Confrontations
Better sooner than late, Rigel told himself yet again when he reached the lake. The shore was muddy except for one sandy stretch that was marked by the piles of clothing. Austin at his side, both the their spears ready, he headed that way.
They’d all adjusted pretty much to being naked around each other. When you had to stay close to everyone for safety, there wasn’t much choice – and besides that, clothes were beginning to wear; sleeping on grass and moss didn’t do much for them. Rigel thought it was healthy, the casual nudity: it seemed to bond them as a group, because in his view it required a measure of trust.
With that thought he recalled that the two most uncomfortable with being naked outdoors at all were the two he needed to confront later: Tanner and Dmitri. He toyed with the idea that the nudity could be worked into his arguments, but gave it up when they reached the sand.
Austin waited to strip until Rigel had, standing with his back to the lake, spear at the ready, keeping watch. Once Rigel was in bare skin, he took the watch position. He noted with approval that spears were set in the lake itself at regular intervals in groups of three, available to the swimmers in case anything came for them. That danger was evident in the tracks along the edge: cats had been here, all along the shore. The numerous deer tracks told why. With a wry grin Rigel realized that this was probably where Antonio had got that buck they were feeding on – and that reminded him he needed to give everyone a talk about what they needed to eat.
Then Austin was ready, so they waded in to knee deep. The two scanned the swimming and laughing group in opposite directions. “There”, Austin called out softly, pointing with his spear. He’d spotted Anaph, who in most un-Druidly fashion had Melanie on his shoulders, dodging Casey with Breeze on his.
Rigel hated to interrupt the fun... but duty was duty. He wondered why anyone sane had ever wanted to be a lord – then thought of the wild history of the feudal period, and wondered if maybe he wasn’t on to something.
Just as they got there, Breeze succeeded in dislodging Melanie. Melanie caught Breeze by the foot, though, and all four went down in a splashing heap of bare bodies.
Perfect timing, he thought, then with a grin handed his spear to Austin, and waited for Anaph to begin standing up. When his sworn follower did that, he did a shallow dive that caught Anaph by the thighs, throwing him down again. Rigel stood, Anaph between his legs. When the kid’s head came above water, Rigel reached down and caught him by one arm. “You are conquered!”, he declared.
Anaph laughed, not a serious or sober Druid laugh at all, but the laugh of a seventeen-year old having a great fun time. The sound was refreshing, and gave Rigel a feeling of hope. He changed his grip from conquering to helping, and lifted Anaph.
“Finally done with your secret gathering?” Anaph teased.
“Yep – and now I have to talk with you”, Rigel replied.
“There’s a great place”, Anaph said, turning. “See that log out there? A tree the flood caught, I think. Five people can sit on it.” Rigel approved, and the three swam to it.
It was, Rigel had to agree, a good spot. They could get high enough, to where three branches spread, to see everyone at play – except Tanner, who stood guard with the gun... and underwear still on. So, he decided,
nudity will be in the talk, too.
“What’s up, big man?” Anaph asked, stretched out on his back on one of the limbs.
Rigel went straight to the point. “First: are you going to be doing any more sex rituals?”
Anaph sat up, wrapping his arms around his knees. “No. That was to trigger the amulet. I thought I might have to do more, but it’s more tuned to Life than I thought.”
“Good. Tanner and Dmitri are all freaked about your ‘black magic’ and ‘witchcraft’ and ‘prostitution worship’.” He’d heard the last from Chen. “If I can tell them there won’t be any more religious sex, it will help.” He waved off Anaph’s protest. “I know, you don’t think of it as religion, but they do. They think it’s pagan, wicked, and a challenge to God.”
Anaph laughed softly, then louder. “Rigel, it isn’t against God at all. The Creator made Life, and Life comes from the Creator – all the time. The All-Maker didn’t just start Life up, but feeds it continually. By honoring Life, we honor the Creator.”
Austin was listening like it was a lesson from some wise teacher. Rigel pondered that for a moment, and decided Austin might have a point. He decided to ask. “Anaph, did you know all this before... before the wreck?”
The response was a shaking head. “A lot of it – no, all began when I woke up and heard the trees. Every time I talk with them, I learn more. I don’t even know what I learned, sometimes! Then I’ll need something, and the knowledge pops out. Like the amulet”, he said. “Austin brought it to me, and I thought it was nice, and would go with my Office. Then I touched it, and knew things – that it was a focus, a channel for Life... that I needed to trigger it. I started to tell Austin thanks. I looked in his eyes, and knew right then that the trigger would take passion, and love.” He shrugged and grinned, looking affectionately at Austin. “So I caught Casey, and asked him to get with Melanie, and I took Austin, and we... generated passion and love.
