Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2013 13:47:41 +1200
From: artcart65@gmail.com
Subject: At Days End Chapter 2

				AT DAYS END


				 CHAPTER 2


				 BY ARTHUR



It was still dark when Kros opened his eyes, he had to get the boys moving
as soon as they had eaten, with a little shove on the nearest shoulder, he
rose and went to his clothes, most were nearly dry so he replaced a clean
tee shirt, this one was pale green, his blue plaid and of course recovered
his leather jacket from where he had used it for a pillow, once his weapons
and pack were donned, he was ready to move.

After giving out some of his thinning supply of dried meat and making sure
the boys had drunk their fill of water, he put the halter back on the horse
and led it to where the boys waited, once little Davi and the slightly
larger Danil were sitting up on the horse, Grega said.

"I can run with you, it will be easier on the horse if he only has to carry
those two light weights."

"No you get on the horse; you will only slow us down."

"But I can run as fast as you."

"Maybe, but ya can't run as far as I can at speed, now get up there, we
don't waste no more time."

Grega thought it better not to argue with the teen, it was better to follow
his orders and argue it all out later, Grega jumped onto the back of the
horse, he was barely seated before Kros led off at his previous fast loping
run, the horse dutifully following his lead, Kros had once again looped the
reins over his shoulder instead of holding them in his hands, those he need
to be free to carry his .22 rifle, the area they were going into would give
him many opportunities for meat and he did not want a good shot to be lost
by having to put down the reins.

They made good time over the stony ground leaving very little tracks for
the others to follow although Kros knew they could not get rid of all the
traces they left behind, especially the horse, they would just have to try
to outdistance their chasers.

They had been moving for more than three hours and were now going through
some light woods, the ground underneath them was soft and made for silent
going, the sudden crack of the small rifle in Kros's hands made the other
three jump, a cough and squeal in some nearby bushes told their own story.

Kros removed the reins and tossed them to the waiting hands of Danil, he
then went into the large bush, within seconds there was another softer
squeal and the bushes shivered as something tried to move deeper, suddenly
the moving stopped and the next thing they saw Kros dragging a small deer
from the bushes, when he got next to the horse, he signalled Grega to jump
down and help him throw the small deer up on the back of the horse, he
would dress it out later, for now they did not have the time to waste.

The four boys were soon on their way again, Kros led them eastward with his
long loping ground eating stride, they moved fast for the rest of the day,
the only stop was for Kros to gut the deer and then they moved on again, he
wanted to be at the beginning of the woods before dark, they were a thin
dark line below the high range of hills in front of them, Kros knew that
once there it would be almost impossible for the chasers to catch them, he
also had a little trick to put them off the trail.

It was almost fully dark when they came upon a deep wash that was hidden
from sight until you were fully upon it, Kros led the horse along the bank
until he came to a narrow track leading down into the wash, moving further
along the bottom of the dry stream bed he came to a place that had the look
of a camp site, the remains of an old fire could still be seen under the
overhanging bank.

Kros told the boys to get down, he then detailed Danil to start getting
firewood while he sent Grega further along to where a shallow pool of fresh
water could be found, for himself he set about skinning and cutting up the
small deer, the head, once severed from the torso was put aside and out of
the reach of the fire.

Kros worked smoothly and from long practice, after making the initial cuts
in the skin to free it from the four legs and finished cutting it along the
belly line, he then turned it on one side and began to punch it with his
small hands as he pulled mightily with the other, smoothly the skin began
to peel off the carcase with ease, it was also clear of any meat or fat, by
this time Danil had returned with a large arm load of dead wood for the
fire, he stood with mouth agape as he watched the ease with which Kros
removed the deer skin.

This was a totally new way of skinning, usually it was just flayed from the
carcase and thrown aside for the dogs, this way it would be clean and could
be used for something else without having to scrape for days to rid it of
left over fat and meat, Danil could only shake his head in wonder as he
watched Kros work away.

Grega returned shortly with their only water skin filled with fresh water,
little Davi had set about playing under the overhang that the temporary
camp had been made in, Danil tore his eyes away from the sweating back of
Kros and began to set the fire, he would need the flint from Kros to start
it going, tonight they would again have fresh meat.

It was fully dark by the time Kros was finished but, by the light of the
now roaring fire, he finished cutting up the carcase, the two long back
steaks were cut up and fed onto long sticks to be placed over the flames,
the two rear haunches were set on thicker sticks to cook overnight, Kros
then set Grega the task of cutting the rest of the small deer into long
thin strips and to hang them close to the fire so they would dry and smoke,
Kros then carried the severed head to the edge of the camp and tied the
small antlers with some of the old rope from his sleeping bag, he now had a
length of new rope for that purpose.

