just in time to steer us past a particularly nasty boulder.

We were going faster than I ever dreamed, and I was having problems breathing because Flower was crushing my ribs holding on so hard.  So far I was right, we weren't flying, but we were doing a pretty good imitation of falling and somehow managing to miss the ground.  So I'll call it a win.  My concern was at this speed, the idea of stopping was shaping put to be the opposite of fun.  That's when I saw the tree-line coming up.

Trees?  So not helping.

I admit, when I came up with this lame-brained idea, I had a vision of Flower and I floating down like maybe a feather.  Yea, that would have been nice.

To top it off, I was starting to feel some vibrations from the go-stick.  That's never a good sign, because it usually means that a cloud of black dust was sure to follow. 

I started frantically looking around for anything that might slow our fall when the inevitable end of our flight came.  Then, as if the universe wanted to throw us a bone, I saw a flash of sunlight reflected  off a small lake through the trees.  I had no idea if we would make it, but we had to try.

Fighting the go-stick, I managed to get it pointed in the right direction.  We were traveling so fast, we got there a lot faster than I expected and just as we burst from the tree line around the lake, we were falling, trailing a black cloud of dust.

The water was hard.  I never knew that water could be hard.  I swear I skipped like a skipping stone a few times before I finally stopped and clawed my way back to the surface.  Then I realized, Gorfs don't swim!  And started looking around for Flower in a panic.  

I guess I shouldn't have worried so much.  When I finally located Flower, she was already on the shore, still holding my backpack, watching me like "are you going to play in the water all day?"  I Tandy-pattled over to the bank and she helped me out of the lake.

So there we were.  On the edge of a lake I didn't even know existed.  With half of our rescue party captured or worse.  I feared it was "worse".   At least a squad of Gorf soldiers were already, or soon would be, after us, and my go-stick was gone.

"Any ideas what to do next?"  I asked Flower.  She shrugged.

Kinderling 34

In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

Later that day, I found myself, once again, in Tilly's workshop.  I was embarrassed, apprehensive, and I really didn't want to be there.  I really didn't want to be reminded about the evil I brought into the world, but where I was going, I was going to need some of that evil.

"Tilly, I'm..."  I started my apology, but Tilly interrupted.

"Kiddo, no need.  I understand where you are coming from.  I'm sorry I didn't realize it would effect you so.  Bez tells me I'm a little dim witted when it comes to people sometimes."

I looked around.  The Multi-arrow-chuckers were gone, as were the spear-chuckers, or whatever Tilly had taken to calling them.  Tilly must have noticed me looking around.

"Never mind that.  No, I didn't get rid of them.  They have all been positioned where they will do the most good.  Don't worry though, they have all been placed in purely defensive positions and will only be used if we are attacked.  They weren't designed to be used in an attack, they are too bulky for that.  Besides, for the most part, they are quickly becoming obsolete anyway."

Obsolete?  Tilly didn't put any emphasis on  that word. but it chilled me to the bone.  

I didn't want to ask.  I really didn't want to know.  But I had to.

"If they are obsolete?  What is replacing them?"

Tilly seemed almost embarrassed.

"Stone-chuckers."

Stone-chuckers?  I guess it seems reasonable enough.  What runic magic could do to the arrows, it surely could do to something made of stone.  I imagined arrows made of stone, but I couldn't imagine stone arrows that would fly very well.

Tilly, probably easily reading my thoughts, handed me a smooth cylindrical object.  It was made of stone, about the length of my hand, and a bit bigger around than my thumb.   One end came to a point, while the other end was flat.  It was a little heavy, but not horribly so.  There were runes scribed onto the surface.  I noticed Inertia and Speed, and there was another that I didn't know.

"While I was making the arrow-chuckers, we were having trouble finding enough arrows to fill them.  Then it occurred to me, if  we really are attacked, it wouldn't be long before we run out of arrows, and if we are besieged, we probably won't have access to the forest to get wood for any more."  Tilly explained, "Which lead me to wishing we could make arrows out of stone.  We have a lot of stone. That lead me to that thing you have in your hand."

"What is this rune?"  I asked, pointing at the one I didn't recognize.

"That one is the rune for stability.  I have mostly used that one on foundations and stone walls, but I thought about how I use inertia one way, and you use it another and gave it a try.  It seems to help with accuracy."

