Chapter Fifteen The Lodge and the Retreat

The villagers confront the remaining members of Eagle's Nest. Lincoln and Yuie reach an agreement. A trial is held.

Chapter Fifteen

The Lodge and The Retreat

      The election for Mayor was just a few days away.  It was July.  The grain was growing well.  Their valley had received rain and a light snow at the right times.  The flow of water in the river had decreased, but not enough to prevent the showers from working.  

Hector reported that the new barn at Davis Brown Farm was finished.  He and Ralph were designing a remodel of the solar barn which was being converted into studio apartments.  They were considering how many people could the new apartment building could hold.

      "Digging the outhouses will be the hardest chore," said Hector.
“No, cleaning them will be the hardest chore,” muttered a girl who had broken one of the rules.
      Two days before the election, in the late afternoon, a guard came running down from the guard post at the top of the hill.
      "Someone's coming," she gasped, and then a few minutes later four bicyclists came riding over the top of the hill.  A stir went up in the village.  The bicyclists coasted down the hill to the parking lot where they were met by a small crowd.  Lieutenant Kennedy was in the crowd.  By the time Mike arrived, the Lieutenant was conversing with the new arrivals.  Kennedy introduced Mike to one of the bicyclists.
      "Hello, Sir," said one of the cyclists as he extended his hand.  "I'm Corporal Cody Carter, Ranger in the United States Army.  Major Collins extends his greetings.  We're here to form a regular Army guard unit.  I know that you and your people have done a great job.  We are not here to replace them, Sir, only to supplement them."

Corporal Cody introduced the other two members of his squad, and then the fourth cyclist came forward.  He was wearing a black suit, a white shirt, and a black tie.

"Hi," said the man.  "I'm Don.”

“Mormon?” asked Mike.

“Methodist.  Good guess, though.  I am a minister.  I hope you won't mind my visiting.  I've heard so much about Petersburg that my curiosity was killing me, so I begged Major Collins to let me go with Corporal Cody.  The Major told me to tell you that if you don't want me here, then you should send me right back."

      "It’s cool for you to come here, Don," said Mike.
      "Where did you get the bikes, Corporal?" asked Kennedy.
      "We found them in one of the trucks on Evil Hill," replied Cody.  "After you and the Major left, Sergeant Jenkins sent a detail to scrounge everything that we could find.  I led the detail.  We found these four mountain bikes unassembled in one of the campers.  We put them together and presto!  You can tell that they have a lot of miles on them, but they are still in great shape."
      "I bet Major Collins was happy to see these," said Kennedy.
      "Yes and no," replied Cody.  "He was happy to see them, but he was pissed that we hadn't found them before you and he left.  We used them to establish an outpost at the junction to Evil Hill road.  Major Collins said to tell you that he wants two of them back."
      "How long did it take you to cycle from your post to the Brown Farm," asked Mike.
      "We left our post in the morning, and we arrived at the Brown Farm this morning seven days later," answered Cody.  "We only stopped there for breakfast.  That Mrs. Brown can be very persuasive.  Then we left and came here."
      Mike and Kennedy exchanged glances.  "Seven days," murmured Mike.
      "Seven days?" exclaimed Eric excitedly.  "Chief, we have got to try to make some bikes."
      "Yes," said Mike.  "See what you can do, Eric.  How are the tires, Corporal?"
      "They're solid.  No tubes.  They did fine."
      Mike saw John talking seriously to Don.  It dawned on him why.  "Eric, find Lily," he said.  "Tell her to get a shingle from Hector and start working on a marriage license for John and Desi."
      "Huh?" asked Eric.
      "Go," said Mike.
      After talking to John, and after seeing Desi's condition, Don agreed to perform a wedding.  A little stiffly, Don explained that he usually required the couple to undergo some counseling before he would agree to perform a wedding, but in this case it was obviously too late.

Lily hastily designed and drew an elegant marriage license on one of Hector's shingles.  The marriage took place the following afternoon.  The wedding was held on the grassy area below the Lodge, and almost every inhabitant of Petersburg attended.  Yuie was the maid of honor and Eric was the best man.  At Desi’s insistence, Mike gave her away.

“You sure can hold a grudge, Desi,” groused Mike.  Desi just laughed.

Afterwards, Mike and Howard insisted that the couple take over Chief’s Headquarters for a few days.  When John pointed out that it was a little late for a honeymoon, Howard smacked him on the head.