After securing the head, he lifted it up onto a high boulder set in the
side of the wash; he had another use for it in the morning and did not want
some wild animal to take it during the night, by two hours past sundown,
they had their small camp ready, the meat was cooked and the boys were
feasting as they watched the rest slowly cooking over the heavily
smouldering fire, Kros had added some green wood to the fire to get more
smoke, he was not worried about their followers as it was dark and they
would not be travelling nor would they be able to see the smoke of the
fire, Kros settled back to enjoy his mornings kill.

When they had all eaten their fill, Kros told Danil to sleep with him in
his old sleeping bag, Grega and Davi would sleep under the soft warm skin
of the freshly killed deer, Kros saw the look on Danil's face and shook his
head, he was still too tired for any boy play, they had one more day to go
before they would be safely out of reach of the priests that followed them.

When the sun rose in the morning, Kros detailed the day for the other three
boys, most of the meat that had been over the smoking fire was now cooked
enough that it would not rot in the daytime heat, the three boys would
carry it on the horse while Kros went in a different direction.

He told Danil and Grega to take the horse and ride until up out of the wash
and turn to the left, they would drag a large clump of scrub bush behind
them to cover their tracks, they had to ride until they came to a single
large boulder sitting out on the plain all by itself, once there they were
to wait for him to catch up, which could take until later that night or
early the next morning, they were not too leave the boulder and had to
sleep without a fire until he got there, once they fully understood; Kros
sent them away with his pack and the stubby shot gun, the rifle he slung
over his back and began to prepare for his own little game of cat and mouse
with the chasers.

Kros recovered the deer's head and climbed the opposite side of the wash,
once there he took a small leather bag from his pocket, tipping the reddish
brown powder into his palm he spread it over the ground in the direction
the three boys and the horse had gone, once done he took hold of the rope
with the deer's head tied to it and began to trot away in the opposite
direction from that of the boys, leaving a faint trail of drying blood on
the ground as well as the heavy scent of a fresh kill, he well knew which
direction the two dogs would go after they got a good nose full of the
powder he had left behind.

Kros continued on his trotting run until he was deep in the tree line, he
had been on the move for over two hours and was now ready to leave the well
worn and dirty head of the deer for the dogs, after spreading a little more
of the reddish powder over the ground as he moved backwards until he came
to a likely tree, wiping his hands on his jacket, he jumped high and caught
the first branch then swung his legs up until he was sitting comfortably
above the ground and looking down at his efforts.

With a last look at his handiwork, Kros stood up on the thick limb and
began to work his way higher, he had no intention of being anywhere near
this place when the chasers arrived, to escape he would use the highway in
the trees as, in this new woodland, the large trees were close enough
together for him to make good time back towards where the boys should be
waiting for him, he was confident that he could travel through the night
and find them if needed.

Kros was high in a large redwood tree when he caught the first signs of the
followers, they were in a tight group with the two large brown dogs out in
front, although to Kros's eyes it looked like the dogs were having trouble
following the scent of the deer, he smiled to himself at his smartness of
the trick he had learnt a long time ago.

Kros stayed as still as a rock high up in the tree, he would be almost
invisible to those on the ground but be able to follow them at all times
while never having to set foot on the ground. Kros almost laughed out loud
as he watched the two dogs come up on the deer's head, from then on it was
a lost cause for the ten priests, the dogs would not leave the fresh deer's
head for anything, combined with very sore and tender noses from the
powder, the dogs just did not want to go any further much to the anger of
the priests.

On the ground below him, Kros could hear the priests arguing about what
they should do, the dogs could no longer find or follow a trail, it was as
if they had lost all sense of smell and had little joy in tracking anymore,
the dog owner was also not happy, somehow the fleeing fugitives had
disabled his dogs, they would never be the same again.

The priests finally came to a decision, they would use the other man to
track the hunted, that was until they found he had no track to follow, the
couple of faint foot prints near the deer's head disappeared into thin air
only feet away from the head, it was another disappointment, they had no
leads to the whereabouts of the killers of two priests.

Kros watched as the message finally sunk into the Priests heads, he barely
smiled as he watched them turn back with a resigned look on their faces and
begin the long and arduous trip back to their small hamlet, Kros stayed
high in the tree until the ten men had completely disappeared, he could
follow their progress easily from his high point and watched them until it
was almost dark, in the last faint glow of the dying sun, he shimmied down
the large tree and took off at a steady trot towards where he had told the
boys to wait for him.

