Extreme Difference (21 page)

‘We had a visit from one of the other groups this morning, and it would seem they have a surplus of women, and would like our flame-thrower. I think we may be able to do a deal with them, but it depends on whether you all want a partner in our new land or not. Think about it carefully, once we are down there, there’s no guarantee we will be able to return here to get more women should any of you not want a partner now, and later change your minds.’

Sandy waited for the general hubbub of voices expressing their own thoughts on the matter to die down, and continued,

‘You don’t have to make up your minds for a day or two, but I’ll need to know before we approach the other group. Now, is there anyone who doesn’t want to go down to the land we discovered? If any of you decide not to go, then you may have to join another group, just to survive. Let’s have a show of hands, who doesn’t want to go?’

No one physically moved, although a few pairs of eyes flickered from side to side to see if there were any dissenters.

‘OK, that’s settled then, we all go. I’m very glad, there are none of you whom I would wish to leave behind.’

With that, the meeting broke up, everyone going their own way to do whatever it was they had to do.

‘I suggest we go down to your store and begin to sort out those things we shall need to take with us.’ Sandy said to Ben, he was eager to return to the gentle warmth and greenery of the land below the volcano, he had had his fill of dark tunnels and extreme heat and cold.

Anything which could be made into a cutting tool, ropes and cords, containers of any size, and the remains of the roll of cloth, were all considered priority items.

Ben suggested that most things could be dragged along on frames, as this would amount to far more than anyone could carry as a load. Sandy liked the idea, as the frames themselves would then be another source of material.

Slowly the pile of goods selected for the new world grew, Ben being loath to leave behind some of his hard acquired treasures until Sandy suggested that they exchanged some of the unnecessary goods for items of use in their new life.

‘What about that gun thing which fires out the red light?’ Ben asked, curious why it had not been mentioned.

‘I’ve got it hidden away down here,’ Sandy replied, ‘it’s not the sort of thing you bandy about haphazardly, or others will become too reliant on its use, and thereby become weaker and less able to defend themselves.’

‘Not thought of it like that,’ said Ben pensively, ‘but you could give the Great Lights something to remember you by, that’s if they come again.’

‘Oh, they’ll come again, and I had initially thought along those lines, but now we have found a better life, I feel less inclined to seek vengeance. Don’t forget, they’re just like us, ridding their society of those who cause them problems, as we have done. At least they didn’t kill us, many would have.’

‘Are you sure about this ‘getting rid of undesirables’ idea? It seems a bit unreal to me.’ Ben still felt a little uneasy at some of Sandy’s ideas.

‘Without a doubt, nothing else makes sense.’

It was close to the midday break when one of the group came down to the storeroom, looking tense.

‘I think you’d better come up.’ he said, solemn faced.

Why? What’s the problem?’

‘Nan’s died.’ The man tried to look as one should when bereft of a great person, but failed miserably. ‘They are waiting for you in the main cavern.’

‘Why do you think that happened?’ Sandy enquired, as they left the store. ‘He seemed all right yesterday, he wasn’t quite with us, but he was walking around and eating.’

‘Don’t know, that’s why we want you up there.’

There were six people in the main cavern, including Bell and Karry, some looking sadder than others. Despite his strange ways, they had known him a long time, and in the early days he had led them well.

‘Tell me what happened.’ Sandy asked.

‘I was doing my plants,’ said Bell, wiping a tear from her cheek with a grubby finger, ‘when Henree, who had been looking after him, came and said he had died. So that’s when I collected the others on the way here, and sent for you.’

‘Where’s Henree now?’

‘Still with him, I think.’ Bell rubbed the other cheek, adding a balancing dark streak to the other side of her face.

‘Right, let’s go see him.’ The others stood respectfully aside as Sandy swept from the cavern, closely followed by Ben, the rest of them tagging along behind.

Nan’s cave was a surprise to Sandy, who had never had reason to visit it. The walls were adorned with strange but well crafted pictures, drawn and coloured on flattened pieces of metal and pegged to cracks in the rock. Whatever had inspired the artist, it was certainly not of this world, Sandy later confided to Ben, and in his opinion, it looked as if Nan had been heading for a breakdown for some time, if the pictures were anything to go by.