      Corporal Carter had a present for Mike from Major Collins.  As soon as Mike took the soft present which was wrapped in an expensive linen bag, Mike knew what it contained.  He peeked inside to be sure.
      The day came for the election.  The vote was held at Meeting.  The votes were counted immediately.  Howard received thirty votes.  Eric received sixteen votes.  Mike declared that Howard was the winner, and that at midnight, Howard would be the new Mayor of Petersburg.
      It was approaching midnight.  Mike asked the excited audience for silence.  When it was quiet, he and Howard opened the package that Major Collins had sent to him.  Carefully, they unfolded the cloth.  Using push pins, they tacked it to the wall board behind the podium as the silent crowd watched.
      Mike stepped back.  He turned his back on the crowd, and he faced the wall.  Mike cleared his throat, and then he placed his right hand over his heart.  The soldiers surged to their feet, salutes in place.  Almost all of the residents of Petersburg rose also.  Kathy removed Hectors hat from her head, and she held it over her heart.
      Mike began to speak.
      "I pledge allegiance to the flag..."  Most of the others joined in.
      At midnight Mike embraced Howard.  Mike was no longer the Chief.
      Mike found the next few days to be a little awkward.  People kept coming to him for advice or for help or for his opinion, when they should have been going to Howard.  Howard suggested that Mike should become the Admin.  Mike declined.  One day, he decided to take a walk down to the guard post at Logging Road junction.  He took his backpack.  After staying over night in the RV, he decided to walk up to Davis Brown Farm.
      He arrived at the farm at supper time.  Mary insisted that he eat in the house, and not in the solar apartment building with the members of the Brown Farm guard post.  After dinner, he asked Ralph if he could hang around for a few days.
      Ralph shrugged.  "No problem," he said.
      A few days turned into a couple of weeks.  Mike was enjoying his stay.  He helped around the farm.  He did what Ralph asked, and he resisted the urge to give Ralph unasked for advice.
      Howard wasn't happy that Mike had left, but he understood why.  Still, with Mike gone, Howard was doing the work that had previously been done by two people.  He wondered who he could appoint as Admin.  Jean laughed in his face when he asked her.  He asked Eric who looked back at him as if he was from outer space.  Eventually, Ahmad agreed to serve as Admin.  Temporarily, Ahmad insisted.
      Howard's first big test came just after the middle of July.  Jacob and Jean had gone upriver to keep an eye on the Retreat.  They hastened into Petersburg with the news that the remaining people at the Retreat were on the move.
      "They're headed this way," said Jean at Council.  "I think they must have run out of supplies.  They're headed for the river.  I think they know that there are people down river.  Meaning us."
      "I counted three men, six women and five children," said Jacob.  Two of the kids are mid teens.  Like us."
      "What do you think, Lieutenant Kennedy?" asked Howard.
      "I think we should meet them on the way, and we should not wait until they get here," said Kennedy.  "We know the terrain between where they are and here.  We need to pick a spot that will provide us the most effective opportunity to contain them and send them back, or to disarm them with a minimum of danger to our people."
      "Which brings up the question.  What should we do about them?" asked Howard.
      "If they've committed murder, and it looks like they might have, we don't want them in our village," said Rasul.
      "But the children at least are innocent," said Yuie.  "And the women might be victims."
      "True," said Jean.  "For starters, we should decide what to do about the men.  We can deal with the women and children later."
      "I agree with Jean," said Kathy.  "Disarm the men.  Send them to Major Collins.  Let the women and children stay with us until we see what kind of people they are."
      There was a murmur of agreement.
      Then Ahmad spoke.  "Don't you think that we should inform the Chief, uh, Mike?"  There was silence.  Howard could see that several of them were thinking that same thought.
      "Well?" he asked mildly.
      "No!" To everyone's surprise this outburst came from Jacob.  "The Chief has done his part.  If we can't figure this out on our own, we don't deserve to be who we are.  He showed us the way.  Let's show him that we know where to go."
      "Yes," said John.  "He expects us to be able to handle anything that's thrown at us.  That's why he's the Chief."
      There were smiles and murmurs of agreement.
      "All right," said Howard.  "We'll leave Mike out of this.  Lieutenant Kennedy, when will you leave?"