It was an hour before dawn when he saw the boulder and another five minutes
before he saw the three boys, Danil was curled up with Davi in his sleeping
bag, his pack was under Danil's head as a pillow, Grega sat with his back
against the boulder and the short shot gun in his slack hands as he snored
quietly in sleep, Kros smiled at the sight of the guard fast asleep, he
would not have been much protection for the other two.

Kros moved silently up to Grega and took the gun out of his hands before
the boy could open his eyes, he then kneeled down close and slapped Grega
hard on the cheek then jumped back out of the way of the startled boy as he
tried to focus his eyes on the sudden attacker, Kros pushed the shot gun
into Grega's face and then said.

"If I was bad you and your brothers would be dead, if you're the guard you
stay awake all the time."

Grega could only look at the young teen with surprise on his face, he had
been caught flat footed and had no excuse, his face reddened and he just
lowered his head in shame, he had let his brothers down and it was only
luck that it was Kros and not someone looking for easy pickings.

Kros was now tired, it had been a long day and night for him and he was
ready for a long sleep, with little ceremony, he went to the sleeping bag
and gave Danil a light kick to wake him up, when the two sleeping boys had
their eyes open, Kros said.

"I need some sleep, those Priests have given up so now is the time for me
to get some rest, Grega, you have to get that skin laid out, take some
water from the skin and start to rub it into the deer skin to soften it, if
it dries too much it will be good for nothing, Danil, you and your little
brother go out and find some firewood, there's plenty here abouts, get a
fire going and cook some meat for us while I get some sleep, wake me when
the sun is at midday, we have a lot to do before we start off again, we are
about one day from full safety but for now we should be ok.

After this long speech, Kros curled up in his sleeping bag, his .22 rifle
was in the bag with him, the shot gun in one hand and, hidden under the bag
in his left hand was the sturdy little hand gun, Kros's eyes closed
instantly and the others could already hear the soft steady breathing as he
slept.

When he awoke just as the sun was at its highest in the sky, Kros could
smell fresh cooked meat, Davi was playing with some stones in an age old
game of Bones, Danil was helping Grega as they knelt over the deer skin and
worked a little water into it, quickly, Kros scanned around their camp, all
looked safe and he gave himself a good stretch just like a cat would do, it
was one of the things he had learnt from his observation of the wild
animals.

Rising from his sleeping bag he went straight to the fire without saying a
word to anyone, cutting a large chunk of meat off the now well cooked
hindquarter that was to the side of the smouldering fire, Kros sat and
watched the two older boys working.

"Gather some of the fire ash and start to rub it in deep, we have no salt
so it will cure the hide for now, you are going to need it for a blanket at
night from now on, it's going to get colder as we move up into the hills."
Kros told the two boys.

Much to Kros's surprise, young Davi came over to him with a smile on his
face, without saying a word, the little boy sat down so his butt was
against Kros's knees as he leaned back against Kros's chest as he ate, Davi
lifted and turned his head so he was looking up at Kros.

"Thank you for saving us; can I have some meat too?"

Kros almost laughed at the small boy, it was almost like giving Kros a
thank you meant Davi was entitled to some more food, Kros tousled his brown
hair and cut off a slice of the deer meat and gave it to the smiling boy,
Davi quickly went about eating as his eyes glinted in the midday sun.

After they had been working for over an hour on the skin, Kros told them to
take a break and let the ash and water work its own way into the skin while
they got some food, the four boys sat around the low smouldering fire as
the sun began to sink into the west, Grega and Danil went to work on the
skin one more time and now found it to be softer and more easy to work
with, it would make a good blanket for Davi and Grega, there was little
doubt as to where Danil would be sleeping.

Kros had decided to stay where they were for the night, not only they but
the horse as well needed the rest, they had been on the run for days and,
even though it was only another day or day and a half to safety, Kros felt
it was better to rest now than get caught out by being too tired, he told
the boys what he had decided and then looked for a soft place to sleep
after he signalled Danil to join him.

As he lay in the sleeping bag with Danil behind him, Kros watched Grega
pile a few more large logs onto the fire so it would burn most of the night
and then curl up under the deer skin with Davi wrapped tightly in his arms,
Kros knew that his own cat like senses would soon detect any intruders
during the night so did not worry about putting out a guard.

As the first light of dawn broke over the eastern sky, Kros was up and
about getting everything ready for their days travel, as the boys fed
themselves, Kros scaled the large boulder to look behind them to make sure
they were not being followed, it turned out to be either a good idea or a
bad one, depending on how one looked at it.