The Tandy of a few weeks ago would have been all over this new invention.

"Tilly, that's neat and all, but it looks like I have to go up the mountain to help rescue some Gorfs from another tribe.  It's going to be dangerous, so I need a few things to make a new arrow-chucker."

"I'll do you one better."  Tilly said as she opened up a cabinet.  Inside, I could see a number of different arrow-chuckers.  "I spent a little time experimenting with the design, and I think you'll like what I came up with."

What she handed me was about the same weight as my old arrow-chucker, but had two arrow tubes, one above the other.  Tilly also showed me how it was designed with a concave part to push into my shoulder so I could hold it more steadily and aim by looking down the top of the upper tube.  

"The upper tube is first if it is loaded.  If it isn't, the lower tube.  You can make it fire the lower tube if you push down on this little lever here."  Tilly explained, pointing out a little leaver on the side of the 'chucker.  "I have one with six tubes, but with the weight, I think anything beyond two is a bit unwieldy."

I had to admit, it was a beautiful piece of work.  The arrow-chuckers that I made all looked like a bunch of roughly made pieces that were stuck together by a child.  Who am I kidding?  Nearly everything I created looked like it was stuck together by a child.   

Tilly's arrow-chucker looked like it was built from pieces that were designed specifically to fit together, were crafted by actual craftsmen, and then assembled by an artist.  If the world ever settled down to the point where I would have a workshop of my own again, I really needed to improve on my design aesthetics.

New, improved arrow-chucker in hand, I returned to the room I shared with Mizzy and started packing.  I dreaded having to tell Mizzy that I had to go.  But Mizzy surprised me.  As I was packing, she came in and started handing me things that I would need for the trip.

"You know?"  I asked.

"Of course I do silly.  I've known from the time you woke up after our return."  Mizzy said,  "As soon as I was able to get up and around, I started putting together the things that you might need.  Here is a better knife, your old one was highly inadequate."  The knife she handed me, while not as large as Mamas, really was a huge step up from the one I had, and it had a good leather sheath.

"How?"

 "I traded some mushroom beer for it.  I got the mushroom beer from Bez after showing him a trick for how to remove the cloudiness from his.  I have added fluff to the fletching of your special arrows, especially the one exploding one you have left, to help you know by feel if you have a standard arrow or a special one.  I conversed with Tilly to make sure it wouldn't cause a problem with functionality.  In the bottom drawer you will find good wool socks I made while you were sleeping, and a good cloak to help you stay warm, it's bound to be colder the higher up you go."

"I don't think I'll take the exploding one, the first one almost killed me."

"Nonsense.  You will take it, and you will be more careful than last time."  Mizzy said in a way that brooked no argument.  "I would be so mad at you if you died because you needed it but dumbly left it behind.  You were the one that told me that one time that more options meant better chance for survival."

I did say that to her.  It was years ago, but I do remember that conversation.  Mizzy was worried that carrying too much stuff into the forest would slow me down allowing the Gorfs to catch me.  I had to smile at the memory.

I looked around at all the things that Mizzy brought for my trip.  Every one of them was well thought out.  

"You really will make someone the perfect wife one day."  I said.  It was true, Mizzy is incredible that way.

Mizzy's face saddened and tears flowed down her cheeks.

"No, I am ruined.  I already have a husband, and he is cruel and evil."  She said.  "I was forced to marry Daggi.  They said if I didn't marry him, they would kill old Granny Pine.  I didn't believe them so I refused.  Tilly, they cut her head off right in front of me!  Then Baot snatched up one of the children and held a knife to his throat.  I had to do it.

"When the vows were said and done, Baot killed him anyway." 

"Daggi started putting those infernal harness' on me as soon as he got me back to his home.  None of them worked like he wanted.  The first harness didn't work at all, and I tried to run.  Daggi beat me and put me in the cage.  The next almost killed me.  It hurt so bad, and it made me bleed all over.  The next one I pretended that it worked, and did what he said until he allowed me close enough.  I tried to scratch his eyes out, but the harness made me so feeble he just laughed and pushed me away.  The next made me dance for him.  I was so scared that it was the one I wouldn't be able to resist, but I was able to spit in his face.  It cost me a lot, but I was able to do it.  The next one is the one you found me in.  I could barely move wearing that one, but I think Daggi ran out of ideas after that."  