      "Tomorrow morning at first light," replied Kennedy.  "We'll take the most experienced Spears, except for John, and we will take the best archers.  I would like to handle this with a minimum of weapons fire."
      After Council, John approached Kennedy.  "Why am I staying?" he asked.  "Is it because of..." he stopped.
      "You're staying because you will be in charge of village security, John," explained Kennedy.  "There's no guarantee that one of these guys won't evade us and get here.  If one of them does, I doubt that he'll be friendly.  I need you to take him out."
      "Oh," said John with a look of relief.  "I thought that it must be something like that."
      Kennedy smiled.  "You're the Chief's best friend," he said.  "So I know that I can trust your competence."  John blushed.
      Four Rangers, two scouts, two archers, four Spears, and Diana set out the next morning.  They traveled up the river for five days, and then that evening Jacob reported that the people of the Retreat were ahead, and they were coming towards the troop.
      Kennedy looked around, and he decided that his troop's present location was a good place to confront them.  They were in a small glen.  The slopes on either side were somewhat steep, but they were still climbable.  He placed an archer in the trees on either side of the glen.  With each archer was a Ranger with a rifle.  Corporal Carter stayed with Kennedy.
      Kennedy called the scouts and the Spears together.  "Jacob, I want you to lead your people around and behind their group.  I suspect that the men will stay together out front.  I seriously doubt that these kinds of people will leave someone to protect their women and their children.  But they might, so be careful.  And watch out for the older boys.  They may have weapons, and we don't know how they will respond if it comes to a fight.  Diana, you stay with me, but stay back in the trees.
      "Jacob, wait until you hear a shout that it's all clear, or until you hear shots.  If you hear an all clear shout, and there are no weapons present in the main group, then secure the women and children.  If there are weapons then use your judgment.  There’s no use taking chances on an accident if the men surrender.
      "If you hear a shot, then secure the women and children, and prepare for one or more of the men to come back to you, or stay back in the trees and wait for us.  Clear?"  Jacob nodded.
      "One more thing," said Kennedy.  “If those men are together, I don't intend to let them get back to you.  But I can't promise that they won't.  Stay focused."  Jacob nodded.
      Jacob led his troop into the trees.  Kennedy looked up at the side of the hill where Yuie was hidden.  He hadn't had time to say anything to her, and besides it would have been inappropriate given the circumstances.  Or so he told himself.
      Keep your head down, Yuie, he thought.  Stay safe.
      He and Corporal Carter waited at the lower end of the glen.  Soon, they heard the sounds of people making their way down the slope and through the trees.  A man carrying a rifle came into view.  At first, he didn't see them.  He moved farther into the glen.  Then he noticed them, and he froze.  He said something over his shoulder.  Slowly, looking from side to side, two more men moved into view.  They were also armed with rifles.
      The five men faced each other.  The man in the front was calm, the Lieutenant noted.  The other two men were nervous.  They kept looking around, as if they suspected that the two men they faced were not the only men around.  The man in front finally began to move toward the Rangers.  He stopped just within a loud talking distance.
      "Hello," he said.
      "I am Lieutenant Kennedy of the United States Army," stated Kennedy.  "Please, put down your weapons."
      Kennedy could see that the man was considering him.
      "So you are Army?  Do you know what happened to the world?"  he asked.
      "Not really.  Some kind of Fog.  It's going down.  It's down to six thousand feet now.  It's dropping about three hundred feet a year," replied the Lieutenant.
      The man considered.  "So.  One day it's back to normal maybe."
      "Maybe."
      "Hard to say what will happen then."
      "Hard to say."
      "People are doing what ever they can to survive.  Maybe they make some mistakes sometimes," the man opined.
      The Lieutenant did not answer.  But in that moment, he understood what the people of Petersburg meant when they said, "He's the Chief," and he understood why they said it.  Some people, he thought, will do whatever is expedient to survive.  Some people won’t.
      The man was thinking again.  "Where's the rest of your men?" he asked.
      "In the trees," replied Kennedy.  "Waiting to see what you will do."