As the dawn lightened, Kros thought he saw movement far behind them,
squatting down he waited until there was a little more light, what he saw
gave him pause, in the distance and tracking along their old trail were the
dim figures of five people, they were not the priests he was sure of that,
that left only one thing, Rogues, the last thing he wanted to see even
though he knew there were plenty of them about in the wilds.

Kros stayed low as he slipped back off the boulder and down to where the
three boys waited for him, the camp was clear and they were ready to move
on, Danil and Davi were already up on the horse and Grega stood at its head
waiting for Kros to join them, as soon as Kros got to them he took the
reins and helped Grega remount then started off with his usually loping
run, the horse trailing along almost at a canter.

Kros had given the shot gun to Grega so he could make use of his rifle if
he had too, Grega could defend the other two boys if it came to that, Kros
was well aware that the Rogues behind them were just as capable of chasing
them at the same speed Kros was able to make, he had to get well into the
looming hills before them, once there he had a good chance to either hiding
from them or using a cave that he knew of for defence.

Rogues were not ones to spend a lot of time trying to fight with others,
they would gladly take any easy mark but one that fought back and could do
some harm to them was another matter, Kros was one of those matters, the
two scars on his back had been the result of a run in with Rogues two years
ago when he was only twelve, it was also only the second time he had killed
a man with a knife, as it happened, he still had the knife, it once
belonged to the man he had killed.

Kros kept up the fast pace, the three boys bouncing on the back of the
horse found it hard to ease the pain in their butts but knew Kros must have
a good reason for the faster pace, by this time they had full confidence in
his ability to keep them safe.

The hours passed and soon they were at the base of the high hills of the
central divide, with hardly a pause, Kros led them upwards and then along
the top of the first ridge, as they came to the brow of the ridge, Kros
looked back, he could just make out the faintest of dots far behind them,
the Rogues had lost a little ground, this would give him time to get to the
cave he was aiming for, it would only be another half hour.

Kros led the small group along a deep ravine, the sides towered over them
by a good fifty metres, it was narrow and only wide enough for two people
side by side, the horse just made it through the tightest parts, at the end
of the ravine the three boys saw the mouth of the cave, they were now in a
dead end but there was no way for anyone to get to them without being seen,
Kros led them into the cave mouth and then knelt down to catch his breath,
he had been on the run for over four hours as well as the climb up the
ridge.

Once he had his breath back, Kros sent Grega out with the second knife to
cut as much long grass for the horse as the boy could carry, the bottom of
the ravine was well overgrown with course grasses and a thin stream ran
down its length for water.

After Grega had left, Kros asked Danil to light a fire with some of the
dead wood inside and at the mouth of the cave, with a small fire going,
Kros sat and checked his weapons, little Davi was trying to help Danil with
the wood, soon Danil had a fire going and some of the meat was put close
enough to cook slowly.

Kros stood and then led the tired horse outside to drink, once done Kros
then took him back inside, he had too much meat on his bones for the Rogues
not to want to kill it and Kros had found it handy to have the animal along
with them, not only for carrying the three boys at his pace but also for
carrying the extra weight of the meat which would have had to be left
behind had they not had the horse.

An hour later and they had all been fed and were now resting, it was then
that Kros told Grega and Danil about their new followers, after talking it
over with the two boys, they sat Davi well back in the cave in case there
were shots fired, he then gave the shot gun to Grega and told Danil to
strap on the large pistol that Grega had been wearing, Kros kept his .22
rifle, his little hide-away gun was still in his pocket.

For the next four hours they watched their back trail, it was only an hour
until dark when they heard the men coming down the ravine, they seemed to
be making little effort to hide themselves as they came towards the cave,
when the first Rogue came around the last bend, Kros put the small rifle to
his shoulder and fired off a single shot, it was followed by a loud yell
and the Rogue stumbled as his leg went out from under him, the soft sound
of the small rifle almost hidden by his loud shout.

Kros watched as the other four stumbled over the Rogue on the ground who
was by now holding his damaged knee and yelling every filthy swear word he
could think of, Kros watched as another of the Rogues stood up and looked
towards the cave mouth where he eventually made out the dim figures in the
shadow of the cave mouth.

"Who the boy fuk are you; why did ya shoot?" The Rogue yelled loudly
towards Kros.

"Why ya chasing us?" Kros yelled back.

"We wasn't chasin ya, we was just coming this way is all."

"Cow shit, ya was following us, now ya know we can get ya, ya can take him
and get out, I hear ya anytime soon and the rest of ya gets it as well."

Although the Rogue could easily tell that the voice belonged to a young man
he also knew that the young one hiding in the cave could shoot straight, to
their way of thinking it was a no win situation, better to leave them and
find something easier to take, with a lot of swearing, the men helped the
injured Rogue to his feet and they staggered away leaving the boys alone in
their cave.