I didn't know what to say or do.  It broke my heart that Mizzy was in such agony.  I could only put my arms around her and try to comfort her.

After she cried for a bit, Mizzy patted my arm.

"So!  I have a husband, but he isn't worthy of me and I hope he gets eaten by Gorfs!   Just like you promised, you came and rescued me.  So lucky you, you're stuck with me.  Now I have all these wifely skills and nobody to use them on but you.  In a strange way, it's fitting.  I never found a boy who acted like I would want a husband to act, so for all these years I have been practicing being the Perfect Kinderling wife by imagining what I would do for you if you were my husband.  Now I can stop imagining, and actually do those things!"

I was taken aback by Mizzy's proclamation.

Mizzy put action to words and started pulling things from drawers and cabinets.

"Here is a packet of dried mint leaves.  I know how you like to chew one each morning, and I made that packet to be waterproof, so they won't get wet and go stale and..."

On and on she went.  Not only did she have everything I needed, and some things I hadn't thought of that would come in handy, she knew right where in my pack to put each thing.  When she was done, I tested myself.  Even with my eyes closed, I was able to find any given item, just like Mama taught me.  

"How did you know how to pack this?"  I asked.

"I was the one who unpacked your pack while you were still recovering.  It took me a few days, because I was so weak, but I managed it.  While I was unpacking, I had a few long conversations with your Mama.  She told me all about it."

Kinderling 33

  In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

Sadly, nothing lasts forever, especially peace.  We rescued Mizzy.  We rescued the villagers, or at least the ones that didn't go along with Baot.  

From the rescued villagers we found out that Kurnt did indeed make it back to the village, and just as Uncle Zon feared, told Baot all about our use of Old Barrel.  Kurnt earned every bit of the reward that Baot gave him, a slow terrible death roasted over a fire as a treat for Baot's Gorf soldiers.

While I was recuperating, Baot's Gorf Soldiers raided Old Barrel, only to find nobody there.  Since then, they have been patrolling the woods, getting closer and closer to finding the outcropping and the escaped villagers.  So far we were safe, and Bez insisted that we could easily pull inside the garrison, shut the door, and live there infinitely.  We had water from underground springs.  We had the mushroom farms.  We had the hidden terrace farms for fresh produce.  And we had food stores laid back all the way from the time of the last Kinderling King, stored in rune enchanted barrels so powerful they would keep for another thousand years.

I didn't look forward to living underground like a... well, like a Gorf I guess...  for the rest of my life.

"Won't have to."  Tilly said.  "Come see what I've been working on."

Tilly took me to her workshop.  She had been busy!  

"I hope you don't mind, I took a lot of your ideas and put my own spin on them."  Tilly told me as she removed a sheet from a large device.

The device was a lot like my arrow-chucker, only it was a square rack holding a hundred tubes, built on a wheeled frame.  With a single... shot... someone could fire a volley of  a hundred arrows.  It would take them a while reloading all those tubes, but I can't imagine needing more than one volley from that thing.  What army could stand up to that?  Then Tilly showed me that she had three of them.

Next Tilly showed me a large tube mounted to a frame with wheels.  This one had a barrel of huge spears, sized to fit that horrendous tube, standing by in case it was needed.  I had never in my life seen such a display of potential violence and death.  Looking at the spears, I felt such a revulsion that I threw up.

"Aw, Tandy, sweetheart... I'm sorry, I thought you were feeling better.  Have I tired you out?"  Tilly asked.

It wasn't that I was tired though.  I was disgusted at myself.  I created this.  I created this way of dealing death, and it was too late to take it all back.  I killed people with it, and certainly a lot more people were going to be killed with it long before this was all over.  While I was healing, I had vowed to tear up my drawings and never make another arrow-chucker, but none of that mattered.  Looking around the shop, Tilly apparently had a production line going with a small number of Kinderling villagers making components.  Sure, Tilly had to carve the runes and assemble the device, but that wasn't hard for a practiced rune crafter.  

I couldn't look at it anymore.

I ran.

An hour later, Mama found me curled up in the dark, in the corner of one of the garrison's Mushroom gardens.  Of course Mama could find me anywhere, she had a Tandy compass.  

"Tilly said you ran away."

Mama, blunt as ever.  Straight to the point.  

What I needed was Father.  I needed a hug and someone who would understand what I was feeling.  Someone who would know how to put the eggs back in the basket.  Someone who could convince Tilly to stop building those terrible devices, designed by a terrible Kinderling who no longer disserves to live in the light of Kindness.