      "They're real quiet," said the man.
      "They're supposed to be," replied the Lieutenant.
      "Maybe there's no one there," speculated the man.
      "They are there.  Now, by my authority as an officer in the Army of the United States of America, I order you to lay down your weapons," commanded Kennedy.
      "I'll tell my friends," the man said.  He began moving backwards.
      "Get ready, Corporal," murmured Kennedy.
      The man reached his friends.  They seemed to be arguing.  Then the men lifted their rifles over their heads.  They moved toward the Rangers.
      "Looks like they are surrendering, LT," said Carter.
      With sudden blazing speed the leading man brought his rifle down to his side, and he fired at the soldiers.  Kennedy was anticipating it, and he had dropped to the ground at the first movement, but the bullet that was intended for his chest nicked his side.  Carter fired back.
      Carter's bullet and Yuie's arrow arrived at the same time.  The arrow pierced the man's ear.  The bullet lodged in his chest.  The other men were slower.  By the time they took aim, the two Rangers hiding in the trees were firing.  One man from the Retreat took several rounds in his body, and he toppled over.  The other man got off a single shot in the direction of the arrow, before he fell and lay still.
      "Yuie!" moaned the Lieutenant as he struggled to his feet and then fell back.  From behind the Lieutenant, Diana came running out of the trees.  From one side, Yuie was slipping and sliding down the slope.  The Corporal knelt by Kennedy's side.
      Diana pulled his shirt up and examined the side of his body.  “He has a small wound,” she said to Yuie who arrived white faced.  “He’ll be all right, but I’ll need to stitch him up.”
      “Corporal Carter, take your men and find Jacob,” gasped Kennedy.
      Above a small clearing, Jacob and his people were watching the six women and the five children.  The two older boys were carrying rifles.   They heard the first shot.  Then they heard the firefight.  Then there was silence.  The women and the children became agitated.
      "What's happening," cried one.
      "Dad!  Dad!" shouted one of the teenage boys.
      "Put your weapons down," shouted Jacob.  The boys swung their rifles in the direction of the voice, but they did not fire.
      "Who's there!" demanded the bigger boy.
      "It's Jacob," he heard.
      The boy looked frightened as he scanned the trees.
      "We have guns," the boy said.
      "Yes, I see that.  We don't have any guns," said Jacob.  "So put your guns down, and we'll talk."
      "Maybe you should do what they say," said one of the women.
      "Shut up," snarled one of the other women.  "Don't listen to her," she said to the boys.  "We have the guns.  There is nothing they can do.  Wait until your father gets back."
      "If you put down your weapons, we'll give you food," shouted Jacob.
      "Mom?" asked the younger boy.
      "Don't listen to him," snapped the mother.  "They're trying to trick you.  They probably don't have any food."
      "We'll wait until you think it over," said Jacob.  "We are going to eat now.  Here's something to drink."
      A plastic bottle was tossed from behind the boys into the clearing.  The younger boy picked it up and opened it.  He sniffed and then he drank, even as his mother was telling him to leave it alone.
      "It's Kool-Aid," he announced.  "Mom they have food!"
      Up in the trees, Jacob met Corporal Carter and the Rangers who had advanced to find Jacobs’s squad.
      "The Lieutenant was shot," whispered the Corporal.  "But not seriously.  The nurse is tending to him.  We left the women there.  How are you doing here?"
      "Two rifles," said Jacob.  "I’m taking it slow."
      "Your call," responded Carter.
      Down below, the boys and their mother were arguing.  They were obviously in charge.  The other women and the other kids kept silent.
      "When's Dad coming back?" asked the older boy.
      The woman didn't answer.  She wondered what had happened.  She had expected that her husband would be back by now.
      "I'm hungry," whined a little boy oblivious to the tension.  "When are we gonna eat?"
      "Keep your brat quiet," snapped the woman in charge to another woman.  The mother of the small child gathered him into her arms as the little boy began to sniffle.
      "Mom, we don't have anything more to eat," said the younger teenager desperately.  “Where’s Dad?”
      "Shut up," yelled his mother.  "Let me think."
      Then she called, "One of you come down here and bring us some food, and I'll let a couple of these kids go."
      "All right," said Jacob.  He went to the edge of the trees so that they could see him.  He held a large bag.
      "I hope you like egg and lettuce sandwiches," he said.  