Kros told the other boys that from now until the morning they would have to
take turns on guard, he told them most Rogues were cowards but you could
never be too sure, he also looked darkly at Grega when he said they would
have to guard the sleeping boys tonight, Grega understood the look and even
blushed a little, he would not sleep on guard tonight.

It was first light and the four boys in the cave were already making their
final checks before leaving the protection of the cave, while there had
been little disturbance from the Rogues of last night, Kros had little
doubt that they had not entirely left the boys alone, he would still have
to be on full alert as they made their way back down the ravine and turned
towards the waiting high hills and safety, or as safe as one can be in
these times.

The quiet trip back along the ravine seemed peaceful, there was no sign of
the Rogues and they made good time to the entrance, Kros was about to step
out and lead the others to the trail that led to the top of the next ridge
when his inbuilt alarm system went off again, with the speed of a feral cat
he stepped back and ducked behind a boulder as, just where his head had
been, a shower of dirt and small stones erupted from the ravine wall, the
heavy booming sound of the rifle coming a fraction of a second later.

Kros gestured for the others to stay back and get down behind cover as he
snaked his way on his belly to the edge of the boulder and carefully
glanced around in the direction he thought the shot had come from, he was
not surprised to see the five Rogues stand up from their place of ambush,
their heavy rifle being able to out-distance his smaller .22, Kros now knew
he was not in a good position except for defence, he could not get to them
and they could not get to him, stalemate.

Kros looked back at the other boys as they hid behind another large
boulder, his only main advantage over the Rogues was the need for water, he
now controlled the only water for more than half a days walk, as the sun
rose over the ridge and revealed a clear blue sky, Kros smiled, it was
going to be a long hot day and the Rogues would need to drink sooner or
later whereas he had water and plenty of food, if needed they could stay
here for a number of days, the Rogues did not have that luxury.

Kros decided to try to find out what they wanted, as if he didn't already
know, three young teens and a little boy were a temptation to any Rogue
gang.

"What ya want?" Kros called out loud enough for the watchers to hear.

"Ya shot the boss man, we want one of the boys for us ta use."

"Which one?"

"The little one, he be good for years and easy to teach his place."

Kros looked behind him at the startled faces of the two older brothers, did
they really think he was contemplating giving up the little one; Kros
almost smiled to himself at the look on the boys faces.

"Nah, he's no good for nothing, what about me or one of the others?"

"Too old, we want a youngun."

"Not gonna happen, one of us older ones will come to you but not the little
one or you can sit out there in the sun for a few days, we got plenty of
food and water in here, you got nothing."

Kros could almost hear the mumbling as the Rogues discussed the
proposition, he knew eventually they would cut their losses and accept one
of the older ones, he was going to make sure he was the one that went out,
Kros waited patiently, the longer they sat in the rising heat of the
morning sun, the more their minds would turn to agreeing to his offer.

Kros stayed hidden and just relaxed as he waited for the Rogues to make the
first move, the other three boys stayed where they were but with worried
looks on their faces, like the Rogues, they did not have any idea who they
were dealing with, the conundrum that was Kros would soon be revealed to
both parties.

Just before the midday heat fully came into effect, Kros heard the first
words from the hiding Rogues, by the sound of the mans voice he was getting
very thirsty, Kros smiled as he listened to the croaking sound when the
Rogue yelled out for him.

"OK, we take an older one, which one you gonna send out ta us?"

"Them is useless, I can do everything, I'll leave my guns here and come out
unarmed and go with you, we leave them to go find their own place."

"We still likes the little one, you want too come then he comes too."

Kros looked around behind him at the faces of the three brothers, there was
a fear there that caused the very air to fill with tension, he could almost
see what they were thinking, Kros smiled at them and then turned back to
his negotiations.

"Nah, he's no good for nothing, I'll come and do everything for ya."

"Ya got boy hair yet?"

"Nope."

There continued a further discussion among the hiding Rogues, Kros knew
fairly well that they would agree, in their present position they could not
really argue as he held all the food and water.

"Ok, you come but bring water for us and some food and no guns, take off ya
shirt and things, you can carry them in your hands, ya can keep ya pants on
for now, we'll get them off tonight."

A deep sounding chuckle sounded from behind the rocks where the Rogues
were, Kros looked at the boys behind him and signalled for Danil to come
too him, Kros waited until the other boy was beside him.

"Gimme your long pants and then get me the water skin, when I go out there
I want you to give my guns to your brother, you keep my pack on and guard
it, I'll be back in no time."