“Now the amulet is alive. When I wear it, I just know what’s going on around. I know where there are berries and things to eat. I know if a mossy branch is strong enough to hold me.” He shrugged again, as if to say he wasn’t sure what all it would help him with.
“What about the cats?” asked Austin. “Can you tell when they’re around?”
Anaph looked beatific, Rigel decided, a mixture of awe and wonder, of pride and strength. “They won’t bother us now”, Anaph replied. “One was coming last night, to see the camp. I took my staff out and met her. She had hungry cubs, so I told her where there was a sleeping buck, one with a wound that she could catch easily.” He shifted his position, draping one leg off the limb, more relaxed. “She wanted to know why the two-legs were back. I told her we were changing homes, because we lacked food where we came from. She asked if our new home was near; I said we journey to the mountains. She asked if we had killed a cat with thunder, and I said yes. Then she said she would let other cats know that we carried the thunder, and to stay away. She also said she would tell them there was a Life-bearer here, and ask them to keep the
gr’venstut away.”
“This cat talked to you.” Rigel’s tone made it clear he didn’t believe it.
Anaph just grinned. “Not with words. It was... it was flavors, and scents, feelings and... attitudes, images – lots of images. Like, I thought of our first camp, and moving scenery, and this camp, and then moving scenery... sort of. Pretty much, I guess. That’s how I said we were moving to a new home.”
“What’s a gruvenstot?” Austin asked.
Anaph grinned. “You have to think how a cat would say it, if it could talk. She kind of did say it, even. It’s kind of a short ‘grrr’, then ‘ven’, back in your throat kind of like a growl, and ‘stut’ – ‘ut’ like ;put’.
“It’s something big, with big teeth or tusks – tusks, I think. It’s not afraid of anything but the cats, and only if there are three or more together. There was an image of me kneeling with my staff, pointing it at this monster animal while it charged at me. I think she meant that’s the only thing we can do.”
“A .357 might change it’s mind”, Austin suggested.
Rigel shook his head. “Anaph’s cat is probably right – we just want to avoid them.” A chill ran through him, an image flashed in his mind, and he knew they were going to meet one before the mountains. “But... I think Antonio would know how to make something better than your staff to fight one.”
Anaph laughed so hard he almost fell. “Dude, if one ran into my staff, and I was really tuned in with Life.... It would drop dead, its gut would split and all the gross stuff inside would fall out, it’s skin would fall off, and the meat would stack itself up in pieces all ready to cook.”
Austin laughed at that. Rigel watched Anaph’s eyes, though, and he knew their Druid wasn’t kidding. “And what if you weren’t really tuned in?”
Anaph shrugged. “No big deal – it would drop dead, and probably roll on me.”
“And if it was big enough, it would break your ribs”, Rigel pointed out. “Can your amulet fix broken ribs?”
That sobered Anaph. He shook his head. “I don’t know enough. Maybe, if I did. I think... someone else... I mean, healing is different from being a Druid. We need a Healer.”
“Lumina”, Austin said quietly.
“She’s not even aware of the world!” Rigel protested.
“I know. We have to find something.” He looked into the distance, towards the mountains, then at Rigel. “I saw it while we were meditating – when you were watching. I forgot till now. She’s going to wake up, and she’s going to heal. Heal others, I mean. It’s because she’s gone so deep into hurt, she knows the way out. Well, she will know the way out.”
The weird thing to Rigel was that it almost made sense. But time to get back on-topic.
“Okay, Anaph: you won’t do any sex rituals again. Serving life, you serve the Creator. But here’s the problem: they’ll still not like it, because to them the Creator is God the Father, Father of Jesus the Lord.”
“And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life”, Anaph quoted softly. Rigel even recognized it. “I went with a friend to an Episcopal church sometimes. We snuck in, so we could go up in the balcony – we weren’t supposed to be there, but it was super from up above. And every week they sang this song....
I believe in One God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible;
and in One Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, begotten of His Father before all worlds: God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made, being of one essence with the Father, by Whom all things were made;
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made Man,
and was crucified also for us, under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, and was buried;
and the third day He rose again in accordance with the scriptures, He ascended into Heaven, where He sits on the right hand of the Father;
and He shall come again, with glory, to judge both the living and dead;
His kingdom shall have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life,
Who proceeds from the Father through the Son, Who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, Who spoke through the prophets;
And I believe one catholic and apostolic church;
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins;
and I look for the Resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.”