The woman in charge caught her breath.  Clearly she was surprised that these people had fresh food.  She swung from side to side trying to see how many people were in the trees.

      "Let that lady and her kid leave," Jacob said.
      The woman in charged hesitated.  Then she nodded.  The woman with the small child stood up.  She took the child who was hungry and another child by the hand, and she started hobbling towards the trees.
      "Just one brat," said the woman in charge.
      "Both of them," snapped Jacob.  The woman and her children hurried into the trees.
      "Now give us the food," demanded the woman in charge.
      Jacob motioned to the younger boy.  He came over to Jacob.  Jacob handed him the bag.
      "Give me your rifle," said Jacob quietly.
      "We don't have any bullets anyway," muttered the boy.  He handed his rifle to Jacob, and Jacob quickly slipped back into the trees as the woman in charge began to squawk.
      Jacob handed the rifle to Carter, and then he turned to watch the group eat.  He noticed that the woman in charge took the lions share for herself and for her two boys.  As he watched her greed, he became angry.
      "That's enough of that," he said.  

He strode back into the clearing, and he went directly to the older boy.  The older boy was larger and heavier than Jacob, and when he saw Jacob coming, he pointed his rifle.  Jacob ignored him.  He reached the boy, and he snatched the rifle away.  The woman in charge sprang to her feet blocking Jacob's retreat, but then the Rangers and the Spears rushed into the clearing.  The woman and her son sat down.

      The group was herded down to the glen.  When the woman saw her husband’s body, she gave a cry of anguish, and she knelt down by his side as did her boys.  The other women ignored her and the other bodies.  They were overjoyed to be reunited with Diana.  They hugged each other and they cried, and they profusely thanked the people of Petersburg for their deliverance.
      The Lieutenant was sitting on the ground.  His shirt was off, and he had a bandage around his torso.  Yuie sat nearby watching Kennedy anxiously.
      "Are you sure he's all right?" she kept asking Diana, ignoring Kennedy's assurances.  

“It’s just a scratch,” panted Kennedy.

“It’s not just a scratch,” retorted Diana.  “But he will be all right.”  There were ten stitches along his left side.

      The troop from Petersburg stayed in the glen until they had buried the bodies.  Then they started their journey back to the river and down to Petersburg.  They made the woman and her two boys trail behind, but they fed them at least.
      Someone muttered, "Why bother?"

Jean replied, "Because that's what the Chief would do."

      At Petersburg, the residents were waiting anxiously for news of their troop.  Mike returned two days after they left.  He was surprised to hear about the people of the Retreat, but he didn't offer any opinions or any advice for that matter.
      Howard suggested that Mike sleep in the loft until Jean returned, but Mike turned him down.  Mike moved into the Lodge, and he took a bunk in the boys' cave.  One night Imee sent for him.  He found her in John and Desi's room.  He and John waited most of the night.  In the early morning hours, they heard a small high pitched voice wailing.  Imee called them into the room.  The newborn lay on Desi's chest.
      "John, come say hello to your son,” said Desi wearily.  “Hey, Mike, come say hello to Michael."
      After a while, Mike and John took a walk while Desi and the baby slept.  They found a private place to talk.  Later, they promised each other that neither would ever tell anyone that they had held each other, and that they had bawled like babies.
      The happy community welcomed their troopers back.  If there had been any doubt about the Rangers integration into the community, it was forgotten.  Together with the villagers, at the risk of their lives, they had protected their community.   They were heroes.

Lieutenant Kennedy and Yuie were observed hand in hand to everyone’s relief.  Kennedy laughed when he found out that Yuie was from Berkeley, California.  Her grandparents, she told him, had been political activists in the nineteen sixties.

“That figures,” he said.

Yuie was not surprised to learn that Kennedy was a second generation soldier.  She was surprised to learn that he was from Lubbock, Texas.  He doesn’t have much of an accent, she thought.

      The returning troop was delighted at the news of Desi's baby, and everyone chuckled to see Mike carrying the baby as if he had done so all his life.  But when he changed the baby's diaper in the dining hall one day, there was some grumbling about the smell.
      "Tough," was his reaction.
Most of them were happy to hold the baby for a few moments, except for Jacob who broke out into a sweat when John handed his son to his friend.
      Now that Jacob was back, Lily wanted to go see the edge of the Fog, so that she could check on its progress.  So Jacob packed their things, and they set out.  After the three day journey, they came to the Fog and verified that it was, indeed, much lower.  They moved away from the Fog, and then they found a place to camp for the night.
      It was a pleasant night, and she wanted to talk.  She managed to get Jacob to tell her that his father had owned a gas station in Oakdale.  She talked about her life growing up in Watsonville.