As he was speaking, Kros was also stripping off his little shorts and
shirts, he gave his leather jacket to Danil along with the rest of his
things with the pack, slipping the longer pants up his legs he first
slipped his long knife into his boot then covered it over with the pant
leg, he was now bare-chested and anyone looking could see he was supposedly
unarmed.

Kros sent Danil back behind cover as he looked warily around the boulder
that had been his cover too make sure he was not going to be just shot out
of hand by the Rogues, he tried to keep a neutral look on his young
features as he stood upright with his arms outspread so the Rogues could
see he was not armed.

When he heard a yell from the Rogue leader, he stepped well clear of the
boulder and began a nervous walk towards the waiting men, only the water
skin filled one hand as he stumbled slightly on a loose stone, he
straightened up and continued his short walk.  When Kros came up close to
the five men he saw they had only the one rifle, the rest of their arms
were a roughly made cross bow and each had an old knife at their waist,
this may be easier than he had thought it would be, Kros walked up to the
Rogue holding the large rifle.  "You the boss man? What ya want me ta do?"
Kros still held his hands out from his side, the tempting water skin
hanging from his fingers; he almost smiled as he saw all five sets of eyes
turn to the skin.

As they watched the skin in the boys hand, none saw the subtle movement of
the boys feet as he got ready to move with speed, Kros lowered the water
skin and stepped close to the leader with the rifle, as the skin lowered
past the Rogues face, there was a sudden muffled thump and the leaders face
exploded in blood and gore, as the other four tried to work out what had
happened.

Kros dropped the now holed water bag and revealed the small two barrelled
gun, with consummate ease he turned on the next man who had been standing
close to the leader, Kros's reactions were far too fast for the stunned
man.

Kros turned on the man with the cross bow, he looked as though he had
turned to stone as he watched his boss man fall with most of his face
missing, when the heavy .44 calibre bullet from the little hideaway gun hit
him in the mouth and entered his brain, the bowman just crumpled to his
knees, the other three rogues could make nothing of it all, they just stood
there stunned as Kros went for his ankle and came up with his large hunting
knife, another Rogue was dead with a gush of blood from his opened stomach
before the last two could re-act to the sudden assault by a young boy that
should have been easy to intimidate by their own larger size.

With a glance at each other, the remaining two Rogues joined forces, they
were not going to be easy pickings for some little shit like this one,
drawing their knives they circled the young teen as he stood trying to
watch them both, he had speed and youth on his side but he was not sure how
he could deal with the two men at the same time, a sudden booming sound
helped him make his mind up.

A shaking voice called from behind Kros.

"Drop your knives and sit down."

Kros recognised the unsteady sound of Danil's voice; he turned and looked
at his saviour, Danil stood with the big pistol in his two hands, a small
wisp of blue smoke emanating from the shaking barrel, behind Danil, Grega
was stooping down to pick up the larger rifle of the leader, where the
bullet had gone Kros had no idea but it did not hit anything even remotely
close to the three combatants, the two remaining Rogues quickly dropped
their knives at the sight of the large smoking gun in the boys hands.

Kros smiled at Danil and stooped to replace his knife in his boot where he
had hidden it, from his right hand pants pocket he took the small two
barrelled gun, ejecting the two empty casings, he walked over to Danil and
reached into a small pocket of the pack, withdrawing two new bullets, he
reloaded the little gun and put it back in his pocket.

The weight of the big pistol had dragged Danil's hands down but by now
Grega had the large rifle in his hands and was keeping a close watch on the
two Rogues sitting on the ground.

"What are we going to do with these two?" Grega asked Kros.

"Leave them out here naked so the sun can cook them a bit, strip them of
everything as well as the dead, they may have something we can use."

Grega just nodded his head, at his age he was faster to understand the new
rules of the wilds, it was Danil that still found it hard to understand
what was what, Kros walked over to the two Rogues as they sat on the ground
watching intently as the boys stripped the dead of everything they had.

Kros stopped in front of them, he now had the vicious looking double
barrelled shot gun in his hands, the Rogues did not like the look of those
two barrels pointed right at their faces.

"Strip." Kros told the startled Rogues, with little option but to obey, the
men soon sat naked on the bare ground, Kros took the coil of rope he had
also taken from his pack, with a few well practiced slices, he had four
lengths of rope, Kros then called Grega over to take the shot gun and cover
the two men while he tied them up tightly.

Once the men were tied up and lying naked in the sun, Kros took back his
possessions and replaced his borrowed pants with his little shorts, he now
felt comfortable, he had always wondered why others would want to wear the
long pants and cover their legs, not only was there more to wash but they
felt very uncomfortable to him.