The look on his face was a wonder, as though he was on the greatest drugs for getting a happy high, and had just won ten million dollars, and had just given his virginity to the person he truly loved.... Rigel ran out of comparisons; he was looking on pure joy. In that moment he truly believed in a connection to Heaven – one that didn’t depend on worlds, or constellations, but depended on a Creator that held it all in His hands.
Then Rigel himself start grinning. He had, he thought, a way out of this mess without even having to talk to Tanner and Dmitri. What Anaph had just sung very beautifully, was the Apostles’ – no, that wasn’t right; it was what he and a grade school friend had called the “Nissan Creed”: the Nicene Creed, one of the oldest statements of faith Christians had, one that all Christians shared... and anyone who didn’t was playing games, not being a Christian (though, he knew in his gut, believing it didn’t make someone a Christian, either; there had been an elder in his church....).
He had to pull himself back to the conversation. Austin had asked....
“So the Holy Spirit is in your amulet? He makes it work? He’s the One who gives life?”
Anaph puckered his lips and shook his head a little. “The amulet is its own thing. It touches Life, not the Life-Giver. She sustains life–“
“‘She’?” Rigel blurted out.
“Like our Mother in Heaven?” Austin asked.
Anaph actually giggled. “No. We don’t have a Mother in Heaven. We have.... hmmm... the Holy Spirit is like our Nanny from Heaven. She’s very quiet. She talks to people sometimes, though. But She’s behind, or under, every cell, in every living thing, always giving it life. She can kill, just by stopping that gift – like in the old part of the Bible sometimes.”
“Um... I think you’d better not talk about ‘she’ around Tanner and Dmitri”, Rigel advised. “Maybe later they’ll be ready for it. But right now....” He described what he had in mind.
Dinner that night was venison – fresh, not the hard dried stuff they still had. No one would have eaten the hard stuff then, anyway, and besides, Ryan had decreed it was going to be saved for their next long hike – with wild strawberries, odd nuts from under that strange moss like where Anaph and Austin had done their ritual, more fern tips, though they were starting to be bitter as they grew and hardened, some sweet-tasting fern roots that reminded them all of root beer, and a wrinkle-leafed plant they mostly agreed looked gross but tasted like sweet lettuce. There was even dessert, one each, a seed pod from some plants that had popped up where the flood had raced and already produced their fruit – the pods were a lot like pomegranates because they had to peel them apart seed by seed, and each seed had a juicy, sort of chewy layer around it that tasted, as Crystal described it, like “strawberry-rhubarb-mango”.
After dinner was what Rigel was waiting for. First, he had some words, part of them from a discussion with Ocean and Ryan about nutrition. When dessert came, and Ocean showed how to eat it, they all moved to the fire pit, where Oran had a small fire going but a stack of wood ready for a big blaze.
Rigel stood and just waited. Within ten seconds everyone had quieted. t was a trick he’d learned from his high school biology teacher, who never had to call the class to order, and had once subdued two assholes who’d gotten out of their seats and were throwing things at each other, just by standing there and looking at them. He knew he didn’t have the presence that former Green Beret had had, but the trick was effective because people got uncomfortable watching him just stand there.
“First topic tonight”, Rigel began, “is food. We had an awesome dinner.”
There were calls of “Word!” and “Woot!” Rigel grinned at them all.
“Yeah – after nearly starving, this is awesome, huh?” More calls of approval came. “Well, we have about four days’ worth of meals like this here, then it’s no more berries or nuts. So we have to think about food for our trip.” He let that sink in.
“We’re going to dry some of the berries, if we can, and some of the nuts, to take along. That means we have to stretch out food supply. Devon says he can hike, but Rita shouldn’t move for five or six days, anyway.
“What we’re going to do is eat more meat. By that I mean more kinds of meat. Humans can live on just meat, but you have to eat every part of the animal.”
“It’s balls?” Casey called, bringing laughter. He stood and bowed.
“If we had a grinder, those would go in sausage”, Rigel told him seriously. “Instead, we’ll see if you can swallow them whole, Case.” Hoots and whistles answered him, and Casey turned beet red. “Really – for now, we’re going to start eating the heart, and the liver. Those will help a lot. Ocean is working on herbs to make the kidneys taste tolerable.” There were groans, and a few calls of “Not!” and “No way!”, and one “Like hell!”