“Artichokes,” he said.  She nodded.

      Although he had mentioned his father, as they talked Lily thought that Jacob was being tight lipped even for him, so she finally asked, “Jacob, what's wrong?"
      Jacob said nothing for a few seconds, and then he said, “It's my birthday today.  I'm sixteen."

"Oh.” Lily thought about that.  She sighed.  Then she leaned toward him.

“Happy Birthday, Jacob," Lily whispered.

Lily put her arms around Jacob's shoulders. "Happy Birthday, Jacob," she whispered again, and then for the first time, she kissed him.

The villagers were pleased when Jacob and Lily reported that the Fog was receding.  There was a new confidence among the community that one day their world would be more normal.  There was a sense that as the seasons past this community would become stronger.  Some of the older girls looked at Desi’s child and thought about the possibility of their own children.

The summer was passing.  The grain was high, and it needed to be cut.  Mary was due to arrive in the village any day to start the combine.  Eric was trying to build a working bicycle.  Ahmad’s position as Admin was making life easier for Howard.  Most of the people from the Retreat were adjusting to life in Petersburg.

Life for Lieutenant Kennedy would have been just fine, except for the fact that Yuie was depressed.  She hid it well, but Lincoln knew her better.  One day he forced her to talk about what was wrong.  Gradually, haltingly, she began to talk about that day in the glen.

      Staring straight ahead, Yuie said, "I didn't want to kill again, Linc."  She turned her head, and she looked at Linc.  She started to cry.  "I didn't want to kill anyone ever again."  Lincoln pulled her head against his shoulder.  He put his arms around her and he held her as she cried.
      "I know Yu," he whispered quietly.  "I know Yu."  Eventually, Yuie’s emotional health began to mend.  And so did Lincoln’s.
      September arrived.  Howard had reestablished Labor Day last year.  This year he turned it into a fair of sorts.  Everyone was encouraged to make something to trade for something else.  The Brown Farm Community came to the fair.  Mary started the combine.
      "I'm not going to cut yet, but it was a good opportunity to power up and check it," she explained.  Ralph got a chance to talk to Howard about who should be chosen to live in the Solar Apartments.
      Lincoln used the excuse of the fair to suggest a deal to Yuie.
      "I'll trade you my last four pieces of chocolate for four kisses.  My choice of time and place," he said.
      Yuie laughed and agreed.  Lincoln gave her the chocolate.  Then Yuie surprised him by taking the sweets to Comet and Star.  She gave them two pieces each.  Star was seven years old now, and she could barely remember chocolate.  Comet didn't remember chocolate at all, and he looked suspiciously at the brown sweet.  He said that it looked like poop.
      Then he carefully took a tiny bite.  His eyes lit up, and he popped the whole piece into his mouth.  He hugged Yuie.  As Lincoln watched Yuie give the children her precious chocolate, he shook his head.  I’m falling in love with a peacenik from Berkeley, he mused.
      He asked Yuie to take a walk around the track with him.  When they were away from everyone else, he gently took her shoulders and turned her.  He pulled her back against his chest.  Then he asked her to lift her arms behind his head.  Yuie did so, and Lincoln laid his chin on her head, and they stood there together down at the far end of the meadow.
      Then Lincoln said, "Yuie, I have another deal to offer you.  Here it is.  I promise to teach our children to respect and honor people who question their government, who demand accountability of our representatives, and who respect the right of people to protest against the government when they think it is wrong, especially when the government sends our people to fight and die.
      "In return I would like you to promise to teach our children to respect the people who wear the uniform of our country, and to teach our kids that it isn't the military who make the choice of when to fight and die; but that their duty is to faithfully carry out the orders of their civilian government.  Do you accept this deal?"
      Yuie said, "I do."
      Then she turned, and she kissed him.  She accepted now that she was in love with a second generation military officer.  She had not expected this change in her life, but she realized to her surprise that she was happy.
      On the grassy area below the Lodge, Mike, John, and Desi watched the two lovers at the end of the meadow.  Desi sighed when Yuie turned to kiss Lincoln.
      "I always thought that Yuie would end up with you, Mike," she said wistfully.  She was holding Michael in her lap.
      Mike laughed.  "I liked her at first, but later she was kind of like my sister.  I never even kissed her even when we shared a double sleeping bag."
      "Oops," said Desi.  "Gotta change Michael.  Come help me, John," she commanded as she rose.
      John sighed.  "Yes, dear," he said, and the two of them went into the Lodge.
      As Mike looked out over the panorama of his village, he felt intense satisfaction.  He took in the golden fields, the running stream, the buildings of his village, and his people.  He glanced again at Yuie and Lincoln walking on the track.  He saw Hector and Kathy down by the river, busy as usual, measuring a spot for the saw mill.  He saw Howard and Jean talking with Eric and Cody.  He saw Rasul holding Diego and escorting Imee into the dining hall, where the fair was centered.  Some of his people were not here.  Even on a holiday, the guard posts at Davis Brown Farm, Logging Road junction, the hill and upriver had to be manned.  Then Mike glanced sadly at the three graves, and he noticed that someone had recently placed fresh flowers on them.
      Suddenly, Mike had an urge to see Major Collins and Erin again.  I could take a walk, he thought.  I could go see the Army post and the new post below Evil Hill.  The Fog is going down.  There are all kinds of places I could explore.  But he wouldn't tell that to Howard today.  He would wait a few days.  Today was a time for fun.  Mike walked down to the dining hall.
      The day after the fair, Howard sent Nathan and Kevin to Davis Brown Farm.  With them went Paige and Kylie, who had stayed behind.  The four of them rode the bicycles.  Ralph had warned the four kids not to dawdle.
Howard knew that he needed to send two of the bikes to Major Collins.  He just wasn't sure how he was going to accomplish that.  He wanted the other bikes to be used to convey messages from David Brown Farm to Petersburg.  Using a bicycle, it took only one day to get a message from place to place.  This made the horses happy.
      The rest of the day was dedicated to cleaning the village.  Petersburg needed a good cleaning before winter set in.  The villagers worked like dogs, but by nightfall the village sparkled.  Tired from his part of the work, Mike was unpleasantly surprised to be roused from his bunk before dawn.  