Nan was lying on a rag covered raised platform, a serene smile on his face, and both arms folded across his chest.

‘Tell me what happened from early this morning, Henree.’

‘I took him in for the morning meal, fed him as usual, and brought him back here. He said the Great Lights were coming soon, and I jollied him along a bit, but he got angry, so I just sat over there,’ and he pointed to a crude stool, ‘and waited to see what he would do next.

‘He just walked around the cave, looking at the pictures and mumbling as usual, and I must have dozed off. When I came to, he had opened that little box over there, and took a pinch of stuff from it, and then sniffed it up his nose. He seemed all right, so I went for a pee, and when I came back, he was lying on his bed, just like he is now,’ and he pointed to the recumbent Nan, ‘I thought he was asleep, ’cos he sleeps a lot now, and then I noticed he wasn’t breathing.

‘I lifted an eyelid, but he didn’t try to blink, so I shook him, hard, but he didn’t wake up, and that’s when I called for you lot. I’m sorry if it’s my fault, but I...’

‘No, it’s not your fault,’ said Sandy, trying to console the distraught man, ‘poor old Nan has been heading this way for some time, there’s nothing you could have done to save him. It’s called old age, probably helped along by that powder he took.’ Sandy went across to the box on the shelf, and picked it up carefully. Gently opening the lid, he looked inside. A fine grey powder flowed like dirty water as he rocked the box back and forth.

‘Anyone know what this is?’ There was no reply.

Taking a small amount on his finger, Sandy touched it to his lip, letting his tongue slide across the spot. For a few seconds nothing happened, then the room swam and his eyes went out of focus.

If someone had not caught him, he would have fallen to the ground in a helpless heap. They carried Sandy across to the stool and sat him down, Ben holding him by the shoulders to make sure he stayed upright.

After a few minutes, he shook his head a couple of times, put a steadying hand on the wall, and stood up, shakily.

‘The silly old sod’s been taking drugs,’ he exclaimed, ‘that’s one powerful hallucinogenic, no wonder he died.’

‘What’s that?’ asked Ben, always eager to add to his knowledge.

‘It’s a compound which makes you see things which aren’t really there, a bit like a dream. Trouble is, most of ’em are poisonous in the long term, and this one certainly was. Anyone know where he got it?’ No one did.

‘What do we normally do with a body?’ Sandy asked.

‘It’s been a long time since anyone’s died, I think we put them out on the sands in the early morning, but I’m not too sure.' Henree was visibly shaking, so Sandy put an arm around his shoulder, ‘as I said, it’s not your fault.’

When they had all gathered for the midday meal, Sandy made the official announcement, although word had gone around long before that, so no one looked too surprised.

‘I believe it’s the custom to leave the body out on the sands, unless anyone has a better idea?’ The total silence indicated that no one had. ‘Tomorrow morning we will take our old friend out to the sands, ’till then, he will remain in his cave so that anyone who wishes to see him may do so.

‘I know he was a cantankerous old so and so towards the end, but he has led you well in his time, so let’s remember him as he was, not as he is now. He was kind and helpful to me when I needed it most, and that’s something I can’t repay, except by trying to do as good a job as he did.’

By the time several others had stood to say their pieces, Mop was quietly sobbing away at the end of the table, Bell shed a few tears, but Karry held hers back. This made her nose run, and that was an even worse sight.

After they had all quietly dispersed, Sandy and Ben returned to the storeroom to continue their sorting of those things they would soon take down to the new land.

‘You really think the Great Lights will come?’ asked Ben.

‘Probably, at sometime. I think it was that bloody powder he took rather than some ability to foresee the future.’

‘But he knew when you were coming, he told us the night before, and next morning in you came.’ Sandy just gave him a look, and carried on with the sorting.

Mop did her very best for the evening meal, but everyone was still in a sombre mood, which left her wondering where she had gone wrong.