He didn’t care who’d said that. “Okay, people, you’ve made your noises. But you’ll eat it, or you’ll think you’re in hell. That’s not a threat – when you start getting weak, and dizzy, and nauseous, and cramps, and headaches because your nutrition sucks, you’ll think it’s hell. But that’s not going to happen: anyone like that would be a burden, and I’m not going to allow burdens. We have a couple already anyway; we can’t afford even one more.
“Instead, if you won’t eat it, I’ll tie you down and feed you. I’ll shove it into your mouth and force you to swallow, if I have to.” He scanned the faces, catching and holding eyes. “There are things out there we haven’t met yet. Antonio, tell them.”
Their warrior-becoming stood. “Um, I found tracks. By the lake. Really big tracks, like as wide as four of my fingers.” He took a breath, obviously not used to speaking like this. “They looked sorta like pig tracks, sorta like... maybe cattle. But there were claws on the front. The marks tell me the claws are like this” – he stretched out his fingers like his hand was a paw – “and pretty sharp. And there were marks in the mud, places torn up, too, like somebody stuck a spear in and ripped up the ground.” He took another breath.
“I think they’re like six times as big as a cat. Those tusks – what made those marks – those could go through you like a soldering iron in butter. The claws could probably rip your spine out of your body.
“If we meet one, anybody who’s too weak to run is dead. If you fall down and one runs over you, those hooves with put holes in you that pin you to the ground. And we won’t be able to stop and go back for anyone.
“That’s it”, he finished and sat down with a “whoosh” of breath in relief.
Most of the faces were white. Breeze was holding her mouth like she was trying not to throw up.
“Sorry about that”, Rigel told them. “Except, not really. Everyone has to know this isn’t a game. We’ve had it pretty easy; we can’t count on that to last.” He scanned faces again.
“So everyone will eat what gets cooked. You don’t have to like it, you can even gag on it – but you’ll swallow it. And you’ll stay strong.
“And the next part of that is Antonio is going to lead spear practice. Almost everyone has a spear taller then they are. Before we leave, everyone will. You’ll keep your old, short ones, too – we might need some to throw and then run. So after breakfast there will be a quiet time for whatever you want to do” – he noticed Tanner perk up at that, but then turn and scowl at Anaph; Rigel grinned inside at what was coming up – “and then we’ll all do spear practice. Devon, that means you, too – you’ll just have to learn one-handed.
“That leads to the next thing: clothes. Ours are wearing out, and there’s not a J. C. Penny or K-Mart anywhere I’ve noticed. So for spear practice, we wear underwear at most. The rest of the day, we wear only what we need to for the job. When it comes time to hike, we hike as close to naked as is sensible.
“From now on, people, clothes are armor: we put them on when we need them, and that’s it. Chen has found a mix of plants that we can rub into the deer hides, that seem to preserve them – if that works, we’ll start making kilts.”
“Where’re the bagpipes?” Chen called. He put his thumb in his mouth and blew, raising his fingers slowly until the stood, and then launched into a rendition of something vaguely Scottish.
“You can make pipes out of leg bones”, Antonio called to him, “in all your free time”.
Even Rigel laughed. It was a good way to break the somber mood, and he appreciated it. Then he wondered if Chen understood that, and that was why he’d done it.
“That’s my bit”, Rigel announced. “Now – any questions?”
“What are we going to do for water?” Crystal called. “We still just have the bottles.”
Rigel knew this one. “Chen had a shirt made of waterproof stuff. Ocean made some bone needles, and we’re pulling thread out of other clothes. They seal the seams with sap. We’ll get two of them – each one big enough to be about four bottles worth.
“And Chen is trying to figure out making water bags from deer hide.”
“If deer hides are going to make water bags, how will we make kilts?” Dmitri asked.
“Eat more deer!” Casey called. Everyone laughed.
“Actually, yes”, Rigel said. “We want to get at least three more while we’re here, just to turn into food for the hike. If you guys keep stuffing yourselves, we could eat two more while we rest here. Five hides – Chen, how many water bags and how many kilts?”
Chen stood. “I think I’ve figured out how to cut them so we can get two kilts and two water bags out of each – a big water bag like you told, and a smaller one. The trouble will be enough herbs for the skins, so the water doesn’t taste bad. Everybody, whatever you’re doing tomorrow, bring a couple handfuls of the lemon-like stuff. That way, I can spend my time looking for the tougher ones, and working on the hide we have.” He waved to everyone and sat down.