“The Mayor wants to see you, Ch...Mike," said Tyler.

      Mike rubbed sleep from his eyes.  "Do you know what it's about, Tyler," he asked.
      "Only that one of those guys from the Retreat is in trouble," replied Tyler.
      "S**t," grumbled Mike.  He used the Porta Potty, and then he went down to the Village Office, which used to be Chief's Headquarters.  Howard was there, along with John, Eric, Ahmad, Rasul, and Jacob.  The original Spears, thought Mike.  He didn't like the looks of this.  Tyler waited outside.
      "This clown has been pressuring one of the artists to have sex with him," said Howard.
      Mike looked at the older boy from the Retreat.  "Is that true?" he asked mildly.
      "It's none of your business," said the boy sullenly.  "I have a right to get laid, even by your stupid rules."
      "He told the woman that if she didn't put out for him he would tell everyone in Petersburg what a w***e she was.  That she was every man's lay at the Retreat.  He told her that she was a worthless b***h, and that no man in Petersburg but him would ever want to touch a used up c**t like her," stated Jacob flatly.  “Those were his words.”
      Mike glanced at Jacob and recognized the intense anger beneath his friend’s calm surface, and then he looked back at the boy.  He doesn't know, thought Mike.  This stupid s**t doesn't even know that he's lucky to still be alive.

"Calm down," he said to Jacob quietly.  "We'll take care of it."  He waited until Jacob relaxed slightly.