"I see."  Said Mama, and she left.  Even Mama understood what a horrible person I was.

Not long after, a still-shuffling Mizzy came and wrapped a blanket around both of us and held me while I cried.

I guess Mama understood after all.

Mizzy at least managed to get me to come up out of the cold, damp mushroom gardens by the simple expediency of shivering so much that I was afraid she would become sick.  After that it took days for me to pull out of the funk that I was in over the fact that I had brought such horrible weapons into the world.  It probably would have been longer but for the intervention of Flower, with Watcher in tow.  They came right to the room that Mizzy and I was sharing.

I was amazed to see the two Gorfs inside the Garrison.  I know Watcher hated and feared the place.  Judging by the reaction that Mouse had to it, even the surface Gorfs knew of and hated the place.

"Tandy, it's good to see you on the mend!"  The old gorf said.  "Flower wanted to come talk to you about her sister."

"Sister?"

"Yes, the Gorf that you rescued." Watcher explained, "She is from Flower's tribe."

"So you found them?"

"Yes and no.  Seedling and the rest of her tribe were captured by a raiding party from another tribe of the Fallen.  A tribe from high up on the mountain.  Seedling was traded to the Kinderling witchdoctor because of her small stature and how ugly she is.  They didn't think she would bring a good price up the mountain.  The rest were taken up the mountain to be sold as far as she knows." Watcher answered.

There was quite a series of grumbling and sniffing from Flower.

"Yes dear," Said Watcher, "I'm sure Tandy understands that the name Seedling is imprecise and won't allow it to color her perceptions."  Then to me,  "I have to tell you, these Mountain Gorfs have become more advanced than I ever imagined they could, and taking other Gorfs - even if they are of the Fallen - as slaves is just beyond imagination."

"Weren't you supposed to keep an eye on them?" I asked.

"No, that was another's job.  My job was to watch the village and the small tribes around it.  Another Exile was tasked with watching the Mountain Gorfs.  A week ago, I received orders to check on him because he has been missing his check-ins for the last few months.  The priests were worried that he was captured and eaten by the Mountain Gorfs."

Oddly, I caught a hint of suspicion in his tone.  

"Oh?"  I asked, knowing that if I asked too directly Watcher would stop to think if he should give away such information, hoping that by not asking directly, he would open up.  It worked.

"I'm afraid that the Exile that was supposed to watch the Mountain Gorfs has been compromised rather than captured.  The Priests sent me up there expecting me to locate his remains.  Instead I found a much larger, and much more organized Gorf community.  They even have temples!"  Watcher paused exasperated, but seemed to realize he was talking to an outsider. "Enough said about the temples."

I knew from previous conversations that one of the biggest fears the Deep Gorfs have is that the surface Gorfs - the Fallen, as they call them - would re-discover the religion of Gorphism, which would somehow make them dangerous.  I don't know how I feel about the Deep Gorfs, and indeed my friend Watcher, actively working against the surface Gorfs in order to keep them poor and helpless.  Although I guess if I look at it that way, I also have to look at my own people.  If the surface Gorfs are poor and helpless, it's because the last Kinderling King made them so.  It was only a small hop to the question if the Kinderling Patrols have a small, if not insignificant, hand in keeping them there.

"What can I do?"  I asked.

"Flower and Mouse would like you to go up the mountain with them, help find their tribe, and rescue them."  Watcher said,  "While you are there, could look into the alliance between that tribe of Mountain Gorfs and the Kinderling Baot?  I don't know how they managed to communicate, let alone come to an agreement, but it looks like that tribe is at the heart of your village's problems."

I wish I knew what is right and what is wrong in this situation.  Could I in good conscience help Watcher?  I felt I had to help Flower, Mouse, and Seedling find their people.  They held up their end of the bargain, I would hold up mine, but I would try not to kill anyone in the effort.

Kinderling 32

 In case you are interested in starting this story at the beginning, Kinderling 1 can be found here:

The Tricycle of Thought: Kinderling 1

Please don't judge the story or the writing too harshly, this story is written with little to no editing.  It is just meant to get me writing regularly for practice.  

Now back to our story, already in progress...