“Anything else?” Rigel asked.
“Yeah”, Melanie responded. “I got athlete’s foot. It’s bad.”
Antonio stood; Rigel nodded to him. “Rub mistletoe on it – really. Then go barefoot. The mistletoe will help kill it, and going barefoot keeps it down. It likes moist feet, and if you’re barefoot, they’ll stay drier.”
“Anaph could hit it with his staff”, Casey called. Tanner looked angry and started to get up, glaring at Casey.
“Sit. Down”, Rigel said in a soft, but deadly-sounding voice. The whole group went silent, turning to stare at Tanner. Tanner looked at Rigel; what he saw there on that face made him swallow hard, and drop to the ground, silent.
Rigel waited a ten-count. “Is that everything?” He counted to ten again, to give a chance for them to think.
“Okay. Oran, torch up the fire. Crystal, is that pipe finished? Can you play something?” Crystal looked happy, but nodded and went for the instrument she’d made. Rigel blessed whatever source her urge to make that wooden pipe had come from; it was perfect to help morale.
While people took a break to take a leak, throw away scraps in the depression under the roots of a fallen oak, fetch water bottles, or just stretch, Anaph slipped away.
They all gathered back by the fire when Oran announced it was as big as it was going to get. Crystal had been running scales on her pipe – the notes were a little off, but just having music was going to raise spirits. When Rigel nodded to her, she started playing bouncy little tunes while everyone finished settling in again.
Then Rigel stepped up as close to the fire as he could stand. Ocean had gotten them all settled on one side, so he could see them all and they could see him. He saw quite a few eyes closed, people listening to something they had back, if not like before. Lumina, who hadn’t responded to anything – well, she’d relaxed and actually waded at the lake – smiled a very weak smile, which was infinitely greater than anything for days.
“We didn’t quite die in a car wreck”, he began softly. “We got this far even though we got really thirsty.” People were nodding. Crystal played very, very softly, mellow now instead of jaunty. “We survived cat attacks. We survived a flash flood.
“Now we have enough to eat. We have a safe place to sleep. We’re figuring out how to make things to keep staying alive and have enough to eat.” Everyone’s attention was on him; it gave him a feeling that maybe he was actually a lord.
“We’ve discovered this world is different than Earth. There’s a bright blue north star, the stars are thicker and brighter. There are plants that are the same, but there are plants that are different.” Rigel almost bit his lip before speaking the next words.
“And we’ve discovered that there are powers that work here that maybe we didn’t have at home. Those powers have worked to keep us safe and alive, too.” Dmitri’s face was set in stone; Tanner’s was like a volcano.
“So we’re going to have a celebration of thanksgiving.” That was Crystal’s cue” she began a soft and slightly eerie rendition of “Amazing Grace”. “Think of something you’re glad about. It can be big or small, it just has to mean something to you.” Tanner had recognized the tune, and was relaxing some. “We’ll go around the circle. Tell what it is – keep it short”, he added, thinking of Ocean – “and after each person speaks, we’ll have a short period of silence. I’ll go last – so, Oran?”
Oran stood, frowning in thought. His face brightened. “I’m thankful Austin had that three-fifty-seven. Otherwise, some of us would be dead.” Murmurings of agreement came. Rigel saw an annoyed look on Chen’s face, and guessed he’d been planning to do that one.
“Breeze?” he called softly after counting to eight – ten always seemed too long, at camp.
“I’m thankful we have Ocean and Anaph, who know how to find plants we can eat.” That brought smiles and nods of agreement.
“Devon?”
“I’m glad Lumina’s here. I’ve wanted to just give up, but she needs me, so I keep plugging away.” A lot of surprised faces turned to look at him, but understanding came as he explained. Even Rigel hadn’t thought of Lumina’s condition as something to be thankful for, in any way.
“For her”, he said softly, “I say she’s thankful for you. She’s still inside her shell, but she hasn’t fallen over and quit.”
“Chen?”
“I’m grateful for that storm and flood. I’d never been as thirsty in my life when we got here. Now I have all I can drink.” He emphasized his words with a belch. Seeing smiles, yet no sound, thrilled Rigel: they were showing a maturity and respect for each other that hadn’t been close to possible at the beginning.