As before, Kros led the three boys mounted on the horse at a steady trot,
behind them the loud yells and pleas of the naked Rogues slowly faded with
distance until there was no sound from them.

After leaving the ravine, Kros turned to the North, after over an hour of a
steady pace, Kros came to the wide and high entrance to a canyon, he turned
into it with the horse and other boys close behind, by this time Kros was
carrying only his two weapons, his pack was now being carried by Danil
while Grega kept a tight hold on Davi as the three bounced up and down on
the horses back, Kros still maintained a hold on the reins as he led them
deeper into the ever growing canyon, its sides getting taller and taller
the deeper they went.

The three boys had no idea how far they had gone when Kros stopped and told
them to dismount, to their left was a narrow track leading upwards, it
would be just wide enough for the horse but not the boys on its back, once
they were on foot, Kros led the way up the track at a slow pace, he kept
one eye on the horse to make sure it would not balk at the narrow trail.

They were not quite a fourth of the way to the top when Kros stopped at a
point slightly wider than the rest of the trail, there was a flat area and,
close to the canyon wall was a tall boulder which had a large dry bush at
one side, Kros dropped the reins on the path while the three boys looked
on.

Next Kros went to the bush and knelt down as though looking for something,
after a minute he stood back up with a thick rope in his hands, leaning
back he pulled on the rope and, much to the boys surprise, the bush started
to move away from the huge boulder to slowly reveal a hidden cave mouth
beyond.

Once the bush was far enough away from the boulder for the horse to walk
through, Kros motioned for the boys to take the lead with the horse and
just keep walking into the cave, they would see the grey light of the end
of the cave once they were about halfway, he would follow them after he had
replaced the bush.

Grega led the horse and his two brothers into the dark confines of the
cave, as he stepped clear of the entrance he started to see the faint
glimmer of grey light far ahead, Grega kept walking slowly towards the
distant light source, the sounds of the horses hooves echoed in the
emptiness around them, there was also the faintest sound of water dripping
from somewhere in the darkness, Grega walked on.

Slowly they came closer to the distant light, it was now a lot brighter and
they could all see sunshine and what looked like open spaces beyond the
exit of the cave, Grega gave a slight shiver as he came into the full light
of the sun, behind him the echo of the horses hooves died as they all
stepped out into a wondrous park like valley.

As the three boys stood and looked at the scene below them, Kros appeared
from behind, a shimmer of sweat on his brow told of his exertions in
closing the entrance again.

"How did you find this place?" Grega asked Kros.

"The man I got the gun from brought me here for the five days I was his bum
boy, he has two more like it in other places, wait you'll see when we get
to the cabin, for now you have to help me close the door."

"The door, what door?"

Kros turned and pointed to the side of the exit, leaning against the canyon
wall and held upright by a thick post dug into the ground was what looked
like split logs stacked one on top of the other with a cross brace holding
them together like a wooden wall on its side, Grega looked more closely and
could just make out some sort of rippled metal sheets fixed to the other
side, at their feet was another thick rope that went to the opposite side
and was wrapped around what looked like an old wheel rim from some type of
vehicle, it was fixed to the stone sides of the canyon with the thick bar
running through the centre and driven into the solid rock wall, on the
outer rim it had a large wooden handle.

Kros handed his guns to Danil while Grega placed little Davi down on his
own feet, the two boys then took hold of the long wooden handle and began
to turn it slowly, it was far heavier than Grega would have thought but the
scraping sound of the strange door told him they were being successful.

It took a lot of energy to finally get the large thick log door closed, it
was now braced between two thick logs buried in the ground, for anyone
attempting to break through it would be almost impossible, for now and for
the first time since their escape, the three brothers felt safe, there was
only the matter of finding a nice warm place to stay in, Kros led them
forward and down into the bottom of the hidden valley, there was no need to
lead the horse as it had smelt fresh grass and water and was already
picking its way to the bottom on its own, the boys followed along behind,
their mouths agape at what they saw, for Kros it was all familiar and so he
only watched where he was placing his feet.

When the small group got to the bottom, they could see the horse already
with its head down and its jaws working on the clean fresh grass, Kros
lifted his arm and pointed towards the far wall of the little valley, Grega
could almost make out a small cabin nestled hard in against the back wall,
it was no palace, in fact it was not even as good as the small home they
had had to leave behind but, after what they had been through the last six
days, it looked very inviting and above all else, Safe.