With the meal over, everyone would normally have retired to their own caves after a while, but this night no one made a move to leave the cavern.

Sandy quietly asked what was going on, and Ben passed the query on down the table. After a bit of subdued muttering, Greg stood up, noisily cleared his throat twice, and said,

‘I’ve been doing a survey, and all us men would like a partner to take with us when we go to our new home, and we are five women short. I know it’s a bit soon after Nan’s death, but we all feel we would like to make a new start.’

‘That’s fine by me.’ Sandy replied. ‘Ben and I will try to do an exchange tomorrow. I’ll need two volunteers to help move the flame-thrower over to the other group, so sort it out among yourselves, we leave at first light.’

That ended the evening, and all retired to their sleeping quarters to think their own thoughts on the day’s happenings.

Mop was still quietly crying when Sandy entered their cave, and he did his best to comfort her, later realizing her tears had soon stopped once they were snuggled up close.

Mop was also one not to pass up a good opportunity when it was offered.

Next morning, over their uniforms, the team of four put on the best of the now cleaned rags which had been their clothing before the uniforms had been made. Extra wrappings were bound on their feet to insulate them from the still frozen sands, and they set off, two pulling the flame-thrower on ropes, frequently changing with others to keep up a pace. They reached the group who had visited them about the exchange, just as the first signs of the coming dawn lit up the sky in bands of pale pink and orange.

The chief was called, and despite his bleary eyed appearance, it was obvious from the start that a bit of hard bargaining was about to take place, so Sandy asked for seven women in exchange for the flame-thrower.

The chief raised his hands in horror at the exorbitant price asked, but finally agreed, with great reluctance to five, which was what Sandy wanted in the first place.

The women were quite keen about the exchange, partly prompted by the smart appearance of Sandy’s men in their uniforms, but mainly because that was the way nature intended things to be. The chief tried his luck again about material to make new clothes for themselves, but gave up when it was apparent there was none left, due to fluent lying on behalf of the team. The women looked more disappointed than the chief, and for a moment Sandy thought the deal might fall through, but hormones proved stronger than fashion, and they all left at top speed to beat the rising sun, and the possibility that the chief might change his mind.

They got back to base just as the first streamers of blazing sunlight cut across the high rim, and vaporized the last of the frost from the now warming sands.

There was no sign of Nan’s body, just a few marks in the sand where it had been carried far out, and a disturbance where something had retrieved it. Sandy hoped the something now had crippling indigestion.

The morning meal had been held back for the returning travellers, and apart from a dirty look from Mop, they were given a great welcome as the meal was served.

Sandy grinned at the look of surprise on the new female faces when they saw what was on offer, food wise, that is, and considered they had made a good impression on the new additions to their group.

Ben was asked to briefly explain what was about to happen in the next few days, regarding the new home they would all go to, and that shortly after arrival there, they could partner up, should they wish to.

When the new women were measured up for uniforms, they showed little surprise at the magical appearance of the necessary material, and Sandy wondered why they had been able to convince the chief so easily that there was no more cloth. But Sandy was a little short on understanding women.

Two days later, the sledge frames for transporting all their worldly goods had been completed, and loaded. Ben wanted to take the pair of gas guns, but reluctantly left them behind when Sandy patiently explained that there would be no gas to load them.

The rest of the fat had been rendered down, more oil lamps made, and the rest of the considerable quantity of dried meat strips carefully packed for the journey. All they needed now was a good omen, and they got it next morning.

No one slept too well that night, as the anticipation level of what would happen next day being so high. In the early hours of the morning, Sandy was rudely awakened from his fitful slumbers by an over exuberant Ben.

‘Come quickly, I think the Great Lights are coming, there’s something up in the sky, and it’s too early for the sun.’

They raced up to the entrance of the complex, regretting their imprudent haste when the bitter cold of the crater’s air hit them, and threatened to freeze their nostrils solid.

‘Look, up there.’ Ben pointed to a spot high up in the heavens. Sunlight glinted off something metallic, and it was moving. ‘See, I told you.’