      "You didn't ask Kennedy to be here?" said Mike to Howard.
      "No, Chief.  I wanted Kennedy to be able to say that he knew nothing about what we did to this dickhead," replied Howard.
      Mike nodded.  He looked at the boy.  "Have you been down to the Hanging Tree?" he asked.  The boy became agitated.
      "I haven't done anything wrong.  I didn't rape her.  I only talked to her.  She's a lying b***h if she says differently," he protested.
      "How did we get the evidence," asked Mike.
      "Lily and I overheard him, Chief," said Jacob.  "We've been sleeping out on the lawn in front of the Lodge.  So we can be together, you know?  We heard her go to the Porta Potty.  Then he came out of the Lodge.  When she left the Porta Potty, he started talking to her.  She started crying."  He gave the boy a contemptuous look.  "He didn't realize that we could hear him.  And he didn't realize that I had my Spear."
      Mike looked at Jacob.  "Thanks for not killing him, Jacob," he said.  The others chorused their thanks.  The boy turned white.  At last, he began to realize the danger that he was in.
      Mike looked at Howard.  "If we hang him there is no way that the rest of the tribe won't hear about it.  We'll probably have trouble with his mother and brother.  We'll have trouble with Kennedy.  And he didn't actually rape her.  At least, not here.
      "So here is my advice.  Put him in the storage room for the night.  Set a couple of guards on him.  Call a Meeting tomorrow morning, first thing.  That will let everyone know how serious we take this.  Let everyone who knows him have their say.  And if we decide that he's guilty, then we’ll banish him.  Let the guards know that if he shows up here again, then he is to be killed on sight.  But that's just my advice.  If you are going to hang him, tell me now.   Otherwise, I'm going back to bed."  Mike waited.  The rest looked at each other.
      "All right," said Howard.  "Ahmad, you get Tyler, and put this scumbag in the storage room.  If he tries to leave, spear him."
      Mike and the others went back to bed.  The next morning, Howard let out the word that there would be a Meeting immediately after breakfast.  The rumors were flying when the Meeting began.
      Diana was asked to tell what she knew about the teenager.  Then Imee was asked to describe her experiences with him.  Jean had carefully scripted the order of the witnesses.  The strongest went first.  Watching them gave confidence to the other victims.  Slowly, the vileness at the Retreat, and the teenager’s part in it, became apparent to all of them.
      The boy's mother interrupted at the beginning of the interrogation.  Howard quickly kicked her out of the Meeting.  She was taken under guard to the storage room.  The boy's brother sat silently.
      Jacob and Lily testified to what they had heard.  Then Lily testified to what she had seen at the Retreat.  Then the victim was asked to testify.  It was difficult for her, but she gave a halting account of what the boy had said to her.  She described other times that he had extorted sexual favors from her at the Retreat; in return for food and protection.  Finally she told them what he had said to her while they were at Petersburg.
      Then the boy was allowed to give his side of the story.  He said that he was forced to do those things to her at the Retreat.  He said that she was always willing.  He pointed out that he had not actually had sex with her in Petersburg.
      When the Meeting was over, Howard said that the Council would meet, and that they would decide the fate of the boy.  One hour later, the Council reappeared.  Howard announced that the boy was banished from Petersburg as of tomorrow.  He would be given food and water for three days.  If he returned, then he would be killed.
      “That’s a death sentence,” commented Lieutenant Kennedy grimly.  He forced himself not to object.
      “Probably,” said Mike sadly.
      At sunrise, Eric, Ahmad, Nathan and Tyler marched the young man out of Petersburg.  The teenagers's angry mother and his silent brooding brother went with him.  They were given three days of food and water, also.  At sunset, they came to the Logging Road junction guard post.  They spent the night there.
      "Why are you doing this?" the older boy asked that night.  "Don't you understand that the world has changed?  It's all about survival.  Men are in charge again.  It's like in the ancient times.  We are the strong ones.  We are the smart ones.  Women are the weak ones.  Women are the stupid ones.  We have to take care of them or they'll die, right?  So we get to have them.  It's our right.  You can't punish me for doing what's natural."
      Eric looked at him with contempt.  "You don't get it do you?” he said.  “Your crowd hasn’t survived.  Almost all of you are dead.  We're kicking you out of our community, because we want to survive, and we can’t survive with dumb asses like you around.  Our way is not just one way to live.  It's the only way to keep living.  The girls in our community aren't weak.  They aren't stupid.  Every one of them has contributed to our survival.  They protect us guys as much as we protect them."
      Before dawn, they marched again.  At noon, the guards from Petersburg stopped, and they told the trio to continue until they were out of sight.  Then the guards went back to Petersburg.
      A week later, the younger brother, starving and haggard, stumbled into the Logging Road junction guard post, begging to be allowed back into Petersburg.  His mother had gone crazy, he said.  One night, she had decided that the three of them would go through the fog the next day.  His brother had agreed.  He had waited until his brother and mother were asleep, and then he had sneaked away.  From deep in the trees he had watched them walk into the fog.  When they started screaming, he had covered his eyes and ran away.
      Howard consulted Diana who agreed that the boy should be allowed back into Petersburg.  By that time, Mike was gone.