“Ryan?” Rigel dreaded this; his friend had been negative and bitter again most of the day.
“I guess... I guess I’m thankful for Rigel. I thought I was a leader, but he’s pulled us together and kept us together and kept us working together. We’re still all alive and going because of him.” That’s when Rigel bit his lip to hold back tears; there was a distance between them, but Ryan could still reach right into his heart.
“Rita?”
She didn’t stand, but spoke from her half-reclining position. “I’m thankful for Chen and Antonio and Austin. You guys saved my life.” Austin impulsively went and hugged her.
“Ocean?” He gave her a look he hoped said to keep it short.
She popped up and almost bounced. “I’m thankful for Anaph, who has shown us how to connect with Life.” Tanner was gritting his teeth; Dmitri was still stone-faced. But there was no explosion. Rigel let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.
Crystal had paused for breath after three repetitions of “Amazing Grace”, so Rigel took the opportunity to call on her. “Crystal?”
She smiled like she’d just been named prom queen. “I’m glad Austin got Snatched her with the rest of us. Now he can be himself and not be hated for what he was born as.”
Huge smiles broke out at that; most of them had felt that way after Austin’s tears the one day. But Rigel’s two problem boys looked upset. Well, they had a surprise coming.
“Antonio?”
“Wow. I’m thankful for a lot. But I’ll just say Crystal and her pipe. Just having music... and I love “Amazing Grace”. Thanks, Crystal.” Her tears kept her from starting to play again.
Rigel tried not to show his nervousness. “Tanner?”
Tanner stood, looking troubled. He glared at Austin, who thankfully didn’t see it. Rigel shot him a warning, which was heeded. “I’m thankful for these spears, and those who made them. I feel a lot safer, having them.” Casey, Chen, and Austin waved their short spears in the air in approbation.
“Casey?”
The boy bounced to his feet eagerly. “I’m thankful for Melanie. She makes me feel like there’s a future.” Melanie blushed and hid her face.
“Dmitri?”
Still stone-faced, he got to his feet. Rigel shot him a warning glance, too, but...
“I’m thankful for God the Father, who made everything there is, and has supplied us with everything we need.” A number of frowns answered this, some actually directed at Dmitri. His declaration seemed formal, stilted, and most of them didn’t understand. Rigel understood entirely too well, and gave Dmitri a cold look that made the younger kid wince, and drop suddenly back to the ground.
“Melanie?”
Her voice was soft. Rigel couldn’t make out what she was saying. “Mel, you’ll have to talk louder. Oran made a pretty loud fire”, he declared.
She giggled and started over. “I’m grateful for almost all of you. But I’ll say Rigel, who makes me feel like someone knows what we’re doing, and Casey, who makes me feel like a princess.” To the side, Chen was making silent whoops. Austin grinned like a pair of Cheshire cats.
“Austin?”
Austin looked solemn, and tears started. “I’m thankful we all died – or, didn’t. Back home I was an abomination, something my dad was ashamed of. Here I get to be me: just Austin, who can have friends just the way I am. I want–“ But they didn’t find out what he wanted, because he turned, took a step and fell into Rigel’s arms, shoulders heaving. Rigel held him, stroking his back.
Ryan started it: he got up, walked over, and hugged Austin from one side. Then Rita got up, obviously in real pain, and limped over to hug from the other side. Chen and Antonio bumped into each other on their way, and shared the space to hug Austin from the back. Then it was a flood, putting Austin into the middle of a group hug like he’d probably never experienced before.
It was too cliche, Rigel thought, when someone started to sing.
Kum ba ya, my Lord, kum ba ya...
Then even Tanner stood, and pulled Dmitri to his feet as well. They didn’t join the group, but they sang along. It became a flashback to summer camps for Rigel, as
Kum Ba Ya was followed by “Michael, Row the Boat Ashore”, “Barges”, and other mellow songs from childhood. After seven numbers, for all of which Tanner and Dmitri kept standing, Rigel called a halt. Austin came out of the huddle, as it dispersed, with a look of awed amazement. Since everyone else was returning to their seats, he didn’t notice that Tanner and Dmitri hadn’t joined in the hug.
Rigel waited till they were settled, and then longer. He let the silence grow right up till someone shifted nervously. “We have one more”, he stated. “More than any of us, he has changed in this world. He’s given us aid in strange and even shocking ways. To some of us he’s given wisdom and insight.
“Almost all of us have said he’s odd, weird, strange, looney, or something. But I think he’s adjusted to this world in ways we’re all going to have to depend on.