I was in bed for days.  I would try to get up, only to get dizzy.  Smoke quietly kept me company and we had a private little war over who could nap more.  I think Smoke won.  I would have been worried by all the sleeping, but during the few times we were both awake, Smoke was obviously doing much better than I was.

At first, I was amazed by how nice the room was.  Who knew that the garrison had such nice accommodations.  I quickly learned that a lot of it was due to Tommil who oversaw the renovations.  Sure, the rooms and the beds were here already, but Tommil worked wonders to make it all seem like home.  

A couple days into the ordeal, Mizzy shuffled in.  It was very unlike Mizzy to shuffle like that.  Mizzy always walked with just the perfect - in her mind - amount of bounce in her step to convey to her (perfect) husband, that she was the perfect, energetic, productive, Kinderling wife.  She had been practicing that bounce for as long as I've known her, and I have to say it at very least worked to make her seem very energetic and productive.  

No bounce this time though.  Just shuffle shuffle, stop and wait for a bit to muster her energy, and shuffle shuffle some more.  She made it to my bed, laid down next to me and was asleep before she even got her feet off the floor.  That position couldn't be comfortable.  So I, very  slowly, got out of bed and started to make my way around to lift her feet in to bed so she wouldn't wake up sore from sleeping in such an awkward position.  I didn't manage to get even to the end of the bed when Adiz showed up, straightened Mizzy out on the bed, put me back in the bed, and had us both tucked in so quickly I was exhausted just from watching.

"Now Tandy, you know you shouldn't be out of bed yet.  You aren't ready!"  Adiz scolded.

Ready...  I'd show her ready... right after my nap, getting up like that was exhausting.

The next few days passed much faster.  Mizzy and I ganged up on Smoke, and between the two of us we out-napped that kitty by half!  Hey, when you can barely walk across a room, you take your victories where you can find them!

"Tandy," Mizzy said, her voice just a whisper.  "Smoke saved me.  I think Daggi gave up on controlling me with the harness, so he left me there to die.  Smoke brought me brought me bits of food and even managed to drag a water skin to my cage.  I could barely move, but I managed enough to keep me going.  I knew I had to be ready in case you came to get me."  Mizzy looked down at herself and started crying, "Oh I am ruined, nobody will want me now."

I put my arms around her, it was the only thing I could think to do.

"Mama, If I'm as bad off as I feel, how did I even make it to the Fern cave?"  I asked on day five.  Really by day five I was starting to feel a lot better and was able to make my way to the latrine by myself without help.  It helped that it wasn't far.

"I don't know kiddo." Mama answered, "Sometimes when someone gets hurt, they don't stop long enough to realize how bad it is.  Once they finally do stop, they crash like you did in the fern cave.  I'm just lucky Flower, Watcher, and Mouse showed up when they did.  I was just about to set the kitchen Gorf loose, and come home.  I was just trying to decide if I could make the trip carrying both you and Mizzy."

Would Mama have left Mizzy behind?  I didn't know if I wanted to know the answer to that.

The next week for me was spent moving around, working the stiffness out of my joints and getting my muscles moving again.  I couldn't stand being cooped up, not going anywhere.  At first, it was short walks down to the kitchen, then it was longer walks around the garrison.  Then walks outside to the end of the Outcropping.

During my exploration I found a wheel barrel, so once I was strong enough, in spite of her complaints I put Mizzy in it and wheeled her outside.  The fresh air and sunshine did wonders.  After that outing, Mizzy started eating better so we spent most days outside, either on the hidden terraces where Bez had his above-ground gardens, or out on the outcropping.  We even went down to the briar tunnel to pick berries.  We only did that once, because the climb back up was exhausting.

Soon Mizzy was able to get around on her own, but we stuck together.  I think Mizzy was a little afraid of being outside the village.  She was never one for adventure or danger.  I couldn't blame her though, I didn't want her to be far away either.

The place was settling in.  It didn't take long for the rescued villagers to start a community of sorts.  The garrison was quite a bit bigger than I expected, and there were a couple different kitchens.  The kitchens eventually were claimed by various cooks as their own domains, and a gentle, healthy, competition arose over who could feed more people, or who had the better food.  Various workshops were opened and craftsman started crafting.  Mizzy and I made our rounds taking it all in.

"It's almost like having the village back."  Mizzy said with almost a smile.  It was beautiful.  Mizzy hadn't smiled at all, not even almost, since Mama and I rescued her.