Dwellers of the New World Chapter Four ( Pt 6 )

The sky still remained cloudy, as Brad and Simon walked along the river's edge, they managed to stop every once in a while to cup their hands and drink from underground streams, that fed down into the river, the water was clean, crisp and natural, which left them feeling refreshed.

Rain was falling as father and son ambled along. It was lunch time when they stopped to bathe their tired feet, the sun still refusing to come out from behind the clouds.

Suddenly up ahead Brad noticed a fire and some wagons and horses. He told Simon, and they decided to take a closer look.

“Obviously they are travellers, by the look of the wagons.” said Brad to his son.

They hid in some near by bushes, keeping their heads down. Peering through into the glade, Brad suddenly recognised three of the men, who were busy chopping wood. “Simon! It's Will, Glen and Joe, they must have come down from the North.” Quickly father and son came out from their hiding place, they made their way over to the three men, who immediately looked up from what they were doing. “Greetings to you!” said Brad, going up to shake hands with the men.

“Well...well, if it's not our old friend Brad, how are you after all this time?”

“I'm fine! this is my son Simon. Say hello to some old friends.”

The boy shook their hands and smiled, looking to his father saying, “will we be staying here for the night?”

Brad was embarrassed and started to apologise for his son's presumption. “I'm so sorry, Simon does tend to be very out spoken at times.”

“Don't worry about it, that's okay,” said Will. “Where's that owl of yours then?”

“Oh Tawny's still around, I think he's probably off hunting for food, he always comes back when he wants too.”

“Well will you stay and take some food with us? I'm sure we can rustle up enough for you both.”

“That would be great, thank you for the kind offer,” said Brad.

The men and the boy, walked over to where a huge fire was burning bright. Brad and Simon were offered hot drinks, to which they were so grateful. As they talked, an old woman appeared from one of the wagons.

“Grandmother...it's Brad come to see us.” Called out Will.

The old lady came over to greet them, she seemed to be interested in Simon. Coming forward she walked up to Brad. “Is this your son lad?”

“Hello Ida...yes this is my son Simon.”

Ida came close to the boy, she touched his face and stared into his eyes. “He is very much like Martha, you have one special boy here.” Then she turned to look at Brad. “How is Martha by the way? I haven't seen her for so long.”

“I'm afraid she is no longer with us, but gone to the other side. There were strange boulders that fell from the sky, they completely wiped out everyone and everything, apart from myself and my son. All the horses got away, we had to leave on foot, with nothing.”

The brothers and their grandmother stared in amazement, speechless as to how Brad and his son had lost so much, but still managed to keep going.

“Well my friend! What do you and your son intend to do now?” asked Will.

“I'm hoping to reach the ocean before winter sets in, which Simon's never seen.”

“You have a long journey ahead of you, if you're on foot.” said Will. “We would spare you a horse if we had one, but we need all our horses, and we're only going as far as the forest.”

A smile creased Brad's face, as he thought of their genuine hospitality. “Please...if we could stay with you for just one night, we would be eternally grateful.”

“Of course!” replied Ida. “We have plenty of food, having killed a deer, we will feast tonight in you and your son's honour.”

The travellers camp was close to the river, so they would not have to carry water too far. Also washing and bathing was less complicated. There was a relaxed feeling within the camp, that brought back memories of Brad's own family and friends.

Women were preparing food, that would be consumed later. A man was turning a spit, that a previously caught deer was cooking over an open fire. Travellers were experts at cooking meat, it was a time consuming effort, that could take nearly a whole day to prepare.

A wine had been made from blackberries, apple juice was plentiful, from the windfalls of the late Summer. They also had an alcoholic beverage, made from the windfalls too, and the nectar of the Summer bees.” There would be much merriment, with dancing, singing and drinking.

As Simon stood next to his father, he could hear the sound of blackbirds calling to one another, it was such a distinctive sound. The boy whistled out, imitating the birds, but then they stopped, Simon couldn't understand, he was normally able to communicate.

Brad explained that the birds didn't understand, because they weren't like the ones where they had come from, they didn't have the trust.

The boy started to feel sad again, he wished things could be like they used too.

Ida broke the silence, informing Brad that she would like to read Simon's future in the stones. She said it could be of some benefit to him.

Brad agreed that as long as Simon didn't mind, that it would be okay. Simon thought it sounded like fun. The old woman had been known for reading the runes, she was from a long line of travelling fortune tellers.

“Come boy...let's see what's in store for you.” Simon was excited and held Ida's hand, making his way to her wagon, looking at his father, and saying, “see you later.”

As he entered the wagon, he had the strangest feeling he'd been there before, it was very weird. “Sit down at the table boy, I'll get my stones. Ida was a large lady, with heavy bosoms, she seemed to be slightly bent over, like she had stooped all her life. Her hair was greying and tied back in a pony tail.

She walked over to a shelf and took a box down, lifting the lid she took out a skin bag, then walked back over to her table where Simon sat patiently waiting. “Okay Simon, let's see what the stones can tell us.”

Ida lay the stones out on the table, with their symbols face down. “Now boy...I want you to concentrate on the stones, think about what your past has been, look into your heart Simon, trust your instincts, I know you have them, you are probably more aware than you realise.”

Simon stared at the stones for a long while, as Ida watched him. After a time, she asked him if he was ready? the boy said that he was.

“Now boy...I want you to pick out three stones, the first will be your
past, the second will be the present and the third will be your future.”

Simon felt absolutely certain which stones he would pick and went straight for them.

When he had chosen the three, Ida turned the first stone over revealing Berkana...symbolizing growth – it means to develop in the right way, a rune that tells Ida that Simon has developed well. She smiles and tells him of his past, of the good up bringing he's been lucky enough to have.

The next stone symbol is Jera, which symbolized harvest – the fertile season of one year, the beneficial outcome of all the boy had accomplished, which would hold him in good stead for the future. She tells the boy he has been guided well, and is now seeing the fruits. But she also tells him to always have patience, that all good things come to those who don't force nature.

Slowly Ida turned over the last stone, it was Dagaz, which wasn't bad at all. It symbolized breakthrough – the transformation day, a major shift in his life, probably going from boy to man, but she also sensed something really dramatic would happen to him. Ida told the boy, he would achieve many things and would face each new challenge with a zest for life. Now his future was set in stone, she smiled.

Placing the stones back in the bag, then in the box and placing it back on the shelf, Ida immediately told the boy watch out for dreams, as they would be messages to keep him safe on his travels, then she took the boy outside to join his father and her grandsons.

Tonight they would have warm beds to sleep in and good food to eat, they knew they must make the best of this day and night.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Four ( Pt 7 ) | ABCtales