“Anaph?”
From the other side of the fire, Anaph walked forward confidently. He wore his dark brown half-cape with its variety of shades of color, from which ferns streamed down to cover his read end. His boots had been refreshed somehow, so they shone, almost glittering in the light of the flames. He wore the same cargo pants stained now with a camo pattern that was nearly perfect for these grasslands, but no shirt: instead, on his bare chest that was no longer pale rested the acorn-and-oak-leaf amulet Austin had found. His necklaces and chokers decorated his neck, the necklaces shortened to let the amulet ride alone. The copper bracelets on his wrist sparkled, newly polished a rich, deep color, amidst, once again, bracelets of living strawberries. In his right hand his white staff shimmered with an inner light, Casey’s acorn still on top, among the green oak leaves. It made Rigel think of Gandalf, or maybe Allanon of Shannara, but neither of them really fit: this was Anaph, the Branch, bearing an ancient Hebrew name in a very new world, and he was a Druid, every inch of him. Rigel wondered if those books would have sold well at all if their Druids had been gay, or bi.
Anaph had the touch Rigel lacked: as he waited, the silence became absolute; no one even moved. His had become a commanding presence, one Rigel could see that even Tanner and Dmitri were moved by. The silence deepened, and even the crickets and night birds fell silent. Expectation flavored the night, and for a moment Rigel nearly expected the fire to freeze in place.
“I am thankful for Life”, Anaph intoned, his voice breaking the silence like the sudden roar of a lion you hadn’t known was there. “I am thankful not only that we are alive, but that we even have life, that there is life at all.” Austin stood and walked quietly to Anaph’s side.
“I am thankful for all of you and every one of you.”
Whether you like it or not, Rigel heard unstated.
“And I am thankful most of all for the Lord of Life, the Giver of Life.” Rigel watched Dmitri mouth the words, a curious look touching his face. “I’ve asked Austin to join me now for a song in the Life-Giver’s honor.
And they sang the Nicene Creed Anaph had sung out on the tree in the lake. Anaph’s voice was strong, deeper than Rigel recalled – an effect of being Druid on the job? Austin’s voice was sweet and clear, a triumphant harmony rising now above, now below, now in unison, and on certain parts falling silent as if in solemn respect.
Tears streamed from Dmitri’s eyes. He was saying the words softly along with the song, stumbling sometimes when the song cadence differed from the usual rhythm in a church. When they reached “who for us men and for our salvation, He came down from Heaven”, Dmitri knelt and crossed himself.
Tanner sat, staring at his co-foe of Anaph, bewildered. Rigel didn’t think he was even hearing the words, he was so shocked at Dmitri’s reaction. But Antonio was singing along quietly, not getting it quite right; Chen, too was joining in with the words. And in spite of himself, Rigel found himself speaking the familiar declaration of faith, clinging to it yet declaring it victoriously
Then it was over. No one spoke, no one moved except Dmitri, who was trembling as tears till flowed. But Tanner still looked unhappy.
Rigel stepped back to the fire, putting one hand on Anaph’s shoulder and the other on Austin’s. “Amen”, he pronounced quietly. Then he gave a little push to propel his two loyal charges to their seats. He had to smile when they fumbled to join hands, and sat holding hands.
“We’ve been through a lot”, he said. “But we’ve got a lot to be thankful for. Let’s remember that, and sleep well.” It was a dismissal, and taken as such. There were only quiet murmurs of talk as they went.
“You never said what you’re thankful for”, Ryan said at his shoulder.
“Oops. I was going to say I’m thankful for Antonio, who watches the stars and watches over us. He’s a good guard.” Rigel smiled at his friend, but the wall was still there.
Oran finished pushing the fire together and came over. “That was awesome”, he said.
But Rigel’s attention was on his troublesome pair. “I need to talk with someone”, he told his friends, and went to where Tanner was whispering furiously at Dmitri.
“Maybe you should share this with all of us”, Rigel said to announce his presence.
Tanner stood, furious. Rigel’s look stilled him, but didn’t silence him. “This is foul deception!” Tanner hissed. “The serpent speaks the words of God, but he is not of God!”
Rigel seethed inside, and lost his temper. “Just where in the Bible does it tell you to be hateful?” he demanded in a low but intense voice. “Where does it say you can go around condemning people and treating them like shit? ‘Who named you judge over us?’ I thought Jesus said to love one another!”