Kros led them on towards the small rough cabin, around the valley the
canyon arched upwards, it was so high that it was a natural barrier, there
was no other way in or out of the valley except by the cave mouth, Grega
was suddenly startled by a running sound and, at the very edge of his
vision, he saw a large rabbit scampering away from their path, as they
moved silently over the green grass, Grega also thought he heard the faint
cough of a deer in the thick trees at one end of the small valley, they
would have plenty of meat while they stayed here.

Kros led them up to the cabin, at first glance it seem a little derelict
but on closer inspection it was only how the cabin had been put together
with bits and pieces, the main thing Grega saw was that the roof was solid
and sound, they would not be getting wet under that roof, it was thick
pieces of slate stone laid over thick wooden rafters, the back wall was the
wall of the canyon, the two sides were a mixture of slate and split logs
and, except for the single doorway that was positioned to one side of
centre with a long window covered by another wooden shutter, the front wall
was much the same, there was also a small window cut into the logs on the
two sides and covered with shutters that could be pulled up with rope to
let the light in, the door was heavy split logs, it would not be knocked
down easily.

Grega inspected the work on the cabin, it was rough but it would be almost
impossible for anyone trying to get in un-invited and with all the slate
work it would be impossible to burn out anyone inside, it was a perfect
safe haven, Kros pulled on a short length of cord and the front door swung
open, he led the boys into the dark cool air of the long closed cabin,
there was a thin layer of dust over everything, it had not been lived in
for some time, in the dim light the three boys could not make out anything
inside.

Kros went and opened the two side shutters, next he opened the long shutter
covering the front window, sudden bright sunlight filled the small cabin
and the three new boys could now see what they had, Grega stood still as he
looked around, he watched as Kros went back to the door and began to hang
his guns on some conveniently placed wooden pegs, he saw Kros gesture for
them to do the same.

When they stepped back there were the two rifles, the small stubby shotgun
and the two pistols along with the old rough cross bow, above the door on
two more pegs was another rifle with a lever action, they now had quite the
little arsenal, this made the three brothers feel even more safe, also on
the wall opposite the weapons pegs was a roughly drawn map on a deer skin,
Grega would have to look into that later.

They now had a solid roof over their heads and enough weapons to defend
themselves with, for the first time in six days they felt themselves fully
relax, the fear of the last days leaving them shaking all over, Kros seemed
totally unconcerned, for him it was just another day of surviving but now
he had some benefits.

The interior of the small cabin was not as rough as the outside; on the
back wall was a large cut niche for a fire place with a thin pipe leading
outside to take the smoke away, it had an open wire frame over where the
fire would be to hold any pots or pans, too the left of the fireplace was a
wooden bench, underneath it had shelves with pots and pans along with tin
plates and a box with knives and forks, it had a large metal dish set into
it for a wash basin.

Under each of the two windows were rough made beds wide enough for two
people at a time, they were also just at the right height for someone to
use for benches when trying to defend the cabin, the rest of the cabin
floor was filled with a rough wood table with a bench on one side and two
stools on the other, there was a single large rocking chair that was
crudely made and was strung with thick strips of tanned leather for
springs, below the long window at the front was another roughly made
cabinet that seemed to be filled with boxes of ammunition for the guns,
Kros pointed to the chair and then himself, it was obvious to the others
that he was claiming it as his own, they didn't argue.

"Where is the man that built this, won't he come back and throw us out?"
Grega asked Kros.

"Nope, he won't be back, that map on the wall shows his other two places,
they're not as good as this one but are ok if you need safety in a hurry."

"How do you know he won't be back, no one leaves a great hiding place like
this and all the things he did to make it, he would not leave it for
nothing."

"I told you I was his bum boy for five days, at the end of the five days he
didn't want to pay me so I killed him while he was sleeping, he always fell
asleep after doing it to me, he was a mean bastard, hurt me a lot he did,
so its all fair, he's buried under the garden out back, same as he did to
other boys when he finished with them."

The three brothers could only stare at Kros as the short tale unfolded,
there was little if no emotion in the young teens voice as he related what
he had done to the man, as far as Kros was concerned, this cabin and the
other two were now his, it was the way of the world that they now lived in.

"Danil, go get some wood for a fire, there's plenty of deadfall in the
trees, Grega, take the bucket under the bench and get some fresh water,
there's a spring just off to the left, Davi and I are going to get some of
the dust out of here and make the beds ready."

The two older boys just stood and looked at Kros for a second then turned
and left to do as they were asked, after all, it was his house, Kros and
little Davi started to take the thick animal pelts off the two beds and
take them outside to shake any dust off, it would be close on dark

by the time everything was once again ready for them to move in.


TBC.


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