“I do not love those who pervert the truth!” Tanner spat out.
“Jesus said to love your enemies, and hate those who persecute you.” Rigel pressed on. “Are you greater than your master? He never struck out at anyone, or had an evil word! But you sit here and decide who is condemned and who isn’t. I thought I remembered something about ‘do not condemn, or you may be condemned’. Did that get cut out of your Bible? Did you cut it out?
“‘Love your neighbor as yourself’, it says. Anaph is your neighbor. Do you go around wishing you would die because you’re ‘evil’? Do you spend time glaring at yourself because you’re an ‘abomination’? Do you try to poison people’s minds against yourself? Do you even pay attention to the words of Jesus?”
Tanner retreated under Rigel’s barrage. He looked confused – and scared. His mouth opened, but no words came.
Rigel wasn’t done yet. “You get yourself breakfast every morning, right? Well, loving your neighbor as yourself would mean you ought to get Austin’s breakfast for him, wouldn’t it? Every night you work to make your sleeping spot comfortable – have you ever checked to make sure Austin’s is?
“You’re supposed to think of others before yourself. At dinner, I saw you dash to get the last piece of venison before anyone else could take it. When we gathered moss for beds, you set aside the best stuff you found to use for your own, didn’t you?” The words were striking home.
“To Anaph that wasn’t just a song, tonight. It wasn’t for Dmitri, either, or for me. They set out the faith that’s supposed to be yours – but were you thinking of the words? No, you were thinking that your ally in hate was being stolen from you, and afterward you were thinking of how to win him back to your life of condemnation of those you don’t approve of.”
Tanner was up against the inside of the camp’s wall. Rigel decided it was time for some last words. “Anaph explained things to me today, and there’s nothing in his beliefs that go against Christian ones. If you decide you don’t like what he stands for, that’s your own opinion, it has nothing to do with Jesus or Christianity. If you keep on hating, you make yourself an enemy of God, an enemy of Jesus, besides being an enemy of all of us who sang that song or spoke the words tonight. You think about that.” Rigel had to pause for breath.
“Anaph is gong to keep being a Druid. If I see him wandering in some way contrary to those words in the song, I’ll call him on it -- not you. He swore himself to my service, so I’m his master, not you. Somewhere Jesus said that what the servant of another does isn’t your business; your job is to follow Him. And from where I sit, and a bunch more of us, you haven’t been following Him worth shit.
“Starting tomorrow you will treat Anaph with respect. I believe now that his power is from the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life. That’s the same Holy Spirit you believe in–“
Tanner finally got a word out. “I don’t follow creeds, I follow the Bible.” Rigel wasn’t going to take that, but Dmitri beat him to it.
“You know nothing! You say the words, but you throw away the Creed. But everything in the Creed is from the Bible! The ancient fathers took the Bible and considered what was most important from it. They put those things together, to get the Creed!
“Our lord Rigel is right. If you want to be a Christian, you must know the Creed. It is the center of the truth, what the Holy Spirit taught according to the promise of the Christ. So tomorrow I will start teaching you. You will put each line of the Creed into your memory, and you will learn not just the words but what the lessons from them are. And we, you and I, will go to Anaph and to Austin, and we will learn to sing it, for the joy of our hearts.” Dmitri had calmed at the end, but the whole thing astounded Rigel. He hadn’t heard the young... Russian? Speak that many words total on the entire journey this far, and now they’d poured forth.
Time to be a lord, he decided. “You have your quiet time in the morning”, he told the two of them. “This is what you’ll do with it – what Dmitri just said. We don’t have any Bibles here, so that Creed is it. We know it’s right because the people who wrote it practically studied from the Apostles.”
Dmitri shook his head. “That is wrong. They were the students of the students of the Apostles.”
“Close enough for me”, Rigel responded. “Before we leave here, Tanner, you’re going to be able to recite for me the whole thing. I don’t care if you sing it or say it, so long as you have it.
“You got that?”
Tanner opened his mouth and shut it, and tried again. “Yeah, I got it.”
Dmitri punched him, hard, on the shoulder. “You say, 'Yes, lord Rigel’.”
Tanner couldn’t look Rigel in the eye and say it, but he did say it. “Yes, lord Rigel.”
Things seemed to shift and click in Rigel’s mind. He’d done what he needed to this day, and all of it felt right.
“Good. Let’s sleep, then.” With that he turned, ready to rest, content that things were where they belonged.
